CLETVFan

It’s obvious Ernest wants to be the next Gene Scott and literally take the station into the grave with him.

 

Even without the CW, it’s still a source of easy income, and he had to have foreseen that when he bought the license from Rex Humbard’s estate 35 years ago.

They do need to do something about that slogan and logo. Plus, the on-screen graphics are atrocious.

To be fair, WEWS has struggled in some way or form since the late 90s, right around the time WKYC managed to free themselves of the negative connotation of “NBC’s farm team station” and being “the third station” in the market.

 

But that’s part of the story. WEWS has had a litany of general managers and news directors since the late 1990s. Their new news director is the second straight one to come from KMGH. It took them a year to find a replacement for longtime anchor Ted Henry, and that replacement - Chris Flanagan - didn’t pan out. Then the station lost Oprah, Dr. Oz bombed badly and WoF/J! were lost due to corporate meddling.

 

Meanwhile, WJW took the clear and decisive lead in mornings - ground that WEWS had to cede completely when they were forced to move the groundbreaking “Morning Exchange” out of morning drive. WEWS has blown up their morning show roster at least half a dozen times over the past five years, and that’s not hyperbole.

 

A badly generic logo is the least of Lotto 5’s troubles.

Wasn't a former WKYC anchor at the time of Ted's retirement approached to fill the chair? I saw a lot of male reporters filling in for Ted's job, only for it to go unfilled until 2011. I even saw there was the possibility of one of the investigators replacing Ted with its morning show co-anchor joining him.

There have also been some bad press regarding WEWS during the last few years as well from two of their morning show personalities being let go after sharing on social media they were in line for a political event to two news superiors being let go following a mishandling of sending a crew to the house of an assault victim in a Cleveland suburb that's battling out the station in court over an investigation report related to ticketing.

Come to think of it, Chris Flanagan was co-anchor with Danita Harris of the 11pm news when it was #1 in 2013, and I thought he was a great anchor. I even heard that Good Morning Cleveland was #2 when Macie Jepson and Mike Dunston were the anchors back in 2012/13. That last one likely caused WKYC to move John Anderson back to mornings (and eventually have Lynna Lai join him), and have Chris Tye and Erin Kennedy reassigned to general assignment reporting. Seemed like the anchor hirings of 2011 was starting to pan out at 5 before some tinkering ruined it.

It was the tinkering after changing news directors in 2014 that's started WEWS' recent slide. A "young and hip" GMC team didn't have time to pan out following those late 2016 firings (only Terrence Lee remains from that team), the revolving door continues to spin among on-air talent, some talent gets more airtime than others, and the aforementioned bad press didn't help. Not to mention WJW is unstoppable, WKYC is still solid, and WOIO is looking a lot better all the time. I wouldn't be surprised if they're once again pulling ahead of WEWS in the ratings.

There were times between 2001 and now that WEWS had signs of life in the ratings, only for the station to find ways to mess it up again. I still remember when after the 2004 makeover, WOIO started beating them out at 11pm. Seems to be up-and-down since then.

The station does have a good news product. They just can't keep up with WKYC and WJW. Hopefully the new news director will get the station back to the top of the ratings, and learn from the mistakes of the past.

WOIO/WUAB has hired Erin Logan to anchor the 10:30pm portion of its 10pm newscast on 43.

WEWS is moving "Right This Minute" to 3:30pm next week after "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." Then, on September 17th, the station will expand its Noon newscast back to a full-hour.

More problems for Channel 55's owner. BIG problems!

WEWS has once again hired a news director from KMGH. They haven't filled the assistant news director position yet, though didn't they hire one earlier this year?

https://www.cleveland.com/tv/index.ssf/2018/08/wews_channel_5_hires_new_news_director_from_denver.html#incart_river_index

I have a feeling the investigative team at News 5 will remain unchanged, while more changes happen elsewhere.

WEWS has hired a new news director a little over a week after WKYC hired its new one. Both are the second and third station to add a brand new ND after WOIO/WUAB earlier this year.

WOIO/WUAB is moving Jeff Tanchak to mornings and Samantha Roberts to afternoons and evenings. Next week is likely when the changes will take place.

Janessa Webb is leaving WEWS for MSNBC and NBC News as mentioned in this tweet.

Speaking of WEWS, here's more on Janessa Webb leaving the station for NBC News and MSNBC from Cleveland.com.

Paul Kiska in Cleveland has resurfaced at WJW Fox 8 after working 18 years at WEWS News 5. I saw his name pop up on the "People" page of the Fox 8 website.

Janessa Webb is leaving WEWS for MSNBC and NBC News as mentioned in this tweet.

Where did you get this? And explain the bolding?

I got it from WBNX's website from their schedule page. (Go to Monday 7/16) The bold explains the new times for the shows.

WBNX's new lineup starting on July 16th.

6:00am Top 30

6:30am Business First with Angela Miles

7:00am The Verdict with Judge Hatchett

7:30am Justice with Judge Mablean

8:00am Harry

9:00am The Ninety and Nine Club

10:00am The Verdict with Judge Hatchett

10:30am Justice with Judge Mablean

11:00am Judge Faith

11:30am Judge Faith

12:00pm Divorce Court

12:30pm Divorce Court

1:00pm Couples Court with the Cutlers

1:30pm Couples Court with the Cutlers

2:00pm Lauren Lake's Paternity Court

2:30pm Lauren Lake's Paternity Court

3:00pm Dateline

4:00pm Dateline

5:00pm Last Man Standing

5:30pm The Goldbergs

6:00pm Mike and Molly

6:30pm Mike and Molly

7:00pm The Goldbergs

7:30pm Last Man Standing

8:00pm The King of Queens

8:30pm The King of Queens

9:00pm Funny You Should Ask

9:30pm Funny You Should Ask

10:00pm Top 30

10:30pm Pawn Stars

11:00pm Pawn Stars

11:30pm Dish Nation

12:00am The Balancing Act

12:30am Cops

1:00am Killer Mysteries

1:30am Corrupt Crimes

2:00am Cops

2:30am Forensic Files

3:00am King of the Hill

3:30am Rules of Engagement

4:00am Rules of Engagement

4:30am The Balancing Act

5:00am Harry

Looks like TV55 is turning to Kevin James, Dateline, and a bunch of comedians to fill the void left by The CW.

WEWS has gotten flack from Newburgh Heights residents (a city in Cleveland, OH) over its handling of its attempt to interview a rape victim. The police chief showed up and questioned them before telling them to leave. Once body cam footage of the situation was posted on the Newburgh Heights Police Department Facebook page, the station got slammed with non-stop hate (no one stood up for the station, though WEWS since apologized). The chief even posted that the station was receiving death threats.

Now FTVLive has reported the fallout over the situation. The two news managers responsible for sending the reporter and his crew over to the victim's house have been fired. It is not reported which two managers got the axe, though news director Jeff Harris is leaving for the same gig at WBBM in Chicago.

Dick Feagler (formerly of The Plain Dealer, WKYC, WVIZ, and WEWS) has passed away at age 79.

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/former-wkyc-anchor-and-cleveland-journalist-dick-feagler-dies/95-569771753

WEWS is getting crap for its approach to attempt to interview a rape victim in Newburgh Heights (a suburb in Cleveland, OH). The video on FTVLive shows the police chief approaching the crew, them telling them to leave. The same police department posted it on its Facebook page, but later deleted it, through angry residents slamming WEWS in reviews remain on the page. This comes as the city is suing the station over its investigation regarding the police and traffic tickets.

WEWS Cleveland news director Jeff Harris is leaving to become the ND at WBBM in Chicago.

http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2018/6/25/new-nd-in-windy-city

Does anyone know whether or not Corrina Pysa is still at WEWS? I have not seen her on the station since The Now went into a more national-oriented format, and she has simply disappeared.

WEWS has hired two new sports anchors to fill some holes in the department - Derek Forrest and Jon Doss. Both have already started on air.

WKYC is looking for a new news director. Their current one leaving after May sweeps to produce documentaries according to FTVLive.

WEWS is now down to just one person in the sports department as Marisa Silvas announced on her Twitter she was leaving the station for a new opportunity yet to be announced. Lauren Brill is the only person at the station still on sports.

Not really. The Now killed off whatever ratings momentum KSHB had, and WXYZ did all that they could to make it as close to a straight newscast as possible.

 

WKBW has done decently with the Now at 7pm, where no other local newscast runs in that timeslot in the market (considering that KB lost Wheel and J! under the tail end of Granite mismanagement to WIVB, that isn’t saying much of anything).

 

WEWS recently swapped PnB with Steve Harvey - moving Steve back to 3pm - in a move reminiscent of their bailing on Dr. Oz a few years ago.

"Steve" on WEWS is now going up against "Family Feud" - hosted by Steve Harvey - on WOIO. So it's Steve vs. Steve in Cleveland!! Weren't both shows not supposed to air opposite each other?

Exactly, but the problem was that Scripps didn't give them the option when they should have

If The Now continues to sink in Cleveland, would WOIO start beating out WEWS in the late afternoon and early evening slots, plus 11pm?

Could Scripps stations eventually scale The Now to a half-hour if they want to? I do miss the local version on WEWS. (I think this could hurt them more than help them)

That being said, The List, The Now, and Picker and Ben I feel have dragged down Scripps stations. They should not have been forced to take in programming that are ultimately not ratings-winners in the long run.