top stories

Monthly Archive for January, 2011

Media Memories: “It’s a new day on Channel SE7EN”

Published by admin on January 31, 2011. 0 Comments

WNEV's SE7EN station ID

While the stations of the Boston media landscape have remained (mostly) constant for the past few years, there was a time of great change in the city.

The year is 1982.  WCVB has been making waves with its NewsCenter5 format for four years after having been restarted in 1972 and rebranded in 1978.  WBZ, then an NBC affiliate, was still a powerhouse but was quickly losing ground to channel 5.  The smaller players, WLVI and WSBK, were still a few years away from their current iterations, and WXNE on channel 25 was a non-factor.  This leaves WNAC, the old channel 7.

WNAC had been founded in 1948, two weeks after WBZ.  Owned in conjunction with several other radio outlets under RKO General, WNAC had operated without issue until the end of the 1970s.  At this point, the shady corporate dealings of its parent company caught the eye of the FCC when it came time to renew the broadcasting license.  Due to a lengthy investigation by the federal government, the FCC decided to strip RKO General of all of their broadcast licenses.  The winning applicant for the Boston license, New England Television, purchased the intellectual property and facilities from RKO in order to cut their losses.  Hit the jump for a history of the new station’s first newscast.

Continue reading ‘Media Memories: “It’s a new day on Channel SE7EN”’

Posted in Boston, Editorials, Media Memories and WHDH (7NBC). Tags: , , , , , , .

WPRI Promotes Danielle North to Weekday AM News

Published by admin on January 30, 2011. 0 Comments

WPRI, Channel 12 in Providence, has named Danielle North to be the permanent anchor of Eyewitness News This Morning.  North, who had been anchoring the weekend edition of Eyewitness News, joined the station in 1999.  Her co-anchor will be Patrick Little, who has been anchoring the station’s morning newscast since mid-2010.  He had previously served as sports director.

North was hailed by station management as a wise selection and a competent reporter.  “Danielle brings a great combination of credibility, experience and enthusiasm to mornings,” remarks WPRI/WNAC News Director Joe Abouzeid.

In addition to anchoring the morning news on WPRI and its sister station WNAC, North will also co-host The Rhode Show on Fox Providence.  Incidentally, btvn founder Shawn Tempesta was the original host of the hourlong program.  He departed the program in late 2009 after a one-year stint.  Hit the jump for a press release from channel 12.

It should be worth noting that North and Little were co-workers at Manchester ABC-affil WMUR until North’s departure in 1999.  Little jumped ship shortly afterward. Continue reading ‘WPRI Promotes Danielle North to Weekday AM News’

Posted in Providence, Talent Shuffles, WNAC (Fox Providence) and WPRI (Eyewitness News). Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Media Memories Clue #1

Published by admin on January 27, 2011. 4 Comments

Media Memories is the second in a series of new segments from btvn.  Media Memories are a look into the history of Boston television.  Each Memory begins with a clue, which will be posted a few days prior to the actual editorial.  Readers will have the opportunity to leave their guesses as to what the clue is in the comments section, and the winner will be announced in time for the next clue.  Media Memories takes its roots from Curbside Classics over at TheTruthAboutCars.com, a truly interesting view into the world of the cars that prowl the streets of Eugene, Oregon.  Although different in subject matter, the two segments both provide an opportunity to see into the products that shaped the course of history for their respective industries.

Welcome to the first of many Media Memories segments.  Above the introduction, you may find the first clue.  If you have any guesses as to which broadcast it may have come from, please leave them in the comments section.  The winner will be mentioned in the next Media Memories Clue.  Good luck!

Posted in Editorials and Media Memories Clue. Tags: , .

Déjà Vu: Fmr. 7 GM Goldklank: “Do you know who the (expletive) I am?”

Published by admin on January 26, 2011. 0 Comments

Yes, Ms. Goldklank, btvn knows who you are. In another bizarre incident, Randi Goldklank, infamous former general manager at WHDH, is out of a job… again.  This time, perennial second-place finisher WPEC (CBS 12) sent Goldklank with her walking papers after a stripshow at a restaurant.

Police were called to a Delray Beach, Fla. restaurant on January 23rd after a reportedly intoxicated Goldklank was sitting at the hostess desk and touching DJ equipment.  After repeated request from restaurant management and local authorities, she was arrested.  Officers at the scene described her as “appear[ing] intoxicated.”

Also in the report were more acts of humiliation.  “The defendant repeatedly told me that if I did not let her go, I would be on the news because she works for News 12,” stated the officer, adding,  “It took several attempts before I had to finally force the defendant into the back of the car.”

This arrest was all spurred on by drunken escapades that are usually only seen in episodes of CBS’ “Two and a Half Men.”  Goldklank, according the the police report, had been “touching herself, removing her top and dancing on a pole like a stripper.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you “The Local News Leader.”

Goldklank, who arrived at WPEC in 2009, has reportedly been fired from the station.  “She’s no longer employed at the station,” reports station spokesman Robert Emmers.  Her previous drunken adventure had been in 2008, where she, after three-dozen drinks at Logan Airport, screamed “Do you know who the (expletive) I am? I’ll have a news crew down here in minutes and you will lose your (expletive) jobs you (expletives).”  She later resigned from Channel 7 and returned to Florida, where she had been with WSVN before her stint in Boston.  As of the time of this posting, cbs12.com still lists Goldklank on their website along with her contact information.

WPEC is owned by Freedom Broadcasting, the former owner of Providence ABC-affil WLNE.

Sources: Broadcasting & Cable, Page2Live.com, BostonHerald.com

Posted in Boston, WHDH (7NBC) and WLVI (CW56). Tags: , , , , , , .

WTNH: Facebook Group “A Distraction,” Fox Off-Air at 8

Published by admin on January 25, 2011. 1 Comment

Former WTNH meteorologist Geoff Fox in 2010

Mark Higgins, a relative newcomer to Hartford’s WTNH Channel 8, has decided that enough is enough.  According to TVSpy, Higgins told non-renewed meteorologist Geoff Fox that he would not be returning to News 8.  This comes after initial reports that stated Fox would continue to remain on-air until his contract expired.

Higgins has been the general manager of WTNH and their sister station WCTX (MyTV9) since June 2009.  Since his hiring, the station has made numerous changes, including the decision to drop longtime branding NewsChannel8 in favor of a simpler News8 moniker.  The station has also made an array of talent shuffles, with Fox being most notable.  According to Fox’s blog, Higgins stated that Fox would not return to the airwaves because “all of this has become a distraction.”  Hit the jump for reaction from Fox himself.

Continue reading ‘WTNH: Facebook Group “A Distraction,” Fox Off-Air at 8′

Posted in Hartford/New Haven, Talent Shuffles and WTNH (News8). Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Out of Context: Who is Mike Wankum?

Published by admin on January 24, 2011. 1 Comment

Screenshot from WTVR-TV's 1992 ad entitled "Who is Mike Wankum?" Click the image to watch the Youtube video.

Out of Context is the first of many new segments to come out of the revamped btvn. Out of Context primarily involves familiar on-air talent shown in unfamiliar situations. Examples of such unfamiliar situations would be movie cameos, cable programs, non-news related advertisements, and in this case, vintage ads from former markets. Today’s Out of Context focuses on a 1992 advertisement from Virginia’s WTVR-TV that asked “Who is Mike Wankum?”

While most of you know Mike Wankum as the effervescent meteorologist over on Channel 5, many viewers remember Mike Wankum as the chief meteorologist at WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia.

Mike Wankum joined WTVR in 1990, where he served as the chief meteorologist until his departure for WLVI in 1993.  During his tenure at WTVR, the station made a large expansion to their building that allowed the weather department to operate in one cohesive area.  It was at this time that the station began to promote Wankum, airing various spots which include the video on which this article is based.

Continue reading ‘Out of Context: Who is Mike Wankum?’

Posted in Boston, Editorials and Out of Context. Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Frank Mallicoat Leaves Fox 25

Published by admin on January 23, 2011. 5 Comments

fm

Over two decades since his arrival, WFXT anchor Frank Mallicoat is saying goodbye to New England and returning to his home state of California.  Mallicoat, the now former weekend anchor at Fox 25, accepted the position of morning news anchor at San Francisco’s KPIX-TV, the local CBS affiliate and a stablemate and Group W station with WBZ.

Mallicoat began his tenure in New England at WMUR in 1986, then as a sports reporter for the old WLVI in 1992, and subsequently moved to Detroit in 1997.  However, he returned to WB56 in 1998 as the sports director.  He became the primary anchor in 2002 and maintained that position until the dissolution of the station’s news department in December 2006.  He joined Fox 25 in 2007 as a weekend anchor.

His final newscast was this evening at 10pm, and he begins work at San Francisco’s Channel 5 in February.  His replacement has not yet been named.  Hit the jump for his final sign-off from Fox 25′s 10pm newscast.

Sources: Rich Lieberman 415 Media, MyFoxBoston.com

Continue reading ‘Frank Mallicoat Leaves Fox 25′

Posted in Boston, Talent Shuffles and WFXT (Fox25). Tags: , , , , , , , , .

New btvn Website Launches

Published by admin on January 22, 2011. 0 Comments

Welcome to the fourth iteration of btvn. After spending time with the Weebly.com website, the decision was made to port the website over to a WordPress-based system. This will allow for increased freedom and ease of updating.

The redesigned website changes to a blog-based interface, rather than a traditional website. This, while less original than the outgoing setup, allows btvn to compete more effectively with the other news websites. In time, the new activity will spur btvn back to its position of prominence that it enjoyed throughout its nearly decade-long existence.

Another thing that you may haven noticed is that the name of this website has been tweaked to ‘btvn.’ This change arrived after using the ‘BTVN: Boston TV News’ guise for the duration of the website’s time on the internet. The simplified name will help to establish a unique identity for the site, rather than continue to compete with another website for recognition.

In addition to the overhauled website, btvn is proud to announce the addition of several new features to the website. These new columns will be bowing within the next few weeks and will provide hours of entertainment and knowledge about the
Boston television market. We’ll spare the details now, opting to launch them and leave the specifics to the review of our audience.  However, the one feature that has been released now is the revival of the image gallery from the old MSN Group-based website.  The gallery contains all of the images that were on the old site, albeit in a new format.  To access all ninety-seven images, simply click on ‘Image Gallery’ in the righthand menu.

Finally, you may have noticed that btvn has also begun to cover news from the neighboring markets. This will allow for increased coverage and knowledge about the areas surrounding our own market. It will also work to broaden the appeal of btvn and allow ourselves another outlet to branch out and be differentiated.

On behalf of the btvn staff, we hope you enjoy our new website!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , .

NECN Shakes Up Evenings

Published by admin on January 21, 2011. 0 Comments

After making over its morning news, NECN has unveiled a revised anchor lineup for their evening programs.  John Daly and Latoyia Edwards will anchor the regional cable network’s 5:00, 7:00, and 9:00 newscasts beginning this week.  They replace R.D. Sahl and Beth Shelburne, both of whom left the station after Comcast Corp. took over controlling interest in the station from Hearst Corp. in July 2010.

Edwards, who was promoted from a lesser role at the station, came to NECN from WWLP-TV in Springfield, MA.  Daly, who has worked at stations throughout southern New England, also hosted several cable television programs in the early 2000s.  Most recently, he appeared in advertisements for the HairMax Laser Comb.  These ads, appearing in Florida and scheduled to be rolled out to the rest of the nation, were pulled upon his hiring at NECN.  Follow the jump for a press release from NECN

Sources: BostonHerald.com, Courant.com

Continue reading ‘NECN Shakes Up Evenings’

Posted in Boston, NECN and Talent Shuffles. Tags: , , , , , , .

Six Bidders Vye for Struggling WLNE

Published by admin on January 20, 2011. 0 Comments

Station-in-distress WLNE has six bidders vying for contention.  According to Broadcasting & Cable, the struggling Providence ABC affiliate has received interest from six different firms after entering into receivership in July 2010.

Steve Doerr, the station’s Vice-President and General Manager, explained that the station has received significant interest and that a decision will be made over the next few weeks.  “It’s a slow process but we’re getting there,” he explained, adding that he could not disclose the names of the interested parties due to a confidentiality agreement.

WLNE’s parent company, Global Broadcasting of New England, acquired the station in 2007 for $14 million from Freedom Communications, which is also facing financial problems.  That company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2009.  New York-based media brokerage firm Cobb Corp. is handling the sale.

Sources: Broadcasting & Cable, Delaware Bankruptcy Ligitation

Photo credit to DTVDXer via Flickr.com

Posted in Providence and WLNE (ABC6). Tags: , , , , , , , .