Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

The July sweeps ratings period has come to a conclusion and WKYC comes out a winner again with its first place rating for Channel 3 News at 11 PM in the 12+ Nielsen numbers. WKYC was nearly a full point ahead of our nearest competitor at 11 pm with a 7.01/12.3 share. At 6 PM, WKYC was 3rd in the time slot behind WJW and WEWS. At 7 PM, WKYC was 1st in news, 2nd in the time period. At 5 & 6 AM, WKYC rated 2nd just behind WJW. Although July is a strange month for ratings with summer re-runs, nice outdoor weather and Indians baseball as competition, the month is still important as it shows a steady trend toward people making WKYC one of their main choices for news in the evening and early morning hours - two of the most important dayparts. In addition, WKYC is the area's main choice for breaking political news, as Channel 3 News ranked 1st and 6, 7 & 11 PM for the two days surrounding the Cuyahoga County probe by the FBI and IRS on the County Administration Building earlier thi...

Here's today's video gem related to the TV industry: Reporter Sergio Avila proposed to his girlfriend Griselda Sanchez during Yuma, Arizona NBC affiliate KYMA's 6 p.m. newscast on Tuesday, July 29, 2008. The couple met on MySpace and have been dating for over a year. Griselda plans to move to Tucson with Sergio next month when he starts a new job there. The couple will enjoy a two year engagement before getting married. Perhaps this is a good example of why NOT to use the public airwaves to propose? Take a look....

Here's today's video gem: A whole lot of shaking was going on a the "Judge Judy" show during Tuesday's 5.4 magnitude earthquake in Southern California. The quake occurred while the show was being taped. Take a look....

On the heels of yesterday's announcement that WKYC's Barbara Gauthier is leaving WKYC, Monica Robins has been promoted to noon news anchor. Beginning Monday, August 4th, Senior Health Correspondent Monica Robins will take on the additional duties of Noon anchor. "Monica's depth of experience and commitment to the station and the news product will help us explore new directions with the newscast," said WKYC News Director Rita Andolsen. Congratulations to Monica on her new duties.

EXCLUSIVE -- WKYC News Director Rita Andolsen has announced that Barbara Gauthier is leaving WKYC to take a main anchor position in her hometown of Columbus, Georgia at WTVM, the ABC affiliate. Rita says "It's the station Barbara grew up watching and the first place she went looking for a job when she graduated from college." It's a wonderful homecoming for Barbara who will now get to spend time with her mother, sisters and the rest of her extended family. "We will miss Barbara's habit of breaking into song at a moment's notice, her wonderful smile and spirit and her dedication and commitment to WKYC," Rita added. Barbara is currently a morning co-anchor of Channel 3 News Today with Mark Nolan, Abby Ham and Hollie Strano. Plus, she is the anchor of Channel 3 News Midday at Noon. Congratulation to Barbara!

Congratulations to Channel 3's Betsy Kling and Paul Thomas, who welcomed Josephine Frances into the world Monday evening. Josephine Frances, Mom and Dad are doing well. She is 8 lbs 11oz and is 21.5 inches long. Here's the link to baby pictures on wkyc.com: CLICK HERE

This is certainly one of those stories that is very difficult to report this afternoon on our blog. WKYC has lost one of our long-time and few female engineers, Anjanelle Carter, who passed away peacefully at home on Friday, July 25th. Anjanelle had been battling cancer for the past several years and will be missed by everyone at WKYC. Although she recently worked the overnight and early morning shift, she had a great impact on the lives of anyone who worked with her. She was always a very happy person who was a Director's delight to work with. Our heartfelt sympathies to her family, friends and colleagues. Services for Anjanelle will be held: Thursday, July 31st, at 6 PM at St. Aloysius Church 10932 St. Clair Avenue (corner of Lakeview & St. Clair)

I keep getting tons of emails from folks wondering if Betsy had her baby yet. As of today (Monday at 3:30 PM), still no baby. Keep checking back and we'll announce as soon as we know! You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

The following is the latest update we have for the fall season premiere of many of your favorite NBC shows on WKYC and NBC... MONDAY, AUGUST 25 8-9 PM: Deal or No Deal (runs for 4 weeks Mondays @8P) 9-10 PM: America's Toughest Jobs (series premiere) (runs for 4 weeks Mondays @9P, then resumes Fridays @8P eff. 9/19) TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 8-10 PM: The Biggest Loser: Families MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 8-9 PM: Heroes (clip show) 9-11 PM: Heroes (2-hour season premiere) TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 10-11 PM: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 8-9 PM: Knight Rider (series premiere) 10-11 PM: Lipstick Jungle THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 8-9 PM: My Name is Earl (one-hour season premiere) 9-10 PM: The Office (one-hour season premiere) 10-11 PM: ER MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 8-9 PM: Chuck 10-11 PM: Life (runs for 2 weeks Mon. & Fri. @10P, then airs Fri. @10P eff. 10/17 ) THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9 8:30-9 PM: Kath & Kim (series premiere) 9:31-10 PM: Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thur...

As most Clevelander's know, WKYC is not only the famous call letters of a legendary television station - it's also the call letters of a famous radio station as well. This Friday afternoon from 4 pm until 9 pm, WKYC 1100 radio will come back to life through the magic of satellite radio. XM Satellite Radio will present a "Sonic Sound Salute" with old time radio jingles and chatter from the station's legendary days in the 1960s. You'll find the special show on XM Channel 6. A Little History Lesson about WKYC Radio In the early 1960s under Westinghouse ownership KYW, known on-air as "KY11," became a Top 40 powerhouse with DJs Jim Runyon (the "weeeellll" voice of the Chickenman series), Jim Stagg, Jay Lawrence, Jerry G., and the morning duo of Harry Martin and Specs Howard. Its main Top 40 rival in the Cleveland market was "Color Channel 14" WHK 1420. Almost immediately after the trade was finalized between NBC & Westinghouse, Wes...

WKYC has added a new feature to our new website - the Cleveland Metroparks "Zoo Cam." Watch cownose rays, southern red stingrays, bamboo sharks, nurse sharks and horseshoe crabs swim right past your computer desktop. Catch the Rays getting fed around 9 am, Noon, 3 pm and 5-6 pm at the exhibit called "TOUCH!" TOUCH! allows visitors to reach into an 11,000-gallon saltwater pool and feel the smooth skin of small sharks and stingrays, which have their barbs carefully removed to ensure a safe, fun experience for all ages. Dozens of cownose rays, Southern red stingrays and bamboo sharks swim right up to you, and some participants may get a chance to feed the aquatic animals, too. New in 2008, nurse sharks and horseshoe crabs have joined the rays for an even more TOUCH!ing experience than last year. TOUCH! is $1 with Zoo admission and free for Zoo members and children under 2. Just click on the picture above for a live look.

PHILADELPHIA -- A longtime Philadelphia newscaster has been charged with illegally accessing the e-mail of his former co-anchor. Federal prosecutors have charged Larry Mendte with a felony count of intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization. Authorities say he hacked into the account of Alycia Lane hundreds of times over more than two years. A prosecutor says he went "well beyond just reading someone's e-mail." Mendte was fired from the Philadelphia CBS affiliate last month after FBI agents seized his computer. His attorney says Mendte is cooperating "and will accept full responsibility for his actions." He faces a six-month prison term if convicted. Lane was fired from the station in January after a series of off-camera incidents, including an arrest after a late-night scuffle with police in New York City. Larry is the husband of former WKYC news anchor Dawn Stensland who works for the crosstown FOX affiliate in Philly. Courtesy: The Ass...

NBC announced this morning that Jay Leno's last day as host of the "Tonight Show" will be on Friday, May 29th. Conan O'Brien will take over the following Monday, June 1st, for a smoothless transition according to NBC Entertainment Co-Chairs Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff. Speculation continues to have Leno going to ABC as host of a new show at 11:35 p.m. that will displace Nightline. Still, we scratch our head as to why NBC would jeopardize losing their late night leading position with a move at this time. While Conan does well, he isn't Leno. Your thoughts...post them under "comments" below.

By Frank Macek Ever wonder what rules that WKYC and other television stations must follow in order to keep their broadcast licenses? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) often updates its rules and issues them to stations as a guideline to serving in the public interest. These rules cover such topics as obscene programming, indecent material, children's television programming, lotteries and contests, closed captioning and a myriad of other areas. Each station must maintain a "public file" which is available to members of the public at any time during regular business hours. This file must contain documents relevant to the station's operation and dealings with the community and the FCC and must be maintained at the station's main studio, which for WKYC is at 1333 Lakeside Avenue in Cleveland. Although you do not need to make an appointment to view the file, making one may be helpful both to the station and to you. Contents of the public file include the stat...

McLEAN, Virginia - Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper publisher (and parent company of WKYC) on Wednesday reported a 36 percent drop in second-quarter earnings as the newspaper industry's woes caused a sharp decline in revenue. Shares plunged more than 12 percent. The profit of $233 million, or $1.02 per share, compared with a $366 million, or $1.56 per-share profit in the year-ago quarter. The earnings matched expectations of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The company's shares dropped $2.09 to $15.24 in morning trading. Gannett, publisher of USA Today and 84 other U.S. dailies, sold several newspapers in the year-ago quarter that added 32 cents per share to earnings. Excluding the sale, profit fell by 18 percent. Revenue fell 10 percent to $1.72 billion in the quarter. Gannett stock has lost two-thirds of its value in the last year. The company announced last month that it plans to take an accounting write-down of $2.5 billion to $3 billion to...

From: Renee in Bay Village Q: I keep seeing graphics that are flickering on my screen, particularly during the "Dr. Phil Show". Is it my old TV or is something weird going on? A: This one is actually us. The graphics you are referring to are called "snipes" and are graphics that promote upcoming shows and other station events that run during regular programming - like the "Dr. Phil Show." (see picture example). For some reason, we have a bad computer board that runs this system and causes the glitches. We are aware of the issue and hope to have it fixed soon. Ain't new technology wonderful? You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From: Doug in Cleveland Q: Tim and Romona said that Betsy has gone on maternity leave. Did she have her baby? What did she have? A: We are still officially on baby watch as of Tuesday. No "Petunia" yet has anchor Tim White has named the child already. Although, Betsy and her husband, Paul Thomas, will keep us in suspense up until the very end. We'll let you know as soon as we find out. You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

Complaints have started to come in about the government coupon program designed to help people get ready for the switch to digital television. Where they live can make it harder for some people to get the discount on the digital converter they need. When the rules were first written, they were very specific. Coupons could only be delievered to a residential household with it's own address. This causes problems with people who live in nursing homes, RV parks and mobile home parks where everyone's mail is delivered at a single address. Though the rules will be changed this fall, it's causing some folks to come up empty when they apply for their two, $40 converter coupons. Scott Friedman has more...

We are always on the lookout for must see video regarding the TV industry. And we found another gem to share. A reporter for Kansas City, Missouri NBC affiliate KSHB and his photographer found themselves on the receiving end of an assault Friday while trying to interview a man in a motorized wheelchair. Take a look:

by Frank Macek In another sign that times are changing in the television industry, NBC executives have decided that NBC affiliate stations will begin paying reverse compensation for network programming, beginning with the renewal of their affiliation agreements after this Labor Day. In the past, networks would pay stations to be one of their affiliates. This often had the advantage of being an additional revenue stream for local stations and helped the network keep their affiliations with stations they considered critical to their success. With the increasing cost of production for shows and the high price of big sporting events, NBC has been forced to go the way of FOX which began the reverse compenstation process about 10 years ago. According to TV News Day, CW affiliates also pay reverse compensation to their network. What could this mean for a station like WKYC - one of NBC's top performing stations? It really depends. In bigger markets like Cleveland, NBC would be likely to ch...

Time for another in our series of "Where Are They Now?" features on the Director's Cut Blog where we catch up to some Channel 3 alumni as they continue their careers across the country. Ben Holbert was one of Channel 3's reporters who also worked for a period of time as a reporter on our "Akron Canton News" when it aired on WVPX, Pax 23. We talked to Ben recently and here's what he had to share. THE PAST: I spent 25 years in broadcasting. I was pleased to work with every commercial television station in Cleveland. I served as a featured news reporter at WKYC-TV, PAX 23 in Akron, WOIO-CBS/WUAB-TV; WVIZ-TV, Cleveland Television Network in partnership with WEWS-TV. I began my broadcast career in 1980 as an vacation relief engineer at WJW-TV (formerly WJKW-TV). I also spent nearly three years at WJMO-radio 1490-AM as a news anchor/news reporter and talk show host. THE PRESENT: Most recently, I served as Chief Communications Officer for the Cleveland Metrop...

You have seen Del Donahoo travel the state in search of the area's most fascinating people and most interesting places to visit during a career that lasted for decades at WKYC. Now, WKYC helps you re-live all those fond memories as the Folkwagon traveled hundreds of thousands of miles. Take a trip down Memory Lane with "Del's Folks Classic TV". Click on the picture to visit Del's homepage where the video player lives. You can also find Del on Facebook.

Here is another new blog to check out when you get a little web surfing time. Kim's Classroom Notes - a blog by WKYC Education Reporter and Weekend anchor Kim Wheeler who writes news about our schools and our kids. 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 "WKYC". To join Facebook: CLICK HERE

WKYC parent company and newspaper publisherGannett Co. said it purchased stakes held by Tribune Co. and McClatchy Co. in ShopLocal LLC, a marketing and database services company. Tribune owned 42.5 percent of ShopLocal, while McClatchy owned 15 percent. McClatchy said it sold its stake for $7.9 million, which would have placed a value of about $52.5 million on the whole venture. Gannett didn't disclose the price it paid for Tribune's stake. McClatchy said it used the proceeds to pay down debt. It will record a related charge of about $3 million in the second quarter. McClatchy had acquired a stake in ShopLocal through its acquisition of newspaper publisher Knight Ridder Inc. in June 2006, and later sold a portion of that stake to Gannett and Tribune. ShopLocal will work in conjunction with Gannett's Internet media company PointRoll to create ads for retailers. Tribune and McClatchy will remain partners with Gannett in CareerBuilder, Classified Ventures and Topix.net. Tribun...

Every once in a while, we come across some video which shows people in our business who risk their lives to cover the news for viewers. This is one such example. Some people living in northern California have been told to get out because of encroaching wildfires. Winds are pushing flames toward homes in Butte County, north of Sacramento. This local T-V crew got a first-hand look at the power this blaze is wielding as they drove through intense heat and flames. There's barely any visibility because of the smoke and the shifting winds are making thing difficult for firefighters. As the crew neared the glow of the fire, they had to turn around because conditions were just too dangerous. Take a look:

The countdown to the 2008 Summer Olympic games is just one month away. NBC and WKYC will provide extensive coverage of this year's games that open on August 8th in Beijing, China. WKYC will also bring you a local, pre-olympic show called "WKYC Olympic Zone" which will air live from 7:30 until 8 pm every night leading into primetime coverage. For a complete guide to the events & schedule: CLICK HERE To kick off our coverage, the Director's Cut Blog takes you to one of the most fascinating places to be during the games - the Olympic International Broadcast Center. This is the place where journalists from all around the world gather to bring their home countries complete coverage of the games. Emily Chang takes us on our tour.

NBC Universal and two partners said Sunday they have reached a deal to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications Inc., ending a drawn-out process that had attracted interest from several major media companies. Financial terms weren't disclosed, but a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity said the purchase price was $3.5 billion in cash. NBC was joined in the deal by the private equity firms The Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital LLC. In addition to The Weather Channel, which can be seen by 97 percent of U.S. cable subscribers, the deal also includes several related assets such as weather services for newspapers and radio stations and the widely used Web site Weather.com. NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., became the sole bidder for The Weather Channel last month after Time Warner Inc. dropped out. CBS Corp. and cable industry leader Comcast Corp. had also expressed interest earlier. NBC already operates a digital weather and news service...

You may have seen the countdown to July 5th that I was giving here on the Director's Cut Blog. Well, the time has come. It's finally here. July 5th officially marks my 20th year as a Cleveland broadcaster. It was July 5th, 1988, that I opened the microphone at little 1,000 watt country music station WLND-AM in Cortland... It was 6:05 a.m. and time to say those most memorable words: "Good Morning, I'm Frank Macek with your WLND News..." I was so scared, I trembled at first. But that soon passed. Although my tenure at WLND was only to last the summer of 1988 before college started in the fall, it was a memorable time at the little station at the corner of St. Rts. 305 and 88 in Cortland in a building shared with a dentist office. Owner Nancy Hoffman (whose son Chris Hoffman once worked at WKYC) and station manager Jay Michaels gave me that big break after I contacted them about wanting to do the weather forecast for their station. Instead, I got to do the weather AN...

Today was a sad day at WKYC as long time employee John Marinko edited his final commercial and headed into a long overdue retirement. John started at the station 51 years ago - an unbelievable 5 decades in this business! Over those years, John worked in a variety of jobs beginning with his duties in radio where he worked alongside a number of big name stars. On the TV side, John brought plenty of enthusiasm and professionalism to his duties from cameraman to editor and many jobs in between. He worked in film all the way the high definition television and was most recently our main commercial editor. Over the years, John received a number of awards for his work and was inducted as a Silver Circle member into the National Television Academy of Arts & Sciences, Great Lakes Lower Chapter, in the class of 1996 along with Clifford Adkins, Alan Bush, Jenny Crimm, Charles E. (Bud) Ford and Joe Mosbrook. Plus, John always had a fondness for the weather, which I personally appre...