Signing off in Des Moines

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Longtime KCCI Anchor Kevin Cooney used the final days of the May book to announce that he will retire and sign off in the November book. 

"This has been the dream job, in the perfect place, for a political junkie like myself,” said Cooney. "From covering Iowa as the epicenter of national politics every four years to sharing local stories important to all, serving Iowans in my current role has always been both a pleasure and an honor."

Cooney has helped shape KCCI for four decades, starting when he was in high school in 1969 when KCCI was known as KRNT.

He became full-time in 1974, and took over the anchor desk for the 6 and 10 p.m. news in 1982.

KCCI announced 5 p.m. anchor Steve Karlin will add the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts to his anchor duties when Cooney retires in November.

ABC Done with Stepahnopoulos Probe

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While NBC's investigation into lies told by Anchorman Brian Williams is about to enter it's 4th month, ABC has already wrapped up their probe of Anchor George Stephanopolous's donations to the Clintons. 

ABC News says they plan no further investigation int Stephanopolous and his cozy relationship to the Clinton Foundation. “Of course we have asked George about other contributions that he’s made, and there’s no conflict,” a senior ABC executive told the Daily News’ television editor, Don Kaplan. “George contributes to dozens of charities and these were a small portion of that.” Stephanopolous (l.), ABC’s chief anchor, chief political correspondent and a “Good Morning America” host, admitted last week he has donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation since 2011.

And while ABC says they are done looking into their Anchor's donations, at least two network sources told the Daily News that “World News” anchor David Muir and former anchor Diane Sawyer could play larger roles covering the 2016 presidential election than initially planned.

Although, ABC sources are telling FTVLive that Stephanopolous is lobbying hard (begging) to stay in the mix of coverage for the 2016 election.

Our source says that ABC plans to pull Stephanopolous away for now, but that he will slowly be worked back into coverage after this whole donation scandal calms down.

Stay tuned....

Put the Broads back in Broadcasting

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The NY Daily News' Linda Stasi dishes some advice to anchors Bill O'Reilly, Brian Williams and George Stephanopoulos.

She comes up with 3 simple rules.

Rule No. 1. Don’t Drag Your Wife Down the Stairs is clearly aimed at Bill O'Reilly

Rule No. 2. Don’t Pay Where You Eat is for George Stephanopoulos

And Rule No. 3. Report the Truth, and You Won’t Get Bitten in the Butt, she is looking squarely at BriWi.

And then Stasi makes this point:

"Correct me if I’m misremembering too, but do you remember these kinds of scandals ever hitting female anchors? I mean, did Diane Sawyer ever say she got shot down in Iraq, did Katie Couric ever contribute big to the Clintons, did Barbara Walters ever beat a husband?"

Solution: More women in anchor chairs.

You have to admit...she makes a good point.

Waco P-I-O Calls Out CNN for Reporting

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Waco Police Sgt. Patrick Swanton called out CNN at a press briefing for their reporting on the biker gang shooting. 

As the briefing was wrapping up, Swanton turned his attention to CNN's reporting without mentioning the network by name.

“If you don’t know that it’s a fact, please come to me and I will give that information if I can,” said Swanton.

He continued at scolding length:

"There was a media outlet that was reporting that law enforcement killed four of the individuals at this scene Sunday afternoon. I will tell you, whoever told you that, that person belongs on “CSI” because the autopsies have not been completed and it is impossible at this point to determine that fact. I will tell you, is it possible? Yes. Is it a fact? No. Not until the autopsies are complete and we get the final results. Will we tell you how many we shot and how many were possibly deceased by police rounds? Without a doubt we will. You will know that when we know that. The information that is out there right now — if you got lucky and guessed that number, congratulations. If you didn’t, shame on you for putting that information out there that may have been incorrect."

CNN claims to have gotten that information from a police source.

Swanton appeared later on CNN and again told the network that should stick to the facts.

While speaking to Ashleigh Banfield, he said, "There are lots of possibilities here. What it’s important that you understand is that’s not fact. What you’ll get from the source that’s releasing information, which is Waco police and Texas [Department of Public Safety], is fact. Is there a possibility that more were killed by police? Yes there is. Is there a possibility that less were killed by police? Yes there is. It’s not fact, and that’s what you’re going to get from us.” 

H/T Washington Post

That's a Wrap!

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Latenight host David Letterman will wrap up his 33 years of late night TV when he signs off from CBS's Late Show tonight. 

The longest-serving nighttime talk show host in US TV with more than 6,000 shows to his name, 68-year-old Letterman has been honored with tributes in US media, and by a host of celebrities.

Last week, his "Late Show" parade of A-list guests included Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Adam Sandler, Al Pacino and Bill Clinton. 

"I'm naked and afraid," Letterman told CBS Sunday, half seriously, half joking. "Any enormous uprooting change in my life has petrified me," he said. But once through the other side "the reward has been unimaginable."

Letterman got his first comedy show on NBC in 1982, before defecting to CBS in 1993 to host the "Late Show" after the biggest career disappointment of his career -- losing out to Jay Leno as host of the "Tonight" show.

"They didn't push me out," Letterman told The New York Times.

"I'm 68. If I was 38, I'd probably still be wanting to do the show. When Jay was on... I thought, this is still viable -- an older guy in a suit. And then he left, and I suddenly was surrounded by the Jimmys."

Letterman who announced his intention to retire last year, will be replaced on September 8 by Stephen Colbert.

H/T Yahoo

ABC's $100 Million Dollar Man

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The New York Post is continuing to pile on ABC Anchor and Clinton buddy George Stephanopoulos.

Stephy is catching a lot of heat for giving his old boss and his wife $75,000 and not telling any of his bosses about the donation. 

The Post reports that the Mickey Mouse network had signed Stephanopoulos to a $105 million dollar contract last year. 

It's no wonder he can easily shell a mere $75 grand to the Clintons. 

The seven-year deal — which dwarfs the five-year, $50 million contract scored by NBC's Brian Williams was supposed to keep Stephanopoulos in front of ABC’s cameras through 2021.

Of course BriWi is sitting out a 6 month suspension that could turn into a firing. 

While Stephanopoulos continues to twist in  the wind, Andy Lack and the crew over at NBC are happy to see the spotlight off of the Peacock and their disgraced anchor. 

Stephanopoulos is doing all he can to keep his gig and hoping that ABC does not pull him off their political coverage. In a mea culpa delivered Sunday on “This Week,” Stephanopoulos, who said the Clinton gifts “were a matter of public record, but I should have made additional disclosures on air when we covered the foundation.”

It was his second on-air apology in less than a week.

The ABC Anchorman is in the sites of both the GOP and the conservative media. He might be wise to take a page out of the Bill O'Reilly handbokk and instead of saying he's sorry, just deny everything and threaten people. 

It seems to be working better than saying "sorry."

Just ask Brian Williams....if you run into him walking his dog. 

Like We Said.....

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Back on March 23rd, FTVLive FIRST told you that, KMOV (St. Louis) Anchor Sharon Reed was spotted having dinner with WGCL (Atlanta) News Director Larry Perrett at an Atlanta restaurant. 

On April 23rd, FTVLive FIRST told you that Reed had done some on camera testing at WGCL and that the video was being shown to focus groups. 

Well, now WGCL has announced that Reed will be joining the station as an Anchor for its Early Evening and Late Newscasts.  She will be starting in mid-June.

“To have Sharon join the CBS46 news team is a win for us and a win for Atlanta viewers.  She has experience in a number of major markets and we can’t wait for her to get started,” said General Manager Mark Pimentel.

Reed has worked as an Anchor/Reporter at WMAR (Baltimore), WSVN (Miami), WCAU (Philadelphia) and WOIO (Cleveland).  

It was while working at WOIO in Cleveland that Reed made headlines when she took off her clothes for a story about an artist that uses nude people in his work. 

“It’s an opportunity to continue working with a great company (Meredith) and to come to a station doing a number of new and exciting things.  On top of that I get an opportunity to get involved in the great city of Atlanta” said Reed.

“Sharon is an incredible addition to our team.  Her journalistic skills and passion for the community are second to none,” said News Director Larry Perret.


Out the Door in Phoenix?

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Here's a question.

If an Anchor goes missing from a show that nobody watches, is the Anchor really missing?

Phoenix insiders tell FTVLive that it appears that KPHO morning Anchor Pat McReynolds is gone from the station. Our source says that he has not been on the morning show for a couple of weeks and it appears he's out the door. 

McReynolds joined KPHO in 2009 and moved to the morning Anchor chair in 2011.

KPHO's morning news gets almost no ratings.

Sources tell FTVLive that Meredith is looking very seriously at dumping KPHO's morning news and simulcasting KTVK's morning show on both channels.

Meredith owns both stations. 

Stay tuned.... 

The Deuce is Bumped Up in the Twin Cities

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anne-wittenborg.jpg

KSTP (Minneapolis) has bumped up Assistant News Director Anne Wittenborg to the News Director chair.  

She replaces previous news director Lindsay Radford, who as FTVLive told you was named ND at KMGH in Denver back in March. 

"I grew up watching Channel 5 and admired the station’s commitment to news," Wittenborg said in a statement. "We have a strong team of journalists who have a passion for telling stories that really matter. I am grateful for their support and I am incredibly excited to lead this team."

Wittenborg joined KSTP in 2000, producing morning and evening newscasts, until 2005. She returned to serve as Executive Producer in 2008, and was promoted to Assistant News Director in 2013.

"While we identified a number of excellent, worthy candidates I also knew that we had a strong leader in our own building," Robert Hubbard, president and general manager of Hubbard Broadcasting, said in a statement. "I am confident that Anne has the leadership skills and dedication to our news product to take our team to the next level."

Knocking Off the King in Chicago

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With the May book almost over, WMAQ in Chicago is this/close to knocking blowtorch WLS off the ratings throne.

Robert Feder writes that WMAQ appears poised to overtake the market’s perennial front-runner, WLS in the prime demos.   

As of last Friday, NBC 5’s 10 p.m. newscast, anchored by Allison Rosati and Rob Stafford (both pictured), was averaging a 3.6 percent share of the 25-to-54 audience — up from 3.1 in April and 2.9 last May. ABC 7’s 10 p.m. newscast, anchored by Kathy Brock and Ron Magers, had a 3.4 share in the demo — up from 3.3 in April and 3.2 last May.

WBBM is a very distant third. 

Indy Station Hires New Anchor

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WRTV (Indianapolis) has added a new co-anchor to its 7 p.m. newscast.

Jason Fechner, a reporter and anchor at WQAD 8 in the Quad Cities since 2006, will join WRTV on Thursday. He will co-anchor the 7 p.m. newscast with Ericka Flye.

Todd Connor, the former co-host, will focus on special projects during the 7 p.m. newscast, and will continue to co-anchor the 11 p.m. newscast.

Before joining WQAD, Fechner started his broadcast career as a reporter in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, at WXDW.

H/T Indianapolis Business Journal 

Gawker: Bill O'Reilly Assaulted His Wife

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A Nassau County (NY) Supreme Court justice ended a bitter three-year custody dispute between Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly and his ex-wife, Maureen McPhilmy, by granting custody of the couple’s two minor children to McPhilmy.

Gawker writes that, though nearly all documents pertaining to New York family court cases are sealed, Gawker has learned that the justice in the case heard testimony accusing O’Reilly of physically assaulting his wife in the couple’s Manhasset home.

According to a source familiar with the facts of the case, a court-appointed forensic examiner testified at a closed hearing that O’Reilly’s daughter claimed to have witnessed her father dragging McPhilmy down a staircase by her neck, apparently unaware that the daughter was watching. 

O'Reilly shoots back at Gawker's claim that he assaulted his wife, telling Politico, "All allegations against me in these circumstances are 100% false," the Fox News host said in a statement to the On Media blog, issued through his personal attorney. "I am going to respect the court-mandated confidentiality put in place to protect my children and will not comment any further."

Live From On Top of the World

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CBS This Morning that bills itself has a no fluff morning show free of gimmicks, will use a gimmick tomorrow morning. 

CBS announced that the morning show will broadcast live from One World Observatory, which sits atop One World Trade Center.

The network says the show be will "serving as television’s first look at the space and experience in advance of its public opening on Friday, May 29."

Co-hosts Charlie Rose, Gayle King, and Norah O'Donnell will be joined live on the 102nd floor by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as well as 60 Minutes contributor and New York City native Anderson Cooper later in the broadcast.

“We're excited to reveal this spectacular space,” said Chris Licht, Executive Producer of CBS This Morning and Vice President of News Programming for CBS News. “It is a true symbol of how far New York City has come since 9/11 and we're privileged to be able to take our viewers there.”

The fact that the broacast will take place on the last day of the May book is probably just a coincidence. 

Hearst Announces Deal to Sell Station to SJL

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Hearst announced that they are selling its Hawaii ABC-network affiliate KITV to California-based SJL Broadcast Management.

“We expect the transaction to close later this year pending requisite regulatory approvals,” said Hearst spokesman Tom Campo, in a statement.

Hearst has owned KITV and neighbor island sister-stations KMAU-TV and KHVO-TV on Maui and Hawaii island, respectively, for 18 years.

Hearst “is proud of its ownership … and of our KITV colleagues,” the statement continued. “We’ll continue to work with the KITV team during the transition.”

SJL is the same company that bought KHON-TV in 2006. 

The transition team brought in to run KHON announced multiple job cuts and other changes that resulted in the mass resignations of the station’s management executives, including General Manager Rick Blangiardi, who went on to lead Hawaii News Now’s KGMB-TV and KHNL-TV.

So in other words, if you work at KITV, you best update your resume.

Just saying.... 

H/T Star Advertiser