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Showing posts from April, 2008

Spotlight Feature: Finding a TV Job - Part I: The State of TV

by Frank Macek About a week ago, I had the opportunity to talk with a blog reader who wanted to be find a job in TV. This individual worked in radio, like myself, and thought making the transition to television would be interesting - inspired, in part, by what he hears from reading our Director's Cut Blog. I also find myself talking to students from Kent State University and Cleveland State University who are in the building as part of their studies to learn from us. I've wanted to do an article on my thoughts about this and think the time is appropriate, with a little thought. While I don't discourage anyone from getting into this business, I do offer some caution to those who wish to work in this field. Television is evolving and becoming more and more difficult to survive in. I first saw this trend about 12 years ago when the FCC issued the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This single act was the death sentence for radio. Shortly afterwards, major corporations like Clear ...

Video: News you can use about Digital TV from a specialist

On Tuesday, April 29th, DTV specialist Jon Gensel stopped by the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center to discuss a little about television's transition to all digital broadcasting by February 17, 2009, on Good Company Today , our weekday morning show at 10 a.m. If you are still a little uncertain about what to expect, please take a moment and watch the interview to learn more. We also have a complete section here on the blog about DTV: CLICK HERE VIDEO FEATURE: *To watch Jon discuss DTV: CLICK HERE

Video Feature: Director's Cut Interview

This afternoon, my good friend Eric Mansfield was here in the Channel 3 Newsroom and had his trusty flip cam with him, so he stopped by my desk to ask yours truly a few questions. One of the fun parts of this business is that you never know when someone is going to throw a camera in your face...and want to know the inside scoop on folks here at Channel 3 News. After all, that's why you read this blog. Well, I'm not sure Eric got any good stuff today...but feel free to check us out on his blog "Have I Got News For You." To see me being interviewed by Eric: CLICK HERE Enjoy!

Where Are They Now?: Thor Tolo

When you think of Channel 3 Sports, you can't help but remember Thor Tolo. Thor was a weekend sports anchor who has a witty sense of humor (to say the least) and tons of energy. His travels took him through Cleveland to Pittsburgh to Seattle among other places where he is currently host on the afternoon drive show for KGNW, a Salem Radio station. We recently touched base with Thor to see what he's be up to and found he had a lot to tell us. So enjoy, another in our "Where Are They Now?" feature from the Director's Cut Blog. THE PAST: Having driven my U-Haul through the night on the last leg of a three-day journey from Laredo, Texas to Quincy, Illinois to take a sports reporter gig at the NBC affiliate there, I pulled into a Holiday Inn and phoned Laredo for my messages and got the voice of news director Paul Beavers offering me a round-trip flight from St. Louis to Cleveland to interview for the weekend sports anchor opening left by Jim Mueller or Wayland Boot or ...

News: Group recognizes Romona Robinson for her leadership

Channel 3 news anchor Romona Robinson has been awarded the Toastmasters District 10 Communication and Leadership award at a ceremony held in Chardon on Saturday. Every year the Toastmasters present the award to one local leader who does his or her part to enrich our community and lives. They selected Romona for her work with "Romona's Kids." Congratulations, Romona! VIDEO FEATURE: *To watch Romona accepting her award: CLICK HERE

News: Jimmy Fallon to succeed Conan on "Late Night"

Variety is reporting this afternoon that Jimmy Fallon will most likely be announced as successor to Conan O'Brien when Conan takes over for Jay Leno on the "Tonight Show" next year. NBC was planning on making the announcement to advertisers next month at a gathering at 30 Rock, but the news was reported on a Fox News web report, making it likely the Peacock network will have to make the announcement much sooner. Insiders also say that Conan will likely take off about six months between his final "Late Night" and first "Tonight Show." To read the entire Variety article: CLICK HERE

News: Turkish CNBC Reporter and Student Visit WKYC

Melis Kobal is a CNBC reporter covering the business beat out of Istanbul, Turkey. She's in Cleveland along with a Bogazici University student, Elvan Salman for three weeks and stopped by WKYC-TV to check out a U.S. television station and see how Channel 3 produces its newscasts. The women met with Senior Political Correspondent Tom Beres...they talked Turkey with Tom in the video below! For a look at Bogazici University in Istanbul, check out the link below. Welcome Melis and Elvan! VIDEO FEATURE: *To watch their interview with Tom Beres: CLICK HERE RELATED LINKS: Bogazici University, Istanbul Bogazici University photo tour

News: "Live on Lakeside" debuts on Channel 3 News Today

"Live on Lakeside" kicked off Friday morning with a brand new, live and local concert series being produced by WKYC Channel 3 every Friday morning at 1333 Lakeside Ave. We are giving local bands the opportunity to be heard "on-air" between 5 to 7 AM on "Channel 3 News Today." THIS WEEK'S BAND: Audio Euphoria from Orange High School VIDEO FEATURES: To watch the band performing a couple of sets in studio: CLICK HERE PHOTO GALLERY: Photos Courtesy: WKYC Production Manager, Allen Wohl GET HEARD: Here's the official sign up form to be considered for "Live on Lakeside": CLICK HERE

News: "3D" TV coming to a living room near you

You knew this one was coming... If you have a new flat screen television, you know it goes up on a wall someplace in your living room or bedroom. But what if you could put a tv in the middle of the room and watch it from any angle? A man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has come up with the solution - 3D TV. And it's even better than HDTV. He's been an attorney, businessman, and a governor's big brother, but Martin Keating's latest technological venture began all the way back at Guttenberg's press. Keating wrote a book several years ago and got to wondering how he could tell the story in a more modern way. "I was thinking what if we could create these scenes in people's homes and they could actually live the book and of course there was no way to do that," he recalled. Doctors James Sluss and Hakki Refai didn't know it at the time, but they were about to begin a collaboration that might change the way we watch electronic entertainment. Keating's idea was a ...

TV Tech Center: Don't forget the audio

By Frank Macek One of the best parts of the new digital television revolution is often overlooked - the audio. Most people buy their new digital or high definition television sets, take them home, plug in whatever audio cables they can find and they are instantly gratified with their new purchase. If you one of those folks, you are missing out on the wide world of multi-channel audio. Today's new media, including DVDs, often come with a multichannel audio track - in the form of the Digital Theater System (DTS), Sony Dynamic Digital Sounds (SDDS) or Dolby Digital - which gives the viewer the benefit of true 3-D like surround sound. This is multi channel system with different sounds separated into different parts of the audio spectrum. Although 5.1 channel surround is now the norm, some systems are now supporting 6.1 and 7.1 channel surround. Japan's NHK has even developed a 22.2 channel system, so the possibilities are ridiculously endless. While most home theater and media cent...

News: New WKYC Weekend Morning Show Blog

As part of the WKYC Information Center, several of our staff members are taking a cue from the popularity of the Director's Cut Blog to do a little bloggin' of their own. Here is another new blog to check out when you get a little web surfing time. Weekend Morning Show - a blog from our highly rating early morning weekend crew. Find out what Kim Wheeler, Jeff Maynor and Bruce Kalinowski are really doing when you aren't seeing them on camera. Plus, a number of the production crew also contribute their own unique perspective about the newscasts each Saturday and Sunday morning from 9 to 10:30 a.m. For more blogs from the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center: CLICK HERE . We also have a list of our favorites in our right hand menu under "Favorite Sites." Many of our staff members also have profiles on Facebook. You can sign up for a free account and then join our groups and interact with many of us online about the station and the news stories we cover. Just search "...

News: WKYC launches the "Stream Center" on Facebook

As part of the WKYC Information Center, we are launching new feature on Facebook called the "WKYC Stream Center." It will be your one stop shopping for exclusive video, promotion video and unplugged interviews with reporters working on various stories. To go to the "WKYC Stream Center," click on the following picture:

News: Gannett follows other big media in weak 1st quarter sales

McLEAN, Va. - The nation's largest newspaper publisher Gannett Co. (parent company of WKYC-TV) says its earnings fell about 9 percent in the first three months of the year as the weak economy contributed to a drop in advertising. The McLean-based publisher of USA Today and 85 other daily newspapers in the U.S. on Monday reported a profit of $191.8 million, or 84 cents a share, compared with $210.6 million, or 90 cents a share, in the first three months of 2007. Excluding a gain of 7 cents per share for the sale of land, the results were in line with estimate of 77 cents per share of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Broadcasting revenues declines 7.0 percent and television revenues were 7.3 percent lower. Based on current pacings, television revenues for the 2nd quarter of 2008 would lag last year's second quarter in the mid to high single digits. Quarterly revenue fell 8 percent to $1.68 billion from $1.83 billion a year ago. Courtesy: The Associated Press ...

From the mailbag: Why does the 6 PM News start so early?

From: Brian via Facebook Q: I have a question I've pondered for years and in which I think others might be interested: It seems every station in town starts their 6:00 pm newscasts not at 6:00 pm but at 5:57 or 5:58 pm. Why is that? Is it so the viewers don't have a chance to tune away from the previous show? When I got my DVR, it took a little practice to tell it to start recording 6:00 pm newscasts a few minutes early. A: Brian.. you have answered your own question.. but let me elaborate a little bit on this. Speaking just about Channel 3, we try and start our newscast at 6 p.m. as soon as Dr. Phil says goodbye. Because we are up against other stations who are already doing news during the 5 p.m. hour we don't want to be at a disadvantage by having them beat us to the start line at 6. On the flip side, the others stations don't want us to be first - and them last. Thus, we all start at about the same time - around 5:58 p.m. For folks who record our shows via DVRs......

From the mailbag: Talkin' Tribe

From: Ken in Barberton Q: I used to watch your Monday night Indians program at 7...and now it's not on. What's going on? A: "Talkin' Tribe" did not return this year as part of our Indians programming on Channel 3. Instead, we are presenting the "Tribe Report" with host Jim Donovan that airs on Sportstime Ohio on Monday nights at 6 p.m. I believe this show repeats a couple of times as well, in case you miss it. You can always check the Program Guide for SportsTime Ohio: CLICK HERE Thanks for the email. You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

Director's Alert: Akron Canton News Being Discontinued

WKYC General Manager Brooke Spectorsky today announced that the Akron-Canton News which was developed as a partnership between WKYC and Time-Warner cable, will be discontinued on May 30th, due to weak economic conditions. He also announced, however, that the Akron Canton News bureau will remain open, and WKYC Channel 3 News will increase its coverage of the Akron-Canton area. My colleague, Eric Mansfield, reflects on today's announcement. To read his thoughts from his blog: CLICK HERE

Web Link: TV News Re-defined, kinda

Around WKYC, I am probably one of the biggest, new tech geeks around. When I see something new, I am usually among the first to try out and play with new things. And I like to share my new found "geekness" with others who share a similar aptitude. Several of my colleagues have pointed out a really cool site for news savoy folks called " LiveNewsCameras.com " Basically, it's a collection of all the video streams available from various news organizations - streamed in real time, from the US and around the World. But the part that caught my attention the most was having a camera trained on a News Producer as they worked at their desk...with seemingly big brother watching every move. That's kinda of freaky, but way too cool. (Note: If the producer is away from their desk, they through up a slate temporarily. Click on the audio button to hear them too!) In the meantime, feel free to watch these poor producers at WFLD in Chicago do their job in front of everyone.....

Spotlight Feature: Could NBC's woes be cured with less?

By Frank Macek Anyone who follows the Nielsens has no doubt noticed that NBC still lags in prime time ratings and late news numbers are falling for the 11 p.m. time slot across the country. The trend started several years ago and will eventually force broadcasters to re-think their late night strategies. Broadcasters feel that to win late night, means the ability to win earlier mornings as well - with the belief that whatever channel a viewer is on at bedtime will be the channel they begin the new day with. The new world reality is viewers are working longer days, getting home later and going to bed earlier. This trend is not likely to change anytime soon as a worsening economy forces people to change their lifestyles to fit their increasing work demands. Could this be an opportunity for NBC to re-define itself now, using the highly successful FOX model that has turned that network, and it's local news operations, into a powerhouse? I think so. And here's why... The Reality: *N...

News: And the Winner Is?????

We'll find out on June 1st... The Ohio Associated Press has named "The Investigator" WKYC's Tom Meyer as a finalist for "Best Reporter in Ohio." Tom won the award last year and is looking to bring it home again this year. Over his distinguished career, Tom has won more than 175 awards for his investigative and journalism work. Meyer joined WKYC last year from WOIO and currently heads our investigative unit. VIDEO FEATURE: You can watch WKYC's latest Tom Meyer promo below. If you can't see the video: CLICK HERE

Get To Know Team 3 - Barbara Gauthier

Time for another of our special "Get To Know Team 3" features which give you a chance to learn a little more about the people you see on the air at WKYC. These are fun, behind the scenes question and answer sessions dealing with subjects you might not normally hear about from them on the air. Barbara Gauthier is currently a morning co-host on Channel 3 News Today from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. and anchor of Channel 3 News at Noon. We recently sat down with Barb to find out a little more about her career. Q: What was your very first job in broadcasting? And what station was it? Barb: My first "real" job - or paid job was at KTVT Television in Dallas, Texas. Yes it was a big market and it's very unusual that I would get an on-air job in a large market as my first job, but this was an independent station and the newscast was very "small market". I was hired as a reporter and eventually ended up anchoring the morning news. There was no teleprompter operator - so I ...

News: "Northcoast Moms" website gets a fresh coat of paint

WKYC has relaunched its original site dedicated to Northeast Ohio mothers and their kids called "Northcoast Moms." On the site, you can find all kinds of useful information that relates specifically toward moms, their children and lifestyles - moderated by WKYC Special Projects Producer (and mom) Susan Moses. Feel free to post your own thoughts or respond to those moms who have already placed their ideas in our forums. Enjoy! Make sure to tell a friend about the site. Check out the new site: NorthCoastMoms.com

Director's Alert: WKYC Wins Edward R. Murrow Award

WKYC has been named as a winner of a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for "Overall Excellence" it was announced today, April 11, 2008. Our winning entry included WKYC's 2007 coverage including the Success Tech Academy Shootings, Painesville Train Derailment, the Jessie Davis story, CSU Death, Mirage, TSA Theft, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, the Home Made series, Race for the Cure Special, Officer West's Funeral and the 7pm newscast the day after Virginia Tech. The RTNDA (Radio & Television News Directors Association) has been honoring outstanding achievement in electronic journalism with the Murrow Awards since 1971. Radio and television news managers from markets across the country judged the entries in March. Regional winners automatically become eligible for the national awards competition, which will be judged in early June. The national Edward R. Murrow Awards will be presented in October at the RTNDA Awards Dinner in New York. RTNDA is the world's largest p...

DVR Alert: "Countdown to DTV, Are you ready?"

WKYC will present a special presentation this Saturday at 1 PM called "Countdown to DTV, Are You Ready?" We'll show you how to stay connected and enjoy the benefits of your new, all digital and high definition television sets. This informative half hour program will take a look at everything you need to know from the important transition date, to what you need to do to get your analog to digital tv converter coupons and more... That's this Saturday at 1 pm on WKYC-TV. And don't forget, we have a whole digital TV section both here on the blog and on wkyc.com

WKYC Wins National TV Award

WKYC-TV has won a national Humane Society Award for a series of reports by WKYC reporter Bill Safos. Bill accepted the award at a star-studded Hollywood event. The Humane Society of the United States rolled out the red carpet at the 22nd annual Genesis Awards. CNN's Anderson Cooper, NBC's Hayden Panettiere and celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck were among the eclectic honorees announced on Saturday, March 29th in Beverly Hills, California. The Genesis Awards honor the news and entertainment media for showcasing animal protection issues, highlighting emerging concerns or bringing a fresh perspective to long-standing ones. Hosted by Bill Maher, winners included 60 Minutes, a CNN documentary called "Planet in Peril", a episode of CSI "Lying Down with Dogs," a Paramount film titled "Year of the Dog", and local news features on Cleveland's WKYC, WAGA in Atlanta, and KHOU in Houston. The WKYC news feature was a no-holds barred look at the appalling abuse i...

News: Bye Bye Katie?

Speculation is running rampant about former NBC sweetheart, Katie Couric's, pending demise as anchor of the CBS Evening News. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening that Katie will be off the anchor desk well before her contract expires. CBS is strongly denying the report. We say to CBS at the Director's Cut Blog, PLEASE keep Katie! In fact, instead of sending peanuts to CBS executives, we'll send bottles of bubbly instead. Why? The answer is quite selfish for NBC and WKYC. Since Katie abandoned us and took over at CBS, her show's ratings haven't been a serious threat to Brian Williams or Charlie Gibson on ABC. This basically makes it a two person race for the coveted national news broadcasts - certainly helping WKYC in the process with higher numbers. So, we are officially petitioning CBS to please keep Katie and bring all this speculation to a quick end. Please sign her for the next 50 years!

From the mailbag: Where's Scott Newell?

From: Chuck in Cleveland Q: Did Scott Newell leave your station? Lydia said that Chris Tye is her new co-anchor on the weekend news...I loved Scott! A: As we mentioned in an earlier posting ( Chris Tye named weekend anchor ), Chris Tye was recently named new weekend co-anchor replacing Scott. Scott was offered a different position with WKYC, but decided his true love is freelancing and working for the networks as a producer which gives him the chance to travel. So, unfortunately, Scott's last day with us was last week. We'll all miss him greatly. You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the mailbag: Closed captioning with DTV

From: Ruth in Akron Q: I often use the closed captioning on my TV set to help me since I don't hear so well anymore...Will it still be available on the new digital TVs? A: An excellent question... The answer is yes! Analog TV has only one format for closed captions in which the captions are encoded invisibly in the analog TV signal. However, Digital TV can support two formats. The second format is newer and offers more choices of font, color, and size, which can result in better visibility and ease of use. Digital TV carries captions of either format as data along with the digital audio and video content, but unlike analog TV, the captions are not embedded in the video signal. Basically, it is up to the originator of the programming to provide the captions for any given program and to select the format. When the captions are decoded and displayed, the resulting text and symbols appear on the screen. The caption decoding function, by U.S. government mandate, is included in all digi...

Director's Alert: Cleveland TV Broadcaster Gib Shanley passes away

NEW INFO 4/7 @ 6:30 PM : WKYC Remembers Gib & funeral arrangements... See below CLEVELAND -- The former voice of the Cleveland Browns, and Cleveland television icon Gib Shanley has died. Shanley passed away this afternoon from complications of pneumonia. He was 76-years-old. Shanley's broadcasting career covered three decades from 1961 through 1984. Shanley grew up in Shadyside, Ohio, attended Shadyside High School. From there he went to radio broadcasting school in Washington D.C., where he started his career in radio. Shanley first came to Cleveland in 1961, and worked for WGAR AM-1420 Radio as play by the NFL's Cleveland Browns and the Ohio State Football Games. Shanley continued his work with the Browns as co-commentator and play-by-play with the likes of sportcasters Jim Graner, Jim Mueller, and former Browns' offensive tackle Doug Dieken until 1984. At about the same time, Shanley began his work on television as the evening sports anchor for ABC-TV affiliate WEWS,...

News: Tribe a hit on 'KYC

WKYC, Channel 3, the official broadcast home of the Cleveland Indians, posted winning numbers for the Tribe's first home opener since 2001. The earliest opener on record for Cleveland, the game averaged a 16 rating, 33 share. Up 10% from 2007, the game also trended up 26% from 2006. "It was a great way to start the season," said Brooke Spectorsky, President and General Manager of WKYC. "Our pre-game show and Indians on Deck were both up sharply from 2006. More importantly, the Tribe won!" SportsTime Ohio now steps up to bat with a 133 game schedule, with all home and away games in High Definition. "When Sportstime Ohio launched two years ago, we promised a quality product both in content and presentation" remarked Jim Liberatore, President of STO, "With that mission, HD was a logical next step allowing STO to offer NE Ohio sports fans the best local events in the best format available, HD. We are proud to offer the first full season in HD for any ...

Director's Alert: New NBC Schedule Unveiled through 2009

NBC& WKYC has announced a new 65-week schedule through 2009...getting a head start for advertisers to plan on their purchasing schedules. Here is what the Director's Cut Blog has learned that will make up the new schedule: NBC 2008 Fall Schedule MONDAY: 8-9 p.m. Chuck 9-10 p.m. Heroes 10-11 p.m. My Own Worst Enemy* TUESDAY: 8-9:30 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Families 9:30-10 p.m. Kath & Kim* 10-11 p.m. Law & Order: SVU WEDNESDAY: 8-9 p.m. Knight Rider* 9-10 p.m. Deal or No Deal 10-11 p.m. Lipstick Jungle THURSDAY: 8-8:30 p.m. My Name is Earl 8:30-9 p.m. 30 Rock 9-9:30 p.m. The Office 9:30-10 p.m. The Office/SNL Thursday Night Live* 10-11 p.m. ER FRIDAY: 8-9 p.m. Crusoe* 9-10 p.m. Deal or No Deal 10-11 p.m. Life SATURDAY: 8-9 p.m. Dateline NBC 9-10 p.m. Knight Rider (Encores) 10-11 p.m. Law & Order: SVU SUNDAY: 7-8:20 p.m. Football Night in America 8:20-11 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football NBC 2009 Winter Schedule MONDAY: 8-9 p.m. Chuck 9-10 p.m. Heroes 10-11 p.m. The Phila...

PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes of Opening Day 2008

Wow! What a day...WKYC's opening day broadcast was a huge hit on Monday.. Ratings for both our pregame special and the game itself exceeded expectations. And the Indians did their part with an exciting game that leaves them undefeated at their new home, Progressive Field. It was 61 degrees, unlike last year, which saw snow...snow...and more snow! Let's give you a behind the scenes look at what was happening during the Channel 3 live broadcast. Enjoy the following photogallery. PHOTOGALLERY: If the slide show isn't playing, just click "refresh" on your web browser. Courtesy: Thanks to Mac Mahaffee for taking the pictures for us

Spotlight Feature: Are Broadcasters in Trouble?

by Frank Macek Every morning when I wake up, I spend some time reading through all the industry trades and on-line media blogs to find out the state of our business. It's the same thing you are doing by stopping by our blog each day. Here is a summary of today's headlines from CBS stations... 2 CORRESPONDENTS AMONG THOSE OUT AT WCBS WBBM CHICAGO CUTS AT LEAST 17 STAFFERS REPORTING VETS AMONG 14 LAID OFF AT KPIX 30 EMPLOYEES GET THE AX AT WBZ BOSTON AT LEAST 6 GONE FROM KCNC DENVER 2 REPORTERS AMONG CUTS AT KOVR SACRAMENTO Is the sky falling on our little broadcasting heads? Some say yes. I say - not so fast. It's really no secret that times are tough for everyone. When the economy falters, so to does the lifeline of broadcasters - advertising revenue. The Cleveland market is no exception - and may actually be in worse shape than other markets across the country - thanks to the economic downtrend. Our region always gets hit the hardest when times gets tough because of the co...

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