The word exclusive may need to be retired from TV newsrooms after WABC/Channel 7′s use last night. The words of anchor Bill Ritter said it best, “New York cops can’t find him, but we did.”

WABC investigative reporter Sarah Wallace found Julio Acevedo, who the NYPD has been on a manhunt for since leaving the scene of a car crash that killed a young Orthodox Jewish couple in Williamsburg. The interview was coordinated through Acevedo’s former cellmate friend.

The story resonated further with the city. The couple was en route to the hospital early Sunday to deliver her baby. The newborn survived for one night after an emergency c-section on the dead mother.

Acevedo told Wallace via cell phone that “My heart goes out to all of those people. I was feeling like I’m just so much of a bad guy.”

Acevedo admitted to speeding because he claims to have been shot a short time earlier.

“That cab driver came out of nowhere. I couldn’t stop.”

Jim Dolan was the reporter to package the story last night. Given the tremendous get for Wallace we won’t come down on Dolan for wrapping up live from Williamsburg with a double negative.

“…Not turning himself into police is not helping his case any.”

WABC/Channel 7 heads into March following a successful February sweeps period. The station won early and late, starting with Eyewitness News This Morning and ending with the 11 p.m. newscast.

In every daypart, WABC was tops among households and the all-important adults 25 to 54 demographic.

The Bill Ritter-Sade Baderinwa broadcast scored a 6.3 household rating, the highest for any 11 p.m. newscast in a major sweep in nearly four years, the station says.

WCBS/Channel 2, though, was pleased with its February performance.

Its late news, anchored by Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson, had an average of 511,000,
the station’s largest 11 p.m. audience during a major sweep period since November 2010 and best February sweep performance since 2005, a station spokesperson says.

The station also saw year-to-year gains at 5 and 6 p.m.

If the final day of the sweeps period is any indication, WNBC came in third among noon newscasts in the 25 to 54 demo and households.

At 5 p.m., WNBC only beat WNYW and WPIX. The same applies for Channel 4 at 6 p.m. (minus a WPIX newscast).

However, thanks to the Ellen lead-in, WNBC may have notched a slight victory in the adults 25 to 54 demo at 5 p.m.

WNBC was third at 11 p.m.

Let the hunkering begin!

With a blizzard warning blanketing New York, area stations are treating the impending storm with necessary seriousness.

This afternoon, ahead of the snow, WCBS started its wall-to-wall coverage. Anchors Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson led the team into action at 3 p.m., with reporters stationed throughout the tri-state area. Joining Lonnie Quinn in the “Weather Center” was John Elliott, who was seen shoveling the icy, snowy mix on the roof. A WCBS spokesperson tells FishbowlNY that the same group will be in place starting tomorrow at 6 a.m.

WABC also got a 3 p.m  start with Bill Ritter and Lori Stokes at the desk. Weekend meteorologist Jeff Smith assisted Lee Goldberg.

WNYW did not offer extended coverage until its 5 p.m. newscast. Channel 5 did give viewers hourly updates with Nick Gregory. Sister station WWOR also broke in for top-of-the-hour reports with Audrey Puente. Channel 9, like most stations, ran a live press conference by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at 3:45. Harry Martin briefly did a recap.  WNYW skipped the governor’s news conference to stay with The People’s Court.

WNBC ended the Christie remarks from Trenton by sequeing into the start of its “Severe Weather Coverage” at 4 with Tom Llamas and Shiba Russell.

NY1 and NY1 Noticias were in non-stop mode for the blizzard. On Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., NY1 will present a special half hour with the latest storm information.

Offering a serious tone on this morning’s funeral of Mayor Koch, New York stations covered the entire solemn proceedings.

But, WCBS/Channel 2 went one step further. Channel 2 brought in its main anchor team of Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson to lead the 11 a.m. coverage.

At WABC/Channel 7, Bill Ritter joined morning anchor Lori Stokes for its special reporting.

Related: FishbowlNY, Memories of Longtime Media Favorite, Mayor Ed Koch

Otherwise, it was the morning talent that handled the coverage. Good Day New York anchors Rosanna Scotto and Greg Kelly hosting the programming that took WNYW viewers to Temple Emanu-El. Sister station WWOR stayed with it regular lineup.

WPIX/Channel 11 opted fot its usual “must see” daytime TV, starting with Jerry Springer.

Michael Gargiulo and Darlene Rodriguez anchored for WNBC.

In addition, WLNY was used as the way station for WCBS shows pre-empted by the special coverage.

The chestnuts are roasting, the yule log is burning, and it’s another shot at those weighty new year’s resolutions. It’s also the season for the Barmash Awards. The third annual examination of the best TV news personalities in New York.

We begin with the Best Morning Newscast.

Everyone is chasing WABC. The veteran team of Lori Stokes and Ken Rosato, the epitome of morning anchors, along with senior meteorologist Bill Evans are a great combination of talent and chemistry.

Best Sports Anchor—The local Emmy Awards can’t be wrong year after year. Bruce Beck is the most popular sports anchor in New York. Although entertaining, like his predecessor Len Berman, Beck is more nuts and bolts. And it works effortlessly.

Best Weather Anchor–Although Evans and Lee Goldberg at WABC hold their own, this is Lonnie Quinn‘s year. The weatherman shined with his, seemingly, non-stop Sandy coverage. Quinn finds a way to entertain and inform, and especially with severe storms, He understands his role perfectly, never causing a panic.

Special Superstorm Sandy Achievement: WPIX

Everyone worked hard to provide Sandy coverage. But Channel 11 took it further. The PIX Morning News did three remotes from areas devastated by the storm. Sukanya Krishnan, Frances Rivera, and Tamsen Fadel took viewers to parts of the Jersey Shore, Staten Island, and Nassau County.

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Yet another mass murder…this time in Newtown, Connecticut. The deranged man opened fire in an elementary school killing 20 youngsters, all shy of their eighth birthday. Seven adults were also gunned down, including the shooter’s mother.

The rampage is the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, behind the Virigina Tech massacre in 2007 where 32 students died.

The weekend was the time for families and friends to cope with the insurmountable loss. President Obama attended last night’s prayer vigil.

Although Newtown is on the outskirts of the New York tri-state area, it’s close enough for stations to easily send reporters to cover the services.

By Saturday, this was anything but a typical story. WNYW/Channel 5 brought in Dari Alexander to co-anchor with Christina Park. Likely unrelated, top meteorologist Nick Gregory was on-duty Saturday night as well.

For the Sunday night vigil, it was WABC/Channel 7 that shined. Bill Ritter anchored for Newtown, while Sade Baderinwa was behind the desk. Ritter struck the perfect balance of reporting the information, while masterfully dealing with the incredibly sad story.

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Forced to evacuated, I had plenty of time to monitor television coverage of Hurricane Sandy.

You probably woke up this morning to stations locked in ”wall-to-wall” mode, but that was not the case last night. Unlike last year’s Hurricane Irene (when I was holed up in a hotel), Sandy did not lead to an all-nighter by the area stations.

Here is how they took to the air this time.

Kaity Tong was a calming presence, anchoring a two-hour edition of the News at Ten on WPIX.  As was the case with Irene, WPIX’s coverage did not include Jodi Applegate.

Tong, as a solo anchor, was given an assist by reporter Dan Mannarino, who handled some phone interviews and other information for viewers. WPIX double-teamed the audience with veteran experience from Mr. G and Craig Allen.  WPIX was the only game in town until 11 p.m., as WNYW/Channel 5 was televising the final game of the World Series.

While the storm moved closer to New York, the other channels opted for prime-time network scheduling. At 11 p.m., WCBS/Channel 2 anchors Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson, first appearing at halftime of the New York Jets game, led the station’s one-hour special Sandy newscast. Thereafter, WCBS kept a crawl on the screen until the morning team resumed coverage at 4 a.m.

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Hurricane Sandy is churning in the Atlantic, and approaching New York. Preparations for the serious storm have caused the area TV stations to cover the impending destruction.

Most of the city stations took Mayor Bloomberg’s briefings live and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie‘s comments. WCBS/Channel 2 left wall-to-wall mode at 1 p.m. to join the New York Jets game. However, sister station WLNY TV 10/55, anchored by Cindy Hsu, broke into the Munsters Marathon for the latest Christie press conference.

Channel 2, though, was first to bring in the main team. At halftime of the Jets game, viewers got another sense of the severity as Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson assumed the coverage with Lonnie Quinn tracking the potentially deadly storm.

“I’ll be with you all night, guys,” Quinn said.

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Call it musical chairs without the music! WNYW/Channel 5 anchor Dari Alexander is part of the station’s 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts. She co-anchors the early broadcast with market veteran Ernie Anastos, and the late news with Greg Kelly.

That part is known since the major anchor shifts in July. But more subtle is where Alexander places herself, and why.

Viewers of the 5 p.m. see no changes–Alexander in her familiar spot next to Anastos on her (TV) right. However, take a look at the 10 p.m., where Kelly replaced Anastos. Instead of seeing Kelly taking Anastos’ seat, it’s Alexander who’s jumping into her on-air partner’s spot.

Two factors could be at play here. First, it would appear that Fox management is trying in subliminal fashion to take “pressure” off Kelly. Grabbing Anastos’ seat, still used at 5 p.m., could be viewed as “stealing” his job.

But now we’re faced with an TV news anomaly. When was the last time an anchor sat in different positions for multiple newscasts? It’s a rare occurrence, if it happens at all.

Another point to note: on all of the major newscasts the male anchor is sitting on the left, whether it be Maurice DuBois, Chuck Scarborough, or Bill Ritter. (One exception: WNBC’s Today in New York has Darlene Rodriguez on the left, alongside Michael Gargiulo.)

A WNYW spokesperson had no comment to FishbowlNY on the record.

Seven years ago today, after nearly being swallowed up by Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans area is being assaulted by Hurricane Isaac and New York reporters are on the scene.

WNBC/Channel 4 anchor Tom Llamas reported live from New Orleans during last night’s 11 p.m. newscast with Chuck Scarborough and Shiba Russell as the storm was about to make landfall.

WABC/Channel 7 had the only other local presence in the Big Easy. Reporter Jim Dolan also handled the impending fury at 11 p.m. with David Navarro (in for Bill Ritter at the Republican National Convention) and Sade Baderinwa at the anchor desk.

At WCBS/Channel 2, Drew Levinson reported live with Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson. Levinson, though, is a national correspondent for CBS Newspath, an affiliate news service.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene hitting our area.