More Morning News Expansions
By Michael Page | September 1, 2010
FOX 25 announced today that its morning show will be on 5.5 hours a day (Monday through Friday) beginning September 20.
The expanded Morning News show will begin at 4:30 AM, and end at 10 AM. The morning news expansion comes days after WCVB announced it would begin its Eyeopener at 4:30 AM, and a few months after NECN and WBZ also moved up their morning shows to 4:30.
That leaves only WHDH starting its news at the more traditional 5 AM.
Topics: WFXT (Channel 25) | 14 Comments »
Boston Remains Market 7
By Michael Page | August 28, 2010
Nielsen announced on Friday that Boston remains market 7 for the 2010-2011 broadcast season. In fact, there were no changes in rank for any of the top 10 markets.
Within the top 20 markets there was only one change: Miami moved up one spot to 16, knocking Denver down to 17. I am still searching for a link to the entire DMA list, so if anyone finds one, please send it along!
On a broader note, 1 million new television households will come online this year, bringing the total to 115.9 million. The total number of viewers (P2+) increased 2 million to 294,650,000.
Topics: National | 5 Comments »
Shelburne Leaves NECN
By Michael Page | August 27, 2010
The prime-time anchor team at NECN is changing after Beth Shelburne recently left the station.
Shelburne, who joined NECN in 2006 and has most recently been the station’s prime-time co-anchor, is heading back to Birmingham, Alabama where she was born and raised.
She will anchor the 9 and 10 PM news at WBRC-TV, the local Fox affiliate, in addition to working on special project reports.
Beth says, “I’m thrilled with the opportunity to work for a winning station and be closer to family.”
Topics: NECN | 11 Comments »
WCVB Starting Earlier
By Michael Page | August 25, 2010
First it was NECN, then it was WBZ, and now WCVB will also be starting its weekday morning newscasts at 4:30 AM.
Beginning Tuesday September 7, WCVB’s Eyeopener will air from 4:30 AM to 7:00 AM Monday through Friday.
The weekend Eyeopener will have an hour added to its schedule, meaning it will air from 5-8 AM.
WCVB’s News Director Andrew Vrees says that “people are up earlier in the morning — whether they are heading to the gym or off to work,” hence the need for more morning news.
Topics: WCVB (Channel 5) | 48 Comments »
Fox 25 Departures
By Michael Page | August 24, 2010
Reporters have been added to the FOX 25 roster over the past few weeks, but now the list of departures is growing.
Jim Armstrong is leaving FOX 25 after his 11 PM live shot tonight, according to a FOX 25 photographer. This comes as no surprise, as we have known since November that he would be parting with WFXT. Jim is moving on to FOX 29 in Philadelphia.
Alison Bologna has also left WFXT. She has returned to WJAR in Providence, where she will be working on a new show that debuts on September 6. Ironically she’ll be working with former Fox 25-er Dan Jaehnig.
Meanwhile, station insiders tell me that Erin Hawksworth is leaving the station on September 1. Neither Erin nor WFXT would comment on this report.
Topics: WFXT (Channel 25) | 18 Comments »
New FOX 25 Reporters
By Michael Page | August 16, 2010
Two new general assignment reporters have joined WFXT-TV this summer.
The most recent, Shannon Mulaire, comes to FOX 25 from WTVT in Tampa, Florida. Before that she worked in Fort Myers. Shannon graduated from Wellesely College, so she is no stranger to Boston.
Nicole Jacobs, most recently of WTIC in Hartford, also joined WFXT this summer.
Topics: WFXT (Channel 25) | 21 Comments »
Atwater Hired Full Time
By Michael Page | August 13, 2010
WCVB-TV announced yesterday that freelance reporter John Atwater is joining Newscenter 5 as a full time reporter effective September 6.
Atwater, who last worked in Philadelphia, has worked at WCVB as a freelancer since November 2009.
Sorry for the delay in posting this information, but I am currently in Guatemala and will not be back until Sunday evening.
Topics: WCVB (Channel 5) | 16 Comments »
Aesthetic Refresh for WBZ
By Michael Page | August 2, 2010
WBZ made some minor changes to its news open this week. The new open includes diamond shaped lower third features, and a slightly different musical cut.
Another potential aesthetic change lies ahead for WBZ as well. NewsByte2, a television news blog out of New York, linked to WCBS-TV’s new website which is set to launch soon (see it here). The new site links WCBS-TV and several CBS owned NYC radio stations into one very clean looking website. It seems plausible that a similar change may be made here in Boston if all goes well in the Big Apple, as WBZ-TV/WSBK-TV could link up with radio stations ranging from ‘BZ radio to The Sports Hub.
To WBZ’s credit, they have remained active in keeping their website attractive, and reasonably easy to navigate. Far more so, at least in my opinion, than WCVB’s now antiquated website and WFXT’s less than appealing site. Like WBZ, WHDH recently streamlined its website to become more user friendly and interesting.
Please feel free to chime in on what you like or dislike about station websites.
Topics: WBZ (Channel 4), WCVB (Channel 5), WFXT (Channel 25), WHDH (Channel 7), WSBK (Channel 38) | 33 Comments »
Reinforcements for Pats Season
By Michael Page | July 30, 2010
WBZ is calling in some reinforcements for Patriots season. Levan Reid joined the sports department this week as a freelancer. He will cover the Pats for WBZ throughout the season.
Reid, who worked in Boston years ago, recently spent several years at WUSA-TV in Washington, DC.
Topics: WBZ (Channel 4) | 15 Comments »
July Sweeps In
By Michael Page | July 29, 2010
The July sweeps period was the same old song and dance in Boston. For the sixth straight month WCVB won all newscasts in terms of total viewers. Here is the break down for total viewers Monday-Friday:
5-6 AM
WCVB: 55,000
WHDH: 34,000
WFXT: 20,000
WBZ: 17,000
6-7 AM
WCVB: 94,000
WHDH: 72,000
WBZ: 41,000
WFXT: 40,000
7-9 AM
WHDH (Today): 94,000
WCVB (GMA): 71,000
WFXT (Local): 52,000
WBZ (Early): 23,000
Noon
WCVB: 85,000
WBZ: 77,000
WHDH: 67,000
5-6 PM
WCVB: 119,000
WHDH: 96,000
WBZ: 78,000
6 PM
WCVB: 171,000
WHDH: 109,000
WBZ: 92,000
11 PM
WCVB: 146,000
WHDH: 113,000
WBZ: 98,000
WFXT: 67,000
Sign on to Sign off (M-Su)
WCVB: 75,000
WHDH: 67,000
WBZ: 62,000
WFXT: 34,000
Topics: WBZ (Channel 4), WCVB (Channel 5), WFXT (Channel 25), WHDH (Channel 7) | 32 Comments »
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