Independent Stations

KTVK, the independent station in Phoenix, has hired Dennis Welch as political editor, TVNewsCheck reports. He will begin June 1.

Welch will oversee the station’s political coverage and co-host “Politics Unplugged,” the station’s political affairs show. He joins KTVK from the Arizona Guardian, where he was owner and editor. He has been a frequent guest on “Politics Unplugged” for the past several years.

“Dennis gives us a first-rate political reporter who really knows Arizona’s political landscape,” executive news director Brad Remington said.  Read more

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After a series of missteps and false starts, Detroit independent station WADL has decided to scrap its 9 p.m. newscast.

“WADL is moving in a new direction, and the news programming will not be a part of its new format,” CEO Kevin Adell announced this week. “I want to personally thank everyone who helped us test the ‘News@9′ segment.”

In January, WADL launched a 9 p.m. newscast produced in partnership with Journal Register Newspapers and began building out a local news operation. But the station’s shot at local news quickly became mired in controversy and in-fighting. Read more

After a tumultuous couple of weeks in which the station abruptly fired its president and news director, WADL announced today that Joelle Lukasiewicz, wife of station owner Kevin Adell, had been named news director.

Lukasiewicz, who once worked as a reporter at Detroit’s WXYZ and WDIV, currently hosts WADL’s “Motor City Movie Night,” which airs every Saturday.

A WADL spokesperson told TVSpy today that the station considered “a lot of people” for the job but Lukasiewicz was chosen because she has “a strong connection” to the market. Read more

Hired as news director at WADL, Matt Stevens took extra precautions when meeting with station management on the day he was terminated because he feared he “might never be seen again.”

In a recent post on his personal blog, Stevens provides a detailed account of his dealings with WADL, the station’s temporary president Kevin O’Brien, the station’s owner Kevin Adell, and the station’s GM Matt Uhl.

In a series of events recently publicized by station press releases, WADL fired O’Brien and then fired Stevens.

Stevens says he was so concerned about his safety on the day of his termination that he had his wife secretly videotape his meeting with station management, “just in case they decided to recreate the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.” Read more

After his very public termination as a WADL consultant, Kevin O’Brien is firing back at the independent station and its owner Kevin Adell.

Today an attorney representing O’Brien circulated a press release defending him against the “defamatory” press release WADL sent out last week announcing his dismissal.

In firing O’Brien, WADL cited his use of company equipment to “obtain a deal with the San Jose Sharks” as the reason for his termination. O’Brien denies trying to land a deal with the NHL team, and contends that he was fired because he disagreed with Adell about how to discipline an employee for excessive use of a company vehicle. Read more

After firing consultant Kevin O’Brien last week, WADL issued a press release stating only that the former Meredith executive had violated “numerous corporate policies.”  Now a clearer picture of O’Brien’s termination is starting to development.

NewsBlues recently obtained a copy of the letter WADL sent to O’Brien, outlining his dismissal.

Referring to O’Brien as the “temporary president of Adell Broadcasting” (WADL’s owner), the letter states that an internal investigation uncovered O’Brien “using company equipment in an effort to obtain a deal with the San Jose Sharks.” Read more

Trying to make a name for itself in news, Detroit independent station WADL is making a lot of news of its own.

A month after launching a 9 p.m. newscast, WADL fired recently hired news director Matt Stevens on his first day, today.

Stevens’s dismissal comes a week after WADL fired consultant Kevin O’Brien, the former president of Meredith’s broadcasting division, for violating “numerous corporate policies.”

WADL sent out a press release this morning, announcing Stevens’ firing, with the headline “WADL Detroit Disgorges Remnants of Kevin O’ Brien.” Read more

After hiring a retired FBI agent to conduct a thorough investigation, WADL fired Kevin O’Brien this week, just two months after the Detroit independent station hired him as a consultant to “aggressively make changes.”

WADL issued a press release this week announcing O’Brien’s termination, saying that he had violated “numerous corporate policies.”

“I am deeply saddened that in this day and age this type of behavior still exists,” WADL CEO Kevin Adell said in a statement, without going into specifics.  “I have zero tolerance for this, and I will personally disgorge any money paid to Mr. O’Brien as a consultant for the past two months.”

So what happened? Read more

Detroit independent station WADL, which launched a 9 p.m. newscast in January, has hired Matt Stevens as news director.

Most recently, Stevens was a senior correspondent at WOIO in Cleveland.

“This is an opportunity to return to my home state and to work with a fabulous group of people,” said Stevens, who grew up in Michigan and graduated from Western Michigan University. “I’m looking forward to serving our viewers.”

“This is the start of many great things to come,” WADL general manager Matt Uhl promised, announcing the addition of Stevens.

WADL is getting into the local news business with the launch of a 9 p.m. newscast on January 16.

The newscast, which will be the first on the independent station in Detroit, will be produced in partnership with Journal Register Newspapers. It will feature reporting from videographers at the Daily Tribune, the Oakland Press, the Macomb Daily and the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun.

“Bringing together newspaper journalism and streaming video into a real partnership with TV is unique,” Steve Antoniotti, WADL’s general manager, told the Daily Tribune.

The newscast will be anchored by Makenzi Henderson and meteorologist Eric Garlick.