Meredith today reported its fiscal 2012 third quarter earnings, announcing a 10% increase in total revenue during the period for its local media group, which consists of 12 stations around the country, including WGCL in Atlanta and KPHO in Phoenix.

Meredith’s local media group brought in $78 million during the period, with a 5% rise in non-political advertising revenue and a 70% increase in digital advertising.

“Our Local Media group is doing an excellent job of increasing ratings and translating them into advertising revenues, consistently ranking us among the leading station groups in advertising revenue gains,” Meredith local media group president Paul Karpowicz said in a statement. Read more

Several local stations have won Sigma Delta Chi awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Awards were given to a small-market and large-market station in five categories — breaking news coverage, documentaries, feature reporting, investigative reporting and public service in television journalism.

Large market winners were WISH in Indianapolis, KLAS in Las Vegas, News 12 Westchester, KPHO in Phoenix and WIVB in Buffalo. Small market station winners were WGXA in Macon, GA, KOMU in Columbia, KCRG in Cedar Rapids, WVUE in New Orleans and WTWO in Terre Haute, IN.

A full list of local news winners is after the jump. Read more

Five local stations have won 2012 Peabody Awards: KING in Seattle, KPHO in Phoenix, KLAS in Las Vegas, WEWS in Cleveland and KLRU in Austin.

KLRU, a PBS station, won an Institutional Peabody Award for “Austin City Limits.” The show is in its 37th season, making it the world’s longest running live music television program. KLAS won for “Desert Underwater,” a series of reports on the housing crisis in Las Vegas. In one installment, investigative reporter George Knapp discovered he was a victim of the mortgage fraud he was reporting on.

>Related, TVNewser: CNN, ABC, CBS, The BBC and Al Jazeera Among 2012 Peabody Award Winners

Peter Busch is joining WBBH, the NBC-affiliate in Fort Myers, as a weeknight anchor.

Busch joins the station from KPHO in Phoenix, where he is a reporter and weekend anchor. His reporting at the station earned him three consecutive Emmy awards as a general assignment reporter.

Prior to KPHO, Busch worked as a reporter at KVOA in Tucson and KBIM in Roswell. He was also formerly a producer of CBS’ “Early Show.” His first day at WBBH will be May 29.

In her new movie, “Big Miracle,” actress Kristen Bell plays a local TV reporter and, in a recent interview with New York magazine, she spoke about growing up with a news director dad.

Bell’s father, Tom Bell, worked as a news director at KPHO in Phoenix and currently serves as the ND at WOAI in San Antonio.

“I grew up going to the station with him and being able to play with the teleprompters, knowing the behind the scenes of news directing,” Bell told New York.  “And it’s very similar to acting. He had a lot of hesitancy because he knew the rejection that was possible. He had been the one forced to reject people.”

Facilities at KPHO, the CBS-affiliate in Phoenix, are undergoing extensive renovations that will bring upgrades to the studio and the newsroom.

The renovations will cost nearly $1 million, the Phoenix Business Journal reports.  The studio renovations include an upgrade to energy-efficient technology, while the newsroom renovations will give every KPHO staffer the ability to edit video at their desks and filter it through a “content center hub.” Station employees will be located on a newly-constructed second-floor mezzanine (pictured).

“This really changes that way that people think about story assignments and where a story goes first,” KPHO vice president and general manager Edward Munson told the Business Journal. Read more

Meredith reported results for the first quarter of its fiscal year this morning, announcing a drop in revenue for the company’s local media group.

Meredith, which owns 12 stations across the country including WGCL in Atlanta and KPHO in Phoenix, reported $69 million in total revenues for its local media group, compared to $76 million brought in during the same period last year.

In announcing financial results for the quarter, Meredith was quick to point out that its TV stations recorded approximately $11 million less in political advertising revenues than in the same period last year. Excluding political advertising, revenues rose 3%. Read more

Meredith Local Media Group and WorldNow have completed the launch of ten redesigned local stations’ websites. All of the stations are owned by Meredith and published on a WorldNow platform.

The sites were launched in a span of three weeks beginning last month. The redesign gave each site improvements across multiple platforms, including video and mobile capabilities, advertising sales tools and production of original editorial content.

“The launch of the sites is our first step toward cementing Meredith’s leadership position among local media in their markets,” WorldNow senior vice president Melissa Hatter said. “We look forward to a number of advancements over the coming months that are focused on providing the best user experience on multiple platforms for continuous growth.”

The stations with relaunched websites are: WHNS, WGCL, WNEM, WSMV, WFSB, KPHO, WSHM, KVVU, KPTV and KCTV.

A Phoenix news helicopter was the victim of a dangerous prank last week as someone shot a bright laser beam into its cockpit (video above).

Police are currently investigating the incident and have yet to identify the culprit. According to The Arizona Republic, local police searched door-to-door last week in the area where the beam originated.

The helicopter shoots footage for multiple Phoenix stations, including CBS-affiliate KPHO and independent station KTVK.

“The message here is that if you want to engage in this kind of dangerous and irresponsible behavior, you can get arrested,” said a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Phoenix CBS-affiliate KPHO caught up with one of Jared Lee Loughner’s victims on Thursday as he returned to the scene of the shooting.

Eric Fuller, who was shot in the leg by Loughner, spoke with KPHO reporter Elias Johnson as he surveyed the Safeway parking lot where the carnage took place.

“Today I’m back on my feet, more or less, and I’m in a combative mood,” Fuller told Johnson.

Limping around the parking lot, he said that returning to the scene of Saturday’s shooting was helping him heal. (Video here)

An NBC crew also caught up with Fuller on Thursday when he visited the home of Loughner’s parents.

Video after the jump… Read more