Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

NEW YORK -- Digital video and audio cables, similar to the ones that already connect TVs to DVD players, cable boxes and receivers, will soon come with a new capability: connecting those devices to the Internet. Manufacturers said Thursday that version 1.4 of the HDMI standard, for High-Definition Multimedia Interface, includes a data networking feature. That means that a set-top box that connects to the Internet could share its connection with other devices in the entertainment center, for easier access to Web video, e-mail and news, says Steve Venuti, president and CEO of HDMI Licensing. Devices with HDMI 1.4 ports could show up in small numbers before the holidays, and in larger volumes early next year, the group said. New cables will be needed to take advantage of the networking feature. Source: The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- NBC made history last week in the TV ratings -- the kind it would like to forget. Nielsen Media Research says an average of 4.4 million people were watching NBC during prime time last week. Only one time before has Nielsen recorded a lower number for NBC -- during the dog days of August 2007. Never before have ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox had such a small audience in a week when the ratings sweeps were on. The 2008-09 TV season officially concluded after Wednesday night last week. NBC's "Nightly News" had a bigger audience last week than any of the network's prime-time shows. Source: The Associated Press

WKYC Channel 3 continues our series about Northeast Ohio's greatest natural resource - Lake Erie. Join Channel 3 News Today's Mark Nolan for this HD special Saturday June 6th at 7pm on WKYC Channel 3.

Jay Leno is leaving the late night world this week the way he came in: At number one. Still, Leno did encounter some rough seas shortly after he took over for Johnny Carson. "Many fans and TV critics thought Letterman deserved Carson's chair," notes TV Guide's Stephen Battaglio. Letterman thought so too and moved to CBS, where he ran neck and neck with Leno for the first couple of years until one show in July of 1995 changed everything. British heartthrob Hugh Grant had been arrested days earlier for soliciting a prostitute, but he still honored his previously scheduled visit with Leno. The ratings gold spun from that one show turned the late night tide in Leno's favor. "The Tonight Show"'s new viewers saw a new, more intimate set that was a nod to Leno's comedy club roots and made the host feel more at home. He kept telling jokes, even on weekends, at comedy clubs around the country. "You go to Ohio, you go to Boston, Maine, Okl...

AJ Colby had his trusty little camera out and snapped this picture for us right before the 6 pm big broadcast this evening. Nothing like seeing the studio from a different angle. Courtesy: AJ Colby

Conan O'Brien talks about his final preparations for his new gig as host of the Tonight Show. Mark Barger has the latest.

The owner of WVPX/TV23 in Akron, ION Media Networks, Inc., has filed for bankruptcy protection according to published reports. Although TV23's transmitter is located in Akron, all of its local operations are based at the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center here in Cleveland, where it rents space. The parent company, formerly known as PAX, owns and operates the largest U.S. broadcast television station group and ION Television, the country's only independent broadcast television network. The Company owns 59 of its 60 full-power broadcast television stations, including stations in each of the top 20 U.S. markets and 39 of the top 50. Here's the press release from their website: ION Media Networks, Inc. ("ION"), owner and operator of the ION Television network, announced today [May 20] that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has granted all of the company's first day requests. Court approval includes continued use of cash on hand, ...

Special to the Director's Cut Blog By Michael O'Mara CLEVELAND -- Long before the Cavaliers and Magic take to the court for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, more than 1,000 workers are hard at work to make sure the show gets on the air. It all starts backstage. Hours before tip off , the hard work begins. Workers haul in beer and other refreshments the hungry fans will gobble up. Tech crew members are busy running huge lines of coaxial cable through a maze of wires to the engineering room while others check and re-check cameras and microphones for the national broadcast. Tom Sahara, a technical coordinator for TNT, says it takes 22 cameras to bring the Cavaliers and Magic up close in your living room. One of those cameras is devoted solely to every move Lebron James makes. These workers don't have big paychecks and for the most part go unnoticed. But they take pride in making the Cavs games the best. "They don't know who...

The Director's Cut Blog has learned WKYC intends to officially terminate its analog, over-the-air broadcasting at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 12th. This is the new date the FCC is mandating all television stations in the United States that are still broadcasting analog signals to shut them down and go all digital. Many stations made the switch on the original date of February 17th, while others switched in April. However, most all the major Cleveland television stations decided to wait until June 12th, some for technical reasons...others for competitive reasons. At this time, we believe - most, if not all of our local TV stations will make the switch at the same time.

Channel 3 News' Romona Robinson has a special message for all of our viewers and Facebook fans. WKYC sweeps up with a nice win in HH's (households), adults 18+ and adults 25-54 - the key demos at 6 & 11 PM and #1 adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 at 7 PM - a claim no one else in town can make (even though they may try to fool you). This is on the heels of a win in March at 6 & 11 PM for WKYC.

By Frank Macek The death of television has been prematurely reported. Nielsen's latest first quarter report of three screens use: television, Internet and mobile - show all three INCREASING during the first quarter of 2009. The study shows that television is still the dominant choice for Americans who watch video with a whopping 99% of the video watched still being viewed a traditional TV screen. In addition, TV usage continues at an all-time high with 153 hours being watched per month by each of us. That's an INCREASE of 1.2% over 2008. Of all demographics, adults age 17 to 24 are the only ones showing signs of using DVRs and online video about the same amount of time. The reports shows they time shifted television about 5 hrs, 47 minutes each month and video on the Internet 5 hrs, 3 minutes. Also during the first quarter, the growth of online video was driven by both strong brand marketing and large media events including the Presidential inauguration, the Super Bowl ...

Special to the Director's Cut By Jeff Burnside One of the biggest users of electricity in your home is your TV set. So if you want to go green, there's now a new kind of TV set that uses a lot less energy. It's an LED set and the newest model by Samsung just arrived in stores. Samsung says it uses 40 percent less electricity than other plasma or LCD big screens. Sinclair Crabb bought one just because of that. "Where I come from in the Virgin Islands, the electricity bill is very high. And that was part of the reason I bought the TV," said Crabb. And because LEDs generate light they don't generate heat. But lets face it, television is all about picture quality. Those who have seen the Samsung sets up close say the image is nothing short of astounding. Now the bad news. This high-end version is more than $3,500. But they'll go down in price and don't forget you save electricity from the moment you plug it in. ...

NBC announced today its 2009-2010 schedule featuring more original programming than ever before and a shared time-period strategy around NBC's Olympics platform that, along with "The Jay Leno Show" (Mondays-Fridays 10-11 p.m. ET), allows the network to broadcast all-new content year-round. In addition, NBC issued renewals to "Law & Order" and "Chuck" as part of its strong slate of new and returning shows announced recently at the network's highly successful Infront. "NBC has picked up more scripted shows than last season even with 'The Jay Leno Show' at 10 p.m.," said Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. "We're incredibly excited about our new and returning series and have more comedy programming than anyone else, as well as two of the most buzzed about new shows, "Community" and "Parenthood." We can't wait for the fall." "We are extremel...

As Conan O'Brien gets ready to launch his stint as host of Tonight Show on June 1st, he stopped by Cleveland recently to talk about the show. Somehow, they ended up talking about his trademark do. Enjoy!

NBC is renewing "Law & Order" for a record-tying 20th season. People familiar with NBC's plans say the network is set to announce its fall schedule Tuesday and the durable crime drama will be on it. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the decision. "Law & Order" will stand with "Gunsmoke" as TV's longest-running prime-time drama. The Western aired from 1955 to 1975 on CBS. Source: The Associated Press

Will Ferrell will be the first guest on the couch for the debut of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" on June 1. Ferrell, who helped usher O'Brien out of New York on the final "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," will help welcome O'Brien to his new home in Los Angeles. In addition Pearl Jam will be the inaugural band on Conan's "The Tonight Show." Pearl Jam will perform songs from their upcoming studio album. Conan O'Brien, the dominant late-night host at 12:35 a.m. for the past 14 seasons, will succeed Jay Leno as host of the preeminent series on late-night television, NBC's "The Tonight Show," on June 1, 2009. "The Tonight Show" continues to be the most dominant late-night institution in television history. Since it first premiered on September 27, 1954 with Steve Allen, "The Tonight Show" has had just four permanent hosts, including Leno. Allen, host of the then titled "Tonight," eventu...

By Frank Macek One of the changes being seen in the current economic climate is where advertisers are willing to spend their money with broadcast networks and local television stations. Advertisers think they have found a perfect opportunity in the bad economic climate to try and tip the balance of power that has existed between them and TV for decades. For the first time, the broadcasters are seeing advertisers making demands of networks and stations as they try to better target their audiences with smaller advertising budgets. Stations and networks have generally forced their clients to buy a schedule of commercials in several shows or day parts. If an advertiser would buy spots in "B" and "C" shows, they usually got the first dibs on the "A" shows with the best ratings - at a premium price, of course. This year, we are beginning to see a fundamental shift that could be a battleground for years to come according to industry observers. Advertisers want ...

NBC has released a picture of Conan's new "Tonight Show" set... Watch time lapse of the set construction... Courtesy: NBC

Do you still need help with the DTV transition? A mobile assistance center will be in Northeast Ohio this weekend to help consumers. The switch to digital television takes place June 12. The mobile assistance centers will be in Canton this weekend. The staff can demonstrate how to hook up a converter box to an analog TV and to help you apply for a $40 converter box coupon. Saturday May 16 & Sunday May 17 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 5th Avenue Flea Market 3800 Harmont Ave. NE Canton, Ohio For more information about the DTV switch, you can call 1-888-DTV-2009 or CLICK HERE

Editor's Note: We found this gem on the NBC feeds today. As you'll see, it involved demonstrators starring at blank tv's to get people to notice. It's a head scratcher, but very entertaining. Take a look at the video below the story: --- It was meant to draw reaction in Downtown Roanoke Thursday afternoon, and it certainly did. An event called "Must See TV", where dozens of people met at Market Square and sat in front of blank television sets to make people take notice. The group says the purpose was to make others talk, but they didn't just get the attention of people on the street. One police officer also took notice. The five minute event ended with one arrest. Police Spokesperson Aisha Johnson sent out this statement, "The arrest occurred at approximately 12:30 p.m. today. An officer patrolling the downtown area saw a female subject on the Campbell Avenue side of the Market Building, sitting on the steps watching a tel...

Editor's Note: Every day on the Director's Cut this week, we are giving you a sneak peak at the new fall shows coming to WKYC and NBC. --- From the executive producers of the box-office hit "Parenthood" Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, and writer/executive producer Jason Katims of "Friday Night Lights" this contemporary re-imagining of the blockbuster film depicts the colorful and imperfect Braverman family: four grown siblings sharing the headaches, heartaches and joy of being parents. The star-studded cast includes Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen and Sarah Ramos. When Sarah Braverman, a financially strapped single mother, returns home to her parents and siblings in Berkeley, California after packing up her Fresno apartment and uprooting her two inconvenienced kids, Amber and Drew, she is greeted by her opinionated father Zeek and mother Camille who are privately dealing wi...

Last week, NBC News' "Today" reached another unprecedented milestone: 700 weeks as America's number one morning program. No other morning news program has come close to a winning streak like "Today's." Moreover, the win marks the longest current winning streak in all of broadcast television, by any show, in any daypart. The winning streak began December 11, 1995, and season-to-date, "Today" holds its largest advantage over GMA in five years - since 2004. And, to keep with what's become a morning news tradition, NBC News' "Today" aced the week, attracting 5.6 million viewers for the week of May 4 – a 1.1 million (24 percent) lead over GMA and a 2.7 million (93 percent) lead over CBS' "The Early Show." Season-to-date, "Today's" advantages over GMA have increased across the board versus the same period last season. For the week, "Today" led with a 4.2 household rating/15 share and 5.6 million...

Jay Leno announced today that "Tonight Show" heir Conan O'Brien is scheduled to be the final guest to sit on his famed couch during Leno's last show as host of the franchise on May 29. O'Brien, who has appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" 16 times previously, will be taking over the coveted hosting duties beginning on June 1. In addition, the week leading up to Leno's finale as host of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" will feature special guests and friends of the show including: Monday, May 25: Mel Gibson will make his 21st appearance on the "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in his first sit-down interview since the announcement of his impending divorce. Tuesday, May 26: Arnold Schwarzenegger made headlines when he made the now famous surprise announcement that he was running for governor of California during an appearance in 2003 and he will take to the couch again for his 25th appearance on the show. Wednesday, May 27: C...

Editor's Note: Every day on the Director's Cut this week, we are giving you a sneak peak at the new fall shows coming to WKYC and NBC. --- "Mercy," a new medical drama with a unique point of view, portrays the lives of the staff at Mercy Hospital as seen through the eyes of those who know it best: its nurses. Nurse Veronica Callahan returns to Mercy from a military tour in Iraq and she knows more about medicine than all of the residents combined. Together with fellow nurses Sonia Jimenez and Chloe Payne, Callahan navigates through the daily traumas and social landmines of life and love both inside the hospital and out in the real world. The cast also includes: James Tupper as Dr. Chris Sands, a new doctor at the hospital who complicates Veronica's life; Diego Klattenhoff as Mike Callahan, Veronica's husband; and Guillermo Diaz as Nurse Angel Lopez.

By Kim Wendel CLEVELAND -- Thousands of Northern Ohio students came to Progressive Field Wednesday for WKYC-TV's Weather Education Day. Were you there? Check out our photo galleries on wkyc.com: CLICK HERE The students learned their weather lessons from WKYC-TV meteorologists Betsy Kling, AJ Colby, Hollie Strano and Bruce Kalinowski. They also got a chance to watch the Cleveland Indians take on the Chicago White Sox. More from Channel 3 Weather: Get forecast e-mails , iAlert text messages or e-mails , Find Channel 3 Weather on Facebook or Watch the latest forecast from Channel 3 News

Editor's Note: Every day on the Director's Cut this week, we are giving you a sneak peak at the new fall shows coming to WKYC and NBC. --- Peter Berg, executive producer of "Friday Night Lights" delivers "Trauma," the first high-octane medical drama series to live exclusively in the field where the real action is. Like an adrenaline shot to the heart, "Trauma" is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics. When emergencies occur, the trauma team from San Francisco General is first on the scene, traveling by land, by sea or by air to reach their victims in time. From the heights of the city's Transamerica Pyramid to the depths of the San Francisco Bay, these heroes must face the most extreme conditions to save lives and give meaning to their own existence in the process.

Greetings everyone... Although we are over the hump of May sweeps and heading for the finish line next Wednesday, we basically have nothing new to report from the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center. This is why I haven't posted much new material lately. We are watching and waiting on the resolution of a few items of interest that should be wrapped up shortly... 1) Who replaces Abby Ham on the morning show 2) How tight May sweeps are at 6 & 11 p.m. 3) The completion of our new broadcast tower. (Now about 2/3rds finished) 4) The signing off of Channel 3 analog on June 12th. 5) How soon the advertising market recovers, especially locally. So, we are still here with plenty of new stuff to share when the time is right. In the meantime, I'm posting some of the programming stuff I receive from NBC and upstairs about our new fall shows, which of course will be joined by the addition of Jay Leno in prime time at 10 p.m. Jay's new show both excites and makes NBC affiliates, like WKYC,...

Our friends at the Lower Great Lakes Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) has let us know this year's Emmy Nomination Party is set for June 4th. This year's gathering will be held locally at Fat Fish Blue in downtown Cleveland, along with simultaneous gatherings at The Rathskeller in Indianapolis and Fat Blue Fish in Toledo (Perrysburg). You can visit www.nataslgl.org for more information or to register on-line if you plan on attending this year.

Editor's Note: Every day on the Director's Cut this week, we are giving you a sneak peak at the new fall shows coming to WKYC and NBC. --- From Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and Anthony Russo comes "Community," a smart comedy series about higher education and lower expectations. The student body at Greendale Community College is made up of high-school losers, newly divorced housewives, and old people who want to keep their minds active. Within these not-so-hallowed halls, "Community" focuses on a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin' lawyer whose degree has been revoked, who form a study group and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work. In addition to McHale, the series also stars: Gillian Jacobs, Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie and comedy legend Chevy Chase.

Editor's Note: Every day on the Director's Cut this week, we are giving you a sneak peak at the new fall shows coming to WKYC and NBC. --- Emmy winner James Burrows directs "100 Questions," a new comedy series that provides hilarious answers to 100 questions about love. Charlotte Payne is looking for love and has rejected multiple marriage proposals, but she has yet to meet Mr. Right. When she joins a popular online dating site, she gets a little help from her dating counselor Ravi, who requires her to take a 100-question compatibility test. The questions aren't easy for Charlotte to answer, and each one requires her to recount a poignant and humorous time in her life with friends. The test becomes a journey of self-discovery for Charlotte who begins to realize what she truly wants in a relationship.