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Zurawik: Highs and Lows for Baltimore Stations During Ravens Victory Parade

Merrill Knox — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:30:18 +0000

Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik reflects on local stations’ coverage of the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl victory parade. Zurawik saw the good — CBS O&O WJZ and NBC affiliate WBAL “dominated coverage,” he writes — and the bad:

But it made my blood boil to see reporters using fans as props. Telling fans to give a cheer or start singing and whooping when the cameras are pointed at them is both stupid and insensitive, and there was plenty of it.

And having your reporters wear purple scarves or stand on corners and act like crowd cheerleaders, which is what I saw too much of from WMAR during the parade, isn’t enough. Really.

The other thing that annoyed me, and it has been building for weeks, involves veteran reporters acting like they are buddies with the players, referring to Terrell Suggs, for example, as T-Sizzle and calling out to him on the parade route.

Zurawik noted WJZ’s Adam May and WBAL’s Deborah Weiner particularly stood out, writing, “There are reporters, and then there are reporters. Weiner and May were REPORTERS Tuesday.”

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WBFF Hires Baltimore Veterans Marianne Banister, Tony Pagnotti

Merrill Knox — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:43:19 +0000

Marianne Banister, a longtime anchor at WBAL in Baltimore, is joining rival WBFF, according to The Baltimore Sun‘s David Zurawik.

Bannister spent 16 years at NBC affiliate WBAL. The station declined to renew her contract in 2011. At Fox affiliate WBFF, Banister will anchor the weekend morning newscast slated to launch on January 19.

Zurawik also reports WBFF has hired Tony Pagnotti, a former meteorologist for ABC affiliate WMAR.

“We recognize outstanding talent and wanted both Marianne and Tony on our staff,” WBFF news director Mike Tomko told The Sun. “Their professionalism and long history in the market made for a perfect match here at Fox45.

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David J. Barrett Named Chairman, Jordan Wertlieb Named President of Hearst Television

Merrill Knox — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:03:48 +0000

Hearst Television has announced two promotions: David J. Barrett has been named chairman and CEO and Jordan Wertlieb has been named president. Both promotions are effective immediately.

Barrett was named CEO of Hearst-Argyle Television in 2001 and continued in that role when the company was re-named Hearst Television in 2009. He joined Hearst as general manager of the company’s Baltimore radio stations in 1984.

In a statement announcing the promotions, Hearst Corporation CEO Frank A. Bennack, Jr. called Barrett “an important leader at Hearst.” continued…

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East Coast Stations Deliver Extended Hurricane Coverage as Sandy Marches On

Merrill Knox — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 10:49:01 +0000

Stations in major markets across the East Coast chose to preempt, or partially preempt, network morning shows Monday to remain in extended local coverage of Hurricane Sandy.

In New York City, where the subways and buses have been shut down since Sunday night, the local stations all began live storm coverage at 4amET. NBC O&O WNBC went to “Today” at 7 a.m. and returned to local programming at 7:30 a.m. WCBS aired only the first hour of “CBS This Morning,” and WABC aired “Good Morning America” in its entirety.

Related, TVNewser: 50 Million in Sandy’s Path, a ‘Worst Case Scenario’ Monster Storm

Related, FishbowlNY: WCBS Brings in ‘A’ Team for Hurricane Sandy Coverage

In Philadelphia, KYW joined “CBS This Morning” a few minutes after 7 a.m. and continued its local newscast on CW affiliate WPSG. WCAU aired the first half hour of “Today” and returned to local coverage at 7:30 a.m., and WPVI aired “Good Morning America.” continued…

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Hearst Television Senior VP Philip Stolz to Retire

Merrill Knox — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:37:26 +0000

Philip Stolz, who has been senior vice president of Hearst Television since 1998, will retire next year, the company announced today.

The retirement caps more than 40 years in the television industry. Stolz began his career as an account executive and sales manager at WXOW in La Crosse, WI, and eventually went on to serve as general manager for WBAL in Baltimore, WDTN in Dayton, WQOW in Eau Claire, WI, and KCRG in Cedar Rapids, IA.

“Phil’s insightful understanding of television news, programming, sales and community engagement, coupled with his sound business judgment, has contributed enormously to the success and positive reputation of our company,” Hearst president and CEO David Barrett said in a statement. continued…

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Reporter Audrey Barnes Set to Join WTTG

Merrill Knox — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:41:12 +0000

Audrey Barnes is joining WTTG as a general assignment reporter, the Washington, DC Fox O&O announced today.

The move is a return to WTTG for Barnes, who has contributed to the station on a freelance basis in the past. She has also worked as a morning anchor at WBAL in Baltimore and as a reporter at WRC and WUSA, both in Washington, DC.

“Her depth of reporting experience and history in the DC market make her amply qualified to bring stories of interest to our viewers,” WTTG VP-GM Duffy Dyer said in a statement.

Barnes, who will report across all the station’s newscasts, will debut on March 26.

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Hearst Celebrates 125th Anniversary

Andrew Gauthier — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:48:20 +0000

Hearst, which owns 29 TV stations across the country, is celebrating its 125th anniversary this week.

“This year marks an extraordinary milestone birthday for us,” Hearst CEO Frank A. Bennack, Jr., who has been with the company for 50 years, said in a recent letter to his colleagues. “Hearst has now informed, inspired and entertained people for 125 years!”

Looking back at the company’s accomplishments, Bennack pointed out that “Hearst advanced TV’s progress forward when it connected viewers of WBAL in Baltimore to color TV as early as 1952.”

Hearst stations, including WBAL, are now running a banner atop their websites celebrating the company’s 125 years.

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WBFF Adding Newscast to Crowded 5 p.m. Time Slot

Andrew Gauthier — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:12:17 +0000

Baltimore Fox-affiliate WBFF plans to add a 5 p.m. newscast to its schedule in April, entering the station into local news competition with WBAL, WJZ, and WMAR at that time slot.

The Baltimore Sun reports that WBFF’s new 5 o’clock newscast will be anchored by Jeff Barnd and Jennifer Gilbert, who currently anchor the station’s 5:30 p.m newscast.

“I’m going to change the lineup and run ‘Judge Judy’ from 4 to 5, and run the news from 5 to 5:30, and then, 5:30 to 6,” general manager Bill Fanshawe told the Sun.

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After 32 Years at WRC, Anchor Joe Krebs to Retire

Andrew Gauthier — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:38:16 +0000

Longtime WRC anchor and reporter Joe Krebs announced today that he will retire on March 30, after 32 years at the D.C. station.

“I really feel like I’ve been living my dream for almost 42 years, including the last 32 years here at Channel 4. Being a news broadcaster is what I always wanted to be,” Krebs said, announcing his retirement. “Now, I want to travel with my wife and spend more time with my kids and grandchild–soon to be grandchildren–and, quite frankly, just do whatever darn well I want to do.”

Krebs has spent the last 18 years anchoring WRC’s morning newscast, and the station has tapped Aaron Gilchrist as his a.m. successor. Gilchrist will join Eun Yang at the morning anchor desk beginning April 2. continued…

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WBAL Adding 10 p.m. Newscast on Subchannel

Andrew Gauthier — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:59:29 +0000

Baltimore NBC-affiliate WBAL is adding a new 10 p.m. weekday newscast on its digital subchannel, WBAL Plus.

Anchored by Kate Amara, the newscast will debut on March 5th.

“We want to provide an opportunity for news viewers to get our Live, Local, Latebreaking news, an hour earlier,” WBAL president and general manager Dan Joerres said, in announcing the new newscast. “It is our responsibility to offer viewers local news convenient to their schedules and this newscast does exactly that.”

Amara has been with Hearst-owned WBAL since 2005. She currently reports from the station’s Washington bureau and serves as a D.C. correspondent for Hearst TV. continued…

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WBAL’s Donna Hamilton Named 11 p.m. Co-Anchor

Merrill Knox — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:38:31 +0000

Starting next month, WBAL anchor Donna Hamilton will join Rod Daniels to anchor the 11 p.m. newscast, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Hamilton, who has been at the Baltimore NBC-affiliate since 1995, will continue to anchor the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts. Her first day anchoring all three programs will be February 5, which is the night of the Super Bowl.

WBAL general manager Dan Joerres told the Sun that the decision was made to “give Donna some extra exposure” with the strong lead-in programming from NBC.

Daniels has been anchoring the 11 p.m. newscast solo since the station cut longtime anchor Marianne Banister in July.

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WTTG Alum Katherine Green Named SVP of HLN

Merrill Knox — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:00:31 +0000

Katherine Green, a local news veteran who served as news director of WTTG in Washington, DC and WBAL in Baltimore before joining CNN, has been named senior vice president at HLN.

Since 2008, Green has been based in Atlanta as the senior vice president of programming for CNN International.

She started her television career as a reporter at WTLV in Jacksonville and later moved behind the camera to producing. She’s been an EP at WFLA (NBC) in Tampa and news director at WBAL (NBC) in Baltimore. In 1998, Green made the jump to Fox owned-and-operated WTTG, where she served as news director for 10 years before joining CNN.

WBAL Lower-Third Leads To Unfortunate Labeling of Black Friday Video

Merrill Knox — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:26:50 +0000

WBAL, the NBC-affiliate in Baltimore, learned an important lesson about copy-editing lower-thirds during Black Friday coverage this weekend.

The above graphic, which was likely meant to read “Black Friday Holiday Shoppers,” was missing a very important word.

[h/t NewscastStudio]

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WBAL’s Gerry Sandusky Takes Twitter Hate in Stride

Andrew Gauthier — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:31:11 +0000

Ever since former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was accused of sex crimes against young boys earlier this month, WBAL sports director Gerry Sandusky has had to constantly tell people “‘Gerry’ with a ‘G.’”

As new details in the Jerry Sandusky case continue to emerge, Gerry has had to stick with this refrain, especially on Twitter. continued…

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Because of His Name, WBAL Sports Director Gerry Sandusky Treads Carefully With Penn State Story

Merrill Knox — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:28:03 +0000

For WBAL sports director Gerry Sandusky, the current news cycle is a challenge for an unusual reason — his name.

Sandusky, who does the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts on Baltimore’s NBC-affiliate, shares a name — although not a spelling — with Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant football coach at Penn State who is accused of 40 counts of sexual abuse over a 15-year span.

“It’s a very delicate thing because first and foremost, this is a horrific story,” Gerry Sandusky told the Baltimore Sun. “If he is guilty of doing what he is alleged of having done, there are real victims that my heart goes out to.” continued…

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