Heather Hegedus is joining WFXT, Boston’s Fox O&O, from WFSB, the CBS-affiliate in Hartford.

Hegedus will start at WFXT on Tuesday, according to a Fox spokesperson. She will be the weekend evening anchor, replacing Shannon Mulaire, who is moving to weekday mornings.

Hegedus joined WFSB in 2009 and has been the weekend morning anchor since 2009. Her last day at the station is today.

Former KXAS reporter Grant Stinchfield says a major reason he’s now running for Congress is because he got tired of dealing with bias in the media.

A conservative Republican, Stinchfield left KXAS last spring and announced his run for Congress in August. In a recent interview with WFSB‘s Dennis House, Stinchfield said that he became fed up with the bias he confronted working as a reporter so he decided to pursue a position in which he could confront problems head-on.

“I firmly believe the left is leading us down the wrong path,” Stinchfield told House. “I believe in freedom, liberty, entrepreneurship–those are things I would have loved to have touted as a reporter. Now I have free reign.” Read more

Virginia Cha, an Atlanta-based anchor at HLN, has left the network to join KGTV, the ABC-affiliate in San Diego.

Cha will start at KGTV this week and make her on-air debut on Monday, December 5, news director Joel Davis confirmed to TVSpy.

Cha joined HLN in 2005 from NBC News, where she was a New York-based correspondent. Prior to joining NBC, Cha was an anchor and chief medical correspondent for WBZ, the CBS owned-and-operated station in Boston. She began her career at WFSB, the CBS-affiliate in Hartford.

Connecticut Superior Court Judge Jon Blue will allow media and spectators to be present in the courtroom for the videotaped testimony of Joshua Komisarjevsky‘s 9-year-old daughter, at the request of lawyers and representatives for local New Haven media outlets, including WFSB.

Komisarjevsky was found guilty last month on 17 counts of murder, burglary, kidnapping, sexual assault and arson stemming from a 2007 home invasion in Cheshire, CT. A hearing to determine if he will face the dealth penalty is currently underway, and his 9-year-old daughter will present video testimony in the case.

Lawyers for WFSB, as well as the New Haven Register and the Hartford Courant, wanted the footage presented in open court, while attorneys for the child wanted media to be banned from seeing the video. Read more

WFSB took a look back at Gayle King‘s tenure at the station this weekend, honoring the former Connecticut anchor as she prepares to take over CBS’s revamped morning show.

“Even though it has been a dozen years since Gayle left the big 3, she remains in the hearts of many of us here, and definitely in the hearts of viewers across our state,” WFSB’s Dennis House, who anchored alongside King in the 90s, wrote on his blog.

King worked at WFSB, a CBS-affiliate, from 1981 to 1999. The station dug through the archives for a segment that aired during House’s Sunday morning show, “Face the State.” Video inside… Read more

In what may be the biggest Facebook promotion in local TV, WFSB is currently running a “Like and Drive Car Giveaway” on its Facebook page, in which viewers are entered into a drawing for a new Nissan Maxima if they Like the station.

“Facebook contests are becoming a common thing these days,” Shannon Kane, WFSB’s executive producer of digital content, explains.  “We knew we needed an exclusive prize that our viewers could get excited about, one that would make our Facebook Page stand out above the rest. We agreed that a car was the perfect prize.” 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

Longtime WFSB weathercaster Charlie Bagley passed away at his home this weekend.  He was 82.

“It is a sad day here at Channel 3 as we’ve learned of the passing of a member of our family,” WFSB anchor Dennis House wrote on his blog today.  “The viewers loved Charlie, and he loved his job.”

Bagley spent over two decades forecasting the weather for the Hartford CBS-affiliate, dating back to a time when the station’s call letters were WTIC.  Known as “Fair Weather Charlie,” Bagley retired from WFSB in the mid-90s.

WFSB anchor Dennis House, who was recently named one of the most influential people in Hartford, became part of the news last week when he called the cops after finding a child left unattended in a car.  The father of the child was eventually arrested upon returning to the vehicle.

Touting it as “a story you saw first on channel 3,” WFSB reported on the incident last week, without mentioning House’s involvement.  A reporter from Patch, though, discovered House’s name on the police report and now the veteran anchor is speaking out about what happened. 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.