StudioTech 15 Posted April 23, 2009 Posted April 23, 2009 As expected, WNBC grounded Chopper 4 sometime this week after 14 years and are now using sharing WNYW's 'copter. I heard Kai Simonsen's (sp?) voice doing a live hit on TINY this morning. They still using the Chopper 4 label for the shot, though. Ironic, since it was WNBC I believe that was the first to launch a full time TV news chopper in NYC back in 1995, with WABC to follow very soon after.
StudioTech 15 Posted April 24, 2009 Author Posted April 24, 2009 Slight correction. It appears that they haven't fully grounded Chopper 4 after all. They've stopped using it for the morning 'casts, but still use it for evening ones. We'll see how long that lasts. Also, for some reason SkyFox is no longer broadcasting in HD, even though they still label it as such. Wonder what's going on there.
eastcoasttvnews 1 Posted April 24, 2009 Posted April 24, 2009 Kai survived the crash of the black "new Chopper4" in Kearny, NJ several years ago.
nynewsjunkie 13 Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 What has happened to Dan Rice now? Does he do the PM reports?
Geoffrey 873 Posted April 26, 2009 Posted April 26, 2009 I thought they claimed that they weren't going to pool the reporters.
Geoffrey 873 Posted April 30, 2009 Posted April 30, 2009 According to Dan Rice's Chopper 4 Twitter page (twitter.com/chopper4): "Today is Chopper 4's last day. Thanks to all of the viewers who have tuned in over the last 10 years. I will miss you the most!" He adds that the station has canceled the chopper contract. What a shame. I wish Dan the best of luck... he's always been a great guy.
rtmclaug 70 Posted April 30, 2009 Posted April 30, 2009 Isn't Dan Rice married to Shannon Sohn, the evening reporter for WABC's NewsCopter 7? I love Dan's work and will miss him dearly. Hopefully, he will find work with another station. Is WCBS hiring?
IceManNYR 240 Posted April 30, 2009 Posted April 30, 2009 Yes she is married to Dan. If I'm correct, when Chopper 4 crashed on top of a building she was in NewsCopter7 and had video of the crash landing.
rtmclaug 70 Posted April 30, 2009 Posted April 30, 2009 I heard that NBC canceled the helicopter contracts not only in NYC, but also Miami and San Francisco. This is a shame. So many great people could be out of work soon, if not already. :-(
NickMa 0 Posted April 30, 2009 Posted April 30, 2009 I heard that NBC canceled the helicopter contracts not only in NYC, but also Miami and San Francisco. This is a shame. So many great people could be out of work soon, if not already. :-( I'm sure Philly is probably next.
StudioTech 15 Posted May 2, 2009 Author Posted May 2, 2009 From today's Daily News re: the end of Chopper 4 http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/05/01/2009-05-01_wnbcchannel_4_grounds_news_helicopter_over_economic_concernsby_richard_huff.html
NYNews 54 Posted May 2, 2009 Posted May 2, 2009 The article also refers to a possible joint venture between WPIX and WCBS. I think in that case Air11 would be dropped since WPIX only uses it in the mornings while WCBS uses it in the morning, noon and at 5/6pm. Unless it would be more affordable for them to use Air11 and lay off veteran helicopter reporter Joe B of WCBS.
TeleFan 0 Posted May 3, 2009 Posted May 3, 2009 Which reporter was with Dan when the copter crashed on the building?
NewsJunkie247 1 Posted May 3, 2009 Posted May 3, 2009 Which reporter was with Dan when the copter crashed on the building? Dan wasn't in Chopper 4 when in crashed in Brooklyn in 2004. The only reporter in the chopper was Andrew Torres. There was the pilot and a trainee in the chopper as well. In a way, it's a shame to see Chopper 4 grounded, but when you think about it, this is a more convenient way of getting news to viewers.
Geoffrey 873 Posted May 4, 2009 Posted May 4, 2009 In a way, it's a shame to see Chopper 4 grounded, but when you think about it, this is a more convenient way of getting news to viewers. I'm glad you find this to be more convenient. It might be more convenient for WNBC to just simulcast WNYW's newscasts.
NewsJunkie247 1 Posted May 4, 2009 Posted May 4, 2009 I'm glad you find this to be more convenient. It might be more convenient for WNBC to just simulcast WNYW's newscasts. When you think about when stations have their choppers cover a story, it is practically the same story on all of the stations, so why not just have two stations share one chopper. It's terrible, however, that Dan Rice lost his job. I always enjoyed his reports in the mornings.
Geoffrey 873 Posted May 4, 2009 Posted May 4, 2009 When you think about when stations have their choppers cover a story, it is practically the same story on all of the stations, so why not just have two stations share one chopper. You could say the same thing about the rest of the news. Shootings, fires, press conferences, politics... We might as well all use the same pool of reporters and get rid of any originality.
IceManNYR 240 Posted May 4, 2009 Posted May 4, 2009 It's getting close to that on FOX5 and My9, 25 to 50% of the same reports air on both stations newscasts. All they do is record the ending once for My9 News and once for FOX5 News.
DMA 135 Posted May 4, 2009 Posted May 4, 2009 Apparently WWOR doesn't have weekend news, they were simulcasting WNYW's 10pm newscast yesterday.
WCAUTVNBC10 413 Posted May 4, 2009 Posted May 4, 2009 I'm sure Philly is probably next. Ummm Philly was the first market to do this and it was SkyFOX that was eliminated here.
NickMa 0 Posted May 4, 2009 Posted May 4, 2009 Ummm Philly was the first market to do this and it was SkyFOX that was eliminated here. Oh, I thought they were doing where they were using one chopper in the morning and the other chopper in the evening.
TVNewsLover 787 Posted May 5, 2009 Posted May 5, 2009 Apparently WWOR doesn't have weekend news, they were simulcasting WNYW's 10pm newscast yesterday. If that's the case, it must have just started. Or, perhaps they were just short on staff. Also, there could have been a problem at WWOR which made them simulcast WNYW's newscast. Once before on a weekday, WNYW was having problems and so they simulcast like the first half hour of WWOR's 10pm news (and Harry and Brenda acknowledge it on air).
IceManNYR 240 Posted May 5, 2009 Posted May 5, 2009 According to their website the My9 weekend team is just Mike Gilliam and Scott Stanford. Shay Ryan will be on maternity leave in a few months.
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