Richmond-Petersburg

As the race for Republican presidential candidate ramps up with the Iowa caucus today, WTVR in Richmond is settling a number of contests in its newsroom, including deciding who’s taller: reporter Jerrita Patterson or anchor Reba Hollingsworth (video above). Read more

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WWBT morning meteorologist Andrew Freiden is having some trouble coming to terms with his new schedule.

In the above video promoting the launch of a 4:30 a.m. newscast on the Richmond NBC-affiliate, Freiden jokingly stops short each time his script mentions the early hour.

“Just rewind that a little bit,” he said. “I’ll think happy thoughts! Like instead of saying 4:30, I’ll think I’ll be saying sunshine and roses, or something. I’ll be thinking rainbows.” Read more

A Richmond management company has filed a defamation lawsuit against WTVR and one of its investigative reporters, Catie Beck, after the station aired a series of reports on living conditions at their properties.

Since last August, WTVR — the CBS affiliate in Richmond — has aired a dozen reports on Space Properties, LLC. The segments showcase a variety of maintenance issues on the company’s properties and have featured interviews with residents, as well as repeated claims by Beck that the company refused to speak with her. In the most recent segment — which you can watch, above — Beck confronted Robert Owens, the head of Space Properties, in the parking lot of one of his residences.

Space Properties is seeking more than $50 million in damages. The suit, which was filed in Chesterfield County circuit court last week, claims that the WTVR reports contained inaccuracies and unverified accusations that were an intentional effort to create fear in tenants’ minds.

Read the full complaint, filed by Virginia law firm Sands Anderson on behalf of Space Properties, after the jump. Read more

WWBT is shuffling its evening anchor lineup as longtime newsman Gene Cox steps aside after more than three decades with the Richmond NBC-affiliate.

Curt Autry (near right), who currently anchors the 5:30 and 11 p.m. newscasts, will move into Cox’s familiar spot at 5 and 6, joining Sabrina Squire. 4 p.m. anchor Ryan Nobles (far right), who also handles the WWBT-produced 10 p.m. newscast on WRLH, will take over for Autry at 5:30.

“Gene has been a good friend and mentor since I arrived at NBC12, I’m honored and humbled to be following in his footsteps,” Autry said about replacing Cox, who announced in April that he would be leaving the WWBT anchor desk.

“I am excited about a new career challenge,” Nobles tweeted yesterday, announcing his move to 5:30.

“Why are you eating my hair?” WWBT general assignment reporter Tara Morgan asked a camel who had just attacked her during a stand-up shot (video above). Maybe the camel was trying to get famous.

The blooper video has been bouncing around online over the past week, landing the reporter and the camel on “Inside Edition” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and raising the profile of Morgan, who has been with WWBT since 2002.

While there are plenty of instances of local news gaffes becoming viral hits, the camel video is unique in that it’s being heavily promoted by Morgan as well as the station. Read more

Gene Cox, who has been a fixture of Richmond TV for over three decades, announced on Wednesday that he will be leaving the WWBT anchor desk.

Cox, 70, currently anchors WWBT’s 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts alongside Sabrina Squire. The pair has been working together for 27 years, making them one of the longest running anchor teams in the country.

“Gene is an important part of the NBC12 News family and has given us and his viewers a legacy of superior journalism and commitment that we intend to continue,” said Kym Grinnage, WWBT’s vice president and general manager, in making the announcement. Read more

A tweet sent out this week by WRC reporter Craig Melvin (above) has landed onetime Virginia senator George Allen in the middle of yet another racial quagmire as he tries to regain his old senate seat in the 2012 election.

Melvin, who is black, tweeted that Allen, whose political career crumbled a few years back after he used a racial slur during a campaign speech, had asked him for the second time in five months, “What position did you play?”

“I did not a play a sport,” Melvin tweeted, pointedly. The intimation being of course that Allen kept asking Melvin about his sports history because he is black. Read more

A WRIC news van became an impromptu stage for VCU fans in Richmond as residents crowded the streets, celebrating the hometown team’s unlikely trip to the Final Four.

In covering the jubilation, the ABC-affiliate had a news van parked amid a throng of fans and many scaled the vehicle to get a better vantage point of the celebration or to show off a few dance moves (video above).

WWBT general manager Don Richards has reportedly been promoted to group vice president at Raycom Media, which owns and/or operates 45 stations in 36 markets. Richards currently serves as regional vice president for the company.

Richards will continue to work from WWBT in Richmond, according to Broadcasting & Cable, which first broke the news, but will add more responsibilities.

In addition to overseeing WWBT and its sister station WUPV, Richards is currently in charge of WECT and WSFX in Wilmington and WMBF Myrtle Beach.

“Join me in congratulating Don on this deserved recognition,” said Raycom Executive VP-COO Wayne Daugherty in an internal memo obtained by B&C, “and wishing him much success as he assumes a larger role in the Company’s station group management structure.”

“We wouldn’t just throw something willy-nilly on the air,” WTVR reporter Greg McQuade said recently, defending the CBS-affiliate’s decision to air controversial video footage recorded inside a Richmond Planned Parenthood facility (segment after the jump).

The video was filmed by members of Live Action, an activist organization that has distributed several undercover videos filmed at Planned Parenthood sites around the country. WTVR covered the video, which shows a Planned Parenthood worker discussing an abortion with a girl posing as an underage prostitute, earlier this month and McQuade spoke with Lila Rose, the organization’s president.

“You take an organization at its word,” McQuade told Adam Hochberg, in a new Poynter piece on the pitfalls of using undercover recordings.

McQuade says that he “did his homework” in doing the report and notes that Planned Parenthood “was duly represented.” Read more