What About Bob?

CBS Bob Schieffer announced he was going to retire last month.

When he made the announcement, Schieffer said he would be leaving sometime this Summer.

Well now it appears that Bob isn't going to make it to Summer, he's leaving this month. The longtime CBS newsman says he is stepping down May 31st.

last Sunday as host of CBS' "Face the Nation" will be on May 31.

It will give his replacement John Dickerson time to get settled in over the slow Summer months and get ready to cover the never ending Presidential race in earnest in the Fall. 

As for Schieffer, he hasn't said what he will be doing after leaving as the network's chief Washington correspondent.

But he did say that if he continues to do any TV work, he'll never work any place other than CBS."

Sorry Jeff Zucker. 

Down Goes Shaq

If a NBA Analyst falls in the studio, does it make a sound?

Ummmm.....yes.

WATCH: Shaq breaks the internet.

Posted by NBA on TNT on Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Like We Said....

Back on April 27th, while talking about the problems at Al Jazeera America, FTVLive wrote, "Word is that Al Jazeera America CEO Ehab Al-Shihabi was just "summoned" to Doha headquarters amidst rumors he will be fired."

Well guess what? 

AJA has announced that Al-Shihabi is out at CEO and that Al Anstey replaces interim CEO.

Not to say we told you so...but we totally did. 

While other websites wait for the press release to come out, FTVLive breaks the news before it happens. 

Raleigh Photographer Assaulted on Story

WRAL Photographer Jay Jennings says he was attacked while covering a story and that he  suffered a head injury.

Jennings was shooting video outside the home of where a double murder happened 4 decades ago. 

Jennings said that, as he was filming the home, he saw a blue pick-up truck pull onto the property at about 2 p.m. Jennings said he then heard someone walking and he shouted a greeting to them. The individual yelled back to Jennings that he had 45 seconds to leave the area.

Jennings said he began to gather his equipment and the next thing he remembered was being struck.

Paramedics treated Jennings for his injuries. The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office told the Bladen Journal that “they had a vehicle stopped” in connection with the assault but no charges have been filed yet. 

The property where the attack occurred was the site of the grisly murders of Josephine and Aileen Davis, which took place in 1976. Joseph Sledge, a former Fayetteville resident, had escaped from the White Lake Prison Camp a day before the murders occurred.

Sledge had maintained his innocence throughout his 37 years in prison. His conviction was overturned in January and the SBI reopened the investigation. Sledge is now living in Savannah, Georgia.

H/T The Robesonian 

Looks like the Grass is Not Always Greener on the Other Side

FTVLive has been telling you about all the problems at Al Jazeera America.

The New York Times reports about an exchange former CNN Anchor Ali Velshi had with the head of AJA in a meeting.

The Times writes, "Mr. Velshi’s line of questioning and his exchanges with Mr. Al Shihabi were particularly heated, according to five people present at the meeting.

Days later, when Mr. Velshi was not present, Mr. Al Shihabi threatened to sue Mr. Velshi and fire him, according to employees who said they heard him speaking openly in the newsroom.

“I’ll spend whatever I have to spend to bankrupt him in court,” Mr. Al Shihabi said, according to one employee who was there. Another heard Mr. Al Shihabi say, “He’s finished here.”"

The Times adds that, "Mr. Velshi remains employed. In a statement, he said: “To hear that public threats of litigation and of bankrupting me have been made, if true, is disheartening and deeply troubling.” He declined to comment further."

Sources tell FTVLive that Velshi is already in talks to return to CNN.

Stay tuned and remember where you read it FIRST. 

OH CNN....

Some poor timing by CNN, they run a story on the Germanwings crash and the pilot's role in it.

While the is airing, CNN pops up a lower third for Mike Rowe, with the tagline "Somebody's got to do it..."

Not exactly good timing with the story that was being aired. 

San Diego Station Staffers Ordered not to Talk About UFO

It seems like the perfect story for May sweeps, but staffers at one San Diego station are being ordered to stay quiet.

KNSD cameras captured an unusual colorful grouping of aerial lights over San Ysidro, close to the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Some said they appeared to be red, blue, and green and kept flashing and changing colors. Some who saw them say the lights didn't seem to move, like those on a plane or a drone," the station reported. They also said they called the military for answers.  "We put in calls to the military here to see if they could identify what these were. So far, no response."

But now it seems the station has gone quiet about the lights in the sky. 

After UFO researchers and The Huffington Post called, asking for details of the event.

A Reporter, who said she was instructed not to give her name, told HuffPost that the station management didn't want any of their photographers interviewed or giving out information on the matter. 

On the evening the video was shot, NBC 7 had been in the San Ysidro area working on an unrelated story. 

One eyewitness, Larry Fox, sent photos to the TV station in which he described seeing something that "looked like a strobe light." Fox told NBC 7 he didn't feel it was a plane or drone. "It was a series of flashing lights. If it was a plane, it would have moved."

Here's video of the lights in the sky:

Anchor asks Co-Anchor If His Wife Swings?

The WGN Morning News crew lost it (again) over a story about swingers in Scotland.

It goes off the rails when one Anchor asked the other if his wife swings?

His reply is a classic.

Let's go to the video:

Star Linebacker Learned a lot from News Anchor

Ohio State Buckeye linebacker Darron Lee is a star on the team and one head coach Urban Myer is looking to as a leader this season.  

The former high school quarterback wanted to play for Ohio State so bad, but the team told him "no".

He refused to take no for an answer.

"The most impressive thing about Darron is he came to camp looking for a scholarship offer from Ohio State," said Meyer, who is entering his fourth season as Buckeyes' coach. "We decided not to offer him yet. Told him to come back. Came back. I think we did it at least four times. And most kids move on and go to a smaller school. And this kid, said, 'No, this is what I want. I want to play at Ohio State. I'm going to come back again and I'm going to show you.'"

The offer finally came, but with another challenge. Lee would be moved to linebacker.

"Getting here, that transition was pretty difficult because I wasn't as big yet," Lee said. "I didn't really know what I was doing."

Lee says that he ate a lot of peanut butter to bulk up and he got great advice from a local news Anchor.

WCMH Anchor Candice Lee has been giving the star football player advice his entire life. It's easy to do, because Candice is Darron's mom. 

"I learned a lot from her," Darron said. "She said if you ever speak to people, make sure you speak clearly so you can get your point across."

And while Darron is a big star in Columbus, his mom Candice still gets recognized more than her son.

Maybe because she doesn't anchor the news wearing a helmet. 

H/T To the AP

Headed to Charlotte

WHIO (Dayton) Anchor John Paul is leaving the station but staying in the Cox family.

Paul who has been at the station since 2008 is headed to WAXN in Charlotte to anchor the morning newscast.

Before Dayton, Paul worked at another Cox station, WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio.

He starts his new gig in Charlotte in August.

Happy Hump Day

Our friends at Devlin Design Group are helping you over the hump on this Wednesday.

Internet Overtakes TV

Comcast announced that for the first time ever that people who subscribe to the company’s Internet service surpassed its total video subscribers.

The development signals a major turning point in the technological evolution sweeping across the media business, as the Internet becomes the gateway for information and entertainment.

Comcast is  the country’s largest broadband provider, with more than 22 million high-speed Internet customers.

Today, another person will dump Comcast TV service and go with only the Internet. That person is me. I'm sick of paying over a hundred bucks for a bunch of channels I don't watch. 

I have been using SlingTV the streaming service from Dish for a while now and it really gives me just about everything I want. Throw in HBO and my TV bill goes from well over a hundred bucks, down to $35. 

Today, I am going to cut the cord. 

Class Move

Any longtime reader of FTVLive knows about our feelings towards the Emmys. The award is worth bupkis in our mind and we mainly ignore them completely.

But, we do need to point out a couple of moments from the Sports Emmys.

Ernie Johnson, host of "NBA on TNT" took the Sports Emmy for Best Studio Host - but seconds after winning the award, he turned around and gave it away. 

Johnson handed the award to Taelor and Sydni Scott - daughters of the late Stuart Scott, the veteran ESPN sportscaster who died of cancer at age 49 back in January. 

He called the girls on the stage and said, "This is your Emmy," as he handed it over to him. 

The other great moment was when ESPN Reporter Shelley Smith made an appearance. Smith battling cancer, her colleague Hannah Storm tweeted a picture of the "beautifully bald" Smith, writing: "The amazing @ShelleyESPN on stage at the #SportsEmmys".

H/T NY Daily News

Are you Kidding Me?!

The Price is Right gave a woman in a wheelchair a new treadmill.

Welcome to ratings.

Let's go to the video:

Uploaded by Stefan Yungtriniboii on 2015-05-05.