Seth MacFarlane To Kick Off New Season Of "SNL"

SNL enters its 38th season on September 15 with host Seth MacFarlane.

The Emmy Award-winning comedian and "Family Guy" creator recently directed and lent his voice to the blockbuster feature film, "Ted," starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis.

Frank Ocean will also make his SNL debut alongside MacFarlane. Ocean released his studio debut album "Channel Orange," in July 2012 to widespread critical acclaim. He originally gained notoriety within the industry for his writing collaborations with top artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Beyonce.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt returns on September 22 for his second time as host. The Golden Globe nominated actor will next be seen in "Looper" and Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," due out later this year.

Mumford & Sons will make their debut as musical guest on September 22. The Grammy nominated group's second studio album, "Babel" will be released on September 24. Their debut album, "Sigh No More," reached number two on the Billboard 200 chart.

On October 6, Daniel Craig will take his turn as host. Craig will reprise his role as "James Bond" in the legendary franchise due out with a new feature film, "Skyfall," on November 9.

Muse will make their second appearance on October 6 after the release of their sixth studio album, "The 2nd Law" due out October 2. Muse's last album, "The Resistance" debuted at number one in 19 countries and earned the band a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.

Reports: Tonight Show Cuts Staff; Leno Trims Pay

Published reports say The Tonight Show has laid off about two dozen workers and host Jay Leno has taken a large pay cut to save the jobs of other staffers.

The moves are part of a restructuring to save money at NBC. NBC Universal imposed the cutbacks Friday, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. Both newspapers cited an unnamed person familiar with what happened.

The layoffs and Leno's salary concessions were first reported by Deadline Hollywood, a website that tracks the entertainment industry.

NBC Universal declined comment.

The network has been losing money, increasing the pressure to cut expenses under corporate parent Comcast Corp.

A spokesman for Leno says the late-night show host did what he thought was necessary to protect his staff.

Source: The Associated Press

Browns Preseason Game Second Highest Rated Since Return

Last night’s pre-season Browns game on WKYC did an impressive 21 Household Rating and the highest Men 25-54 number since 2008 or when demographics became available.

The game was by far the most watched program of the night, averaging 429,000 viewers, and the Adults 25-54 rating was higher than any of the preseason games of 2011. “Football is back! And like fans all over Northeast Ohio, we really enjoyed watching the Cleveland Browns beat the Green Bay Packers,” said Brooke Spectorsky, President and General Manager of WKYC.

“The preseason games on Channel 3 have always garnered excellent ratings, and this year looks to be even more exciting. I know Jim Donovan and Bernie Kosar are really looking forward to calling next Friday’s first home game against the Eagles.” The HD production of Browns preseason includes a crew of over 30 technicians and production personnel, 10 cameras, 8 channels of video replay, live aerial coverage from the Goodyear blimp and unique access to players and coaches.

It’s helmed by Emmy award winner and Olympic Games veteran director Al Wohl and produced by Emmy award winner Jeff Yakawiak, WKYC Sports Director. Last week, the preseason matchup against Detroit Lions aired on WOIO-TV as Channel 3 carried prime time Olympic coverage. The combination of Olympic and Browns ratings quadrupled all other broadcasting and cable shows that evening.

*A rating is a percent of total Cleveland TV homes and viewers. A share is a percentage of total audience watching television at that time and watching the Browns game. For example a 53.5 share of Men 25-54 means that 53.5% of Men 25-54 watching tv at that time were watching the Browns game.

Notes from the Newsroom: 8/16/12

By Frank Macek

It's time for another behind the scenes look at what's happening inside the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center.

The second Browns preseason game will air tonight on WKYC, Channel 3, with the Pregame Huddle at 7:30 p.m. followed by the game at 8 p.m. against the Green Bay Packers.

Unfortunately, Jim Donovan is under the weather and will not be doing the play by play this evening. Jim's current illness is unrelated to his bone marrow transplant last year. Andrew Catalon will fill in for Jim on tonight's broadcast next to Bernie Kosar.

"Live on Lakeside" made its debut on Monday, our brand new weekday morning show that airs from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. with anchors Hollie Strano and Michael Cardamone. The show features frequent news segments, along with plenty of entertainment and lifestyle news. The fourth hour of the "Today Show" moved to 10 a.m. and now airs live, instead of on tape delay.

Channel 3 welcomes new producer Maggie Traynor to WKYC. Maggie was most recently a producer at WFMJ-TV/21 in Youngstown. Maggie will handle our weekend morning news from 9 am until 10:30 a.m. that is anchored by Channel 3 mainstay Kim Wheeler and meteorologist Marcus Walter.

Also, we say farewell on Friday to WKYC's Dan Haggerty who leaves us for the sunny shores of San Diego at the ABC station there. Dan has been freelancing for our station since leaving Channel 5.

Next Friday Night at 11 p.m., we launch another season of Friday Night Fever on Channel 3 with the area's best highlights from the most interesting games around northeast Ohio. Don't forget to visit our local sports website, USA Today High School Sports.net for everything football related.

Channel 3 will be heading to Tampa, Florida, for our special Decision 2012 coverage of the Republican National Convention August 27th through 30th. WKYC's lead anchor Russ Mitchell will be reporting live from Tampa to bring Channel 3 viewers the best coverage you'll find from any local Cleveland television station. And, WKYC Senior Political Correspondent Tom Beres will have special insight on what happens at the convention and how it relates to northeast Ohio with special editions of "Between the Lines."

And finally, the Olympics were huge for Channel 3. Channel 3 was ranked as high as the sixth most watched NBC station in the nation during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Our parent company, Gannett, owns 6 of the top 10 stations for total viewership.

Behind The Scenes: Channel 3 At The 2012 Summer Olympics

WKYC's Chris Tye with NBC's Matt Lauer

As we head into the final stretch of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Channel 3 News journalists Chris Tye, Amanda Barren and Jennifer Lindgren share some of their personal photos of the action behind the scenes.

The three have brought us some remarkable stories about our local athletes and cultural elements of British society.

Click on the picture for our photogallery or the following link: on.wkyc.com/MmAXz3

You can also watch the video below where Chris Tye goes behind the scenes at the "Today Show" to see how they are handling their live coverage weekday mornings.

London Olympics Huge Boost To NBC's 'Today' Show

Today Show in London

The London Olympics are a huge boon to NBC's struggling "Today" show.

The Nielsen ratings company says the NBC morning show eclipsed ABC's "Good Morning America" by more than 1.6 million viewers last week.

"Today" broadcast from London all last week, taking advantage of NBC's status as holder of the rights to the very popular Olympics.

"Good Morning America" had beaten "Today" in the ratings for five weeks prior to the London trip.

NBC has sought to use the trip to get morning viewers used to its new co-anchor, Savannah Guthrie.

Source: The Associated Press