March 24, 2000

A survey taken by AccuWeather.com found that people are four times more likely to watch a comedy on TV on rainy days; talk shows rule on foggy days; drama is tops when the sky is clear.
(SF Chronicle)

March 23, 2000

"I made sure, in my early 20s, even before I was successful with 'Body Heat,' that I would not date actors because I know how selfish they are. During a shoot, I always found a member of the crew was a better bet. I found lighting technicians were usually accessible."

-- Actress Kathleen Turner

If you thought commercials on television were getting longer, they are --longer and more frequent. The number of commercials running during a prime time hour now averages 16 minutes and 45 seconds, more than ever before. Daytime ads were even higher: 20 minutes and 53 seconds per hour. And there were increases across the board in network news, late night and early morning dayparts. Even advertisers are beginning to resist the clutter, calling it the hidden cost of overload as viewers begin to tune out.

January 6, 2000

A KUTV photographer covering First Night festivities in Salt Lake City on New Year's Eve got dumped on -- literally. When he finished filming late Friday, he entered a portable outhouse on 200 South and West Temple. His camera strapped to his back, he was about to do his business when the outhouse suddenly was tipped over by pranksters. Falling backward onto the camera, the photographer was covered with human waste. Security guards rescued the photographer, who suffered gashes on his head and leg, and will need a hepatitis A shot. Salt Lake City police are searching for the pranksters, who could be liable for the $40,000 camera. KUTV bought the unfortunate camera operator new clothing.
From The Salt Lake Tribune

July 14, 1999

CBS affiliate WBTV celebrates its 50th anniversary Thursday, July 15, 1999. Broadcasting from Charlotte, NC, the nation's 28th largest TV market, WBTV currently serves 2 million people within a 22-county reach. From its inaugural sign-on through today, WBTV has always been affiliated with CBS. Fifty years ago...a young announcer stepped up to a microphone and said, "This is WBTV...Charlotte, NC...signing on Channel 3 television from Charlotte, the Queen City of the South." So began the first scheduled broadcast of a TV station in the Carolinas.

WBTV boasts may pioneering efforts in Charlotte during the past 50 years...the first, live network program, the first use of videotape, the first local live color program, the first station to mount a live camera in a NASCAR stock car, the first to broadcast in stereo sound, the first to debut closed captioning for the hearing impaired in its nightly newscasts. In 1997, WBTV was granted the first commercial permit in the U.S. for construction of a digital TV station. WBTV-DT, Channel 23, began official transmission on November 1, 1998. WBTV and WBTV-DT are owned and operated by Jefferson-Pilot Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jefferson-Pilot Corporation.

March 18, 1999

In 1949, a Birmingham, Alabama, radio station jumped on the bandwagon of what some called a passing fad: television. Now 50 years later, WVTM is preparing to celebrate its half-century milestone as the first television station in the state. On May 22, 1999, the station will air a one-hour retrospective of the station's history.

Highlights will include vintage footage, stories told by employees spanning several generations and a look at some of the top stories WVTM has covered over the years. But in order to help us accomplish this, we need some help. We're looking for former employees (talent, videographers, managers... anybody!) to give us their take on central Alabama and what it was like to work for WVTM. We're also looking for anybody who may have video archives of WVTM milestones and events.

If you've worked for WVTM (now known as NBC13) and you want to participate (especially if you have tape), please contact Amoi Geter, Senior Producer of Special Projects, immediately. Her phone number is (205) 558-7315.

First Woman Network President

August 1, 1998
ABC has appointed Patricia Fili-Krushel as president, the first woman to lead a major television network and one with far greater authority over what goes on the air than her predecessor.

Fili-Krushel has been president of ABC's daytime TV division since 1993 and previously held executive posts at Lifetime Television and HBO.

"I haven't run into a glass ceiling or had those kinds of issues," she said. "But I think I feel a certain responsibility as a role model for other women. I'm looking forward to meeting the challenge."

Friday, July 31, 1998

Robert E. Smith, better known as Buffalo Bob Smith, the creator, host and alter-ego for "Howdy Doody," the most successful children's show in the history of television, died yesterday at a hospital in North Carolina, near his home. It's been nearly 51 years since Buffalo Bob's "Howdy Doody" debuted as the first nationally broadcast children's show. The show, which ran from 1947 until 1960, captivated children with songs, stories and unforgettable slapstick comedy.
From DFA Shop Talk

July 4, 1998

KGW announces the appearance of NewsStream 8, a live, 24-hour Northwest News 'video stream,' to its web site http://www.kgw.com

KGW and co-owned NorthWest Cable News is now available anywhere viewers have access to the Internet. KGW is the first in the Northwest to present and merge television with Internet technology and offer live, regional Northwest news 24-hours a day.

Once logged on to www.kgw.com, web viewers can watch KGW's live on-air newscasts Monday through Friday from 5:30-7 am; 12-1 pm, 5-6 pm; 6:30-7 pm and 11:00-11:30 pm (all times Pacific). Weekend newscasts are also available in real time as well the capability of the chance to recall a newscast from the past several days.
From ShopTalk

June 26, 1998

WTVM, Columbus, Georgia, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Friday, June 26th and Saturday, June 27th some 60 of the present and past news staff will have a reunion in Columbus. Former anchor Steve Beverly has been heading up the prep team for many months. Participants will be hosted at the station Friday night, enjoy a BBQ picnic Saturday, and have a banquet Saturday night.
(Dick Byrd- one of 7 former news directors who are attending)
From ShopTalk

From Daily Variety's Front Page June 23, 1998

PARAMOUNT CAPTURES 'HOGAN'S HEROES' By Andrew Hindes and Chris Petrikin
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Paramount Pictures, which has spun gold with big-screen adaptations of such vintage TV shows as ``The Addams Family'' and ``The Brady Bunch,'' is looking to take on '60s favorite ``Hogan's Heroes.'' The studio optioned rights to the hit CBS sitcom from Rysher Entertainment for producers Keith Samples, Jim Burke and Barry London. The producers are seeking a writer to adapt it into an action-comedy feature.

MARKS CARSEY-WERNER FILM DEBUT HOLLYWOOD (Variety) -
Carsey-Werner Moving Pictures has acquired ``Teenage Idol,'' the chronicle of Ricky Nelson's life, which it plans as its first theatrical feature with production to begin this fall. The script by Floyd Mutrux will encompass Nelson's life as the youngest son of ``Ozzie and Harriet'' fame through to his tragic death in 1985.

Latina Heads LA Station

Diana L. Vargas, Vice President and General Manager of KTTV/FOX 11 in Los Angeles, was saluted June 5, 1998, as the first Latina to manage an English-language television station in a major market. L.A. is the country's second largest television market.

50 Years of Broadcasting

New York City's WPIX/Channel 11 celebrated its 50th year of broadcasting on June 15. In 1948 station technicians turned on cameras for the first time to cover launch parties for the station, attended by notables like Ed Sullivan, Gloria Swanson, Basil Rathbone, Fred Allen and Arthur Godfrey.

Sportscaster Lacks Bite

June 16, 1998. Warner Wolf, sportscaster on WCBS-TV, found his dentures were slipping out while he was reading the 11 o'clock news Friday night. Apparently he had just been to the dentist to have the bridge glued in, but it popped out while he was on the air. He replaced it during a video tape and continued with the news.