Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

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,...

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

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...

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 T...

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.

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