Meteorologist Jay Webb is signing off from WDBJ in Roanoke to join WHSV in Harrisonburg, Va., he announced on Facebook.

It is a return to Harrisonburg for Webb, who worked there for six years before joining WDBJ in 2006. He will be WHSV’s weather director and weekday morning and noon meteorologist after he signs off from WDBJ on May 22.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for me to grow in this industry that’s been so good to me, plus I get to do it in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, a place my wife Sarah and I called home from 2000-2006,” Webb wrote. “I will miss my WDBJ family. I have been exposed to a talented team of broadcasters and meteorologists … I look forward to what the future holds in JMU country, but I will always be rooted here.” [h/t The Roanoke Star]

Frankie Jupiter has joined WDBJ, the CBS affiliate in Roanoke-Lynchburg, Va.

Jupiter joined the station this month after two years at WCAV, the CBS affiliate in Charlottesville. He has previously worked as a production assistant at WVUE, the Fox affiliate in New Orleans.

Jupiter is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago. He won an Emmy in the student category for the 2008 presidential campaign.

For a story about a former porn star who is now volunteering as a local EMT, Roanoke CBS-affiliate WDBJ urged viewers to check out her adult films online.

“The Cave Spring Rescue Squad has been around for more than 60 years. In that time, it’s probably never had a volunteer like Harmony Rose,” WDBJ reporter Justin McLeod told viewers on Thursday. “She’s a former porn star.   Just Google her name and you’ll find hundreds of pornographic videos of hers.” Read more

With the election drawing closer, President Obama is doing another round of local press today.

The stations at the White House today are WDBJ in Roanoke, KKTV in Colorado Springs, KTVN in Reno, WJXT in Jacksonville, KTIV in Sioux City, WBAY in Green Bay, WYFF in Greenville, SC and KFSN in Fresno, CA.

In addition to a five-minute sitdown with the President, the reporters will also take a tour of the White House and the kitchen garden, and conduct interviews with administration officials from each respective market, according to CNN.

WDBJ Robin Reed is celebrating 30 years on Roanoke TV and during his tenure he’s experienced some major changes in the way weather is reported.

“Back when I started, all they wanted was a smooth presentation that was somewhat accurate,” Reed told The Roanoke Times recently. “The bar was pretty low. ‘Have a good voice. Don’t embarrass the station.’”

When he began in TV news, Reed didn’t set out to be a weathercaster. He was working as a sports anchor and reporter at WHSV in the early 80s when the station’s regular weathercaster didn’t show up for the 6 p.m. newscast. Reed filled in and the rest is history. [Roanoke Times]

WDBJ is welcoming two new reporters to its news team.

The Roanoke CBS-affiliate this week announced the additions of Bryce Williams (far left) and Orlando Salinas (near left).

Williams joins WDBJ as a multimedia journalist and general assignment reporter. He has worked as a reporter at a number of stations throughout the South, including WNCT in Greenville, NC, WTWC in Tallahassee, and WTOC in Savannah.

Salinas will work as a reporter at WDBJ’s New River Valley newsroom, based in Blacksburg, VA. Most recently, Salinas served as a national news correspondent for Fox News, based in Miami, where he covered domestic and international stories for over 12 years. Read more

While the record Mega Millions jackpot (now up to $640 million) makes for a compelling news story for local stations, what is the value of airing the actual drawing?

For decades, lottery drawings have been a fixture on local stations but interest in live TV drawings has waned in recent years as people increasingly go online to check the winning numbers or scan their tickets at the local convenience store.

“There was a time way back when you could look at the ratings and see a bump,” WCVB general manger Bill Fine told TVSpy this week, talking about the significance of a station airing lottery drawings. “It’s just not that way anymore.” Read more

Schurz Communications president Marci Burdick was presented with the First Amendment Service Award at RTDNF’s 22nd annual First Amendment Dinner and Awards in Washington, DC last night.

In her speech, Burdick, who is a former news director of Springfield’s KYTV, praised local television, saying stations’ contributions to local communities “should not be overlooked.”

“On this dais tonight, I consider myself the representative of local television,” she said. “I am thankful to accept the First Amendment Service award in honor of those men and women who do this work everyday.”

Shurz Communications is the owner of 13 local stations in nine markets. Burdick was introduced by Jeffrey Marks, general manager of Roanoake’s WDBJ.

For more on the awards dinner, visit TVNewser.

Bob Grebe, a morning reporter for WDBJ in Roanoke, is leaving the station to join crosstown rival WFXR.

Grebe will anchor the morning newscast on Fox-affiliate WFXR , the Roanoke Times reports. The new show, which will be produced in conjunction with the news department at NBC-affiliate WSLS, will launch March 12.

“A few years ago I set goals of anchoring a morning newscast and staying in Roanoke,” Grebe wrote on Facebook. “With this new opportunity I was able to achieve both.”

Following a deadly shooting on the Virginia Tech campus that sparked memories of the massacre there in 2007, all of the news stations in Roanoke went live on Thursday afternoon.

As police continue to hunt down a gunman who killed two people, WDBJ, WSET, and WSLS have preempted their regularly scheduled programming to provide ongoing breaking news coverage.  Fox-affiliate WFXR has been carrying coverage from its sister station, WSLS. Read more