Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

By Frank Macek It's time for another "behind the scenes" look at what's happening inside the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center. Channel 3 News New Look By now you probably noticed that WKYC launched a brand new graphics look last Tuesday, January 22th that is being rolled out by our parent company, Gannett, on all broadcast stations. The new look is a much simpler, cleaner look that uses a main information bar, the rundown of upcoming stories and the time and temperature. Also, stories are color coded by category based on the USA Today theme including news (blue), weather (yellow), sports (red), life (purple), tech (orange), money (green), travel (aqua) and opinion (gray). We also have begun using the entire 16x9 screen for our broadcasts. As a result, 4x3 viewers on cable and satellite will notice we are letterboxed. The technology called AFD or (Active Format Description) allows us to trigger your television set to see the correct sizing of standard...

Can't see all the type on your TV set? Here's how to see the full on-screen graphics. This week, WKYC launched a brand new on-air look for Channel 3 News. One of the exciting new features of this new graphics package is that we are now utilizing the full 16:9 widescreen space available to give viewers more information about the stories they are watching. For some viewers, this new design may look like their TV set is cutting off some of the words on the screen. On our old graphics, much of the content was protected for viewers who were still center-cutting their picture. For example, they may have not seen the rundown at all.  While we have been broadcasting in Letter-boxed (widescreen 16:9) for some time, there may be viewers who have their TVs set to the wrong aspect ratio. With the new graphics package, having their TV in the wrong aspect will be much more obvious on the new graphics as large amounts of text and information will be cut off. In the vast majo...

WKYC Assignment Editor Danielle Fink Danielle Fink, Channel Three News assignment editor, was killed in a car accident in North Olmsted late Saturday or early Sunday morning. Her car struck a tree and she was found just after 8:30 Sunday morning. Danielle was a beloved friend and colleague at WKYC and respected by journalists, law enforcement and community leaders throughout Northeast Ohio. She loved Cleveland and Northeast Ohio passionately. She was a loyal fan of the Indians, Cavaliers and Browns. Dani celebrated all that made her hometown special. The family is making arrangements and will release more information as soon as possible. We offer our sincere condolences to her family and share in their grief.

Special To The Director's Cut Gary Levin, USA TODAY Last year I came here right off the top and said we had a bad fall," NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said at a TV critics' conference Sunday. "I'm not saying that this year." In an unusual development — NBC has been the No. 4-ranked network for the better part of the past decade — it's now operating from a position of strength. NBC's audience has grown 19% this season, the only major network to show an increase, and ranks second behind CBS and first among the young-adult audience it sells to advertisers. Most of fall's gains stemmed from the decision to add a fall run of The Voice, the singing competition that handily beat Fox's rival The X Factor. That, in turn, helped launch two companion series — the J.J. Abrams drama Revolution on Mondays and the Matthew Perry sitcom Go On on Tuesdays: They're the No. 1 new drama and comedy among the young-adult audience. Now, it fa...

By Frank Macek Officially, the Director's Cut (and your blogger) is on vacation until the end of the year and will return shortly with a new year of behind the scenes coverage from Channel 3. But to say 2012 was a long year is an understatement with exciting changes that brought plenty of new faces to Channel 3 News and a farewell to others who moved on in their television careers. Let's take a look back at the year that was at WKYC... In January, Channel 3 News welcomed former CBS News anchor Russ Mitchell who made his debut as the solo weeknight anchor and managing editor of Channel 3 News at 6 & 11 PM on January 15th. The following morning, Chris Tye and Erin Kennedy debuted as the new anchors of Channel 3 News Today (replacing Mark Nolan who left for WMJI radio)...with Robin Swoboda and Jim Donovan taking over as the new anchor team of Channel 3 News @7. In February, "Good Company" said goodbye to longtime Cleveland television legend Fred Griffith w...

Brennan Donnellan Award winning journalist Brennan Donnellan will begin a new role at the station beginning in January. “I’m very happy to promote Brennan into the News Director position,’ stated Brooke Spectorsky, President and General Manager of WKYC. “While he’s only been at Channel 3 for 18 months, he’s been instrumental in launching our new anchor teams of Russ Mitchell and Kris Pickel, Chris Tye and Erin Kennedy, and Lynna Lai and John Anderson. He’s led our live coverage of major news events including the shootings in Chardon, the Presidential Election, Super Storm Sandy and others. He’s a forward thinking manager who expects the best from his team and fights for the resources to bring high quality newscasts to viewers in Northeast Ohio.” An Ohio University graduate, Donnellan has held news management positions in Atlanta, Boston, and Cincinnati. “He also led a digital media team for two years, and understands the challenges and opportunities that producing content for v...

Get the news the way you want it with WKYC’s new iPad app, available beginning today, December 18, 2012. The app is more visual, has live HD video of newscasts, and our popular interactive radar. The app has a sleek design, robust weather, news, sports, social interface and video content. It will also offer live HD video streaming of the station’s newscasts. Features include: Interactive radar, hourly extended and weekend forecasts Interactive weather radar maps-in-motion Social sharing ability to Facebook, Twitter and email A video-centric content display Extensive photo and video galleries Selections for users to opt-in for breaking news, weather and/or general news alerts Real time school closing information customized to the user’s favorite schools Automatic desk clock mode featuring stunning imagery of Grand Rapids “We know consumers want access to our content and newscasts whenever and wherever they are so providing great content on all platforms is a priority ...

NBC will premiere the new drama "Do No Harm" on Thursday, January 31, from 10-11 p.m. following the hour-long series finale of the Emmy Award-winning "30 Rock" at 8 p.m. earlier that same night. In addition, "Rock Center with Brian Williams" will move to Fridays beginning February 8 from 10-11 p.m. right after "Dateline NBC" which also makes a move to an earlier 9 p.m. slot. The announcements were made Friday by Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. "January 31 will be a special night as one classic series will mark its finale with a great hour-long sendoff episode while a promising new drama will make its debut on Thursdays," said Greenblatt. "'30 Rock'" is acclaimed as a legendary comedy and we will see a truly memorable and fitting last episode. In "Do No Harm," viewers will have a unique new dramatic storyline with an exciting new star in Steven Pasquale that takes them into dark and unc...

By Frank Macek It's time for another "behind the scenes" look at what's happening inside the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center. The last week was an extremely busy one around WKYC as we brought you the best local coverage of "Decision 2012" anchored by WKYC's Russ Mitchell and Kris Pickel and our team of journalists spread out around Ohio. According to Nielsen, Channel 3's extended, evening coverage was the most watched in Cleveland, while NBC's network coverage anchored by Brian Williams was the highest rated on Election Night. NBC was also the first network to accurately call the race to the White House. For a photogallery of some of the behind the scenes pictures at WKYC on Election Night, go to: http://on.wkyc.com/UlHaTA Channel 3 was part of a special "See the Possible" push to help educate our viewers about the importance of Issue 107, the Cleveland school levy, on the November 6th ballot. Our viewers responded positively and pa...

WKYC and NBC will offer up a stocking full of festive holiday programming this season original Christmas music/variety specials from Blake Shelton (Monday, December 3; 10-11 p.m. ET) and Michael Buble (Monday, December 10 10-11 p.m. ET); the new special "Christmas in the White House" (Thursday, December 13, 8-9 p.m. ET) and the traditional tree-lighting ceremony on "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" (Wednesday, November 28, 8-9 p.m. ET). "The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" will step off on Thursday, November 22 (9 a.m-12 noon all time zones). Following the parade will be popular holiday special "The National Dog Show Presented by Purina" -- hosted by actor, author and Broadway star John O'Hurley ("Seinfeld," "Dancing with the Stars") and expert analyst David Frei -- on Thanksgiving Day from 12 noon to 2 p.m. in all time zones. In addition, the network will once again honor the United States armed forces as Worl...

NBC is doing a benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Sandy featuring some artists native to the areas hardest hit. Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi of New Jersey and Billy Joel of Long Island are scheduled to appear at the concert Friday. The telecast will benefit the American Red Cross and will be shown on NBC and its cable stations including Bravo, CNBC, USA, MSNBC and E! Other networks are invited to join in. The concert will be hosted by Matt Lauer. It will air at 8 p.m. Eastern and will be taped-delayed in the West. Other performers include Christina Aguilera, Sting and Jimmy Fallon. The telethon will be broadcast from NBC facilities in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Source: The Associated Press

WKYC Staff helping to "Make A Difference" A total of 748 volunteers donated 1,671 hours of their time on Saturday at 23 different locations across Northeast Ohio in an effort to make our community a better place. Volunteers included WKYC staff members and viewers from across our area. National Make a Difference Day  was started by Gannett-owned USA Weekend 20 years ago. This year WKYC joined the company wide effort, encouraging staff and viewers to join in on this national day of giving back. Five winners even received prizes for their participation. The winners are listed below: Susan Jones Andrew Brandt Shelley Muchnicki Nancy Dempsey Sonya Pryor-Jones Main sites included The Cleveland Foodbank, the Akron Regional Foodbank, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland, The Salvation Army and Coats for Kids. Volunteers were found at other locations from the Carl & Louis Stokes Academy to the Berea Animal Rescue Fund to libraries, museums and Metroparks acros...

Gannett Co., Inc., the parent of WKYC-TV, has announced it acquired Rovion, a Boston-based, rich-media advertising company, which is owned by Local Corporation. Rovion’s primary product, Ad Composer, includes a self-service technology platform that enables the full development and deployment of rich media and mobile HTML5 ads without requiring coding expertise. Advertisers and agencies are increasingly demanding mobile rich media ad solutions and self-service ad creation tools, and the Rovion acquisition will enable Gannett’s PointRoll, a leading provider of digital marketing solutions and technology, to expand their mobile and self-service platform capabilities. Rovion will be part of the Gannett Digital organization under PointRoll, with all Gannett divisions leveraging the Rovion platform capabilities. Click to watch more about what the company does:

Channel 3 is proud to present “Positively Kids: Transforming Cleveland’s Future” on Wednesday, October 24th at 8pm. This hour long special investigates Cleveland’s present economic health and shows a city that came back from recession earlier than most of the rest of the country and that has one of the nation’s lowest unemployment rates. The program also highlights that the same energy and commitment of people, banks, the philanthropic community, business and educational institutions is now being used to bring the Cleveland Metropolitan School District out of the doldrums. New leadership at the District developed a Transformation Plan that has unprecedented support from Cleveland’s Democratic mayor, Ohio’s Republican Governor, the Ohio House, the CMSD’s teachers union and many religious leaders. The Transformation Plan will require the backing of Cleveland’s voters to pass a levy that is on the November ballot. This program fairly radiates optimism. From the city proper, to outlyin...

Former "Celebrity Apprentice" winner Bret Michaels and 13 other past contestants are returning for an all-star edition to air next March. NBC announced Friday on the "Today" show the slate of contenders set to face host Donald Trump in the "Celebrity Apprentice" boardroom. Click through the photo gallery above to see the entire cast. Photos: 'Celebrity Apprentice All-Stars' cast announced The four other "Celebrity Apprentice" champs -- Piers Morgan, Joan Rivers, John Rich and Arsenio Hall -- will all be included as advisors. Taping starts Monday. It's the 13th season for the competition series, which premiered in 2004. "I absolutely love The Celebrity Apprentice," executive producer Mark Burnett said in a press release. "No other show on television has such an entertaining cast, such a dynamic host, and also raises so much money for charity. This season is going to be more fun than ever, and our loyal fans ...

Ambassador Roman Kirn (L) and WKYC GM Brooke Spectorsky (R) As part of WKYC's involvement in the "Our World Today" project, we welcomed another visiting Ambassador. On Friday, October 12th, His Excellency Roman Kirn, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the United States, joined a group of local business executives to discuss economic growth and possible partnerships with Northeast Ohio and Slovenia. "Our World Today" also works with local schools including Villa Angela-St. Joseph in a global education initiative. Northeast Ohio is home to more Slovenians than anywhere outside Slovenia itself. Northeast Ohio also has over 180 countries represented, a greater diversity than anywhere other than New York. WKYC has welcomed dozens of Ambassadors over the past years from countries including the Philippines, Ireland, Columbia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Guatemala. We also hosted the President of Romania. Upcoming visitors will include the Ambassadors fr...

By Frank Macek Here is a look at some of the news from our parent network, NBC, with regards to what you see on WKYC, Channel 3... NBC has finished #1 in adults 18-49 for week two of the 2012-13 television season, giving the network outright wins in weeks 1 and 2 of the primetime television season for the first time since 2003. The network tied ABC for #1 in weeks 1 and 2 in 2007. Led by "Sunday Night Football," "The Voice," "Revolution" and "Go On," NBC delivered an average 2.8 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49 and 7.5 million viewers overall for the primetime ratings week of October 1-7, according to "live plus same day" viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research. NBC has announced changes to its producing staff of "Rock Center with Brian Williams." The struggled Thursday night show has named Alex Wallace as the show's new Executive Producer and replaces Rome Hartman who moves to working on 2012 elections. Wallace...

National "Make a Difference Day" is Saturday, October 27 and we need you to Make a Difference!! Channel 3, in partnership with the Volunteer Center at BVU, is asking everyone across Northeast Ohio to get involved and show the impact we can have in our community. We all "See the Possible" in Northeast Ohio. This is a chance for every one of us to make the possible HAPPEN by joining forces on a designated day, October 27, to give back and show the impact we can have. It's easy... View projects HERE   Sign up to volunteer with your co-workers and/or your family by October 24.   Volunteer on October 27th.   Log your hours online in the Volunteer Center on October 27th by 9:00 pm.   Not only will you get the satisfaction of helping to Make a Difference in our community, but you will also have an opportunity to take advantage of a "Buy One Get One" ticket offer for either a Q event (Cavs, Monsters, Cleveland Gladiators) or the Canton Charge,...

Jim Tressel Jim Tressel, currently the Vice President of Strategic Engagement at the University of Akron and a national championship winning football coach, will be joining the Channel 3 News team for weekly news segments. “We are very pleased to announce that Jim Tressel will be joining the WKYC team as a special contributor,” stated Brooke Spectorsky, President and General Manager. “Jim’s national championships as head football coach at Ohio State and Youngstown State universities are well-known to all, but his motivational speeches and best- selling books will be the basis of our “A Moment with Jim Tressel.” “Jim motivates with passion but leads with compassion,’ added interim News Director Virgil Dominic. “We envision a weekly segment that takes daily news stories and makes them teachable moments.” "A Moment with Jim Tressel" will air each Wednesday night during Channel 3’s 7pm newscast. “Jim is a truly exceptional leader” said Dr. Luis Proenza, President of...

John Anderson Former AM host will co-anchor with Lynna Lai weekends on WKYC. “We are pleased to announce that John Anderson, who spent seven years here at Channel 3, will be leaving Philadelphia and coming home to Northeast Ohio,” stated Brooke Spectorsky, President and General Manager of WKYC. Viewers will remember John and his wife Kristin were the first husband and wife team to anchor a local morning newscast. “We are really happy to be moving back to Cleveland,’ said John. Kristin and I loved our time there, and I’m looking forward to jumping back into the news and sports world of Northeast Ohio.” John will join Lynna Lai weekend nights at 6 & 11pm as News and Sports anchor, and will also report during the week. His first day will be October 24th. John was most recently the co-anchor of FOX 29’s “Good Day” show and helmed “Game Day Live," the station's weekly Eagles football local pre-game show. He also hosted FOX 29's "Red October" coverage of ...

Learn more @http://bit.ly/Vote107 It's been 16 years in the making, a Cleveland school levy that might actually pass and Cleveland Municipal School District CEO Eric Gordon knows why. Channel 3 is joining many other individuals, businesses and organizations throughout Northeast Ohio in educating voters about the impact that a strong school system will have on the economic future of our region. While the decision on the school levy lies with Cleveland voters, Channel 3 recognizes the importance of making certain that every eligible voter has all the facts before they visit the polls. Every day we will bring you stories that ask the hard questions, provide in-depth information, and show you what's working in the school district and what is not. It's not our goal to tell voters how to vote, but we want them to have all the facts. We are dedicating space on wkyc.com to all the reports on Issue 107 . In addition to in-depth information, we also have an extende...

By Frank Macek Here is a look at some of the news from our parent network, NBC, with regards to what you see on WKYC, Channel 3... Executive Producer Jim Bell disputes reports that have been circulating about "Today" show host Matt Lauer being difficult to work with as the show experiences as decrease in ratings. In a report by the Associated Press, Bell calls Lauer "the heart and soul of NBC's morning news show and that negative stories about him have been hard to deal with." Ratings for the popular morning show have been challenged against ABC's "Good Morning America" since Ann Curry was replaced by Savannah Guthrie. The September 17 premiere of NBC's new Monday drama "Revolution" has set time-shifting records for the network and for a debuting series on any network. In "live plus three day" ratings from Nielsen Media Research that count time-shifted viewing through the first three days after a show's live tele...

Karina Mitchell Karina Mitchell has joined the WKYC team as the Arts, Culture & Entertainment Contributor to "Live on Lakeside" and will be also providing content to Channel 3 News on a regular basis. Karina brings 8 years of national broadcast experience as an entertainment, lifestyle and feature contributor to CBS News in New York, as well as a fill-in headline news anchor for CBS Mobile News and reporter for CBS News.com. She has covered a variety of news making events, including the stock market crash in 2008 and the 2008 presidential race. More recently, she hosted "Showbuzz" a weekly movie review show and blog. Karina has interviewed some of the biggest names in entertainment, music and fashion - Sir Anthony Hopkins, Madonna, Vera Wang, Angelina Jolie, Justin Timberlake, Tom Cruise and Phil Collins to name a few. Prior to that position, she was a General Assignment Reporter for News 12 in New York, shooting, editing and reporting her own pieces. ...

By Frank Macek It's time for another "behind the scenes" look at what's happening inside the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center. This week, WKYC morning anchor Erin Kennedy traveled to New York City to represent Channel 3 News in "Education Nation." The third annual event is sponsored by NBC News and is being held at The New York Public Library. "Education Nation" is a summit where parents, educators, and students met with leaders in politics, business & technology to explore the challenges and opportunities in education today. Watch for Erin's reports all this week on Channel 3 News Today from 4:30 a.m. until 7 a.m. and during Channel 3 News at 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.educationnation.com Channel 3 will air the Browns vs. Ravens game on Thursday night at 8 p.m. on your "Official Home of the Cleveland Browns." Thursday's special programming schedule will include: Channel 3 News at 6, the Pregame Huddle at 6:3...

By Frank Macek NBC Weatherman Al Roker was back in town Tuesday evening as part of the Dave Thomas Celebrity Cookoff at Benihana's in Beachwood and will bring the entire nation the weather from the West Side Market in Cleveland on Wednesday morning as part of the market's centennial anniversary celebrations. As many of you know, Al is a Channel 3 alumnus. He started working for NBC when WKYC was an owned and operated station in 1978. He remained with us for 5 years before being promoted to the network's flagship station, WNBC-TV, and moving back home to New York City where he was born. Today, Al is the main weather anchor for the "Today Show" and hosts "Wake Up With Al" on "The Weather Channel" from 6 a.m. until 7 a.m. Our own WKYC Chief Meterologist Betsy Kling had the chance to interview Al before the cookoff this evening and shares his funny senses of humor. Click the video to watch:

Make your child a star! Your child, or children, can be a famous "Bus Stop Forecast" kid and appear in our  morning and evening newscasts on Channel 3 News! We're giving 10 lucky families the opportunity to attend one of our recording sessions here at Channel 3 and tour our studios. For complete rules and to enter, just go to our Channel 3 Facebook page .

Special to the Director's Cut Blog By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY The star constellation is shifting at The Voice. Usher and Shakira will join the NBC singing competition as coaches for spring's fourth season, taking the place of Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green, who will take that cycle off. Aguilera is releasing a new album and going on tour, while Green is developing new music and a scripted series for NBC based on his life. Current coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton will be back for Season 4. "We are thrilled to welcome Usher and Shakira," NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement. "Doing two back-to-back cycles of this show requires a tremendous amount of time, and we are happy to accommodate the commitments made by Christina and Cee Lo. The participants on our show benefit from our coaches' expertise and their continued success in the music business allows for significant contributions to the contestants."...

Gannett, parent company of WKYC-TV, announced today that it has acquired Mobestream Media, maker of the Key Ring consumer rewards mobile platform (“Key Ring”) available on all major smartphones. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. More than five million users have downloaded the free Key Ring app to scan and store existing loyalty cards, join new rewards programs and get mobile coupons and other promotional offers delivered to their smartphones. With Key Ring, consumers have a simple solution to access their digital coupons, digitize their loyalty cards, join new loyalty programs, manage their accounts online and share their cards and offers through their social networks and email. Consumers also receive location-based mobile coupons and other promotional offers. “Mobile coupons are a fast-growing segment of the national and local marketing sector. Key Ring has led the way with consumer adoption of its smartphone app and developed key relationships with small and mid-s...

Russ Mitchell (L) and Dan Rather (R) By Frank Macek WKYC Anchor Russ Mitchell sat down with his longtime CBS News colleague Dan Rather at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte on Wednesday to get Dan's take on this year's presidential election. As many WKYC viewers know, Mitchell is the former anchor of the CBS Evening News weekend editions and The Early Show on Saturday, and national correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning , the CBS Evening News , and The Early Show. Mitchell joined the staff of WKYC as Managing Editor of Evening News and lead anchor of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts on January 16, 2012 Rather is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel AXS TV. Before that, he became embroiled in controversy about a disputed news report involving President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the National Guard and subsequently left CBS Evening News in 2005, and he left the network altogeth...

NBC’S “The Biggest Loser” kicks off in early January 2013 with the return of Jillian Michaels and a big, bold mission: to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic head on by featuring kid participants (ages 13-17) for the first time ever in addition to adult contestants. Michaels will join popular returning trainers and top fitness experts Bob Harper and Dolvett Quince. Season 14 will also feature special celebrity guest stars and additional surprises that will be revealed closer to the premiere. In addition to being one of the top health and fitness experts in the country, Michaels is a best-selling author who co-owns and runs her health and fitness empire Empowered Media with business partner Giancarlo Chersich. She whipped contestants into shape for 10 seasons on “The Biggest Loser,” and returns in season 14 as a new mother of two, a life change that has made her more committed than ever in helping kids who are struggling with weight issues. “As a former overweight teen, I know first...