Sinkhole + Casey Anthony = CNN

CNN knows how well the Casey Antony trial helped their sagging ratings. 

So it now appears that anything that happens in Florida, will have a Casey Anthony twist. 

Don't believe us?  

While covering the news of the massive sinkhole near Walt Disney World, CNN legal analyst Paul Callan observed that the sinkhole would be "a nice place to move Casey Anthony."

WTF?! How the hell are these two stories even related, other than the fact they are both Florida based?

This is crazy for a CNN analyst to take a story of a huge sinkhole and then say it would be a great place for Casey Anthony to live.  

Besides....George Zimmerman already moved his stuff into the sink hole two days ago. 

Don't forget to tip your waitresses before you leave. 

Vegas Station to Launch 3PM Newscast

Soon the morning newscast and the evening newscast are going to bump into each other. 

KSNV in Las Vegas has announced that they will be adding a 3PM newscast. 

News 3 Live at 3 will hit the air on Monday.

Many stations around the country have launched newscast starting at 4PM, but the Sin City station is one of the first to move that up by an hour.  

The afternoon cast will be anchored by Jeff Gillan.

CBS Claims Time Warner Blackout having Little Effect

If the Time Warner blackout of CBS is hurting the network, CBS sure isn't acting like it is. 

The network claims that ratings are doing well despite falling off the cable giant. CBS says that in the first 11 days since Time Warner Cable dropped CBS to nearly three million customers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth, the local stations’ sign-on to sign-off average among adults 25-54 – the primary demographic for local advertisers – is even with the stations’ average during the same period of time last summer. 

Meanwhile, CBS says average viewership from sign-on to sign-off is up 6% on a year-to-year basis.

“Our stations have held up very well against this backdrop, says CBS Stations President Peter Dunn.  "We’re riding momentum from a summer of ratings growth and August is traditionally a slow month, so the overall ratings impact is minor and the financial impact is negligible.  But, we know our viewers are frustrated in these markets and anxious about the start of the NFL and the new Fall season, and we hope they will soon be able to get back to enjoying their favorite CBS programs.”

In other words..... it's your turn Time Warner. 

Meet the Depressed

When NBC named David Gregory to replace the late Tim Russert on the network's Meet the Press Sunday program, we predicted that the show would fall in the ratings.

That prediction has come true. 

The Gregory hosted show has recently fallen to its lowest ratings in over 20 years.

The past few weeks, Meet the Press has taken up the  ratings cellar.  The show has come in third place, behind CBS’s Face the Nation and ABC’s This Week.

NBC has been facing an up hill battle with the Today Show still losing to Good Morning America and now Meet The Press which has lost it's ratings crown. 

It's unlikely that the network will soon replace Gregory, but until they do, they will have problems getting back on top of the numbers.  

You're Out of a Job Eh

Global New Toronto has kicked anchor Anne Mroczkowski to the curb.

The Canadian station says that they have decided to change the News Hour to a single anchor program.

“I’ve greatly enjoyed my time working with the Global Toronto news team, and although I am leaving, I’m happy that we’ve parted ways on good terms,” Mroczkowski said. “I’m looking forward to what new opportunities await.”

Mroczkowski joined Global Toronto in 2010. 

You're Fired!

Many people go to the NABJ convention to try and find a job in TV. 

One ESPN Anchor went there and lost his.  

Remember back on August 7, we told you about ESPN Host Hugh Douglas had too much to drink and threaten his “Numbers Don’t Lie” co-host Michael Smith while at NABJ in Orlando.

Well, ESPN just fired him. 

Proving what happens at NABJ does not always stay at NABJ. 

Never Thought I would See Charlie Rose Dufnering

If you don't know what Dufnering is, you either don't play golf or don't have a Twitter account.

FTVLive got a big kicking out of Norah O'Donnell, PGA Champ Jason Dufner and Charlie Rose Dufnering‬ on CBS This Morning.

Bottom Dwellers

It's not like FTVLive didn't predict that this would happen.  

Two new comers to cable news are finding it tough to get an audience. 

CNN's show  'Stroumboulopoulos' and MNBC's 'All In' are sucking wind in the ratings. 

A look back at Friday night and you see that Stroumboulopoulos came in last place during its 11pm time slot in both the 25-54 demo and total viewers. The show had 85K demo viewers and 199K total viewers. In the demo, George Stroumboulopoulos’ interview show was the second lowest rated show in cable news overall.

So if Stroumboulopoulos was second lowest, who was at the very bottom?

That honor goes to Chris Hayes and his MSNBC show 'All In."

Not only were the viewers not "all in" most of them were out. Hayes show only pulled in 82K total viewers.  

Like we said, it's not like we didn't tell you this was going to happen.  

H/T Mediaite

CBS O&O's Watch News Numbers Tumble

While the CBS/Time Warner retrans pissing match keeps going, the O&O's are watching their news numbers take a dive. 

KCBS in Los Angeles 5PM newscast dropped 33% in their ratings from the week before.  Their 11 p.m. newscast dropped 25 percent.

The same thing happened at CBS O&O KTVT in Dallas.  

The station saw their 6 p.m. newscast fall 19 percent, while its 11 p.m. newscast is down 13 percent.

Heading to the Big Apple and WCBS.  The ratings for the station's 11 p.m. newscast are off 17 percent.

CBS Viewers are sampling over newscasts in the market and there is a chance the CBS stations may not get those viewers back. 

Let's hope it's worth the money grab that parent network CBS is making.

Stay tuned...  

Pulling the Plug in Palm Beach

It's never a good thing when a station gives up on a newscast.  

But that is exactly what WPEC is doing in West Palm Beach. 

After 7 years, the Sinclair owned station is pulling the plug on their 7PM newscast.  

The show never did do very well in the ratings and will be replaced Entertainment Tonight. 

Gossip Extra reports that the anchors of the 7PM broadcast, Ben Becker and Stephanie Watson found out about the switch from watching the promos about ET ‘s arrival that WPEC has been airing for days.

The station has made no comment on the future of the two anchors.

Once again, it's the communications business where no one communicates.  

FTVLive Talent Spotlight - Keith Russell

We have an anchor for you to check out in FTVLive's Talent Spotlight.

Keith Russell is an Anchor/Reporter with major market experience. You can contact Keith through his Agent Matthew Kingsley at 3 Kings Entertainment.

If you want your Resume featured on FTVLive.com, talk to your agent or email us. You will be seen by thousands of News Managers without the phone calls or the postage.