MyNetworkTV

In honor of Memorial Day weekend, News Corp.-owned WWOR, headquartered in Secaucus, NJ, is kicking off a yearlong series honoring marines, soldiers and other military personnel in the Tri-State area (video above).

The “Hometown Heroes” series will air on the MyNetworkTV-affiliate’s 10 p.m. newscast, anchored by Brenda Blackmon and Harry Martin. Beginning this weekend and continuing through Memorial Day of 2013, the station will spotlight a different local person in the military each night.

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.

The 10 p.m. newscast on Charlotte CW-affiliate WJZY is moving to sister station WMYT, a MyNetworkTV affiliate.

The newscast has been produced for WJZY by Charlotte CBS-affiliate WBTV since 2003. It will air this week on both stations, but beginning next Monday, it will air only on WMYT.

In a statement, WJZY-WMYT vice president and general manager Shawn Harris said the change is a result of independent research on evening news viewers in the Charlotte market that found the MyNetworkTV-affiliate to have a more “news-friendly” audience. Read more

Matt Alvarez has been hired as a full-time reporter at WWOR, the MyNetworkTV affiliate in Seacaucus.

Alvarez has been freelancing at WWOR and sister station WNYW since April 2010. He will be a general assignment reporter on WWOR’s 10 p.m. newscast, which is anchored by Brenda Blackmon and Harry Martin.

“Matt has done a stellar job on reporting relevant issues affecting tri-state area residents and we are thrilled to offer him this opportunity,” WWOR vice president and news director Jim Driscoll said in a statement.

Prior to joining WWOR, Alvarez was a reporter for WCMH in Columbus, OH and KJCT in Grand Junction, CO.

Sinclair announced today that Jon Lawhead, currently the general manager of WSTR, the company’s MyNetworkTV station in Cincinnati, has been tapped to oversee all of Sinclair’s MyNetworkTV and CW affiliates.

In total, Lawhead will now be in charge of eight Sinclair stations in six markets.

“Jon has done a wonderful job leading our efforts in Cincinnati, and we are pleased to promote him to group manager where he will oversee markets that consist of MYTV and CW stations,” Sinclair COO Steve Marks said, in announcing the move.  “Jon is a very qualified broadcaster who has led by example, achieving impressive results in a very competitive marketplace. We look forward to bringing his leadership and operational approach to these markets.”

Lawhead has been WSTR’s GM since 2004.

Boston’s WSBK will shift its evening news  to 10 p.m. this fall, pitting the station’s program directly against competing broadcasts from Boston stations WFXT and WLVI.

WSBK, currently an independent station also known as Channel 38, recently announced it would become a MyNetworkTV affiliate. The CBS-owned station is a sister station of CBS affiliate WBZ. WSBK currently airs a half-hour evening newscast as 9 p.m., but will shift the newscast to 10 p.m. as part of the MyNetworkTV partnership, The Boston Globe reported.

This will put it in direct competition at 10 p.m. with WFXT’s evening news and WLVI’s evening news, which is staffed and operated by sister station WHDH. The WSBK broadcast will be anchored by Kate Merrill, who will be joined by meteorologist Todd Gutner and sports director Steve Burton.

WWOR, the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV, is returning local news to the 10 o’clock hour. The move comes two years after the New Jersey station dumped its 1-hour 10 p.m. newscast in favor of an 11 p.m. half hour.

The new 10 p.m. newscast will launch on June 27th, according to the Daily News. It will feature longtime WWOR anchors Harry Martin and Brenda Blackmon (right) along with meteorologist Audrey Puente and sports anchor Russ Salzberg.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” Martin tells FishbowlNY. “Lew Leone, our general manger, said there’s an audience that really wants to watch us at that time.”

In addition to anchoring the news for WWOR, Martin appears on sister station WNYW. He says that his duties there will remain in tact as WWOR shuffles its schedule. Read more at FishbowlNY

Mike Ahern, an Indianapolis TV institution who retired from the WISH anchor desk in 2004, is returning to the air next month with his own show.

Ahern, 72, is set to host “Mike Ahern: One on One,” which debuts May 12th on WNDY, WISH’s MyNetworkTV sister station. As its title suggests, the show will feature in-depth interviews with the top newsmakers in central Indiana.

“You’ve welcomed him into your home for nearly four decades,” teases the show’s new promo. “Now get ready to welcome him back.”

“Mike Ahern: One on One” will air Thursday’s at 10:30 p.m., following WISH’s 10 p.m. newscast, and also re-run on Saturday evenings.

Oklahoma City’s KAUT is undergoing an aggressive rebranding effort to appeal to the more than 50,000 active and reserve military personnel in Oklahoma.  Next month, KAUT (channel 43), a MyNetworkTV-affiliate which airs a two-hour morning newscast in addition to a half-hour nightly newscast at 9 p.m., will relaunch as “Freedom 43.”

“For the first, a TV station is aiming its news focus not at a particular demographic, age group, or gender,” boasts Jim Boyer, KAUT’s president and general manager, “but at an audience bound by social connections and shared values.”

“Freedom 43 TV is for all Oklahomans who believe in faith, freedom, and patriotism,” Boyer said, in announcing the brand makeover.

KAUT’s new identity appears to be in line with that of Fox News, with programming based on a specific worldview and meant to draw a conservative audience. Read more

The FCC is currently investigating Fox-owned WWOR in Seacaucus, NJ. At the center of the investigation is whether the MyNetworkTV-affiliate has been disregarding its native New Jersey in favor of covering New York area news.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

In a letter sent to Fox on Thursday, the FCC said it needs to determine if Fox and WWOR intentionally provided “material factual information that was incorrect” or is guilty of “intentionally omitting material information.”

Fox has been criticized by media watchdogs and even Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) for not providing ample coverage of New Jersey on the station. Although WWOR-TV is known primarily as an outlet serving New York, it is technically based in New Jersey.

Fox acquired WWOR in 2001 and in the years since then has folded much of its news operations into that of New York affiliate WNYW.