There’s nothing like a walk down memory lane and my good friend and former co-worker Jack Church recently led me down a path I hadn’t visited in a while. Jack, who is a natural born salesman, used to do weather. Jack has worked in a number of markets and knows people in just [...]
Archive for May, 2007
WMC’s Loss is WHBQ’s Gain, That Dave Brown is One Smooth Operator and Can Someone Tell Me About This Raycom Thing?
May 29, 2007Congratulations to Darrell Phillips the Internet Guy for WMC who will now call Fox 13 home. His departure was announced last week by the News Director at AC5. IMHO, DP really made the blog coverage of the John Ford Trial sing. HBQ scored bigtime getting him to come over. I don’t [...]
Farewell to an Old News Hound and Friend & The Latest Standing in the Horse Race of Memphis TV News
May 24, 2007Before I get to the local ratings numbers, a note about a guy you could really describe as a news hound in Memphis. The name: Ron Michaels Hughes although most of us only knew him as Ron Michaels. I met him not long after I came to Memphis back in 1989 when I attended what [...]
Staging The News and Can Anybody Give Me An Idea What the Ratings Numbers Look Like in the Bluff City?
May 23, 2007In Wednesday’s Shoptalk, the newspaper in Orlando takes to task the TV stations in that Florida city for staging the news. Here’s an excerpt: All the stations in town picked up on the story about a 9-year-old boy who called 911 when his mother fell unconscious on the floor. [...]
Getting the Money Shot on TV News and Yet Another Broadcast Group Could Be On the Block
May 17, 2007Just why did so many people watch Mike Wallace and the 60-Minutes crew barge in to confront the bad guys or at least those with questionable motives? Why do so many people like to watch the local TV consumer or I-Team reporter who gets in the face of someone for some answers? IMHO, it’s not [...]
You Can Now Send Weatherman Dave Brown Anywhere You Want
May 15, 2007I like a clever promotion and WMC-TV in Memphis has one with long time weather guy Dave Brown. He’s about to celebrate 30-years as a TV weatherguy. (I’m not sure if that is total years or just at Action News 5). I received a link to an e-card last week and received [...]
It Looks Like a War Zone and It Sounded Like a Freight Train!
May 10, 2007It’s time to pull out the old soapbox and rant. First let me say that if anyone doubts the power of a tornado then look at the video out of Greensburg, Kansas. Up until the storm pretty much wiped out this town, Greensburg was known as the place with the world’s largest hand dug well [...]
The Thinning of the NYTimes Herd has Begun?
May 4, 2007I have it from a reliable source that as of this Friday afternoon the thinning of the NYTimes herd had begun. My source tells me that at Ft. Smith, the axe fell on at least three in sales and production could go as high as seven. I’m told that in Huntsville five folks [...]
“O-Ee-Yah! Eoh-Ah!” The Changing of the Guard at WREG
May 3, 2007Apologies to Wizard of Oz fans but according to the movie script, “O-Ee-Yah! Eoh-Ah!” is what the Winkie guards were chanting as they pranced outside the Wicked Witch’s castle. (My wife thinks they’re saying O-ee-O.) But I digress. It’s not often that I go out on a limb with a single source for information [...]
May Day, May Day, May Day, I’ve Got Spam
May 1, 2007This first day of May marks more than the time when some practice European pre-Christian pagan rituals such as dancing around a Maypole to celebrate the coming of summer. For those of you reading this, the date has even more significance. It was May 1st, 1994 that the first commercial Spam was sent out. The [...]
"I'm a former TV and radio newsman who decided he didn't want to keep getting up at 2:30 in the morning to anchor the news. So after a quarter of a century, I pulled the plug on myself. I'm still wondering what I will do when I grow up. So is my wife."