NEWLarry Ridley to Orlando - Former 7Sports weekender Larry Ridley has taken a position with NewsCenter5 sister station WESH in Orlando, where he will become the station's sports director. He leaves Boston after five years...
Miss CT to Learn About the Weather - Former Miss Connecticut Brittany Decker will begin the process to become a weather presenter with News8, apprenticing with their weather team with the hopes of taking over the AM shift...
7 Rakes in Ratings - Sunday night's Super Bowl was the highest rated football game ever in the Boston market, pulling in a 56.7/81 share according to Neilsen. Total viewers was 114 mil, making SB46 the most watched ever...
Baghdady Renewed at 8 - News8 anchor Sonia Baghdady has come to an agreement with the station, ending weeks of speculation fueled by a posting for her job on the station's website...
Investigative Unit for NBC CT - NBC Connecticut has created a ten-person investigative unit, hiring Chris Coffey from Austin and Sabina Kuriacose from YNN in New York. Reporters Jeff Stoecker and Monica Buchanan were reassigned. The unit is helmed by former ME Sharon Butterworth...
Matt Stairs Hired by NESN - Former baseball player Matt Stairs has been hired by NESN as a studio analyst. After a 19 year career with twelve teams, Stairs retired with the Nationals in 2011...
Sarah Wroblewski Promoted at Fox25 - Fox25 has promoted fill-in meteorologist Sarah Wroblewski to weekend met position. She came to 25 in 2010 from WBZ and replaces A.J. Burnett, whose contract was not renewed...
NESN has reportedly hired Heidi Watney’s replacement. According to multiple sources, former ESPN reporter Jenny Dell has agreed to join the regional sports net as a reporter.
Dell, a UMass graduate, has held multiple roles at ESPN, both on-air and off. Most recently, she has been in Aspen covering the Winter X Games. Her AccuScore reports on ESPN.com were also a very popular attraction.
As you may remember, Watney left the network in November to take a position with Time Warner Cable in California, holding a similar role reporting for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The blackout has officially ended. As of around 6p.m. on Thursday night, over 200,000 DirecTV subscribers can now tune into 7NBC and CW56. This ends a twelve day block on programming from the two stations, ending legions of controversy revolving NBC’s broadcast rights of Super Bowl XLVI.
“We are pleased that we reached an agreement with DirecTV, and we appreciate our viewers’ patience during this tough negotiation,” General Manager Chris Wayland said in a statement, “We are especially delighted that all our viewers will now be able to see NBC’s telecast of the Super Bowl as well as our own extensive coverage from Indianapolis.”
DirecTV was also quick to issue a statement, remarking, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement to end the Sunbeam blackout, and regret that any of our customers were forced into the middle of a business dispute where they should never have been in the first place. We believe, like many, the public interest is best served by allowing customers to keep their local broadcast stations as we negotiate future agreements, rather than being denied access by broadcast stations and used as leverage in what should be a private business matter.”
The California chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recently conducted a very insightful question and answer session with former 56/Fox25er Frank Mallicoat. Among the discussed topics are his climb up the ladder from New Hampshire to Boston, as well as a nice look at the transition from his tenure on The Ten O’Clock News to Fox25.
In the interview, a comparison of both Boston and San Francisco markets is conducted, and the answer is very compelling. The Q&A, seen on EmmySF.tv, can be found here.
As you may know, Frank Mallicoat left Fox25 in January 2011 to accept the position as morning anchor for WBZ sister station KPIX in San Francisco.
As the DirecTV blackout becomes more and more dire with the Super Bowl approaching, prominent Massachusetts politicians have taken to writing letters to heads of both companies, urging a resolution. Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), Senator John Kerry (D-MA), and ten other politicians have issued statements to the companies about the possible lack of service during a game in which a Massachusetts team are appearing in.
Since January 13th, both WHDH and WLVI have been off the air for DirecTV subscribers due to a failure to reach a retransmission agreement. Sunbeam Television, owners of the duopoly, are asking for a 300 percent increase in fees paid, which they claim is market value for a strongly rated NBC affiliate in the 7th largest television market.
Hit the jump for letters from both Massachusetts Senators.
btvn sources have been telling us that 7 Sports anchor and reporter Larry Ridley has reportedly severed his relationship with WHDH. According to sources inside the station, the popular sports guy left the station after nearly six years. It’s a story you’ll see on just one station website.
After joining the station in 2006, Ridley became anchor of the weekend edition of 7 Sports and BMWHonda Acura SportsXtra. Prior to his time at 7 Bulfinch Place, however, Ridley was a sports reporter at sister-station WSVN. Throughout his tenure in Boston, Ridley became a popular figure due to his personable nature and quick wit.
Shortly after his quiet departure from the station, Ridley changed his Twitter handle and launched a new sports blog.
Tribune’s WTIC is expanding by one. FoxCT, the Connecticut station that has been growing a lot recently, has reportedly hired Jan Carabeo as a reporter for their morning newscast.
According to our friends at The Laurel, Carabeo joins the station from Syracuse, NY-station WSYR. Prior to that, she spent two years working at WIVT, the ABC-affil in Binghamton, NY.
Jan Carabeo’s first day on FoxCT is tomorrow morning.
Viewers of this morning’s Fox25 Morning News were greeted with a shock as a truck crashed into a pole outside of Gilette Stadium in the midst of a live report. Commentator Doug “V.B.” Goudie was quick to remark about the incident, which can be seen both above and after the jump in a reaction video. Continue reading ‘“I Haven’t Seen a Tackle Like That Since…”’
Late last week, a job posting was created on wtnh.com for a news anchor. What can be assumed to be innocent enough, as many stations have jobs available, quickly turns interesting at the following line:
You’ll be anchoring most of your newscasts sitting next to this guy, Darren Kramer
News8′s primary anchor Sonia Baghdady is currently in the midst of contract negotiations. Sonia Baghdady co-anchors alongside Darren Kramer and has not terminated her relationship with the station. The job posting, in essence, is for a job that is already filled.
When TVSpy contacted News Director Erik Schrader, he informed them that Baghdady is still employed by the station but declined to comment about the job posting. Interestingly enough, at his prior stint at Pennsylvania CBS ABC-affil WNEP, a job posting was also created for a filled job during negotiations with then-morning anchor Mindi Ramsey. She later resigned from the station. No word yet on the status of Baghdady’s job.
Sunbeam Television and DirecTV have failed to reach a carriage agreement. As of Friday at 12:00 a.m., both WHDH and WLVI were pulled from DirecTV lineups, replaced with a still image from DirecTV.
On both stations’ websites, viewers are greeted with a message regarding the conflict:
Sunbeam Television Corporation, the parent company of WHDH-TV Channel 7 and WLVI Channel 56, could not come to an agreement regarding a renewal of its carriage agreement with DirecTV. We are working hard to reach an agreement with DirecTV so that you can receive our signal again. Until we do you will not be able to view WHDH and WLVI on DirecTV, but you can receive Channel 7 and Channel 56 over the air and from other cable and satellite providers. We are seeking fair market value for the transmission of our signal. We have been able to negotiate deals with several other providers. We appreciate your viewership and hope to be back on DirecTV as soon as possible.
If you would like to voice your concerns to DirecTV, here’s the number to call. 1-800-531 5000.
Sunbeam had been looking for a 300 percent increase in retransmission fees, which has been a sticking point in negotiations for weeks. During that time, DirecTV has been able to come to agreements with dozens of other stations, including Hearst’s WCVB, which had been displaying a message to viewers with the possibility of removal.
Longtime Providence anchor Gene Valicenti has been removed from his usual spot on the 11 p.m. broadcast on NBC 10.
According to GoLocalProv, former Fox25er Dan Jaehnig has been promoted from 7p.m. anchor to co-anchor of the station’s flagship broadcast at 11.
Valicenti told TVSpy today that, “WJAR remains my home, and I want the best for the station I’ve been with for 20 years, We’ve had anchor combos switched before. I don’t know if it rises to a ‘shake-up’ since I still have a full plate, and a lot of work to do.”
The veteran anchor will still continue to solo anchor the station’s 5:30 broadcast, as well as co-anchor at 6. He also told TVSpy that he may be developing a franchise piece, similar to what Jonathan Hall had planned after being pulled from Today in New England.
btvn sources have been telling us that 7 Sports anchor and reporter Larry Ridley has reportedly severed his relationship with WHDH. According to sources inside the station, the popular sports guy left the station after nearly six years. It’s a story you’ll see on just one 
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