Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

NBC will celebrate the lighting of the world’s most famous Christmas tree with a live broadcast from Rockefeller Center in New York City on Wednesday, November 30th from 8 to 9 p.m. ET. The star-studded holiday special will feature performances by Neil Diamond, Big Time Rush, Tony Bennett, Justin Bieber, Michael Bublé, Cee Lo Green, Carole King, Katharine McPhee, Javier Colon and The Radio City Rockettes with a mix of current hits and holiday classics. Justin has brought some special guests for his performance and NBC will also premiere his music video with Mariah Carey for “All I Want for Christmas is You.” The song, originally recorded and written by Mariah Carey for her 1994 album “Merry Christmas,” is the most listened to song at the holidays and this new duet is featured on Justin’s Christmas album, “Under the Mistletoe.” The 79th annual holiday extravaganza will feature a Norway Spruce tree that is 74 feet high, 46 feet in diameter and weighs 10 tons. The tradition ...

Erin Kennedy. Photo courtesy: WPRI-TV Award winning journalist Erin Kennedy will bring her high energy and strong storytelling skills to the Channel 3 morning newscast beginning in January. She’ll join the team of Mark Nolan, meteorologist Hollie Strano, reporters Amanda Barren and Stephanie Coueignoux, and Ways to Save guru Matt Granite. “I’m looking forward to becoming part of such a terrific morning show,” said Ms. Kennedy. “And I'm excited to work with such a strong and enterprising news team. More than anything, I value Channel 3's commitment to making a difference in the Northeast Ohio community. My husband and I can't wait to put down roots in this dynamic and progressive city." Currently the evening anchor for WPRI and WNAC’s Eyewitness News in Providence, Rhode Island, Erin began her career in Texas after graduating Summa Cum Laude from Notre Dame University where she was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa society. “Erin is very bright, extremely motiva...

Special to the Director's Cut Blog By DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer NEW YORK - Some weeks NBC must wish it could start prime time a couple of hours earlier. The network's "Nightly News" broadcast with Brian Williams averaged 9.1 million viewers over five days last week, clearly outdistancing rivals at ABC and CBS. The problem for NBC is that it also beats virtually everything the network shows in prime time. Take away Sunday night football and its preview shows and the most-watched NBC show last week was "Law & Order: SVU," with 7.3 million viewers. "Harry's Law" had 7.2 million, Nielsen said. NBC has moved Williams to prime time once a week, with his newsmagazine "Rock Center" on Mondays. Viewership has yet to catch up with its content, with 3.9 million people watching Bob Costas interview disgraced Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky last week. In prime time, CBS is the king - sometimes to starlin...

WKYC Chief Meteorologist Betsy Kling  By Frank Macek WKYC's evening meteorologist Betsy Kling has been named "Chief Meteorologist" announced WKYC News Director Rita Andolsen on Tuesday. "Betsy brings a passion and energy to telling the weather story in a way that our viewers recognize and appreciate," explains Andolsen. "I look forward to working with our already strong weather team including Hollie Strano and Bruce Kalinowski to push forward our weather product on-air, on-line and mobile," Kling tells the Director's Cut Blog. "It's a very exciting and dynamic weather team to work with." Kling's Emmy award winning forecasts can be seen on the Monday through Friday editions of Channel 3 News at 6, 7 and 11 PM, on wkyc.com, and can be heard on Clear Channel radio stations including WTAM/1100 AM, WMJI/105.7 FM and WHLK/106.5 "The Lake." Betsy is part of a small group of women in the country who has earned the ...