KSLA Interrupts CSI for Press Conference Naming New SPD Chief

KSLA, Channel 12 was the ONLY Shreveport station to air the naming of a new Shreveport Police Chief LIVE. KSLA also streamed the announcement over the web. Not long after the press conference started, KTBS posted the story on its homepage. What puzzles me is why didn't KTBS stream the press conference. At the time KTBS was streaming a re-run of its 6pm newscast. \

UH OH the press conference is still suppose to be streaming on the web....but I'm getting CSI !

KSLA Meteorologist Gone

After reading in the comments section of one a post, KSLA Chief Meteorologist Patrick Dennis has disappeared. Ed Duranczyk is on the evening newscasts...and Dennis' bio has been taken down from KSLA.com.

UPDATE: ATN has learned that KSLA has hired a new Chief Met and he will start June 11. So many unanswered questions though.

Former KSLA VP, GM Starts Newspaper

Source: Shreveport Times As traditional daily newspapers try to dodge darts from the digital world or step up their game, another publication has joined the print arena in the Shreveport area.

A former television station manager, with no prior newspaper experience until this latest venture, is at the helm of the operation.

Edward Bradley, who served as vice president and general manager of local CBS-affiliate KSLA, is now publisher and majority owner of The Mirror Weekly Observer. The free newspaper debuted Thursday with a mission to "deliver compelling news, information and entertainment to the African-American community."

Bradley is returning to the public eye after a lost bid for Shreveport mayor.

"When I lost the election I took some time off," Bradley said. "I had to make the decision about whether I wanted to remain in Shreveport."

After reading the book "Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin" and conducting some research, he found something was missing in the market, he said. He used, for example, the recent visit of Congresswoman Maxine Waters, D-California, to Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, which didn't receive coverage locally.

"Those things happen all the time," Bradley said. "We're going to do a lot of human interest stories" and coverage of social events that happen in the black community."

KNWA Hires Miss Arkansas USA

Arkansas TV News can confirm that KNWA has hired Miss Arkansas USA, Kelly George. ATN is told things are still being worked out as to what time slot she will be given and when she will start. An e-mailer hopes its the early morning anchor spot.

George not only holds the title of Miss Arkansas USA, she is also a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base. According to her website, she is the Deputy Chief of Public Affairs at the LRAFB.

New ND Named at KFSM

James Warner has been named the new News Director at KFSM. Warner comes from KATC-TV in Lafayette, LA. Warner replaces Dale Cox who left KFSM just after three years with the station.

KSLA Loses Reporter

Newsblues reports Sara Gouedy is leaving KSLA, Channel 12, Shreveport for sister station WXIX-19-Fox in Cincinnati.

Anchor Celebrates 25 Years at KTHV

Anne Janson celebrated 25 years at KTHV today. According to her bio, she joined KTHV in 1982 as a general assignment reporter.

KLRT First at 9 With ALLTel Sale News

An e-mailer tells me KLRT was first to break the news of the ALLTel sale. The emailer says KLRT had continuous coverage for the entire 9pm hour Sunday night.

THV Losing Two Reporters at the End of "The Book"

A tipster tells Arkansas TV News, "Jerod Clark and Todd Wilson, both leaving Today's THV at the end of Book. Wilson got a job in Orlando, Fl. His contract is up at the end of the month.Clark getting married and getting out of TV."



Clark joined KTHV in August of 2005.



Wilson joined KTHV in May 2004.

KARK, KNWA, KTAL Owner Pondering Sale

Source: Media Week Nexstar Broadcasting Group, owner of 49 TV stations in mid and small-size markets, put itself in play Thursday, engaging Goldman, Sachs & Co. "to assist the company in reviewing strategic alternatives including, but not limited to the sale of the Company."

The company offered no further comment on the matter and will not comment further publicly until the process is completed.

Nexstar’s 49 TV stations are in 29 markets in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and New York. The station group includes affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, MyNetworkTV and The CW and reaches 8.25 percent of all U.S. TV households.

Revenue was up 4.1 percent in first quarter to $62.05 million. Growth was attributed to the company’s acquisition of WTAJ-TV, the CBS affiliate in Johnstown-Altoona, Penn. and WLYH-TV, the CW affiliate in Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, Penn. A leader in encouraging the industry to negotiate hard for increased retransmission consent fees, Nexstar reported retransmission consent revenue was up 27 percent to $2.6 million in cash and $1.2 million in advertising spending. Same station revenue was down 0.5 percent.

THV Hires New Weekend Weather Anchor

Arkansas Business.com reports KTHV has hired Meredith Mitchell to replace the departing Meteorologist Becky Ditchfield. Mitchell's last gig was at KSNF-TV in Joplin, Missouri. The article says Mitchell begins work this Thursday. Ditchfield's last day is June first.

I'm unable to find much about Mitchell on the internet. I'm just wondering if she's a meteorologist or not. THIS BLOG says Mitchell is a Little Rock native.

Local TV Operating "Out of the Box"

Source: Press Release America’s newest television company burst into the media industry today as Local TV CEO Randy Michaels wired $575 million to the New York Times and took the helm of this nine station, mid-market TV platform. The new Local TV stations are heritage market leaders with the number one or two revenue share in 7 of their 8 DMAs. But this isn’t your mom’s television company.

Michaels and his long time partner COO Bobby Lawrence are well known in the broadcast business for operating outside the box. They are strong competitors, creative strategists and anything but traditional business executives. The stations might look the same at least in the short run but behind the scenes things are already churning. In its first hours of existence, Local TV arranged for new market managers in several markets, launched one of the industry’s mostunique on-line news surveys, reorganized the sales departments, trimmed expenses across and proclaimed a new policy manual that reads, simply, ‘Use your best judgment.’

It’s a new day, a new culture and a new company, understates Michaels. It is always difficult to change a culture, especially one so undamentally different from ours. But the only way to win in this changing business is to lead the change. There’s no question that business as usual has no place at Local TV. We are the vision you can’t ignore.

Lawrence is leading the sales organization’s newly created focus on local business. Local TV’s name isn’t a coincidence, says Lawrence. Our focus is our local market, our local product and our local sales opportunities. We can’t change what NBC sends over the transom anymore
than we can take credit for CBS’ ratings strength. But we can make a difference on what we control our 4-7, news and fringe. That’s where we compete and where we’ll focus our time and energy.

We’re looking for growth opportunities in the broadcast space to add more muscle to the platform, adds Michaels. We’ll be strategic, disciplined and patient as we grow this company. But there’s no question we’re on a growth curve.

KAIT Gets New GM

An insider sent Arkansas TV News a copy of the e-mail naming the new General Manger of KAIT:

Tim Ingram has been selected by Raycom to become the new general manager of KAIT in Jonesboro, Arkansas. This decision is an honorable acknowledgement of what KLTV offers the leadership of this company. More importantly it is yet another example of what clear individual goals backed by tenacious hard work can yield for anyone here dedicated to a career in this industry.

Tim made it clear from the first day he arrived at KLTV that he wanted to become a general manager and he wanted the job at KAIT. He has evolved into a leader and a manager. But I don’t have to tell you that as most of you have experienced his sincere interest in creating opportunities for you to build your professional experience and make this station better.

My heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Tim as he begins the new journey and the return to home.

Tim’s last day here will be sometime the week of June 11th.

KATV.com Politics Powered by Politico.com

This from a tipster: "KATV is now using the Allbritton owned and right wing political website Politico.com for updated political headlines on the web."

Which THV Anchor/Reporter has Tourettes Syndrome?

Tonight's THV Extra at 10pm will focus on Tourette's Syndrome. In the preview at 5pm it was revealed that one of the anchor/reporters suffers from the disorder. The Extra will air in the first block during THV's 10pm newscast.

Update: 10:07pm THV Met Ed Buckner is the one who suffers from Tourette's syndrome. Buckner has lived with the disorder since his early teens. HERE's the story from KTHV.com AND HERE's Ed's blog about living with Tourette's syndrome.

40/29 News To Televise Town Hall Meeting on Immigration

Source: KHBS/KHOG Press Release Immigration draws passionate debate nationally and here at home.

Many argue that the rapid influx of Hispanic immigrants is damaging the traditional way of life in Arkansas. They question if Hispanics pay taxes, drive down wages or cause local schools to struggle. But is there any truth to these arguments? 40/29 News and The Morning News have researched the data, interviewed the experts and talked with locals on all sides of the issue to find out if the perceptions are reality.

40/29 News, in partnership with The Morning News, is hosting a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 to present many of the results of our findings and to open a discussion about the impact of immigration on our area. We have assembled a panel of experts who will take questions, many of which come from 40/29 News viewers and readers of The Morning News. “This is an excellent opportunity to open a dialogue on this vitally important topic in Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley. Our hope is our viewers will walk away with a better understanding of immigration and how it impacts all of us.” said 40/29 News Director Mike Courington.

The Town Hall Meeting, Immigration: Perception v. Reality, will take place on Tuesday, May 15 6:30pm-7:00pm on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. The event will be broadcast on 40/29 News and streamed live on www.4029tv.com

KFSM: The Deal is Done

Source: Fort Smith Times Record Fort Wright, Ky.-based Local TV LLC paid $575 million on Monday to the New York Times Co. to buy KFSM Channel 5, and eight other stations.

KFSM is the CBS affiliate that operates in the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas television market.

Local TV is an entity created by Stamford, Conn.-based Oak Hill Capital Partners that announced a sale agreement with the New York Times Co. in January.

Pam Taylor, Local TV chief financial officer, said the New York Times had a large corporate staff managing its television properties. Local TV’s management team will be leaner and grant its stations more autonomy, Taylor said.

That doesn’t mean an absence of change, though.

“The additional focus will be on local sales, growing the local advertising pie as opposed to national ad and agency ad buys,” she said.

No plans exist to consolidate sales offices or centralize operations.

“The changes we enacted immediately are the only changes we anticipate,” KFSM general manager Van Comer said. “We did do some restructuring. We eliminated some positions. Now, we anticipate moving forward with Local TV LLC. We continue to be the local news leader. That is our core product, and that’s not going to change. In fact, we expect to add staff.”

Comer too will be staying on.

“Just for the record, I am still employed,” he said. “I read online where I was let go. It was one of those blogs online that someone was kind enough to send to me.”

KFSM on The Prowl for a News Director

In the midst of cuts, looks like the new owners of KFSM are lookin to hire a news director. From the looks of the career's page at the station's website, a slew of positions are open.

NWA: How they Fared in February

From the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal:

5p 6p 10p

KFSM 7.8/ 7.2/ 6.0
KHOG 9.1/ 9.2/ 7.0
KNWA 4.0/ 4.8/ 8.8

Delayed Post: PA Tech Web Coverage

I know I'm late posting this but seeing were just 3 days into a new work week and I've already accumulated 36 hours on the job, I have a good excuse. Blogger David Quinn makes reference on his blog on the breaking news of the closing of Pulaski Tech on Thursday due to a threat. Below is a portion of David's post concerning the breaking of the news on the Little Rock station's websites:
KARK Channel 4 was first with the story at 8:17 AM. It was only 12 minutes later when KLRT Fox 16 broke their story and issued an e-mail alert. One minute after Fox 16, Today’s THV published the breaking news at 8:30 AM. Two feature newspapers then published the stories. Arkansas Business at 8:35 AM and the Arkansas Times at 8:58 AM.

It was not until over 50 minutes after KARK broke that story that KATV published it on their site. At 9:09, KATV issued their first Breaking News alert on their website. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the state’s newspaper (I use that term losely), followed up with the story at 9:12 AM.

Axe Falls at KFSM

This from a tipster: 10 people were fired from KFSM TV-5 today. The new owners are apparently taking over next week. Fred McLure and Robert Houston (the only on air persona to be let go) of Arklahoma outdoors were among those let go. This means the KFSM will no longer be producing the locally very popular Arklahoma outdoors. Others fired included the Fort Smith receptions, people in the traffic dept, two producers, as well several people up in Fayetteville..including the station manager up there.

The start of non-stop 12 hour days has arrived as the store I help manage gets ready for inventory, May 21. Will blog when my schedule allows...

KAIT Making Changes to Newscasts

Source: KAIT.com KAIT recently conducted an in-depth research project asking LOCAL viewers for their feedback on what they want from a newscast. These are people who live and work right here in Region 8. If you were one of the respondents we want to thank you for your willingness to participate in the research project and for your candid response.

Consider This...

We spent a considerable amount of time and money asking for your opinion, and if we want to remain relevant, we need to listen to your comments. You'll notice we are tweaking some of our programming to provide you, our viewers, what you requested.

I encourage you to watch the programs to see the improvements over the next few weeks. Even though most improvements are subtle changes, some of them should be noticeable. We certainly hope so.

Our focus is to be the first place you look for local news & local weather... the news & weather that affects Region 8.

Again, thanks to all of you who participated in the research project. If you were not part of the survey let us know what you think and how we can improve. We may not be able to implement all the suggestions, but we'll certainly listen to your ideas.

Some of the obvious changes...no LIVE interviews during the 5pm newscast AND NO sports during the 6pm newscast.