New Anchor named in the Big Apple

Fox O&O WNYW has named a new anchor of their Good Day Wakeup program that runs from 4:30 to 7AM.

Ben Simmoneau gets the gig and will start on the air on June 5th, alongside Juliet Huddy.

Simmoneau comes to the NY station from KYW in Philly, where he was the Investigative Reporter. ​

Sorry Jay.... But that's Kind of How TV News Works

Jay Plyburn quit his job last week as a Reporter at Hearst Duop  KHBS-/ KHOG (Ft. Smith)  because he was sent out in bad weather to cover a storm. 

Plyburn says that he was sent out to cover possible tornado damage and he as he wrote in an email to his co-workers "lightning was striking all around us. This was the single most frightening experience of my life."

Then when he got back to the station, no one even took the time to say "thank you."

In his email, which also doubled as his resignation letter, Plyburn wrote "When the day was done and we finally got back to the station, it was business as usual. No managers had any sort of feedback...just a new list of things they wanted done."

He then use the email to say he would not be coming back into work and no story was worth losing his life over.​

We say welcome to TV News Jay....or maybe it should be "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."​

If you got into TV news thinking every story was going to be a city council meeting or a puppy wash, then you picked the wrong business. ​

TV News can be dangerous and you should have known that going in.​

In FTVLive's 20 plus years in TV news, we have almost been burned to death in a California wildfire, made an emergency landing in the news chopper, shot at in the LA and Miami riots, covered our share of bad weather, including Oklahoma tornados and been threatened more times than we can count. Hell, some of the threats happened while still in the newsroom.​

Oh and many times after almost dying ​on the job, no one said a simple "thank you." 

Guess what? Who gives a shit....if you wanted a job that was safe and including a lot of thank yous, Target or McDonalds might be a better option for you Jay. ​

I know you were working in a station outside the top 100 in markets, but shame on your teachers in college for not warning you that TV ​News might be and most likely is a dangerous job. 

My thought Jay, is no real News Director is going to hire you again. If you're going to bailout every time your sent on a dangerous story, or you get upset that no one said "thanks" you are not cut out for the business. 

Sorry to burst your bubble, I'm just telling you the way it is.​

I wish you like in your future career, but please do everyone a solid and give up on TV news.​

You're just not cut out for this business. ​

Soledad Shaking Her Head

Word is that former CNN Anchor Soledad O'Brien is shaking her head over CNN's push to get people to watch their new morning show.​

In less than 2 weeks, Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and  Michaela Pereira will hit the air with CNN's latest attempt at a relevant morning show.

And Jeff Zucker and the gang are spending some big bucks promoting "New Day."​

CNN has purchased billboards in a number of the major markets. Ads in magazines and online are popping up in front of viewers.

This is a far cry for what CNN did when Soledad O'Brien anchored the morning show. O'Brien was outspoken at how little CNN did to promote her show and try and find her some viewers. ​

Now, it appears that ​Zucker and company are taking O'Brien criticism to heat and making a big push for "New Day."

Will it work? We'll find out soon. ​

Sweeping Up in The Burgh

Pittsburgh is one market where just about every ratings book is a horse race.​

The May book once again was a close one and while KDKA came out a winner, WPXI is closing in on the outside.​

WTAE won the ratings in the morning with WPXI second and KDKA in last. 

But, after the mornings, KDKA takes over the ratings lead.  The station won from noon to 11 p.m. with the exception of the 10 p.m. news on The CW. WPXI's Channel 11 report on Fox 53 took that slot.

WPXI did not win any of the main newscasts, but the station is gaining ground.

In the ages 25-54 demographic, its figures were flat at 4:30 a.m. but up for the rest of the day.

On Top in Palm Beach

WPTV in West Palm Beach came out on top of the May ratings.​

The station claims victory from morning to night.​

​The station was No. 1 in every local news time period every day.

“Today on 5” dominates morning news from 4:30-7 a.m.

The 6 a.m. hour of “Today on 5” takes in 60 percent of local news ratings according to Nielsen.

WPTV also wins the Noon news.

The station's early evening newscasts from 5 to 6 PM topped the ratings as well. The 6 p.m. News scored an 8.4 rating.

NewsChannel 5 at 11 was the most watched late news in the West Palm Beach market.

Pop some Tags

It appears that with the slow Holiday Weekend, Vanity Fair had to come up with something to take up space.​

So they decided to go with a top list of the best dressed TV Newsman.​

They write: The professional anchor (as opposed the the amateur anchors out there) toes a fine line when it comes to style. His wardrobe should be dynamic enough to hold our attention but not so outré as to distract from the evening broadcast. From the silver-tongued nightly newscaster to the fiery ideologue, these best-dressed men strike just such a balance.

It appears that Vanity Fair is a big fan of NBC. Most of the list is made up of 30 Rock Anchors. You can check out who made the cut at their website.