T.L. Hughes

John Taizo Braden, a weekday morning traffic reporter for "Hawaii News Now" (the joint news division involving Honolulu's CBS affiliate KGMB, MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE and NBC affiliate KHNL), was arrested and cited for abuse of an undisclosed member of his household. The 32-year-old, who started in the sales department of KGMB in 2006, was arrested at Queen's Counseling Services on Nuuanu Avenue at 2:10 p.m. Friday for investigation of abuse of a family or household member, a misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to one year in jail. Braden posted $1,000 bail and was released at 4:35 that same afternoon, and he is scheduled to appear in Family Court on September 30.

Scripps-owned ABC affiliate WCPO in Cincinnati has named Sherry Ray Hughes as meteorologist and multi-media journalist. Starting October 1, Hughes will report on stories on weekdays and the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association dual-member/sealholder provide weather forecasts for the weekend 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts (replacing meteorologist Steve Norris, who is leaving the station) and serve as a fill-in meteorologist on weekdays. Hughes joins the station from Gannett's CBS affiliate WTSP in Tampa, where she was a meteorologist and general assignment reporter starting in 2005; she also previously served in the same dual capacity at Media General's NBC affiliate WNCN in Raleigh, Fox O&O KSAZ in Phoenix and Raycom's CBS affiliate WCSC in Charleston, South Carolina. Mike Schneider has been named the anchor/managing editor of "NJ Today", a statewide nightly news/public affairs program on NJTV, New Jersey's PBS member network that replaced the New Jersey Network in July. "NJ Today" will replace "NJ Today Summer Edition", which launched upon the changeover. Schneider’s career began in 1975, working as a news writer at now-ABC O&O WPVI in Philadelphia and later becoming reporter and anchor at stations such as WCBS in New York and WTAE in Pittsburgh, he also has hosted CNBC's biographical program centering on successful business giants called "CNBC Titans". In addition, Schneider has also previously ran for office in New Jersey's 5th Congressional District.

Tribune's Fox affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut, WTIC-TV, is shaking up its anchor lineups starting next week. The first changes occur on Sunday, when current Friday 4 and 11 p.m. anchor Alison Morris joins Brent Hardin as co-anchor of the 10 p.m. newscast, both will also anchor the Sunday through Thursday 11 p.m. newscast. The following day, current Sunday through Thursday 10 and 11 p.m. co-anchor Erika Arias will join Logan Byrnes as co-anchor of the 5–9 a.m. portion of the morning newscast (Byrnes will continue to solo anchor the 4:30 a.m. half-hour of the newscast); Arias will replace Sarah French as weekday morning anchor, as French is leaving WTIC to become a weekend evening anchor for WHDH in Boston. Reporter Jennifer Bosworth and weekend moning anchor Audrey Kuchen will now anchor the Friday and Saturday night 10 p.m. newscast, as well as the Friday 4 and 11 p.m. newscasts starting September 23. A day later on September 24, sports reporter/fill-in sports anchor Tim Lammers will also become news anchor of the Saturday morning newscast, while sports director/weeknight sports anchor Rich Coppola will become anchor of the Sunday morning newscast.

In Tampa, Gannett's CBS affiliate WTSP is adding a half-hour 9 a.m. newscast to its schedule starting Monday. Ginger Gadsden, Keith Jones and meteorologist Bobby Deskins, who are the team for WTSP's 5-7 a.m. newscast will be part of the 9 a.m. extension. George Winterling, meteorologist at independent station WJXT in Jacksonville, Florida, is currently in the hospital after falling ill on Wednesday evening after having dinner at home with his family; details of his condition have not been released. Originally a chief meteorologist for the station beginning in 1962, Winterling handed over the chief meteorologist heins to John Gaughan, while Winterling transitioned to the station's hurricane and severe weather expert in 2009. WJXT vice president/general manager Bob Ellis said in a statement released Thursday, “George is so important to this station, our community, and many of you. Members of our staff have visited his family this morning. His wife Virginia and their children and grandchildren want everyone in Jacksonville to know how much they appreciate your prayers and get well wishes. We will provide updates on how George is doing as soon as they are available. If you’d like to leave a personal get well message for George and his family, we’ve set up a forum on this page [News4Jax.com]. We will make sure they are all delivered to his family.” We here at TVNewsTalk wish George a speedy recovery. Nexstar Broadcasting’s CBS affiliate WCIA in Springfield, Illinois will launch a new news and lifestyle program titled "ciLiving.tv" this Monday, September 12. The 4 p.m. program, "ciLiving.tv" will be hosted by WCIA sports reporter/anchor Drew Wilder and newcomer to television Heather Roberts, who was selected as part of an on-air campaign inviting Central Illinois residents to submit a video explaining why they’d be perfect for the co-host slot. Randy Meier has signed on to join Fox O&O KMSP in Minneapolis as an anchor/reporter. Meier will solo anchor the station’s 10 p.m. newscast on Sunday through Thursday nights, and will also co-anchor the 5 p.m. newscast on Fridays and Saturdays with Tim Blotz, he will also report for the 9 a.m. hour of the morning newscast. He replaces Marni Hughes, who left KMSP in July. Meier is no stranger to Minneapolis broadcasting, having worked as an anchor for 13 years at KSTP in Minneapolis and hosted a three-hour news/talk radio show in area radio station WCCO-AM, Meier has also done some national work for MSNBC.

San Diego PBS member station KPBS will add a weeknight newscast to its schedule beginning on September 26. Besides local news headlines, "KPBS Evening Edition" will feature analysis, newsmaker interviews and field reports. The program will utilize a topic-by-night format similar to "Chicago Tonight", the newsmagazine program on fellow PBS member station WTTW in the Windy City (Mondays will focus on business and technology; Tuesdays on health stories; Wednesdays will feature reports from the Fronteras local journalism center; Thursdays feature community news; and Fridays will feature stories on culture). A Feedback/Followup segment will also air at the end of each program, including audience feedback through email, phone and social media. KPBS has also announced an "enhanced partnership" with Investigative Newsource (also known as the Watchdog Institute), an independent nonprofit organization based at the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University for the past two years. On October 1, the Investigative Newsource reporting staff will begin sharing space at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs KPBS News Center.

ABC owned-and-operated station KGO-TV in San Francisco is expanding its 11 p.m. newscast; the change will only affect the Saturday and Sunday evening editions of the newscast beginning this Saturday, September 10. Alan Wang will anchor, with meteorologist Leigh Glaser providing weather forecasts, and Mike Shumann will handle sports.

WAFB, Raycom Media's CBS affiliate in Baton Rouge, is expanding its weekday morning newscast to 4:30 a.m. on September 12. The additional half-hour will be anchored by Matt Williams with weather from meteorologist Diane Deaton and traffic reports by Johnny Ahysen.

WVUE in New Orleans is becoming the latest Fox affiliate to join the 4 p.m. news race, the station is adding an hour-long newscast in that timeslot starting on September 12. The newscast will be anchored by current 10 p.m. anchor Kim Holden, and 5 and 9 p.m. anchor Nancy Parker, with weather forecasts by chief meteorologist Bob Breck. Jennifer Hale, who became a fill-in sports anchor/reporter over the summer following the departures of sports director John Henry Smith and sports anchor Rob Ennis, will serve as the sports anchor for the newscast and is no longer anchoring the weekday morning newscast as a result. Since Louisiana Media Company purchased the station in 2008, WVUE has expanded its news programming significantly with the addition of a 5 a.m. hour of the previously three-hour weekday morning newscast and a weeknight 10 p.m. newscast, both in February 2010 (the 10 p.m. newscast expanded to seven nights a week four months later) and an hour-long noon newscast in March 2011 (the addition of the 4 p.m. newscast will give the station, which carries the most local news in the New Orleans market, close to 60 hours of local news each week); other than the addition of the 10 p.m. newscast to weekends, WVUE has yet to make any expansions/additions to its weekend news programming. Besides WVUE, the only other Fox affiliates carrying a 4 p.m. newscast are WSVN in Miami, WTIC in Harford-New Haven, WXIN in Indianapolis, KPTV in Portland, Oregon, WDRB in Louisville, KBTV in Beaumont-Port Arthur and starting next month, WFLX in West Palm Beach (which will be produced by sister station WPTV); side note, Chattanooga, Tennessee's WDSI was the first Fox station to carry a 4 p.m. newscast during the four years the station had an in-house news division from 2000 to 2004. Nexstar's CBS affiliate in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, WTAJ, will also have its locally-produced programming venture into the 4 p.m. slot by launching Central Pa Live, the Johnstown-Altoona market’s first hour-long 4 p.m. local news/lifestyle program, also debuting on September 12. Central Pa Live, which will have a topical and lifestyle-oriented format along with news and weather, will feature an interactive platform to connect viewers through the station's website, and social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

KFSN, the ABC owned-and-operated station in Fresno, California, is joining its ABC O&O sister stations in launching a 4 p.m. newscast to replace Oprah. The newscast called Action News Live at Four, debuting September 12, will be anchored by Graciela Moreno and Christine Park with forecasts by meteorologist Kevin Musso, and will be a traditional news program with emphasis on social media where viewers can share their comments on stories; a new set has also been built for the program. The newscast will compete with We are Fresno: LIVE on NBC affiliate KSEE. In addition, KFSN has hired Los Angeles transplant Gaby Rodriguez as the traffic reporter for its weekday morning newscast Action News AM Live. WVUE, New Orleans' Fox affiliate, has hired Fred Hickman as its new sports director. Hickman is best known as one of CNN's first sports anchors, alongside Nick Charles (who died of metastatic bladder cancer back in June), beginning in the 1980s, and once again in the 1990s. Hickman has also worked at television station in Springfield, Illinois, Detroit and New York City, as well as at ESPN and most recently for Fox Sports South (one of the Fox Sports regional networks). The show will go head to head with "We are Fresno: LIVE" on KSEE (Channel 24.1).

NBC affiliate KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City is debuting a new 4 p.m. newscast in September, tentatively titled the 4 O'Clock News (intended to play on the station's over-the-air virtual channel number), that will directly compete against a long-running 4 p.m. newscast on CBS affiliate KWTV. Meg Alexander, who currently anchors the 5 and 6:30 p.m. newscasts, will serve as principal anchor. It is unclear whether this means that the 4:30 p.m. newscast is being merged with the new half-hour which would likely give the station a three hour block of local and national news from 4-7 p.m., or the 4:30 p.m. newscast, which is anchored by 6 and 10 p.m. anchor Linda Cavanaugh is being dropped altogether. This would increase the station's weekly news output from 32½ to 35 hours a week. Jeopardy! currently airs at 4 p.m., and has aired on the station since 1999, when it picked up the show from KWTV, after it expanded its half-hour 4:30 p.m. newscast to a one-hour newscast at 4 p.m.

A station in Victoria, Texas will switch its network affiliation on September 12, KXTS-LP will drop its affiliation with MyNetworkTV to become the market's CBS affiliate. Owned by Saga Communications (which controls six of the market's eight television stations; in addition to KXTS, Saga also owns ABC affiliate KAVU, NBC affiliate KMOL-LP, Univision affiliate KUNU-LP and Telemundo affiliate KVTX-LP, and operates Surtsey Media-owned Fox affiliate KVCT), KXTS-LP will be the first CBS affiliate for the Victoria market.

Fox affiliate WFLX in West Palm Beach, Florida will debut a 4 p.m. newscast this fall (a story on TVNewsCheck.com does not specify what date it will premiere or who will anchor it); the newscast will be produced by WPTV, the Scripps-owned NBC affiliate, who operates WFLX under a shared services agreement with WFLX's owner Raycom Media.The timeslot is unusual placement for a Fox station whose newscasts are produced under a news share agreement given that only two other Fox stations whose local news are produced under such an agreement carries a late afternoon/early evening newscast: Nexstar's WQRF in Rockford, Illinois (which has a 6:30 p.m. newscast produced by co-managed ABC affiliate WTVO) and Journal Broadcast Group's WSYM in Lansing, Michigan (which carries a 5:30 p.m. newscast, produced by Gray Television's NBC affiliate WILX). Otherwise, for unknown reasons, no other Fox affiliate who runs outsourced newscasts carries newscasts outside of weekday mornings and nightly or weeknightly primetime.

Raleigh, North Carolina Univision O&O WUVC will debut the first Spanish-language newscast in the state of North Carolina. The station, one of the few stations owned by Univision Communications without any local newscasts, will debut the weeknight-only Noticias 40, on August 29 at 6 p.m. (there apparently will be no 11 p.m. newscast). It will be anchored by Edwin Pitti and Jaime Zea.

Jim Van Fleet, the weekday morning meteorologist for Fox O&O WOFL Orlando's Good Day for the last 10 years is leaving the station. Van Fleet will remain in Florida, as chief meteorologist at Gannett's CBS affiliate WTSP in Tampa starting in December. Roanoke, Virginia NBC affiliate WSLS is revamping another one of its local programs, its social media-friendly 7 p.m. newscast WSLS at 7 is being revamped in a new format in September as a more traditional local newscast (last week, WSLS announced it was dropping the noon talk show Our Blue Ridge, an revamping it into a localized version of owner Media General's Tampa-based talk/lifestyle program Daytime, which is set to debut in September); with the change, Meagan Farley will no longer anchor the newscast and has also been let go by WSLS.

Lexington, Kentucky CBS affiliate WKYT is adding a 10 a.m. newscast starting on September 12, the half-hour newscast will be anchored by noon anchors Bill Bryant and Barbara Bailey, with weather provided by weekday morning and noon meteorologist Todd Borek. This change, along with the already announced addition of Anderson Cooper's new daytime talker Anderson in the 4 p.m. timeslot that Oprah will vacate, will cause a shuffle in WKYT's daytime lineup. The Bold and the Beautiful will air following the newscast at 10:30 (moving there from 1:30 p.m.), while The Young and the Restless will go from a day-behind airing to a same-day airing when it moves from 9 a.m. (Live with Regis and Kelly will move backward one hour into Y&R's current 9 a.m. slot) to 1 p.m., replacing the now-cancelled syndicated version of Don't Forget the Lyrics! and B&B.

A 300 ft. radio/television tower located outside the studios of Tulsa, Oklahoma's Fox-MyNetworkTV duopoly KOKI/KMYT and several radio stations owned by former KOKI/KMYT owner Clear Channel has an unexpected resident, as a 25-year-old man has perched himself on the lower portion of the tower (moving between 70 and 100 ft. since climbing up the tower) since Thursday, even weathering strong-to-severe storms that had moved through the area on Thursday, Friday morning and Friday night on the tower. The man, identified as William Sturdivant, is according to KOKI and Oklahoma City's KWTV to have a history of criminal offenses, a history of mental illness, is said to have other personal issues and is described as "not suicidal". The standoff, now in its fifth day, is reported to be the longest in the history of the Tulsa Police Department. The man apparently has enough endurance to stay there for even longer, especially given that in the past, the man actually somehow managed to make a 200+ mile trek from Tulsa to Dallas on foot. Full main story: http://www.fox23.com...t_N2MJ6Peg.cspx Additional links: http://www.fox23.com...1kKGHpV-Vw.cspx and http://www.fox23.com...EtSAS6ochg.cspx On September 12, Nexstar Broadcasting/Mission Broadcasting's virtual duopoly in Utica, New York will broadcast local news for the first time since 2003. ABC affiliate WUTR will air newscasts at 6 and 11 p.m., while Fox affiliate WFXV will air a 10 p.m. newscast; while this will end NBC affiliate WKTV's local news monopoly in that market, WKTV will still be the only station to carry weekend newscasts, though WUTR/WFXV will be the first in the Utica market to carry local news in high definition with the launch of its joint news department. Finally, in El Paso, Hema Mullur will leave area Fox affiliate KFOX as its 6 and 9 p.m. anchor on August 26; she will be moving to a station in a top-20 market, which was not revealed; a replacement for her position is currently being sought out.

Like its Miami sister station WSVN, WHDH in Boston is also dumping Live with Regis and Kelly for a 9 a.m. newscast. An hour-long extension of Today in New England will debut starting next Monday, August 22; Today in New England's existing 5-7 a.m. team of Anne Allred, Adam Williams and meteorologist Dylan Dreyer will anchor the newscast. WHDH is dropping Live reportedly due to the show's declining ratings in the Boston area, but ABC affiliate WCVB has picked it up and will begin carrying it the same day as the launch of Today in New England at 9 a.m.

Greenville, North Carolina ABC affiliate WCTI will launch a 5:30 p.m. newscast this Monday, which will be anchored by Brian North and Jaime McCutcheon. WSMV, the NBC affiliate in Nashville, Tennessee has announced that it will become the newest partner station in the WeatherBug network; WeatherBug is a national network of weather observation sites that provide real-time local weather information from area schools, public buildings and recreational sites. The most notable partner station in the WeatherBug network is WGN-TV Chicago, WeatherBug observations from the WGN broadcast viewing area as well as information from national WeatherBug sites during its newscasts (including the noon and 9 p.m. newscasts seen nationally on WGN America).

A couple of other notes: Miami Fox affiliate WSVN is expanding its weekday morning newscast Today in Florida to five hours. Starting on August 22, the newscast will run from 5 to 10 a.m., displacing Live with Regis & Kelly from the schedule. The fifth hour will be anchored by current Today in Florida anchors Christine Cruz and Diana Diaz, with field reports by Richard Jordan and meteorologist Julie Durda providing the weather forecast. This will increase the station's local news output to 60½ hours per week, equal to that of San Francisco's MyNetworkTV affiliate KRON-TV, tying it for the most local news of any U.S. television station (Canadian station CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ontario broadcasts 69 hours of local news per week, which will expand to 71½ hours next month with the expansion of its morning newscast to 4:30 a.m., the first such newscast in that timeslot in the entire country of Canada). Meanwhile, Roanoke, Virginia's WSLS has dropped its low-rated midday talk show Our Blue Ridge. The program will be revamped as a local version of owner Media General's syndicated Daytime program called Daytime Blue Ridge, another talk show focusing on community and lifestyle news similar in format to Our Blue Ridge, though described will "be completely new and different" by WSLS general manager Leesa Wilcher, that will debut in six weeks (infomercials will air in the meantime in the defunct program's former noon slot).