Tipsters are saying more WFOR reporters are not being renewed or leaving the station.
One is Nefertiti Jaquez.
Another tipster says Brian Andrews hasn’t been to work in two weeks and that he left WFOR. Two other unnamed reporters have not had their contracts renewed.
You could say the new bosses are making changes
Update: Tipster says Brian Andrews may be headed to CNN.
Snap. WPLG just announced they hired former head of the National Hurricane Center Max Mayfield as the station’s hurricane specialist. However, he won’t be at the chroma wall forecasting the hurricane, instead he’ll do much the same he did while at the Hurricane Center - answer questions from the meteorologist and explain the weather data.
Mayfield says he chose WPLG because he believes in their no-hype approach to hurricane coverage!
He officially begins work at WPLG on April 1st.
Mayfield is recognized as one of the world’s most knowledgeable scientists with an expertise in forecasting the path and intensity of tropical storms.
From the Herald:
In a note to employees, Pohovey put it more bluntly: “Just imagine the coverage the next time a storm is heading this way. . . . I’d hate to be sitting in a competing newsroom in this market!”
Channel 10 and 4 will be duking it out this summer on who’s got more hurricane coverage power. Let the bragging begin.
Local10.com - Hurricane Coverage Gets ‘Maxxed’ At WPLG
Miami Herald - Max Mayfield to join WPLG-ABC 10
Sun Sentinel - May Mayfield ends retirement, joins Channel 10 as hurricane expert
Max Mayfield to join WPLG-ABC 10
BY MARTIN MERZER
mmerzer@MiamiHerald.com
Max Mayfield was just a government weather forecaster, but he — somewhat reluctantly — posed for pictures, signed autographs, shook countless hands.
His frequent media appearances during hurricane crises made him something of a television star. Now, it’s official.
Mayfield, who retired as director of the National Hurricane Center in January, signed a three-year contract Thursday with WPLG-ABC 10. He will serve as its full-time hurricane specialist.
What he will do: interpret tropical weather forecasts and help viewers prepare.
What he won’t do: issue his own forecasts or wave his arms this way and that in front of those fancy TV graphics.
”I will not expend any effort ever on the forecast,” Mayfield, 58, said. “I don’t think anyone can beat the quality of the forecasts of the hurricane center.
”I’ll just try to make it understandable . . . ,” he said. “I will most likely be doing what I’ve done in the past, sitting at a monitor and interacting with the anchors and the weather people there at WPLG and keeping that close connection with local emergency managers.”
Competition for Mayfield’s services has been keen since he retired after a 34-year career. He said he rejected flattering offers from the Weather Channel and several television networks.
Joining a South Florida operation will allow him to spend more time at his Kendall home with his wife and, when they’re not at school, their three children. He begins there April 1.
”I just had to decide on something, and I just felt like it was a good fit with the local station,” he said. “South Florida, as far as the number of people, is one of the most vulnerable areas anywhere, and I hope I will be able to contribute.”
The contract gives WPLG exclusive media rights to Mayfield’s expertise, though he still plans to speak at conferences and accept other duties related to hurricane preparedness.
Bill Pohovey, WPLG’s vice president of news, said Mayfield will work closely with the station’s chief meteorologist, Don Noe, and the rest of the staff. He called the signing of Mayfield “a coup.”
”He brings such credibility to the weather,” Pohovey said. “He’s the guy that this community and this country has gotten to know and trust.”
In a note to employees, Pohovey put it more bluntly:
“Just imagine the coverage the next time a storm is heading this way. . . . I’d hate to be sitting in a competing newsroom in this market!”
They won last year, they won this year too. WFOR grabbed 3 Murrow awards, for Region 13, for overall excellence, investigative reporting for ‘Miami Law & Disorder’ and Newscast for ‘Miami Fidel Castro Transfers Power’.
Congrats
/via LostRemote/
TVNewser says Maggie Rodriguez will be co-hosting CBS’ Saturday Early Show. She’s sitting in for anchor James Brown
TVNewser -Rodriguez To Sub On Sat. Early Show
4’s new bosses are in and laying down the law. Miami Herald’s Joan Fleischman got her hands on the new dress code rules for everyone who’s face we see on the air at WFOR.
The gals are to have as little accessories as possible and no busy stripes, prints, lace, short sleeves, sleeveless (wah, No skin? Awww…), puffy shirts. Because viewers are to pay attention to the reporter and the story not the clothes! Oh yeah like covering their arms up would help. Good luck!
Men don’t need much of a wardrobe, of course. Instructions for them are to cover up with a dress shirt - pale blue or white, tie and sports jacket. How boring. Losing the jacket can happen but only with manager’s permission. And no jeans. Unless the story calls for them to walk in water in which case jeans are ok. Short shorts would’ve done it much better in my opinion.
And if you happen to see Jim Defede looking all tanned and sexy, fret not. He didn’t soak those harmful UV rays in the name of all that is news, his sexy bronze glow is from a bottle as per WFOR’s image consultant advice.
The new boss, Tom Doerr says the newsroom was too “laissez-faire”, hence the changes.
Miami Herald - Joan Fleschman/Talk of Our Town - No polka-dot coats on this TV station
Tipster says WFOR’s Mike Kirsch was fired. His bio has been pulled from CBS4.com
Update: Another tipster says Kirsch’s contract was not renewed.
Insiders say Pamela Wright is leaving WFOR and the TV biz. Jeff Beradelli from WCBS is taking her spot in the mornings.
Jennifer Santiago is heading off to LA soon. Not sure how soon
Dave Malkoff and his wife Angie, a photojournalist at WFOR, are also leaving. Dave will be reporting for KCBS
Thanks tipsters
7’s Adam Williams will be moving to WHDH in Boston at the end of this month. He will be a weekend mornings anchor and reporter 3 days of the week.
Adam is the third WSVNer to join WHDH in recent months. Sports reporter Larry Ridley moved to WHDH two months ago and before him Nichelle King also made the jump to market #5 to co-anchor the morning weekend evening newscasts.
Thanks to everyone for the tips
The Sun Sentinel posted the February sweeps numbers.
I’m reprinting them here to make them more legible
| Station | 6pm M-F |
Late News M-F |
Prime Time |
6a-2a |
| WFOR/CBS | 3.8 | 4.7 | 7.5 | 3.6 |
| WTVJ/NBC | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 2.8 |
| WSVN/FOX | 5.2 | 7.5* | 7.5 | 3.6 |
| WPLG/ABC | 7.3 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 3.8 |
| WSFL/CW | n/a | 1.9* | 2.6 | 1.7 |
| WBFS/MNTV | n/a | 1.7* | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| WLTV/UNI | 7.4 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 3.5 |
| WSCV/TEL | 5.2 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 2.4 |
| WJAN/IND | n/a | 4.4* | 3.5 | 1.1 |
| WAMI/IND | n/a | n/a | 1.5 | 1.4 |
* denotes 10pm newscast
Continue reading ‘Sweeps Numbers’
The Sun Sentinel says Channel 10 swept the February sweeps. They were so on top they beat the spanish stations at 11pm. Way to fucking go Channel 10 people! More cake for you.
7 and 4 meanwhile are splitting 2nd place sign on to sign off. 7 has gotten some extra eyeballs thanks to Anna and Idol.
WTVJ … no dice. The single anchor experiment at 11pm has not worked for them and I guess they didn’t register well overall
Anyone got ratings numbers? If you do you can copy/paste in the tip box anonymously
SunSentinel
WPLG-Ch. 10 wins key categories in sweeps
Boston Herald: WHDH-TV’s ‘kid’s cast’
There’s a lot of talk lately how younger the news reporters and anchors are getting lately. Now the Boston Herald takes a shot at WSVN’s sister station in Boston, WHDH, for hiring Adam Williams, 26 and Brandon Rudat, 27 to anchor the weekend newscasts. The newspaper calling the move, via the anonymous industry insider, ‘ kid’s casts’.
Boston Herald - 7New: Fresh, young faces grace WHDH-TV’s ‘kid’s cast’
Of course by the end of the article the writer comes to the same conclusion all the rest of his colleagues did - young talent is cheap and the station is doing to get a younger demo.
Except that … we the young are not watching. At least not as much, and not as many of us, as the station suits want. I read somewhere recently that even though the cable nets are doing everything to attract demo viewers those viewers comprise barely 10% of the total audience. At most.
I don’t know how much it is for broadcast local news, but if I had to guess it’s not too different. There just isn’t much to see, and I find myself yelling out “Who the fuck cares about this” more and more often.
7New: Fresh, young faces grace WHDH-TV’s ‘kid’s cast’
By Jessica Heslam
Boston Herald Media Reporter
Thursday, March 22, 2007 - Updated: 02:04 AM EST
Boston TV station WHDH- Channel 7 has hired two new, young newsmen to anchor their weekend newscasts, the latest in a long line of baby-faced hires who have yet to celebrate their 30th birthdays.
In the past year or so, WHDH has hired a bevy of 20-something TV talent, including Anne Allred, Sorboni Banerjee, Grant Greenberg and Ryan Schulteis - prompting one industry insider to call it the “kid’s cast.â€Â
The latest hires - Brandon Rudat and Adam Williams - are 27 and 26, respectively.
Industry insiders say young talent is inexpensive and breaking into a top ten TV market - Boston ranks seventh - is pretty rare for someone in their mid 20s.
Michael Carson, general manager of WHDH, said his station tends to attract younger people who are building their careers because they like the station’s approach to aggressive news reporting.
Some hires were needed for the new 10 p.m. 7News on WLVI [website]-TV (Ch. 56). “I’m not sure how conscious the effort was but it is a younger skewing news,†Carson said of the 10 p.m. show. The latest two are replacing Phil Lipof and Jeff Glor.
“We don’t have anything against old people. We’re not going out of our way to be as young as we can be,†Carson said. “We don’t sacrifice quality and professionalism just to attract youth.â€Â
Williams will co-anchor WHDH’s weekend morning news and is a transfer from their sister station WSVN-TV in Miami. Rudat was recently with NBC 30 News in Connecticut and will co-anchor the weekend evening news.
Yesterday, Williams said he’s worked hard and takes every story seriously. “I don’t think age is a factor. I earn viewers’ trust through the way I do stories and they way I interact with people,†Williams said.
Rudat, who was hired as a production assistant at age 19, said in an e-mail: “My youth and passion for this business have given me great success. I have worked so hard to earn this great responsibility of reporting the news.â€Â
Linda Douglass, a fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, said some of the most exciting journalists she encountered during her TV career were also the youngest because they work the hardest and are much more curious and driven.
However, Jim Thistle, a former news director at WBZ, WCVB, and WHDH, said: “They’re looking to appeal to a younger demographic. It’s as simple as that.â€Â