Buffalo

Brittni Smallwood has joined WIVB, the CBS-affiliate in Buffalo. She comes from WETM, the NBC-affiliate in Elmira, NY, where she co-anchored the morning newscast.

Smallwood, who will report for the morning and noon newscasts, is one of two that joined WIVB from WETM today. The other is Steve Vesey, who will join WIVB’s sports team.

“Brittni comes to News 4 with a lot of talent and ambition and she will be a terrific fit with our team,” news director Joseph Schlaerth told TVSpy. “She knows how to report hard news and how to tell a great story and we look forward to helping her grow as a journalist.”

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

Steve Vesey is joining the sports team at WIVB, the CBS-affiliate in Buffalo. He joins the station from WETM, the NBC-affiliate in Elmira, NY.

WIVB’s has lost both of their sportscasters this year. Sports anchor Paul Peck left the station, and the television business entirely, in March. Sports director John Murphy is leaving next month, reportedly to take a multimedia job with the Buffalo Bills.

“It was an unusual situation,” WIVB news director Joseph Schlaerth told the Buffalo News. “I don’t have an exit date for Murph . . . but we expect that he will be spending time with Steve to help ease the transition.” Read more

The Buffalo News takes a look at the diminishing amount of sports coverage on local stations following the departure of sports anchor Paul Peck from WIVB. Peck’s exit was reportedly tied to “devalued sports coverage” at the CBS-affiliate, a trend that has cropped up as viewers increasingly get sports news elsewhere:

The trend reflects the ease with which sports fans now find scores and more elsewhere. They are watching games on their phones and online, and don’t have to wait until 11 p.m. for results, according to a communications instructor at Buffalo State College.

“There are more sources for sports information — a big source is ESPN,” said William Raffel, associate professor.  “There’s this idea if people are interested in sports, there’s a network that offers it 24 hours a day.  Read more

After 24 years at Buffalo CBS-affiliate WIVB, sports anchor Paul Peck has announced his departure from the station.

The news was first reported by Buffalo media reporter Alan Pergament, who writes that Peck’s exit is tied “devalued sports coverage” at WIVB. He has accepted a job at AXA Advisors.

“It’s been my life for a long time,” Peck told Pergament. “I’m taking this leap of faith in this new job. I’m excited. I gave it a lot of thought. It is definitely the right time and it’s a wonderful opportunity to pursue.”

Peck has been a sports anchor at WIVB since 1988. The station has not named a replacement.

There will be a pair of new reporters at WBBM next week. Marissa Bailey (pictured) and Brad Edwards are joining the CBS O&O, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Bailey joins the station after five years as a reporter and anchor at WGRZ. She left the Buffalo NBC-affiliate in January to move to Chicago with her boyfriend.

Edwards is an investigative reporter who was cut loose at WISH, the CBS-affiliate in Indianapolis, in December. He was halfway through his three-year contract at the time, and was reportedly dismissed due to budget constraints at the station.

Bailey and Edwards will both start at WBBM on Monday.

There are two new hires at Buffalo CBS-affiliate WIVB: Lou Raguse and Emily Guggenmos (pictured).

Raguse joins the station from KMSB in Tuscon, where news operations were shut down earlier this month. Guggenmos also joins WIVB from Tucson, where she was the weekend co-anchor at KVOA.

The pair met while working in Sioux Falls — Guggenmos at KDLT and Raguse at KELO. They were married in 2010.

“Emily and Lou are both strong journalists who will fit in perfectly with our winning team here,” news director Joseph Schlaerth tells TVSpy via email.

Buffalo NBC-affiliate WGRZ will stop showing video of a group of local high school girls affected by a mysterious disorder that makes them twitch and tic, the station announced this week.

More than a dozen students at LeRoy High School have developed the symptoms, which some doctors say indicate a psychological condition brought on by stress. WGRZ has been covering the story since it broke in November, news director Jeff Woodard says.

“We hear over and over from doctors that all the media attention doesn’t help them,” Woodard tells TVSpy.

Citing a desire to be “upfront” with viewers, Woodard says, the station discussed the decision on three separate newscasts this week. He calls the issue “a great journalistic debate” and says he can see both sides of the issue.

“I don’t know if this is something we should be doing or something we shouldn’t be doing,” he says. “It’s something we felt like doing as members of the community.” Read more

Buffalo CBS-affiliate WIVB unveiled a new look, the result of a $2.5 million makeover, on the 5 p.m. newscast yesterday.

The station’s upgrade — which took six weeks to complete  — includes high definition broadcasts, an expanded news set, and an “enhanced ‘Warn 4 Weather’ corner,” according to the Buffalo News.

WIVB is the last of the Buffalo stations to make the HD switch. A large part of the new studio is the weather corner (pictured), which is designed to accommodate the station’s entire weather staff at once. Read more

WPBN-WTOM anchor Diana Fairbanks is joining Buffalo’s WIVB-WNLO on January 16.

Fairbanks, who tells TVSpy she is “excited about the opportunity,” says she will anchor the 5:30 p.m. newscast on WIVB and the 10 p.m. newscast on WNLO on weekdays. Her last day at WPBN-WTOM, the NBC-affiliate in Traverse City, MI, is Friday.

In a statement on the station’s website, WPBN-WTOM president Jill Sareela called Fairbanks an “integral part” of the station for the past 11 years, adding WPBN-WTOM was “fortunate to have her for that long.”

The news comes one day after WIVB anchor Melissa Holmes, who anchored the morning newscast on WLNO, announced that she was leaving the station for rival WGRZ.

Melissa Holmes is leaving WIVB to join market rival WGRZ.

“This new year is certainly bringing a new beginning for me,” Holmes wrote on her Facebook wall this afternoon.  “After six years at News 4, I’m officially announcing my final day on the air will be Friday. I’m sad to leave my incredible co-workers, and am grateful WIVB gave me the opportunity to work in my hometown!”

Holmes was coy about her next move on Facebook, saying only “I’m not leaving Buffalo… ,” but TVSpy has learned that Holmes is set to join NBC-affiliate WGRZ.  She currently works as an anchor-reporter for CBS-affiliate WIVB.

An official announcement is expected later this week.