Wayne Dolcefino's next career move & party photos

After posting about Wayne Dolcefino leaving KTRK last week, I almost thought about not posting for the rest of 2012.  No post this year could be bigger than Dolcefino's departure in terms of reader interest and blog traffic. Then I came to my senses.

Last night, the infamous Houston Media Roundtable had a big goodbye party for Dolcefino at The Reef in Houston's Midtown. (Photos slideshow above - mobile users who can't see it, click here).

Wayne told me he is not interested in going back into TV right now. He also said people have been approaching him asking if he is retiring - that is not the case. In fact Wayne just created Dolcefino Communications LLC a few days ago. He is currently taking lots of phone calls and weighing his options.

Can you imagine Dolcefino as a consultant? He certainly has lots of knowledge and advice stored up for media, legal and political types after more than 30 years in broadcasting/investigative reporting.

Stay tuned.

As for some of the folks in attendance for the big Wayne-O sendoff: Rusty Hardin, Bob Martin, Paul Bettencourt, Margaret O'Brien-Molina, Mary Benton, Phil Archer, Doug Miller, Ned Hibberd, Ed Brandon, Minerva Perez, Elma Barrera, Lori Reingold, Bob Dows, Janice Evans, Jessica Michan, Joel Androphy, George Flynn, Carl Davis, Omar Perez, Scott Braddock, August Skamenca, Mary Flood, David Barron and Dr. Richard Murray among others.

Univision 45 KXLN is Houston’s #1 TV station

Univision 45 claims big win against the other Houston TV stations in November sweeps:

In the first major sweep of the 2012-2013 television broadcast season, KXLN Univision 45 is Houston’s No. 1 broadcast station among Adults 18-34, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 in all the major dayparts: daytime, early fringe, early news, primetime, late news and late fringe, regardless of language. KXLN Univision 45 is also the most watched station during early morning among both Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49.

During a sweep that included extensive news coverage on a history making presidential election, KXLN’s early 5 p.m. “Noticias Univision 45 a las 5” (News 45 at 5) and late 10 p.m. local news “Noticias 45 Edición Nocturna” (News 45 Evening Edition), were the most watched local newscasts among Adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.

Primetime Ratings Highlights:

· During the November sweep, KXLN achieved a higher primetime rating than all other broadcast stations including the major English-language network affiliates: KTRK-ABC, KRIV-FOX, KHOU-CBS and KPRC-NBC.

Sources: NSI Ranking based on Houston.’s 10 major television stations Live +SD. KXLN, KFTH, KPRC, KRTK, KHOU, Monday to Saturday: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m./Sunday: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.; KRIV, KIAH, Monday to Saturday: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m./Sunday: : 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; KTMD, KZJL Monday to Sunday: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

· KXLN’s primetime novela, “Abismo de Pasión” (Abyss of Passion) was Houston’s most-watched primetime, non-sport program among Adults 18-34, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.

· KXLN’s broadcast of the 13th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards was Houston’s most watched awards show among Adults 18-34, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 beating ABC’s “Country Music Awards” and “American Music Awards.”

LOCAL NEWS Ratings Highlights:

· During the November sweep, KXLN achieved higher local news ratings than all other broadcast stations including the major English-language network affiliates: KTRK-ABC, KRIV-FOX, KHOU-CBS, KPRC-NBC and KIAH-CW.

Sources: NSI Ranking based on Houston’s local news television stations Live+SD. KXLN, KPRC, KRTK, KHOU and KTMD Monday to Friday: 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.; KRIV, KIAH, Monday to Friday: 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.; KXLN, KPRC, KRTK, KHOU and KTMD Monday to Friday: 10:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; KRIV, KIAH, Monday to Friday: 9:00 p.m. to 10:10:00 p.m.

Note: Early Morning is M-F/6-10A (KXLN), M-F/6-9A for all other stations; daytime is M-F/9A-3P for all stations except KXLN (M-F/10A-3P) & KFTH (M-F/8A-3P; early fringe is M-F/3-5P for all stations except KFTH (M-F/3-6P); and late fringe is M-F/11P-1A for all stations except KFT, KRIV & KIAH (M-F/10P-1A).

(This post was taken from a release sent to me by Univision Houston)

RELATED
CBS 11 KTVT calls November win

Wayne Dolcefino and KTRK 13 divorce

Rumors have been floating around Houston and beyond concerning KTRK 13 Undercover's Wayne Dolcefino. Did they leave him or did he leave them? I heard it all. Naturally anything involving Wayne-O will be larger than life, so these rumors have travelled around at the speed of light.

UPDATE: Wayne Dolcefino tells me his next career move

That's why I'm so glad I tuned into Live at 5 tonight to get my daily Melanie Lawson and Art Rascon fix. Turns out an announcement about the missing Dolcefino was made. The station reported that Wayne "elected to leave."

While we will probably never know the full reason for the Dolcefino/channel 13 breakup, the general consensus is that he and the higher ups butted heads over his stories. Let's face it, Dolcefino has an aggressive, provocative, hard hitting and sometimes comical style that just doesn't exist much on TV anymore. More often than not in television news these days, the story's promo is more interesting than the actual content.

PICTURES: SEE PHOTOS FROM WAYNE DOLCEFINO'S GOODBYE PARTY

Love him or hate him, Houston TV sweeps months will seem smaller from now on. Dolcefino wasn't afraid to take on political figures, the police, the schools...pretty much anyone with any authority. Who else besides Dolcefino is willing to actually get put in handcuffs in the course of reporting a story?

This has all come to an end right when Wayne and crew cleaned up at the 2012 10th Annual Lone Star EMMY Awards.

So what happens from here? Obviously we don't know the terms of the split, but there could be a non-compete clause for Mr. Dolcefino so he might not be able to appear on Houston TV for a period of time. My guess is that another Houston TV station will hire him. In fact, one of his old bosses is in charge at a station practically down the street from abc13 so you never know what can happen. If anyone should hire him at this point in my opinion, my vote is for KHOU 11.

I can't imagine a colorful character like Dolcefino would just retire at this point, but then you never know.

As I've blogged before, Wayne Dolcefino has been a staple at the ABC owned station since 1985. He's won a ton of awards such as 25 Emmys, three IRE medals, the 2012 Edward R. Murrow Best Investigation and a lot more. Before KTRK, Dolcefino was in radio at 740 KTRH and 590 KLBJ Austin.

On a personal note, when working at the same station, Dolcefino did make my life rough once or twice. But on the other side of that, Dolcefino sent me a nice email concerning my work while I was freelance reporting at KIAH 39. I appreciated that coming from him of all people.

Personally, I'd like to see Dolcefino back on air in Houston. He certainly knows how to keep things interesting. And as Dolcefino has brought up on this very blog, where will inspiration come from for some other journalists in town if he's gone?

I reached out to Wayne for this post but did not hear back from him.

UPDATE
This will be the biggest Houston media story of the year, if not the decade. My blog traffic is exploding.

RELATED
Where are Wayne Dolcefino and Tim Melton?

CBS 11 KTVT calls November win

KTVT is calling a sweeps victory early, here is more from a release it sent me:

With just one day remaining in the November “sweep” rating period, the weekday editions of the CBS 11 News at 6 p.m. and the CBS 11 News at 10 p.m. are North Texas’ most-watched newscasts in their respective time periods.

At 10 p.m., CBS 11 is averaging 210,040 viewers, leading its next nearest competitor, WFAA, by 36,280. For CBS 11, this represents a year-to-year increase of 8,740 viewers, making CBS 11 News at 10 also the fastest-growing late news in North Texas. At 6 p.m., CBS 11 is averaging 153,400 viewers, leading WFAA by an average of 6,580.

With this win, CBS 11 has now been Dallas-Fort Worth’s number one late news in each of the three major sweep periods (February, May and November) this year. This also marks the first time in the station’s history that CBS 11’s late news was number one in viewers in three consecutive major sweeps.

In addition, this is the third time in a major sweep that CBS 11 has ranked first in viewers at both 6 and 10 p.m. (The previous sweeps were February 2012 and February 2011.)

“No matter how often they happen, we never take these victories for granted,” said CBS 11 and TXA 21 President and General Manager Gary Schneider. “We remain grateful to our viewers for trusting CBS 11 as their source for local news and for making the CBS 11 News at 6 and 10 p.m. number one.”

Other highlights from the November sweep include:

Network prime – CBS 11 is number one among viewers, with 16 of the top 25 shows, including NCIS, Big Bang Theory, Person of Interest and NCIS: Los Angeles.

Wheel of Fortune (6:30 p.m.) remains the dominant number one program in the time period in viewers, with more than double the number of average viewers for Entertainment Tonight on WFAA.

Daytime programming (9 a.m. – 3 p.m.) -- CBS 11 is number one in daytime, both in viewers and adults 25-54. Among viewers, CBS 11 is up an average of 20,650 versus the time period last November, and in adults 25-54, up 43% in rating/20% in share.

CBS This Morning (7- 9 a.m.) is up an average of 18,340 viewers and up 64% in rating and 50% in share of adults 25-54 over last November.

CBS 11 News This Morning with Brendan Higgins and Adrienne Bankert (4:30 - 7 a.m.) is up an average of 15,660 viewers year-to-year and up 17% in rating/25% in share of adults 25-54.

CBS 11 is online at CBSDFW.com

Source: Nielsen Media Research; DFW DMA Live+SD data; Nov’12 based on 27 of 28 days (10/25/12-11/20/12); Percent increase based on decimals to the thousandth (x.xxx); M-Su Prime Rank EXCLUDES OTO’s; English language broadcast stations

(This post taken from release sent to be by CBS DFW)

KPRC 2 latest sports hire Chester Pitts?

If you tuned into KPRC 2 Monday evening, you saw former Houston Texan and football analyst for Sports Sunday Chester Pitts was sitting in Randy McIlvoy's chair! Did the broadcasting student overtake the teacher?



Turns out Pitts was just keeping the seat warm for McIlvoy while he was live from Reliant Stadium. Ahhh, sweeps month. Remember when KPRC brought back Ron Stone and Doug Johnson for sweeps?

HoustonChronicle.com launches in addition to chron.com

Lots of newspapers are experimenting with pay walls and now The Houston Chronicle is joining in on the fun. The Hearst owned paper announced it will run a premium site at HoustonChronicle.com along with the chron.com you have always known and loved.

John T. O'Loughlin, Houston Chronicle Media Group President, wrote a letter to the Chronicle's readers this weekend letting them know about the new offer:

This morning we are launching one of our most ambitious digital efforts to date: HoustonChronicle.com, a premium website available as part of your subscription package or for nonsubscribers as a separate purchase.

The new site is a complement to Chron.com, not a replacement. On Chron.com, you'll find information on breaking news, weather, traffic, pop culture and news-to-use, such as events listings and city guides. HoustonChronicle.com will offer deep analysis, enterprise reporting, exclusive photos, and the work of your favorite columnists in business, sports, education, city and state government, and arts and culture, plus everything found in your daily newspaper.

HoustonChronicle.com also will anchor our new membership program, Star Access. In addition to the premium website, Star Access offers members entry into unique experiences, exclusive events and special sweepstakes. You'll hear more about this in the weeks to come.

This expansion of our digital product suite is just the latest step in our quest to be the number one host of Houston's great conversations. Our goal is to bring you the information you seek each day in the format of your choice, be it print, on the Web, or via a tablet or mobile device.

I encourage you to visit HoustonChronicle.com today. To access the website, you'll need to activate your account. Log on to HoustonChronicle.com/activate to find out how. Not a subscriber? Sign up at HoustonChronicle.com/start. Then let us know your thoughts by emailing feedback@chron.com.

If you have any questions about the new HoustonChronicle.com, please visit www.houstonchronicle.com/faq.

Gene Norman out at KHOU 11

UPDATE APRIL 19, 2013
Gene Norman to WIAT CBS42 Birmingham

Lots of rumors are floating around about Houston TV people and this one apparently is true - just earlier than what I originally heard.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that KHOU 11 chief meteorologist Gene Norman is gone. In fact the man is nowhere to be found on KHOU's website either. Crazy because we are still in November sweeps.

UPDATE 1/11/2013
What Gene Norman is doing now

I really should have seen it coming since someone just posted a YouTube link of Gene Norman's resume reel on my post about the big KHOU 11 weather department schedule change from last August (WATCH IT BELOW).


Here is where things get really interesting. The Houston Chronicle makes it appear that weather change could be a reason for Norman leaving. Here is more from the Chron:

On the day the change was announced, a message was posted to Norman’s Twitter account reading that “blondie moves to morning, morning moves to 4, 5. I am reduced” to 6 and 10. Later in the day, another message on the account read, “It appears my twitter account was hacked today be careful on social media,” and the tweets regarding the assignment changes were removed. Norman did not return a telephone call seeking details about the reported Twitter hacking.

So yeah, "blondie" would be Chita Johnson.

Now for the untold story (turn on Inside Edition music). That Norman tweet was how the Houston Chronicle and I found out about the KHOU 11 weather department schedule change.

Here is how things went on a different path at that point. Call me weak, too nice or sympathetic, but I called KHOU, said I had the news of the weather changes, they confirmed and I posted without the inclusion of Norman's wild tweet. Why did I do this? I thought it might cause Norman a lot of grief with Belo. The TV business is already bad enough for everyone in it - I figured he didn't need a guy with a stupid free account on blogger posting this. And KHOU certainly did not need to have anyone else leave them at this point (they might want to bolt the doors from the outside over at the Allen Parkway studios).

The newspaper business is pretty rough too, but the Houston Chronicle also saw Norman's tweet and ran with it on August 13th. The whole message was reprinted in the paper. Surprisingly the news did not go viral like I expected. Now it just might.

The lesson for young journalists here is don't be nice or sympathetic like me. I was nice and did not get the scoop of Norman's departure. The Chronicle posted the tweet, got the scoop and now I am linking to them for the news.

By the way, the Houston Chronicle says David Paul will be filling in on the 6pm and 10pm. Other folks are available to fill-in too. There is always Dr. Neil Frank and former Fox 26 KRIV's Matt Lavine.

Norman came to Houston in January 2008 from WGCL in Atlanta. Before that he was the weekend meteorologist at KTRK 13. Where Norman's resume really starts to differ is the fact he worked at NASA developing weather monitoring software for the space shuttle and did not get a degree from Mississippi State University (got his bachelor's from MIT and a master's in meteorology from the University of Maryland). He got into TV while at NASA by driving to Beaumont on the weekends and doing weather there.

As for the man with his own weather number, he has some powerful family connections and knows how to network.

When I interned at KTRK in the 90s, I found Norman to be a nice guy, and remember, I was an intern so that's saying something.

Good luck Gene.

UPDATE 1/11/2013
KHOU names David Paul the chief meteorologist

NewsFix puts Constable Victor Trevino on 'hiatus'

Earlier today on my Wayne Dolcefino KTRK 13 sighting post, I mentioned how Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino was indicted on four felony charges.

Constable Trevino has been one of the few on air faces for KIAH 39's NewsFix. Since day one, he's read the crime reports.

I reached out to KIAH 39 to ask about Trevino's status after the hoopla surrounding him. Here is the official statement the Tribune station gave me tonight:

"Victor Trevino has been a valuable friend to Newsfix since the show started. His on-air segments have provided a valuable public service, informing our viewers about the crime in their neighborhoods. 'Crime Bureau' will remain on hiatus while he deals with these charges."

Wayne Dolcefino mentioned on KTRK 13

UPDATE 11/21/2012
Wayne Dolcefino and KTRK 13 divorce


We are still on KTRK 13 Undercover's Wayne Dolcefino watch. Dolcefino's last report on channel 13 was September 28, but Mr. 13 Undercover casts a large shadow with his name being mentioned this week (his picture and bio are still on the station's website).

Friday, Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino was indicted by a grand jury on four felony charges. As you may know, Dolcefino regularly featured Trevino in his reports this year. Here is how KTRK is mentioning Wayne-O in regards to this story:

The investigation was sparked by a series of 13 Undercover reports last year. Reporter Wayne Dolcefino examined Trevino's questionable charity spending and the pressure some of his employees said they felt to donate to Trevino's charity and re-election effort.

On a different note, KIAH 39's NewsFix used to have Constable Trevino read its crime report. Is that still going on? I will email KIAH and post the answer when I find out. UPDATE: NewsFix puts Constable Victor Trevino on 'hiatus'

Back to Dolcefino, an indirect mention came yesterday in Miya Shay's Bayport Cruise Terminal story. The 13 Undercover brand was mentioned minus the famous reporter behind it:

If that terminal name sounds familiar, it's probably because of 13 Undercover's "Port of Plenty" series of reports. That investigation exposed the millions of dollars spent to build and maintain the Bayport terminal that has sat virtually empty since it opened in 2009.

See Wayne Dolcefino on KTRK 13 or maybe hear a mention of him? Email me.


UPDATE 11/21/2012
Wayne Dolcefino and KTRK 13 divorce



RELATED
Where are Wayne Dolcefino and Tim Melton?

Mix 96.5 KHMX dumps Kidd Kraddick; going local

UPDATE JANUARY 07, 2014
Atom Smasher ready to shake things up at Mix 96.5 KHMX

UPDATE 7/27/2013
Radio's Kidd Kraddick has died

UPDATE 2/20/2013
Mix 96.5 KHMX moves Blake Hayes to mornings

I tweeted this out last night and got such a reaction, that I'm blogging about it too.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Mix 96.5 KHMX is dropping the Dallas-based syndicated morning show Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. Kidd and crew were on in Houston for a little more than a year.

You might remember that Kraddick replaced the legendary 104.1 KRBE morning host Maria Todd and co-host Brad Booker. Todd moved over to News 92 FM KROI. Booker left for country powerhouse KWNR-AM in Las Vegas.

The Chron says that KHMX producer John Paul Stevenson aka “Producer JP” will take over until a full-time replacement is found. By the way, Stevenson is the Rockets’ PA dude at the Toyota Center.

Guess until someone is officially hired for Mix 96.5 mornings, we can just watch for Maria Todd and Sam Malone sightings around town.

Don't worry about Kidd Kraddick, you can still catch him on TV in Houston.

UPDATE JANUARY 07, 2014
Atom Smasher ready to shake things up at Mix 96.5 KHMX

RELATED
Should Sam Malone have stayed at 104.1 KRBE?

Where are Wayne Dolcefino and Tim Melton?

UPDATE 11/21/2012
Wayne Dolcefino and KTRK 13 divorce

Here is a follow up to some of my previous posts. First, we are still apparently on Wayne Dolcefino sweeps watch. November is nearing its end and still no sign of Mr. 13 Undercover.

Forget about all the rumors concerning his status with the station.  It's coming at me from all sides every single day, but the simple fact is that Dolcefino's bio is still on KTRK 13's web site at the time of this post's writing.

Then there is the case of KTRK 13 weekend sports anchor Tim Melton. Forgive us for caring about Melton's whereabouts, he's only been coming into Houston living rooms every week since 1981.

It was last October when Melton suffered a stroke and since then we've only caught a few glimpses of him on TV and on the KTRK 13 Facebook account.

I certainly hope Melton is having a speedy and good recovery. He's a great sports anchor and nice guy too.

Since October, KTRK has brought in freelancers like Hugh Lewis and 1560 KGOW/Yahoo! Sports Radio's David Nuno to do some sports fill-in work

The update in the missing Melton case is that the Houston Chronicle's Ken Hoffman is reporting that David Nuno has quit the radio station and has been hired full-time at KTRK.

"The big adjustment for me is going back to being a reporter," Nuno told Hoffman. "On radio, I would watch all the games, but I was rarely with the players. Joining Channel 13 puts me back on the beat. It's pretty amazing to work at the station I grew up watching with many of the same on-air staff."

So does that mean if/when Melton returns that the KTRK 13 sports department will be larger? Right now the station's sports staff includes Melton, the soon departing Bob Allen, Allen's replacement Greg Bailey, Bob Slovak and now David Nuno. Even with Allen out the door, the on air staff  will still be larger than ever.

That's a lot of good sports coverage!

Stay tuned.

UPDATE 11/21/2012
Wayne Dolcefino and KTRK 13 divorce

NBC 5 KXAS wins top Lone Star Emmy for Station Excellence

The Lone Star Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded NBC 5 / KXAS-TV its top Emmy® for overall Station Excellence during its tenth annual awards gala at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday, November 9, 2012. The Lone Star Chapter represents the state of Texas’ 19 television markets.

Several NBC 5 efforts contributed to the recognition. During the past year, NBC 5 launched a four-person investigative unit that was honored with the Texas Freedom Information Act Award for a report on drivers caught speeding more than 100 mph with little punishment or consequences. NBC 5 also expanded its field reporting staff by hiring seven multi-media journalists who are geographically zoned in large cities that make up the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and who regularly report live from their regions. In the community, NBC 5 sponsored events that drove tens of thousands of area residents to participate with organizations like the Salvation Army, Earth Day Dallas, the Fort Worth Stock Show and the Cowtown Marathon.

“There’s a very talented team of professionals at NBC 5 working on many fronts each day to bring North Texans relevant and accurate news and information,” said Tom Ehlmann, NBC 5 president and general manager. “It’s an honor to see a prestigious organization like the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognize this.”

NBC 5 staff received eight additional Emmy® awards for their work:

INTERACTIVITY
“Kristi’s Gift”
Kristi Nelson, anchor/reporter, and Reginald Hardwick, executive producer

FEATURE NEWS REPORTER – LIGHT
“Battle Chariot”
Noah Bullard, photojournalist

HUMAN INTEREST – NEWS SINGLE STORY/FEATURE
“The Voice of Knox City”
Matt Barrie, reporter; Peter Hull, photojournalist; and Noah Bullard, photojournalist

SPORTSCAST
“Lyndon-Sanity”
Matt Barrie, reporter, and Noah Bullard, photojournalist

ON-CAMERA TALENT- ANCHOR - SPORTS
Matt Barrie, anchor/reporter

ON-CAMERA TALENT – REPORTER - LIVE
“Take A Look…”
Ben Russell, reporter

ON-CAMERA TALENT - REPORTER SPORTS
“Barrie’d The Lead”
Matt Barrie, anchor/reporter

PHOTOGRAPHER - SPORTS
“Wheely Good Photography”
Noah Bullard, photojournalist

RELATED
- 2012 Lone Star EMMY winners
- 2012 Lone Star EMMY nominees list
- KHOU 11 wins 13 EMMY awards, more than any other Houston TV station

(This post taken from a release sent to me by NBC)

ESPN anchor to Houston, DJs axed and more

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WFAA picks up Jason Wheeler from KEYE
Jason Wheeler, KEYE‘s senior reporter and former anchor of the station’s late afternoon news and entertainment program, “Austin Live,” is leaving for Dallas. Wheeler has reportedly been named a weekend anchor at WFAA, the Belo-owned station in the Metroplex.

Paige-ing Lisa To The KHKS Control Room, Please
Former CBS Top 40 WXRK jock LISA PAIGE jumps to 106.1 KISS FM KHKS.

KCOH sold to Catholic-oriented network
KCOH (1430 AM), which bills itself as the state's oldest African-American-owned, urban-formatted radio station, has been sold for $2.1 million to a Midland-based foundation.

Fusaro moves to Univision Houston
Stefano Fusaro is leaving his weekend sports anchor gig at Univision 23 in Miami to become the main sports anchor at Univision 45 Houston.

ESPN anchor joining CSN Houston
Former ESPN anchor Steve Bunin is joining Comcast SportsNet Houston as an anchor on its 6 and 10 p.m. “SportsNet Central” newscasts.
- CSN Houston stalemate continues; DirecTV CEO bashes high RSN fee requests

Houston Chronicle Prez Still Obsessing Transformation to a Top 50 Workplace, Cites Own Special Section As Handy Guide for Employees
John O"Loughlin, president of the Houston Chronicle, was apparently beside himself with bliss after this weekend's special section on the Top 50 Workplaces in Texas, calling it "stunning."

Houston: Thriving with auto and retail
The market didn't see much presidential political spending

EMF Expands To Dallas/Fort Worth
EMF Broadcasting, owners of the Christian AC “K-Love” and Christian CHR “Air-1” networks will soon launch one of them in parts of the Dallas/Fort Worth market.

Major cost cuts at Cox radio; popular DJs axed
Holy disc jockey! What’s becoming of all your favorite San Antonio radio personalities?

KEYE’s Bob Ballou, the funny guy
KEYE Sports Director Bob Ballou talks about his effort to put a smile on someone’s face each day.

Meet the Austin columnist who voted as Big Bird
That’s Austin American-Statesman humor columnist John Kelso in the Big Bird suit.

KFOX reporter Ric Dupont resigns after arrest at airport
Ric Dupont, the Channel 14-KFOX reporter recently arrested on suspicion of public intoxication, has resigned from the station, a KFOX official said.

El Paso Times names a new reporter
Lorena Figueroa is now a reporter for El Paso Times.

East Texas Radio Community Mourns the Loss of Fellow Broadcaster
The East Texas radio community is mourning the loss of one of our fellow broadcasting partners today. Longtime production director for Townsquare Media – Tyler/Longview, Chris Dyer, passed away yesterday (11/7) after a lengthy illness.

MOVING
KIAH 39 chief photographer Shannon Runyon is moving on to her post TV life. She is moving to Park City, Utah and starting a production company called Eclectic Brew. Runyon is very talented and I'm sure she will do well.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- KPRC 2 puts photogs on air
- KPRC's Andy Cerota talks moving stations & new anchor gig
- The list of turkeys in the Houston media?
- Fox 26's Natalie Bomke talks shirtless men and morning news
- 2012 Lone Star EMMY winners
- 2012 Texas Radio Hall of Fame induction
- PICS: Anna-Megan Raley is the biggest Houston media turkey!
- KHOU 11 wins 13 EMMY awards
- Fox 26 KRIV launches new graphics

Fox 26 KRIV launches new graphics

Fox 26 KRIV launched new graphics Monday. Check out some stills below:

KHOU 11 wins 13 EMMY awards, more than any other Houston TV station

The team at KHOU 11 took home the honor of News Excellence at the 10th Annual Lone Star EMMY Awards Gala on Saturday night in Dallas. Altogether, KHOU 11 won 13 Lone Star EMMY Awards in various categories – topping all other stations in the Houston market.

“We are obviously extremely proud of our folks who were honored this weekend, as we are of the many nominees who represented our station,” said Phil Bruce, KHOU 11 Executive News Director. “We’re especially proud of the News Excellence Award, which recognizes our entire newsroom and the product we all work on together.”

Of the 13 honors, seven were presented to reporter Kevin Reece, an impressive feat that included awards for General Assignment Report, Spot News, Feature News, Human Interest Story, On-Camera Talent and Writing.

Lone Star EMMY Awards are presented by the Lone Star Chapter of the National Television Academy and aim to recognize news excellence across the state of Texas. To see a complete list of winners and nominees, visit www.LoneStarEmmy.org.

Congratulations to KHOU 11’s Lone Star EMMY Award recipients:

NEWS EXCELLENCE
KHOU Stands For Houston - News Excellence

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORT - WITHIN 24 HOURS
Avery's Bucket List
Kevin Reece, Reporter
Kyle Porter, Photographer/Editor

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORT - NO TIME LIMIT
Galveston Teen Crash
Courtney Zubowski, Reporter
Kyle Porter, Photographer

SPOT NEWS
Bayou Rescue
Kevin Reece, Reporter

FEATURE NEWS REPORT - SERIOUS FEATURE
Confessions Of A Bank Robber
KHOU
Kevin Reece, Reporter
Todd Rogenthien, Photographer/Editor

CHILDREN/YOUTH/TEEN - PROGRAM FEATURE/SEGMENT
Younger Girls Are Cutting
Sherry Williams, Reporter
Kyle Porter, Photographer

HISTORIC/CULTURAL - NEWS SINGLE STORY/SERIES/FEATURE
10 Years After 9/11
Brad Woodard, Reporter

HUMAN INTEREST - NEWS SINGLE STORY/FEATURE
Into The Line Of Fire
Kevin Reece, Reporter
Todd Rogenthien, Photographer

PROMOTION: PROGRAM - IMAGE
KHOU Stands For Houston-Lyle Lovett
Dale Lockett, Executive Producer

EDITOR - NEWS - WITHIN 24 HOURS
Kyle Porter M-F 2:30-11
Kyle Porter, Editor

ON-CAMERA TALENT - REPORTER - FEATURES / HUMAN INTEREST
Kevin Reece - Reporter/Features
Kevin Reece, Reporter

ON-CAMERA TALENT - REPORTER - GENERAL ASSIGNMENT / SPOT NEWS
Kevin Reece - Reporter
Kevin Reece, Reporter

WRITER - NEWS
Kevin Reece - Writing
Kevin Reece, Writer

RELATED
- 2012 Lone Star EMMY winners
- 2012 Lone Star EMMY nominees list

(This post is from a release sent to me by KHOU)

PICS: Anna-Megan Raley is the biggest Houston media turkey!

I finally know who the biggest turkey in the Houston media is after all of these months.

Drum roll please...it is the Houston Chronicle/CBS Radio's Anna-Megan Raley! She won the Houston media turkey calling contest which took place last Saturday at the Houston Zoo (see photos of all the Houston media participants above).

As you probably know by now, I have teamed up with TXU Energy to help get the word out about its TXU Energy Turkey Trot benefiting Sheltering Arms Senior Services. The race takes place at Dillard’s near the Galleria on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012.

Raley will have the opportunity to designate a public place to have a tree planted by TXU Energy and the Texas Trees Foundation.

She was up against:

KPRC 2
Andy Cerota
KHOU 11
Lily Jang
KTRK 13
Casey Curry
Fox 26 KRIV
Natalie Bomke
Houston Press/KIAH 39
Craig Hlavaty
KUBE 57
Todd Freed

If the name of the participant has a link - click on it to read an interview with them.

Cowboy Dave from 100.3 KILT was the emcee of the event.

Get all the details for the race and Sheltering Arms Senior Services at http://turkeytrot.shelteringarms.org/.

(This post has been sponsored by TXU Energy. Learn more about the company at txu.com.)

2012 Texas Radio Hall of Fame induction

What a busy weekend it is for Texas broadcasting and media!

Earlier today I posted the 2012 Lone Star EMMY winners for the TV world but Texas radio was represented Saturday too.

The 2012 Texas Radio Hall of Fame inductees were celebrated at their induction held this year in San Antonio.

Congrats to the inductees!

2012 Lone Star EMMY winners

Here are the 10th Annual Lone Star EMMY Awards winners for 2012.

SEE THE LIST

Congrats to all!

While you're here, see the 2011 9th Annual Lone Star EMMY Awards winners.

RELATED
2012 Lone Star EMMY nominees list

KTRK 13 morning anchors try turkey calls on live TV

KTRK 13 morning crew Casey Curry, Tom Koch, Sharron Melton and Don Nelson try to work their turkey calling magic live on air! Curry brought in the calls Friday because she's participating in the TXU Houston media turkey calling contest TODAY:

10am TODAY
November 10th
Houston Zoo's Butterfly Stage in the Children’s Zoo

The media winner will have the opportunity to designate a public place to have a tree planted by TXU Energy and the Texas Trees Foundation.

It's all to help get the word out about the upcoming TXU Energy Turkey Trot benefiting Sheltering Arms Senior Services. The race takes place at Dillard’s near the Galleria on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012.

Come by this morning and see the fun. You can participate in a turkey calling contest too.

Click for a list of all the other Houston media turkey calling participants.

Get all the details for the race and Sheltering Arms Senior Services at http://turkeytrot.shelteringarms.org/.

(This post has been sponsored by TXU Energy. Learn more about the company at txu.com.)

Fox 26's Natalie Bomke talks shirtless men and morning news

I’m teaming up with TXU Energy to help get the word out about the upcoming TXU Energy Turkey Trot benefiting Sheltering Arms Senior Services. The race takes place at Dillard’s near the Galleria on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012.

That means I'm also promoting the Houston media turkey calling contest (The contest will be 10am, Saturday, November 10th at the Houston Zoo - Butterfly Stage in the Children’s Zoo).

The media winner will have the opportunity to designate a public place to have a tree planted by TXU Energy and the Texas Trees Foundation.

KRIV FOX 26 Morning News' Natalie Bomke is a participant in the turkey calling contest. She talks with me about anchoring the morning shift and what she likes about Houston.

Mike McGuff: FOX 26 has a big morning show - in terms of number of hours and the number people on air during those times - how do you all juggle it?

Natalie Bomke: “FOX26 Morning News” isn’t just a 6-hour newscast, it’s a 24-hour operation. When “FOX26 News at 9p.m.” with Don and Melinda wraps up, our 4 and 5am producers arrive. The producers, along with our assignment desk, monitor network news feeds, Twitter, Facebook, local papers, police scanners (and the coffee machine) to provide new content for our morning news program.

There is a producer for each hour of the show, so you can bet that behind every (great) FOX26 anchor is a team of experienced producers developing unique news content for the viewer.

My co-anchor, Chris Stipes and I, deliver the news at 4,5 and 6am. And then, kind of like a rock band, Mike Iscovitz is on weather, Michelle Merhar is on traffic and Ford Atkinson and Andrea Watkins are out on the streets presenting either developing stories or hot topics that impact the viewers. Jose Grinan and Melissa Wilson pick up anchor duty at 7am, and then Melissa and Mike co-anchor “FOX26 Morning News Extra” at 9 a.m. In all, we have a team of about 40 people working on “FOX26 Morning News.” I like to think the imagination of our morning team though makes it more like 140.
(We’re still trying to figure out how Mike can do impressions of nearly all of our co-workers between his weather forecasts.)

Morning television anchors must be ready to wake up the audience and keep the show moving. What's your secret to having energy that early in the morning?

I have been anchoring a morning newscast for six years now and the hours never get any easier. That said, I adore my co-workers and spending 8 hours a day with them is incentive enough to get out of bed. With a six-hour newscast, there is always something to do. My favorite (extra) responsibility is live reporting, especially if it involves firemen, police officers or cats. Not all at the same time though. That would be too much.

Having worked in Houston a few years now, what are your thoughts on the city? Are you feeling settled in?

I love Texas! People complain about the weather, but growing up in Central Illinois, I’d take the heat over waking up in the mid-30’s any day! Using a credit card to scrape ice off your windshield, wearing heels and two pairs of pantyhose, is not my idea of a good time. But, I do miss my family.

I love the patriotism of this city. People here stand their ground. They are proud of their beliefs and their freedoms. This is what unites us as a city. I love the southern cooking, the Cajun influences and life by the Gulf. The Texas economy is strong and there are so many inspiring entrepreneurs in our midst.

But my favorite thing (and no, I’m not getting paid to say this) is my job. I LOVE IT! FOX26 is the best television station I’ve worked for during my career.  I have never met a more caring and compassionate group of people. The reporters genuinely care about the people they profile in their stories.
The engineers and photographers and directors, everyone, is here because news is a career they love. The support is overwhelming.

And, if I had to choose a runner-up “thing” to love about our city, it would be all the men at Memorial Park who think it’s a good idea to run shirtless. I’ve never encountered so many, anywhere else I’ve lived. But, it’s an idea I totally support!

See YOU in the morning!

------------------------------------------

Thanks Natalie!

Click for a list of all the other Houston media turkey calling participants.

Come by Saturday and see the fun. You can participate in a turkey calling contest too.

Get all the details for the race and Sheltering Arms Senior Services at http://turkeytrot.shelteringarms.org/.

(This post has been sponsored by TXU Energy. Learn more about the company at txu.com.)

The list of turkeys in the Houston media?

I've been looking for the top turkey in Houston media since September and it looks like I'm about to end my quest.

As you probably know by now, I’m teaming up with TXU Energy to help get the word out about the upcoming TXU Energy Turkey Trot benefiting Sheltering Arms Senior Services. The race takes place at Dillard’s near the Galleria on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012.

That means I'm also promoting the Houston media turkey calling contest this Saturday:

10am
November 10th
Houston Zoo's Butterfly Stage in the Children’s Zoo

The media winner will have the opportunity to designate a public place to have a tree planted by TXU Energy and the Texas Trees Foundation.

Here is the list of Houston media participants:

KPRC 2

Andy Cerota

Mark Boyle

KHOU 11

Lily Jang

KTRK 13

Casey Curry

Fox 26 KRIV

Natalie Bomke

Houston Press/KIAH 39

Craig Hlavaty

KUBE 57

Todd Freed

Houston Chronicle/CBS Radio's

Anna-Megan Raley

I had a great time interviewing participants about things going on in their life. Click on the above names with links for more information on them.

Come by Saturday and see the fun. You can participate in a turkey calling contest too.

Get all the details for the race and Sheltering Arms Senior Services at http://turkeytrot.shelteringarms.org/.

(This post has been sponsored by TXU Energy. Learn more about the company at txu.com.)

KPRC's Andy Cerota talks moving stations & new anchor gig

I’m teaming up with TXU Energy to help get the word out about the upcoming TXU Energy Turkey Trot benefiting Sheltering Arms Senior Services. The race takes place at Dillard’s near the Galleria on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012.

That means I'm also promoting the Houston media turkey calling contest (The contest will be 10am, Saturday, November 10th at the Houston Zoo - Butterfly Stage in the Children’s Zoo).

The media winner will have the opportunity to designate a public place to have a tree planted by TXU Energy and the Texas Trees Foundation.

KPRC 2 anchor Andy Cerota will be participating in the media contest this Saturday. Cerota talked with me about moving from one Houston TV station to another (KTRK 13 to KPRC 2) and his new anchor gig.

Mike McGuff: So how is it settling in at a station 'across the street?'

Andy Cerota: Wow, it's been fantastic! I can't believe it's been almost 5 months! I hit the ground running from day one.

I've been afforded some great new opportunities at KPRC and I couldn't have asked for a smoother transition. I've never gone "across the street" before so for me, this is uncharted territory but I am so fortunate.

I went from working with a great group of hard-working, talented journalists to working with another great group of hard-working, talented journalists. It's a win-win situation. Everyone at Local 2 welcomed me into the family with open arms.

How is life as an anchor?

I'm thoroughly enjoying my new role. It's been fun and extremely rewarding on both a personal and professional level.

Lauren, Anthony, Jennifer, Daniel, our executive producer and Mia, our midday producer, made me feel comfortable from the get go. They gave me a big on-air welcome when I started and they've all treated me like a valued member of the team since day one. If it sounds like I'm laying it on thick, guess what, I am!

The days where we've got a lot of big, breaking news have been some of the best, especially during fluid situations that are changing by minute. There have been so many recently. I've grown so much as a journalist and as an anchor in the short time I've been at KPRC because of my colleagues and because of those moments.

------------------------------------------

Thanks Andy!

Also participating from KPRC will be morning reporter Mark Boyle. I'll have a full list of all the participants later this week!

Come by Saturday and see the fun. You can participate in a turkey calling contest too.

Get all the details for the race and Sheltering Arms Senior Services at http://turkeytrot.shelteringarms.org/.

(This post has been sponsored by TXU Energy. Learn more about the company at txu.com.)

KPRC 2 puts photogs on air

Credit @MaryBenton

I think everyone in the TV business has seen this one coming - photographers going on air. Many I've talked to over the years actually fear this scenario.

But if you find a photog with the right personality - it can work. WAFB in Baton Rouge put photog/blogger Rick Portier on air to much success.

KPRC 2 in Houston is doing it too. Morning photog Damon Sales has a "morning cam" segment where he voices over scenes live on the air. As far as I know, he does not actually appear on camera.

I reached out to KPRC 2 news director Deborah Collura for more info but did not hear back from her (it is sweeps after all and she's in charge of all of the Post-Newsweek news departments).

 However Mike Guerrieri, Vice President/Creative Services Director for the station, told me photographer and "very talented guy" Byron Nichols is also doing the same kind of segment on the night newscasts.

Guerrieri says Nichols and Sales started doing the segments at the same time which I believe was during this past summer.

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Press Club of Dallas presented program featuring five women TV news directors
Larissa Hall of KDAF-CW was there. So were Carolyn Mungo of WFAA-ABC, Adrienne Roark of KTVT-CBS, Susan Tully of KXAS-NBC and Robin Whitmeyer of KDFW-FOX. They are the nation’s first group of all-women network television affiliate news directors to serve in one market.

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KILT-AM stream shows up in Arbitrons; Gow touts sports media’s future
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- KTRK 13's Casey Curry talks engagement & doggie tweets
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- Where is KTRK's Wayne Dolcefino and 13 Undercover?
- Where's KHOU's Leigh Frillici?
- TV's Alan Hemberger becomes radio DJ

Houston TV manager shake up at multiple stations

Lots happening in the Houston TV news management ranks lately.

First, KPRC 2 assistant creative services director John Sweeney has left the Post-Newsweek Houston station for KMOV in St. Louis.

"I feel privileged to be a small part of the turnaround at KPRC, a station still on the upswing," Sweeney told mikemcguff.com. "Houston has turned into a true top 10 market during my time here."

Sweeney came to Houston from managing the creative services department at WVIT in Connecticut. Before that he worked at the Fox News Channel since the network's sign on. Sweeney was the executive producer of the channel's ad and promo department. He also served as a segment producer for weekend programming. Covering 9/11 at the network will always be a defining moment of his career. He is a graduate of Fordham University.

"Local 2 continues to grow by leaps and bounds in the marketplace as evidenced by our always growing viewership and presence across all social platforms," Sweeney added. "I give thanks to my team and to [KPRC Vice President/Creative Services Director] Mike Guerrieri for putting me in a position to welcome this new challenge at KMOV. I know the same success will follow me to the St. Louis media landscape."

Sweeney's wife, Ginny, also works for KPRC as a special projects producer/editor. She's actually just returning to work after maternity leave for 2-month-old John Francis Sweeney V. Congrats to the Sweeney's for the new addition and gig.

FOX 26 KRIV

Fox 26 KRIV is losing its news operations manager to retirement. Alice Web has been at the Fox owned and operated station for 23 years. She has also worked as a photographer at KUHT 8 and KHOU 11 according to her LinkedIn profile. Her big send off was last week.

KTRK 13

Since we are talking technical, I just found out that former KTRK 13 Vice President and Director of Engineering/Manager Broadcast Technology Chuck Primrose is now the Chief Broadcast Engineer for 12th Man Productions in the Texas A&M Athletic Department.

Houston Press

And while not TV news, last week the Houston Press tweeted that managing editor Cathy Matusow is leaving the alt weekly after 10 years. The tweet ends with, "the hole she will leave is immeasurable." (Thanks to PR Fairy @farbulous)

As I've said before, I'm not clairvoyant. Please let me know of any other personnel changes hitting the Houston media scene.

TV's Alan Hemberger becomes radio DJ

OCTOBER 21, 2013
Alan Hemberger has died

Tom Petty called Los Angeles radio man Jim Ladd The Last DJ. So now I'm calling newly minted radio disc jockey Alan Hemberger The Last DJ who worked as a Houston TV anchor.

Hemberger, who worked at places like KTRK 13, KIAH 39 and Entertainment Tonight left Houston for California last May. The former newsman is now retired and has traded in the anchor desk and IFB for a radio microphone.

"The Pacific Coast Highway is out one window, the ocean out the other," Hemberger told mikemcguff.com. "I'm returning to my first love and roots. Hope to do some high school play by play too."

Hemberger is returning to his roots at 93.5 KXRN which is billed as the non-commercial, FM community radio station of Laguna. The station plays Generational Alt Rock from the 1960s to today.

'The Laguna Beach Blues Boy' as Hemberger is now known, spins tunes from the likes of Howling' Wolf, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters to Led Zeppelin, The Stones, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. I'm already requesting some Doors.

Aside from broadcasting, instead of driving the concrete jungles of Highway 59 or Loop 610, Hemberger tells me he now walks to play golf, go to the beach or the store. Sounds rough.

Catch Hemberger on the air or Internet Friday 9pm to 12am Pacific time or 11pm to 2am Central at kx935.com.

On another Houston note, I was listening to Hemberger's show and who did I discover is the voice of KXRN? Houston's own voice over magnate Dave Crockett!

OCTOBER 21, 2013
Alan Hemberger has died

Where's KHOU's Leigh Frillici?

Yesterday I asked where KTRK 13 Undercover's Wayne Dolcefino has been. Now I'm looking for KHOU 11 reporter Leigh Frillici.

Two sources confirm to me Frillici's bio was removed from khou.com last week. When I asked a KHOU 11 representative about Frillici's departure, I was told she left the Belo Houston station months ago. In fact she officially left the CBS affiliate in February but filled in a few times during the spring.

According to her bio, Frillici joined KHOU 11 News as a general assignment reporter in 2007. She received several Lone Star Emmy nominations for her work. Before KHOU, Frillici anchored at WGGB in Springfield, Massachusetts. She also reported for WTNH and WFSB in Connecticut. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Frillici worked as an associate producer at CBS and MSNBC. She is married to a Rice University professor.

Frillici stated in her bio that her favorite part about working in television news is meeting incredible people every day.

"Often, we talk to people who are facing some of the toughest things they'll ever face in their lives," she wrote. "I can't tell you the countless people I've met who handle life's curve balls with such grace."

My favorite Frillici story was the sweeps piece where she interviewed my wife about too much plastic surgery. Paging Dr. Franklin Rose (he was interviewed too and what is wild is that I posted about it one year ago today - someone should do a sweeps piece on numerology because of this strange coincidence [or is it?]).

I reached out to Frillici via Facebook to find out what she's up to now, but did not hear back. Frillici's LinkedIn profile still lists her as a current KHOU reporter.

UPDATE
Frillici tells me she did not renew with KHOU because she has two young children and wants to concentrate on them for now. She did tell the station she's available for fill-in work.