MorningNews

Dayna Devon and Courtney Friel have both clarified that they were seeking career changes. They don’t seem to be negative about KTLA management. In fact, one of them is still with the station just on a different project thank the weekend AM show. I wouldn’t include in a general statement about management running talent away.

Just now, FiveNews said:

Let me know when the News Director is fired or reassigned to another Nexstar property.

I don’t get this. What terms of employment did the ND violate that should result in this termination or reassignment?

56 minutes ago, FiveNews said:

Yes, went to 11am as usual. Vibe seemed a little off, but the team did the best they could considering the circumstances. I'll be curious to see who is anchoring this weekend. I assume Megan Telles or Ellina Abovian as the female, I have no clue who's going to be the male anchor. Last Sunday, during Mark's first day of suspension, it was Pedro Rivera from the weekday 5pm news. A little weak IMO, he worked a few weekend morning shifts before officially getting the 5pm seat when he came down from Sacto. I think it would be cool if Eric Spillman, Frank Buckley or Chris Schauble rotated weekends....even if it's just Saturday or Sunday to provide stability until a permanent team is named.

If I recall I think Chris anchored the Sunday after Chris Burrous passed or perhaps the following weekend. It was really nice to see a familiar hand at the desk.

57 minutes ago, Glimmer said:

Judging from the social media reaction, the audience (regardless of the professionalism of the event) is firmly on Mark's side, which will probably help in his efforts to find work. Gonna be interesting to see what steps KTLA takes to regain audience trust after this clusterflust.

KTLA will be fine. It helps that their competition at KTTV happens to be in perpetual local news hell. 
 

The LA Times story to me makes Mark look like an absolute moron. Lynette declined an on-air goodbye and Mark instead aired dirty laundry that Lynette might not have wanted out herself. The awkwardness of that segment aligns with the portion of the article talking about how Mark went off script and betrayed his colleagues’ trust.

Sad ending but he brought this upon himself. I still can’t get over the complete lack of regard and decorum he showed in that segment. Airing information about something “very bad” happening to Lynette back in the early 2000s, dragging your management into it, and neglecting the NEWS to do all of this? Then he weirdly pressures his colleagues on the desk to share their thoughts and continues to angrily talk over them. It was insane.

How did the rest of that morning’s show go after the 8am hour? Don’t they run until 11am?

If KNBC were wise they’d pick up Mester to pair with Lynette on Today in LA which is expected to be announced any minute now.

3 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

I’m not arguing with you. Just trying to understand what you were saying since you weren’t clear in your original post. Calm down. 

Lori Stokes had a significantly higher profile as the anchor of 2 major newscasts 5 days a week than Lynette. Even she was only allowed a small goodbye after being yanked from the air. That anecdotal instance certainly isn’t the standard. KTLA pulling Lynette and dismissing here the way they did is the standard is.

8 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

You said different situation. The situation is exactly the same, it’s just the people involved that are different. 

I’m not arguing with you on this. Goodbye.

25 minutes ago, MisterBill said:

Seems like Up Close With Bill Ritter, which used to air at 11am on Sundays, is no longer on the schedule (it was not on today and is not on my Verizon guide for next week). Same for the show with (I think) Joe Torres that used to follow it.  Not sure if it's going to be available for streaming, but there's nothing on the program's website, and Bill has not responded to a tweet I tagged him in.

I saw a tweet and an ad on channel 7 that Tiempo (Joe’s show) could be found on streaming. 

20 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

@MorningNews

Long tenured anchor  

Leaving for competing station  

Beloved by viewers  

 

Not sure how it was different, and it obviously made sense to pull her from anchoring, but station management should’ve let her give a goodbye.

WABC and KTLA are not the same stations and don’t have similar identities or management. That management at WABC was willing to let Lori come back and say goodbye is not the standard, it’s the exception. What’s confusing?

Glad to hear this. Take a break and come back to reality at some point Mr. Mester. A totally unprofessional moment for him yesterday and shows just how out of his depth he truly is.

19 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

WABC took Lori Stokes off the air but let her say goodbye in the last 10 minutes of the morning newscast.

Very different situation but even still, that’s an exception to the industry standard. Lori’s departure was equally as abrupt and she wasn’t able to actually anchor shows after her decision.

A tad overlydramatic and tense. I personally don’t think that was a very good look for Mark Mester - he used the time to blast management with cryptic references to behind the scenes drama. Why not use the opportunity to look back on Lynette’s time and say thank you for her 24 years? Following his remarks, he’s not even letting his on-air colleagues speak without interrupting their thoughts. Ugh that was woeful. I understand the frustration but this is not a new phenomenon by any means. I love Lynette but in what industry would you be able to walk over to a direct competitor (KTLA Morning News vs Today in LA) and not be immediately shown the door? Hell most companies unceremoniously escort you out the door the instant you disclose that you’re leaving for a direct competitor.

1 hour ago, SoCalLocal said:

Wow desperate her bio getting scrubbed on the website and anchors can talk about it further,  I know it was her choice to leave the station. But don’t know why management didn’t let her to announce that week to say goodbye. Very bad move by management.

This is pretty standard in businesses all over the world. If you leave for a direct competitor, you’re typically terminated immediately.

7 hours ago, CaptainNews said:

Lynette will be going to KNBC, unknown when the start date is though.

Source?

Confirmed on the KTLAWeekendAM Instagram that Lynette won’t be back on air.

Sounds like she won’t be back on air at KTLA to say goodbye based on her Instagram story? That’s unfortunate. 
 

She does mention that there’s still more to come so hopefully we see her pop back up somewhere.

Congratulations on a job and career well done for Lori.

This has to sting for someone like Dari Alexander I imagine…

Makes sense to me. There’s really no point in her being there until the day of the funeral.

But perfectly fitting and in line wirh everything about WABC’s presentation.

Yeah IIRC Chuck has always been one of the more universally disliked NBCers. His on screen presence makes me uncomfortable.

KTTV is where careers go to die and I really like Christina so hopefully she can buck the trend.

DWTS has never had real celebrities but how desperate were they??

Robin back this morning.

I’m sure the anchors would find a way to get back in time for a majority of the coverage but there are much more robust contingency plans for network news these days than the 60s. For instance, George or Whit Johnson are more than capable of holding things together in David’s absence. Savannah or Tom Llamas could hold things down at NBC while Lester was en route. I have no idea who works at CBS.

Wouldn’t say that ND has always had the red carpet. I believe they lobbied to join the B1G throughout the 70s/80s which was blocked several times by Michigan.