Pushed Out in Tampa?

Longtime Tampa Weather Anchor Wayne Shattuck is leaving WFTS.

The word is that Shattuck is "retiring" at the end of the year from the station but, sources say that   Shattuck did not have his contract renewed and is being pushed out. 

WFTS is not talking, however, a meteorologist position has been posted on the company's website. 

Shattuck was one of the original anchors who came to WFTS as the station was creating a new news department in December of 1994 and has remained with the station since. He was originally chief meteorologist, but was bumped to the morning show, in favor of fellow meteorologist Denis Phillips.

Now, it appears he's being bumped again...this time out the door. 

Stay tuned....

H/T Florida News Center 

Viewers Tune Out in Pittsburgh

One of the most competitive TV markets in the country is Pittsburgh.

All three major stations trade back and forth wins in the ratings, but in November it appears that all three came up losers.

Whether is was post-midterm election burnout, or lack of snow, viewership was down across the board, especially in the morning.

In general, fewer people watched the 5 and 6 a.m. newscasts, as compared with the same sweeps period in 2013. Particularly dismal were figures measuring the 25-54 demographic at 5 a.m. A year ago, WPXI was first with a 2.3 rating/17 share. This November, it was third at 0.9/8. The other two stations, KDKA and WTAE also dropped significantly.

“I think you’re going to see changes in viewing patterns in all demos and day parts,” said WPXI news director Mike Oliveira. “More people are waking up with smartphones, which is why we created our Wake Up app.”

Leave it to a News Director to turn an awful ratings story into a shill for an app.

Here is a chart with the latest ratings:

H/T Pittsburgh Post Gazette 

Ummmmm....No That is Not Correct (Update)

The big news down here in North Florida was who will be the new Head Football Coach for the Florida Gators.

WJAX (Jacksonville) Reporter Jessie McDonough was sent down to Gainesville to try and get the scoop. She filed a report to the station's website saying that the Gators were looking to hire "Florida State Head Coach Jim McElwain".

That had to be big news to Jimbo Fisher, who is the Florida State Coach, McElwain is the coach at Colorado State, which is located slightly west of Tallahassee.

Believe me, it might seem like a small mistake that McDonough made, but in the land of the Gators and Seminoles it is a Huge mess up.

Here is video of her quick report (watch it before the station sees this story and pulls it).

Update: As predicted, after the FTVLive story, the station pulled the video.

Imagine that?

Miami Sportscaster is Leaving the TV News Game

Miami Dolphins legend and WFOR Sportscaster Kim Bokamper says you can stick a fork in him....he's done.

Bokamper, who led the Dolphins defense known as The Killer Bs in the early 1980s, says he realized over the past few months that he’s been packing way too much work in his daily schedule.

In addition to anchoring sports on CBS4 for 14 years, he’s been running a restaurant chain named after him that’s grown into five eateries in South Florida and Naples.

“I don’t remember the last time I had consecutive days off on a weekend,” Bokamper tells us tonight, partly blaming days that start at 8:30 a.m. and end about midnight. “I just want to enjoy life.”

The former linebacker says his last day at WFOR will be Jan. 31. He’s leaving with one year left on his contract.

It’s been a tough period for Bokamper. Colleen, his wife of 33 years, died of colon cancer in February.

“It’s just time to move on,” he said. “My daughter Kourtney is getting married in October, and I want to spend some time with her before then to make sure she’s got everything she needs. And I’ll do some traveling, too, maybe to Europe.”

H/T Gossip Extra

Sweeping Up in San Antonio

KSAT continued its local news reign in the latest sweeps, while longtime basement dweller WOAI shook up the status quo by claiming No. 2 in some key news contests.

November Nielsen ratings indicate WOAI’s 5 p.m. newscast earned a 6.6 rating, pushing KENS’ half-hour (6.1) into third place for the first time in recent memory.

Another striking change happened at 10 p.m. WOAI’s late news, helmed by Randy Beamer and relatively new WOAI anchor Evy Ramos tied with KENS’ a perpetual second-place finisher, with a 6.3 rating. 

KENS rallied at 6 p.m., however; that news half-hour, also anchored by Goldblatt and Lucero, held on to its No. 2 news status with a 7 rating versus WOAI’s 5.8.

KSAT, meanwhile, swept the local news races, claiming No. 1 in the morning, at noon, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. The station also held on to a substantial lead at 10 p.m. with its 11.3 rating.

“We’re especially proud of our new, expanded 6 p.m. newscast,” KSAT spokesman David Cuccio  said, “as our viewers have told us loud and clear that the early evening news hour fits exactly with their busy schedules.”

H/T San Antonio Express News

WNBC GM Set to Retire

WNBC GM Michael Jack says after 40 years in the business and 20 at NBC, he is ready to call it quits.

Jack says that he is going to hang it up next summer. 

"Michael has been a dynamic leader, who has run three NBC Owned Television Stations over the course of his career," said Valari Staab, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations. "He has been a trusted confidante and friend to me, a committed broadcaster and a mentor for so many in our division."

"I am thankful to so many wonderful people who have inspired and supported me along the way, and am especially grateful to Valari Staab, Ted Harbert [chairman, NBC Broadcasting] and NBCUniversal leadership for their commitment and investment in making NBC 4 the best in the business."

Jack came to WNBC in 2010 from WRC in in Washington.

No word yet on a replacement. 

WBRZ Takes Wraps off New Set

WBRZ 2 in Baton Rouge has unveiled a new news set and although the station is in market 93, their new set looks better than many top market stations. 

The set was designed by Devlin Design Group and it includes all the aspects you are more than likely to see in a large market. A large touch screen, social pod, a storytelling wall, along with programmable color-changing backlit led walls.

It is impressive to say the least. 

“Pictures, graphics and maps can be programmed into multiple video walls to allow our anchors help viewers understand important stories. The news set is both versatile and dynamic. Most importantly for our viewers, it means watching news will never be the same", said Chuck Bark, WBRZ Director News.

“Our collaboration with the staff at WBRZ 2 resulted in a design as rich and diverse as the culture of Baton Rouge, and from a visual standpoint, as memorable and savory as the cuisine. The broadcast professionals at WBRZ 2 made it clear from the beginning of this project that they only wanted to work with one scenic design company—Devlin Design Group. We’re honored for that consideration and we congratulate WBRZ 2 on having the foresight and leadership to set the scenic standard for the market,” said Dan Devlin, Owner/Chief Creative Strategist, Devlin Design Group. 

BriWi Slow Jams the News on the Tonight Show

Jimmy Fallon does some very funny stuff on NBC's Tonight Show, if you ask us, slow jamming the news is not one of them.

The tired segment really isn't that funny except the fact that you have a major network anchor playing along with the gag.

The segment is worn out, but that doesn't mean that NBC won't stop doing it.

Here's the video if you missed it: 

Brian Williams celebrates his 10th anniversary as the NBC Nightly News anchor by joining Jimmy & The Roots to slow jam the news.

Dr. Nancy Snyderman: I'm Sorry (kind of)

Sorry seems to be the hardest words and that statement held true for NBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman.

Snyderman appeared on the Today Show this morning for the first time since she broke ebola quarantine. Although, NBC said she would be back on the air sometime in November, that never happened.

Today, she made her return and sort of apologized. Although watching it, you would think it was not something she wanted to do, or believed she should have to do. 

"Good people can make mistakes," she said in an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" show.

"I stepped outside the boundaries of what I promised to do and what the public expected of me. And for that, I'm sorry."

"When I came back from Liberia with my team, we had already been taking our temperatures four, five six times a day, and we knew our risks in our heads -- but didn't really appreciate, and frankly, we were not sensitive to, how absolutely frightened Americans were," Snyderman told Lauer Wednesday.

Gee...and why do you think Americans were so frighten by ebola Dr. Nancy?

Do you think the media might have been responsible for that?

I'm going to go with YES!

Just saying.... 

Greta Goes Off on Rev. Al

Fox News Host Greta Van Susteren came out swinging with some well deserved shots at MSNBC's Al Sharpton.

“I think Al Sharpton has injected himself way into it, and I think he has poured gasoline on the fire,” Van Susteren told The Wrap. “I'm so disappointed in Al Sharpton because he has the platform to heal, and he hasn't done that — he actually could have done some good. He certainly hasn't helped matters.”

On how Sharpton has “poured gasoline on the fire,” Van Susteren feels he hasn't tried to fix tensions, but instead is inserting himself into the story through his close involvement with things on the ground.

MSNBC's Sharpton has joined Michael Brown's family in repeatedly demanding justice in Ferguson. 

The lawyer inside Van Susteren feels adamantly about the Michael Brown and Darren Wilson case.

“Facts matter, that's all that matters. People often times in very hot issues — like race or gender — they take sides; that's so wrong. We have to wait for the facts. Facts really, really, matter. It's painful, but people just take sides.”

And Al Sharpton could care less about facts, he just goes where the cameras are.

H/T The Wrap

She's Back!

It appears that NBC is knee jerk reacting to the stories asking about the whereabouts of Dr. Nancy Snyderman?

Although, NBC News boss Deborah Turness claimed that Snyderman would be back in November, the doc was not.

But, after stories about her whereabouts, it appears that Dr. Snyderman is making her return to the Peacock today.

Word is that Snyderman will be on both the Today Show and Nightly News today after being shelved for more than a month following a violation of her quarantine for possible Ebola exposure.

While Snyderman is expected to be back on the air, we'll bet the house that her stories will not be on ebola.

Just saying....

ABC's Muir is Mad that Stephanopoulos landed Officer Wilson

Gossip column Page Six says that ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir is said to be frustrated he didn’t get the first sit-down interview with officer Darren Wilson last week, which went to colleague George Stephanopoulos.

Sources say that Muir expressed frustration to ABC executives that he didn’t land the interview. “David has made it very clear to the suits that he doesn’t want to be just behind the desk reporting the news, he also wants to be in the field, doing his own reports on breaking news stories,” one insider told us.

“David was frustrated that the Ferguson interview went to George — and he made that frustration known.”

The source said a feud could be brewing, because “David is highly regarded at ABC, because of the success of ‘World News’ against its rivals and his popularity in the key demo. But he is also very ambitious, he wants to be on the big stories, and he’s prepared to fight George for them.”

A statement from ABC News dismissed the idea there was any behind-the-scenes drama: “This is totally ridiculous. David and George are a great team. And David remains focused on the viewers, giving ‘World News Tonight’ its most competitive fall in 18 years.”

In other words, move along...nothing to see here. 

Reporter Rages at BestBuy on Twitter

Dealing with a store like Best Buy can be frustrating, believe me I know. 

KSPR (Springfield, MO) Reporter Melody Pettit went to her local Best Buy to buy a TV that she had her eyes on. But, the TV she had picked out was nowhere to be found and according to her, they would not honor the advertised price. 

So, Pettit took to Twitter to rage against the store making sure to tag @BestBy in each post so it would be seen by the company's customer service. 

She tweeted time and time again and then pulled out the grandaddy of all TV people's powers:

Ummmm...although she played the "do you know who I am?" card in a sly way, she still played it by tagging Best Buy in the tweet. 

But, it didn't seem to work, she never got her TV.

Not sure how KSPR's Sales Manager feels about a station Reporter using her main account to rage against a big time advertiser?

But, we're guessing the SM will not be buying her a Christmas gift. 

​Just saying.... 

Boston Station hit with "FHRIP" Time and Time again

Back in October, during live coverage of the death of former Boston Mayor Tom Menino, WHDH in Boston had a tough time with people yelling "Fuck her right in the pussy" over and over. In fact it got so bad that they station had to dump out of the live coverage and apologize for what viewers were hearing: 

During live coverage of the death of former Boston Mayor Tom Menino, WHDH-TV was hit with 3 FHRITP's in 3 minutes before they decided to drop that live shot. Recorded on 10/30/2014 Visit NE1 online at: http://www.newenglandone.com Copyright 2014 WHDH-TV / Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved.

Another One Out the Door in Phoenix

It seems that people are leaving Phoenix TV station's at an alarming rate and it is happening market wide.

FTVLive has reported a number of departures from Phoenix stations and now you can add another one to the list.

We already told you that KNXV Morning anchor Connie Colla was leaving the station (she signs off this week) to start own consulting biz.

Now, word comes that KNXV's morning Traffic Reporter, Brandon Hamilton is also signing off this week.

Hamilton tweeted that he is signing off:

Speculation inside the station is that Hamilton's position will not be filled.

Phoenix Ratings

Speaking of Phoenix, a look at the ratings show some very bad news for new Meredith Du-op KPHO/KTVK.

The stations finished at the bottom of the November ratings in late news in the demos. The book was very good to KNVX who came out of top for the first time in a decade.

What is really shocking is how low the numbers are in the 11th market. The leading station pulled just a 4. 2 rating and a 1.8 demo in late news. Are you kidding me?

Here is the breakdown:

Phoenix 10pm November Ratings

Adults 25-54 (Female ratings reflect the same order below)

Households

#1  KNXV ABC15  (First time in about a decade to be number one) 
Adults - 1.8
HH - 4.2

#2 KPHNX NBC12 (former reigning champion)
Adults - 1.3
HH - 2.4

#3 KSAZ FOX10 (always in the mix - but focused more on 9pm) 
Adults - 1.1
HH - 2.1

#4 KTVK Ch. 3 (Indy struggling to simply survive in the evenings)
Adults - 0.9
HH - 1.3

#5 KPHO CBS 5 (Merging with KTVK & a complete mess) 
Adults - 0.8
HH- 3.3