Watch the video below as a rogue robotic camera/teleprompter rolls through a sports segment at Gainesville’s WCJB. Note sports director Chris Price reaction….“You never know what is going to happen, here on WCJB.”
(from MiamiHerald.com) – A jury award of nearly $1?million to former WSVN-Fox 7 health reporter Marilyn Mitzel for age discrimination at the hands of station management was wiped out Wednesday by an appellate court.
The Third District Court of Appeal reversed the 2010 jury finding that Sunbeam Television Corp., WSVN’s owner, fired Mitzel three years earlier because she was too old for television, and ordered a Miami-Dade court to reconsider the case.
The appellate court ruled that the trial judge shouldn’t have allowed Mitzel to add a charge of sex discrimination to her lawsuit late in the case. And it was harshly critical of an expert witness who testified on Mitzel’s behalf, saying her “testimony reached beyond the scope of this case to come to conclusions she was not competent to reach, and served only to interject irrelevant conjecture into the jury’s consideration.”….Cont….
(from TVNewsCheck.com) – Lindsay Milbourne is joining Fox O&O WTVT Tampa, Fla. (DMA 14). She will contribute to Good Day Tampa Bay Weekends, as well as various weekday newscasts.
Most recently, Milbourne was weekend meteorologist and reporter for WBTW Myrtle Beach, S.C. Prior to that, she worked as weekend meteorologist and reporter at WCJB Gainesville, Fla….Cont….
(from Sun-Sentinel.com) - WSVN and DirecTV negotiated directly Tuesday for the first time since the Fox affiliate cut its link to the satellite programming service at midnight Friday in a retransmission consent dispute.
WSVN has made a counter-proposal to DirecTV, which is considering the terms, according to a source with DirecTV. Even if the financial terms are acceptable to both parties, there are still details to be ironed out, the source said. He expects his company to respond to WSVN later Tuesday or Wednesday.
WSVN general manager Robert Leider confirmed direct negotiations are taking place….Cont…
(from TampaBay.com) – Tampa NBC affiliate WFLA-Ch. 8 will debut an hourlong newscast at 11 a.m. beginning Monday, re-establishing a program which was discontinued in 2009.
The broadcast will feature WFLA’s morning personalities, including news anchors Gayle Guyardo and Rod Carter, along with forecaster Leigh Spann. The new broadcast will replace infomercials, which had been airing in the timeslot.
News director Don North said reviving the 11 a.m. newscast was something the station has been discussing for months and didn’t require a new hire to implement….Cont….
(from TampaBay.com) – For the first few seconds, it’s easy to think you’re watching a promotion for a news story on gender and driving, or a public service announcement.
“Welcome back everyone,” says WTSP-Ch. 10 morning anchor Ginger Gadsden, sitting on the set where she co-hosts the 10 News Morning Show. “A new study says men are … better drivers?”
Then she drops the first clue you’re not in TV news land anymore:
“That story’s bull!” Gadsden announces, before extolling the skills of monster truck driver Dawn Creten….Cont….
(from Reuters.com) – Football and showbiz fans in Boston and Miami took a hit Sunday as a carriage dispute between DirecTV and Sunbeam Television left subscribers unable to view the Packers-Giants NFL playoff game and then the Golden Globes.
About 250,000 customers of Fox-affiliate WSVN in Miami and another 200,000 viewers of Boston’s CW affiliate WLVI and NBC affiliate WHDH were left in the dark. Sunbeam pulled its programming at midnight Friday after an 11th-hour effort to strike a deal failed.
A subsequent request Sunday to air the football game despite the lack of a contract was turned down just before kickoff by Sunbeam, according to DirecTV….Cont….
(from Sun-Sentinel.com) – Football fans in Broward and Miami-Dade County, who are subscribers to DirecTV and are planning their weekend around watching the NFL playoff games had better devise a Plan B.
A retransmission consent dispute between Fox affiliate WSVN-Ch. 7 and the satellite program distributor could knock all WSVN programming, including the Fox network, off homes with DirecTV as of midnight Friday.
In addition to the Saints-49ers game on Saturday and Giants-Packers NFC playoffs on Sunday, the return of “American Idol” next Wednesday and Thursday, is among the major attractions that could be blacked out in DirecTV homes. The AFC playoff games air on CBS and are not effected….Cont….
(from Sun-Sentinel.com) – WFOR CBS 4 has lost its crack investigative reporter Stephen Stock.
Stock, in his fifth year at WFOR, is on his way to San Francisco. He will be forming an 18-person investigative team at the NBC-owned station.
“This is a huge opportunity. It’s like a dream come true,” Stock said. “I’m getting a chance to establish something with my own identity and input. NBC wants to make us the gold standard for other NBC stations to follow.”….Cont….
(from our friend Roger Simmons) - Former WOFL-Fox 35 morning meteorologist Jim Van Fleet is settling into his new role as chief met at Tampa’s WTSP-CBS 10. However, he’s still a bit unsettled by reaction to an interview he gave — and he wants to set the record straight.
This all began with an early December blog post by St. Petersburg Times TV writer Eric Deggans, who talked to Van Fleet about his new job at WTSP. Here’s what Deggans wrote: “I’m actually here … and allowed to be on air,” joked Van Fleet, referring to the contract issues which kept him from appearing on WTSP until his agreement with Orlando Fox station WOFL-TV fully expired. “That was Triple A, and now I’m ready for the majors.”….Cont….
