The best and brightest on the New York TV scene were on display last night at the 55th annual local Emmy Awards. FishbowlNY was on hand for the  four-hour awards ceremony at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

The biggest winner was MSG with 14 trophies, while WNBC/Channel 4 led all over-the-air outlets with 11 Emmys.

WCBS/Channel 2 took home the top prize of Best Evening Newscast–Over 35 Minutes–for its Hurricane Irene Aftermath. Anchors Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson were not there to accept their statuettes, but weathercaster Lonnie Quinn was in attendance.

Quinn already was selected Best On-Camera Weather Anchor, and colleague Chris Wragge was back at the podium as Best News Anchor. A one-time personal trainer, Wragge rushed back to Manhattan after competing in a Miami triathlon earlier in the day.

“This morning I knew my only shot of winning anything was coming to these Emmys,” Wragge deadpanned.

WABC cornered the market in the morning and daytime newscast categories. The on-air team of anchors Ken Rosato and Lori Stokes, meteorologist Bill Evans won for Eyewitness News This Morning and the noon broadcast following the Death of Osama bin Laden.

Telemundo WNJU/Channel 47 won the Best Newscast Under 35 Minutes.

More results from last night’s Emmys after the jump

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It’s a bittersweet anniversary for Chuck Scarborough, who marks an incredible 38 years at WNBC March 25. Earlier this month, his on-air “better half,” Sue Simmons was canned by Channel 4 after 32 years. Her contract wasn’t renewed, but Scarborough’s was for additional three years. That means if he finishes out his new pact, Scarborough will be with WNBC until he’s 71.

Scarborough has dozens of Emmy Awards to his credit, and fittingly he and Simmons are charter members of the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

Scarborough has been the face of the station through various set redesigns and rebrandings. In those halcyon days of the 1970s, he helmed the NewsCenter 4 look, bringing the feel of Star Trek’s Enterprise to 30 Rock. (See below for a Scarborough news update from 1979.)

By the 1980s, it was time for the more subdued News 4 New York, while in the 1990s it was NewsChannel 4. In 2008, WNBC returned to News 4 New York with new graphics.

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With the state of broadcasting linked to state of the economy, cost-cutting of talent is commonplace. So it’s nice to see a good, old-fashioned retirement!

Don Gould did that Sunday, in walking away from his weekend morning sportscasting role on WINS for the next phase of his career in South Florida. 

It was earlier this year that Sid Rosenberg, while living in Miami, was dismissed from his weekday morning sports duties on WINS. That coupled with Gould’s move south would indicate WINS and Total Traffic (formerly Shadow/Metro) management’s preference to keep its entire staff in one location.

Nevertheless, Gould, who turned the official retirement age of 65 Sunday, says the hours were wearing thin.

His WINS stint started in 2006, after Gould met with then-executive editor Mark Mason. Even though the talent was paid by Shadow/Metro, Mason cast a big “shadow” over the hiring process.  While breaking bread at a diner, Gould, although flattered, told the longtime radio programmer that it may not be the right match.

“I don’t do sports the way everybody else does sports,” Gould recalls.

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For 32 years, Sue Simmons has been teamed with Chuck Scarborough, forging an on-air partnership for the ages at WNBC/Channel 4. But that’s apparently going to be history in a matter of months. The New York Post’s Cindy Adams reports that the 68-year-old Simmons’ contract is not being renewed and she learned about the career-altering news last week.

Adams, who has remained friends with Simmons since she was a contributor on Live at Five in the 1980s, says this was entirely NBC’s decision, adding that Simmons, a four-time Emmy winner would have gladly re-upped.

Scarborough, whose contract also expires in June, got a new three-year package as the station’s lead anchor. That will keep him busy until he’s 71.

In January, Simmons returned to the air after missing two months from back surgery. However, she was greeted with the 11 p.m. newscast only, opposite Scarborough. Gone was the 6 p.m. that Scarborough still flies solo.

At the time, a station spokesperson told FishbowlNY that it was Simmons’ decision to gradually ease herself back into the flow. But Adams says Simmons was “bounced” from the 6 p.m. Read more

I’ve been covering  Wednesday’s at Michael’s for five years and have never seen anything like the head-spinning scene that unfolded there today. Harvey Weinstein and Steve Tisch threw a pep rally to end all pep rallies, and the media A-list all came out to cheer on their favorite team. Peggy Siegal and her minions descended on the place before the crowd rushed in with plenty of New York Giants paraphernalia, transforming the California cool decor into an indoor tailgate party.

By noon, I counted at least a dozen paparazzi staked out at the entrance, and they certainly weren’t disappointed. Drew Nieporent was the first to arrive (“What’s for lunch?”), and in short order the lounge was flooded with famous folks, including Brian Williams, Gayle King, Piers Morgan, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb (wearing newly identical red dresses and looking fabulous), former governor George Pataki, Matt Lauer and various members of the Tisch family.

Everyone’s mind was on the big game; conventional wisdom says the Giants will be this year’s Super Bowl champs, but it’s going to be a close one.  (All except Jerry Della Femina, who predicts the Patriots will take it 27-24.) “I think it’s going to be a squeaker,” offered Andrew Ross Sorkin. “At least I hope so because it will be a better game.”

Not surprisingly, Giants legend Frank Gifford, who will be watching the game from his home in Greenwich with family and friends, predicts a 30-10 win for his former team. “Eli Manning has really come into his own as a quarterback,” he told me. “But a quarterback is only as good as his team. They’re a great team. If you were playing for the Giants, you’d be a great quarterback.” Doubtful, but we appreciate the sentiment. Brian Williams, who’ll be going to the game, refused to speculate on the final score for fear of tempting the gods. ”You just don’t do that,” he told me.

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First, we had the poll showing Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons were the all-time number one anchor team in your hearts. Now,  it’s time to choose the best radio team in New York City. Whether in news (several tandems from Newsradio 880), sports (Mike and the Mad Dog), or morning teams (Dr. Dre´ and Ed Lover; Scott and Todd) 

As always, you can add any additional selections below. The poll closes Thursday at 6 p.m. We’ll have the results on Friday.

FishbowlNY readers rallied behind our poll for the All-Time Anchor Team. No doubt it brought a flood of memories from a bygone era.

Rolland Smith, for example, was the only personality selected for working with three different co-anchors during his 17 years at WCBS/Channel 2: Jim Jensen, Dave Marash, and Michele Marsh.

Here’s the Top 5 countdown of your picks for New York’s All-Time Anchor Team.

5. Rolland Smith and Jim Jensen — 4 percent of the vote. (1975 to 1987)

4. Smith and Michele Marsh — 7 percent (1979 to 1987)

3. Jim Watkins and Kaity Tong — 9 percent (1998 to 2010)

2. Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel — 26 percent (1970 to 1986)

and at number 1….was there really any surprise?

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It’s that time of the year—time for buying Christmas trees, and subsequently decorating them with all the trimmings. Our Jewish friends are digging out the menorahs, and making sure they have enough candles.

But it’s also the season for countless awards. FishbowlNY is no exception, as we present our 2^nd annual Barmash Awards, honoring the local TV news scene here in New York.

As the title indicates, there is no committee making these decisions—just one co-editor.

While our intention isn’t to specifically balance the award winners, it does show the enormous talent we have to choose from across the dial.

Best Newscast (morning)

The chemistry works perfectly between WABC/Channel 7 veterans Lori Stokes and Ken Rosato. Stokes, though, brings that special connection to morning viewers. Stokes has a warm and friendly demeanor as she virtually “wakes” up people each day. Bill Evans is one of the best TV meteorogists, only falling short in the overall category to a colleague.

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In case you missed any of our special feature 9/11: New York Remembers, today we’re observing the 10th anniversary of the tragic day linking back to the entire series.

• After an introduction, we began on August 19 with the memories of famed anchors Ernie Anastos, Bill Ritter, and Chuck Scarborough.
• On Monday, August 22, we returned with one-time WABC/Channel 7 reporter Jeff Rossen describing the horrific scene at ground zero.
• Longtime WINS reporter John Montone had his own struggles dealing with the disaster.
• On August 24, we offered the account of two veteran NY1 reporters.
• Tom Kaminski, well-known to WCBS-AM listeners for his chopper reporting, was in the air during 9/11.
• Another well-known radio personality is Harry Harrison who, with his familiar style, was an important part of the healing process.

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For several days, we’ve been offering you some insight as to how some well-known reporters and anchors covered the horrific day 10 years ago when our city, world, and life would change forever.

We conclude our special coverage–9/11: New York Remembers.

For WCBS-TV main anchor Maurice DuBois it was, perhaps, even more difficult. DuBois, at the time, a co-anchor on WNBC’s Today in New York, was returning from his honeymoon in Southern France on September 11.

“Not quite halfway through the flight the pilot gets on the public address and says, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is an unusual situation, but we’ve been advised that U.S. airspace is closed and we are returning to Paris.’”

DuBois recalls passengers letting out a gasp on the plane as they remained in the dark about the details stateside.

An hour after, as they were turned back for France, DuBois tells FishbowlNY, the pilot gave one final much grimmer update, telling passengers that there were “massive explosions in Lower Manhattan.”

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