TennTV1983

For the first time in over 12 years (last time I saw them was the first few months of the 2004 graphics), WTMJ has talent opens:

 

[MEDIA=twitter]787976446434275328[/MEDIA]

Here's hoping WTVF will be able to do the same in the future.

Some changing faces at WMC-TV...

 

- Matt Stark, former WHBQ-TV sports director, has replaced Carrie Anderson, who departed the station last night for a position at FedEx

Good to see Matt Stark back on the air.

Speaking of changes, WHBQ will be adding a 6PM newscast starting next Monday. It marks the first time in almost 21 years that they will be competing directly against the other stations in that time slot.

His name is "Lucky"...

...Lucky the games are not in Korea again.

They will be in two years for the Winter Olympics.

WATN in Memphis has hired Jessica Benson as their new sports anchor/reporter. Her first day on the job was tonight. She previously worked at KNDU in Yakima, WA; and replaces Bryan Fenley, who is no longer employed at the station as of this week.

Correction: Bryan Fenley is still employed at WATN; however, his profile had been removed from the station website earlier this week by mistake. It has since been placed back up. Apologies for the error.

Leah Beth Bolton is the new traffic reporter at WHBQ in Memphis as of this morning. She replaces Heather York (the lady we never see on camera), whose last day on the job was yesterday.

Did KFOR get a new set recently? That set looks newer than the one I recall.

Same set as before, only with an array of monitors as a backdrop.

Some changes over at WSMV in Nashville per The Tennessean newspaper from two days ago:

- Veteran reporter Dennis Ferrier is no longer employed at the station as of this past Tuesday, although no reason was given for his firing. He had recently taken time off to attend his father's funeral in California.

- Weekend meteorologist Nancy Van Camp is also gone from the station as her contract was not renewed. Her last day at WSMV was June 25th.

Also of note, WSMV recently hired Daphne DeLoren as their newest meteorologist. She previously worked at WNEM before joining the station in mid-June. http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2016/06/wnem_tv-5_meteorologist_daphne.html

A couple of departures from WATN in Memphis:

- Meteorologist Lauren Raymer has left to take a position at the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf. Her last day was June 24th.

- Sports anchor Gil Tyree is no longer at the station as of this week. One of his final appearances on air was covering and doing play-by-play for the Memphis Tigers' Basketball Alumni Game last weekend.

Shouldn't this discussion be done in the Shoutbox or somewhere else, and not in a station-specific discussion thread like this one?

Former WREG and Memphis radio sports personality George Lapides passed away today after a long battle with a lung disease. He was 76 years old, and his death came just days after he signed off of radio for the last time.

WREG has an entire section on their website dedicated to their former colleague:

http://wreg.com/tag/george-lapides/

I happen to be in Chicago right now. Today I went down by Wrigley.

 

People from WGN were walking down Clark Street and handing out these flyers. They were also putting them on cars.

 

[ATTACH]2937[/ATTACH]

 

That's some dedication...and the furthest I've ever seen a post-retrans fallout PR campaign go.

 

BTW, the reason I knew these were WGN people handing these out: one had a WGN polo and the other had a "Chicago's Very Own" shirt.

Are there any other Tribune stations pulling this kind of stunt, or just them?

Scripps is trying something new, a investigative reporter serving all three of their Florida stations.

 

http://www.ftvlive.com/todays-news/2016/6/8/scripps-names-florida-investigative-reporter

 

What's next, a hubbed weather department?

Imagine if Scripps did the same in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, or even Arizona. When other station groups start doing this, it'll be time to panic.

WMAR has an emoji forecast. God I hope this made it on air:

 

[MEDIA=twitter]733097851677347841[/MEDIA]

So, by their standards, Saturday's going to be a shitty day to go outside.

WATN's Joy Lambert is leaving the station as of today. In a Facebook video, she indicates she was offered a contract extension but her and her family decided it was time to move on to other opportunities outside the city. She indicates a new anchor will be taking over next week.

And that new anchor is Caitlin Lockerbie, who just joined WATN after previously working at WJZY in Charlotte.

Here's video of her farewell from WJZY last month:

Yeah, but as they're transitioning to a consistent logo finish, they're now playing around with the size and shape of the ABC and Circle 7. The ABC is getting a little bigger, and the 7 appears to be getting widened, making it a Slightly-Oval 7 (which doesn't have the same ring to it). While I may be comparing apples and oranges in the gif, I've seen the new, flatter logo with at least 3 different sizes of ABC attached.

 

 

Yes, this screws with my self-diagnosed OCD, so I'm going to complain about it.

It's still a circle. The only difference is the new logo is no longer beveled along the edges.

WHBQ sports director Matt Stark is leaving the station at the end of May after stating his position has been "eliminated"

 

Naturally that phrasing makes one wonder if this means that Cox is eliminating WHBQ's sports department entirely. Stark had been with WHBQ since 2001. He is looking to continue in the Memphis area so best of luck to him in finding a new venture.

Either that or they've decided to outsource its sports coverage to a local radio station (most likely to WHBQ-AM).

WHBQ reporter Lynnanne Nguyen is heading to KDFW in Dallas/Fort Worth. Her first official day on the job is April 25th.

http://www.fox4news.com/about-us/anchors_reporters/121774783-story

anyone know what this gadget that lee has is?

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=477455219107690

It's one of those luxury smartwatches similar to what Motorola and Huawei offer.

So, they didn't have a helicopter of their own?

We're talking logos. Not choppers (though I'm not sure if KSNV had a news helicopter at one time under its previous owners).

For a minute I thought they stole WKYC's logo for the chopper.

They kinda did (albeit the typeface is different).

That seems most likely. Donna Davis actually recently co-hosted a few episodes of 'Local Memphis Live' on WATN a month or so ago. Perhaps the bigger question may be whether a substantial format change may be coming to WREG's morning show, similar to the change WMC has undergone over the last year with three anchors (but with more of a primary focus on two female anchors), assuming Markova Reed is staying which there is no indication she isn't.

Well, as it turns out the new face of WREG's Daybreak was really more of a promotion from within the station than an actual new person joining the staff. Reporter Stephanie Scurlock has moved to weekday mornings to anchor alongside Markova Reed as of today (she was previously a weekend anchor before then). Not sure what this means for Adam Hammond though since he wasn't on air this morning.

EDIT: Per Adam Hammond's Facebook page, he recently accepted an anchor job at a news station in another city. Unfortunately, WREG was unwilling to let Hammond finish out his current contract and immediately replaced him at the morning anchor desk with Scurlock.

Per WREG's Twitter feed, the station is adding a "new" face to their morning newscasts beginning Monday morning (adding that she is a familiar one to Memphis television).

[MEDIA=twitter]698192202565025792[/MEDIA]

My guess is that it's Donna Davis, who hasn't been in the news business since 2008 when WMC-TV was forced to lay people off due to budget cuts by Raycom at the time.

The one I really don't get is WFTV having a noon newscast on the weekends when their isn't any sports programming. Can anyone explain the logic on that one?

It's a Cox thing for some reason as I believe WSB-TV does this as well.

Former WMC-TV sports director Jack Eaton has passed away at the age of 86:

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/31132588/beloved-sports-director-jack-eaton-dies-at-86

Former WMC meteorologist Tim Van Horn starts at WHBQ on Monday.

How is this going to work considering the station already has four meteorologists on staff, and Van Horn would be their fifth?