Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

For our longtime readers, you'll remember this story from last year (and the year before). If you are a new reader to the "Director's Cut" blog, I invite you to share a story that will forever haunt me about the Kentucky Derby --- Originally posted: 5/2/07 This Saturday is the big Kentucky Derby...a day that brings back some wonderful memories of how NOT to do a breaking news cut-in. As a cloud of black smoke drifted over downtown, we thought we were onto a big story. Could it be a major fire... an explosion... something crashed or blew up? We were convinced we were onto something big. Really big. The smoke was getting thicker and the adrenaline began to flow. The producer alerted me and the crew to stand by to do a breaking news cut-in.. The control room crew all raced into position. We were ready to go. The only problem was that the Kentucky Derby was still on and we didn't dare to cut-in. So the decision was made to wait until the winner crossed the finish lin...

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!

Today marks the one year anniversary since the launch of "The Director's Cut Blog" here on WKYC.COM. It's been quite a year as we close in on our first 100,000 page views thanks to big stories like the SuccessTech Academy Shootings, a flash flood at the station, a visit by NBC Nightly News anchorman Brian Williams and tons of stories about what goes on behind the scenes here at WKYC - including exclusive in-studio photos. We were quoted & we were criticized in great on-line media like "Ohio Media Watch," "NewsBlues," "Cleveland.com," "TV Newsday," "Shop Talk" & others. We brought you great "Where Are They Now?" features on former WKYC employees Terry Burhans, Lisa Colagrossi, Connie Dieken, Art Edwards, Doreen Gentzler, Amy Murphy (Hasten), Eileen Korey, Marshall McPeek, Joe Mosbrook, Dawn Stensland and Donna Terrell Our popular "Get to Know Team 3" offered you inside information on several ...

Just a quick note of thanks to all our readers of the "Director's Cut" Blog.. The numbers are in for October and our blog has now surpassed the 60,000th reader mark since launching in January. October was a huge month for us in several ways, with expanded coverage of the SuccessTech Academy shootings, the announcement of our morning show team of Mark Nolan and Abby Ham & our regular features: "Where Are They Now?," "Get to Know Team 3" and classic Channel 3 Promos. In the coming weeks, we have plenty of new and fresh material coming thanks to your ideas and suggestions. A reminder, you can reach us anytime at fmacek@wkyc.com or on Facebook and Myspace for on-line extras. Again, thank you for reading the "Director's Cut" Blog. Be sure to tell your colleagues to stop by and visit.

We have added a new widget for our "Director's Cut Blog". This will enable you to get the latest news and information from behind the scenes of the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center the moment we post it. Plus, it's a feature you can add to your own blog to give your readers even more interesting reading material to read through. You can customize the widget by color and how much info is displayed. Click on the link below (or the picture) to get the "Director's Cut" Widget: Director's Cut Widget

Update: 8/14/07 @ 6:45 PM As we reported yesterday, NBC has indeed made the official announcement regarding the new hour of "Today" confirming what we first reported yesterday. Read more details at WKYC.COM: CLICK HERE ------------- The Director's Cut Blog has learned that Ann Curry, Natalie Morales and Hoda Kotb (all pictured) will be named hosts of the fourth hour of NBC's "Today" Show beginning September 10th on WKYC. The network is expected to make an official announcement tomorrow, August 14th. Sources also say that a rotating list of guest hosts include the Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis and New York Giant running back Tiki Barber, who became a "Today" correspondent in April. Regular "Today" Show co-hosts Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer will NOT be part of the 4th hour. Vieira contractually can not appear past 10 AM because of her work on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Therefore, the new fall lineup on WKYC wi...

When you go to a game at Jacobs Field, you can see and feel the electricity of the Indians and the fans. But, what if you are watching it at home? Channel 3 Lydia's Esparra goes behind the scenes of SportsTime Ohio with the men and women who bring that same feeling right into your living room. Pictured is Emmy Award Winning Indians Director Pat Murray (left) and the STO Control Room (right). This is the same control room where your blog jockey, Frank Macek, gets to direct the Indians pregame show called "Indians On Deck" for away games (along with our other WKYC staff of Directors - Al Wohl, Eric Carrel, Mark Bogden & Matt Babb). To Watch our exclusive story, CLICK HERE

Breaking news, sports, weather and other must-have local information now can be accessed easily by mobile phone users in more than 100 local markets, including Cleveland...WKYC's parent company, Gannett, has announced. WKYC news and information is available on virtually any mobile phone or handheld device. We are your mobile window to the world, anywhere you go, any time of day. With FREE content specially formatted for your small screen device, WKYC Mobile allows you to stay in touch with all the latest breaking news 24x7. There are three easy options to access this free service on your mobile phone: *Simply type m.wkyc.com into the web browser on your Internet-enabled mobile device. *Text WKYC to 59523 and we will send you this link to your phone via text message. *Via links from the home pages of all Gannett newspaper and broadcast Web sites. For a complete list of links available: CLICK HERE Requirements: Although the service is free from WKYC, carrier charges may apply for re...

This story doesn't have much to do with WKYC , but it's a tv related item of interest which I felt is worth mentioning. Early Tuesday morning, the broadcasting industry lost a legend - KTLA Anchor Hal Fishman . His passing is important because he was the longest-running news anchor in television history. Hal died at age 75 from colon cancer that had spread to his liver - a disease only he was aware of until he collapsed last week at home. His final broadcast was Monday, July 30 th . I regularly watched Hal anchor KTLA's 10 pm "Prime" newscast through Dish Network's Superstation service. Hal was one of the most polished & articulate news anchors I have ever seen. He had a journalistic integrity you rarely see anymore. You trusted what Hal said. Hal was a fixture on Los Angeles TV for nearly 50 years. The last several decades, he was a mainstay on the newsdesk of Channel 5, KTLA - having been hired by Gene Autry when he bought the station in 1965. He ...

Preparing a year in advance, NBC Universal announced it will showcase round-the-clock coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games over 17 days, beginning exactly one year from today: 8-8-08 at 8 PM on WKYC/TV 3. The plan, totaling 3,600+ hours, offers more televised coverage than all previous Summer Olympics combined in U.S. history (from 1960 to 2004). Coverage from Beijing will be seen on NBC, USA Network, MSNBC and CNBC, along with high-definition coverage on USA HD and Universal HD. Spanish-language coverage will be seen on Telemundo. Additionally, NBCU will offer live streaming Olympic broadband video footage for the first time in the U.S. via NBCOlympics.com, and approximately 3,000 hours of highlights, rewinds and encores will be available on-demand. Despite a 12-hour time zone difference, NBCU will feature must-see events in primetime from live swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball. To See the new Olympics Video Trailer: CLICK HERE To Go to the NBC Olympics Website: CLICK HE...

Channel 3 reporter/weekend anchor Lydia Esparra stars in our "Get To Know Team 3" feature for this go around. Here's a couple of interesting things you may not have known about Lydia. Q: Where did your career start? Lydia: My career began at a cable company that had news and other types of programming. It was in Davie Florida. I really loved it! One show was called "Swing On a Star." I got to go around South Florida doing all these odd jobs like wrestling alligators and swimming with Dolphins. Q: What other cities have you worked in besides Cleveland? Lydia: Davie, Florida; Fort Lauderdale , Florida; Miami, Florida; Albany, Georgia; Columbus, Georgia; Cleveland, Ohio. Q: What is your favorite part of your job? Lydia: Reporting stories that affect people's lives. I like it when you do a story and it really gets people thinking. It's informing the viewer. And you can never have enough information! I like bringing the viewer to the scene. I wish I had a mi...

We've added a new feature to the "Director's Cut Blog" - a TV program guide for all our shows on WKYC and Sportstime Ohio. This is located on the menu off to the right and gives you are complete list of which shows are on WKYC Analog Channel 3, along with those shows presented in High Definition on WKYC's Digital Service - 3.1 & Weather Plus 3.2 (Channel numbers may be different on your cable or satellite system). You'll also find a daily program guide for SportsTime Ohio. Enjoy!

We have added a link to our Director's Cut Blog located under "Frank's Link Favorites" from our good friend, Ed Esposito - who is the Editor of AkronNewsNow and also oversees news and information media for the Rubber City Radio Group Stations: WAKR-WONE-WQMX in Akron. His informative blog is located at: http://edesposito.blogspot.com/

This afternoon, an intense thunderstorm over downtown Cleveland led to 4.45" of rain falling in about an hour. This led to severe flooding including at the Channel 3 Digital Broadcast Center. The basement parking garage had 6 to 7 inches of standing water at one point. Also, many cars surrounding the station were partially-submerged under water, while many roads were temporarily closed until the water could run off. Sportstime Ohio, which has a studio in the basement, was almost forced to higher ground during a live broadcast of "All Bets Are Off with Bruce Drennan" because of the flooding situation. However, they continued broadcasting as former Tribe Skipper, Mike Hargrove, was being interviewed by Bruce. To see our storm coverage @ 6 PM: CLICK HERE To see a live report from Paul Thomas @ 7 PM: CLICK HERE To watch video for amazing pictures of swamped roadways: CLICK HERE These are pictures from the Channel 3 Studios & Parking Garage.... These are other pictures ar...

July sweeps are over. WKYC is again the #1 late, local news leader at 11 PM both Monday thru Friday...and Monday thru Sunday (12+ numbers). Also, the station continues to have the highest rated weekend morning newscasts as well. Overall, viewing was rather low for all broadcast stations in the market for the month. This is generally true each summer when people spend more time outdoors than they do watching TV during June, July and August. The next major book will be in November.

Updated: 5:15 PM WKYC General Manager Brooke Spectorsky has just announced to the staff the permanent appointment of Acting News Director Rita Andolsen to News Director - officially beginning a new chapter for Channel 3 News. Rita has worked hard in a variety of management roles in the WKYC newsroom since coming to Channel 3 from WJW-TV 8. Most recently, she had been Assistant News Director until Mike McCormick left. Congratulations to Rita! ------------------- Here is a portion of the official press release from WKYC: "Channel 3 is pleased to announce the appointment of Rita Andolsen as News Director," said WKYC President and General Manager Brooke Spectorsky. Rita has served as Interim News Director since May. "She knows Cleveland, WKYC and has worked closely with almost every single person in the newsroom over the past seven years," added Spectorsky, "and I know she is passionate about leading WKYC into the future as we develop new ways to reach our audience...

Connie Dieken This month, we asked Connie Dieken to share with us some exclusive information on our Director's Cut Blog about what she has been up since leaving the WKYC family in our "Where Are They Now Feature?" We have video of Connie anchoring the 11 pm news at the end of the story. Connie spent 16 years broadcasting the news to Cleveland television viewers, beginning at Channel 3 in 1984. Her first duties at the station were as weekend anchor and consumer reporter. She quickly moved up and joined co-anchor Tom Sweeney on the anchor desk for the 5 PM broadcast...and became a main anchor of Channel 3 News at 6 & 11 PM. Her work garnered numerous high profile communication awards including Emmys, Tellys and being named Best TV Host by Cleveland Magazine. Viewers always loved Connie for her friendly & warm approach to bringing them the news of the day. Also during her stay at Channel 3, she married former Browns offensive lineman Doug Dieken. Her q...

Fellow WKYC Producer/Director Matt Babb has been researching High Definition TV as he upgrades...and shares with us some information you might interested in regarding where to find our local HD channels. Here are the analog TV channels and their corresponding "over the air" HD channel assignments. Note: When tuning though, you will still see the stations displayed as X.1, X.2, X.3 (depending on how many multi-cast channels each station offers). Station-Analog (New Digital) WKYC-TV 3 (Digital 2) - Displayed as 3.1, 3.2, etc. ***Will Move to Digital Ch 17** WEWS-TV 5 (Digital 15) - Displayed as 5.1, 5.2, etc. WJW-TV 8 (Digital 31) - Displayed as 8.1, 8.2, etc. WOIO-TV 19 (Digital 10) - Displayed as 19.1, 19.2, etc. WVPX-TV 23 (Digital 59) - Displayed as 23.1, 23.2, etc. **Will Move to Digital Ch 23*** WVIZ-TV 25 (Digital 26) - Displayed as 25.1, 25.2, etc. WUAB-TV 43 (Digital 28) - Displayed as 43.1, 43.2, etc. WNEO-TV 45 (Digital 46) - Displayed as 45.1, 45.2, etc. WEAO-TV 49 ...

Sad to report that former TV show host Tom Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco from complications associated with leukemia which he announced in 2005. Snyder was not your typical broadcaster....and usually smoked cigarettes during his interviews. But, he was polished and a great interviewer. He left "The Tomorrow Show" which followed "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" on NBC and WKYC in 1982. (He was host from 1973 to 1982). In 1978, Tom brought his show to town with then Mayor Dennis Kucinich over breakfast at Tony's Diner at W. 117th & Lorain Avenue. He then returned to late night television on CBS with the "Late, Late Show" following David Letterman more than 20 years later. Tom was eventually replaced by Craig Kilborn on that show. Tom held a brief stint as an anchor at KYW-TV in Cleveland, currently WKYC, at age 29. Known for his improvised and relaxed style and hardy laughs, Snyder did a number of memorable interviews including John Lennon...

According to CareerBuilder.com survey, some TV bosses are pretty close to the real thing. When asked which TV boss most reminds them of their own boss, the most popular responses included: 1. Sam Malone from "Cheers" 2. Charlie from "Charlie's Angels" 3. Judge Judy from "Judge Judy" 4. Donald Trump from "The Apprentice" 5. Simon Cowell from "American Idol" 6. Mr. Burns from "The Simpsons" 7. Miranda Bailey from "Grey's Anatomy" 8. Michael Scott from "The Office" 9. Tyra Banks from "America's Next Top Model" 10. Jack from "Lost" Courtesy: CareerBuilder.com