WKYC's Director's Cut with Frank Macek

News: Remembering Stephanie Tubbs Jones

2008-08-27T21:30:00.004-04:00

WKYC will present live coverage of the Memorial Service for Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones this Saturday beginning with Channel 3 News at 9 AM.

The Memorial Service at Cleveland Public Auditorium will follow the last public viewing earlier in the morning from 8 to 10:30 PM.

Channel 3 will provide live coverage from 11 AM until 1 PM both on the air and on-line at wkyc.com

News: Browns vs. Bears Thursday Night on WKYC

2008-08-27T19:26:00.006-04:00

Thursday night, it's the Browns final pre-season game as they take on the Chicago Bears at the Cleveland Browns Stadium. It's a game you will only see on Channel 3.

Beginning at 7 PM, we'll bring you the Pregame Huddle with Jim Donovan and Dave Chudowsky.

At 7:30 PM, Jim Donovan and Bernie Kosar will have the play by play in high definition.

Starting with the regular Browns season, we'll have you covered with the following weekly programs:

Browns Pregame Huddle: Sundays at 11:30 AM
Browns Tonight: Sunday at 11:30 PM
The Point After: Monday at 7 PM

Producer's Line: 8/27/08

2008-08-27T18:00:00.000-04:00

The "Producer's Line" is a feature that lets our evening newscast producers, reporters and anchors give you a look at some of the big stories we are working on for the newscast each night.

Producer Dan has this evening's preview of Channel 3 News at 11 PM:

Spotlight Feature: Behind the Scenes at the DNC

2008-08-25T17:09:00.005-04:00

With the Olympics behind us, we look forward to the Democratic National Convention all this week in Denver, Colorado.

Every night this week at 10 PM, NBC will devote an hour of prime time programming to cover the night's biggest events.

NBC Producer Geoff Mason gives you a "behind the scenes" tour at the Democratic National Convention.

News: Olympics Set TV Viewing Records

2008-08-25T16:01:00.005-04:00

The history books have closed on the 2008 Summer Olympics, but there are many notable moments that will go down as records.

NBC Universal tallied 214 million total viewers for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing over 17 days, solidifying it as the most watched event in U.S. TV history, according to Nielsen.

This tops the 1996 Atlanta Olympics at 209 million viewers and the 2004 Athens Games at 203 million.

MOST VIEWED EVENTS IN U.S. TV HISTORY:

1. 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 214 million (17 days)
2. 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, 209 million (17 days)
3. 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, 204 million (16 days)
4. 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, 203 million (17 days)
5. 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, 194 million (17 days)

Programming Change: Indians Game Causes Change of Prime Schedule

2008-08-25T15:32:00.005-04:00

CLEVELAND -- Due to tonight's Indians vs. Tigers game on WKYC, a few of NBC's Monday night primetime programs will air in other time slots.

*Deal or No Deal will air at 3:05 am late tonight/early Tuesday morning

*America's Toughest Jobs will air at 3:05 am late Tuesday/early Wednesday morning.

Should the Indians game run past 10 pm this evening, WKYC will join in progress NBC's coverage of the Democratic National Convention as soon as possible.

Video: Website lets users vote on creditability of news story

2008-08-22T21:21:00.004-04:00

The Internet has made everyone a critic.

From eBay ratings to music reviews to social networking sites and now, to the news media. A new site keeps track of and chronicles breaking news from all over the world.

That's handy, sure - but what makes it unusual is that users vote on how credible the information is.

The website address is: www.newscred.com

Update: Fired Philly TV anchor admits e-mail hacking

2008-08-22T17:25:00.003-04:00

We have an update on a story we first brought you at the end of May. Former WKYC anchor Dawn Stensland's husband Larry Mendte was fired by his station in Philadelphia after it was alleged that he secretly read his former co-anchors private emails. Again we stress Dawn was not involved in this in any way.

Today, we have the latest from The Associated Press:

A fired Philadelphia TV newscaster has admitted to hacking into his former co-anchor's e-mail accounts.

Larry Mendte has pleaded guilty to one count of illegally accessing a computer. He admits to illegally viewing hundreds of Alycia Lane's e-mails for more than two years, ending in May. The access came at a time when leaked information about Lane's personal life contributed to her own downfall.

Mendte and Lane co-anchored evening news for four years together at KYW, a CBS affiliate. The partnership ended after Lane was arrested in December following an alleged scuffle with New York police and was fired.

Mendte later lost his job and was charged by federal prosecutors. He faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison, but is likely to get much less.

Courtesy: AP

News: Friday Night Fever Time!

2008-08-21T21:54:00.005-04:00

Hard to believe summer is almost nearing an end. The days are getting shorter, but Friday Nights are getting hotter thanks to the return of WKYC's Friday Night Fever.

Starting this Friday at 11 PM (after the olympics), the best coverage of high school sports officially kicks off on Channel 3.

Join WKYC's Jim Donovan and Dave Chudowsky for the Predictors, Game of the Week and highlights from around Northeast Ohio stadiums.

Plus this year, WKYC has teamed up with our parent company, Gannett to bring you a brand new exciting website called "High School Sports.Net" - with the latest schedules, scores, team pages and a team shop to buy your team's gear.

Be sure to check out and bookmark our new site: highschoolsports.net or click on the banner below:

Director's Alert: WKYC to air special newscast at 5 PM; Watch Live on wkyc.com

2008-08-20T16:19:00.009-04:00

Update: Sadly, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones passed away this evening at 6:12 pm according to the Cleveland Clinic who released a statement announcing her death. Our heartfelt prayers to her family and friends.
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WKYC will air a special newscast at 5 PM updating viewers on Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who apparently has a brain aneurysm according to the hospital president and wkyc.com.

We'll provide the latest developments on her condition - as it was erraneously reported by every OTHER Cleveland market station and CNN that she had died earlier in the day. WKYC reported the facts, and respected the truth with responsible reporting that indicated she remained in critical condition.

Please join us at 5 PM, 6, 7 & 11 PM (at midnight) for comprehensive coverage. To read more on this developing story: CLICK HERE

We are providing you the opportunity to watch the newscast online: CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Director's Alert: Fire Forces Cleveland TV Station Off Air

2008-08-19T10:32:00.005-04:00

A fatal fire this morning in downtown Cleveland was also responsible for knocking WOIO/WUAB Channels 19 and 43 off the air for about an hour, according to the station's own website.

The fire broke out about 6 am this morning on the 13th floor of Reserve Square - a high rise mix of apartments and retail. The television studios are located in the basement of that building.

A 27 year old man died in the fire after food left on the stove apparently ignited.

According to wkyc.com, when crews arrived on scene and charged their fire hoses a water main broke. Crews were still able to extinguish the fire, but the water main caused the basement of The Reserve Square building and the WOIO/WUAB studios to flood.

For more of this story, CLICK HERE

From the Mailbag: Gannett Graphics Change

2008-08-18T22:42:00.004-04:00

From: Sam in Cleveland

Q: I don't know if you have heard about this yet, but I came across an article saying Gannett plans on adopting a new, uniform graphics package for all of its stations. I hope this is not the case with WKYC, as I like your in-house graphics. You have an extremely talented team there.

A: Yes, I am very aware of the article and what it means to us here at WKYC. Yes, Gannett has decided to institute a company-wide initiative with all our broadcast properties. This has been widely reported in the trade publications recently.

Starting later this year, we will begin using a hub situation where our graphics will be ordered from our station, but made in Denver and then sent back to us via our graphics network.

This is probably more a benefit for the smaller market stations than WKYC which has had a very talented art department that will be sorely missed as we move forward. In a lot of ways, this makes sense both economically and for efficiency reasons.

The new system will be based on Chyron's AXIS...but will be interfaced with the Deko graphic system that is currently in use by all of our Gannett stations.

I will be featuring the new system when we implement it here at WKYC. In the meantime, you can read a recent article on this from Reuters: CLICK HERE

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

News: Olympics a BIG hit on WKYC and NBC

2008-08-18T17:56:00.002-04:00

Just as Tiger Woods is good for golf ratings, Michael Phelps is great for Olympic ratings. Saturday night, as Phelps went for his historical 8th Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympics and his 14th Gold in his swimming career, NBC enjoyed its most viewed Saturday night in 18 years with 31.1 million tuning in, and jumping to 40 million during the half hour Phelps swam.

NBC has averaged 30 million viewers each night since the Olympics kicked off on August 8th, thanks in large part to Phelps and the gymnastics teams. NBC certainly is looking for its Week #2 darling as the Olympics heads into its second week.

What did NBC air 18 years ago that drew that kind of audience? It was an episode of "Empty Nest."

WKYC Reporter Celebrates Brother's Publishing Success

2008-08-14T21:23:00.003-04:00

The brother of WKYC's Jennifer Murphy, Richard Murphy, has written his first book and it's getting rave reviews.

The book, "Confessions of a Contractor"(Putnam; Publication date: Aug. 14th) is the story of Henry Sullivan, an unconventional contractor who renovates houses for wealthy women in Los Angeles.

Richard knows the topic well. Before becoming a successful screenwriter, he supported himself as a contractor.

Jennifer tells us "Both my husband and I read the book and just loved it. It has tremendous range and the characters, especially Henry Sullivan, are so likable."

The book is on sale at all major bookstores. Or, you can click on the following link and video to learn more: confessionsofacontractor.com

VIDEO FEATURE:

Courtesy: wkyc.com

WKYC Relaunches Mom Site on the Web

2008-08-14T20:49:00.005-04:00

Whether you've got back to school on the brain, or are looking for a new pediatric dentist - WKYC has a new and improved moms' website that can help.

North Coast Moms became "Cleveland Moms Like Me" in the early morning hours on August 14th. The new site offers more social networking for Northeast Ohio moms and their families.

The new website address is: cleveland.momslikeme.com

Some our new features include:

Groups: You can communicate in forums that are public and you can also create a private group among a close circle of friends. For example if you have your own Bunco club, you can create your own private group. Only you and folks in that group can communicate. Right now we have groups on diet and weight loss, working moms, and even a "laugh of the day" group!

My Stuff: Will be your very own "Dashboard," and you'll also have your personal profile page.

Coupons: We love this new feature. During these tough economic times we'll all appreciate the new feature.

Photos: The photos section allows users to upload their own galleries for their entire site, or if they choose, just for friends to see. Soon, you'll also be able to upload your own home videos too.

Gannett cutting 1,000 newspaper jobs

2008-08-14T18:18:00.002-04:00

The nation's largest newspaper publisher, and owner of WKYC-TV, is eliminating 1,000 jobs.

The latest cost-cutting move at Gannett includes 600 layoffs. The newspaper industry is trying to cope with declining revenues due to an economic slump and a continuing migration of advertising dollars online.

USA Today, the largest-circulation newspaper in the country, isn't affected by the latest round of cutbacks, but had 45 job cuts of its own last November.

The latest cuts will affect Gannett's other newspapers, which include 84 dailies such as The Arizona Republic and the Detroit Free Press as well as nearly 900 non-daily publications. Other major newspaper publishers have also been slashing jobs.

Courtesy: The Associated Press

Meet the NBC All Stars: Bob Costas

2008-08-11T21:17:00.007-04:00

In this edition of "Meet the NBC All Stars," we focus on a broadcaster who has been charged with handling goliath duties for the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.

This Olympics will be Bob Costas' eighth for NBC Sports and his seventh as primetime host. After serving as late night host in 1988 from Seoul, Costas has won acclaim and Emmy Awards each year for his work as primetime host from Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Salt Lake City, and Athens. Costas, who has the longest tenure of the network's sports announcers, joined NBC in 1980. He has handled a wide array of assignments, including play-by-play, studio hosting and reporting.

The 19-time Emmy Award winner is one of the most respected and honored broadcasters of his generation. In 2005, Costas was named host of NBC's "Football Night in America," an exclusive and complete look at each Sunday in the NFL. "Football Night in America" encompasses more than four hours of NFL coverage, including a primetime pre-game show and the premier primetime game of the week "NBC's Sunday Night NFL Football." Costas also co-hosts NBC's coverage of the U.S. Open, The Players Championship, Ryder Cup, Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

Costas first worked on NBC's coverage of Major League Baseball, the NFL and college basketball. From 1982-89, Costas teamed with analyst Tony Kubek on MLB "Game-of-the-Week" telecasts, forming one of baseball's most popular broadcast teams. During that time, he served as the play-by-play commentator for "Game of the Week" assignments and coverage of the American League Championship Series in 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989. He also hosted All-Star Game pre-game shows in those same years and World Series pre-games in 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1988.

Under the umbrella of The Baseball Network, Costas handled play-by-play chores for the 1994 All-Star Game and called 1995 Division Series and ALCS games on NBC. That year, he also called his first World Series on television, teaming with analysts Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker on Games 2, 3 and 6. The trio of Costas, Uecker and Morgan again joined in 1997 for NBC's exclusive coverage of the World Series, marking Costas' first start-to-finish coverage of the Fall Classic. The 1998 ALCS, 1999 NLCS, 1999 World Series and 2000 ALCS showcased the duo of Costas and Morgan. Costas and Morgan also called the 2000 Major League Baseball All-Star Game from Atlanta.

From 1984-92, Costas hosted NBC's NFL pre-game show, "NFL on NBC." In 1996, he returned to the NFL pre-game, contributing commentaries and interviews. He also hosted the pre-game shows for Super Bowls XX, XXIII and XXVII. From 1990-91 through the 1995-96 NBA season, Costas served as the host of "NBA Showtime," NBC Sports' pro basketball pre-game show. In November 1997, he moved from the studio to courtside to work as NBC's top play-by-play man for "NBA on NBC" game telecasts. Costas' call of Michael Jordan's game-winning shot at the buzzer in the deciding Game Six of the 1998 NBA Finals between Chicago and Utah was one of sportscasting's most memorable calls of the modern era. After three seasons as the lead NBA on NBC play-by-play voice - the last two and a half with acclaimed analyst Doug Collins - Costas volunteered to hand the NBA mike back over to the NBA's signature voice, Marv Albert, for the 2000-01 season.

Costas also originated the popular "Costas Coast-to-Coast" nationally syndicated Sunday night sports radio talk show, and served as a regular host of the program through mid-1996. From August 1988 through January 1994, he hosted his own Emmy Award-winning late-night interview television show, "Later with Bob Costas," on NBC. In 1994, Costas expanded his broadcasting duties at NBC. He contributed segments to a variety of NBC News programs, including the primetime newsmagazine, "Dateline." On occasion he still provides special interviews for NBC News'"Today."

Costas began his broadcasting career in 1974 at WSYR-TV and Radio in Syracuse, N.Y. He later joined KMOX Radio in St. Louis, working as play-by-play voice of the ABA Spirits of St. Louis. He also called play-by-play for one season of Chicago Bulls road-game telecasts. He then went on to handle regional NFL and NBA assignments for CBS Sports while acting as the radio voice of University of Missouri basketball from 1976 to 1981.

In April 2000, Costas' book, "Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball" made The New York Times Best Seller list. Net proceeds from the book were donated to B.A.T - Baseball Assistance Team, which provides financial assistance to those members of the baseball family in need. Costas has won Emmy Awards as "Outstanding Sports Personality/Host" in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. He won his first Emmy for play-by-play work on his call of the 1997 World Series; and won Emmys for writing in 1988 and 1995. The latter award was for his moving tribute to the late Mickey Mantle on "NBC Nightly News." In addition to his 17 Sports Emmy Awards, Costas' interview program "Later with Bob Costas" won the 1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series.

Costas has been honored as "Sportscaster of the Year" by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association a record eight times. He won first in 1985, when at 33 years-old he became the youngest person to win the award. He added awards in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997 and 2000. In March 2000, Costas was named "Favorite Sportscaster" at the TV Guide Awards, based on balloting by readers of TV Guide magazine.

One of television's most gifted interviewers, Costas won acclaim as host of HBO's "On The Record," a weekly show on which Costas interviewed luminaries from the worlds of sports, entertainment and politics. He recently began hosting "CostasNOW," on HBO, a monthly one-hour sports magazine program. Costas also hosted HBO's "Inside the NFL" from 2002-08. In 2005, he also signed on with CNN as a substitute for Larry King on "Larry King Live."

Costa's combination of wit and intelligence have made him a popular guest on the talk show circuit from his memorable play-by-play call of elevator races on "Late Night with David Letterman" to his current appearances on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

Costas attended Syracuse University.

Courtesy: NBC

News: Channel 3 Job Openings

2008-08-08T17:56:00.000-04:00

WKYC has several job openings if you are looking for a rewarding career experience with us at the market's most "state of the art" digital broadcast center.

Current WKYC Job Openings:

For complete job descriptions and application procedures, be sure to visit our WKYC Career Page: CLICK HERE

News: WKYC offers Monica Robin's Health News Online

2008-08-08T17:55:00.005-04:00

Health News is one of the most important news features that viewers and readers are interested in on-line. WKYC keeps you informed with Senior Health Correspondent Monica Robins.

WKYC has built a new online Health Channel that provides you both reports from Monica and exclusive reports from our partnership with NBC and CNN and health reporters across the nation.

You find the player on wkyc.com/news/health or CLICK HERE

You can also find Monica on Facebook.

News: Browns vs. Jets on WKYC Tonight

2008-08-07T12:08:00.003-04:00

CLEVELAND -- The preseason opening game is here and you can catch all the excitement on Channel 3 starting at 7 p.m.

The Jets have a new quarterback, Brett Favre -- and have scheduled a news conference at Browns Stadium to introduce him later Thursday.

Here's the line up for tonight:

7 p.m.: Browns Pre Game (HD)

7:30 p.m.: Cleveland Browns Preseason Football Cleveland Browns vs New York Jets (HD)

RELATED LINKS:
To view more stories about the Browns & Brett Favre, visit WKYC.com: CLICK HERE

News: NATAS puts tickets on sale for Emmy Awards

2008-08-06T21:16:00.002-04:00

The NATAS Lower Great Lakes chapter is proud to announce that tickets for the 39th Annual Emmy Awards and the 15th Silver Circle Celebration are now available on-line.

Saturday, September 13, 2008 is the big day, so make your plans now to attend.

Visit http://www.nataslgl.org/ for complete information and to reserve tickets.

But first, here's some basic information:

TICKETS: $80 each for members and one guest,
$90 for non-members/ guests (reserve by September 5)

Special room rates available from the Marriott (reserve by August 23)
Special rental discounts available from American Commodore Tuxedo

So visit www.nataslgl.org now to reserve your tickets or call 440-526-EMMY if you need more information.

A portion of your ticket helps support the NATAS-LGL scholarship program.

New: We're now "Twitter'ing!"

2008-08-04T21:17:00.003-04:00

We are now "Twittering" on our blog to give you real time updates of what the Director's Cut Blog is working on and things we are seeing live in the Channel 3 newsroom.

This feature will be updated frequently while I'm in the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center. You will ind instant updates as we post them on the right hand menu and can link to our Twitter feature for your own blogs and websites.

Hope you find it entertaining and an insight into the daily workings of a major market television newsroom and the life of a Director!

News: The Olympics on WKYC and NBC

2008-08-04T20:10:00.003-04:00

WKYC is proud to offer our viewers unparalleled coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics from Beijing, China. And for the first time ever, the games are being completely presented in high definition from start to finish.

NBC Universal, broadcasting its record 11th Olympics and surpassing ABC for the most Olympics broadcast by any network, will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of Beijing Olympic Games coverage across its various networks, the most ambitious single media project in history.

NBC's coverage features the most live coverage in the United States (75 percent in all), across the most platforms, of any Summer Olympics in history when the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.

WKYC will air the the NBC network schedule which is divided into three dayparts: afternoon, primetime and late night - for a total of 225 hours of coverage over 17 days beginning with the Opening Ceremony on Friday, Aug. 8, at 8 p.m. ET.

Primetime on NBC will feature live coverage of all 32 swimming gold medal finals; four key nights of men's and women's gymnastics led by the women's and men's team gold medal finals, as well as the women's and men's individual gold medal finals; beach volleyball; and, for the first time ever, both men's and women's marathons. The first week of the Olympics features gymnastics and swimming, two sports in which the USA is especially strong this year.

The USA's women's gymnastics team, led by 2007 world all-around champion Shawn Johnson and nine-time world medalist Nastia Liukin, and the USA men's gymnastics team should be strong competitors for Olympic gold. In swimming, the USA is as solid as ever. Michael Phelps, the 23-year-old phenom, looks to make Olympic history and, by the end of the first week, could break the records for most career gold medals by any Olympian (nine) and most golds in one Games (seven), famously held by Mark Spitz. Five-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin leads the women and continues to be the 100m gold medal favorite.

In 2004, the Athens Olympic Games on NBC earned ratings gold. NBC's unprecedented 1,210 hours of coverage from Athens (Aug. 13-29) were watched by 203 million total viewers and earned the distinction of the most watched non-U.S. Olympics in history.

In addition, WKYC will once again present local coverage called "The Olympic Zone" nightly from 7:30 until 8 pm leading into primetime coverage of the game hosted by WKYC Sports Anchors Jim Donovan and Dave Chudowsky.

We'll get you ready for that night's live coverage, profile local athletes and give you a unique perspective of the Olympics Games from Cleveland's own olympic athlete Diana Munz.

WKYC also is providing reports from our embedded blogger, Clevelander Adam Miller, who is reporting for the Today Show. You can find his exclusive blog reports on WKYC.COM: CLICK HERE

You don't forget you can keep up to date with the latest news coming from the games and daily schedule of events with WKYC's Olympic page. It's all the information you need in one place: CLICK HERE

So, just us for the Olympic Games beginning this Friday, August 8th ONLY on WKYC-TV and NBC.

News: WKYC retains first place at 11 PM

2008-07-31T19:47:00.004-04:00

The July sweeps ratings period has come to a conclusion and WKYC comes out a winner again with its first place rating for Channel 3 News at 11 PM in the 12+ Nielsen numbers.

WKYC was nearly a full point ahead of our nearest competitor at 11 pm with a 7.01/12.3 share.

At 6 PM, WKYC was 3rd in the time slot behind WJW and WEWS.

At 7 PM, WKYC was 1st in news, 2nd in the time period.

At 5 & 6 AM, WKYC rated 2nd just behind WJW.

Although July is a strange month for ratings with summer re-runs, nice outdoor weather and Indians baseball as competition, the month is still important as it shows a steady trend toward people making WKYC one of their main choices for news in the evening and early morning hours - two of the most important dayparts.

In addition, WKYC is the area's main choice for breaking political news, as Channel 3 News ranked 1st and 6, 7 & 11 PM for the two days surrounding the Cuyahoga County probe by the FBI and IRS on the County Administration Building earlier this week.

Video Gem: Ain't True Love Blind - Even on TV?

2008-07-31T18:00:00.002-04:00

Here's today's video gem related to the TV industry:

Reporter Sergio Avila proposed to his girlfriend Griselda Sanchez during Yuma, Arizona NBC affiliate KYMA's 6 p.m. newscast on Tuesday, July 29, 2008. The couple met on MySpace and have been dating for over a year. Griselda plans to move to Tucson with Sergio next month when he starts a new job there.

The couple will enjoy a two year engagement before getting married. Perhaps this is a good example of why NOT to use the public airwaves to propose?

Take a look....