ttvn2000

If you go to her page and click “Page Transparency” - you can see that one FB account is running her page, and there are several ads running. Looks like she may be doing it? Fox 8 ran some sponsored ads last year, featuring a contest to have lunch with Kenny Crumpton. The comments were interesting...

From Robin Swoboda:

WTOL’s Robert Shiels is doing the same: Facebook post

Be careful what you ask for....here's my essay on why this is "bewildering" Here's some context: these two are replacing longtime anchor team Cammy Dierking and Rob Braun. Both are considered "Cincinnati royalty" as they're the children of well-known Cincinnati figures. Things were going well for them until they were forced to read Sinclair-mandated copy and they both opted to leave when their contracts were up. For me, the Toti/Inskeep pairing one of those "huh?" kind of moves - similar to the original trio of Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Erica Hill for CBS This Morning back in 2012.... So maybe it will work out for them in the long run. Maybe I'm too harsh or judgemental, but to put it simply, these two just don't have the "look" of a primary anchor team in a top 40 market. But...times are a'changin', apparently. This was an opportunity to set the course for the next 10-15 years, and in my opinion, this wasn't a decision that was made with the long-term in mind. It would've been a chance to revamp their newscasts in a more impactful way. Here are my thoughts on why (IMO) this wasn't the right decision: Timing. Braun left in June. Dierking notified management she was leaving in April. The station had time to find options beyond their "B" team to test on air. Age. He's in his 20s, she's in her 50s or 60s. They have on-air chemistry, but in a weird aunt-nephew kind of way. She has worked her way up at WKRC over the last 20+ years...he's been there since 2018 and before that was a morning reporter in Indianapolis. He has a personality that is a better fit for mornings. She is very strident and not exactly pleasant to watch. Lack of Foresight. It feels like these two just "fell into" their positions, due to departures of other talent (and their shrinking bench of anchor talent). Toti replaced Cincinnati native Sydney Benter in 2017. Inskeep replaced LONGTIME anchor Brad Johansen in 2018. It is even noted here that the primary anchor slot was "out of reach" at that time, which is why he left for WRAL (more on that below). Availability of Other Talent. There is plenty of well-seasoned talent to pair up and experiment with, both inside and outside the station: Brad Johansen: Inskeep replaced Brad Johansen, who fizzled at WRAL (due to an anchor who refuses to retire). Johansen's family never actually moved to Raleigh, so when he left WRAL, he came back to the Cincinnati area. Assuming Johansen wanted a job - WKRC could've (and should've) invited him back. Adam Clements: Clements publicly tried out for Johansen's open position and lost it to Inskeep. As a 'make good' - they moved Clements from morning reporter to "breaking news anchor" - which basically means he reports wire stories from a tiny room, operates his own camera and has multiple "hits" during the morning news. Literally a month after Rob Braun left, Inskeep disappeared (due to personal reasons) for a month. During that 5-week period, they pulled Clements off the morning news and had him anchoring the evening broadcasts. He has been subtly noting that he prefers that slot. Plus, he's from the area. Sheila Gray: In 2013/2014, Sheila Gray made a highly publicized move from WXIX to WKRC to anchor their morning news. Surely, she was a costly hire, and she has the gravitas to handle the evening slots. I'm sure they wanted to keep that broadcast stable, and she probably prefers the morning slot - but she should have been considered. Tiffany Wilson: Former WKRC anchor (who filled the morning seat before Sheila Gray arrived) had recently returned to the area after a stint at KGO in San Francisco. This is just a missed opportunity, in my opinion. BUT - if the ratings are saying something else, then I guess I'm wrong and this was a smart decision.

We'll have to grab some popcorn for the "Talkback 16" that happens as a result of this....

WKRC names Paula Toti and Kyle Inskeep main anchors. https://local12.com/news/local/local-12-announces-new-station-anchor-team Bewildering. Apparently all the data pointed in this direction...but still....bewildering.

I don't see that happening. Harris is 100% claiming this is a decision that enables her to be a better mom to her school-aged child...which makes a ton of sense. Unless they throw $$ at him (which is not happening in 2020) it isn't a logical move for Mark Johnson. I do believe Harris alone will help elevate the profile of GMC again...which is needed since WKYC is a trainwreck and WOIO blew up their somewhat successful morning team (Duffy/Bosley/McLeod) for a revolving door of unknowns in the "Cleveland 19" debacle. In Cleveland, mornings are a fight for second. I always delve into Speculatron territory here - but I do wonder who they'll get to replace Danita. They lost their bench of female anchors over the past few years (Dhominque Ricks, Corinna Pysa) and never technically replaced Lee Jordan. Though there always is Tracy Carloss, who has been on weekends forever. Or Homa Bash, who left and came back to Cleveland.

Good move. Looks like WEWS is trying to leverage the declines at WKYC by putting a recognizable face in the AM. And, I'm pretty sure she has a young son, so these hours are likely to be more conducive to parenting. Admittedly, they should've done this about 8 years ago and put Kimberly Gill in the evenings. (Still a bit salty that WEWS let Gill go, but it's been good for her at WDIV.)

Kristi Leigh is leaving WTOL after three years - leaving her hometown for the first time in her career for KMPH in Fresno, CA. https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/tv-radio/2020/02/10/wtol-anchor-kristi-leigh-headed-to-new-job-in-fresno/stories/20200210092 Now would be the time to hire someone with gravitas for their newscasts, but I fear they'll just go young and cheap (new hire Carla Bayron?). At least with Leigh, there were local connections - and she certainly improved in the role. Big loss for WTOL.

Another slap in the face to the more experienced anchors they already have in-house. Also feels like an obvious demotion for Shookman, since they could’ve simply paired a new coanchor with Jim Donavan at 7. (Or enlisted Danielle Serino, but I’ll stop repeating myself.) And that press release? How many times do we have to say the 7pm broadcast is a “front row seat” to what’s happening...what’s new or what’s next?!

WFLD - but not clear if he's a direct replacement for Weigel: https://www.robertfeder.com/2020/01/30/robservations-anchor-terrence-lee-reporter-brittany-garzillo-headed-fox-32/

Anyone wondering what is going on with WKRC in Cincinnati? I was expecting some sort of main anchor team announcement by now. I mean, with Rob Braun leaving last June and Cammy Dierking having decided to leave in April 2019, surely they could’ve come into February sweeps with some sort of plan!? Meanwhile, WXIX is making moves with new/familiar faces & newscasts and WLWT continues to be very solid with their married duo. I guess we will just see how things go with the randomness that is Paula Toti and Kyle Inskeep... Come on, Sinclair!

According to the comments section to that video, that theme was remembered fondly. And after hearing it for the first time in a while, I guess it isn’t so bad...relatively speaking. TEGNA really didn’t need to change anything from the 2013 package, aside from minor updates. “This is Home” and their truly innovative graphics package have set the tone for all broadcast design as we see it today. (Even as the current package is a step back in terms of intentional, grid-bases design.)

Best decision WKYC has made in a while. She’s surprisingly versatile and has done a great job filling in at the desk over the past year or so. I do feel badly for other sidelined and underutilized anchor talent at WKYC, like Lynna Lai and Danielle Serino (who both fit in perfectly during the heyday of 19 Action News then moved over to 3).

Scripps should hire them! Beautiful evolution of the Limerick package. This and WOIO’s should be an option for other Gray stations.

Cammy Dierking officially announced her departure from WKRC, following the lead of her former co-anchor Rob Braun: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cincinnati.com/amp/2506665001 Time to completely overhaul WKRC.

Calling Mary Bubala!

I would guess some of that logo duplication is courtesy of VDO, who created packages for both stations in the early 2000’s (WSMV’s short-lived package with the “[4]” and “Seize the Day.”)... Kinda like how KOB ripped off WABC’s “Eyewitness News” word mark after having a package created by the same firm...(Giant Octopus perhaps?)

WKYC’s Monica Robins has announced she has a brain tumor. https://www.wkyc.com/mobile/article/news/health/3news-monica-robins-brain-tumor-story/95-552b537d-f6a5-44d1-a795-20782592a963 I wondered why she hasn’t been on air for a bit. Prayers and positive thoughts to a successful surgery and recovery for her.

Not necessarily. The “logo” that appears on screen doesn’t always correspond with newscast branding. For example, the logo on WKYC’s graphics read “WKYC 3” yet they were called “Channel 3 News.” Or WTOL’s just says “WTOL 11” but they go by “WTOL 11 News at XX.”

WTOL’s Dick Berry retires Sunday after 40 years: https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/tv-radio/2019/09/27/after-four-decades-at-wtol-tv-toledo-reporter-dick-berry-retires-sunday/stories/20190928049 Candid interview and great perspective from an actual journalist. "The whole media business has become more corporate ... which is affecting how the news is covered, as well as the people you see entering the news business," he said. "A lot of them are not qualified to be in the news business. I just wonder how they got to be where they are.”

WKYC has starting doing this during their 7pm show...(Not Gray, I know - but thought it was worth sharing.)

I think WTHR and WBNS have “minimalist” enough logos that the 1-color (White) versions will translate nicely to the TEGNA graphics. They (thankfully) didn’t change WTOL (even with that false alarm), so I think we’re likely to see those logos remain for a bit. Had WTHR not refreshed their logo a few years back, it might have been a different situation. With all this said, I could be completely wrong and both could be in for a downgrade a la WKYC. (But I’ve discussed my disdain for that more than I needed to, LOL .)

Cementing their dominance, WJW picks up Carl Monday, Tom Meyer and Tom Merriman in "contributor" roles: https://fox8.com/2019/09/17/back-at-fox-8-tom-merriman-tom-meyer-and-carl-monday-return-to-the-fox-8-i-team/ So basically, Monday and Meyer left WOIO and WKYC respectively, because they had to. (And we see how that's going for them.) I have to wonder how/if this type of thing will continue at Fox 8 if Nexstar retains ownership.

Why why why do they continue to just put band-aids over that set?! It’s the same desk, just refreshed. Over and over again. That newsroom studio looked it’s best from its inception to 2008... once they added those banners, it went to pot. Argh. This “WKYC Studios” BS has been in all the annoying press releases each time a new member of talent is announced. Who are they trying to be? I just don’t get it. I have said it before, but I am genuinely curious. We’re the ratings so poor to justify these changes? It makes no sense, especially as Fox 8 doubles down on their “Cleveland’s Own” branding (which is nearly 35 years old, at least) and executed it beautifully. Russ Mitchell deserves better. Jim Donavan and Betsy Kling deserve better. I’m just bewildered by this decline. Look at anything from WKYC from 1999-2009 and mourn this loss: This just pushes the Cleveland market down the gutter even more... Argh.