Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ announced it has hired Jeff Vaughn to co-anchor its 5 p.m. news. Vaughn will also report on business and automotive stories for the station.

“I am pleased to return to Detroit to join one of the best news teams in the country,” Vaughn said in a statement. “This is a sweet homecoming for my family. I look forward to getting re-acquainted with the viewers starting next week.”

Vaughn, who was let go from San Antonio CBS affiliate KENS in September, worked for Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV From 1999 to 2007. Read more

An elementary school in West Bloomfield, Mich., was put on lockdown Monday after a photographer for Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV attempted to enter all the doors of the school for a report on school safety, according to West Bloomfield Patch:

[Superintendent Gerald] Hill said at Monday’s School Board meeting that Gretchko Elementary School’s Principal, Sally Drummond, called West Bloomfield Police about 11:30 a.m. after unsuccessfully confirming the photographer’s identification, after the reporter tried to get into the school.

“The doors were all locked and the person wasn’t able to get in,” Hill said. The photographer had tried to access every exterior door at the school, according to Hill, which alerted teachers to tell the principal. Then, Hill said, Drummond saw the photographer in the parking lot.

“The person in the parking lot shook her hand, congratulations, you have a very secure school,” Hill said. “He didn’t have a camera or any identification, but he told her he was a reporter from Channel 4 news doing a story.”

West Bloomfield Patch reports that the district later found out the photographer was testing security measures for a WDIV report. WDIV did not respond to TVSpy’s request for comment.

CBS owned station WWJ has announced it will be dropping its morning news show, “First Forecast Mornings.”

“WWJ remains committed to local programming where it makes sense,” the station said in a statement. “We will continue to do local weather reports at 5 and 11 p.m., our weekly public affairs show and local specials.”

The two hour morning news show features anchors Syma Chowdhry, Jill Washburn, and Randy Bhirdo.  It’s the sole traditional newscast aired by WWJ.

The final broadcast for “First Forecast Mornings” will be Friday, December 28.

Broadcasting & Cable reported the station will fill the morning slot with a combination of CBS network news from 5 to 6 a.m. and “Dr. Phil” from 6 to 7 a.m.

While many TV stations use social media like facebook or twitter to connect with their viewers, Detroit anchor Stephen Clark may have found a way to translate those clicks and tweets into viewership.

In the video above, the anchor for the Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ tells the story of his ongoing twitter conversation called #backchannel.  He relates how his eyes were opened to the power of twitter when a social media guru who goes by the name of @charliecurve threw down a challenge by tweeting, “I’ll bet if we can get 100 people to retweet this, @sclarkwxyz will close the 11pm news by saying “Silver Fish Handcatch!”  The phrase comes from an Old Spice commercial where the pitchman finishes a spot by catching a silver fish and saying, “silver fish handcatch!”

Much to Clark’s surprise, the tweet got the 100 retweets and opened Clark up to a wellspring of stories from the community that might have previously been overlooked.  Most importantly for WXYZ, Clark’s twitter conversations are changing the dynamic of how a TV station relates to its viewership. Read more

Sonny Eliot, the legendary Detroit weatherman whose career in television and radio spanned over 60 years has died.  He was 91.

Eliot was best known for his weather forecasts which were more performance than informational. Famous for combining words to describe the weather like “snog” for snow and fog, he will also be remembered for his one-liners like, “Its colder than a former wife’s hello.”

During World War II, Eliot was a B-24 bomber pilot who was shot down over Germany and spent 18 months in a prisoner of war camp.  Two years after the war ended, the Michigan Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame weatherman began his broadcasting career after performing a bit part in a local variety show produced by WWJ (now NBC affiliate WDIV).

In 1950, he got a job as a weathercaster for Detroit radio station WWJ, a job he kept until his retirement in 2010.

After the jump you can see the many video tributes to Eliot from the local TV stations.  Click here for a string of twitter postings from friends and colleagues of Eliot. Read more

Breaking: After three years as general manager of WFLD in Chicago, Mike Renda is jumping to another Fox O&O. Effective January 7, Renda will be the VP-GM at WJBK in Detroit.

Renda and Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy are announcing the news to the WJBK newsroom at 9:30amET. The pair are expected to travel to Chicago later today to announce who will succeed Renda at WFLD.

“I feel honored to have the opportunity to lead the #1 station in Detroit, known for its edgy, unconventional and hard-hitting news product,” Renda said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing the station’s legacy of serving Detroit.”

Prior to working at WFLD, Renda spent two years as the VP-GM of WTXF, the Fox O&O in Philadelphia. He has also been VP-GM of WJW in Cleveland, which was owned by Fox when he worked there.

“Mike has proven his great leadership abilities at three FOX-owned stations over a fifteen-year tenure,” Abernethy said in a statement. “Regardless of the roles he’s held, he always inspires his team to be better, work smarter and think differently. There is no person better qualified to take charge of our premier Detroit station than him.”

Renda replaces Jeff Murri, who died in February.

Read the full release from Fox after the jump. Read more

Syma Chowdhry and weather anchor Jill Washburn tried, and failed, to execute a visual trick on a recent WKBD morning newscast (video above).

Chowdry attempted to “hand” Washburn a piece of Halloween candy through the screen behind her, but the producer in Washburn’s live shot handed her the candy on the wrong side of the shot. “We’ve messed it up three times now,” Washburn said. “You see this candy? It’s mine now.”

Tom Canedo has been named vice president and general manager of Detroit CBS O&O, WWJ.  Canedo comes from WUPA, the CBS owned CW affiliate in Atlanta.

“Tom has done a great job of leading our efforts to make WUPA one of the most successful CW stations in the country,” said Peter Dunn, president of CBS Television Stations. “We value his experience and leadership skills and know that they will serve him well as he takes on the responsibility of managing our Detroit stations.”

Canedo succeeds Trey Fabacher who left WWJ to helm Meredith’s WGCL in Atlanta. Read more

Anchor Syma Chowdhry was the victim of a wardrobe malfunction while on today’s “First Forecast Mornings” show on Detroit CBS affiliate WWJ.

The belt holding Chowdhry’s mic pack popped off shortly after the station returned from a break leading the anchor, between laughs, to ask the control room, “Can Randy do his traffic first, you guys?”

The “Randy” she was referring to was co-anchor Randy Bhirdo, who took control of the situation by urging his now belt-less and mic-less co-anchor “get herself together” off camera before carrying on with the traffic report.  You can watch the video of the malfunction after the jump.

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Last night during the 11 p.m. news WDIV, Detroit’s NBC affiliate began tracking the case of a raccoon with what looked like a mason jar stuck on its head.  The raccoon had climbed to the top of a utility pole in Southfield, a Detroit suburb, where WDIV’s “Nightcam” (reporter/cameraman Tim Pamplin) caught up to it.

“Look up there that poor little thing,” said Pamplin who was live at the scene.  “Its a raccoon with a, what looks like a plastic container on his head. He’s been doing everything he can to get it off all day long.  But to no avail.”

The station updated viewers throughout the night and morning as promised.  Finally just after 6:30 a.m. the critter, who was only known to viewers as Mister Raccoon, allowed bystanders to free him.  After the jump you can watch the final video update to the story.

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