Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

WKYC says goodbye this evening to longtime photographer, Joe Butano. Joe spent 38 years as part of the WKYC family shooting many of the stories you see on "Channel 3 News" each and every day. He has hazarded through every kind of weather - and shot video for every type of news story imagineable - fires, accidents, shootings. You name it, Joe shot it. Still at a youthful age of 71, "Cowboy Joe" as we fondly call him plans to saddle up, take it easy and spend some time traveling with his wife. We all wish you the best, Joe! Life at Channel 3 just won't be the same. VIDEO FEATURE: To see our on-air mention about Joe: CLICK HERE

Former WKYC chief forecaster Amy Murphy (formerly Hasten) is our feature this time around on "Where Are They Now?". Amy was a very popular part of WKYC's weather forecasting team during the 1990s along with Mark Nolan and Eileen McShea. After leaving Cleveland, Amy headed to Miami - then finally onward to Los Angeles where we find her these days. Amy Murphy joined the FOX 11 and MY 13 News teams in April of 2006. You can see her regularly on FOX 11 News Saturday and Sunday editions doing the weather. She is also a general assignment reporter during the week, reporting for "FOX 11 News at 10PM," "My 13News at 11 PM" and "Good Day LA" on occasion. Most recently Amy worked in Phoenix as the morning and noon weather forecaster and entertainment reporter. It was there that she earned two Emmy nominations for her coverage for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Amy's career has spanned the country from KUSA-TV in Denver, where she was t...

The final numbers are in for November sweeps... Channel 3 News at 11: #1 Channel 3 News at 7: #1 for news/#2 in timeslot Channel 3 News at 6: #3 Channel 3 News Today: #2 Channel 3 News Weekend Mornings: #1 These are 12+ ratings. The demographic ratings will be out in about a month. Channel 3 looks to be strong, based on recent trends, in all key categories. Overall, viewership "appears" to be down for everyone, especially in late news - as more people turn to DVR recording, more channel choices and the internet. However, the overnight ratings from Nielsen do not immediately reflect "live" - plus DVR viewing tallies. Those are where the lost viewers re-appear. Multi-platform outlets will become an even more constant concern as we move along. It's not only a threat, but an opportunity to reach into the internet for viewers as well - appealing to viewers & readers outside our traditional viewing areas.

For Cleveland area readers: WKYC is looking for your favorite holiday light displays for use on Channel 3 News at 11 PM, the Akron Canton News & our website: wkyc.com If your house is all decked out in lights for Christmas or you see someone's house that really stands out in your neighborhood, please let us know so we can share it with all our viewers. Submit Your Information: *Email us the display's location: newsdesk@wkyc.com *Snap your own digital photo & upload it: CLICK HERE (Select "Holiday Lights") *Shoot your own video and upload it: CLICK HERE To View Your Pictures and Videos *Log on to our Photogallery: CLICK HERE (Select "Holiday Lights") Add Your Favorite Display Location: *Click on "Contribute To This Map" below to add the address of your favorite display so others may visit and enjoy the spirit of the season. Happy Holidays from all of us at WKYC-TV!

The format duel between HD DVD and Blu-ray heated up over the weekend as retailers slashed prices for the next generation players. HD DVD players, supporting the Toshiba-led HD DVD format, are now selling for under $200 while Blu-ray players employing the Sony-devised format are down to $299 including an additional $100 gift certificate. Read more about the 2 different formats from an article we did earlier on the blog: CLICK HERE

The switchover from analog to digital television is set for just over a year now - February 17, 2009. It's an important date for many reasons...history is being made, analog signals go dark, and many "over the air" viewers will be scratching their heads. Are you ready? Most people aren't...and throughout 2008, the "Director's Cut" Blog and WKYC.com will be helping our readers get prepared and well ahead of the curve. One of the better websites available to answer many of your questions is called DTV Answers . I urge you to take a look and get acquainted with the process and what the switchover will mean to you.

This season will be an important one for consumers interested in buying High Definition televisions. You'll have more choices than ever before this year when buying an HDTV. Larger sets and more manufacturers producing sets are helping to bring down prices. Plus you get even more features than last year in many cases. We recently turned to our friends at C/net to give us a heads up on the best types of HDTVs to buy this year. We hope you'll take the time to click on a review of each to help you make an informed decision BEFORE you head to the store. Remember, there will be some great deals during the holidays. If you are in the market to buy, now may be the time. Click on the model number to read a review of each from the experts. Pioneer PDP-5080HD : This TV produces the deepest shade of black and thus one of the best pictures currently available. Starts at $2087 Sony KDL-46XBR4 : Although not quite as impressive as the best plasmas, this 46-incher outperforms any flat-pane...

This time around in our "Meet the Stars" feature, we profile "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien - the man slated to succeed Jay Leno in 2009 as host of "The Tonight Show." Since 1993, Conan O'Brien has been combining his talents as writer, performer and interviewer as host of "Late Night" and in 2009, he will take over the reins on the venerable "Tonight Show." In 2002, O'Brien brought his signature wit and style to his hosting duties on the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, garnering big laughs and critical acclaim. "Late Night" has been honored with nominations for Outstanding Comedy-Variety Series since 2003 and for the last ten years, O'Brien and the "Late Night" writing team have consistently been nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series. He and the "Late Night" writing staff have won six Writer's Guild Awards for Best Writing in a Comedy/Variety Ser...

Updated with video: 11/26/07 Video Features: Watch our coverage from Channel 3 News at 7 PM on 11/23: CLICK HERE ------------------------------------------------ WKYC and the "Akron Canton News" will present live coverage of Akron's "Holiday Lighting Spectacular Show" this Friday, November 23rd. Coverage will begin during WKYC's 6 PM newscast with live cut-ins with event hosts, WKYC's new morning anchors Mark Nolan and Abby Ham. Coverage will then continue during the "Akron Canton News" on Time Warner Cable during our normal 6:30 broadcast. Then at 7 pm on WKYC, Mark and Abby will lead our expanded coverage ending with Santa's annual return to flip the switch on the holiday lights at around 7:23 pm, followed by fireworks. Last year, the lighting drew 6,000 people into downtown Akron. The event will take place at 200 South Main Street, right in front of Lock 3. To read more about "Holidayfest": CLICK HERE

Sportstime Ohio - the regional sports network & partner of WKYC - has added a fresh coat of watercolors to their main set in Studio C. The new look, which debuted Sunday 11/18/07, has a much nicer blue look with a brick bottom and steel trussing. Also, an additional monitor has been added. STO also built a second set in the same studio that will be used for upcoming sports specials. Here are some pictures of the "Red Zone" show taken tonight for those of you who haven't seen the new look on-air yet: This show is hosted by WKYC Sports Anchor & radio voice of the Browns, Jim Donovan (right). The two guests are Jim's radio color analyst and former Brown Doug Dieken (left) & Browns PD Beat Reporter Tony Grossi (center).

From: Dustin in Akron Q: Seems that the re-branding to "Channel 3's Akron Canton Newscast" was short lived. Other than the open to the newscast the graphics were all back to the blue "Akron Canton News" graphics...Just curious if you knew anything about it? A: Well, it seems our rebranding may have been a little premature. Time Warner asked us to continue with the name of "Akron Canton News" with its own look, so they can present the show as a unique product for various reason$. However, we do plan further graphic changes to the broadcast including the set's background. We've just had to go back to the drawing board. It's not exactly how we hoped to make the transition - but it is what it is.

This month, we are going to feature a relatively new face to the Channel 3 News family. While she is new to you, Maureen is not new to Cleveland - she grew up here and now is getting to work in her favorite city. We recently asked Maureen to take a few minutes between writing news stories and answer a few of our questions: Q: What cities have you worked in prior to coming back to your hometown city of Cleveland? Which city (besides Cleveland), do you think has been your favorite? Maureen: I came back to Cleveland after a few years in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville is one of the country's best kept secrets. The town is quaint with some of the best restaurants. I started reporting while I was in college in New York City. Not to date myself, but I covered a lot of 9/11 and its aftermath. I loved New York City before the attacks, but going through that remarkably difficult and frightening time, I became a New Yorker. New Yorkers have a reputation for being rude, but the way every...

Brian Williams reported Wednesday in his blog that he had some scary moments in his flight after leaving Cleveland following his Monday Night broadcast here: We're just back from the classic American business trip: two cities in two days, late flights, bad weather, grumpy travellers wearing wrinkled suits. The best moment? When the flight attendant on our commuter jet flight from Cleveland to Detroit said she'd soon be "coming around the cabin to collect any remaining service items..." How could we have service items? There was no service on the flight. Not a drop to drink -- nothing. As I pondered that question with my seatmate, I looked down and saw the sequential runway strobe lights -- on the runway where we were supposed to be at that very moment. Just as I realized something was wrong, I felt the extra .5 G-force pull of the acceleration of the jet, which pointed skyward again. A few minutes later, our First Officer came on the PA to sheepishly explain that we h...

Ever wonder how our television pictures gets from the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center's control room to your tv set? The whole process starts with our over the air signal for those of you without cable or satellite (those services are fed directly via fiber links to the individual companies). We asked WKYC Transmitter Engineer Dave Kushman to give us a tour of the transmitter facility in Parma & explain how it all works. Be sure to check out Dave's website: www.k8dav.com THE PROCESS: The program video and audio from the studio come to the transmitter site in two formats, analog and digital. The analog video can only carry a limited amount of information. I'm sure you have noticed the lines across the screen. There are 525 of them. At the top of the screen, hidden from view, is an area that contains, closed captioning information, an occasional test signal and precise time information. Each on its own line. The audio has its own processing and path to the aural transm...

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams broadcasted live from the Flats in downtown on Cleveland Monday, November 12th. Unfortunately it was pouring rain and lightning when the show started at 6:30 PM. Before that, he visited the Channel 3 studios to talk with us and others in the community about the state of Cleveland and the country. Timeline of Brian's Visit: Around Noon: Brian arrived at WKYC to meet with staff, take pictures, tour the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center 2:30 PM: Began working on final preps for NBC Nightly News.. his staff and him meet for over an hour to go over the show in our News Directors office. 3:30 PM: Heads to main news studio to begin taping promos with Tim White and Romona Robinson. 4:30 PM: Brian leaves WKYC and heads to his remote location near the Superior Viaduct. 5:45 PM: Brian does a talkback with Tim & Romona from his broadcast location for the 6 PM show 6:30 PM: Nightly News airs with a stormy background. A thunderstorm passes over just as the sh...

WKYC launched our brand new morning show Thursday morning (11/8/07) at 5 AM. Join new anchors Mark Nolan, Abby Ham, Meteorologist Hollie Strano, Barbara Gauthier and the whole morning team for a brand new start to your day. All the news, weather, traffic and fun you can handle in the morning - check it out weekday mornings, starting at 5 AM. VIDEO FEATURE: To watch video of Mark & Abby's first day: CLICK HERE

This is a group of classic Channel 3 Promos from around 1999, courtesy of the "Director's Cut" archives. This latest batch includes cameos from Judd Hambrick, Romona Robinson, Eric Mansfield, Steve Miles, Greg Groogan, Don Hammond, Donna Terrell and the "News That's More Local" campaign and "Viper Max." Feel free to post your own comments and share your memories. Just click on the videos to watch. If you can't view them on this page, CLICK HERE

This time around in our "Meet the Stars" feature, we profile "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams. His recent appearance as host of Saturday Night Live has garnered much interest, so let's take a deeper look at the man who brings us the evening news on NBC: Brian Williams is the seventh anchor and managing editor in the history of "NBC Nightly News," which represents the largest single daily source of news in America. Recently, Williams became the most honored network evening news anchor. He received four Edward R. Murrow Awards, his fifth Emmy Award, the duPont-Columbia University Award and the industry's highest honor, the George Foster Peabody Award. Most were given for his work in New Orleans while covering Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and all were awarded to Williams in only his second year on the job. Williams was the first and only network evening news anchor to report from New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit and was the onl...

Just a quick note of thanks to all our readers of the "Director's Cut" Blog.. The numbers are in for October and our blog has now surpassed the 60,000th reader mark since launching in January. October was a huge month for us in several ways, with expanded coverage of the SuccessTech Academy shootings, the announcement of our morning show team of Mark Nolan and Abby Ham & our regular features: "Where Are They Now?," "Get to Know Team 3" and classic Channel 3 Promos. In the coming weeks, we have plenty of new and fresh material coming thanks to your ideas and suggestions. A reminder, you can reach us anytime at fmacek@wkyc.com or on Facebook and Myspace for on-line extras. Again, thank you for reading the "Director's Cut" Blog. Be sure to tell your colleagues to stop by and visit.

Former WKYC reporter and morning show anchor Art Edwards appears in this month's "Where Are They Now?" feature here on the "Director's Cut" blog. Art was here at the station for many, first starting as a general assignment reporter, than moving to the anchor desk where he co-anchored the morning & noon news near the end of his tenure with Jodine Costanzo (now in Pittsburgh at WPXI ). During his ' KYC days, Art was honored for his work on-the air and for his work on an hour long special called "Tough Choices" dealing with problems young adults face in life. The show won Art a regional Emmy Award. As everyone faces in this business, Art was on to new challenges in his career and headed south after leaving Channel 3. He landed upright at WNCN /NBC 17 where he would spend a little more than next four years bringing viewers the news in Raleigh, North Carolina. Finally it was time to head back to one of his Alma mater states where he attende...

From: Beverly in Medina Q: I have a child who would like to be a Bus Stop Weather kid, how do I go out getting him on TV? A: WKYC's official "Bus Stop Department" offered up the following details: "There are two ways in which kids are selected for this popular segment of our newscasts. The first way is through a phone-in contest we run periodically during Channel 3 News Today, which airs weekday mornings from 5-7 a.m. The other way we get kids is through charity fundraisers. We occasionally give Bus Stop appearances to various groups to use at silent auctions to help raise money for their organization. If you have any questions feel free to call the station at (216) 344-3333 and ask to speak to someone in our Promotion Department."

WKYC will air "Medical Miracles: Second Chances" Thursday, November 1st, at 7:30 pm hosted by Channel 3's Emmy Award winning Medical Reporter Monica Robins. This special, the next in a continuing set of Cleveland Clinic programs, will examine thoracic surgery. You'll be introduced to the Clinic's thoracic surgery unit, which deals with the illnesses of the chest area, as Monica follows a young mother suffering from cystic fibrosis. She is just one of the patients whose lives have been helped. Then on Thursday, December 6 at 7:30 pm, viewers can tune in for "Medical Miracles: Innovative Surgery, Rapid Recovery." This 30-minute Cleveland Clinic special focuses on minimally invasive surgeries and the benefits they provide over traditional surgeries. For example, a robot assists a cardiovascular surgeon to repair a heart valve with only four small incisions. This show covers procedures at the forefront of surgical technology.