KDFW’s helicopter experienced engine failure early this morning and had to make an emergency landing. Fortunately even though it rolled over when it touched ground the pilot got away with a minor shoulder injury and the reporter suffered a cut on her forehead.
Monthly Archive for July, 2007
Channel 10 is officially on the blogging train. Laurie Jennings, Glenna Milberg, Maxy Mayfield and Will Manso are the Local10 bloggers. Milberg and Manso will be the two offering a piece of their mind about news stories and sports respectively. While Max Mayfield and Laurie Jennings appear to be more of facts and advice bloggers.
There’s no RSS for those of you who get your info that way so you’ll have to hit the Local 10 bloggers page directly. /via StuckOnThePalmetto/
WFOR has officially joined the fray with their own desktop app. The CBS4 WeatherBug Network will provide real time weather information from over 100 weather stations in South Florida. They bill it as exclusive but NBC6 also has weatherbug. I’m not sure how and if the two differ.
CBS4.com - CBS4 WeatherBug Network Arrives
Update 7/31: Readers in comments note NBC6 has dropped WeatherBug in favor of WeatherPlus so WFOR is indeed exclusive to Miami market with WeatherBug
A story in the NY Daily News points to WPLG’s successful transition away from news at 5pm and other stations around the US that are looking to Miami to save their dwindling ratings at that time slot. WNBC and WTVJ both owned by NBC being ones, of more to come, to copy the idea of replacing news at 5pm with entertainment.
The article raises doubt on whether copying Miami will work in the NY and other markets giving the obligatory quotes from a news consultant who says research shows viewers tend to look for entertainment at 7pm. But stations should put something compelling nonetheless. Of course.
NY Daily News - The nation’s stations look to stay alive at 5
Shaving the 5pm newscasts at NBC affiliates is just part of that NBC 2.0 thing so it won’t be long it spreads. And not just to NBC stations
A reader noticed Danielle Knox’ bio is not on the CBS4 site anymore (actually it is but not linked on the main bio page) so the rumors she isn’t coming back from maternity leave have panned out.
Lisette Gonzalez is the new morning weather girl on CBS4 News and My33, she’s replacing Pamela Wright who left channel 4 recently. Gonzalez comes from KTLA where she was the weather guesser for KTLA Prime News and also hosted TraffiCast on the same station.
Her debut on WFOR was yesterday when she reported from Miami on CBS Fall Shows Preview (video link below)
She’s also a Miami native and if I’m not mistaken she was an intern at WSVN/Deco Drive and was featured as a Deco Drive Model Citizen, a segment that had something to do with her trying to break into singing. Don’t ask me why I remember that I have no idea.
Sick the Parents Television Council nut jobs on this one.
The FCC has given the nod to a station owner who requested the call letters KUNT for an yet unbuilt Maui low-power station. The same owner also received approval for the call letters KWTF for an Arizona.
When word got out KM Communications VP said he “fell asleep on the job” when it came to requesting those call letters. Uh huh.
TVSquad had some funny ideas as to the use of the call letters such as “KUNT On your Side” and “KWTF Is happening in Arizona”.
Hey why not, stations need anything and everything nowadays to stand out. Maybe they should buy KLIT to round things out.
TVSquad - Local stations get call letters that spell dirty words
Star Bulletin - K-WHAT? Unbuilt Maui TV station lands questionable call letters
TV copters from KNXV and KTVK in Phoenix, Arizona collided while covering a police chase!
KNXV reporter-pilot Craig Smith, photographer Rick Krolak and KTVK pilot-reporter Scott Bowerbank died.
AZCentral - 2 news copters collide over Phoenix; 4 killed
Some of us were wondering when, so this is when.
WTVJ is following WPLG and dropping the news at 5pm. In it’s place will be the Ellen show.
All of the resources from the 5pm newscast will be moved to a new 7pm one that will be a half hour and followed by Access Hollywood.
The changes will take effect September 10th 2007.
Official announcement on NBC6.net: NBC 6 To Launch 7 P.M. Local Newscast
I don’t know what the ratings at 7pm are like but it does make sense to have news at that time - when most people are already home from work and not stuck in traffic. Which is why I was wondering why Channel 7 added news at 4pm and not 7pm. But what do I know. (thanks Brandon for reminding me of my idea 
)
I’ve always wondered about news in America being either too early or too late because Europe often times the main newscasts are at 7pm and even 8pm some places.
7news has been doing pretty good at 4pm against Oprah and Judy from I’ve been told.
So now would 4 and 7 also drop 5pm news? 
Nichelle King who left WSVN in 2005 to anchor the weekend evening newscasts at sister station WHDH is coming back to (South?) Florida. No word on which station she landed a gig at.
7/26 Update: Allegedly she’s coming to WFOR, but that’s all rumor for now. Channel 4 has 3 jobs to fill so it makes sense.
Beatriz Canals is leaving WFOR. Apparently she and CBS could not agree on a new contract. Her last day is Thursday no idea on what she may be doing next but hopefully it won’t include her going to other markets!
Update 7/25: Miami Herald - Bye Beatriz
BYE, BEATRIZ
WFOR-CBS 4 anchor and reporter Beatriz Canals, whose contract expires Aug. 2, is leaving the station. She signs off Thursday — with the 6 p.m. newscast.
Canals, 39, turned down an offer to stay another three years. Tempting, she says, but son Andres, 5, is about to start kindergarten and she no longer wants to work nights.
Canals, married to insurance exec Fausto Alvarez, did three years at CBS4 , nine at WSVN-Fox 7 and one at Telemundo. She hopes to return to the biz. “I just don’t see this being the end. I love it too much.”
Rachel Aram new WFOR reporter. She comes from WCYB in Bristol, Virginia where she was anchor/reporter. She studied at the University of Chaing Mai in Thailand and University of London, Imperial College. International girl, cool.
WFOR reporter Carey Codd was found unconscious in a live truck last night and rushed to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning.
Same thing happened to a WKMG photog couple months ago who was also found unconscious in a live truck with the carbon monoxide alarm sounding off.
Word’s out that Tiffany Tucker is leaving WSVN and taking a job for a station in Cleveland, OH.
Someone interviewed several reporters as a high school freshman and posted the video on YouTube. That must be from around 1997
No idea who the first interviewee is, probably a photog. The reporter with the red jacket is Lynn Gordon formerly of WSVN. Craig Stevens, Jeff Weinsier from WPLG and Martha Sugalski when she worked at WTVJ and is now in Orlando at WESH
Sunsentinel.com is getting a new look starting tonight. A much much needed new look too. The new site is less cluttered with tabs for the main sections.
Readers will also have the ability to rate stories and photos and also submit their own photos and videos.
SunSentinel.com - About the redesign
