Troubled Times at Meredith's Atlanta Station
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There is know doubt that Meredith owned WGCL in Atlanta is the dog station in the market.
The station has sat in last place in the news ratings for years and it is not improving its position. Word is that Meredith is growing tired of the lack on improvement in the numbers and what it is costing the company.
"Too much money is being spent on consultants, talent coaches, "big names" with no return," said a Meredith insider to FTVLive.
There has even been whispers of the company just pulling the plug on the news operation.
Also, Anchors Ben Swann (remember him?) and Sharon Reed recently sent a memo to the news staff with complaints about how the station planned to cover the Atlanta Braves home opener.
The Anchors brought up some good points in their memo, but many insiders thought it was "diva" behavior. The morning crew was able to pull it off and it worked. But, Reed and Swann wanted more help and more people holding their hand.
After the memo came out, the station canceled the remote broadcast and put Reed and Swann back in the studio.
Many were not happy when the plug was pulled on the live remote.
Sources tell FTVLive that main Weatherman Jim Kosek is looking to leave and maybe announcing that he's doing so soon.
Here's the memo that Reed and Swann sent out to the news staff:
Hi
Sorry, we know it's last minute, but we are just finding out about most of the details for tomorrow. And - we could not do certain prep ..even tonight ..since the rundowns are virtually empty.
Having the field producer outside, while one of us (Sharon) is inside from 4-530pm won't work. Please get Natasha an emergency credential. This is extremely crucial. We are field anchoring every show. Keep in mind, once Natasha is moved inside the anchor outside (Ben) will still need a field producer at that location. Please assign a producer such as Trish or Hope to be at the outside location. Field anchors MUST have field producers.
In going through the Braves remote broadcast notes we received tonight - there are a lot of 'set the scene' ad-libs called for. That won't work. These shows need to be fully scripted, including pronouncers, everything we should normally have in the shows. That includes bumps of the greatest moments. We did not grow up with the Braves. We cannot simply ad-lib a “famous moment” in Braves history of which we have never heard. We will ad-lib when/where we see actual, natural moments during the show.
Remote teleprompter - essential since we don't know the show inside out ..are getting extremely late prep materials ..and the rundowns/scripts are pretty empty as of tonight.
Monitors - This is crucial. The notes talk about full screens, etc. We cannot anchor a two and half hour show without ever being able to see video, bump shots, or other talent. We have to have monitors (with something to shade them so we can see) at our show locations.
Sun protectors for iPad so we can see copy. Otherwise they might be unusable.
Rundowns and scripts printed, normal remote broadcast protocol.. bound so they won’t get out of order ..to review the show en route and at the park and because the ipads are often unreliable in the studio and very unreliable when traveling. We also need a sheet that lists all of the talent, locations and story subjects as well as the shows they are in for quick reference.
Thanks,
Sharon & Ben
