Like We Said....

AL.com is reporting that Bill Ballard, who helped rebuild Birmingham's CBS 42/WIAT-TV from a perennial ratings doormat into one of the stronger CBS stations in the country, was released after his contract expired Friday.

Of course if you are a regular reader of FTVLive, you knew this was coming weeks ago. 

Ballard had been the president and general manager at CBS 42 since 2003, when he came here from WBFS-TV in Miami.

LIN TV Corp., which bought CBS 42 and 12 other stations from New Vision Television last year, chose not to renew Ballard’s contract, according to Birmingham media sources.

Ballard, who declined to discuss specifics of his departure, told AL.com that he will remain in Birmingham but has no immediate future plans.

“I really enjoy Birmingham,” he said. “I have lived here longer than anywhere I’ve ever lived. Birmingham is my home, and I intend to spend the rest of my life here.”

LIN TV Corp. is expected to announce Ballard’s replacement as early as today.

AL.com links to an FTVLive.com story saying that  "One of the leading candidates, according to media sources, is Helen Swenson....."

Let FTVLive be clear, Swenson is not a leading candidate...SHE"S GETTING THE JOB.

You'll see and then when the press release is finally issued, that's when you'll see the story that we broke two weeks ago, will be picked up by everyone else.