99.6% of WHCA survey respondents reported they had been fully vaccinated by the end of June.
In a letter to Senate leadership, all 50 state broadcaster associations are calling for passage of the Local Journalism Sustainability Act. They said the bill “would provide local newsrooms a lifeline that would enable them to sustain, and in some cases, significantly improve the critical public service these local media outlets provide their communities.”
CBS has named Claudia Milne the senior vice president of standards and practices at CBS News and Stations. In her new role, Milne will help determine CBS News’ editorial standards and ensure they are being maintained across CBS News, stations and digital platforms.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
Eight of the nine TV news brands examined by Brand Keys showed trust levels declined, with one exception: Fox News. Brand Keys Founder and President Robert Passikoff attributed recent declines in TV news viewership to a distinct lack of what Brand Keys describes as “Trump-tension,” an allusion to his near-daily monopolization of media platforms — particularly television news — during his presidency.
The Telemundo O&O’s 10-minute daily El Break De Telemundo El Paso is designed to offer a more relaxed format to help OTT audiences stay in the know while on the go.”
EXECUTIVE SESSION WITH NATE JOHNSON
NBCU Local Adds AR To Weather Coverage Arsenal
Nate Johnson, director of weather operations for NBCUniversal Local, says the group’s NBC and Telemundo stations are using augmented reality to enhance weather reporting. Every tool counts, he emphasizes, since competition for talent is getting stiffer as Fox readies its own weather network. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.
Exclusives
MARKET SHARE MONDAY MEMO
Local TV Discovers The Benefits Of QR Codes
QR codes became mainstream during the pandemic when restaurants began using the bar codes to allow diners touchless to menus. Now TV stations are finding that QR codes can be used to drive website traffic and app downloads. Their functionality “crosses sales and news,” says Mitchell West, regional director at Nexstar.
Harris said he will leave ABC in two months so that he can focus on his meditation company, Ten Percent Happier, which he founded in 2013.
The city of Jackson, Miss., will be required to pay more than $170,000 in legal fees to NBC affiliate WLBT’s parent company, Gray Television, after the Mississippi Ethics Commission ruled the city violated state law by taking more than a year to provide public records to WLBT. The fine represents the largest amount of money levied against a public body by the commission in Mississippi history, and will be one of a handful of times that the commission has required a public body to pay legal fees.
Scripps ABC affiliate KNXV Phoenix is expanding its social reach with an unusual partnership with Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Estrella Media, a media company creating Spanish-language video and audio content for multiplatform distribution in the United States and worldwide, has launched on the Amazon News app on Amazon Fire TV devices. Streaming […]
Fox News Channel today named Jacqui Heinrich White House correspondent. She will report alongside FNC’s Peter Doocy, who will continue in his role as White House correspondent for the network. Additionally, Aishah Hasnie has been promoted to congressional correspondent beginning in mid-August, while Alexandria Hoff will join FNC as a Washington-based general assignment reporter in early September.
The longtime CNN executive will be responsible for the overall leadership, editorial identity and programming for the nascent national news organization.
Tegna CBS affiliate KTHV Little Rock, Ark., has promoted Hayden Balgavy, who will join the team of hosts on its morning show, Wake Up Central. Balgavy, who grew up in […]
An unvaccinated viewer watching a newscast on First Coast News in Jacksonville says she was so “confident with the information it gave” that she scheduled and received a vaccine. Not only that, but she sent First Coast News an email thanking them. The station then turned the email into a testimonial spot.
Gray Television’s ABC affiliate will add an afternoon next month. The 4 p.m. broadcast will be anchored by Christina Williams and Tony Geftos, along with meteorologist Dan Smith.
