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.

Looking to add to their totals: WCBS colleagues Lonnie Quinn and Chris Wragge show off Emmy gold at 2012 event

Award season is in full swing! It culminates with the Oscars later this month. But not so fast. The New York Emmy Awards announced its nominations today.

MSG Network leads the pack with 67 nominations. WNBC has the most among over-the-air outlets with 58 nominations.

There are dozens of award categories and here’s a brief rundown…

WCBS’ Chris Wragge, a multiple winner, has been nominated for Best Evening Newscast (under 35 minutes). He was tapped for anchoring the East River helicopter crash in October, 2011. He also received three other nominations, including coverage of a sportscast/series for the Giants Road to Super Bowl 46. He is also a nominee for the prestigious Best Anchor.

Among those joining Wragge in that category are WABC weekend morning anchor Phil Lipof, Tom Llamas of WNBC, and Sukanya Krishnan from WPIX.

Veteran WNBC anchor Chuck Scarborough is in the running for the News Special category, hosting a 9/11 10th anniversary broadcast.

• Related: FishbowlNY, Scarborough, Ritter, and Anastos Relive Memories of 9/11

Scarborough’s new nighttime partner, Shiba Russell got a couple of nominations for her 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. anchoring.

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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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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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When WCBS/Channel 2 formally acquired WLNY 10/55 the promise was an upgrade technologically and in front of the camera. However, the most important aspect is missing, keeping WLNY locked in to its home–Long Island.

WLNY, for more than 25 years, was an independent station based in Melville. Its news presence was just a 30-minute broadcast weeknights. It was neither high-tech nor featured the best talent, but viewers knew they had an ally in coverage of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Now with WCBS at the helm, cross off the need for better talent from the wish list. Having the entire Channel 2 news team at its disposal, led by anchors Chris Wragge (at his best here, especially hosting a nightly viral video segment) and Dana Tyler, WLNY need not worry about on-air product.

Viewers, on the other hand, can worry that Long Island news they’ve come to rely upon at TV 10/55 is no more. When WLNY does have a Long Island presence with Jennifer McLogan or Carolyn Gusoff (rarely have we seen the two on the same newscast), it’s nothing extra beyond what other stations covered that night.

In a one-hour newscast, you can count on one hand how many Long Island references are made. At the start, the graphic shows “Riverhead, New York,” where the station is licensed. There are the one or possibly two stories based in Nassau or Suffolk Counties. Making it worse, those stories are often pushed down in the broadcast.

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WCBS/Channel 2 is one step closer to showing off its revamped WLNY 10/55. The Long Island independent station, now owned by WCBS, is scheduled to debut a two-hour morning news block Monday, July 2. The 7 to 9 a.m. show, being called, The Couch, is a direct competition to WNYW/Channel 5 and WPIX/Channel 11.

That same night, according to the station’s Facebook page, WLNY unveils its new one-hour, prime time newscast. As we previously reported, the Channel 2 at 6 team of Chris Wragge, Dana Tyler, plus Lonnie Quinn and Otis Livingston will be the face of ‘LNY’s nightly broadcast airing at 9.

However, a station spokesman tells FishbowlNY that it still has no word on the morning talent being used.

The Fair Media Council was created as a media watchdog on Long Island. Its main event for the year is the Folio Awards, held each April.  Beyond that, one piece of news captivated the Council.

Viewers are yet to see the full effects of WCBS/Channel 2′s acquisition of WLNY/Channel 10, 55.

Fair Media Council executive director Jaci Clement says this is important on so many levels.

“It’s a wonderful thing when you look at the total media landscape of the island,” Clement tells FishbowlNY. “Because what you have here is one major news source [Cablevision] that dominates the news of Long Island.”

Cablevision created News 12 Long Island in 1986. Then the Bethpage-based company bought Newsday in 2008, giving Long Islanders no recourse for finding news and information via TV and newspaper.

“Since they merged, you see more and more of them working closely together and actually producing less local news,” Clement says. “…We actually have less news now than we had in the past.”

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WCBS' Lonnie Quinn and Chris Wragge accompanied by their new Emmys.

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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With the CBS takeover of WLNY history, Channel 2 is ready to unveil its news plans for that station.

Viewers will see WCBS double its resources with an expanded news presence on WLNY. The old version of 10/55 only aired a 30-minute 11 p.m. newscast.

With a target date of late June or early July, WLNY will add a two-hour morning block from 7 to 9.

“It’s going to be a unique blend,” David Friend, WCBS news director, says. “I think viewers are going to be pleasantly surprised as to what this show is going to be like. It’s going to be different than what already is on television news at that time locally.”

Therefore, WLNY’s main morning competition is WNYW and WPIX.

WCBS general manager Peter Dunn says the ‘LNY morning show will be “totally different” from the WCBS’ 2 1/2 hour early hours broadcast. Anchors and contributors have yet to be announced.

“We have some great assets with the people here, so we’re going to ulitize some of them on ‘LNY,” Dunn says. “We’re going to hire some people from the outside as well.”

However, WCBS management has named its lineup for a new ‘LNY prime time newscast from 9 to 10 p.m. Chris Wragge and Dana Tyler, along with WLNY holdover Richard Rose based on Long Island. Weathercaster Lonnie Quinn and sports anchor Otis Livingston round out the team.

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WCBS/Channel 2 has enhanced storm coverage with Mobile 2, the state-of-the-art vehicle that allows live video throughout the streets of the tri-state. WCBS began adding Mobile 2 to its fleet in the winter of 2010. But the van is a regular contributor to the station’s newscasts, to get the story perspective directly from the road.

Channel 2 is, once again, at the forefront of technology. It’s rolling out the Mobile Weather Lab, a weather center on wheels. It made its debut Thursday as weathercaster Lonnie Quinn reported live from the Bronx High School of Science.

The Weather Lab, housed in a Chevy Suburban, begins the Mobile 2 technology, which makes it possible to broadcast live in HD quality while the van is in motion. But this sports utility vehicle is much more. It includes high definition satellite capability and an on-board weather station that measures temperature, wind speed and direction, dew point readings, and humidity wherever the vehicle is.

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