Free Pub or Desperate Act?

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There is no doubt that the Today Show is doing anything they can to get their ratings back up. But, the latest stunt seems more like an act of desperation.​

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The Today Show is having popular morning radio show hosts in different markets give tours of their city.

It seems like a simple plan. Send the camera into town, have DJ's show off their city and then they'll talk about it on their morning show. It's like a free promo for Today on the hit radio station in town.​

But, more often than not the pieces are boring and the radio people that think they are funny, really aren't. ​

It's also a stunt that appears more like a last measure of desperation when you have the ride the coattails of morning DJ's to bump up your numbers.

​Here are the hosts from Chicago's 101.9FM The Mix hanging out with the Today Show cameras. 

CNN Anchor Reveals She Has Cancer

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It's ratings and this is the time that News Anchorss to discuss their cancer battles.

CNN Anchor Zoraida Sambolin is the latest to disclose that she is battling the big "C".

Sambolin told viewers has breast cancer and is getting a double mastectomy.

The CNN "Early Start" Anchor talked about her condition on the show this morning while discussing the recent double mastectomy of actress Angelina Jolie.

Sambolin said wanting to be there for her children helped her make the decision.

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F-Bomb Anchor Now Tending Bar

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F-Bomb Anchor Now Tending Bar

A.J. Clemente started off his TV anchoring career in tiny Bismarck with his first words being "fuckin shit".

He was fired shortly after that newscast.​

From there Clemente went on a red carpet tour of New York talk shows, Letterman, The Today Show, Kelly and Michael.

Clemente talked about his swearing incident and tweeted about his new fame and all the great things he was doing and the people he was meeting.​

Clemente told Letterman he would take calls from ESPN. He then said he was thinking Hollywood was more his speed.

FTVLive kept warning Clemente that his 15 minutes were just about up. ​

Now, the rookie F-Bomb anchor has landed his next job.​

Find out was his new job is and what his TV plans are after the jump.   ​

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Justice Department Secretly Obtained AP's Phone Records

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Justice Department Secretly Obtained AP's Phone Records

n a move that should send shivers down the spine of any Journalist, the U.S. Justice department “secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press,” according to the AP.

The records obtained by the Justice Department listed incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration of each call, for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP.

A release from the Associated Press notes that President and CEO Gary Pruitt has denounced the action in a May 13 letter.

See what the AP says after the bounce. ​

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Chris Cuomo “There have been huge growing pains”

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Chris Cuomo “There have been huge growing pains”

FTVLive told you last week about Chris Cuomo's interview with Amanda Knox and how he was catching some heat for it in the social media world. ​

“Criticism's been a part of the business,” Cuomo said.

During the CNN interview to promote her new book, “Waiting to Be Heard,” Cuomo repeatedly peppered Knox with questions about her sexual preferences and barked at her that she was “freaky.”

Following the televised segment, viewers blasted him on Twitter — he was called a string of profanities for his behavior.

Cuomo talks about going from Broadcast to Cable and how different it is after the jump.  ​

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Hit and Run Driver Injures Texas TV News Crew

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A McAllen, Texas reporter and her photographer were hospitalized after cops say their news car was struck by a speeding vehicle Yesterday morning.

Telemundo 40 reporter and weekend anchor Denisse Salinas and photographer JJ Ramos were rushed to a local hospital for treatment. While Ramos was released Monday, Salinas told The Monitor that internal injuries would keep her in the hospital for a few days.

The vehicle from Telemundo 40 was traveling westbound along the Expressway 83 frontage road when it was struck by a 2003 maroon GMC Envoy that also struck two other vehicles, said Cpl. Manuel Casas, Mission police spokesman. The driver of the Envoy fled the scene at a high speed, and authorities were working to track him down.

“We have a partial license plate (number) of ‘R34,’” Casas said.

Houston Sports Anchor Talks About Suffering a Stroke

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Houston Sports Anchor Talks About Suffering a Stroke

Yesterday we told you that former longtime KTRK sports anchor Tim Melton was going to tell his story about suffering a major stroke.

Why? Because it's ratings. ​

Melton suffered a stroke back in October 2011. FTVLive told you last month that Melton had parted ways with KTRK when is contract expired.

Melton talked about his stroke and his effort to recover from it, but  the twist was, he told his story to the competition and not his old station KTRK.

Melton talked to Bob Allen, who used to also work at KTRK and is now at KHOU. 

Watch Allen's reporter after the skip.  ​

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Moving on From SoCal Station

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Moving on From SoCal Station

XETV (San Diego) Feature Reporter Ruben Galvan took up 7 minutes of the station's morning newscast Yesterday to tell viewers he was leaving.

But he's staying on at the station until the end of the May book.​

Galvan, who's been at the station since 2003, got teary eyed while talking about his leaving the station. He never really gave a reason as to why he was leaving. First he said he won the lottery, but then said it was just time.

He will spend the next couple of weeks continuing to say goodbye and looking back on some of his favorite stories he did over the past 10 years. ​

The video of the first of many of his goodbyes after the hop. ​

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Moving from Here to There

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The NWT Group would like to congratulate the following:

ERIC KING joins KXAS-TV, the NBC O & O station in Dallas, as a reporter from WLKY in Louisville.

GEOFF BENNETT moves to reporter in the Washington DC bureau for NY1 from producer, NPR.

NISHI GUPTA moves to Anchor/Reporter City News, Toronto, from Global News Toronto. 

DAVID MCCOY jumps 82 markets to sports reporter/producer at WCCO, the CBS O&O in Minneapolis from the weekend sports anchor at WSTB in South Bend, IN.

BEN KATKO jumps 135 markets to reporter/multi media journalist at WXIX in Cincinnati from reporter/anchor at WDTV in Clarksburg-Weston, West Virginia.

YONA GAVINO moves to reporter at WTMJ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from bureau reporter and fill-in anchor at WLUC in Marquette, Michigan.

Meteorologist SEAN PARKER is moving to WPTY, Memphis from meteorologist WTXL, Tallahassee, Florida.

PATTI MOON joins KOCO in Oklahoma City as a reporter/anchor from reporter/anchor at KRDO in Colorado Springs.

More moves of NWT Talent after the jump.  ​

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Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

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Staffs at Two Buffalo Stations have big smiles on their faces and it has nothing to do with the ratings. ​

One of the worst TV General Managers ever to occupy a corner office is finally retiring from TV.​

Bill Ransom the GM at WKBW in Buffalo says that he is stepping down from his job next month.​

When Ransom took over WKBW it was one of the ​strongest number one stations in the country. Now, the station is a laughable No. 3.

Staffers and former staffers are said to be "ecstatic" with the news that Ransom is leaving the station.

“I am truly grateful to have had the privilege of working with Granite’s talented and committed team members, and am honored to have led our Buffalo station, WKBW, for the last 18 years,” Ransom said.

He led the station into the ground. ​

Earlier FTVLive reported that WKBW competitor WIVB's GM Chris Musial is also leaving the station after a long stint. ​

Staffers at WIVB were also happy to hear that Musial was leaving the station.​

Expect the staffs at the two stations to get together for a celebration in the not to far off future. ​

Reporter FAIL! Congratulations on Your Show Being Canceled ​

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Reporter FAIL! Congratulations on Your Show Being Canceled ​

We have seen some reporters say some dumb things, but this one ranks right up there.

Dan Moriarty of FOX Sports West was interviewing Matthew Perry who had a show on NBC called "Go On".

The network canceled the show this past weekend and ​Moriarty congratulated Perry for having his show canceled. HUH?!

Really?!​ We say Moriarty is very close to Moron....and not just in the sound of his name. 

The video after the jump.  
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Scott Pelley: We're getting the Big Stories Wrong

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Scott Pelley: We're getting the Big Stories Wrong

Scott Pelley isn't afraid to talk about the elephant in the room.

The CBS Anchor spoke Quinnipiac University ​and he said the the news media is getting the "big stories wrong, over and over again."

Pelley stood before the ​students and cast stones and the media for making so many mistakes on big stories. The newsman also tossed a few stones his way. 

He blamed himself for making a bad mistake ​while covering Newtown school shootings.

He also took a swipe at websites Twitter, Facebook saying they were not journalism, they are gossip.

Pelley talks about the medias obsession to be first on the story. "If you're first, no one will ever remember, if you're wrong no one will ever forget."​

Video of his speech highlights after the jump.  

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NY Anchor Tweets Racy Message on Twitter By Mistake

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NY Anchor Tweets Racy Message on Twitter By Mistake

TV news people need to learn how send direct messages on Twitter instead of posting the messages to their public timeline.

It's also a good idea to really learn this when you are messaging a girl about her awesome boobs.​

SportsNet New York anchor Kirk Gimenez accidentally tweeted what was supposed to be a direct message that instead went to all his followers.

He quickly deleted the message and his entire Twitter account, but not before the messaged was grabbed and saved.

His mistake came Thursday night just before 10.30pm when the cryptic and racy message was posted on his public Twitter profile.

See what he wrote after the hop.  ​

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