Rent A Met...

Well we've heard of rent a doctor...rent a cop...well how bout rent a met!  KTBS has outsourced its weather forecasting to Accuweather. Meteorologists from the weather service have been "staffing" Channel 3's weather center the last couple of days.  Above is a capture of today's weather guesser...sorry meteorologist..but they are the same....Loved it when he pronounced El Dorado wrong..can't make this stuff up..

KATV Tops in the Rock in November....BUT.......

KATV/Channel 7/Little Rock topped its competitors in the November ratings period.  Arkansas Business.com reports KATV won every time slot EXCEPT the 5am hour where KTHV was the leader.  AB.com reports even though KATV is the clear leader....its numbers are flat/down when compared to November 2011.  You can find the complete November ratings numbers HERE.

Former Shreveport Reporter Back in the Game

Former KTBS/Channel 3/Shreveport reporter Chris Redford has found a new job.  Redford posted on his facebook page he will go to work for The Inquisitor, one of Shreveport's fine publications.  Redford was fired in early December following several unprofessional posts/responses to a facebook post. 

NWA CW Affiliate Touts Numbers

Source: Press Release: For the fourth consecutive ratings period, The Arkansas CW is among the nation’s leading CW affiliates.  Leading the way is Arrow, the CW network’s new Wednesday night hit, delivering a 6.1 rating in the Adults 18-34 demographic.

 

The performance of Arrow led an overall primetime ratings performance for the Arkansas CW that over-indexed the national average for Adults 18-34 by 20%. For Arrow, the high water mark was a 10.5 rating in Adults 18-34 in week 3 – beating the likes of The Voice, Modern Family, NBC’s Sunday Night Football and Big Bang Theory. 

The success of primetime also led to a great first book for 40/29 News at 9.  In August the station launched a 9:00 p.m. newscast, and in its first ratings book, 40/29 News at 9 on The Arkansas CW was the market’s top rated local 9:00 p.m. news in the Women 25-54 demographic. 

“To be mentioned in the same breath as some of the top CW affiliates in the nation is incredibly gratifying and rewarding,” said The Arkansas CW President and General Manager Brian Sather.  “When you add to that the incredible way viewers embraced 40/29 News at 9:00 p.m. on the CW, it’s a great way to finish another historic year for the station.”

And these are the days in Local Television News....

The year is almost up..here are the top stories of 2012:

January:
Jody Lowery returned to KTBS/3/Shreveport

KARK redone its website

February
Former Shreveport News Director Austin Kellerman hired at KARK

Mark McKay named GM at KTAL

March
Nexstar starts airing Arkansas Today on its channels in Little Rock...Shreveport...Monroe and
Fayetteville

Newport Television put KLRT and KASN up for sale

22 year KATV veteran Pamela Smith retired

Scott Munsell quit KATV

April
Arkansas native Laura Huckabee returned to the state and named meteorologist for KHBS/KHOG-TV  

Jocelyn Tovar cames to KARK from KTXS/Abilene, Texas 

KATV lead the way in the February ratings 

The story of the year in Arkansas happened this month...Bobby Petrino fired from the U of A

Brittany Bell joins KHBS/KHOG-TV as Meteorolgist and Reporter 

May
Stephanie Simoni left KATV

Sarah Fortner joined KTHV as a Meteorologist

 KHBS/KHOG News Director Dawn Dugle leaves

KARK 4 Welcomes new reporter Josh Berry

KFSM's Sport's Director John Engleman fired       

June
KTAL Broadcasts in HD

KTHV Sports Director Wes Moore Leaves 

Longtime KSLA news anchor and former Public Service Commissioner Don Owen has passed away. 

Veteran sportscaster Mike Irwin joined the Razorback Nation sports team. 

 KSLA reporter Erin Stevenson leaves for Dallas

KARK Sports director Kerri O'Hara quits

July
 KFSM's Ashley Ketz and her husband, KNWA/KFTA's Aaron Nolan leave

KARK veteran personality Dave Woodman retires

Two new reporters Elbony Wilcott and Alese Underwood start at KTAL

KNWA anchor/reporter Matt Turner quits and moves to KTHV

August
Nexstar/Mission Broadcasting buy KLRT and KASN

Justin Lewis and Jannette Reyes has joined the crew at KATV
T
racy Clemons departing KSLA in Shreveport for a similar post in St. Louis, MO

KARK Met Darby Bybee's contract not renewed

Clean Sweep in ratings for KATV in July; KTHV Sinks Further

KTBS Midday News expanding to one hour from 11AM-Noon
  
KTHV/Channel 11 producer and MMJ Jessica Duff moved to sports reporter

Sports reporter/anchor Aiyana Cristal quits KTHV

Greg Sheppard has been hired as the new News Director at KHBS/KHOG/Fort Smith-Fayetteville

Heather Crawford quits KATV

Jonathan Martinez has been hired to anchor the 5, 6, and 10 newscasts on KNWA. 

September
KTAL hires Dan and Jacque Jovic...Stephanie Claytor...

Chuck Maulden out as KTHV News Director

KATV senior vice president and general manager Mark Rose has been to promoted to president 

 Morning show weatherman Jason Adams' KFSM contract was not renewed

Matt Turner debuts at KTHV anchor desk

October
KTBS weekday Met Alexandra Cranford leaves for a position at WWL New Orleans

KTHV Anchor Matt Turner Killed in vehicle Accident

New KTAL anchors debut

November
Former Little Rock Met Darby Bybee joins KHBS/KHOG

Former Channel 7 Reporter Dewayne Graham passes away

Rhonda Lee and Chris Redford fired at KTBS

December
Mission Broadcasting in final steps of taking control of KLRT/KASN

Michelle White Lefitte quits KTAL

Brian Fowler hired as Met for KTBS
   
 

 

Stations MIA with Weather Coverage of Coming Winter Storm

Leave it to the weather to spoil a holiday for some news departments.  With the approaching winter storm only a few channels aired local morning news programs.   KTBS/Channel 3 and KSLA/Channel 12 out of Shreveport were on the air with morning news programs.  None of the Little Rock stations were.   KTHV/channel 11 eventually brought in Ed Buckner to produce a weather segment for the local affiliate cut ins.

UPDATE: THV's Ed Buckner is LIVE on TV 2 updating the latest weather info. KARK and KATV..well they are dropping the ball.   Sara Fortner now giving Ed a break...

Closing of Sale Soon for Little Rock Stations

This from the tip box:  Closing date for KLRT and "Mission Broadcasting" is January 3.  Just today layoffs were reported at another acquired station.  Staff was cut at KTVX (ABC) and KUCW (CW) in Utah.  

Shreveport Station Brings New Weather Guesser on Board

I am running behind with this but.....KTBS/Channel 3/Shreveport has hired a new meteorologist.  Brian Fowler has been on board since December 4th.  Brain has ties to the area.  His facebook profile states he attended high school in McKinney, Texas.  KTBS hasn't put his bio up on its website but here's what I found from his bio from the WAFF/Huntsville, Alabama website where he had been on staff since Novemver 2010.

Brian has more than a dozen years experience in weather forecasting, most recently as Chief Meteorologist for WMGT-TV in Macon, Georgia.  Brian has also worked at TV stations in Mississippi and Dallas.  He holds a Bachelor's Degree in GeoSciences from Mississippi State University and is a member of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association.

KTAL Anchor Fired??????

I have received several emails stating, Michelle White Lefitte fired from KTAL.  Investigating this I have found her facebook page states she will be consolidating her facebook pages soon.. and she wasn't anchoring the news this evening and wasn't even mentioned as being on vacation or anything. Hmmmmmmmmm.....

UPDATE:  TvSpy reports Lefitte has resigned her position at KTAL/Channel 6/Shreveport.  KTAL GM tells TV Spy, “We appreciate the fine work she has done for us the past three years as well as her respected career in the Shreveport-Bossier-Texarkana television market. We wish her and her family all the best in the future.”

KATV Parent Company Founder Passes Away

Source: Broadcasting and Cable  Allbritton Communications founder Joe Allbritton died Wednesday, according to WJLA Washington. He was 87 years old.

The company owns eight ABC-affiliated TV stations, including WJLA/Washington DC, and KATV/Little ROCK along with co-owned cable news channel, News Channel 8, and political newspaper/news site, Politico.

Allbritton, who made his fortune in banking, bought the Washington Star and its broadcast properties in 1974. He sold the newspaper in 1978 -- it eventually folded -- but expanded his broadcast holdings. He was born in D'lo, Miss., and raised in Houston. He was a Navy veteran of World War II and graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

"Joe Allbritton was a larger than life figure in business, in media and in philanthropy," said National Association of Broadcasters president Gordon Smith. "His contributions to local television are reflected every day in the programming excellence on display at WJLA-TV in Washington and seven other Allbritton-owned ABC affiliates across America. NAB salutes a visionary media entrepreneur for a life well lived."

Allbritton is survived by his wife, Barbara; son Robert, who launched Politico; and two grandchildren.

Mission One Step Closer to Owning KLRT/KASN

Mission Broadcasting is one step closer to taking complete control of Little Rock TV stations KLRT and KASN.  Below is a copy of an email sent to Mission Employees:


On Tuesday, December 11, 2012, the FCC granted its consent to the assignment of KLRT-TV and KASN-TV from Newport to Mission Broadcasting Inc.  We will keep you updated on the timing of the transaction closing as this date has not yet been determined.

Former Shreveport Weather Guesser Pulling Out All the Stops About Getting Canned

Seems former KTBS Met Rhonda Lee is out to..well I am not sure.  Anyhow Lee appeared on CNN this morning to talk about her being fired because of comments she posted on facebook in response to a viewers comment about her hair.  KTBS defended its action by saying Lee went against station policy of responding to viewers posts.  Lee claims she wasn't aware of the policy.  Lee told CNN, "I feel like I was being punished for defending myself," Lee says. "Whereas other people are given platforms, I was given a pink slip instead."

Shreveport Station Breaks Silence Concerning Fired Employees

KTBS/Channel 3/Shreveport has commented officially about the firings of Rhonda Lee and Chris Redford.  The following was posted on the station's facebook page:

Typically this station does not comment on personnel matters, but due to the publicity and interest about this issue, the station has included the following statement.

On November 28, 2012, KTBS dismissed two employees for repeated violation

 of the station’s written procedure. We can confirm that Rhonda Lee was one of the employees. Another employee was a white male reporter who was an eight year veteran of the station. The policy they violated provided a specific procedure for responding to viewer comments on the official KTBS Facebook page. Included is an email that was sent to all news department employees informing them of this procedure. This procedure is based on advice from national experts and commonly used by national broadcast and cable networks and local television stations across the country.
 

Unfortunately, television personalities have long been subject to harsh criticism and negative viewer comments about their appearance and performance. If harsh viewer comments are posted on the station’s official website, there is a specific procedure to follow.
 

Ms. Rhonda Lee was let go for repeatedly violating that procedure and after being warned multiple times of the consequences if her behavior continued. Rhonda Lee was not dismissed for her appearance or defending her appearance. She was fired for continuing to violate company procedure.

 click the pic to see email

Seems the former KTBS weather guesser is getting alot of publicity.  Her "story" has appeared on several ethnic online sites.. Clucth Magazine...and Jezebel...

Programming Goes to the Hogs.....

All the Little Rock TV stations pre-empted their usual 4pm programming to air the press conference to announce the new University of Arkansas head football coach.  KTHV was the last station to begin the presser at 4pm as the others started coverage a couple of minutes before 4pm.  All stations streamed the press conference on the internet.

Additional: The press conference ended around 4:45pm.  KATV and KTHV went back to regular programming while KARK had its Razorback Nation team continue coverage in recapping the press conference.  Is it me or was KATV and KTHV so ill prepared for this! KTHV has no real sports department...while KATV just dropped the ball.

December Brings Changes......

There is a true sign sweeps are over..and that's when everybody starts disappearing. Anchors...reporters....and oh year producers.  A tipster tells us the morning show producer at KATV is leaving.....

Blackout of Little Rock Station Diverted

Here's a surprise...Direct TV and Gannett (KTHV's parent company) have reached an agreement to keep Channel 11 on the video service provider. Seems when these squabbles get to stirring it turns out to be nothing!