With 57 nominations, MSG Network leads the pack at the New York Emmy Awards. WNBC/Channel 4 tops the over-the-air outlets with 50 nods.

A look at some of the nominations for the April 1st gala:

For Best Morning Newscast, the nominees include WNYW/Channel 5′s Good Day New York, WNBC’s Today in New York, WABC/Channel 7, and WPIX/Channel 11, which had 36 nominations overall.

For newscast of 35 minutes or less, Spanish stations WXTV/41 notched four nominations, while Channel 47/WNJU had one. The other nomination goes to WNBC, for the death of Osama bin Laden.

In the longer newscast category, WPIX and WCBS had two nods each. WABC and WNYW also are recognized.

For breaking news, WCBS is nominated for the Yonkers scaffold rescue. WCBS was chosen for coverage of the Brooklyn boy’s murder. WNBC is showcased for Hurricane Irene, while WNYW gets the nod for reporting on a tornado touching down in New York.

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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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It has been several months in the making. On Thursday, WCBS/Channel 2 debuts its brand new studio, beginning with the noon newscast with Rob Morrison and Mary Calvi. Plans began in January, with the WCBS anchors broadcasting from a temporary, smaller studio since last month.  

But that was then, and this is now.

“It’s a magnificent, state-of-the-art new studio that allows us to present the newscasts in a dynamic, interesting, and innovative way,” WCBS news director David Friend tells FishbowlNY.

The new West 57th Street studio means, of course,  sharper, vibrant shades, which Friend says will heighten the viewers experience.

“The design and the color palette of the studio were picked to enhance our anchors [and] to help us better report our stories,” Friend says. “The audience will be surprised at the way we’ll be able to utilize the studio to dramatically enhance our storytelling and our newscast presentation.”

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When prominent American novelist Thomas Wolfe wrote “You Can’t Go Home Again,” he obviously wasn’t referring to Chris Wragge. The likable news anchor returned to WCBS/Channel 2 last night, where he joined veteran Dana Tyler for the 6 p.m. broadcast.

Don Dahler‘s future with WCBS remains unclear.

The New Jersey native left WCBS at the end of 2010 to concentrate on his new gig—co-host of The Early Show.

And call it an “insurance policy” of sorts for Wragge, with the future of The Early Show uncertain. In fact, last week, the first winds of change may have started to blow as weathercaster Marysol Castro was removed from the broadcast.

So at the least, Wragge, the Emmy Award-winning anchor, has a 30-minute nightly newscast to fall back on.

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As Hurricane Irene churned in the Atlantic with a bulls-eye at New York City’s back, TV stations went into non-stop coverage throughout the weekend.

The category-one storm made her first landfall early Saturday morning in Cape Lookout, North Carolina as stations began their wall-to-wall mode.

Accentuating the serious nature of the story, virtually every anchor was on the air.

WNYW’s Dari Alexander was one of the few anchors not seen during the weekend coverage. She was last seen by viewers on Friday night. Her 10 p.m. colleague Ernie Anastos (above, center) made his first appearance at 3 p.m. Sunday with co-anchor Christina Park, as the storm weakened significantly.

But Channel 5 did have its Good Day team, Rosanna Scotto and Greg Kelly, in place. However, much of Scotto’s screen time during the weekend was with WNYW’s newest member–Steve Lacy, and not her “TV husband” Kelly.

Kelly and Scotto were together Saturday, helping provide of the special moments.

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We told you about the weekend weather changes at WCBS, where veteran meteorologist John Marshall was ousted in favor of Katie Fehlinger earlier this month.

A FishbowlNY Investigation explores if Fehlinger is actually a meteorologist. 

It’s not a new question; just the names have been changed. But with more than 30 comments questioning WCBS for dropping Marshall, we looked deeper.

Fehlinger is listed on screen as meteorologist at WCBS where she does weekend morning forecasts, yet there appears to be a grey area for what constitutes a meteorologist. (It should be noted that on their website, Channel 2 refers to Fehlinger as a “weekend weathercaster,” while colleague Lonnie Quinn is the “chief weathercaster.” The website says Elise Finch and John Elliott are the station’s only meteorologists.)

The blond Fehlinger, who was part of the Asylum.com’s “Hottest Weather Girls” countdown, spent the past few years online at Accuweather.com.

According to her LinkedIn page, Fehlinger is “scheduled” to complete her meteorology courses at Mississippi State University this year. Some industry veterans say, technically, that means Fehlinger “is not a meteorologist yet.”

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A packed ballroom gathered at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square last night for the 2011 New York Emmy Awards. Right from the outset, we knew this going to be a special night, as it was the largest crowd ever and most awards being handed out (123). FishbowlNY was on hand tweeting results and providing photos from the red carpet.

MSG Network took home the most Emmys with 11. WPIX got the most trophies (10) among over-the-air stations. WNBC had an eight-Emmy night, while WCBS garnered seven awards.

Among the winners:

Daytime Newscast —WABC Eyewitness News at Noon with anchors Lori Stokes and Ken Rosato, meterologist Bill Evans.

Evening Newscast Over 35 Minutes—CBS 2 Winter Storm Coverage, March 15, 2010. Kristine Johnson and Chris Wragge anchors. Meteorologist Lonnie Quinn.

Quinn was also named the Top Weather Anchor, while his former WCBS colleague Wragge was named Top News Anchor and Live Reporter.

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Nominations for the 54th Annual New York Emmy Awards were announced yesterday.

WNBC tops the list among over-the-air stations with 48 nominations. WPIX was next with 33 nods, while WABC received 27 nominations.

WCBS was recognized 19 times. Fox 5/WNYW got 14 nominations, Thirteen/WNET earned 8 nominations. My9/WWOR picked up a pair of nominations.

Examining the nominations further, among those recognized in the Best Morning Newscast category: WPIX (twice) for PIX Morning News, and WNBC (twice).

Daytime Newscast: Eyewitness News at Noon (WABC), anchors Lori Stokes and Ken Rosato.

Best Evening Newscast Under 35 Minutes: WCBS (for the 8th Anniversary of 9/11) with anchors Chris Wragge and Kristine Johnson, and WNBC, are part of the six nominees.

Best Evening Newscast Over 35 Minutes:  Among the five nominees, WNBC, WPIX, and WCBS (twice).

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Another day, another winter storm with which New Yorkers must deal. This time, though, it was primarily a serious ice storm for the morning rush.

WCBS and WPIX get praise for extra coverage this morning.

Once again, Channel 2 is showing that they are the station to turn to when weather gets rough.

Following The Early Show, anchors Rob Morrison and Mary Calvi guided viewers with aplomb to the latest.

WCBS evening meteorologist Lonnie Quinn joined the morning team today.  

That team includes Mobile 2, quickly becoming a signature part of their storm reporting, which deployed its “fleet of cars.”

As conditions began to slowly improve, WCBS left the air until 10 a.m. (before returning with the usual noon newscast).

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As the latest snowstorm began to churn its way into New York Tuesday night, WNYW and WABC were winning their respective newscasts with Adults 25-54.

First at 10 pm., the anchor team of Ernie Anastos, Dari Alexander, and meteorologist Nick Gregory gave WNYW a 3.4 rating and 297,000 viewers among the key demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research (and obtained by WNYW).  

By contrast, WPIX, with Jodi Applegate and weatherman Mr. G, only mustered a scant .8 and 73,000 viewers.

At 11 p.m., WABC (3.1/271,000) won the night among Adults 25-54 with accurate forecasting from Lee Goldberg (pressed into duty during his vacation), while Bill Ritter and Liz Cho manned the anchor desk.

WNBC (Chuck Scarborough, Sue Simmons, and meteorologist Janice Huff) was second with a 3.0 and 264,000.

WCBS took third (2.4/209,000) as Maurice DuBois, Kristine Johnson, and Lonnie Quinn worked the storm.