Ray Anthony Miles

Miles was found guilty on three counts of aggravated battery and one count of making a criminal threat, all felonies. He was also found guilty of misdemeanor counts of battery and criminal damage to the property at WIBW, Topeka’s CBS affiliate.

During court proceedings Thursday, Miles attempted to exit the courtroom. The Capital-Journal has more details:

As the verdicts were read, Miles sat on the bar in front of the gallery while four officers were within 10 feet of him. He didn’t show any reaction to the verdicts.

In an incident Thursday before closing statements, Miles tried to exit the court after he became disgruntled with the proceedings. Corrections officers immediately cuffed his hands behind his back, then led Miles to the judge’s conference room so jurors waiting in the hallway wouldn’t see him led away in handcuffs. continued…

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Brokke and several other employees were taking a cardiopulmonary resuscitation class inside WIBW-TV at 631 S.W. Commerce on May 23 when they heard someone had broken through a locked door and was rushing into the station.

News director Jon Janes testified Miles had come to the station to ask him to do a story about a problem he said he was having with the Department of Veterans Affairs. “I told him I didn’t think we could help him,” Janes said of Miles, who was impatient, fidgeting, very angry and agitated. continued…

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At the end of October, Gilbert will transition into the communications director position serving as the primary media contact for the city of Topeka.

According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, city manager Jim Colson said, “She will be primarily responsible for directing and enhancing the city’s communication program, including internal and external communications, media relations and public information, social media, Web presence and City4 operations.”

Gilbert started at WIBW in 2010.  She previously worked in radio at KXCV/KRNW, the NPR affiliate in northwest Missouri.

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Ray Miles

Miles, who was charged with two counts of battery, criminal threat, criminal damage and aggrevated burglary in the May 23 break-in, participated in a preliminary hearing yesterday. WIBW chief engineer Cary Lahnum, general sales manager Roger Brokke and advertising representative Greg Palmer, who all sustained injuries during the incident, testified.

Miles was reportedly disgruntled that news director Jon Janes had declined to do a story about his issues with the VA. Miles was eventually subdued by station employees, who held him until the police arrived and arrested him. His trial is scheduled to start on September 12.

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For a moment over the weekend, it appeared as though the Facebook page of WIBW in Topeka, KS had been hacked.  Out of nowhere, a series of messages were posted on the CBS-affiliate’s page that criticized Topeka and praised the city’s interstate rival, Manhattan.

“We’re pretty sure our Facebook pages have been hacked,” WIBW reporter Suzie Gilbert announced in a post on Saturday.  “We’re working on it!”

And then the station quickly discovered the person behind the “hack”: general manager Jim Ogle. continued…

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The man, who police have identified as Ray Miles, arrived in the station’s front lobby at 9:20 a.m. Wednesday and asked for access to the station. According to WIBW’s account of the incident, he was upset by the way the department of Veterans Affairs was handling his case.

The receptionist, Lynda Janes, put Miles on the phone with news director Jon Janes, who told him by phone that the issue needed to be discussed with the VA and that WIBW could not do anything to help him. Janes later recalled a previous conversation with Miles, on March 22, when he visited the station about the same issue.

Miles left the building, only to return 10 minutes later in an “agitated” state.  continued…

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Ramos will join KMBC from WIBW on April 23.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the #1 station in Kansas City,” Ramos told Media Moves. “The team exudes professionalism, competitiveness and strong journalism ethics. Leaving WIBW is certainly bittersweet. I’m looking forward to beginning this new chapter in KC with my family and newfound TV family after nearly 5 years of hard work in every role at WIBW-TV.”

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Fire broke out at vacant property around 5 p.m. yesterday evening. WIBW, the CBS-affiliate in Topeka, aired its first broadcast from the building in 1953 and shared the facility with a local radio station until 2001.

“There’s an awful lot of memories and history there,” former WIBW anchor Bill Kurtis told the Topeka Capital-Journal.

Watch a report on the fire from yesterday’s WIBW evening news after the jump. continued…

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KSNT and KTMJ are owned by New Vision Television; KTKA was recently purchased, over strong protests by local cable operators, by PBC Broadcasting. New Vision and PBC entered into a shared services agreement to combine operational power of the three stations, similar to arrangements the two companies have in Savannah, GA and Youngstown, OH.

Staffers for KTKA, KSNT and KTMJ will share one newsroom and plan to expand news coverage to additional broadcasts that will debut this fall. “By combining resources, we will have more photographers and reporters in the field, along with three live mobile newsrooms, to provide the most comprehensive news, weather, and sports information in the market,” news director Nate Hill said in a statement.

Local cable operators were vocal in their opposition to the KTKA sale, saying a shared services agreement between PBC Broadcasting and New Vision Television will lead to higher retransmission fees in Topeka.

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The ACA is fearful that the sale will lead to a virtual triopoly in the Topeka market. PBC Broadcasting has existing shared services agreements with New Vision Television in two other markets, and New Vision owns two stations in Topeka, leading cable operators to believe a similar deal will be struck after the KTKA sale. PBC Broadcasting has not commented on any plans for shared services agreements in the Topeka market. Such an agreement would drive up retransmission fees for cable operators.

The ACA has been heavily lobbying the FCC to deny or condition the sale, calling on Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, among others, to help convince the FCC of their petition. The FCC yesterday denied the ACA petition and approved the sale, saying PBC Broadcasting is fully qualified to own KTKA.

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Cable operators are fearful that the sale of KTKA to PBC Broadcasting will lead to a partnership with New Vision Television — which currently owns two stations in Topeka — to form a virtual triopoly. New Vision Television and PBC Broadcasting have shared service agreements in two other markets — Youngstown, OH and Savannah, GA — which has led cable operators to believe that the two companies will strike a similar deal in Topeka.

The letter, signed by representatives of five cable companies in Topeka, asks Brownback — who sat on the Commerce Committee during his time as a US senator — to urge the FCC to block the sale of KTKA:

We know the FCC’s failure to act will lead to significant harm to our customers. On behalf of pay-TV viewers in Topeka, the FCC must be a cop against collusion and a bulwark against balckouts. We encourage you to take action immediately to either disapprove the Topeka Triopoly or approve it with meaningful consumer safeguards.

Read the full letter after the jump.

continued…

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In February, PBC Broadcasting agreed to buy ABC-affiliate KTKA, pending FCC approval. PBC Broadcasting currently has shared services agreements with New Vision Television in two markets–Youngstown, OH and Savannah, GA–where New Vision also owns stations. The SSAs create virtual duopolies in those markets and the ACA fears that the KTKA sale will lead to a virtual triopoly in Topeka, where New Vision currently owns the NBC- and Fox-affiliates.

“ACA is drawing the line in the Topeka market because based on empirical data from many local TV markets, we know that TV stations that jointly negotiate retransmission consent deals (especially the affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX) charge pay television providers higher fees than stations that bargain on their own,” ACA president and CEO Matthew Polka said in a statement. “Consumers in Topeka will be injured by this deal.”

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PBC Broadcasting, which owns Fox-affiliate WTGS in Savannah, GA and ABC-affiliate WYTV in Youngstown, OH, announced on Friday that it has agreed to terms with Free State Communications to buy KTKA and immediately begin managing the station’s advertising sales.

The deal is expected to be approved by the FCC in the second quarter of this year.

Of interest to the regulatory approval process, is PBC Broadcasting’s relationship with New Vision Television, which manages the company’s stations in  Savannah and Youngstown.  As TVNewsCheck points out, New Vision, the owner of WJCL in Savannah and WKBN in Youngstown, operates “virtual duopolies” in those cities.

New Vision also owns KSNT in Topeka, making another virtual duopoly possible.

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