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.:: After one year at the top, Hepp dropped from WNBC  /First & In
Depth// WNBC/Ch. 4 is giving reporter Karen Hepp the boot after
only a year at the station, according
to the Daily News. The paper reports Ch. 4 isn't renewing Hepp's
contract, ending her short but seemingly tumultuous ride in the
nation's top TV market, at least for now. Hepp, 34, came to Ch. 4 with
a grade-A NBC pedigree - reporter and fill-in anchor at network-owned
WCAU/Ch. 10 in Philadelphia for six years, plus two years at peacock
shop WVIT/Ch. 30 in Hartford, Conn. Despite not having anchored
full-time for a while, Hepp was hired at Ch. 4 as weekend morning
co-anchor and reporter. She also served as a fill-in anchor on other
shows, including the high-profile 11 p.m. newscast. But higher-ups
apparently tired of her casual style, reportedly pulling
her from the anchor desk this summer because she called a
sleeveless T-shirt a "wife beater" on the air. She continued as a
reporter for the rest of the year. No word yet on Hepp's next
destination, although she could head to another station in town or back
to Philly, where she grew up and even had online admirers
during her time at Ch. 10. Hepp, who also worked in Binghamton and
Rochester after graduating from NYU, was hired by Ch. 4 in Dec. 2003
and got engaged the next month. --
12/31/04.:: Stations tune up newscasts for the new year /Image
Watch// In the wake of
the November ratings and on the doorstep of the
 new year, some local
stations are taking the chance to revamp their newscasts for 2005. New
York's WABC/Ch. 7 is said to be working on a new set in its main studio
for January, and is currently broadcasting from a scaled-down version
of its regular set. Across the country, Tribune-owned KTLA/Ch. 5 in Los
Angeles has dropped its channel number in a new logo which is part of a
station-wide image facelift. In the talent department, Jancey Sheats is
set
to take over as anchor on Little Rock KARK/Ch. 4's three evening
newscasts on Jan. 31, replacing Denise Whitaker, who left Dec. 1 for
the morning job at KOMO in Seattle. Sheats makes a big jump from 5 p.m.
anchor at KBMT in Beaumont, Tex., and has also worked in Sherman, Tex.,
and off-air in Austin. In an online note, WNYT/Ch. 13  recently redid its website to match
its shiny updated on-air branding.  WGN/Ch. 9 in Chicago
is also working
on a set update. And from out west, Phoenix's KPNX/Ch. 12, which in
2004 has seen declining ratings and the departure of anchor mainstay
Kent Dana, is making moves to shore up its team. Weekend sports anchor
Tom Zenner has replaced sports director Mark Curtis, who replaced Dana,
and weekend anchor Tram Mai is set to replace onetime Dana co-anchor
Jineane Ford on the morning news next month. Ford, who will retain a
Ch. 12 daytime program, appears to be taking the fall for the station's
poor third-place showing at 6 a.m. in November. -- 12/30/04.:: WPIX's fireplace log burns competition in ratings /New York// Video of burning wood in a fireplace propelled WPIX/Ch. 11 to the to  p of the New
York ratings race on Christmas morning, according
to Variety Magazine. Ch. 11 reportedly garnered an average of
approximately 275,000 viewers during its four-hour "Yule
Log" telecast, enough to best WNBC/Ch. 4 for first place by about
20,000 viewers from 8 a.m. to noon. The commercial-free broadcast,
which started in the 1960's and was revived in 2001 after a decade-long
absence, gives many New York apartment residents without a fireplace a
TV substitute. Sponsors were mentioned only at the beginning and end of
the show. This year, KCAL/Ch. 9 in Los Angeles aired
a similar broadcast and won in key demographic ratings. --
12/30/04.:: WFMY settles embarrassing anchor lawsuit /Late-Breaking// A North Carolina CBS affiliate and its former anchor have settled a wrongful termination lawsuit, according to the Greensboro News & Record. Frank Fraboni, now at UPN affiliate WUPN/Ch. 48,  was fired from his
lead anchor position at WFMY/Ch. 2 more than two years ago. He then
sued Ch. 2 claiming a violation of the Americans with Disabilites Act
since he was deaf in one ear, but station officials reportedly
attributed the firing to awkwardness on the air and low ratings in
viewer surveys. The News & Record reports Ch. 2 officials didn't
think he and co-anchor Sandra Hughes made a good fit and also didn't
like how Fraboni flustered reporters by questioning them on the air
without prior notice. The settlement is for an undisclosed amount and
is set to be reported to a judge today. Fraboni was hired last year by
Sinclair-owned Ch. 48 for a News Central start-up, but at a pay cut -
the paper says he's making $80,000 now from $133,000 at Ch. 2. In
addition to a 10 p.m. broadcast, the new operation has since expanded
to the 11 p.m. hour at ABC affiliate WXLV/Ch. 45, which had shut down
its news operation in 2002. -- 12/28/04.:: New York radio manager may have been drunk on air /The Buzz// What do an office Christmas party, a tiff with an employee, and an empty DJ's chair have in common? They  all led to one embarrassing aircheck for WNEW/FM 102.7
program director Frankie Blue. After reportedly having an argument with
evening host Yvonne Velasquez, Blue apparently decided to take her
place and go on the air Dec. 15, a few hours after an afternoon holiday
luncheon at the station. What resulted was a strange half-hour of
sloppy dialogue interspersed with music, including a mention of the
station as "KTU" - the brand of rival WKTU/FM 103.5, where Blue
previously worked. Clips from the broadcast were played on satellite radio by shock jocks Opie
and Anthony, whose take has
been posted online. That duo was fired from WNEW after a stunt
involving a couple having sex inside St. Patrick's Cathedral. Once a top rock station with a huge following,
WNEW has sunk in the ratings and is now on a "Mix" dance format which
Blue was hired to run. -- 12/28/04.:: Naked anchor station draws Nielsen ire /Late-Breaking// Many journalists and media watchers thought Cleveland's WOIO/Ch. 19 went too far when it ran a story showing reporter Sharon Reed partially nude, and now the company that tabulates TV ratings apparently thinks a station promotion has crossed the line. The Plain Dealer reports Nielsen ordered Ch. 19 to stop running a promo that said WEWS/Ch. 5 and WJW/Ch. 8 had lost 100,000 viewers and then implied they had switched to Ch. 19 for late news. "Where'd they go?" the announcer reportedly says of the lost viewers before the CBS affiliate's logo swooshes onto the screen. Ch. 19 finished second place at 11 p.m. in November but last in other time slots, while WKYC/Ch. 3 emerged as the top news station in the morning and at 6 and 11 p.m. -- 12/28/04 .:: WPEC wins key adult demo at 11 p.m.  /From Florida// Managers at
WPEC/Ch. 12 in West Palm Beach complained to Nielsen after coming in second,
saying that hurricane damage affected ratings samples, and they tried
to get dominant WPTV/Ch. 5 to stop claiming to be the top-rated station in the state.
But now, after the release of the November demographic ratings, the
station just might have something to crow about, according to Scripps
Treasure Coast Newspapers. The CBS affiliate's 11 p.m. newscast
reportedly came out on top in the adults 25-to-54 grouping in November,
with a 4.3 rating to Ch. 5's 3.8. Ch. 5 led in total households at 11
p.m. and dominated in morning and evening news, while CBS programming
on Ch. 12 won in primetime. --
12/28/04.:: Nashville sports director staying on after all /Follow-Up File// WSMV/Ch. 4 sportscaster Rudy Kalis, who was expected to be off the Ch. 4 staff next year after a thirty-year tenure, will apparently stay on at least a bit longer. Kalis will continue on the 6 p.m. newscast in 2005, perhaps until he finds another gig. "I think what I'll do is, for the time being, stay with the 6 o'clock. If something opens for me, I'll go for that," Kalis tells the Tennessean. Ch. 4 general manager Steve Ramsey is now saying he never wanted Kalis to leave. "Whatever Rudy heard or might have heard, the bottom line is Rudy was never leaving. He's not leaving," Ramsey told the paper. Successor Steve Wrigley will apparently keep 10 p.m. duties and the sports director title. Kalis is scheduled to be inducted into the Silver Circle of the Nashville's National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in January. -- 12/28/04 .:: News Cubed: Alabama TV website shuts down /Extra Angle// A website covering local television news stations in Alabama and Memphis, Tenn., suddenly ceased operations earlier this month. SouthTVNews.com, which  featured
industry news and moves, now has a cryptic bulletin on its home page which notes
that the site has been closed down but gives little information as to why. "My
decision is made because of one
action that, if it occurred again in the future, could have a negative
impact on my future," writes the site's anonymous webmaster. An earlier
posting reproduced on the blog of former Memphis reporter
Yvette Stafford gives more details, claiming the site's creator was
being threatened with a lawsuit. "While I believe there would be no
merit to any claims, I am not prepared to sacrifice my livelihood, or
my life, for a website that I run by myself and get no monetary benefit
from," the message says. SouthTVNews.com began a few years ago as the
"Mobile/Pensacola TV News Page" before becoming "Alabama TV News," but
has been most popular in the past year, logging approximately 150,000
unique visitors in the past eighteen months, according to a site hit
counter. -- News Cubed is a new
feature covering websites about TV news. 12/28/04..:: Anchor who was hit-run victim returns to work after recovery  /Follow-Up File// After some five months recovering from injuries sustained when she was hit by a car during a reporting assignment, WABC/Ch. 7 anchor Sade Baderinwa returned to the air Monday. "This has been a long, long journey, but I am proud to say I am back and I have gotten through this harrowing experience," Baderinwa said during the 5 p.m. newscast. "Whenever life throws things at you, make sure you fight back. Give it your best, because you are actually better for the adversity." In a couple of minutes of thank yous, she paid gratitude to her doctors and nurses, viewers who sent in cards and letters, the two Ch. 7 crew members who were with her at the time of the hit-and-run, and executives including Disney president Bob Iger for their support. Baderinwa suffered unspecified injuries to her arm, neck, and leg when a speeding car hit her in Hackensack, N.J., in July. -- 12/14/04
.:: Digital delight on NBC's dime: KNTV gets new home /West Coast Update// One of the perks for newsies at small-San Jose-news-outlet-turned-San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose-NBC-station KNTV/Ch. 11 is some new digs.  The station officially moved into a new building in northwest San Jose from a smaller facility downtown on Sunday night. Weekend anchor Diane Dwyer flicked off
the lights in the old Park St. newsroom and walked outside to a microwave truck at the end of the 6 p.m. newscast before reappearing at 11 p.m. inside a cavernous white newsroom-studio.
Dwyer said the bare-looking new studios, which have all-digital equipment, computer editing, robotic cameras, and extra space for staffers of Telemundo's
KSNS/Ch. 48, mark "a new era" in TV news in the area and will allow the station to provide better coverage. Since switching to NBC a few years ago,
the station has faced an uphill battle against four well-established competitors, but has enjoyed some success in late-night news ratings. -- 12/13/04
.:: Yankees moving to WWOR-TV /New York// Ernie Anastos isn't the only high-profile New Yorker leaving WCBS/Ch. 2 - so are Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams. The new broadcast TV home  of the New York Yankees beginning next season will be former Mets station WWOR/Ch. 9, the Daily News reports. Ch. 9 signed a deal to air about 20 baseball games a season for the next three years. A Ch. 2 source told the News the station dropped the popular games since they conflict with CBS primetime offerings. The games are produced by a Yankees cable station. -- 12/13/04
.:: Abrams and DuBois substituting together /New York// It was an on-air tryout Friday night for WCBS/Ch. 2's 5 and 11 p.m. anchor Roz Abrams and 6 p.m. anchor Maurice DuBois. The two fronted all three evening newscasts, which could have some significance: Abrams is being left partnerless as Ernie Anastos leaves the station and DuBois, new at the station from Ch. 4, is one possible replacement. Nevertheless, race could be the one factor that eschews the two sharing the desk permanently - both are African-American while all of the other permanent evening anchor teams on the city's major stations are made up of one white anchor and one minority. -- 12/13/04 .:: Baltimore sportscaster was in rehab  /News from Baltimore// WMAR/Ch. 2 weekend sports anchor Keith Mills was to return to the air Saturday after a month in rehab for prescription drug abuse, according to the Baltimore Sun. Mills, with Ch. 2 for 17 years, tells the Sun he confronted his problem with Vicodin after being arrested for trying to impersonate a doctor in order to get more painkillers. He and his ex-wife told Ch. 2 managers, who he said were supportive, although a station executive declined comment to the newspaper. -- 12/13/04
.:: CBS Evening News with _______? /National News// Since Dan Rather announced that he will be leaving CBS in February, speculation about his replacement has run rampant, and the Associated Press has a humorous take on all the fuss. Their story mentions a Broadcasting & Cable magazine article that gives ABC's Diane Sawyer good odds to land Rather's gig - if she did, she would be the first solo female anchor on one of the weekday evening Big 3 network newscasts and would quiet criticism that one of those network chairs should go to someone other than a white male. Nonetheless, the top internal candidates for the job are John Roberts, the CBS White House correspondent and Sunday "Evening News" anchor, and correspondent Scott Pelley. The network isn't planning to name Rather's heir until the new year, and is apparently considering unconventional ideas like a two-anchor format. -- 12/13/04 .:: Big Apple Bites: Kerik Coverage /New York// The city's late newscasts had a big story to cover Friday as Bernard Kerik, nominee for Homeland Security secretary and former New York police commissioner, announced he was out of the running in the midst of scandal. WNBC/Ch. 4 featured a rare-for-late-news live interview with Kerik's lawyer, while WCBS/Ch. 2 had reporter Andrew Kirtzman call in with commentary near the top of the news. ...Ch. 4 unveiled some new weather graphics this week, following in the trend of weather face lifts at Ch. 2, which has a new "Viper" computer radar system, and WABC/Ch. 7, which changed the backdrop in its weather office. ...Speaking of weather, Ch. 4 weatherman John Marshall and wife have a new baby, the Post says. ...A Daily News reader wrote in to the paper that he misses Warner Wolf and hopes WNYW/Ch. 5 will pick him up to sit next to Ernie Anastos. ...Columbia grad student and former Dallas WFAA/Ch. 8 reporter Michelle Tamplin was spotted doing a news package on Ch. 4's air Friday. -- 12/13/04 .:: Moves: Trompeter, Kaye, Mason  /More from ECTVN// WCCO/Ch. 4 in Minneapolis has found its replacement for onetime lead anchor Randi Kaye. Jeanette Trompeter, lead anchor for CBS-affiliated KCCI/Ch. 8 in Des Moines, will join CBS-owned Ch. 4 as 5 p.m. anchor in March. Kaye was recently replaced at 10 p.m. by Amelia Santaniello, whom Kaye had previously replaced at 10 p.m. while Santaniello was on maternity leave. Kaye moves to an anchor/reporter gig at CNN instead of staying on at 5 p.m.
...A Tampa reporter who made some enemies with his confrontational style while working for the local ratings dog is taking a break from TV. Mike Mason of WFTS/Ch. 28 is leaving his job to move to Miami for personal reasons, and told the Tampa Tribune his departure has nothing to do with his controversial reports.
-- 12/13/04
.:: Florida met pleas out on sex charge  /From Florida// Bill Kamal, who spent a decade as weather anchor for WSVN/Ch. 7, will spend at least half that time in jail, according to the terms of a plea deal with Florida prosecutors, the Herald reports. The deal, which has yet to be accepted by a judge, came on charges that Kamal went trolling for teenage boys in an online chat room and then tried to meet one of them, who turned out to be an undercover investigator. -- 12/13/04
.:: KMOV eats competitor's lunch at 10 p.m. /Sweeps// Mark down a big-time score for St. Louis CBS affiliate KMOV/Ch. 4, which bested local big KSDK/Ch. 5 in late news in the November sweeps, according to the Dispatch. The last time this happened was  in February 2003, but the win came by a razor-thin margin, while the spread was a little wider at six-tenths of a ratings point this time around. The difference? Ch. 4's news director told the Dispatch he offered staffers food every time Ch. 4 beat Ch. 5 at 10 p.m. That and a healthy CBS lead-in, which helped boost stations like Kansas City KCTV/Ch. 5 (new no. 1 at 10 p.m.) and Sacramento KOVR/Ch. 13 (rating at 10 p.m. beat KCRA/Ch. 3's 11 p.m. numbers) in November. -- 12/13/04
.:: "Judge Judy" returning to WCBS-TV /Extra Angle// WCBS/Ch. 2 has snagged the woman who could bring its  early evening newscasts out of the ratings gutter - but she's no reporter, anchor, or news director. She's Judith Sheindlin, a.k.a. "Judge Judy," whose popular courtroom show will return to Ch. 2, but she reportedly won't be arriving for more than a year. Ch. 2 outbid WNBC/Ch. 4 for the show, which it has aired at 4 and 4:30 p.m. since 1999, when it outbid Ch. 2 for it. At that time, the program was becoming increasingly popular and helping Ch. 2's 5 p.m. news nab second place. After switching to the NBC station in Septmber, "Judy" was drawing a crowd by November - vaulting over "Oprah" for the number-one spot at 4 p.m. and catapulting Ch. 4 from third-place to a commanding first at 5 p.m. and the first complete sweep of the evening newscasts in well over a decade. The news may not be that good for Ch. 2 in 2006, however - "Judy" has since settled down, to a 4.3 rating and 11 share this November compared with a 7.8/19 for "Oprah," which apparently led Ch. 4 to try to cut the amount it pays Sheindlin's syndicator. And the news may not be that bad for Ch. 4 in losing it - NBC stations have reportedly signed on for a possibly-popular new Martha Stewart TV show in 2005. -- 12/13/04
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