Stations in Mobile, AL, broke in to regular programming to cover the return of the disabled Carnival cruise ship Triumph.  The ship with 4,200 passengers and crew members on board was being towed into the cruise ship terminal in Mobile after a fire on board left the ship adrift and disabled.

The Triumph was expected into port by 11:00 p.m., but a towline being used to bring the ship into port by tugboat broke, delaying its return. By 2:30 p.m., the United States Coast Guard was reporting the towline had been repaired and the ship was, again, on its way.

WALA - The FOX affiliate went live throughout the morning and afternoon relying on anchors Joe Emer and  Bob Grip in the studio to report on the progress of the cruise ship. Candace Murphy was live on Dauphin Island interviewing the husband of a passenger and giving updates on the liner from a vantage point where she could see the ship. Chasity Bird spoke with Mobile Mayor Sam Jones on why the passengers were being bussed to New Orleans or Galveston, TX, and not put up in Mobile hotels. Read more

More than ten years after leaving WKRG, Peter Albrecht has re-joined the Mobile, AL, CBS affiliate as an investigative reporter and 5:00 p.m. anchor.

WKRG posted the news to its facebook page saying, “We are so happy to welcome Peter Albrecht back to the WKRG News Team. Welcome back Pete!”

According to the examiner.com, Albrecht worked as an anchor for the station from 1990 to 2000 before leaving for crosstown NBC affiliate WPMI.  Since 2007, Albrecht had been the director of marketing and economic development for Mobile County.

WANE photographer Ron Harmeyer, who spent 48 years at the Fort Wayne CBS affiliate before retiring earlier this year, died recently. He was 68.

Harmeyer was inducted to the Indiana Associated Press Hall of Fame last year for his work as a photographer for the station. WANE remembered him in a recent tribute segment (video above).

“He always appreciated the opportunities this profession offered as well as the wonderful experiences it creates,” WKRG news director Mike Rausch, a former colleague of Harmeyer’s, wrote in a memo to WKRG staffers last week. “I hope there’s some ‘Ron’ in all of us.”

Media General has named Dan Cates vice president and general manager of WJHL, the CBS-affiliate in Johnson City, TN. He begins in his new role on September 3.

Cates has worked for Media General since 1999. Most recently, he worked WSPA in Spartanburg, SC, where he has been director of digital content since 2009. Prior to that, he was news director at WKRG in Mobile.

“I am pleased to name such a talented broadcast professional to our Johnson City station,” VP of broadcast markets Jim Conschafter said in a statement. “Dan is a proven leader and involved community advocate with exceptional journalistic instincts.” Read more

Jessica Taloney signed off this week from WKRG, the CBS-affiliate in Mobile.

Taloney, who was called “one of the best News 5 reporters of all time” in a statement on the WKRG website, is signing off to spend more time with her family. She is pregnant with her first child, a baby girl.

Taloney, who joined WKRG in 2007, co-anchored the 5 p.m. newscast as well as reporting for the station. “It has been a pleasure working in such an outstanding newsroom!” Taloney wrote on Facebook.

After selling its newspaper assets, Media General has announced a corporate restructuring that elevates James Conschafter and John Cottingham to key leadership roles for the company’s television stations.

The company’s current structure of five geographic regions will be replaced by two geographic regions for its 18 television stations. Conschafter and Cottingham, who have both been named corporate vice presidents, will each oversee one region.

“With our June 25 sale of newspapers, Media General is focusing all of its resources on its broadcast television group,” Media General president and CEO Marshall Morton said in a statement. “We are delighted that our two most experienced broadcast executives will lead our television operations.” Read more

Mobile Fox-affiliate WALA will start producing newscasts from a new studio in high definition this Spring.

WALA’s newscasts have been broadcast from a temporary set (pictured) for the past several weeks while the new set is under construction, according to the station’s Facebook page.

“We’re building a brand new set at the moment,” WALA reporter Andrew Perez wrote. “We are temporarily using another set in the very back of our studio … should only be a few more weeks before we unveil the brand new set and Fox10 News in HD.”

WALA will be the third station in the market, after WEAR and WKRG, to produce HD newscasts. WPMI also has plans to upgrade to HD this Spring.

[h/t Newscast Studio]

Mark Bunting has been named vice president and general manager of Mobile CBS-affiliate WKRG, parent company Media General announced today.

Bunting joined WKRG in 1986 as a radio sales manager and account executive. Most recently, he was the station’s director of revenue, a position he has held since 2007.

“I am excited that Mark will continue to bring his passion and experience in this new role to help make his hometown an even better place to live,” Gene Kirkconnell, group leader for Media General’s Alabama Broadcast Group, said in a statement.

Bunting replaces Joe Goleniowski, who retired in December after 13 years at WKRG.

Steve Alexander, a reporter at CBS-affiliate WKRG in Mobile, is leaving the station next month when his contract is up.

“I want to take a moment to thank all of you,” Alexander wrote on Facebook. “My contract at Channel 5 is not being renewed, and my last day at work is November 20.”

Alexander joined WKRG in 2000 from KAVU, the ABC-affiliate in in Victoria, TX. He has also worked at WVUE in New Orleans, KDEB in Springfield, MO and WTVW in Evansville.

WSIL — the ABC affiliate serving southern Illinois and southeastern Missouri — has replaced paper copies of scripts with iPads.

Getting rid of physical scripts will save the station an estimated $4,000 a year in paper costs, according to the WSIL website. Paper scripts — kept on hand in case of a teleprompter failure — are printed for each anchor and can generate as many as 100 pages for a half-hour newscast.

“After more than 20 years of flipping script paper, it took some getting used to,” 5 p.m. anchor Mark Kiesling said. “But I was sold after the first newscast.” Read more