Moving Up to Motown

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WXMI Anchor Ann Marie LaFlamme is leaving the Grand Rapids and joining WXYZ  in Detroit.

"I'm excited to be heading home," said LaFlamme, announcing her departure on Facebook. Her final day at the Tribune Company-owned station was yesterday.

LaFlamme's parting from WXMI comes just five days after the farewell of Meteorologist Jon Shaner, who, as FTVLive told you has left TV News altogether. 

 

LaFlamme's time in Grand Rapids was short and sweet, she joined WXMI just 2 years ago.  

Last May, LaFlamme was bumped up to the 11:00 Anchor gig.

H/T MLive.com

Keith Olbermann Talks About his (latest) Suspension

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Keith Olbermann who is hanging on to still being relevant by a thread went on CBS's The Late Show and talked about how he got into a Twitter fight that got him suspended from ESPN.

Of course, Olbermann blames most of this on Twitter and not really on him.

Of course he does.

Let's go to the video:

ESPN's Keith Olbermann tells the role Twitter played in his recent suspension from the network.

Reporter is Mugged on Camera

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A Reporter in South Africa was standing by getting ready to do his live shot, when a couple of thugs walked about and mugged both him and his crew.  

Vuyo Mvoko was in Johannesburg covering the arrival of Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Tuesday when two thieves accosted him.

"Hey, we’re being mugged," Mvoko says into his microphone. "We’re being mugged."

With a gun pointed at his face, Mvoko complied, and the thieves fled, but not before their faces were all over the camera. 

Sadly, while our contributing editor Vuyo Mvoko was busy with the coverage of President Lungu visit to Milpark hospital this evening, he became a victim of mugging outside the hospital in full view of SABC cameras.

H/T HuffPo

Bloomberg Says Sorry for Photoshop Photo of Hillary Clinton

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Bloomberg sent out a promo of their coverage of Hillary Clinton’s news conference yesterday that included a picture of Clinton that was obviously photoshopped.

Many on Twitter thought the picture which showed Clinton's head on someone else's body was unflattering and showed that Bloomberg was bias against Clinton.

Bloomberg took to Twitter to say sorry.

Bloomberg said that it was easier to photoshop a picture than take the time to find an original. You know, because it is so hard find a picture of Hillary Clinton on the Internet. 


Ax Swings at Viacom

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A number of staffers at MTV the music network that no longer plays music have been pink slipped as Viacom "restructures" some of their networks.

Many of the layoffs are related to Viacom’s decision to combine Comedy Central and Spike with MTV, VH1 and Logo, resulting in the elimination of some positions related to production, production management, research and digital, according to a person familiar with the matter. 

“As announced, we are in the process of restructuring and there will be employees leaving the company as a result,” the company said in a statement. ” We are so grateful for the contributions they have made to Viacom.”

So grateful that they fired them.

More layoffs at Viacom properties are expected throughout the month of March. 

H/T Variety 

Former News Director Heads Back to Gannett

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Former News Director Bob Sullivan is jumping from Scripps over to Gannett, a company he has worked for in the past.

At Scripps, Sullivan was of VP of Content, at Gannett Vice President of Programming and be based out of Phoenix. 

Here is the internal memo sent out to the Gannett staff and obtained by FTVLive: 

From: Lougee, Dave 
Sent: Tuesday, March 10
To: Gannett Broadcast General Managers
Cc: Gannett Broadcast General Managers
Subject: Bob Sullivan/SVP Programming

I'm pleased to announce that Bob Sullivan is returning to Gannett in our new position of Senior Vice President of Programming.  Bob has done a tremendous job of innovating in his current job at Scripps in the area of program development, and his learnings will be invaluable as we branch out into new programming ideas, local and national, across traditional and new platforms, both on our own and in partnership with others. He will also work with Brooke Spectorsky on transitioning oversight of group syndication negotiations, so that we won't miss a step in that area after Brooke's retirement this summer. 

Bob has had a diverse career, but with roots in broadcasting. Inside Gannett, he held titles including Assistant News Director, News Director, Station Manager and General Manager at stops across 4 properties including Denver, Jacksonville, Phoenix and Washington.  Post  Gannett he's been in diverse roles including owning and running a consulting business, and President of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee  the last time the Super Bowl was in Phoenix. 

Bob will be starting before the end of the month, and will be based at KPNX in Phoenix.

Please join me in welcoming Bob back home to Gannett. 

Crashing Cramer at CNBC

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Jim Cramer is celebrating his 10 years of his show Mad Money on CNBC.

While the market crashed and recovered the same can not be said for Cramer's ratings.

Since March of 2005 to March of this year, Cramer's ratings are down 11% and the demos are down a whopping 35%. 

CNBC has seen their ratings drop quite a bit on 2014, but Cramer seems to be leading the way in losing the demo.

Full disclosure: I once bought a stock that Cramer heavily recommended, the stock tanks and I lost money.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Buffalo Station to Diminish Sports Coverage

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In a city like Buffalo, the people love the hapless Buffalo Bills and the awful Buffalo Sabres. But, that hasn't stopped the struggling WIVB from making the decision to diminish sports coverage of their newscast.

It is not a wise move for a city that loves its sports.

Of course the station is trying to spin it just like all the other stations that have cutback on sports coverage.

Bottom line, the traditional sportscast will be gone from the 6 p.m. newscast.

“We’ll evaluate sports each day and decide its daily placement in the newscasts,” explained Levy. “It does not mean it will be necessarily higher or lower in regards to specifically weather, but more importantly viewer benefit.”

“When looking closely at the landscape of local sports, Western New York viewers have access to sports news throughout the day on their computers, mobile devices and social media,” wrote Levy. “If it’s an important sports story during the day, WNY viewers will not have to wait until 6:20 p.m. to see it on their TV.”

Of course the exact same thing could be said about weather. But you know the station will not be cutting back that.

Just saying....

H/T Buffalo News

Phoenix Anchor Suspended for "Fat Ass' Comment

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6 days ago, FTVLive FIRST told you that a KNXV (Phoenix) Reporter was caught on a live mic making the comment "fat ass' about a woman walking by the live shot.

The station was covering the latest round in the Jodi Arias murder trial, when a woman walked by the courthouse live shot and the Reporter said "fat ass." 

Sources now tell FTVLive that Anchor Steve Irvin was the person that made those comments and it bought him some time off.

Word is that Irvin was suspended for the comment.

Oops!

Bounced B-More Reporter to Resurface in Atlanta

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Back on December 30th of last year, FTVLive FIRST broke the story that WBFF (Baltimore) had fired Reporter Melinda Roeder.

Roeder was pink slipped after airing the controversial story in which she said protestors at a Washington, D.C. rally chanted, ‘We won’t stop, we can’t stop, so kill a cop." 

That was not what the protestors were saying and the station apologized and then canned Roeder and the Photographer that worked on the story. It should be pointed out that insiders claim the story idea came directly from the station's News Director Mike Tomko.

Roeder has now landed a new job in a place with much better weather. She is joining WGCL in Atlanta.

"I'm excited to be working in a top 10 market, but most importantly, I will be working again for a general manager that I worked for years ago in Lexington, Kentucky," Roeder said in an email to The Baltimore Sun. "He's obviously familiar with my work and work ethic." 

As for Fox45, "I understand the station has undergone some major staffing changes.  I wish my former co-workers all the best," she wrote.

Crossing the Street in Seattle

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Reporter Janet Kim is crossing the street from KING (Seattle) to KCPQ. 

On her KING bio page (which is still online BTW) it states Kim joined KING 5 News as a general assignment Reporter in March 2014 and is thrilled to be at a station she admired since the start of her career.

Well, the admiration must have worn off a bit, because she is leaving for another station in town.

Here is the internal memo, obtained by FTVLive: 

Please join me in welcoming a new reporter to our Q13 FOX team!

Janet Kim was most recently a reporter at KING, covering Tacoma and Pierce County, and before that, reported at WTVF in Nashville and WKYT in Kentucky. Before that, Janet worked as a weekend anchor at KDRV in Medford, OR. She graduated with a triple major from the University of Texas and has earned her Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

 Janet is truly dedicated to local news coverage and is excited to join our talented team. “I believe in Q13 FOX's pillars of coverage, which center around keeping your family safe and stories about schools, neighborhoods and crime prevention. Covering breaking news is also what I love about the job, because it gives us a chance to detail historic events as they unfold. I'm excited to join an organization that shares my same values!" 

Janet joins us on March 23rd
Please join me in welcoming her then!

How I Work - Kevin Corke Fox News

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In this edition of FTVLive's "How I Work" we head to Washington, DC and the Fox News bureau. We asked Fox News White House Correspondent Kevin Corke to tell us how he works.

Corke is still relatively new at Fox News (he joined FNC late last year), but not at the White House. Corke worked as the White House Correspondent for NBC News in the past. 

Now, he tells us how he works:

Twitter name: @kevincorke

 Location: Washington, D.C. (where to quote Jimmy McMillan, The Rent Is Too Damn High!) 

 Current gig: White House Correspondent, Fox News

 Current computer: HP at work, Mac Book Pro at home

 Current mobile device: Apple IPhone 6 Plus (surely my next phone will be the size of my car windshield)

 One word that best describes how you work: Loudly

 What are your favorite Apps that you can't live without? Twitter, Netflix, Hulu, Uber, OnePlace, SmartThings, Pandora

What's your workspace like? I have a nice office in the bureau which I rarely use.  I’m at the Fox News White House booth 99% of the time.  It is the size of a very small walk in closet (maybe 10’ x 12’) and it seats up to four. The good news is there’s rarely a dull moment.  Most days are spent walking in and out of the West Wing for live shots or up to the briefing room for some sparring with the Press Secretary or one of his lieutenants.  I’m in at 7am and fortunately my commute to work takes about 10 minutes.  The best part of working at the White House?  It’s like a very small family.  You respect and become friends with many of the people against whom you compete at the news outlets.  No matter who is in office you truly get the sense that you’re working on behalf of the American people.

Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can't you live without? Loving my SmartThings kit.  Nicest gift I’ve gotten in a very, long time.

What Music are you listening to? Any good slow jams, Kanye, Jay-Z, John Legend, Mumford & Sons, Darius Rucker, classical music.

I’ve been known to throw in some house music and even old school album rock too. As a kid, I spent a lot of summers driving from Colorado to my grandparents and back then we listened to whatever was on the radio.

What's your sleep routine like? I nap easily.  I can recharge my battery in an hour any time.  Generally I’m in bed by 10pm and up by 5am but twice a week I’m up at 230am for morning show duty.

Best Advice you Ever Got? Don’t hold grudges and don’t take it personally.  Do your job the very best you can, have fun if you can and remember if it doesn’t work out don’t take it personally.  It’s A JOB…not YOUR JOB!

Previously:
How I Work- Lauren  Sivan 
How I Work - David Johnson

FIOS Drops The Weather Channel

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No word if we will see the American Bald Ego AKA Jim Cantore freak out again, but it appears that Verizon FIOS and the Weather Channel have kicked off another retrans pissing match.

Eventually, as always this will get worked out with neither side saying how much they are paying/getting for the retransmission of The Weather Channel. In the end, customers will see an increase in their bill and the fat cats will continue to line their pockets.

Here is the email sent to FIOS customers early this morning: