Seattle reporter in court for molesting child: A Seattle reporter reportedly appeared in court Monday on charges of molesting a boy multiple times. Eric Cannavaro, said to be suspended with pay from KIRO/Ch. 7, is accused of committing lewd acts on a friend's son. Cannavaro, a former reporter with KXLY in Spokane and KLEW in Lewiston, Ida., reportedly admitted back in October to fondling the boy at his Latah County, Ida., home, and called to apologize. He was arrested Dec. 31. Cannavaro, whose website bio has been pulled, joined Ch. 7 in January 2003. Both sides are telling different stories about the number of incidents that occurred.
WVIT demotes morning anchor: Stefanie Cruz has been shifted from the wake-up anchor chair at Hartford's NBC-owned WVIT/Ch. 30. She returns to the role of nightside reporter, a job she filled before replacing Natalie Morales as morning anchor when Morales left for MSNBC. The station, which has still not formally replaced former anchor Logan Byrnes, now has no permanent morning news anchors and reportedly had a poor showing in the November sweeps.
WYFF celebrates half-century: After fifty years of broadcasting in Greenville, S.C., there are plenty of memories to share about the history of WYFF/Ch. 4, the NBC affiliate that began broadcasting Dec. 31, 1953, as WFBC. As John C. Stevenson reports in the Greenville News, early children's programming and the station's news programming are among the highlights of five decades of Ch. 4's history.
Sports moves: Len Berman, longtime WNBC/Ch. 4 sportscaster, reportedly inked a new multi-year deal with the station recently. That means WCBS/Ch. 2 will have to keep looking; Berman's name had been floated as a possible replacement for Warner Wolf of WCBS/Ch. 2. Wolf has reportedly agreed to a six-month contract extension and could anchor his last sportscast this summer. ...Kip Lewis, late of WHDH/Ch. 7 in Boston, replaces the late Sean Kimmerling on the weekend sports desk at New York's WPIX/Ch. 11. ...Andrew Catalon, former lead sportscaster at now defunct WVNY/Ch. 22 in Burlington, Vt., signs on weekends in Albany to replace Lars Lifrak, who is leaving WNYT/Ch. 13 to move out of town.
Last words: J. Philip Lane has reportedly been named general manager of WSPA/Ch. 7, WYFF's competitor in upstate South Carolina. Lane, who will also manage the UPN affiliate and WNEG in Georgia, moves up the Media General chain from WJBF in Augusta, Ga. He replaces John Cottingham, also said to have been promoted. ..."The Rick Sanchez Show" is set to move to mornings on WTVJ/Ch. 6 in Miami. The talk hour featuring the ex-MSNBC anchor who gained a high profile and some notoriety as an anchor at crosstown WSVN, has reportedly fizzled in the ratings, and will be replaced by "Ellen" as a lead-in to NBC-owned Ch. 6's afternoon newscast. ...WESH/Ch. 2 courts and crime reporter Bob Kealing has also been covering a different 'beat.' A story in the late-90's led to a book, due out next month, on novelist Jack Kerouac and his time in Orlando. The Orlando Sentinel's Joy Wallace Dickinson reports (registration required.) ...As the Iowa caucuses approach, the Des Moines Register reports WHO/Ch. 13 has pulled a controversial campaign ad that says foreign workers are taking jobs away from Iowans. KCCI/Ch. 8 is considering pulling the ad, as Jeanne Abbott reports in the Register. ...NBC is reportedly talking to Maria Shriver about taking an extended leave from "Dateline." David Bauder of the Associated Press reports she's only anchored twice since leaving to work on her husband's political campaign, with network brass said to be worried about a conflict of interest. ...There were threatening words for a New York reporter from a woman who is among six suspects in the bebe gun shootings of store windows in the suburb of Westport, Conn. "You will lose your job, your home, and your life," said the woman in a soundbite aired Tuesday after threatening to sue WNBC/Ch. 4 if the camera kept rolling. "Are you threatening my life?" responded reporter Ti-Hua Chang. ...New York's Inner Circle lampoon will spoof Mayor Michael Bloomberg's need for an image makeover this year, according to Michael Starr of the New York Post. Starr reports WCBS/Ch. 2 reporter John Slattery coined a title for this year's show: "Queer Eye for the Rich Guy."
MENANDS, N.Y. -- He could be back on the air in a week or two, or Capital Region viewers might not see him again until next New Year's, but one thing's for certain - anchorman John Gray is out at WNYT/Ch. 13.
Gray joined WNYT as a part-time producer in 1988, according to his Ch. 13 bio, which is no is no longer linked from the WNYT website. He soon worked his way up to reporter, and had been the anchor of the 5 and 5:30 p.m. newscasts for the better part of a decade.
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. -- This 'man on the street' had more than a quick opinion for WDSI/Ch. 61 reporter Mai Martinez. There were also the teeth, useful in biting her, and the feet, helpful in pressing the gas and making away with a Ch. 61 news car as Martinez was dragged along for a part of the ride on Jan. 1.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- He led discussion and ratings in Minneapolis, but will his success there translate to big city also-ran KCBS/Ch. 2?
The new "Early Today" quietly made its debut Monday, and also features weathercaster John Elliott. The program has updated graphics that are more similar to NBC's morning program "Today," along with a different overall format that groups news, weather, business, sports, and entertainment headlines.
Maryland newsman retires from WMAR: Longtime reporter Lou Davis is calling it quits at Baltimore's WMAR/Ch. 2. Davis, based in Annapolis, Mary., covered Anne Arundel County and the state house for many years. He'll go to work next in a political reporting capacity at Maryland Public Television. 