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Geraldo is Being Sued by his Agent

Geraldo Rivera has been sued by his agent.

Rivera's agent William Morris Endeavor is suing the Fox News Anchor for not paying the agency the commission he owes.

WME says they represented Rivera in negotiations for his Fox News contract that ended in 2011, and said Rivera stopped making payments two years before then.

It's hard to write a check when you are using one had to hold the camera and the other to keep the towel up.

“This is an example of the rapacious greed of Hollywood agents. I’m going to fight them to the death!” Rivera fumed to the Daily News.

“No way I’m going to pay them one penny — ever!” Rivera said.

He insisted that since 1994, his contract has been exclusively with James Griffin, an agent who worked at WMEE until 2010, when he moved to Paragon Agency, based in Los Angeles.

“Jim Griffin has been my agent since 1985, when I got fired by NBC. He found me work and stuck with me through thick and thin,” Rivera said.

Stay tuned.... 

We're Going to Need a Bigger Anchor Desk

WFOR's morning newscast is expanding. But not in the way you think. 

Three on-air personalities for the morning newscast, anchor Rhiannon Ally, meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez and reporter Natalia Zea....are all pregnant.

Now, we finally might know why the station fired morning male anchor Josh Benson.

Just saying.... 

And you Think your Ratings are Low

No matter how low your newscast ratings are, they still beat the ratings for the Houston Astros. 

About a week ago, the Major League baseball team drew only 900 viewers for the game.  An out of market WNBA game had more people watching than the Astros. 

On Sunday, the team beat that all time low by pulling at 0.0 rating for the game.  

The Houston Chronicle says that it doesn’t necessarily mean that there wasn’t one person who tuned in, it just means that not a single, solitary Nielsen household tuned in to watch the Astros.

The Astros are getting more publicity for their bad ratings than they are for their play on the field, which has been absolutely awful this year. 

H/T CBS Houston  

Amarillo Sports Reporter Lands Job with the Celtics

KAMR Sports Reporter is leaving the station to join the NBA's Boston Celtics. 

Austen will be the Team’s web reporter.

Although all the duties have not been fully defined, Austen said, she will host a 30-minute live pregame show on Boston home game days, which will include interviewing Celtics players.

Austen’s first assignment with the Celtics will be helping host an event Saturday, with former Celtics in attendance. Pieces of the Celtics’ old parquet floor will be presented to longtime Boston Celtics season-ticket holders.

“I think my job will be interviewing the Celtics players and helping put up media coverage of the website,” Austen said. “That should be fun.

“I am an NBA fan,” Austen said, “even though growing up in Tampa I was an NHL fan since we had season tickets to the Tampa Bay Lightening.”

Austen arrived in Amarillo on Feb. 14, 2012. She had been a producer at the Golf Channel in Orlando, but “I was fighting for that on air spot,” she said.

Austen sent out more than 100 tapes and resumes, she said, and had become so frustrated with the lack of response that she was going to go into sales.

KAMR-TV sports director Michael Spencer called within a couple of days after Austen had given up hope of working on air.

“I learned so much from working with Michael and Ny Lynn Nichols,” Austen said. “I learned more here than I could have in a classroom or at the Golf Channel. Michael and Ny Lynn really took a chance on me, and I’m so thankful for that.”

H/T Amarillo Globe-News

Charlotte Reporter Leaves TV to Tell "Positive News" Stories

Sarah Batista is leaving TV news and the bad news stories behind.  

The Hispanic Reporter is starting her own business and dedicate herself to telling “positive stories.”

The Latin American Herald Tribune says that after seven years as a reporter and program host on WBTV, an affiliate of CBS in Charlotte, Sarah Batista dropped the crime beat to produce a series of documentaries called “Stories to Inspire.”

Batista, 33, told Efe that reporting bad news had become a routine, and she had little chance to work on stories that would inspire her audience.

“In 2012 I started researching what I had to do to start my own business, and I chose the not-for-profit field because that is where people can make a difference,” she said.

“The goal is to help non-profit organizations garner donations and clients, to motivate their staff and volunteers to show the power of the institution,” Batista said.

Batista worked for two TV stations in Charlottesville, Virginia, before joining WBTV in 2006.

“My start with WBTV wasn’t easy,” Batista said. “I had to work really hard, I was the only Hispanic reporter and they didn’t know what to do with me, but I tried hard and my work was appreciated. I’m leaving the channel at the top of my game.”

West Virginia Anchor Heads to Nashville

After nearly a decade behind the anchor desk, Jessica Ralston is leaving WSAZ, an NBC affiliate for the Huntington-Charleston market.

"I wanted to go to a place that was inviting and had friendly people just like Charleston. I kept going back to Nashville. The people there are hospitable, and the people at WTVF Nashville are really invested in their station. I knew it would be a perfect fit so I accepted the job," Ralston told the Charleston Daily Mail. 

She will be the 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. anchor for WTVF Nashville. She is moving into a much larger market and will have the opportunity to host programs on WTVF's sister network, News Channel 5 Plus.

After Ralston accepted the Nashville job, she contacted her general manager who sent out a mass email noting her departure.

WSAZ General Manager Matt Jaquint said he is going to miss her.

"She's been here nearly 10 years and she's been great for Charleston, great for the Kanawha Valley and great for WSAZ," Jaquint said. "We want all our employees to get out in the community and get to know some of our viewers. Jessica is a great example because of her involvement and her commitment to serve the community."

Jaquint said a search is currently ongoing and he hopes to find Ralston's replacement soon. 

Ralston was featured in FTVLive's Talent Spotlight and tells us that it really helped her in landing a new gig.  

Doesn't TV Already Have Those?

USA Today's Rem Rieder writes a piece Today asking in TV news should follow the ESPN's Tony Kornheiser?

Kornheiser issued the challenge to his more serious TV colleagues during a segment of CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday showcasing his show Pardon the Interruption. 

Kornheiser's show has it's own on air fact check that calls out on their mistakes, on air and in real time.

He thinks TV news should do the same. 

Here's what FTVLive thinks.

First of all if Kornheiser and his crew are making that many mistakes, maybe they should dump them and find some people that know what they are talking about. It would also save ESPN from having to hire a fact checker.  

As for TV station's hiring their own fact checkers?

Last time I looked, stations already had those....they call them Reporters and Producers. And if they get the facts wrong, dump them and fine someone to do the job better. 

End of story.  

Aereo Expands to 4 More Cities

Aereo continues to expand their reach. Today the company announced that they will soon be available in 4 more cities. 

The 4 are Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana and San Antonio, Texas.

These four metropolitan areas represent a total population of nearly eight million people. Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and San Antonio join Aereo’s list of 22 expansion cities announced earlier this year.

To date, Aereo has launched its technology in New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Miami, Houston and Dallas, with plans to continue launching the remaining identified expansion cities throughout 2013 and 2014.

Houston Station Takes Wraps off New Set

KPRC debuted their new news set last night during the late news. The set has a clean look but has a bit too much blue in it for our taste.  

They are also using a large monitor wall in many of their shots. 

Here are some pics: 

H/T Mike McGuff

It's Cute...But....

I'm not sure it really does much for your news image. 

KCTV in Kansas City has having a new news set built. The station put out this promo promoting that fact: 

KCTV 5

So? What Happened?

Remember back on August 2nd, FTVLive told you that KTSM (El Paso) News Anchor Adrienne Alvarez was arrested after after an incident at her home?

Police arrested Alvarez on domestic violence charges after they say she instigated a violent fight with her husband Hazael Dominguez.

KTSM never mentioned the incident and Alvarez was not seen on after after her arrest. 

She went silent on Twitter for exactly one month.  

On August 26 she posted this on her Facebook page: 

Vacation?! So that's what were calling getting arrested now? 

Now, Alvarez is back on the air, back on Twitter and Facebook and everything seems to be back to the way it was before her arrest.  

FTVLive searched the web trying to find out what happened to her case? We can't find any info what-so-ever. 

It's almost like her arrest for domestic violence never happened and the rest of the media fraternity never followed up.

So what happened? Anyone? Bueller? 

This Will Make you Smile

Down here in Florida it is an ugly rainy day and it's only Tuesday. Somewhat depressing. 

If you're having a day like me, watch this video! I promise it will bring a smile to your face and show you what pure joy looks like. 

All thanks to a dog named Butch. 

Happy Fall everyone: