Helping You Over the Hurdle
/Our friends over at Devlin Design Group are helping you get over the Wednesday hump:
DC Station to Launch New Morning Show that Will Pitch Products
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WUSA says they are launching a new morning show, but is more than likely going to be a place for advertisers to shill stuff.
The station says that the new daily lifestyle program that premieres on the CBS affiliate in September will air each weekday morning at 9 a.m. and is called 'Great Day Washington.'
While describing the show, the station says, "The fresh new WUSA9 talk show will feature in-studio interviews, product demos, on-location feature stories and a frequent live studio audience. Great Day Washington will explore the D.C. region's entertainment, food, fashion, health, home improvement, travel, cooking, local community events, sports and more."
While the station did not say it, it sounds like wit will be a pay for play chance for advertisers to pitch their product or location. The dead give-a-way to that is this quote from GM Mark Burdett; "viewers already know that WUSA9 produces over five hours of local news each day on a variety of platforms. What's new is that Great Day Washington is specifically designed not as a news program but instead as fun morning lifestyle program."
He might as well have just come out and said, it will be a live infomercial.
The station has not yet named talent for the show.
Come on CNN!
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Yesterday, FTVLive showed how CNN moved the entire state of New York into Pennsylvania.
Then last night, while doing a story on the prison escapees, CNN misspelled the town of Tonawanda (NY) where one of the escaped killers is from. The networked spelled it "Tonawonda."
So why is this a big deal?
Because you humble FTVLive Editor is from Tonawanda and we hate seeing our hometown's name butchered on CNN.
Interestingly I think the Town of Tonawanda is happier to call itself the hometown of an escaped killer than the hometown of the FTVLive's Chief Muckraker.
Side note: CBS Weekend Anchor Jeff Glor is also from Tonawanda and went to the same high school as FTVLive.
Small world.
Bob Costas Agrees with FTVLive
/7 days ago, FTVLive gave you our thoughts on ESPN presenting the Arthur Ashe courage award to Caitlyn Jenner.
We said it was nothing more than a ratings ploy and we pointed out an athlete that we felt deserved the award much more than Jenner.
Bob Costas appeared on Dan Patrick's radio show and seems to agree with exactly what we said. Which maybe the first time anyone has ever agreed with us.
Let's hear what Costas had to say on the issue:
Larry King Tweets, But he Doesn't Type Them
/Piers Morgan's BFF Larry King stopped by Conan O'Brien's show last night and talked about his very strange tweets that he likes to send out on Sunday night.
But, what was interesting is we learned that King does not type out the tweets, he has his wife do it.
Which might explain a lot.
Watch the clip:
Ouch! That's Gotta Sting
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WKBW in Buffalo is now owned by Scripps and the company is hiring better people and putting money into the place.
But pervious owner Granite Broadcasting and General Manager Bill Ransom cratered the station's ratings so bad, that Scripps is seeing first hand how awful it is.
Scripps came in and tried to breathe life into the very low rated morning show. They thought that a morning show centered around weather, would be different from the other guys and attract viewers.
It hasn't worked.
How bad is it?
The Buffalo News reports that last Friday, Time Warner Cable News had a higher rating than WKBW from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. and it is only in about half of Buffalo area homes.
TWCN averaged a 0.9 rating, Channel 7 a 0.8. In other words, Channel 7 went from its usual third place in the market to fourth place.
Ouch!
OK If This Doesn't Win and Emmy....
/Local News at it's finest:
@FTVLive Possibly the greatest 20 seconds in local news history. pic.twitter.com/Ks0QMBKuKV
— Robbie Horton (@1uscalumni) June 9, 2015CNN Moves the State of New York
/While cops are looking for the two escaped killers out of a New York prison, they might not want to rely on CNN.
While the authorities have no clue where the escaped convicts are? CNN seems to no clue where the state of New York is?
They moved all of New York into Pennsylvania.
No wonder they never found the missing plane:
Who the Hell?
/WTMJ in Milwaukee likes to promote the Tonight Show with their own custom graphic. For some reason, WTMJ named every guest of the show as Alexander.
Larry "Alexander" was actually Larry David.
No clue who David Alexander was, there wasn't even a David on the show.
Jason Alexander was the only Alexander that was on the show.
As Meatloaf used to sing, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
Not sure what 1 out 3 is, but it ain't good.
Just saying.....
Former Philly Anchor Cries on the Stand
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Former Fox Philly Anchor wept on the stand yesterday in his trial against the station.
Tom Burlington's lawsuit against the station was filed after he was fired for using the N-word in an editorial meeting back in 2007.
Burlington was fired in after he used the N-word during an editorial meeting in which reporters discussed the symbolic burial of the N-word by the Philadelphia Youth Council of the NAACP.
His suit claims that he was punished for his non-pejorative use of the word because he's white.
During the June 23, 2007, meeting, Burlington asked colleagues, "Does this mean we can finally say n-----?" he testified yesterday.
Newscast producer Nicole Wolfe, who was at the meeting, told Burlington afterward that she did not think there was any reasonable time to use the word. His co-anchor, Joyce Evans, told him that others were offended by his comments, according to court documents released last month.
Evans pointedly told him, according to the suit, that he would never understand what it's like to be called the N-word and was not permitted to use it because he is white. Wolfe and Evans are both black.
"I'm not black. I've never been called that," Burlington testified yesterday. "But in my life, I've been called things that are incredibly hurtful."
Nearly a week after he apologized to Wolfe, Evans and other colleagues, Burlington was given a "final warning" by station management, suspended from his job and ordered to undergo sensitivity training.
According to court documents, Burlington was declared fit to return to work after meeting with a sensitivity trainer. Still, he was fired July 12.
When asked why, a manager responded, "Because we have concerns for your safety," Burlington testified yesterday.
In court yesterday, Burlington described black employees being given greater leeway in using racial epithets. He described one incident in which anchor Dave Huddleston, who is black, referred to a criminal as "one dumb n-----" while other employees laughed.
Burlington has not been hired for another job in broadcast journalism, and instead has worked as a real estate agent.
Near the end of questioning by his attorney, Laura Carlin Mattiacci, Burlington began to cry while describing the impact of his termination on his children.
"My biggest fear is that they will someday get on the Internet and see what's being written about me - that I'm a racist," he said.
And the Emmy Goes to.....
/The Southeast Regional Emmys were handed out on Saturday night.
About a hundred awards were handed out including the Emmy for best Anchor.
That award was won by WGCL's Scott Light.
Light was named the best Anchor in the Southeast. So how did WGCL celebrate their Anchor being the best of the best?
Buy him a big cake?
no.
Gave him his own parking spot?
Nope.
No, WGCL decided the best way to celebrate their Emmy award winning Anchor was to fire him. Light was sacked and on Monday they named Ben Swann as his replacement.
Is this a great business or what?
Gannett Board OK's Tegna Spin Off
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It looks like Tegna is really going to happen.
Gannett announced that its board of directors has approved completion of the previously announced separation.
The broadcasting side of the company will be called Tegna and the dying publishing side will be called Gannett.
Gracia Martore, president-CEO of Gannett, will be president-CEO of Tegna upon completion of the separation. She said: “In just three weeks, we will create two industry leaders that will benefit greatly from enhanced strategic, operating, financial and regulatory flexibility as independent companies. We believe strongly that this transaction will enhance performance, unlock shareholder value and give investors access to more targeted investment opportunities with trading valuations that better reflect the distinctive characteristics and growth profiles of both companies.”
H/T TVNewsCheck
Fox Business Anchor is Fracking Pissed
/Fox Business host Stuart Varney got his panties in a bunch when anti-fracking activist Josh Fox called him a liar.
Varney who is pro-fracking was talking about how he lit his drinking water on fire in his house long before fracking came to the area.
Fox thought that was a bit farfetched and called Varney a liar.
That got Varney fracking mad (you see what I did there?) and he threw Fox off the show.
Let's go to the video:
CNN Continues to Sellout
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CNN isn't content on just airing advertisers commercials and plugging products for cash.
Now the one time cable news network is going to start producing the ads and make them look like news.
The Wall Street Journal says that about a dozen staffers (made up of journalists, filmmakers and designers) will help launch the new unit, called Courageous. Here's a thought, if you're doing commercial spots, you are no longer a Journalist.
The division will fashion and distribute “branded content” across CNN’s fleet of properties, from TV to the Web and newer platforms like Snapchat.
“This isn’t about confusing editorial with advertising,” said Dan Riess, executive vice president of integrated marketing and branded content at Turner. “This is about telling advertisers’ stories — telling similar stories but clearly labeling that and differentiating that.”
Mr. Riess said CNN’s trustworthiness when it comes to news was part of the reason Courageous would be attractive to advertisers.
At that point he had to stop talking and go find some water to put out his pants which suddenly caught fire.
Cleveland Weatherman Takes Swipe at NBA Referees
/WEWS Weatherman Mark Johnson is not happy with the Refs of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors.
Johnson thought that the Warriors defense continued to foul LeBron James and the Refs never called it.
So he used his forecast time to take a shot at the Refs:
Crossing the Street in Houston?
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Angela Chen doesn't stick around TV jobs very long.
Chen was hired at KTRK in Houston as a Reporter late last year and she is already leaving the station.
Mike McGuff says that the rumor is that Chen will jump to KRIV across the street.
Chen did not even last a year at KTRK. But, if you look at her resume, you will see that shorts stays are common for her.
Before Houston, Chen was at KOLO in Reno for 1 year. She was at XETV in Sand Diego for 10 months before that.
Before San Diego, Chen worked at KBAK in Bakersfield for 10 months. She was also at KUSI for 1 year and the News 12 Networks on the East Coast for less than a year.
She might be one of those TV Reporters that has United Van Lines on speed dial.
