Quantcast

Monthly Archive for February, 2008

Page 2 of 5

Power Outage Online Coverage

CBS4.com – frequent updates, on the front page, and video from on-air reports. No live streaming that i can seehere’s live video link
NBC6.net – WTVJ is streaming their live coverage , you can watch it here
WSVN.com – 7News is streaming live at the usual address /must have Windows Media player or equivalent/ though it can be a bit slow due to the massive amount of people watching
Local10.com – WPLG is also streaming their live coverage on the web /under Related To story content/ – video

wsvn.com -
Grid problems cause Fla. power outages, shut down nuclear plant
local10.com -
FPL: Power Back On In South Florida
cbs4.com -
Fast Facts: Power Outage
nbc6.net -
Grid Problems Cause Fla. Power Outages, Shut Down Nuclear Plant

Overall if you were lucky to have power and internet at work, or got suck with only your mobile device in the middle of I-95, you would’ve gotten plenty of details regarding the power outage from the local news sites, the tv ones in this case.

CBS4.com as usual had pretty extensive coverage, and lots of information on their front page, updated frequently with text and lots of video. CNN.com gave them a nice visible link in the breaking news report. NBC6.net didn’t have much fanfare on the front page besides a link to an extended story and live video from the on-air coverage.

WSVN.com didn’t fare too well today. If the tipster was correct, their site crashed really hard from the sudden influx of visitors, probably everyone trying to watch the live stream. When I tried to hit them up around 3:15pm the page wouldn’t load at all, few minutes later only some parts of it did. And they probably couldn’t even update the site because when it came online it had nothing regarding the outage besides the flash player on the left with a screen shot of Mayor Alvarez presser but even that would show as not available when I pressed play.

Local10.com offered live streaming of their on-air coverage too, along with frequent updates on the site itself, and they too got a nice juicy link from CNN.com’s report.

Power Outage affecting WSVN.com

The massive power outage we are having today has hit WSVN’s website.

They’re hosted by WebUnited based in Deerfield Beach and it appears that the data center is offline at this time.

update:a tipster says WSVN.com wasn’t affected by the power outage. Simply the traffic they received was too much and they couldn’t handle it.

update2: a reader was told that WSVN.com was getting 30,000 visitors per minute during the outage and that made the site barely, not at all, accessible. They they’ll be looking into adding more capacity. Unlike the other stations 7 handles their own hosting using a local provider in Boca Raton, formerly WebUnited.

Dwight Lauderdale Announces Retirement and Replacement

Dwight Lauderdale announced during the 11pm newscast last night that will be retiring at the end of may after 32 years at WPLG. He said he made the decision 3 years ago and joked that management and everyone kept telling him he’ll change his mind, but he has made up his mind.

As predicted Charlez Perez takes over after May next to Laurie Jennings, who as you’ll see in the video did her best to keep it together as Dwight announced he’s hanging it up.

Local10.com Video – Dwight announces retirement
Local10.com –
Anchor To Retire After 32 Years At Local 10
SinSentinel.com –
Dwight Lauderdale’s word is real: He’ll retire
Sunsentinel.com –
Channel 10’s Dwight Lauderdale to retire in May

WFOR, Gary Nelson Sued by Police Director Robert Parker

The Miami Herald is reporting WFOR and WFOR reporter Gary Nelson have been hit with a defamation lawsuit by Miami-Dade police director Robert Parker.

The suit stems from an October 3, 2006 report in which WFOR claimed Parker’s son, Robert Parker Jr., had been arrested for armed robbery.

The lawsuit alleges that even after police told WFOR their story was wrong they continued to report it. And when a police spokeswoman told Gary Nelson the story was wrong, when he arrived at Miami-Dade police headquarters demanding interview with Robert Parker, he called WFOR and said there was a cover up going on.

”Nelson then proceeded to get on his cellular phone and told someone that he felt that there was some sort of cover-up,” according to the lawsuit, filed by firm Martin, Lister, Alvarez & Genovese.

Some say that this report was the catalyst that lead to all the changes at WFOR that have been happening for a while now – the new management which brought in all the new anchors and reporters.

Last year Parker’s attorneys made an offer to WFOR to settle the case for $500,000 apparently they turned it down. The lawsuit does not ask for a specific money damages.

As they say, there is no bad publicity and news like that might remind some viewers to tune in but it’s still a lawsuit about false reporting.

MiamiHerald -
Police director sues WFOR over false report

Local10.com -
Police Director Fuming After Erroneous News Report

After WFOR’s flub, WPLG did a scathing editorial lambasting them for trying to be first to a story without checking the facts. Surely this would help the police chief, no?

Channel 10’s Secret is Out

The internets have spoiled the suspense. Other than this blog, the Miami Herald today gave out WPLG’s secret … Dwight Lauderdale is joining Don Noe in retirement!
And he’s only 56! Way too early to retire, no?

And he too passed through WSVN, then WCKT, before landing at WPLG in 1974. His contra expires June 1

Miami Herald -
Veteran anchor Lauderdale will sign off in spring

Who is goin’ fishin’ with Don Noe?

There is a promo runnin on WPLG, with Don Noe almost knee deep in water and he says someone at channel 10 also has a secret like he did back in November! Come Monday we’ll know who’s taking their shorts and galoshes and heading down to join Don and his boat in the Keys!

Who will it be? Could it be……?!

Continue reading ‘Who is goin’ fishin’ with Don Noe?’

13 SFOX tations Fined By the FCC, WSVN Wants Refund!

13 FOX affiliates were fined today $7000 each because they aired an episode of FOX’s Married by America, in 2003, that contained 10.5 seconds pixilated boobies and ass! Yes, pixilated indecency, a new one courtesy of the ever watchful FCC! And it only took them 5 years to reach a decision, but they had to, the statue of limitations on indecency is 5 years!

According to the FCC merely pixilating the special areas of the female body was not sufficient to keep them from being patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards. Operative words being “community standards” which are used in the more raunchy pornography cases and which differ from place to place (hence why such cases are tried in conservative areas to have a bigger chance of scoring a conviction).

Originally the FCC fined 169 FOX stations but then wound up watering down their punishment to just a handful of tv stations that were the only ones to receive complaints from viewers. WTVT in Tampa, Florida

SunbeamTV, owners of WSVN, paid the fine but since they received no complaints are now asking for a refund:

Respondents raise multiple arguments, each of which is discussed below. Generally, they
assert that the subject episode of “Married By America” is not actionably indecent under the
Commission’s prevailing indecency standard.

One respondent, Sunbeam Television Corporation, licensee of Station WSVN(TV), Miami, Florida, paid its
forfeiture in full, subject to the outcome of the Commission’s final action with respect to the FOX/Affiliates
Consolidated Response

In response to the NAL, Sunbeam, licensee of Station WSVN(TV), Miami, Florida, tendered
a check made payable to the Commission in the amount of $7,000, subject to final agency action with
respect to the FOX/Affiliates Consolidated Response. Having determined that the NAL should be
canceled as to all licensees against which no specific complaint was filed, including Sunbeam, Sunbeam
may file appropriate documents requesting a refund of the amount it tendered

Meanwhile, in a state far far away outraged “family” organizations heard the news and had a collective orgasm.

FCC Forfeiture Order /PDF/

WSJ.com -
FCC Rejects Appeal by Fox on Reality-TV Indecency Complaint
Reuters-
Thirteen Fox stations fined over 2003 reality show
BroadcastingCable.com -
FCC Fines 13 Fox Stations for 2003 Episode of Married by America – 2/22/2008
Tampa Bay Business Journal -
‘Married By America’ broadcast lands fine on WTVT

Fired CNN Producer is former WTVJ/WSVN/WPLG-er


The fired for blogging CNN producer Chez Pazienza has a South Florida connection by way of ending up working at WSVN (1992-1995) as producer and executive producer after his band fell apart. He also worked at WTVJ (aug 1997-april 2000) as a producer .//* also worked at WPLG as EP

He describes himself as “wise-ass who doesn’t mind being an occasional nuisance to authority figures.” Which instantly makes us like him so so much.

If you haven’t read his post about his firing from CNN, and you are a news junkie (hopefully if you’re on this site) or are in the news business in some capacity, you should read it.

Deus Ex Malcontent: Say What You Will (Requiem for a TV News Career)

some notables:

At first they repeated the line about not writing anything outside of CNN without permission, but HR then made a surprising comment: “It’s also, you know, the nature of what you’ve been writing.”

I watched my bosses literally stand in the middle of the newsroom and ask, “What can we do to not lead with Iraq?” — the reason being that Iraq, although an important story, wasn’t always a surefire ratings draw. I was asked to complete self-evaluations which pressed me to describe the ways in which I’d “increased shareholder value.”

I mentioned calling Jacki Schechner — so what did she tell me?

“Think about how frustrated and disillusioned most of the American Morning staff is.”

Not simply frustrated and disillusioned, but outright miserable.

And then she reminded me that in the past year-and-a-half, nearly 20 mid to high-level people have left American Morning; many of them quit with no other job to go to — they just wanted out of the business. That speaks goddamned volumes, not simply about the show but about the state of the entire profession.

Castro Resigns. CBS4.com NBC6.net CBS4.com Reports it first

It’s 03:29am and CBs4.com is the only local station site reporting Castro’s resignation as Cuba’s president. The time stamp on their report is 3:18am right now

Update: actually it’s NBC6.net reporting the news online first – published 03:04am as per their article date.

Not bad, someone at a forum I was reading posted a thread at 02:45am linking to a web site from Ghana. 7 has nothing online. 10 has a small link courtesy of CNN partnership.

Surprisingly there is no frenzy yet on TV, everyone has infomercials on!

Update: Insider says CBS4.com originally posted the Castro news at 02:57am, and had a TV report 93 minutes later at 4:30am.

DTV Coupons Now Shipping. Get yours!

Hopefully everyone knows about this by now but for those who do not – Uncle Sam will give you $80 (up to 2 $40 coupons) to buy a digital tv converter box if you have an analog TV.

Only DTV2009.gov gives the coupons out though, so do not be misled! Also, the coupons will expire within 90 days of the mailing date! So you must use them pronto.

Target, Circuit City, Wal-Mart and others will carry converter boxes
DTV2009.org -
TV Converter Box Coupon Program Website
Eligible Converter boxes -
NTIA TV Converter Box Coupon Program