With the anchor team of Otis Livingston and Chris Wragge positioned on the Lucas Oil Stadium field, WCBS/Channel 2 concluded its special week of Super Bowl coverage with an extended post-game show. 

Making the station’s Big Blue bonanza even more impressive was that WCBS isn’t even the home to the NFL’s NFC. That honor belongs to WNYW/Channel 5. In addition, Channel 2 didn’t televise the Super Bowl last night, as that privilege went to WNBC/Channel 4.

However, WCBS did manage to sway enough viewers at 11 p.m. last night, only losing in the time slot to WNBC, according to Nielsen overnight figures.

WCBS scored a 6.1 rating and an 11 share of the audience at 11 p.m. WNYW, which sequed from its 10 p.m. newscast into Giants post-game and Sports Extra, paled in comparison. The Fox O & O notched just a 2.5 and 4 immediately after the game. By 11 p.m. with Duke Castiglione reporting from Indianapolis, the numbers dropped to a 1.9 and 3.

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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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WABC/Channel 7 maintained its dominance of local news, winning every daypart in the just-concluded November sweeps, according to Nielsen.

Starting in the weekday mornings, Eyewitness News This Morning with Lori Stokes, Ken Rosato and Bill Evans had the highest Household rating at 4:30.

At 5 a.m., WABC was tops in Households and Adults 25 to 54, while during the 6 o’clock hour, once again, more viewers watched Channel 7 than any other local newscast.

Stokes, Rosato, and Evans return at noon, and so do the great ratings. The broadcast holds a 39 percent advantage over its closest competition among Households. The lunchtime newscast also draws more than twice as many Adults 25 to 54 and Women 25 to 54 as its closest competitor.

A change of anchors at 4 p.m., but the result is the same for WABC. With Liz Cho, David Novarro, and Lee Goldberg, Channel 7 won in the pivotal Adults 25 to 54 grouping. The 4 p.m. newscast, which debuted in the summer, only falls short in the key Household rating to Judge Judy on WCBS/Channel 2.

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We recently reported about the upshot in morning activity at ESPN.

First, FishbowlNY had the first word that Bloomberg Radio/WBBR would outsource a.m. drive sportscasts to ESPN. Then last week, ESPN joined forces with WABC/Channel 7 to also provide morning sports updates.

Of course, ESPN and Channel 7 are under the same Walt Disney Company umbrella.

In an effort to shed some light on the dual dawn operations, FishbowlNY got the comments of Justin Craig, 1050 ESPN/WEPN program director.

“We’re excited to partner with Bloomberg in this endeavor and to provide New York audiences a new outlet for our work to be heard,”  Craig says.

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ESPN and WABC/Channel 7, properties of the Walt Disney Corporation, are taking synergy to the next level. The Daily News reports WABC will outsource morning sports reports to ESPN.

That means, gone are the sportscasts by evening anchor Rob Powers that at times were outdated. Also, it means Powers doesn’t have to wait for late games to finish before recording the morning sportscasts.

Our sister site TVSpy has more on the deal, including comments from Channel 7 news director Kenny Plotnik.

On Saturday, FishbowlNY told you first that Bloomberg Radio/WBBR is now using ESPN anchors during morning drive.

WABC/Channel 7 maintains its news dominance, winning the May Sweeps (the official last day is tomorrow) period among the overall Households and a pivotal demographic–Adults 25 to 54.

In the ratings tabulated by Nielsen, Eyewitness News This Morning with Lori Stokes, Ken Rosato, and Bill Evans had the highest Household rating from 4:30 to 5 a.m., while boasting twice as many Adults 25 to 54 as any other station. At 5 and 6 a.m., Channel 7 beat all competitors in Households and Adults 25 to 54.

In the newscast at noon, WABC held a 50 percent lead over WCBS in the Households rating, and by twice as much in the Women 25 to 54 demographic.

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MSG Network received a whopping 60 nominations Thursday for the 54th Annual New York Emmy Awards.

Among the other regional sports networks, the YES Network notched 46 nominations, while MSG Varsity picked up 32 nods.

SNY was recognized 23 times.

Breaking it down further, in the category Sports Coverage: Series, MSG was bookended by News 12 Westchester (twice), News 12 New Jersey, and News 12 Connecticut.  

The odds may be against MSG in that category, but not so for Sports Programming: Regularly Scheduled Program. MSG took five nominations (MLB Productions for the YES Network with the other – Yankeeography: George Steinbrenner ).  

YES’ other signature original program CenterStage, hosted by Michael Kay, is nominated for Best Interview/Discussion for the edition with Mike Tyson.

The show goes against two WNBC/NYNonstop shows–The Debrief with David Ushery and Talk Stoop with Cat Greenleaf.

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It’s been a month since Scott Clark walked away from his sports anchoring duties at WABC/Channel 7. Clark built a strong following with his personality, various features and standard highlights.

But now, for the first time in 25 years, the main sports presence at Channel 7 is different.

That face belongs to Rob Powers, who made the transition easy for viewers.

“Scott was Scott, and I’ll never be able to get up to that level, and the goal right now is to try. That’s all I can try to do right now,” Powers says.

Prior to passing the baton, Powers did get some advice from his mentor. 

“You will find your way and the viewers will find you. Take it slow. Don’t do anything right away,” Powers recalls Clark telling him.

So for now, Powers is keeping it simple as viewers gets familiarized with him.

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New York’s longest current sports anchor Scott Clark steps away from the daily grind tonight. He’ll handle his usual 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. duties one more time. You can be sure there will be an on-air tribute waiting for Clark.

In June, Clark announced he would retire.

He began at WABC in 1986 and before long he was the station’s sports director and main sportscaster.

His weekly features “Armchair Quarterback,” “Hilight Zone,” and “Out Of This World” became staples in his reports.

Clark is an Emmy Award winner.

Rob Powers takes over for Clark starting tomorrow night. With Powers upgraded, recently hired Laura Behnke is the new weekend sports anchor.