Belo Television and DirecTV are facing a November 1 deadline to come to an agreement on a retransmission-consent deal.

Belo claims their 20 stations (view a list of them here)are undervalued by DirecTV. “They pay channels with far fewer viewers more,” Doug Armstrong, general manager of Belo’s KTVB in Boise, told the Idaho Statesman.

Belo started notifying their viewers of the dispute with commercials earlier this week. DirecTV, which says on their website that negotiations with Belo are ongoing,  issued a statement to the Dallas Observer disputing the notion that viewers are at risk of losing the stations. Read more

WTHR staffers at the 2011 Murrow Awards

Twenty local television stations were presented with Edward R. Murrow Awards at an RTDNA dinner honoring the winners in New York City last night. TVSpy was there as WTHR in Indianapolis was presented the award for Overall Excellence in a large market. WGRZ in Buffalo was honored for Overall Excellence in a small market.

Although the winners represented every platform of the news industry — national news, radio, online — enthusiasm for the local stations was palpable, with staffers from winning stations cheering on their colleagues audibly as they took the stage to accept their awards.

In his opening speech, RTDNA chairman Kevin Benz implored the 95 Murrow award winners — more than the RTDNA has ever presented before — to “celebrate truth through journalism.”

“The practice of producing great journalism is as important today as it has ever been,” he told the packed ballroom at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. Read more

KTVB senior engineer Mitch Frank died this past Sunday after a months-long battle with cancer.  He was 57.

Frank was one of the longest-serving members of the station’s staff, having spent nearly 30 years with the NBC-affiliate.

“He knew every inch of this place,” anchor Mark Johnson said during a recent newscast, remembering Frank.  “I used to tell him that he could never leave here because we wouldn’t know how to turn on a light switch.  Knowing Mitch, I bet St. Peter is going to get a new intercom.” Video inside… Read more

Jim Gilchriest, who has served as news director for Belo’s KTVB since 2007, is set to join WAVY-WVBT, a LIN Media duopoly serving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.

A WAVY-WVBT official confirmed the move to TVSpy, saying that there would be an official announcement in mid-July when Gilchriest joins the station.

During his time in Boise, Gilchriest led KTVB to several top honors, including a national Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in 2010.

He is replacing April Samp, who left WAVY-WVBT in May after serving as news director for less than a year. Read more

Rod Gramer, a veteran journalist who most recently served as executive news director at KGW in Portland, OR, has been named vice president and general manager of Bay News 9, the 24-hour Tampa Bay news channel owned by Bright House Networks.

“Rod runs one of the best local news shops in the country,” said Elliott Wiser, Bright House’s vice president of local programming, referring to KGW, which won five regional Edward R. Murrow Awards this year. “He is highly regarded in the business and we are excited to have him join our team.”

Gramer began his career with the Idaho Statesman in Boise and eventually went on to become executive news director of Boise’s KTVB, a position that he held for 10 years before landing at KGW.

He is set to join Bay News 9 on July 11th.