Say the name Jerry Springer and the first thing that comes to mind might be a daytime talk show where people throw chairs at one other to make a point. So it may not be much of a surprise when you find out Jerry got his start in politics.

The former lawyer, former campaign adviser for Robert F. Kennedy, former mayor of Cincinnati and former anchor for the city’s NBC affiliate WLWT tells mediabistroTV his career wasn’t launched by one big break as much as it was the result of being ready for anything.

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Kristy Davis will join Cincinnati NBC affiliate WLWT as weekday morning anchor and reporter.

Davis comes from Baton Rouge, LA, ABC affiliate WBRZ where she was a general assignment reporter. She starts at WLWT in April.

She is a graduate of the Louisiana State University Manship School of Mass Communications, which sent out a congratulatory tweet, “Congratulations to almuna @KdavisCH2 who is headed to WLWT TV in Cincinnati!”

The Cincinnati Enquirer is hosting its own ‘March Madness’ tourney. The paper is asking readers to vote for their “TV Anchor Dream Team.”

Who’s the Cincinnati Anchor Dream Team?  You can help select it by voting below in my bracket-style tournament with 8 male anchors, 8 female anchors, 8 meteorologists and 8 sports anchors.

The winners will be re-seeded in each round, leading to Cincinnati’s favorite anchor team. You can check out the rankings after the jump.

Read more

Cincinnati NBC affiliate WLWT will celebrate 65 years of broadcasting.

The first Cincinnati broadcast television station went on the air on February 9, 1948. At the time, WLWT was an NBC/ABC/CBS DuMont station on channel 4. One year later it dropped the other networks and stuck with NBC. Three years later moved up one click on the old VHF dial to channel 5.

The station celebrated on-air with cupcakes in the shape of the number “65″ held up by morning show anchors Lisa Cooney, Todd Dykes, meteorologist Randi Rico and traffic reporter Kyla Woods. Read more

Jennifer Schack is joining Cincinnati NBC affiliate WLWT, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Schack begins January 24 as a features and weather-related reporter. She moves to Cincinnatti from Lexington, Ky., where she is chief meteorologist at WTVQ.

“I’m thrilled to be returning home and joining the great team in place at WLWT. I work passionately to provide the most accurate and clear forecast, and I’m looking forward to serving my home community,” Schack said in a statement.

There are leadership changes coming to Hearst stations in Cincinnati and Louisville. WLKY news director Mike Neelly will move to WLWT, and assistant news director Andrea Stahlman will replace him at WLKY.

Neelly joined WLKY in 1997 and was named news director three years later. During his time at the station, the CBS affiliate expanded its news operation and became the market’s ratings leader. At WLWT, Cincinnati’s NBC affiliate, he replaces Stacy Owen, who is joining KNBC in Los Angeles.

“WLWT News 5 is fortunate to welcome a news director with Mike’s extensive experience and outstanding track record of success,” general manager Richard Dyer said in a statement. “With his exceptional leadership skills and strong news instincts, Mike is perfectly suited to build on the foundation of ratings growth and momentum for WLWT News 5.”

Stahlman will step into the news director role at WLKY on November 12. She has spent 12 years as the station’s assistant news director. Read more

Adam Clements makes the second reporter in as many days to leave Cincinnati’s NBC affiliate WLWT, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Clements is headed to Cincinnati’s, WKRC where he will replace Dan Spehler who left the CBS affiliate at the end of September to be closer to his family after the birth of his first child.

Yesterday, the Enquirer reported Anchor Jack Atherton was leaving WLWT to join WKEF-WRGT in Dayton as the main anchor.

Jack Atherton is leaving Cincinnati’s WLWT to join WKEF-WRGT in Dayton as the main anchor, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The move comes eight months after Atherton left the 11 p.m. anchor desk at WLWT, a shift which was said to allow him to “dig into the elections during this critical political year.” He was replaced by Mike Dardis, who joined the station from KOMO in April.

Atherton’s last day at WLWT is today. He will make his debut in Dayton October 17.

Stacy Owen, news director at WLWT in Cincinnati is heading west.  NBC has confirmed Owen will join KNBC, the NBC owned station in Los Angeles, as assistant news director.

Owen, who led the news effort for the Cincinnati NBC affiliate, came to the station three years ago from KXTV in Sacramento.  Cincinnati.com said that Owen’s main goal was to stop the high turnover rate at the station,

“She’s done a great job for us. She’s been a great  manager. She’s really smart and a great competitor,” says General Manager Richard Dyer.

Owen plans to stay at WLWT until one day after the election.  Her last day will be November 7.

[cincinnati.com]

>Update: Stacy told TVSpy, “I am proud of my team at WLWT and what we are accomplishing here, and at the same time excited about building a winning team at KNBC.  I have long respected [news director] Todd Mokhtari for both his news sense and management style, and the opportunity to work with him and [general manager] Steve Carlston was one I could not pass up.  At the same time, it’s a new challenge for me, and a homecoming to L.A., where I grew up.  The best of both worlds.”

Bob Morford is joining KRIV, the Fox O&O in Houston, as assistant news director. He begins his new role on August 6.

Morford joins the station from WCPO, the ABC-affiliate in Cincinnati, where he has been the news director for 11 years. Prior to that, he held the news director position at KNXV in Phoenix, WPXI in Pittsburgh and WLWT in Cincinnati.

“Bob is an accomplished news manager with more than 30 years of experience. His track record of excellence speaks for itself,” Tom Doerr, KRIV’s vice president and news director, said in a statement. “Bob will be a tremendous asset to our station and leader in the newsroom.”