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Brad Giffen out at WWSB


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From a post at FLNewsCenter

 

The rumors are true. Brad Giffen [5:30pm anchor] has done his last newscast at WWSB.

 

He signed out stating that it was "Financial reasons that entered the ABC 7 Newsroom. That has affected me. I will not be with you Monday, tonight is my final newscast. Thank You, it has been a terrific 5 years."

I liked Brad...met him before and he was a really nice guy. Good anchor, WWSB is really making a bad decision here by letting him go.

 

I hear Calkins is really strapped for cash....

 

Here's Giffen's bio:

 

Brad Giffen has been in the news business for the past 13 years, both in Canada and the U.S. He joined ABC 7 in the spring of 2003 as a reporter and he now co-anchors ABC 7 News at 5:30 with Monica Yadav. Brad is a native Canadian and began his journalism career in Toronto, Ontario working for CFTO News in 1990. Not long after that he was off to KSTU- Fox 13 in Salt Lake City, Utah to anchor their weeknight newscast. That's where he earned the "Best In-Depth News Reporting" award from the Utah Broadcaster's Association. The Louisiana Broadcaster's Association also honored him with an award for "Best Newscast with special distinction-anchor." H is last stop before coming to the Suncoast was at WGNO in New Orleans where he anchored and reported. He also hosted and produced "ABC26 News This Week," a Sunday morning public affairs program at WGNO. You can watch Brad Giffen and Monica Yadav weekdays on ABC 7 News at 5:30.

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Cuts are also expected at sisters WTXL and WAAY (from FLnewscenter.com)

:

 

an interesting point of note, many of their posted jobs are not expecting degrees in the journalism areas. It is desirable, which means not required. hhhhhmmmmm! not required--- How do they expect to attract a big market talent when journalism study (including production) is not required?

 

btw, I thought Brad was fine too. - too good for the Tampa market.

Reporters Amanda Stanzilis and Tania Dall are also out the door....the latter might just be a coincidence though.

 

I know that Tania Dall is heading to Spokane, Washington to be with her finance, so that is a coincidence, as for Amanda Stanzilis, i'm not sure. I can say that Stanzilis was a good reporter, as for Dall.

Talked to Monica Yadav this past weekend about the loss of Brad, she said that she was upset to see him go, that he was a great co-worker and she enjoyed working with him, but the economic troubles hit them and they had no choice (Calkins forced them to do it.)

Now I know what happened to Amanda Stanzilis. My wife saw her picture and remembered that she saw her sitting with Yadav & Dennis on the 11pm News. She WASN'T a victim of the layoffs. She was in tears, saying that she was sad to leave Sarasota, but she got an deal in Texas (KENS) that she couldn't resist. That's where she is now.

I wonder if they were made aware of the layoffs a little while beforehand so they'd know that they'd have to look for a new job....

 

They might have been told that layoffs were coming and that everybody was at risk. That's why Dall went to Washington and Stanzilis went to Texas.

  • 3 weeks later...

WWSB's sister station, WAAY, in Alabama is now experiencing cutbacks.

 

 

Heads continue to roll at struggling WAAY-TV Channel 31.

This week the ABC affiliate - a distant third in Nielsen's most recent February television ratings - fired its news director, Willie Walker, and general sales manager Chris Kidd, a source told The Times. That comes on the heels of the firing of WAAY's vice president and general manager back in February.

 

Manny Calvo, interim general manager at WAAY, did not return calls for comment on WAAY's personnel changes.

 

WAAY hired Walker in April of last year, replacing Ben Boles, now the station's director of content for new media. Walker came to WAAY after working seven-plus years at the CBS affiliate in Houston. Before that she was at WIAT-TV in Birmingham.

 

WAAY is owned by Huntsville Broadcast, a subsidiary of Southern Broadcast Corp. of Sarasota, Fla.

 

WAFF-TV Channel 48 continues to dominate this television market, winning the February Nielsen television ratings, determined by viewer diaries.

 

Ratings are measured two ways in this area - the four-county Metro area and a second 11-county DMA region.

 

WAFF, the NBC affiliate, won every newscast at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. in both the metro ratings and the 11-county DMA. WHNT-TV Channel 19, the CBS affiliate, was second and WAAY was third.

 

In a tight battle, WHNT continued to dominate the morning newscasts at 5 and 6 a.m. - the only morning newscasts where all three TV stations compete at the same time - with WAFF second and WAAY third.

 

In another interesting statistic, WZDX-TV Fox 54's 9 p.m. newscast did well in its first Nielsen ratings survey, getting numbers that were similar to what WAAY posted at 10. WZDX uses two local reporters, but the newscast is produced by and the anchors are from the Independent News Network in Davenport, Iowa.

 

WAFF reporter Rachel Hardman, who covered Jackson County for Channel 48, has left to work for her family business, according to news director Stew Hirsch. She's the business manager for Sun Down Services, a commercial cleaning company based in Jackson County.

 

WAFF cleaned up during the recent Associated Press Broadcasters awards, and WHNT won the biggest award, best news operation, in its class. Among the top awards WAFF captured were top reporter, Robyn McGlohn, and top anchor, longtime Huntsville broadcaster Mark Thornhill.

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