Sports

After 12 years at WTTG, sports director Dave Feldman is leaving the Washington, DC Fox O&O. His last day will be May 30.

“Dave has an incredible work ethic and will be remembered for the quality sports coverage he delivered to WTTG viewers for the last 12 years,” WTTG vice president and news director Phil Metlin told TVSpy. “We wish him the best of luck in his new job; he will be missed.”

Feldman, a California native, began his career at KCBS radio in San Francisco. His first job in television was at KTIV in Sioux City, IA. He has also worked at Orange County News Channel and ESPN. 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

WWL has named Doug Mouton sports director.  Mouton has worked as a reporter for the New Orleans CBS-affiliate since 2006, serving as the station’s Northshore Bureau Chief.

“Doug’s knowledge of sports, his contacts, and experience give our organization a great individual to lead our coverage in this area,” WWL news director Bill Siegel said, announcing the appointment.

Joining Mouton in the WWL sports department will be former Saints player Darren Sharper.  Sharper, who spent 15 years in the NFL and was a member of the Saints’ 2010 Super Bowl championship team, will provide weekly Saints analysis during the football season. 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

Steve Vesey is joining the sports team at WIVB, the CBS-affiliate in Buffalo. He joins the station from WETM, the NBC-affiliate in Elmira, NY.

WIVB’s has lost both of their sportscasters this year. Sports anchor Paul Peck left the station, and the television business entirely, in March. Sports director John Murphy is leaving next month, reportedly to take a multimedia job with the Buffalo Bills.

“It was an unusual situation,” WIVB news director Joseph Schlaerth told the Buffalo News. “I don’t have an exit date for Murph . . . but we expect that he will be spending time with Steve to help ease the transition.” Read more

WJZ, the CBS O&O in Baltimore, is facing criticism today after cutting away from a Baltimore Orioles game in extra innings to show “60 Minutes” last night.

WJZ cut away from the Orioles-Red Sox game, which was tied in the 15th inning, around 7 p.m. The station directed viewers to MASN, a regional sports network that carried the game in its entirety, via an alert crawl.

“We made the decision to give the vast majority of viewers a choice,” WJZ spokesperson K.C. Robertson told the Baltimore Sun‘s David Zurawik. “Viewers were alerted via a lower-screen crawl before 7 p.m. that those viewers who wanted to see the game’s conclusion should switch over to MASN.” Read more

Toledo NBC-affiliate WNWO has hired Will Kunkel as its new sports director.

Kunkel comes to WNWO from KVRR, the Fox-affiliate in Fargo, ND.

“Will exudes tremendous leadership qualities. His commitment to local coverage on-air and online will raise our game,” WNWO news director Amulya Raghuveer said, announcing the move.

A graduate of Medill, Kunkel is replacing Eric Haubert at WNWO. His first day is set for June 4. Read more

Philadelphia Magazine takes a long look at the decline of local sports in the market, which one sportscaster calls “soul-crushing.” Sportscasters “are doing little more than reciting scores and highlights that are hours old” on the nightly newscasts, the article says:

“Twenty years ago, everybody sat down before or after dinner to watch Al or Gary Papa give them their sports news,”[WCAU sports director Vai] Sikahema says. “Now, you can get it anyplace: iPads, smartphones. We’re competing for a slice of pie that gets smaller and smaller.”

Back then, sports could get four minutes or occasionally more in a newscast. But trouble loomed in the form of market researchers, who told network news directors that the future was in weather, not highlights. Forecasts were moved up from the end of the newscast to the middle, and expanded. Read more

KFSM, the CBS-affiliate in Fort Smith, has parted ways with sports director John Engleman (pictured) and sportscaster Mike Irwin, Arkansas Online reports.

Irwin, who has worked at KFSM since 1975, was reportedly fired on Monday. Engleman was informed last week that his contract would not be renewed. He has been at KFSM since 2009.

“We are not ending sports coverage,” news director Rick Bagley said. “Our plan is to tell  better stories about all local sports, including the Arkansas Razorbacks. Sports is and will continue to be an important part of our product on-air and online.” Read more

Kristian Read has been named sports director at Albany Fox-affiliate WXXA.  He comes to the station from WFFF, the Fox-affiliate in Burlington, VT, where he served as sports director.

Read is replacing Rich Becker, who recently left WXXA for a communications job after more than a decade with the station.

“I know that I can’t try to be Rich,” Read told the Albany Times Union. “He was such a force in this market for such a long time. I want to try and be myself, and hope that people like it.” Read more