Oops

The entire season of “Dancing with the Stars” came down to this: two couples remained and host Tom Bergeron promised to announce the winner live after just one more commercial break.

Viewers in Fresno were on the edge of their seats, but then KFSN went and ruined everything.

Seconds after viewers saw finalist Donald Driver nervously awaiting the results, the ABC O&O aired footage of him triumphantly raising the mirror ball trophy during its 11 p.m. newscast tease. Read more

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Even though the Los Angeles Kings are in the NHL western conference finals, the team has apparently failed to win the full attention of the city’s news stations. After KNBC mistook the Sacramento Kings of the NBA for the LA Kings last week, Fox O&O KTTV is stuck doing damage control over a segment that Yahoo! Sports described as “the worst highlight package of [the] NHL playoffs.”

KTTV sports anchor Liz Habib tried to will her way through an update on the Kings’ Game 3 victory last week that seemed doomed from the beginning (video above).

In addition to referring to the puck as “the ball,” Habib flubbed the names of two key Kings players–Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. And then, as observant internet commenters have pointed out, KTTV’s graphics department used the old NHL logo. Read more

“Today we not only covered the news, unfortunately we became the news,” KAPP-KVEW anchor Kristi Paulus told Washington viewers on Friday evening.

Earlier in the day, a KVEW vehicle accidentally rolled into the Columbia river while a photojournalist, after just parking the SUV, was setting up his camera gear. At first, he tried to stop the vehicle from rolling into the water but he eventually gave up and jumped out of the way.

KAPP-KVEW posted a photo of the submerged vehicle on its Facebook page Friday, reporting that “something failed mechanically while it was on the shore and in park with the engine off.” Read more

Los Angeles currently has three professional sports teams playing in the postseason but, according to a recent KNBC graphic (above), the city only has two.

During KNBC’s 6 p.m. newscast on Monday, as anchor Chuck Henry introduced a story about the Lakers and Clippers competing in the NBA playoffs and the Los Angeles Kings playing in the NHL postseason, the station ran a graphic that included the logo of the Sacramento Kings, instead of the LA Kings. Read more

Having just passed a motorcycle safety course, WXII reporter Stephanie Berzinski was showing off her biker skills on a shiny new Harley during the NBC-affiliate’s 5 p.m. newscast on Monday, when it became clear that she needed a bit more practice (video above).

“I have to laugh this one off,” Berzinski wrote on her Facebook page following the incident. “Yes, I am forever embarrassed and yes I was totally mad at myself, but hey–that’s live TV for you.  Mistakes happen.  Obviously.  Either way I still passed and have my motorcycle endorsement.  I think I’m gonna start off with a Vespa.”

KTLA began its morning show on Thursday without one of its anchors.

Megan Henderson was conspicuously absent from the opening seconds of KTLA’s 4:00 a.m. newscast, leading co-anchor Chris Schauble to impersonate her until she arrived in the studio.

Henderson explained that someone had screwed up and told her “two minutes, ten seconds ago.”  It was an excuse that Schauble and meteorologist Henry DiCarlo weren’t totally buying (video above).

One thing you can’t say about Sue Simmons‘ 30+ years at WNBC is that it’s been dull.

The veteran anchor was caught telling a private story involving her breast at the start of the station’s 11 p.m. newscast on Monday, before her co-anchor Chuck Scarborough realized that they were on the air (video above). Read more

In a segment teased throughout this morning’s “Good Day Sacramento,” reporter Melissa Cabral submitted herself to a dunk dank in order to test out a waterproof iPhone case.

Her iPhone ended up working underwater, but the same can’t be said about her microphone.

Sensing that the image would inevitably go viral, Houston NBC-affiliate KPRC recently posted a screenshot on its Facebook page of a man who appears to be taking a leak in the station’s weather garden, feet behind chief meteorologist Frank Billingsley.

“Since this will go viral any way, we might as well let you know it’s not what you think,” KPRC wrote on its Facebook page, posting the above photo. “That guy is an electrical contractor stringing wires in our weather garden. In case you’re wondering, yep, we’re mortified and laughing at the same time and we picked this frame specifically because Frank’s pose is just the cherry on top of it all.” Read more

Anchors and reporters can often get away with wearing jeans during a newscast, but gym shorts?

That’s what WREG reporter George Brown wore on-air recently after he forgot to bring his work clothes with him to the gym before heading into the station for the noon newscast.  Realizing that he didn’t have a suit with him, just thirty minutes before he had to be at work, Brown scrambled to assemble an outfit. Read more