FIRST ON FTVLive! New GM Named in Philly (Updated)

Sources tell FTVLive that a meeting has been called at WCAU for 3PM.

FTVLive hears that the station will announce that WVIT GM Ric Harris will be named the new GM of the Philly station. 

Harris has been the GM of WVIT for  the past two years after being bumped up from the sales ranks at the station.

Stay tuned......

Updated: FTVLive told you it was going to happen! 

While other sites wait for the press release, FTVLive is breaking the stories before they even happen.

FTVLive first told you that WVIT (Hartford) GM was going to be bumped up the NBC food chain to the GM job at WCAU in Philly.  

Exactly as FTVLive reported, that is what happened.

“Ric Harris is a strong leader with proven experience and a passion for delivering viewers what they are looking for,” said president of NBC Owned Television Stations Valari Staab. “WCAU and WWSI have grown tremendously over the last several years, and I am confident that Ric will drive their continued success.”

FTVLive continues to break the stories FIRST! 

Andy Lack Turns Focus to MSNBC

New NBC News boss Andy Lack has a full plate trying to get the network's news division back on track and figure out what to do with his suspended lying main Anchor.

But Lack also has to try and fix the very broken MSNBC and that isn't going to be easy.

Mediaite reports that Lack is often attending MSNBC chief Phil Griffin‘s 11:30 a.m. editorial meetings; and, to quote one witness, Lack regularly appears “underwhelmed” with the story pitches. 

Even more daunting for the staffs of three struggling MSNBC programs, Lack has requested evidence that their shows remain viable. 

A couple of weeks ago, the executive producers of Now with Alex Wagner, The Ed Show, and All In with Chris Hayes were told to prepare “sizzle reels” of the best their programs have to offer. Theoretically, this exercise will help them identify what works best on their respective shows but, in reality, our sources say, any or all of these shows could soon be on the chopping block. The senior staffs of all three programs, we are told, are now concerned that their days are numbered. 

Mediaite reports that Lack is considering a total overhaul of MSNBC’s daytime programming. The days of Lack’s predecessor Patricia Fili-Krushel deferring to Griffin’s judgment on programming are, according to our sources, officially over. 

The big question, of course, remains what will Lack do with Griffin himself. NBC insiders tell Mediaite that while Lack likes Griffin personally, he has serious questions about Griffin’s ability to effectively run a big cable network like MSNBC. And, so far, we hear, nothing Lack has seen has changed that impression.

There’s a new sheriff in MSNBC town and he’s apparently taking names and preparing to make the changes necessary to make the network competitive again.

Stay tuned.... 

Really?

Not sure how many times we have to point this out, but the message sure doesn't seem to sink in when it comes to TV people using social media.

WABC Reporter Lucy Yang and Telemundo Reporter Yolanda Vasquez are all smiles outside vigil for slain NYC officer.

Vasquez posted the smiling picture on her Instagram. 

A cop is dead, smile.

WCCO Kills Off the Royal Couple

WCCO in Minneapolis must be as sick of the Royal baby stories as we are. So, the station decided to take it up a notch and just killed off Will and Kate.

Man, some stations will do anything for ratings.

Anchor in the Morning, Sell Your House in the Evening

Some of you might be surprised to learn that a job in TV news doesn't always pay that well.

I know...shocking right?

Dan Ball and Anchor at KMIR in Palm Springs announced on Facebook page that he has taken on a second job selling houses.

Ball said that along with anchoring the station's morning show, he will also be working as a Realtor for a local company.

Of course there is all kinds of ways as to why this could be a conflict of interest.

Just saying.... 

News Director Retires in the Middle of the May Book

WDHN (Dothan, AL) News Director Ken Curtis isn't waiting till the end of the May book to leave the station, he quit yesterday.

After nearly three decades in the business, Curtis, 63-years-old, retired from the station on Monday.

WDHN reported Curtis' retirement in an "exclusive" report (no really...they did).

"I have great admiration and respect for Ken, and the work he has done here at WDHN News," anchor Ben Stanfield said. "This is a demanding business, and he has earned a slower pace. Congratulations to him on a great career."

Vice President and General Manager Janie Hinson echoed those sentiments.

"Ken has been a vital part of this organization for a long time, and he has given us his best every day," Hinson said. "We wish him nothing but the best."

"His emphasis was always on local news first," Assignment Editor Stephen Crews said. "He wanted to do stories about the place where our viewers live on things that they care about. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the work he has done here."

Curtis says he plans to stay in the area. 

Ummmmm....I think you meant to say "Annual"

We're fairly certain that this Anchor meant to say "Annual cookie drop" while talking about the girl-scout cookie sale. But, when you say "Anal cookie drop" it just doesn't make me want to eat the scout's cookies.

Let's go to the video: 

News blooper! Anchor says Girls Scouts will be delivering cookies to the Marines through the Anal Operation Cookie Drop.

Just Hit the Idiot

Props to KCPQ (Seattle) Reporter David Rose for holding his cool during a live shot.

Rose had an idiot that was disrupting his shot, but he handled it well. I for one, would have popped the guy right in the face. 

Let's go to the video:

News reporter is trolled by dancing protester in this live TV blooper while reporting on May Day protesters marching for Baltimore.

The Life of Dallas Sports Anchor Dale Hansen

WFAA's (Dallas) Dale Hansen has made news with his stinging commentaries. Especially the ones where he took on racists and the Dallas Cowboys.

And will you might think Hansen is just a gruff, angry old man, a new station promo shows the other side of Dale Hansen.

An animal lover and a golfer.

I always knew that I liked that guy.

WFAA social created content - WFAA Sports Anchor, Dale Hansen

Katie Couric Backs Out of Fight

Not sure if Katie Couric was just trying to pad her frequent flier miles or what?

Couric flew to Las Vegas to see the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight — but turned around and flew back to New York without attending.

Page Six says that Couric, who interviewed Mayweather as well as Pacquiao in April, was seen in Sin City on the day of the fight with husband. But that she then felt “uncomfortable” going to the bout and left town.

The move came after Mayweather’s camp was accused of banning two female reporters, CNN’s Rachel Nichols and ESPN’s Michelle Beadle, for being critical of the fighter’s domestic abuse past. (Mayweather’s camp has denied the reporters were banned.)

In April, Yahoo’s Couric asked Mayweather — who served two months for attacking his ex-girlfriend Josie Harris in front of their kids — about the incident and he shot back: “Did I kick, stomp and beat someone? No, that didn’t happen.”

He claimed to Couric that he “restrain[ed] a woman that was on drugs.”

A friend of Couric’s told us: “The more Katie thought about it, the less comfortable she was going” to the fight.

Ummmmm....Now What Exactly Did YOU See?

RT America Correspondent Manuel Rapalo tweeted out that, just like the Fox News crew,  he saw a man got shot in Baltimore.

He SAW it:

Then when the police came out and said no one was shot, Rapalo tweeted out:

Wait a minute! But didn't he say HE SAW it?

Either the Baltimore cops are lying or Brian Williams is teaching a Journalism class in Baltimore to Reporters. 

WTF?!

Oopsy!

A Fox News crew witnessed a big story developing in Baltimore.

Fox News reported that their crew saw a man get shot multiple times by a police officer in the same area that Freddie Gray was arrested:

The B-More Cops took to Twitter to downplay the Fox News report. They said the guy was not shot multiple times, in fact he was not shot at all.

Oopsy!

Well, sometimes you have to pump the story up a bit when it's ratings.

Reality Check

LA Times Columnist Bill Dwyre at the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was not happy about a shot taken by KNBC Sports Anchor Fred Roggin.

But, before Roggin opened his mouth, he might have wanted to check the numbers says Jim Romenesko:

– The daily print/digital circulation for the Los Angeles Times is 650,000; print alone is 370,990.

– Channel 4/KNBC-TV’s 11 p.m.newscast only has 177,463 viewers.

Although it should be pointed out that at it's peak, the LA Times had over 1 million readers in print alone. So Roggin was wrong, some people still read the LA Times newspaper. But, over 700,000 don't anymore. 

FTVLive scores this round to Roggin. 

PGA Tour Revokes Reporter's Credentials for the Rest of the Year

The PGA Tour comes this week for FTVLive's backyard with The Players Championship here in Jacksonville, but it will be minus one Reporter that will be covering the event. 

FTVLive tried to warn you guys about the app Periscope and now that very app has gotten a Reporter banned from covering the PGA Tour. 

Stephanie Wei writes a popular golf blog called "Wei Under Par." 

This past week, Wei posted video clips of golden boy Jordan’s Spieth’s practice round on Periscope, the Twitter-owned social media app that captures and streams live video.

On Thursday, the Tour yanked Wei’s credential for the rest of the 2015 season, citing multiple violations of its media regulations which prohibit accredited reporters from sharing video images of players taken at tournament venues.

Since the Tour is acting as both judge and jury, Wei has no recourse for appeal. She is free to reapply for a credential at season’s end, and Tour chief marketing officer Ty Votaw says any such request will be “considered.” Votaw says it is rare for the Tour to revoke a credential, and that as a matter of course first-time offenders of any Tour policy are spoken-to and given a second chance. At this year’s Phoenix Open, Wei posted to her Instagram account a few short video clips of Tiger Woods practicing. At the Tour’s insistence, she removed the videos. Wei was warned that further violations of Tour policy could result in her credential being pulled. After the Periscope clips were posted, "We called her bluff,” says Votaw.

But what looks like a decisive loss for Wei has larger repercussions for both fans and reporters. Her harsh treatment at the hands of the Tour has provoked a fierce debate on social media—#freewei became a trendy Twitter hashtag—and her banishment may ultimately be remembered as the start of an accidental rebellion.

“I was trying to increase fan engagement and drum up interest in the event,” Wei said. “This is a much bigger issue than just a few video clips. What this is really about is the Tour needing to modernize its policies.”

Looks like the PGA Tour is taking a page from the NFL's playbook. 

H/T Golf.com

FTVLive Adds New Full-Time Staff Member

FTVLive has gone the past 15 years as a one person operation.

While working as a solo act, FTVLive continues to beat the others guys that have huge staffs and many more people than FTVLive.

Today, we are happy to announce that FTVLive is going to double our staff size, going from 1 to 2. 

Details of the new staffer can be found of the FTVLive About Us page. 

Please welcome our new employee as he looks forward to taking a bite out of TV news coverage.