WGME makes another change

Lucas Colavecchio who has been a reporter at WGME for a few years, has left. He joined 13 from WVII in Bangor.

A new Chat Space for News Media NE

Well I've added a chat aspect to the site, via this link (beware its a separate link). You can chat with me for NE newscasts, tips, and anything news you have on my mind that I can answer. Please Chat! Here's the link: http://newsmediane.chatango.com

Let me know if the new site doesn't work via comments.

Back up to full power!

I have posted all my news lately. Nothing otherwise. You make make this free post. Post what you want, as long as it is clean. Questions, comments, and anything else. Comment away! More news as I get it!

WGME Changes

There have been a lot of changes at WGME.

Vivian Bean left WGME a while back, she was replaced by Kate Barker (2nd pic)

John Hopperstad (4th Pic) was promoted to the newly launched 7PM newscast, while keeping the noon, he was anchoring the morning & noon before that. He & Gregg are the only male co-anchor team in NE.

Jeff Peterson added the morning newscast while still anchoring the 5PM Hour. (3rd pic)

Diana Ichton became the 10PM anchor on FOX 23 replacing Kiley. (1st pic)

Kiley Bennett moved off the 10PM news and was replaced by
Diana Ichton, she still
anchors the 5:30 &11 on 13. (5th pic)

Gregg Lagerquist added the new 7PM newscast to his schedule with John Hopperstad, being the only male co-anchoring team in NE, he kept the 6 & 11 newcasts as well. (6th pic)





Kim Block & Doug Ray kept their current assignments.

WLNE Changes

Well its not too surprising that 6 has made some changes.

Tom Langford has been demoted as the morning & noon co-anchor, moved to reporting for the shift.

Steve Cascione has taken the co-anchoring seat next to Doreen.

Malini Basu has moved to reporting in other shifts.




The station has also yet to fill the open Saturday night slot, freelance reporter and former 4PM fill-in Kimberly Bookman has been doing it thought I haven't seen it since they haven't ran the 6PM lately and I'm not up at 11:30 to see it.

I had also heard that Samantha Knapp had been co-anchoring the Sunday night with Paul Mueller, though I don't have any proof and its the same situation on Sundays (except the news at 6:30).

Jim Corbin has been doing the Morning weather since Steve got promoted, don't know if its permanent. It looks though I have no proof Matt Lagor will be doing both shifts on weekends.

Well see how it is soon. Once the dust settles.

WSHM Sports & Weather Changes

As the result of Sports Director Scott Harris leaving WSHM, they have made changes in the sports department.


Jonathan Selig becomes Sports Director from weekend sports.

Amy Lynn Stanley becomes Weekend Sports anchor, from sports reporter.




Weather Department as well made a change.

Paul Jamis has become weekend evening meteorologist at WSHM. Though I can't find much information about him or the shift.

Nick Morganelli who had became weekends not long ago is becoming a fill-in at WSHM, he will also continue to freelance at NECN.

Coming & Goings

There are a few comings and goings these days.



Aleesha Chaney who was a reporter at WFSB is gone. No reason know.









Scott Harris, Sports Director at WSHM-LP has left the station, more about this under WSHM
changes. No reason known for the departure. No Picture as well sorry.


Tricia Taskey has left WTNH she had been a reporter at WTNH since May of 2002. She had previously worked WXXA in Albany.









Curtis Grevenitz has joined WFSB as a meteorologist, he came from KTVH in Helena MT where he had been chief there since 2003. If the name sounds familiar it is he was WSHM's first chief meteorologist when they launched there newscasts a few years back, but went back to Montana not long after.

Sara Hogan has joined WPRI as a sports reporter.

WGGB will sign-off the air (sorta) on Dec 1st

WGGB in Springfield will sign-off for the last time on analog on Dec 1st. They will exclusively broadcast in digital from then on.

A NewsCenter 6/2 change

The 10PM show on WPXT will be leaving the station in the near future, it will be moving to weather plus on cable. WPFO will have the only full-power over the air broadcast in Maine and Portland from now on.

A interesting change at WCAX

Darren Perron who had been anchoring the weekend show for over a decade left the desk to become Senior Reporter. Beth Parent also the noon anchor replaced him, she is going to anchor both from now on.

She can do this due to the 10 minute length of the noon show. It is also the only noon newscast in Vermont, WPTZ dropped there's in 2005.

WVIT & WTNH relaunch websites

As you may have noticed 8 and 30 have relaunched their websites. 30 to show to new O & O look "Local's Only" and 8 have relaunched in the Lin fashion basing it off the FOX O & O look (Lin owns a few FOX affiliates as well). WWLP & WPRI are getting this as well.

WWLP gets a new anchor

Jackie Ibanez is her name and she will be anchoring weekend mornings and report.

Sorry for a lack of a picture.

Back up to full speed I hope

Sorry for the wait its taking a while for my new part for the blog, almost done though. Posts are here about other things now though.

Comings & Going

There a few to point out: (Sorry for the underline)


Tony Gugliota joins WCAX as a sports reporter from KIDK in Idaho Falls ID.








Nneka Nwosu has joined WPRI as a reporter. She last worked at News 10 Now in Syracuse NY as a VJ (video journalist).









Laura Behnke who has been a sports reporter at NECN for a few years is leaving to go to KNTV in San Francisco, she will be a sports reporter there as well.

WCSH/WLBZ NewsCenter is getting a new look!

I knew about this for a couple days but I didn't want to jump the gun. WCSH/WLBZ which has had the same music since 1986, and has had the same graphics for a long time, is changing there look, they are getting the new graphics that the Gannett (they own 6 & 2) are putting on there stations. They are also dropping the "Good News" Music Package in use since 1986. (WNNE used it for a few years in the 80's). Here are some examples of how it is being used.

Update: News Center (WCSH/WLBZ) has picked this up.

WUSA:



WLTX:



KXTV:



WZZM:



WFMY:




WTSP:



WKYC Noon Open:



WKYC 6PM open:







WGRZ 6PM open



KUSA 10PM Open




KUSA 4PM Close, 5PM Open



KPNX 6PM Open & Close



WKYC Morning Open



WTLV/WJXX (First Coast News) 11PM open



WCSH (News Center) not on WLBZ (6PM News?)





WXIA 11PM Open



WXIA Morning Open (5AM)



WXIA 7PM News





KARE also has the graphics but not the music (no video yet). KTHV, KDSK, WBIR, and WMAZ
has picked it up as well but no video yet.







Lee Nelson longtime co-anchor of the morning report at News Center, wrote about the change on his blog.

Here's the link: http://www.wcsh6.com/life/community/blogs/morning_report.aspx?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a8eb71535-710b-4900-a6d2-3ebb0528e91cPost%3a17059a1a-26e2-48d2-9a24-788c25d2eca8&sid=sitelife.wcsh6.com

My opinion; is i've seen the look, the music isn't great but catchy after a while. The red graphics are ok but I'm not a huge fan of them.

Update: I have seen stills of it and yes they kept the logo.

What a long wait before this post.

Yeah I know I have taken a while but a slow computer, and I have been working on a new feature for the blog. But now back to normal. I'll have more on the new feature in the next couple of weeks.

Another WAGM change

Angela DiMillo who has been filling-in at 5:30 for a few months, has became the saturday anchor at 8, as well as still filling in at 5:30.

WAGM Makes a small change

Kara Lauristen who was the weather anchor/co-anchor/reporter at WAGM has been demoted to just reporter.

She was replaced by a newbie Kelly O'Mara. But as you know WAGM has a lot of turnover so its not overly shocking.

Update: Kara has now left 8.

Samantha Knapp Returns to WLNE

Samantha Knapp who was a reporter at 6, a few years ago has returned as a freelance reporter. She last worked full time at WKMG in Orlando, but more recently was freelancing at WCBS-TV in NYC.

WTIC gets a new Meteorologist

Rachel Frank who had been working as a meteorologist at WFMZ-TV an Independent station in Allentown PA, (part of the Philly market) doing the noon weather Mon-Wed and filling in otherwise, has joined WTIC as the weekend evening meteorologist for the 10PM news, and the newly launched 11PM news on Sunday. She will also be a weekday reporter.

Susan Farley leaves WABI after 5 years

Susan Farley who has been a bureau chief at WABI since Aug 2003 has left WABI. No reason known why she left, but she did leave WABI radio where she anchored from 1990-1995 to raise her children.


Her biography is still available via this link: http://www.wabi.tv/content/4123/Susan_Farley/

A video bio is also included at the link.

Update: Susan is freelancing at WABI now

Hena Daniels gets promoted at WFSB

Hena Daniels who has been at WFSB for exactly 3 years has been promoted to weekend evening co-anchor with Kevin Hogan. She replaces Erika Arias who left 3 for WTIC where she anchors the 11PM, after not getting the 11PM slot at WFSB.








This is her bio (it hasn't been updated to show her promotion yet) http://www.wfsb.com/newsteam/9325047/detail.html

Comings & Goings

There are few comings & goings.





Robert Goulston moves from WLNE (Freelance) to WFSB as the new, New Haven bureau chief. He last full time job was WTVF in Nashville.







Tom Lewis moves from WVIT to WTIC. This is his 3rd station in CT, he also worked at WTNH as well.












John Carroll moves from WVIT where he was a freelance meteorologist to KREX, where he will be chief meteorologist. He also worked as chief meteorologist at WTIC for a few years.

More changes at WPRI

A swap has happened again. Lin who owns WPRI is very unpredictable. They have swapped Elizabeth Hopkins & Pamela Watts. Pamela who would occasionally fill-in, is now the weekend evening anchor. While Elizabeth is now the weekday morning co-anchor with Mark Zinni and solo's the noon.


Elizabeth joined WPRI last year to fill the open slot that was open for a while. She was the 5PM anchor and the main co-anchor at her last two stations she worked at.

Pamela has been an anchor in RI market at 6 & 12. She started her TV career at WLNE (6) in the late 80's and later became the main co-anchor. She left 6 to go to 12 to become the solo morning anchor of Eyewitness News This Morning.

Here's a quick recent history of Eyewitness News This Morning:

Pamela Watts joins WPRI to solo anchor ENTM, along with long time friend and meteorologist Steve Cascione (long-time chief at WLNE). (late 2002-early 2003)

Pamela is joined by now main weekday evening co-anchor Mike Montcalvo.

Mike moves to noon & 5:30 co-anchor and Mark Zinni moves from weekend morings to join Pam. (June 2007) Pamela would still anchor noon with Mike.

Steve Cascione is demoted to various slots and goes back to WLNE to become morning meterologist. Michelle Muscatello become weekday moring meterologist moving from weekend mornings. (Late 2007).

And now this why can't WPRI decide they've replaced everybody!

Opinion: Back in the Pam & Steve days I wasn't that much of a news watcher, but I think the'll be a great team when they renuite sometime. Pam & Mike never had any chemistry and I couldn't watch. I was very happy when moved Mike away except for noon! Pam & Mark were great and I wished they did noon because I am rarely up that early. It's sad they moved Pam off because they were actually getting competitive. Elizabeth is really good and i'm going to miss her!

Pamela will probally end up at 6 or 10. She's too good to retire.

If 6:

A. Weekend Evening anchor though she might not want it.

B. Morning anchor though they probally won't bump Doreen off.

C. Senior reporter or something.

If 10:

A. 5:30 co-anchor and reporter.

B. Senior reporter.

C. Morning co-anchor with Frank....probally not.

Why i'm saying she might leave is that Steve did it and she would probally not like the demotion. A lot of people leave Lin stations for that reason.

NBC Weather Plus is Gone

NBC Weather Plus which was launched as a digital sub channel rival of the Weather Channel is going off the air. After NBC bought the weather channel its says were numbered. Here's what might happen to the local stations Weather Plus subchannel.

WJAR: They might have to the most to lose they carry there 10 minute 10PM newscast (mon-fri) with Gene. They don't have many options:

A. Add it to there RTN sub-channel it could replace 10-2 which carry's Weather Plus. 10-3 plays RTN (Retro Television Network) currently.

B. They premiered the market's first 10PM newscast on CW-28 back in April 1997 (which was short lived), the only problem is that the signal is coming out of Salt Lake City for WLWC, though they still have a sales office in Providence. It could be done but tricky.

C. They could launch a My Network TV sub channel and carry a 10PM newscast (my network tv is currently being ran overnight on WNAC). They would have to launch it which would take a while and legal things with Lin)

D. They used to run delayed broadcasts of the news on WPXQ for a while at 7PM & 11:30PM of the 6 & 11PM News. They still run it occasionally on weekends when sports preempt it. But Paxson prefers not to run newscasts on its stations after they ended their agreement with NBC Universal.

Most other stations with weather plus will figure out other uses for that subchannel probally.

WWLP has never had Weather Plus.

Jeremy Tung out at WLNE

Jeremy Tung who has worked as a reporter/sat evening anchor has left WLNE after 7 years. He had only done limited reporting as of late and occasionally filled in at 4PM for Paul. He was a long timer at 6. He was a decent anchor and a good reporter.






Editors Note: I couldn't get his cached bio pick from Google. Sorry.

Who could be next for HD Newscasts (opinion post)

Providence/New Bedford

WLNE: Less than a couple of a years ago, no one would have ever thought 6 would have produced the first local HD program in the market. But the Bristol 4th of July parade was the first and don't be surprised if 6 goes HD soon.

WJAR: A lot of WJAR's sister stations via Media General have gone HD while 10 hasn't, they only picked up up the HD-Ready graphics. There set is not ready for HD.

WPRI: 12 has only one Lin sister station in HD and there taking a while to add more. There ready for HD. Graphics and set and HD ready.

Presque Isle

WAGM: Not for a long while.

Bangor:

WLBZ: See WCSH

WABI: They are the most popular in the market, but the graphics and set need a change before HD. Either First of 2nd, if WCSH/WABI does or does not beat them.

WVII: Not for a long while.

Portland:

WCSH: The leader in Maine could go HD soon, Gannett has a lot of HD stations. Thought the graphics and set are not HD ready.

WMTW: Hearest Arygle could impress all of Maine and finally get out last place if they go HD, a lot of HA stations are HD already. Graphics aren't the HA high definition ones, and the set needs to be upgraded before HD can come.

WGME: Sinclair hasn't put a lot into HD, they only have their flagship station in Baltimore in HD. WGME is down the road its one its highest rated stations.

Springfield:

WWLP: They maybe the the top rated news station in Springfield, but it will be a while only Lin's flagship has gone HD so it will be a while. I think the graphics are HD ready but I never get to see WWLP so I don't know.

WGGB: I wouldn't have a clue honestly, the have the new owners, and they may go HD but they may not. Graphics are HD ready though.

WSHM-LP: Not for a while due to the low power status.

Vermont: (WFFF already in HD)

WCAX: They could be next, they have HD ready graphics, not sure on the set. 3's owners spend a lot of money on it. They could be 2nd.

WPTZ: Who knows its taking Hearst Arygle a while for HD, set could be ready. Graphics aren't because they wouldn't get them till they go HD.

Hartford/New Haven (Highest Market in the nation without HD Newscast)

WFSB: They are ready to go HD, Meredith has a few stations in HD, they moved to the new building for HD, the set, and graphics are ready.

WTNH: They may have HD ready graphics, set I'm not sure, but as with the sisters well be waiting for a while. Lin is very slow on the HD front.

WVIT: They picked up the HD ready graphics from NBC and there not being sold so its the best time to add HD, set is not ready. They may wait till the new building which is unfortunate, because it would help there dropping ratings.

WTIC: FOX 61 has made so many changes and HD will come the new tribune is giving stations HD, but tribune will need to give them a new set before HD because the graphics are already ready.

We'll see who next for HD.

Darren Sweeney moves from WFSB to WVIT

Darren Sweeney who was the weekend meteorologist at WFSB until July has been hired for rival WVIT for the weekend morning newscast. WVIT has been using freelancers on it weekend morning show, since Ryan Hanrahan was promoted to weekend evenings. Jeremy Schmidt who has been filling in as a meteorologist on the weekend morning show will be staying on as a freelance fill-in for now. Darren starts at 30 this Sunday.

Here's Darren's last forecast at WFSB:

Josh McElveen moves from NECN to WMUR

Josh McElveen who has been a reporter/Sunday evening anchor/fill-in anchor at NECN since 2006 is leaving NECN for WMUR (NECN's half sister station) to become 5PM co-anchor (the slot has been open for a few months). Josh was a reporter at WWL the CBS affiliate in New Orleans and covered hurricane Katrina before NECN. I wasn't a huge fan of his anchoring but I wish him the best luck at WMUR.











Editors Note: Now I know NECN & WMUR aren't my normal stations (NECN headquartered right outside Boston, and WMUR technically being a Boston station), but I found this notable. Full Disclosure I do watch NECN a few days a week.

WVIT NBC 30 Goes off the Market

WVIT that has been on the market has been taken off. They could not find a suitable price and the credit crunch was also hindering the sale.




Here's the story from DCRTV:

NBC Takes WVIT Off Market - 9/26 - Sources tell FTVLive that NBC has taken Hartsord's WVIT-TV off the market for now. A combination of not being able to get their price and the credit crunch put the sale of that station on hold. NBC didn't need another fire sale after the WTVJ/Miami deal. Meantime the source says, construction of WVIT's digital facility is progressing nicely.....

Source: http://dcrtv.com/boston.html

WJAR's Fire Drill beats Competitors

WJAR which has been number 1 for a long time continues to be the leader in Providence, despite WPRI and more recently WLNE catching up. But I digress. Last Wednesday if you were watching NBC 10 News Sunrise you may have seen or heard something odd, and most people did. 10 which has had its Sunrise newscast soloed by Frank Coletta for a long time. Had a fire drill go off and the show was put off the air for 15 minutes.

Here's a video of Frank explaining it:




Here's the text: "We might be back in just a moment -- there's some kind of alarm going off in the building -- or we might not. If we're not back, we'll put something else on the air to keep you updated on the news. Stay tuned [chuckle]. This should be interesting."

Here's the more shocking part, they weren't able to switch over to MSNBC like they planned so viewers were left with a blank screen. Despite all that they still beat the competition combined! Guess the viewers were very faithful. WJAR got a 5.1 during it, 6 & 12 could only get a combined 4.7.

Here's the link: http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/notfornothing/archive/2008/09/19/ch-10-s-non-broadcast-beats-competitors.aspx

I have a lot of opinion on Providence TV and you'll be seeing it soon here on the blog. As frank said "stay tuned"!

A NE Sarah Palin Look-Like?

Cindy Michaels who co-anchors the 6, 10 and 11PM shows at WVII in Bangor has changed her look drastically. This is how she used to look:














Now she looks like this:













She claims that she has put her hair up a lot and she may have but I think its a ploy to get more people to watch. As you may know WVII has been in last place in Bangor for years. The station has newscasts only on weekdays at 6, 10, and 11. The 10 & 11 are taped earlier in the night. Sports are live. Though I may have only been to Bangor once I still got an opinion and I'll express it eventually

But you have to admit she looks a bit like Sarah, and this is interesting. If you want more here's the link: http://www.bangornews.com/detail/51115.html.

Please comment if you want.

News Updates (From all over NE)

This is a post that keeps you up to date with stations all over NE.

WLNE: The station that has added some newscasts under their new ownership has added a half hour to its weekend morning newscast at 8AM on RINC extending its newscast to an hour from 8:30-9AM to 8-9AM. There is no word if any newscast will be added to ABC 6 on weekend mornings, but updates with Erica Ricci are given during GMA with Erica Ricci along with meteorologist Matt Lagor. The station has also announced the 3rd ever after 7AM news in RI on weekdays on RINC. It will be done by Good Morning Providence & ABC 6 News at Noon co-anchors Doreen Scanlon and Tom Langford, and meteorologist Steve Cascione. It will be launching September 29. This is actually the 3rd ever morning news in RI after 7AM WNAC had WPRI produced one a while back, that was short lived with Pamela Watts & Steve Cascione.

WPRI: Has had many changes. Steve Aveson's contract wasn't renewed in early September. So the station made these changes last Tuesday:

Noon: Soloed with Pamela Watts. Previously co-anchored by Pamela & Mike Montclaveo.
5PM: Mike replaced Steve. Karen Adams still co-anchoring that shift.
5:30: The same, Mike & Erin Kennedy still co-anchoring.
6PM: Now being soloed by Karen Adams. Previously anchored by Karen & Steve.
10PM: Mike replace Steve. Erin Kennedy still co-anchoring this shift.
11PM: Same as 5PM

Morning, Weekend Mornings & Evenings still the same.

WNAC: Will be eventually be launching a morning newscast at 8AM in Jan 09. It will be eventually be expanded to 2 hours.

WTIC: Has added a lot of newscasts lately. The station which had only one 10PM newscast a night (and still does on weekends) but they have finally added more. But the station first added a morning newscast from 6-8AM with Logan Byrnes (formally of WVIT), and Rebecca Stewart (formally weekend anchor). They then recently extended the show to 4:30-9AM and added two anchors Joy & Jeff, to anchor as well. The station also launched a 11PM show last week with Erica Arias as solo anchor. They will be adding a noon & 5PM show next year. They also dropped The one & only for the FOX O&O news graphics and music.

WFSB: They will continue to solo anchor the 11PM newscast 7 days a week. Erica Arias left 3 after the end of her contract and is now anchoring at WTIC at 11PM. Kevin Hogan will continue anchor the weekend evenings solo. Dennis House is soloing the 11PM on weekdays as well as anchoring the 6PM with Denise.

WVIT: Got a completely new graphics package which NBC O&O's are getting (they are still up for sale). Weekend Evening anchor Lauren Petty continues to be on maternity leave, and Andrew Pergam has been filling in despite Lauren not even being officially named weekend evening anchor. Darren Sweeney moved from WFSB to WVIT to be there new weekend morning meteorologist.

WCSH: Made a couple changes; weekend noon newscasts were dropped, but the weekend morning newscasts were kept with Brian Yocono, they are the only weekend morning newscasts in Maine (simulcast with WLBZ in Bangor). They are also not filling the open news director slot.

WGME: Added the first and only 7PM newscast in Maine on September 2 with two men and a more political edge then other shows.

WABI: Made two anchor changes not too long ago. Sharon Pelletier was dropped from the noon show while keeping the 6PM, and long time morning co-anchor Allen Grover left the staion and was replace by Wayne Harvey.

WAGM: It always has a few changes currently the station is revolving the Sat night and 5:30 slots (the sat after Jaimarie Ely left for WVNY). Laura Thomas, Tyler Pyburn, and Angela DiMillo have been added as reporters and fill in anchors especially the 5:30, Tyler is also a sports reporter.

WGGB: It has had some many changes since the new ownership. Dave is one of the few stable people. Sabrina went from 5PM and filling in on the evenings to weekends. Marci went from anchoring the main shifts to only the 5PM and not the 11PM surprisingly. Kathy Tobin came back to anchor 5:30 & 6PM from doing behind the scenes in the past few years.

WSHM-LP: the station which only did only a 6 & 11PM until recently has added a 10PM on its weather subchannel which runs 20 minutes. They went from having Doug & Jennifer co-anchoring the 6 & 11 to having Doug only doing the 6PM with Jennifer, while Jennifer solo's the newly launched 10PM and 11PM show.

WCAX: is one of the most stable station in NE. The only change was sports. The station which until recently had different people anchoring the 6PM and the 11PM. The 6PM & 11PM sports guys left the station. So the weekend sports Guy Mike McCune was promoted to the sports director. Shawna which is the only morning sports anchor in NE stayed in her slot. The newcomer Seth was promoted to the open weekend slot.

WFFF: They are probably the 2nd most expanding news production in NE. The station which produces a 7PM Mon-Sat for sister WVNY, and a 10PM on WFFF 7 days a week, Added a morning newscast from 7-9AM on weekdays on August 18. They are slowly adding people as well.

Welcome to the blog

Welcome to Television News Media New England. This blog is devoted to what is happening in New England News television markets, especially Providence/New Bedford. Also Portland, Bangor, Presque Isle, Burlington, Springfield, and Hartford/New Haven. Boston news won't be covered because of the many sites already devoted to it. My main market is Providence/New Bedford so I will mostly be covering there. Hope you enjoy the blog.