THV Main Anchors to Fill Weekend Gap

New information in the Win Noble/THV/Myspace blog saga is hard to come by these days BUT a tipster says, "KTHV Main Anchors will "step up" during May sweeps to take Win Noble's place on the weekends."

Meanwhile, in Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette THV execs didn't have much to say about the situation.

Yet More Movin and Shakin in NWA

This from a tipster: "They come in threes...Don Elkins will not be renewing his contract with KNWA either." Elkins is the managing editor and co-anchor of KNWA Live at 5, 6 and 10 p.m..

Another NWA Chief Met Leaving

This from the tip box: "Charles Salser is leaving 40/29, with his final appearance most likely by late May or early June. He will be pursuing a job in the ministry in Oklahoma. Drew Michaels would most likely be the leading candidate to replace Salser."

Win Can't Win for Losing

HOT DANG! A Little Rock radio station has picked up the story. Station KUAR has both a text version AND an audio version of the story. The station says KTHV execs are not discussing the situation since it falls under a personel matter. You'll find the article HERE. Listen to the audio report by Ron Breeding.

It's worth noting that someone has taken down Noble's Myspace blog.

New Anchor Makes On Air Debut at KTAL

A new face has popped up on KTAL's newscasts. Rick Boone, formally with KBTV in Beaumont, Texas made his on air debut Monday on Channel 6. The addition of Boone finally fills the seat left vacant by Shawn Patrick who left KTAL in early March. Patrick left months after partner Lane Stone.

Additional: Boone was a main anchor at KBTV and was promoted to KTAL. KBTV is also owned by Nexstar.

KTAL Hires Weekend Reporter/Weekend Weather Anchor

Newsblues reports KTAL/6 in Shreveport has hired Tiffany Wong as a weekend reporter/weather anchor. Wong comes to Shreveport from KYMA in Yuma, Arizona. At KYMA Wong was an anchor/reporter.

Win Loses?

A tipster adds this: "Reports from insiders at KTHV say Weekend Anchor Win Noble is in the process of being terminated."

AND the link is www.myspace.com/pushingideals

04/22/2006 9:22pm A blog reader tells me, weekday anchor Andy Pearson anchored Saturday's evening newscast.

ATN EXCLUSIVE: Katzfey Speaks About Future

As reported yesteday, KNWA Chief Met Rick Katzfey is leaving when his contract is up. Arkansas TV News asked Katzfey about his future. Below is his response:

"I appreciate you asking about my plans for the future. I amnot sure what I am going to be doing at the moment. I maystay around the Northwest Arkansas area... I love it hereand my family loves it here. There is a lot of growth goingon and I know there is something out there... a product ororganization that needs representing. We will see what Godhas planned for me and my family. You know that song byCarrie Underwood, "Jesus Take The Wheel"? He is driving andI am riding shotgun! We will see in time where I end up!"

KTHV Weekend Anchor Suspended

This from the tip box: "KTHV Weekend Anchor Win Noble suspended with pay pending investigation of the attached link concerning a personal blog. Word is he has been involved in several recent fights at bars. Anchors/Reporters sign an ethics clause upon employment at the station.

This blog with Win's pics comments alledgely violates that agreement.http://www.myspace.com/starlessallstars "

Not Necessarily the News

With all the talk as of late about VNR's being passed over as news, a group has set up a website identifying stations across the country that have aired such pieces as passed them off as news. KAIT in Jonesboro and KTBS make the list.

According to the website on November 24, 2005 KTBS used an uncut video news release (VNR) from D S Simon Productions for the Panasonic, Namco and Techno Source on high-tech gift ideas.

AND the website says on November 4, 2005 KAIT broadcast an uncut video news release produced by D S Simon Productions for Trend Micro on e-mail 'phishing' scams. AND on January 26, 2006 the station broadcast an uncut video news release (VNR) produced by Medialink Worldwide for Cadillac on the making of Cadillac's Super Bowl ad.

KNWA Chief Met Leaving

This from the tip box: "Rick Katzfey, KNWA Chief Meteorologist, is leaving when his contract ends, which if my memory is correct it will be sometime in June."

According to his bio, he has been with KNWA since 2003.

AND KNWA is not wasting anytime recruiting his replacement.

KASN to Join The CW Network

Source: KASN Press Release The CW announced Wednesday the signing of long-term affiliation agreements for Clear Channels (NYSE:CCU) television stations in Cincinnati, Salt Lake City and Little Rock.

The addition of these three Clear Channel stations which represent 2.02% of total U.S. television households -- increases The CWs national coverage to more than 83% of the country, including 19 of the Top 20 markets, 26 of the Top 30 and 34 of the Top 40.The newly signed affiliates are, WKRC-DT Cincinnati, OH, KUWB Salt Lake City, and UT KASN Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR

Success in todays marketplace ultimately comes down to good, quality programming, said Don Perry, President and Chief Executive Officer, Clear Channel Television. By combining the best assets of The WB and UPN with our leading local programming in Cincinnati, Salt Lake City and Little Rock, we are well positioned in each of these markets. Our other television and radio properties will also benefit from the synergistic sales and promotion opportunities that will come with The CWs targeted young adult schedule.

John Maatta, Chief Operating Officer, The CW, said: Signing long-term affiliation agreements for these three Clear Channel stations is a real coup for The CW because not only do we build on our already solid business relationship with one of broadcastings most respected and successful station group owners, but we also welcome three that have impressive track records enhancing the popularity and value of their programming through innovative marketing. Were looking forward to working with Don Perry and his very talented colleagues at WKRC-DT, KUWB and KASN.

Nexstar to Sell KFTA-TV, Channel 24

Arkansas Business.com reports Nexstar plans on selling KFTA-TV/Fort Smith to Mission Broadcasting Inc. of Becksville, Ohio, for $5.6 million. AB.com reports Mission plans on making the station a FOX affiliate.

AB.com provides the background of the station:

"KFTA was the Fort Smith half of the market’s KPOM/KFAA, Channels 24/51. When Nexstar purchased the station from JDG Television Inc. of Muskogee, Okla., in 2004, it changed the call letters to KFTA/KNWA. KWNA broadcasts out of Fayetteville, but KFTA carries the signal in Fort Smith."

Read the full article HERE.

KTAL Hires New Reporter/Anchor

Media Line reports, "Joe Arena is the newest member of the KTAL newsroom. Joe will report and fill-in anchor for the NBC affiliate in Shreveport, Louisiana. Arena previously worked at WJLA, Capital News 9 and WVVA in West Virginia."

THV's Kidcaster Contest Two

Well lookie here, KTHV is once again holding its Kidcaster competition. According to KTHV.com, auditions will be held Saturday, April 29 at North Point Ford. THEN twenty finalists from the April 29 auditions will be invited to the THV studios to spend the afternoon with Today’s THV’s Meteorologists Ed Buckner, Tom Brannon and Becky Ditchfield, learning about the weather. Then, they’ll create, rehearse and videotape a weathercast audition.

KARK.com Problems?

I have received alot of e-mails stating that KARK's website is 'down'. Well I have had no problems when surfing on over to KARK.com. You might try emptying your cache and cookie file then see if that doesn't help.

KFSM Met Jumps Ship

This from a tipster: "Flickinger #2 (George) at KFSM announced on Sunday's 10pm newscast that he's outta there." He said he accepted a position at KJRH in Tulsa.

KTBS Met to Run in Boston Marathon

From KTBS.com: "After 10 marathons, KTBS Meteorologist Joe Haynes has earned his run at the Boston Marathon. Joe has been training with Tony Bouso to get ready. Tony says he started running 10 years ago to get healthier and it took off from there. “You know I think everybody's got a little competitive nature about them. And that kinda kicked in for me and you know you do a 5k and it’s over so quick and you just want more,” says Tony. You can track Joe and Tony's progress during the race online at www.bostonmarathon.com. Joe's number is 6609 and Tony's number is 8390. Their times will be posted every three miles."

KHOG's Airwaves Disappear

This from a Northwest Arkansas TV viewer: "It appears as though KHOG is out for antenna users. Word around town: they won't be back online for a few days.'

> 9:45pm Additional KHOG has posted a notice about the signal loss on its website.

"Due to technical problems with the KHOG transmitter, Channel 29 is off the air. Cable and satellite viewers will see no loss of service, but we apologize to our over-the-air viewers. KHOG should be up and operational by Wednesday. KHBS, Channel 40 is unaffected. We’re very sorry for any inconvenience, and we thank you for your patience."

Former KTAL ND Passes Away

Newsblues reports, "Gordon Grafton, former news director at Shreveport's KTAL-6-NBC, died in his sleep Monday following a lengthy illness that baffled doctors for more than a year. Docs now say he may have been a victim of the tick-borne Lyme's disease."

Additional: A story on KTAL's website adds additional information: "Gordon joined KTAL in the late 80s, working as a reporter then sports anchor. In 1982, he was named news director and remained in that role until 1997. At the time, he became regional director for the Easter Seal Society, serving both in Texarkana and Shreveport. Gordon was 46 years old."

Guess Who Co-anchored 'Live at Five' on KATV

I guess it may be safe to assume that Christina Munoz has been given the 5 and 6pm anchor chair left vacant by the departure of Kate Sullivan. Munoz is anchoring 'Live at Five' with Scott Inman. Now will Munoz be on the 10pm newscast?

Additional: After watching today's first edition with Inman and Munoz, it has the same feel as when Sullivan was in the chair. Munoz has as many, 'hello's, hi's, thank's, and thank you's' in her as Kate Sullivan did. Am I the only one that finds all those salutations irrating as all get out!!! All the non-sense talk slows the transitions.

Coconut Palm Acquisition Corp. to Merge with Equity Broadcasting Corp.; Will be HQ'd in Little Rock

Source: Yahoo News Coconut Palm Acquisition Corp. today announced that it has entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Equity Broadcasting Corporation ("EBC"), one of the largest owners and operators of television stations in the United States and a distribution platform for Spanish-language media. Upon completion of the acquisition, EBC will merge with and into CPAC, with CPAC remaining as the surviving corporation. Following closing of the acquisition, CPAC will seek to change its name to Equity Media Group to reflect its new status as a diversified media services company serving Spanish-language markets and apply for listing on the NASDAQ Stock Market. As one of the leading operators of Spanish-language stations in the U.S., EBC currently reaches approximately 15.1 million households, nearly 14% of all U.S. households.

"We are thrilled to be part of building a leader in Spanish-language media in the U.S. through this strategic transaction," said Larry Morton, President and Chief Executive Officer of EBC.

Upon completion of the transaction, Equity Media Group will be based in Little Rock, Arkansas, and will also have offices in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City.

Little Rock TV Market Wrap

Media Week profiles the Little Rock TV market in this week's market profile. Below is the portion dealing with the Little Rock TV stations. You can find the entire article HERE.

"The dynamics of the local TV marketplace have evolved over the years into a three-station news race. For years, KARK, which Nexstar purchased in March 2003, dominated the market by a wide margin. Today, that lead has all but evaporated as the three stations—KARK, Allbritton Communications' ABC affiliate KATV and Gannett Co.'s CBS affiliate KTHV—battle for ratings supremacy throughout the day.

KARK's Rogala, who took over Sept. 1, 2005 as vp/gm, acknowledges the market has tightened considerably. Nielsen Media Research measures viewership in the Little Rock-Pine Bluff market using its diary system; KARK is not a Nielsen client. Rogala, who most recently headed his own media consultant company, says KARK is working to reclaim its former market leadership.

Since his arrival, Rogala has put in place a new management team to help him achieve that goal. The new team includes Rob Heverling who started last September as news director. He previously served in the same capacity at sister NBC affiliate KNWA-TV in Fayetteville, Ark.

The company also promoted KNWA's general sales manager Mike Vaughn last September to director of sales at KARK. Rob Thomas started last December as KARK's new creative services director. Thomas formerly worked in promotions at KTHV before a brief stint as marketing manager at WLTX-TV in Columbia, S.C.

With severe weather common in the region, such as the spate of tornadoes that wreaked havoc in Arkansas and other parts of the Midwest last week, KARK recently built a new weather center and upgraded its weather-mapping and -tracking computer software, Rogala says.

In terms of programming, KARK made national headlines when it refused to air NBC's short-lived prime-time drama, The Book of Daniel. The station aired a local news special in its place, says Rogala. KARK plans to debut new syndicated talk show The Megan Mullally Show in September.

KTHV, which goes by the moniker "Today's THV," in February launched its digital channel THV2, the first in the market. The channel broadcasts 24-hour news and weather. It is available through KTHV's digital tier, the digital tiers of several Arkansas cable systems including Comcast, Charter Communications and Conway Corp., as well as online at THV2.com.

"We thought this [THV2] was innovative in that it would begin to make us even more of a 24-7 news operation," says Larry Audas, KTHV president/gm.

KTHV also creates news updates, along with newscasts and weathercasts for its Web site. The station also became the first in the market four years ago with high definition (although it still does not originate local programming in high-def, says Audas).

While much of the state's growth is concentrated to the north where Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods are headquartered, the Little Rock area remains strong for local media. "This is the capital city. There is a good, steady flow of both news and revenue here," says Audas, who adds, "It's a market that watches a lot of local news."

In the competition to attract news viewers, KTHV typically wins the morning news race, while KATV wins early news at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. The stations flip-flop in late news, says Audas.

With a relatively small but fast-growing Hispanic population, local media are also trying to serve area Spanish-speakers. For instance, the staff of local Spanish-language weekly, ¡Hola Arkansas! translate KTHV's 10 o'clock late news, which is then broadcast on the station's SAP channel.

KATV is one of the nation's top-ranked ABC affiliates. In the November Nielsen sweeps, KATV ranked No. 1 in households among ABC affils with 5 p.m. local newscasts, No. 2 at 6 p.m. and No. 6 at 10 p.m. In February, the station earned a 16 rating/29 share in households for its 6 p.m. newscast. Executives at KATV did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.

KATV's lead female anchor, Kate Sullivan, resigned effective April 7 to become morning co-anchor at CBS flagship WCBS-TV in New York. Sullivan started at KATV in 2000 as a reporter before being promoted to anchor two years later.

Clear Channel Communications owns the local duopoly of Fox affiliate KLRT and UPN affiliate KASN. KLRT launched its 9 p.m. late news in 2004. Chuck Spohn, vp/gm of KLRT and KSAN, says he's pleased so far with the performance of the market's lone prime-time newscast. In February 2006, the newscast earned a 7 household share, versus the 4 share it earned in February 2005. Spohn says the newscast was five years in the making.

KASN, one of the top 10 UPN affiliates in the country in terms of ratings, does not produce local news. The station's programming consists of a court block from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., followed by African American sitcoms including The Cosby Show, Girlfriends and The Bernie Mac Show, both before and after UPN prime.

Spohn says he cannot discuss the future of the station when the UPN and WB networks merge to form the CW network.

On March 30, the new MyNetworkTV network announced 30 more affiliation agreements, including one with WB affiliate KWBF-TV, owned by Little Rock-based Equity Broadcasting. The company also owns local Independent station KYPX. Executives at the stations did not return phone calls for comment. The new network launches Sept. 5."

Sullivan Removed From KATV.com

Well the headline is nearly correct. Kate Sullivans picture has been taken off the homepage at KATV.com. The page now features just Scott Inman and Christina Munoz in the top left corner. Sullivan's bio remains in the talent profiles section.

Former KATV'er Getting His Feet, Head, Wet in Florida

It seems former KATV'er Leland Vittert had quite an unusual confrontation recently while trying to cover a story. You'll find the text story below, you can watch the video HERE.

Some Orange County residents are still waiting for their loved one's headstones. Customers said the headstone maker has been hard to find since a suspicious fire at his business.

Channel 9 went to his last known address, but didn't get any answers. Instead, the person at the home threw a pitcher of water on WFTV reporter Leland Vittert.

The State Fire Marshal's Office is looking into the possibility that the owner of Caguas Memorials set fire to the building in December. A week before the fire, one customer paid nearly $2,000 for a headstone that was never delivered.

"God is going to judge him," said victim Cheryl Rayburn.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Thanks to David for the pic!

South Arkansas Direc TV Subscribers Will Not Lose Little Rock Stations

Well it looks as though South Arkansas residents who subscribe to Direc TV will not lose their Little Rock stations afterall. An article in today's Arkansas Democrat Gazette says residents can thank Fourth District Congressman Mike Ross for that. Below is a portion of that article:

"The congressman said he had reached an accord with the El Segundo, Calif.-based satellite television provider, which notified area subscribers by letter last month that, effective April 12, the Arkansas signals would be replaced by stations in Shreveport.
“I held a meeting today in my Washington, D.C., office with representatives from DirecTV concerning a recent letter they sent to approximately 800 [Nevada County] subscribers in my congressional district,” Ross, of Prescott, said in a prepared statement.
“Representatives of DirecTV made a commitment to me that those subscribers will continue to receive Little Rock television stations in addition to Shreveport television stations,” the statement said. “As a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over the Federal Communications Commission, I was pleased to help negotiate this agreement on behalf of my constituents who are much more interested in watching the Arkansas Razorbacks than the LSU Tigers.”
Robert Mercer, a spokesman DirecTV, confirmed the agreement Tuesday.
“Whatever they’re receiving today, they’ll continue to receive, along with the Shreveport local channels,” he said in a telephone interview.
“The net effect,” Mercer said, “is it’s not going to cost any more. We won’t be charging them an extra $3... for the additional Shreveport channels, or for retaining their Little Rock channels.”
The nine Little Rock channels are the ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC network affiliates, as well as PBS and four independent stations: UPN, VTN, RTN and WB."

KATV's Powell Travels Arkansas Again

KATV Good Morning Arkansas host Steve Powell is once again traveling Arkansas as he narrates All About Arkansas. Was Sunday, April 2's edition the first or has it been airing for some time? On tonight's edition Powell wasn't physically seen in any of the video,
just narrating the piece. I guess it's safe
to say a camera crew was sent out to do the interviews?