Toledo Station Names New ND

/

WTOL in Toledo has named Anthony Knopps as its news director.

Knopps spent more than a dozen years across the street at WTVG as the Assistant News Director. 

In a statement issued Monday, WTOL Vice President Brian Lorenzen said it was Knopps’ impressive “success with previous challenges and desire to lead” that caught his attention.

He played a major role in bumping KRQE, a CBS affiliate in Albuquerque, from No. 3 to the top spot in market. He also has worked for KCTV in Kansas City and KFVS in Cape Girardeau.

The change in leadership comes following the departure of CJ Hoyt, who left the news director post at the end of June.

H/T Toledo Blade

O-Town Station Hires New Weather Anchor

/

WKMG (Orlando) has hired Candace Campos to do the dreaded weekend-morning shift.

Campos joined the CBS affiliate last month from Eugene, Ore., where she worked at KVAL, also a CBS affiliate. Before that, Campos started at WSVN in Miami, where she worked as a weather producer for more than five years.

Campos, who was born and raised in Miami, says she wanted to get back to Florida. Her station bio traces her interest in weather to Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Justin Warmoth, who was appointed WKMG's weekend morning anchor last week, raved about working with Campos.

"She is awesome, very easy to talk with in person or at the desk on air," he said. "She makes it fun in the morning. I'm looking forward to working alongside her."

Campos will report on the days she isn't working as a meteorologist.

H/T Orlando Sentinel 

Miss New Jersey Lands Anchor Job

/

South Jersey based cable channel SNJ Today will start a weekly news broadcast on July 23, and its news anchor will be for a former Miss New Jersey.

Cara McCollum will lead the news team for broadcasts at 7 and 11 p.m., said SNJ Today Chief Operating Officer Frank DiMauro.

DiMauro said he wants the news broadcasts to fill the gap left when WMGM shutdown it's news department late last year. 

Some of the WMGM staff is now working at SNJ. Nick Pittman will cover the weather, while Mike Frankel will handle sports, DiMauro said. Megan Wolf, WMGM former news director, will hold the same post with SNJ Today, he said.

McCollum, who reigned as Miss New Jersey 2013, will be the face of a news team that DiMauro said contains some veterans and newcomers. He said this will be McCollum’s first time anchoring a news broadcast.

Well, give her credit for starting at a part time cable news operation instead of trying to go straight to the networks. 

H/T Press of Atlantic City 

Getting it Real, But Not Getting it Right

/

If you are reading Fox News Anchor Gretchen Carlson's new book, 'Getting Real', here is a bit of a head scratcher.

On Page 169, Carlson says she was paired to co-anchor at WOIO (Cleveland) with Steve Coleman. 

Here's the problem: there never was a Steve Coleman at WOIO or its sister station WUAB.  Gretchen's co-anchor on the weekend was Dave Barker from Los Angeles. There was a Carey Coleman who did weather after Gretchen had been there a couple of years, but no Steve Coleman.

There was a Steve Coleman that worked at WRIC in Richmond, a station that Carlson also worked out. But there was no Steve Coleman at WOIO as Carlson claims in her book. 

While Carlson is getting it real, she is not exactly getting it right.

Just saying....

Former CNNer Still in The Hospital After Shootout

/

KOAT in Albuquerque spoke with former CNN Anchor Lynn Russell and her husband, former CNN Reporter Chuck de Caro.

The couple would not allow TV cameras in their room, but did pose for a couple of photographs. 

De Caro is still recovering from gunshot wounds received after shooting out with a man that tried to rob him and his wife at an Albuquerque hotel.

De Caro is pictured smiling and says that he is recovering well. 

Reality is just starting to sink in for Russell. She said she cried about the ordeal for the first time on Saturday night.

Despite the wounds and pain, both de Caro and Russell made it clear that they’re very grateful for the all the support they’ve received from the community.

De Caro is expected to be out of the hospital by next week. 

Setting the Record Straight

/

Back last week, FTVLive posted a story from TVNewsCheck reporting that former WJLA Assistant News Director Mark Hanner is headed to WDJT in Milwaukee in the same role. 

We checked LinkedIn where Hanner listed himself as the Assistant News Director at WJLA. But, a number of people emailed us to say that Hanner was never the deuce at WJLA.

He was the one time Asst. ND at NewsChannel 8, the cable station in DC that is run by WJLA. But one emailer said that he was demoted from that job to line Producer before leaving the station. His LinkedIn makes no reference to that.

Holly Shannon was the longtime Assistant News Director at WJLA. That is before Sinclair came in and eliminated the position. Shannon is still at the station but is now, "Director of Special Projects."

Hanner has since changed his LinkedIN to say he was the Assistant News Director at WJLA NewsChannel 8.

Either way, TVNewsCheck had his the story wrong and we posted it as well.

FTVLive regrets the error and wanted to set the record straight. 

Which we now have. 

Shuffling Off from Buffalo

/

WIVB Sports Anchor Lauren Brill is leaving the station at the end of the month.

Brill, who came to the CBS affiliate three years, hasn’t announced her departure. However, the station is advertising for a sports anchor and reporter on its website and a source confirmed the opening is for her job.

According to the source, Brill made the decision to leave before WIVB had to a chance to decide whether to keep her when her contract expired in August.

It is unclear if she has another job just yet.

With Brill's departure, only weekday sports anchor Steve Vesey will be left on the station's sports staff until her replacement is found.

H/T Buffalo News

Bumped up in Philly

/

Tonight at 5PM, longtime Philly Anchor Ukee Washington will sit in the big chair at KYW. 

Washington is finally stepping into the spotlight that seems to been prepared for him since he arrived at the CBS O&O as a sports anchor 29 years ago.

Having anchored the station’s morning newscasts for a number of years, Washington will now anchor the weekday 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts on CBS3 and the 10 p.m. broadcast on CW Philly (channel 57).

“I got the news from our new general manager (Brien Kennedy) I’d say about a week and a half ago,” Washington said in a recent interview with The Philadelphia Tribune. “I wasn’t expecting it. I was still coming in doing my thing, and unfortunately, the news comes with the loss and departure of some dear friends and co-workers (Chris May, Beasley Reece and Kathy Orr have all been released). But I’ve always been a team player, and whatever is needed from our team, I’m game. I’ve been that way. It’s from my athletic background. When it comes to the betterment of our team, of our product, of our program, if that’s what’s requested of me, then I’m there. God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle, so I’m ready.”

Washington, who celebrated his 29th anniversary with the station on July 9, was honored that the new GM had the confidence to make him what is essentially the face and voice of CBS 3. “That makes me feel really, really good,” he said. “Either he’s done, maybe, some research — maybe talked to people, but that makes me feel very good, and makes the work that I’ve done in the past pay off.

“It inspires me to continue to do the right thing, and to gain the confidence and trust that is so needed in this industry and so needed in our community. I hope young people especially [will see] that I’m a kid from West Philadelphia and Dover, Del., that has worked, I think, very hard and loves what he does, and that it can happen to them too."

H/T Philly Trib

Now You Know Why He's Behind the Camera

/

WGN Photographer Sean Maroney got his moment in the spotlight and showed why he should stay on the other side of the lens. 

On Reporter Ana Belaval’s Friday “Around Town” segment, she been asking Chicagoans all day to play “Name That Song” on the air. 

When WGN Morning News anchor Robin Baumgarten asked if Sean could dance, too, he responded by busting a move and bumping the Reporter out of the shot! 

Let's go to the video:

Lightning Hit Forces Denver Station to Go Old School

/

You can have all the technology and gadgets you want, but Mother Nature can make them inoperable in an instant.

KUSA in Denver had to do the newscast old school after their tower took a direct lighting hit.

"Lightning hit our studio and subsequently killed our control room. A newscast with no video, no graphics, and one camera just takes a little creativity," The station said on Facebook.

The station still did their newscast, but it looked very old school. You were half waiting for the Carmel News Caravan to start up (click here if you don't know what I'm talking about). 

Here's video of KUSA's newscast Unplugged:

ICYMI: 9NEWS at 10 tonight presented a bit of an interesting challenge. Lightning hit our studio and subsequently killed our control room. A newscast with no video, no graphics, and one camera just takes a little creativity. #9NEWSunplugged.

Posted by 9NEWS (KUSA) on Friday, July 10, 2015

Ummmm... He's Not Dead Yet

/

A well known Atlanta area Artist Andy Davis was involved in a tragic accident, when a pickup ran into the motorcycle he was riding.

 Davis was recently tapped to create a sculpture of MLK on the state capitol grounds in Georgia. 

While David laid in ICU in very critical condition, WSB in Atlanta reported that he was dead.

He was not and after being told of their awful mistake, WSB quickly tried to scrub social media of their error.

Here's s screen shot of what they posted:

Maybe next time, work on being right instead of first.

Just saying....

Motown Anchor Grabs Sledgehammer Starts Smashing Things

/

WXYZ Anchor Stephen Clark grabbed a sledgehammer and started swinging like Nexstar after taking over a new station. 

But, it's all good. Clark is trying to start the next ice bucket challenge and is asking people to "Smash SMA."

SMA stands for spinal muscular atrophy, a disease that his 2 year old granddaughter, Scarlet is afflicted with.

Clark wants to fin a cure for her and all the other kids that have been hit with SMA. So he is going to start hitting things and he wants you to as well.

Watch the video as he explains:

I need your help to Smash SMA...the #1 genetic killer of children. And I need to do it in my granddaughter Scarlet's lifetime. So lets get smashing! #SMAshSMA And, if the urge strikes you, make a donation to www.curesma.org.