Spotted in Phoenix

KPHO the Meredith station has been looking for a News Director since Michelle Donaldson left last month to go to KOB in New Mexico.

FTVLive spies spotted former Salt Lake City News Director Larry Perret at the KPHO studios interviewing for the ND job. 

Perret has been on the beach since he was pink slipped in Salt Lake back in February.  

Perret was a former ND in LA before heading over to the dark side as a consultant with Magid. 

He's now pitching the ND job in Phoenix. 

Stay tuned... 

Babewatch News

Here's a promo for WSVN's (Miami) morning newscast Today in Florida.

At least we think it's a news promo, it might be a photo shoot for Victoria's Secret.

Only two guys are shown in the entire promo for a total of less than two seconds.  

Here is the Babewatch news promo: 

Dodging The Crossfire and the Teleprompter

CNN's relaunch of Crossfire kicks off tonight and it might be worth tuning in just to watch Newt Gingrich try and use a teleprompter. 

The new CNN host said in a Friday conference call that he is still trying to adjust to using a prompter.

HuffPo writes that Gingrich and his co-hosts Stephanie Cutter, Van Jones and S.E. Cupp spent the past week rehearsing for the revived debate show, which premieres Monday at 6:30 p.m.When asked what has surprised him during rehearsal, Gingrich said that the "technical" aspect of being on cable news has required getting used to. 

"Getting cued to go to the teleprompter is much more disruptive if your normal behavior is to be the guest," the former Speaker of the House told reporters on Friday. "As the guest, you don’t care that they’re screaming, you know, get out, get out, you know?"

He added, "At least in my case because I learned slower than these other guys, we have been practicing just at basic stuff, which I never experienced when I was the guest."

Sam Feist, CNN's Washington bureau chief, noted that the debate show is unscripted and that the teleprompter is used to introduce subjects and cut to commercial breaks.

Stay tuned....  

Out the Door in Dallas

After 7 years on the air, veteran KDFW reporter Emily Lopez has left the station.

Her last day was yesterday.

Yup, it’s true,” Lopez confirmed via email to Ed Bark. “My husband got a job out of state and I will be joining him. It’s hard to leave a place after seven years.”

Asked to elaborate on where she’s heading, Lopez said, “No, I cannot elaborate.”

The Brooklyn native previously worked at TV stations in San Antonio, Lubbock, Asheville, NC and Raleigh, NC, where she spent three years before joining Fox4 in May 2006.

Charlie's Big "Get"

While President Obama continues to drum up support to drop some bombs on Syria, CBS/PBS may have landed the biggest interview in the hotly-contested international crisis yet.

Charlie Rose sat down with one with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad yesterday morning.

Charlie Rose interviewed the Syrian leader in Damascus, and discussed with the prez his alleged use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians on August 21. Per Rose, who called in to CBS’ “Face the Nation” and relayed details of the interview, Assad wholly denied the allegations.

Assad “denied that he had anything to do with the attack,” Rose said. “He denied that he knew there was a chemical attack, notwithstanding what has been said and notwithstanding the videotape. He said there’s not enough evidence to make a conclusive judgment. He would not say even, even though I read him the lead paragraph of the New York Times today in the story  about their chemical weapons supply. And he said I cannot confirm or deny that we do have them.”

Interview with Rose marks Assad’s first interview with an American news outlet in roughly two years.

Rose’s interview with Assad will be aired in segments beginning Monday on “CBS This Morning,” which Rose co-hosts, and the full-length interview with air on PBS’ “The Charlie Rose Show” Monday night.

H/T Variety  

Oh...It's You Again

Former WPEC anchor Ric Blackwell will soon be a WPEC anchor again.

SFLTV reports that after getting laid off in 2010 amid changes at the Palm Beach CBS affiliate Blackwell is returning to the anchor desk.

He’s going to read the news on weekend mornings starting Saturday. He was originally the morning and noon anchor.

Before his departure in 2010, Blackwell had been with the station for more than 17 years, since 1993.

The Top 5 Most Read Stories for the Week

Despite the Labor Day Holiday, FTVLive still had a record week with visits to the website. This site has continues to grow each and every week since we reverted from a pay site to a free site back in early February. 

Thanks to all of you for stopping by. 

Here's a look at the Top 5 stories that you guys clicked on most this past week:

No. 5 -  REALLY?!

No. 4 -  WE'RE NUMBER 1 WITH HOSTAGE TAKERS

No. 3 -  THE "EASY" LIFE OF BEING SELF EMPLOYED

No. 2 -  OUT AT DOOR CNN

And the most clicked on story this week was:  LEAVING THE WEATHER CHANNEL

Station Hires Miss South Carolina

WACH, the Fox station in Columbia, S.C. has hired a top notch journalist with with years of experience to anchor their newscast.

We're kidding, they hired a beauty queen.

Bree Boyce Miss South Carolina 2011 title, is joining the station as co-anchor the News at 10 on WACH Fox.

Boyce will join veteran anchor Darryl Hood, Brian McConchie and Henry Rothenberg on the newscast.

Boyce, whose platform of childhood obesity and amazing story of losing 110 pounds, became a national figure after her July 2, 2011, crowning.

She has appeared on The Today Show, GMA, The View, E! News and other programs. The station does not say if she has ever anchored a newscast. But hey.... she did appear on the Today Show.

So, she's qualified.  

H/T The State

Ummmmm....

Last night NBC kciked off the new NFL season with the Denver Broncos handing it to the Super Bowl champ Baltimore Ravens.

As NBC came back from a break the camera was focused on a Broncos cheerleader right before she turned to the crowd and well… Welcome back, NFL.

I don't know about you, but it was better than watching Ryan Seacrest.  

Let's go to the Videotape: 

Getting out of the Tv Business

Another TV newsie is leaving the business for a job wit better pay and more importantly, better hours.

KEYE's (Austin) Katherine Stolp is signing off the station after 6 years, but she is staying in the area. 

The Austin Statesman writes that Stolp, who anchored the station's weekend newscasts, is headed to Silicon Labs, where she'll handle community and university relations, as well as employee communications and engagement efforts. 

"I'll have the chance to use my community connections to help build Silicon Labs' brand," she said. "Silicon Labs is an Austin success story – the largest homegrown semiconductor company in town. I’m looking forward to showing the community how crucial the company is to this city and the tech industry."

Stolp, who grew up in Austin, says leaving TV news was a "hard decision," but she's excited about her new gig.

"After nearly a decade in the TV business, I'm ready for a new challenge," she said. "I've learned a lot at KEYE, but the challenges at this new position will help me grow in ways that wouldn’t have happened at KEYE. 

"I’ll miss my co-workers the most," Stolp said. 

But we're betting she won't mis the hours. 

Katie Couric Gunning for Diane Sawyer's Job?

The National Enquirer says that ABC News Anchor Diane Sawyer is worried that Katie Couric is gunning for her job. 

The tabloid says that DiSy feels  her network stablemate breathing down her neck – and she doesn’t like it one bit.

Because Katie’s daytime talk show is showing signs of falter­ing, the former “CBS Evening News” anchor is eyeing Diane’s chair at “ABC World News,” sources tell The ENQUIRER.

Katie, 56, is not only Diane’s longtime rival, she’s also more than a decade younger and feels her true roots are as a newswoman. “After ABC gave Katie a big contract, Diane was wary that she’d be looking over her shoulder,” divulged a friend. “And she’ll battle tooth-and-nail any plan to oust her.”

has anyone told the folks at the Enquirer that Couric already hosted a network evening news show and it really didn't workout very well? 

If you ask us, there is absolutely no truth to this rumor.

You can read the full Enquirer reporter here.