Dr. Timothy Johnson, the medical editor at WCVB, has announced his retirement from the Boston ABC affiliate.

Johnson has worked for WCVB since its launch in 1972. He is also a senior medical contributor to ABC News, providing on-air commentary on medical problems for “World News,” “Nightline,” “20/20″ and “Good Morning America.”

“I never felt like a television personality,” Johnson said in a statement. “I always felt like a physician who was talking to his patients. I thought of what we were doing as trying to teach.”  Read more

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.” Read more

Stations who streamed their live coverage of Hurricane Sandy on their websites and mobile apps are reporting record traffic according to Broadcasting & Cable.

The ABC O&O, WPVI in Philadelphia, hit a single day record of 13.1 million page views across mobile and desktop on Monday October 29^th and had over 9 million page views on Sunday, October 28^th.  Meanwhile, The ABC owned WABC station in New York City also hit a record 7 million page views on mobile and desktop on October 29, when it had 2 million unique visitors.

B&C also said stations who streamed coverage also drove downloads of their mobile apps.  As of this writing, Cablevision’s News12 (#2), Philadelphia ABC O&O WPVI (#5), Boston’s ABC affiliate WCVB (#7), WFSB the CBS affiliate for Hartford-New Haven, CT (#8) and New York’s ABC O&O WABC (#10) occupied 5 of the top ten free news apps available on iTunes.  CNN holds the top spot.

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.” Read more

Hearst threw a party at Boston’s Museum of Fine arts Thursday night to celebrate two milestone events: Hearst turning 125 and WCVB, the company’s ABC affiliate, turning 40.

The event, which was attended by 250 guests, included a private screening of Citizen Hearst at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Among the attendees: musician John Legend, Hearst CEO Frank A. Bennack, Jr., WCVB general manager Bill Fine, anchor Susan Wornick, traffic reporter Dorothy Krysiuk, past general manager Paul LaCamera, reporter Liam Martin (pictured left), anchor Emily Riemer (pictured center) and meteorologist JC Monahan (pictured right).

More pictures after the jump… Read more

Jim Boyd, former anchor for Boston’s WCVB will be inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame on Friday.

Boyd, who retired from the business in 2008, worked for the ABC affiliate as a reporter and anchor for 36 years.  He told Needham’s WickedLocal.com he’s uncomfortable with his recent reappearance in the spotlight,

“If you’re a journalist, my perception is that you’re involved in a service. You’re a conduit. You take the info and you make the darndest effort to be truthful, reliable, responsible to your news consumers,” he said at a poolside table behind his Needham home. “But it’s not really about you.”

Read more

After two years at WMUR in Manchester, reporter Adam Harding is joining WHDH in Boston.

Harding’s father, Ed Harding, is the primary anchor at WCVB, a rival Boston station of WHDH. He grew up in the area and graduated from Emerson College in Boston. His first day at NBC-affiliated WHDH is Wednesday.

“Saying a fond farewell to New Hampshire and WMUR,” Harding wrote on Twitter. “I’ve enjoyed my years here immensely.”

Kathy Curran, a longtime investigative reporter at WBZ, is joining rival Boston station WCVB.

Curran has been a crime and investigative reporter at WBZ, the CBS O&O, since 1996. She has been nominated for an Emmy every year since 1999.

“As an investigative reporter, I have always strived to give victims who would otherwise have no voice a voice,” Curran said in a statement. “My work has saved taxpayers millions and changed laws in the Commonwealth. I’m excited to be able to concentrate full-time in doing what I love best.” Read more

Despite extending talks for more than a week past the original expiration of their retransmission consent contract, Time Warner Cable and Hearst were unable to come to an agreement by midnight yesterday, leaving 13 stations unavailable on the cable provider today.

“Time Warner Cable has reached hundreds of agreements with other broadcasters without broadcaster blackouts, but Hearst’s demand for a nearly 300% increase is way out of line,” a Time Warner statement released last night reads. “That kind of outrageous increase is unfair to our customers and unsustainable for our business.”

Hearst has statements informing viewers on each respective station’s website. Read more

In a move that many have anticipated since she joined the station last year, Shiba Russell is replacing Sue Simmons on WNBC‘s 11 p.m. newscast.

During a monthly staff meeting that took place this morning, WNBC president and general manager Michael Jack announced that, “effective today, Shiba Russell will be expanding her responsibilities to include the 11 p.m. news.”

Russell has been co-anchoring WNBC’s weekday 5 p.m. newscast alongside Tom Llamas. At 11, she’ll pair with Simmons’s longtime co-anchor Chuck Scarborough, who recently had his contract renewed for another three years. Read more