TVLifer

Gannett News is reporting that its flagship station, WUSA in Washington, DC, is looking for its ninth news director in fourteen years. This comes after Lane Michaelsen recently announced he was leaving to head the newsroom at WTVJ in Miami.

Is this just business as usual? Or is something else going on at WUSA or Gannett? Anonymously share your inside info and thoughts in TVL's Off the Record.

Did you ever have the chance to cover Sen. Ted Kennedy in person? Ever have an interview that left its mark on you as a journalist? Did watching coverage of Sen. Kennedy or the Kennedy Family spark your interest in political reporting?

There have been many stories over the years on the "Lion of the Senate." Share your thoughts in TVL's Off the Record forum.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last surviving brother in a political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Code after a year-long struggle with brain cancer. He was 77.

In nearly 50 years in the Senate, Kennedy a liberal Democrat, served alongside 10 presidents - his brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy among them - compiling an impressive list of legislative achievements on health care, civil rights, and education.

WWLP in Springfield, Ma. takes a look back at Senator Kennedy: 

If you missed My First Real Job Part I click here

Editors' Note:  TVLifer strives to give you access inside newsrooms across the country.  We hope to share some of the stories from talented professionals that work in the industry we all love, or love to hate.  Adam Butler, a Charlotte photographer, has let people in on his thoughts for years on his own blog and now he, along with other TVLifer Contributors, will offer up their take on life in television.

The next day I got a call on my cell phone from Mark the news director and he offered me the freaking job. They didn’t even see a tape! I couldn’t believe it and neither could the folks at the affiliate where I was interning. Me, a 19 year old clown that used too much Rave hairspray and maybe had downed two beers in my life was about to enter the real world all by myself. I was excited and absolutely scared!I was so bad those first few months. 

The school year was pretty much over when the station went on air so all I had was NASCAR and summer rec. league softball. Yes, I actually covered rec. league softball. Rec. league basketball, too. It was awful. I wasn’t that great on air and Mark the news director was pretty hard on me. Looking back I understand why. Mark was 24 and in charge of me and a couple of 22 year olds who hadn’t done much in the way of television news before. We didn’t know what we were doing and he did which I’m sure made it hard for him and in turn made it hard for me.

We've heard of these plans being formulated around the country but now it appears Hawaii has made it official.  Pacific Business News reports:

"Hawaii television stations KHNL/K5 and KGMB are merging services and laying off approximately 68 employees.

The three stations will share one roof and news-gathering operations.

Raycom Media, owner of KHNL and K5, and MCG Capital Corp., owner of KGMB, announced the shared-services agreement Tuesday, saying the two companies would combine the three stations to address the negative economy and secure the future of each station."

Click here to read the full article

Are these kinds of agreements happening in your markets?  Have you heard of any other creative solutions that might be worth looking into to save the jobs of hard working journalists.  Share your thoughts in Off the Record.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that local television stations, suffering from steep declines in ad spending, are getting a much-needed shot in the arm from lobbying groups trying to sway the national debate over health care.

Altogether, groups on various sides of the debate have spent an average of about $1 million a day in recent weeks, analysts say.

Some ads from conservative groups say Democrats want to bring Canadian-style, government-run health care to the U.S.

Supporters of health-care overhaul, meanwhile, have resurrected "Harry and Louise," the fictional couple whose on-screen fretting about government involvement in their medical decisions helped sink the Clinton administration's effort to revamp the health-care system.

This time, the couple are singing a different tune, calling for legislation to guarantee coverage for Americans with pre-existing medical conditions.

"Advertising is cranking" says Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group at TNS, a research firm owned by ad holding company WPP.

TNS says health-care-issue advocates have spent about $41 million this year on local-TV spots, more than half of it in the past few weeks. If the debate over health-care legislation drags into the fall, as now seems likely, the figure could rise to $250 million, Mr. Tracey says. The delay "would open the door even wider for opponents to appeal to the public," he adds.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that after a stormy two years, the clouds may finally start to lift a little in the local television station business next year.

According to industry research firm SNL Kagan, revenue for television stations, most of which is from commercials, will grow 5.2%  to $18.5 billion in 2010, thanks in part to political advertising and the Olympics.

That's good news for an industry that is struggling big time. This year, Kagan projects revenue for local stations to be $17.6 billion, which is a drop of 17% from 2008's $21.7-billion figure.

Local stations have been challenged for the last few years with several major broadcasters, including Los Angeles Times parent Tribune Co., Young Broadcasting and ION Media, having filed for bankruptcy. More recently, Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group warned it too may have to file for bankruptcy protection.

Their problems are felt in Hollywood as well because it means stations have less money to spend on daytime talk shows and reruns of sitcoms and dramas.

Click here for the full article.

KY3 (NBC) reporter and TVLifer Dave Catanese chats with the TVL Staff about his success in covering local politics in the key battleground state of Missouri.

Catanese also talks about developing sources, the impact of social networking, and Twitter in the world of political reporting.

Click here for the full read.

Editors' Note:  TVLifer strives to give you access inside newsrooms across the country.  We hope to share some of the stories from talented professionals that work in the industry we all love, or love to hate.  Adam Butler, a Charlotte photographer, has let people in on his thoughts for years on his own blog and now he, along with other TVLifer Contributors, will offer up their take on life in television.

It was early 1999 when I saw the job advertised on a website almost as cool as TVLifer.com. It read, “PrestigeVision 4(Mooresville, NC) is in need of a sports director. Entry level position pays $18,000 per year.” It was the perfect job! I’d get to be on tv! I’d get to do play by play on tv! I’d get to shoot high school girls volleyball! Oh Billy was I excited!!!!! 

I was also 19 years old. I was living with my parents after failing out of real college, but I had taken some television classes so I felt that may be enough to give me a shot at the gig.

I sent in my resume and soon after that they called me and wanted me to come in for an interview the next day and bring my resume tape. I had been doing sideline reporting for high school football games for the local cable company, but the guy who had the master tape of those was out of town so I couldn’t get a tape. Doh! 

In the struggling economic times more people are turning to local television news according to a recent study by Frank N. Magid Associates.

Roughly 99% of the people who participated in the survey say that they are turning to local TV news at least as much as or more frequently than in the past due to the troubled economy.

When times are tough, people turn more often to local TV for news. According to a new study by Frank N. Magid Associates for Hearst-Argyle Television, 99 percent of respondents said they are turning to local TV news at least as much as or more frequently than in the past due to the troubled economy. 

Conducted over two weeks in February, the study surveyed 2,500 TV news viewers in Hearst-Argyle's 24 TV markets including Boston, Baltimore, Orlando, Cincinnati, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. 

Sixteen percent said they are following local TV news "more." The only medium surpassing local TV was the Internet, cited by 17 percent of respondents. Newspapers, radio and print magazines trailed at 10 percent, 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively.