WFAA reporter Jonathan Betz is leaving Dallas for New York City, he announced on Facebook Thursday.

“I can’t say exactly where I’ll be working yet, but I’ll still be doing the news,” Betz wrote, according to Dallas media blogger Ed Bark. “It’s a great opportunity, and I’m extremely excited.”

Betz joined WFAA, the ABC affiliate in Dallas, in 2008. He has also worked at KHBS-KHOG in Fayetteville and WWL in New Orleans.

A federal judge has refused to block New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL from airing surveillance camera footage of a supermarket altercation between store employees and an alleged shoplifter who died a month after the struggle.

WWL obtained the video from the St. Bernard Parish Sherriff’s Office for a report on the death of the alleged shoplifter, Norbert Gallego. The video shows Gallego, who was mentally disabled, “being tackled, then held down by two store employees for several minutes,” according to WWL. He was hospitalized for his injuries and remained in a coma for a month before he died.

The supermarket chain, Breaux Mart, asked for an injunction to stop the station from airing the footage Tuesday, according to the Associated Press:

Breaux Mart lawyers said one of the chain’s owners saw a promotion for WWL’s news report and recognized the surveillance footage. “The advertisement ended with a statement to the effect of ‘Why weren’t these men charged?’ leaving the viewer to infer that the Breaux Mart employees had committed a crime,” they wrote.

WWL reported that nobody was charged in Gallego’s death after the parish coroner, Bryan Bertucci, concluded he died of natural causes. Bertucci told WWL that it “wasn’t an easy case.”

Watch WWL’s report, which aired last night with the surveillance camera footage, after the jump. Read more

New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL has announced, starting Monday, it will no longer produce the 9:00 pm. newscast airing on sister station MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL. In its place, the station plans to launch a show called “The 504″ an interview show featuring WWL morning anchor Melanie Hebert.

“We’re just excited to try something new and do some longer-form interview segments,” WWL news director Bill Siegel told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I think with the kind of elections we have and the number of elections we have, it will be really valuable to have a lot of different candidates come and talk about issues and try to do some debate-style things that we couldn’t really do during regular newscasts.”

According to the Times-Picayune, the WUPL 9:00 p.m. news was one of the lowest rated newscasts in any time slot during February’s book, averaging a 1.1 rating. One rating point in the New Orleans market equals roughly 6,400 homes. Read more

Less than a year after joining New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL, Brendan McCarthy is leaving the station for a job in Louisville.

McCarthy will be managing editor Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, the in-depth journalism wing of Louisville Public Media, after he signs off from WWL in June.

“It’s no secret that newsrooms everywhere are cutting back, which is why this opportunity to build a unique, investigative newsroom in Louisville is so appealing,” McCarthy said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the fine folks at Louisville Public Media and producing more hard-hitting journalism of great impact.”

Mike Herrera, a New Orleans television jack-of-all-trades who may be best known for his announcing voice, has died.

Over the span of his 40 year career in television, Herrera worked as a staff announcer, weathercaster, producer and director, floor director, promotion copywriter, switchboard operator and mailroom clerk.  Most recently, he was an engineer for Belo’s CBS affiliate WWL. Herrera was also the announcer for the new PBS series featuring Chef John Besh airing on WYES.

Herrera began working in broadcasting while in High School. He hosted a local variety show called “Teen City.”  After graduating from Loyola University, he started working at what is now the New Orleans FOX affiliate WVUE.

For eight years during the 1970s and 80s, Herrera was the weekend weather anchor at WVUE where he was described as “a capable talent who can serve a TV station well in a variety of ways,” by the TV critic for the Times-Picayune States-Item.

Herrera was 66.

Angela Hill has announced she will retire from anchoring daily newscasts after 38 years at WWL, the CBS affiliate in New Orleans.

Hill and WWL president and general manager Tod Smith announced the news at a staff meeting Wednesday. Hill will anchor her last newscast on April 4 and will remain with WWL to produce documentaries and other special projects after she steps down from the news desk.

“Angela has been such an important and beloved part of our lives for so long, it will be emotional for all of us to watch her sign off from the anchor desk,” Smith said in a statement. “But the station is thrilled to be able to give her the time and resources to embark on this new chapter of her amazing career to do what she does best – tell people’s stories.”

“This city and this station have given me so much over the past 38 years, which is part of the reason I have tried to give back in many different ways,” Hill said. “I treasure the opportunities I have had and look forward to even more still to come.”

The Baltimore Ravens’ win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII earned an average rating/share of 48.1/71, the highest-rated Super Bowl in the metered markets in history.

Ratings were up +1% in the metered markets from last year’s New York Giants vs. New England Patriots Super Bowl. The rating/share peaked at 52.9/75 from 10:30-10:45pmET.

Baltimore was the top-rated market: CBS O&O WJZ posted a rating/share of 59.6/83. New Orleans, the Super Bowl’s host city, came in second, with CBS affiliate WWL at 57.1/77. Notably, CBS-owned KPIX in San Francisco did not make the top 10.

• Related, TVNewser: Super Bowl Ratings: CBS Coverage Down From Last Two Years

See the full list of the top 10 rated in the metered markets after the jump. Read more

After 10 years at the WGXA anchor desk, Portia Lake is leaving the Macon Fox affiliate.

“I have decided not to renew my contract with the station. I am newly engaged and leaving the station to pursue other career opportunities within the television business,” Lake told TVSpy. “Over the past ten years I have grown professionally and enjoyed delivering news to Central Georgia viewers. While it has been a difficult decision to leave FOX24/WGXA, I am excited about other career opportunities within the television industry.”

Lake anchors the evening newscasts at WGXA. She has previously worked at WXVT in Greenville, Miss. and WWL in New Orleans.

WWL anchor Sally-Ann Roberts interviewed her sister, “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts, over the weekend. The 14-minute interview (video above) took place at a New York City hospital, where Robin was battling a virus last week, and aired on WWL Monday evening.

Robin underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat her MDS in September. Sally-Ann, the morning anchor at the New Orleans CBS affiliate, was Robin’s donor.

“You gave me life,” Robin told Sally-Ann in the interview. “I look at it as a clean slate. And how many people can say, at this point in their lives, that they get a do-over? That they get a chance to start again? And that’s how I feel.”

After spending a week in the hospital because of a virus, “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts was interviewed this weekend by her sister, WWL anchor Sally-Ann Roberts.

“I was so happy that I was able to spend this weekend with my sister Robin. I was in New York for just a little while and we had a great conversation,” Sally-Ann Roberts said Monday on WWL’s morning newscast. “Robin talked about where she is now in her recovery after receiving my stem cells and a bone marrow transplant. And besides the great work of her doctors, she gives one key reason for why she feels she’s making great strides.”

• Related, TVNewser: Robin Roberts, Hospitalized for a Week with a Virus, Returns Home

The interview will air on WWL’s 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts tonight. Portions of it will also air on “Good Morning America” tomorrow morning.