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WJLA (Washington) Anchor Cynne Simpson is leaving the Allbritton owned station and headed back to the market see was at before she came to DC.

Word is that contract talks between WJLA and Simpson had stalled and the Anchor started to explore other options.​

She is now heading to Fox O&O ​WAGA in Atlanta.

This isn't a first go around for Simpson in the A-T-L, she worked as an evening anchor at WGCL before heading to WJLA. 

Fired St. Louis Anchor Explores Legal Options

Fired St. Louis Anchor Explores Legal Options

It appears that Fired KMOV Anchor ​Larry Connors isn't going to go away quietly.

Connors' attorney Merle Silverstein sent a letter to KMOV GM Mark Pimentel telling the station that they want all records pertaining to Connors employment and firing to be preserved. 

Connors was sacked after he posted on his Facebook page that he thought he might be a target of the IRS after his interview with President Obama. Connors later admitted that his IRS trouble started well before the Obama interview.​

A copy of the letter sent to the station by Connors attorney is after the jump.  ​

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Everybody Wins (or Loses) in Orlando

Everybody Wins (or Loses) in Orlando

But WESH-Channel 2 won the 5 p.m. news hour, WOFL-Channel 35 dominated the 10 p.m. hour and WKMG-Channel 6 was tops at noon. The May ratings period ended Wednesday.

WFTV was the favorite destination for early morning news. And WFTV continued to win the 6 p.m. half-hour in a close contest with WESH. The numbers in this story focus on the 25-to-54 age group, unless otherwise noted.

At 6 p.m., WFTV averaged 29,900 viewers to WESH's 27,400, WOFL's 22,100 and WKMG's 10,600. But WESH highlighted that it was reaching more 25-to-54 viewers than WFTV from 5 to 6:30 p.m., which has long been a stronghold for WFTV. Both WESH and WOFL were ahead of WFTV at 5 p.m.

More after the hop.  ​

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Sweeping Up in Chicago

Sweeping Up in Chicago

The strong just keep getting stronger. At least when it comes to late local news in Chicago. Long top-ranked ABC-ownedWLS-Channel 7 extended its lead in the hotly-competitive late local news ratings in the Nielsen May ratings book that ended Wednesday night.

Monday through Friday, Channel 7's 10 pm newscast jumped to a 10.0 rating from a 9.0 rating a year ago to lead the pack by a wide margin. Among other things, the station appears to be benefiting from an aggressive schedule of on-air promotions for its newscast — an initiative instituted by general manager John Idler after his arrival a year ago.

Second-place NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5 inched up slightly in the May book to a 5.9 from a 5.7, while CBS-ownedWBBM-Channel 2 plummeted to a 4.8 rating from a 5.7, partly the result, perhaps, of a weaker lead-in audience in May. In the Chicago market, one rating point equals 35,000 households.

More on the Windy City ratings after the skip.   ​

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Holder Himself OK'd Search of Fox Reporter's Emails

Holder Himself OK'd Search of Fox Reporter's Emails

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.

The disclosure of the attorney general’s role came as President Barack Obama, in a major speech on his counterterrorism policy, said Holder had agreed to review Justice Department guidelines governing investigations that involve journalists.

"I am troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable," Obama said. "Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs."

Read more on the story after the bounce.  ​

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Seattle Station Parts Ways with Dog/Duck Reporter

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KIRO in Seattle has parted ways with Reporter James Schugel.

Schugel as you may remember ​was the Reporter that made news back in late 2011 while working at WCCO in Minneapolis. It was the dog/duck story where Schugel reported that a Minnesota "puppy mill" sending dogs to a Chinatown meat market in New York City. 

It caused an uproar in the Asian American community and was a major embarrassment ​for WCCO.

By the end of 2012 Schugel was gone from the station and landed a job at KIRO in Seattle at the first of the year.

Now....just 5 months in he's gone from the Seattle station.

Sources tell FTVLive that Schugel was fired. ​

KIRO News Director Bob Jordan says that Schugel wanted to go back to Minneapolis and "we were able to accommodate him."

Jordan says Schugel is already gone from the station and that he left last week. 

No word on his future plans in TV news. ​

The Final Sweeps Stunt

The Final Sweeps Stunt

The May Sweeps wrapped up Yesterday and the ratings spin machine will start turning out press releases ​later Today.

But, as stations work hard to come up with sweeps stunts ideas for the entire month, by the end of ratings you start to scrape the bottom of the barrel.​

Take WLNS in Lansing for example.​

It appears the station was headed into the last week of ratings and had run out of stunts, until they figured out one more.​

Find out what they did after the jump.   ​

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Sinclair Jumps from 6th to 3rd

Sinclair Jumps from 6th to 3rd

Sinclair's station buying spree is moving them up the ladder in the Top 30 ranking of TV station groups.

The company vaulted over three other major TV station groups to land in the No. 3 spot in TVNewsCheck/BIA Kelsey's annual Top 30 ranking of TV station groups.

The ranking is based on advertising revenue estimates for 2012 provided through an exclusive arrangement with BIA/Kelsey.

To land in the third position, the Baltimore behemoth — with 112 TV stations under its belt — catapulted over ABC/Disney, NBCUniversal and Tribune, which found themselves planted in the fourth, fifth and eighth slots, respectively, after the dust settled on this year’s audit. ABC had been fourth the previous year, while NBC had been third and Tribune, fifth.

More after the bounce.   ​

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St. Louis Anchor Speaks for First Time Since Being Fired

St. Louis Anchor Speaks for First Time Since Being Fired

As FTVLive told you yesterday, KMOV in St. Louis has parted ways with longtime Anchor Larry Connors. ​

Connors was canned after he went on Facebook and suggested that he was a target of the IRS after his sit down interview with President Obama.

Connors then admitted that his IRS trouble started well before that interview.​

Connors was then pulled from the air and yesterday the station announced he was fired.​

Now, Connors is no longer gagged by the station and he is trying to tell his side of the story. ​

See what he has to say after the jump.   ​

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Another Bay Area TV Crew Is Robbed

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Forget banks, liquor stores or  jewelry, in Oakland, CA the thieves target of choice is TV news crews.​

Bay area crews have been robbed so many times that the stations have hired security guards to tag along with the news crews on stories.​

But even that hasn't helped.​

Thugs broke into a KGO news van outside an Oakland art gallery on Tuesday.

Not only that, these idiots also ​broke into the private security vehicle assigned to protect the news van. 

The news crew was taping a news segment in broad daylight  when the brazen thieves broke the van's windows and helped themselves to whatever iPhones and other little stuff was easily to swipe. Then they busted into the security guard's car.

The guard was inside the art gallery protecting the crew, instead of protecting the van. 

The team of four crooks hopped into a green Jaguar and sped away.

No arrests have been made.

Signing off in Cleveland

Signing off in Cleveland

The first 26 minutes of WJW Channel 8's 6 p.m. Wednesday newscast were pretty much business as usual. Then sports anchor John Telich wrapped up his segment by telling the retiring Wilma Smith, "It has just been an absolute pleasure working with you."

A smiling Lou Maglio, Smith's 6 p.m. co-anchor for the last eight years, promised more emotional tributes were on the way.

"Oh, my," Smith managed to say, a catch in her usually carefully modulated voice.

The tributes were in honor of Smith's final newscast after almost 36 years on the air in Cleveland. They ranged from a taped message by Gov. John Kasich to the last installment in Fox 8 reporter Bill Sheil's series on Smith's life and career.

"I hope I left a positive mark on people," Smith told Sheil. "I hope I'm not forgotten. Who wants to be forgotten?"

More after the leap.  ​

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We Brought Cake

We Brought Cake

As you read in the story above, longtime WJW Anchor Wilma Smith signed off from the station last night.​

Competitor WOIO decided they would do a live shot of them delivering a cake ​to say goodbye to Smith.

WOIO Reporter Jason Hammond stopped by WJW with a cake in hand. But, WJW also made a cake for WOIO.

So why did they give a cake back? ​

See how they turned into a promo for a new newscast coming to the station.

 See what their cake said to WOIO after the jump. 

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Signing Off in Lubbock

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KLBK Anchor Bill Maddox signed off from the station Yesterday.

Maddox had worked in TV News for 47 years and at one time he had a news writer named Scott Pelley.​

I wonder whatever happened to that Pelley guy?

"I've waited all this time to say thank you," said Pelley. "You were my first example in life of what an anchor man should be." 

"I am just thrilled to death that he has been able to make it through with the CBS network and is doing what he is doing today.  If there was anyone who was qualified I would say Scott is," said Maddox.   

So what is Maddox looking forward to most about retirement? "Not getting up at three o'clock in the morning would be one of them," said Maddox.

Oh...he also has plans to write a book.

Doesn't everybody? 

HLN has George Zimmerman on Deck

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You might have been wondering what the hell HLN was going to do with the Jodi Arias circus......errr trial just about wrapped up?​

Say hello again to George Zimmerman. ​

 Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin.

​HLN promises to cover the trial from start to finish (and more than likely even past that) and that means that unfortunately, Nancy Grace is going to be hanging out here in Florida. And she's bringing her cast of characters with her. 

HLN's on-air team including Nancy Grace, Jane Velez-Mitchell,  Dr. Drew, Vinnie Politan and Ryan Smith, who will provide "expert" commentary."

In a statement, HLN honcho Scot Safon said: "At HLN, we engage with our audience daily, and the relationship has grown even stronger during the Arias trial."

The goal is to keep that going with the Zimmerman case.

HLN anchor Mike Galanos has vowed of the Zimmerman trial: "We'll be all over that case."

Oh boy.​