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Former WBZ and WCVB producer Donna Morrissey is dead of coronavirus at 51 https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/05/23/donna-morrissey-american-red-cross-dies-coronavirus-wbz-tv-pr-spokesperson-boston-archdiocese/ The Boston Globe obit focuses on her much higher-profile positions in PR for the Boston Archdiocese and the American Red Cross https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/23/metro/donna-m-morrissey-whose-headed-pr-boston-archdiocese-american-red-cross-dies-51-covid-19/

The fine is a rounding error on their balance sheet compared to the $10B they blew on RSNs with no programming.

Radio doesn't have retrans to cushion the blow of lost ad revenue, so they're bearing the brunt of the broadcast media cuts. I'm also wondering about Sinclair with their heavy exposure to sports - sure, they're getting fat checks from the MVPDs but they're starting to get pushback with no sports on all those RSNs.

It could be a matter of Apollo wanting their own person in the top spot, or Guthrie not wanting to preside over what are likely to be draconian cuts once the full extent of the recession/depression hits the media sector, or some combination of the two.

Boston TV news legend Randy Price is leaving WCVB https://www.wcvb.com/article/wcvbs-randy-price-announces-plans-to-sign-off-later-this-month/32386752 Also, Kim Guthrie is out as President/CEO of Cox Media Group https://www.rbr.com/kim-guthrie-to-depart-cox-media-group/

All three anchors would end up at WGME in Portland, with Barr shifting from news to sports. Knight and Canney would go on to found a PR agency. Barr would return to her native Pennsylvania after her Channel 13 stint; she's currently at WGAL.

The government shutdown was by definition temporary; without a vaccine work schedules face extreme disruption for an indefinite period of time in the COVID-19 era. Furthermore, a significant amount of work will be home-based going forward. Even a number of TV reporters I've spoken to acknowledge that things will never be the same again.

I've seen nothing in the station's messaging to suggest that this is temporary. In any event, this will not be through any time soon; as with previous pandemics, there is significant risk of a second wave absent an effective vaccine.

Effective Monday WFXT is shifting its six-hour morning news block forward one hour to 5A-11A. With fewer commuters and more home-based workers, this gamble just might pay off.

I really hate Gray's streaming protocol, so I'm hoping this doesn't happen.

I wonder if there is any point in Tegnafying any more stations in light of this if they're all gonna get Grayified in the end.

Just saw Talkback 16, so that survived too.

WCSH/WLBZ kept "Good News" for their storm coverage, otherwise it's bleep-bloop all the way.

MCTYW survives - NEPA rejoice!

No!

Meteorologist Barry Burbank marks his 42nd anniversary at WBZ-TV https://boston.cbslocal.com/video/4468285-barry-burbank-celebrates-42nd-work-anniversary/

I kinda wonder about Maine though because Gray swiped the NBC affiliation in Presque Isle from Tegna (and WLBZ did a fair amount of news coverage in Aroostook County when they had the NBC affiliation there, albeit via cable.)

The change-averse Portland, Maine TV market has experienced quite a bit of it lately on Tegna's dominant WCSH. The latest change has veteran evening anchor Pat Callaghan shifting to 5PM and 6PM weekdays, giving up the 11PM newscast to Clay Gordon, who previously worked weekend mornings. Gordon is married to fellow WCSH anchor Lindsey Mills (who anchors at 5PM weekdays) and they have a young child.

It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out in Maine where Tegna has NBC-affiliated stations in Bangor and Portland and Gray has stations in Bangor (CBS/CW) and Presque Isle (CBS/CW/FOX/NBC.) Gray is apparently going to launch Circle on WABI soon. No idea if they're going to put Circle on WAGM or WWPI, but they certainly have the capacity to do so. WCSH in Portland is pretty maxed out. Would Sinclair's WGME pick up Circle, perhaps replacing the moribund TBD?

WSBK/Boston has launched a one-hour 10PM weekday newscast, produced (as always) by sister station WBZ. The newscast is simulcast on CBSN Boston. This creates a four-way battle for supremacy in the time slot, with longtime leader WFXT and WHDH already vying with WCVB's half-hour newscast on its MeTV subchannel.

I assume as well that it's a matter of KTVT having the infrastructure in place to do newscasts for other stations. Years ago, before WGME did a 7PM weekday general purpose newscast, they ran a half-hour politics-themed newscast in the weeks leading up to the election. Not sure what the ratings were, but they sure vacuumed up a boatload of political ad dollars in that time slot. I wonder if that might be more of an ideal focus for this CBS venture if the goal is what everyone thinks it is. What I'm thinking is, have the originating station focus on national politics (the presidential race, balance of power in the Senate etc.) the have the MMJs focus on local and statewide races along with some local color on the presidential. Sure beats doing stand-ups at the scene of structure fires and drive-by shootings.

A year after being sidelined when she sustained a traumatic brain injury in a fall, legendary WGME anchor Kim Block is stepping aside. She was with the station nearly 40 years. https://wgme.com/news/local/a-statement-from-cbs-13s-kim-block-to-you https://wgme.com/news/local/a-look-back-at-kim-blocks-40-year-legacy-in-maine

It might help the A block, but I suspect that Welker will be sucked in the web of fluff that dominates morning television.

Well, that sucks. We lost local media coverage in Maine when Al Diamon mothballed his Media Mutt column years ago, so I know firsthand how it feels to lose this vital service. It's not like anyone else is waiting in the wings to take over this beat.

WMTW expanded its weekday 12PM newscast to an hour today; WCSH and WGME remain at a half-hour. Previously WMTW aired a rerun of Access Hollywood in the 12:30PM time slot.