Wednesday, September 30, 2015

News for Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

  • The live video stream for WKRG-TV had a picture with the words "TVU Networks" instead of local news programming for WKRG-TV between the evening of this past Monday (September 28th) and the evening for this Tuesday. 
  • The main broadcast channel for WFNA-TV had an episode of a comedic TV program titled "The Jeffersons" appear more horizontal than it was intended to appear on TV screens (its aspect ratio (or picture format) was incorrect)*. 
  • WZEW-FM and WNSP-FM had switched from having local news segments from WPMI-TV in their radio programmings on a regular basis to having local news segments from WALA-TV in those programmings on a same basis earlier this month (a few weeks ago).**
 (*the program was added to their regular programming plan for Monday through Friday by this past Monday).
(**WZEW-FM and WNSP-FM are members of the same company: Dot Com Plus). 

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

News for Monday, September 28th, 2015

  • Some of the news presenters for WKRG-TV had used their local news programming to acknowledge an interruption in their broadcast of a new edition of a national network news program this past Sunday, September 27th (the name of the program was "60 Minutes"), and their reasons for the interruption after presenting reports about the part of the edition that got interrupted (an interview with the president of Russia: Vladamir Putin).  
  • The live video stream for WPMI-TV had no audio for parts of their local news programming with their presenters for the programming speaking from the interior of their broadcast facility in Mobile and parts of video recordings with certain speakers whereas it had audio for parts of the same type of programming with some of their news reporters doing reports from outside of the facility and other parts of video recordings with other speakers today. 

Monday, September 28, 2015

News for Sunday, September 27th, 2015

  • The news presenter and news reporter for WKRG-TV who usually only presented news for Monday through Friday editions of their local 5:00 p.m. news program (Peter Albrecht of "WKRG News 5 at 5") and the weather reporter for Saturday and Sunday editions of their local evening news programs (Jonathan Owens) had substituted for their counterparts for their local news program for Sunday mornings this Sunday (the names of their respective counterparts were Chad Petri and Melissa Constanzer; the name of the program for Sunday mornings was "WKRG News 5 This Morning: Sunday"

Sunday, September 27, 2015

News for Saturday, September 26th, 2015

  • WKRG-TV had some video of an interview with a professional guitarist (Pablo Villegras) set to perform in Mobile today and this Sunday (September 27th) in accordance with some concert plans sponsored by them in their local news programming this past Friday, September 25th (the presenter of the interview described it as a "preview" of how he, the guitarist, would perform in Mobile today and this Sunday).
    • One of the news presenters WALA-TV had in their local news programming today was a news reporter of theirs who usually did not present any of their local news programming before today (her name was Devan Coffaro and the local news programming she for which she was its news presenter was on their main broadcast channel after collegiate football programming from their main provider of network programming (the FOX Broadcasting Company)).

    Saturday, September 26, 2015

    News for Friday, September 25th, 2015

    • WPMI-TV had a live report about some members of their local news operation participating in a career exhibition in Mobile (the Worlds of Opportunity) for their local midday news program ("Local 15 News at Noon") this past Thursday, September 24th. 
    • The cable TV system operated by Comcast Cablevision of Mobile began providing a more vertical standard-definition version of the main programming feed for WJTC-TV on a regular basis by the middle of this month (meaning its pictures would usually appear thinner than they were intended to appear on TV screens).

    Friday, September 25, 2015

    News for Thursday, September 24th, 2015

    • One of the news presenters for the local news operation at WALA-TV (Bob Grip) had used a segment of their local news programming to suggest that criminals "give up" if they were ever wanted by members of the Marshals of the United States due to those crimes (he said it as part of this comment: "Now keep in mind when the U. S. Marshals are after you, you might as well just give up".
    • The main broadcast channel for WKRG-TV had special network news programming from their main provider of network programming (the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)) during the first ten minutes of their regular time period for having a new edition of their local 9:00 a.m. news program before having a new edition of it that was shorter than most of its previous editions this past Wednesday, September 23rd (the name of the program was "WKRG News 5 at 9"; its regular time period was 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.). 

    Thursday, September 24, 2015

    News for Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015

    • News presenters for the local news operation at WKRG-TV had been using their local news programming to promote plans for some concerts expected to occur in Mobile this Saturday (September 26th) and Sunday (September 27th) on a daily basis this week (according to the official Facebook page for the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and an advertisement for those concert plans that appeared on the main broadcast channel for WKRG-TV during some of its commercial breaks recently, WKRG-TV was one of the sponsors for those plans). 
    (*WALA-TV had their own reports about the false information with proper references to their selves on some of their local news programs, their local entertainment and lifestyle program ("Studio 10"), their World Wide Web site, their official Facebook page, and  their official Twitter page)

    Tuesday, September 22, 2015

    News for Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

    • WPMI-TV had a report about a resident of Elberta, Alabama (southeast of Mobile) auditioning for a national TV program from their main provider of network programming in their local news programming this morning (the name of the provider was the National Broadcasting Company (NBC); the name of the program was "The Voice"; the name of the resident was Shelby Brown).  

    News for Monday, September 21st, 2015

    • WKRG-TV had a report* about their founder and original owner (Kenneth Rabb Giddens) in honor of the 60th anniversary of their first day of regular programming in their local news programming this past Sunday, September 20th (the anniversary was on the Saturday of this past September 5th). 
    (*as of this writing, the report is not available on the official World Wide Web site for WKRG-TV or their official YouTube channel) 

    Monday, September 21, 2015

    News for Sunday, September 20th, 2015

    • The broadcast facility for WALA-TV in Mobile was used to give members of the public prostate examinations without charges last Friday, September 18th.
    • A news presenter and sports reporter for WALA-TV named Michael Brannon talked about his voice being part of an advertisement (or "trailer") for a new theatrical movie made in Mobile recently named "Heist" (it was named "Bus 657" previously) immediately after presenting a report about the advertisement in their local news programming today* (he said this in the advertisement: "We are following the Bus 657 hostage situation").

    Sunday, September 20, 2015

    News for Saturday, September 19th, 2015

    • The final segments for Monday through Friday editions of WKRG-TV's local 10:00 p.m. news program ("WKRG News 5 at 10") were usually omitted from their rebroadcasts of those editions for their live video stream in recent times (users of the stream still had chances to access the segments through the playback feature of the video player for the stream). 

    Saturday, September 19, 2015

    News for Friday, September 18th, 2015

    • WPMI-TV had a report with the director of operations at WZEW-FM and WNSP-FM (Tim Camp) in their local news programming this past Thursday, September 17th. 
    • According to a Facebook message attributed to a weather reporter for WPMI-TV named Derek Beasley dated for this past Thursday (September 17th), today was set to be his final workday for them.  
    • One of the news presenters for WKRG-TV's local news program for the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (Bill Riales of "WKRG News 5 This Morning") referred to a former news presenter for WPMI-TV (Pat Greenwood) on today's edition of the program while talking about a game of volleyball involving him, the former news presenter, a weather reporter for the program (John Nodar), and the host of a nationally-syndicated TV program from Mobile that was usually part of WKRG-TV's programming plans for Saturday in recent times (Danny Lipford of "Today's Homeowner") (this is how the news presenter referred to the former news presenter: "Let's see, Pat Greenwood was there: he used to compete with us on another station here in the mornings and he's now over at USA [the University of South Alabama in Mobile] and and his wife Stephanie works with Danny Lipford").

    Friday, September 18, 2015

    News for Thursday, September 17th, 2015

    • The news presenter and weather reporter for WKRG-TV's local 9:00 a.m. news program (Devon Walsh and John Nodar of "WKRG News 5 at 9") used the last two minutes of its broadcast for today to talk about a theatrical version of a national TV game show that was usually part of their main broadcast channel's regular programming plan for Monday through Friday between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. ("The Price is Right") occurring at the Saenger Theater in Mobile this past Wednesday, September 16th (video of the audience for this theatrical version was shown while they were discussing it).  

    Thursday, September 17, 2015

    News for Wednesday, September 16th, 2015

    • WKRG-TV was set to have the commissioner for the department of labor for the government of Alabama (Fitzgerald Washington) and employees of the Alabama Career Center provide information about available positions to members of the public by telephone from their broadcast facility in Mobile today.

    Wednesday, September 16, 2015

    News for Tuesday, September 15th, 2015

    (note: the report posted before this one ("News for Monday, September 14th, 2015") was amended)
    • According to the official Facebook page for Alabama Public Radio, their network station in southwest Alabama (WHIL-FM) had technical problems on more than one occasion during the first half of this month.
    • WPMI-TV had a report about their selves and their holding company (the Sinclair Broadcast Group) being part of a lawsuit to make certain pieces of information about a case of divorce involving the governor of Alabama (Robert Bentley) and his wife (Dianne Bentley) available to all members of the public.  

    Tuesday, September 15, 2015

    News for Monday, September 14th, 2015 (amended)

    • Some of the news presenters for WKRG-TV's local news operation had used some of their local news programming to tell their audiences they had pictures of an aerospace facility at Brookley Field that they would like to show and that they were unable to do so due to restrictions by the company responsible for the facility (the Airbus Group) that prevented them from doing so until 8:30 a.m. today. 
    • According to WPMI-TV, one of the news presenters for their local morning news program (Kelly Jones of "Local 15 Today") had an interview with the the host of a nationally-syndicated discussion program (Wendy Williams of "The Wendy Williams Show") last week for a promotional video that appeared on their local news program today (note: "The Wendy Williams Show" became part of their main broadcast channel's regular programming plan for Monday through Friday today, along with the one for the main broadcast channel of their companion station (WJTC-TV)).   
    (amendment note: the word "pictures" in the second paragraph was linked to a page with the images that paragraph was about)

    Sunday, September 13, 2015

    News for Sunday, September 13th, 2015

    (note: the report posted before this one ("News for Saturday, September 12th, 2015") was updated)
    • WKRG-TV had a report about one of their own news reporters (Alison Spann) and her feelings about her papa (Johnny Michael Spann) being the first member of the military of the United States to die in a war between the United States and the nation of Afghanistan in the year 2001.
    • A news reporter for WKRG-TV who usually did not present their local news programs was the presenter of this past Saturday's edition of their local 10:00 p.m. news program ("WKRG News 5 at 10") on September 12th (the name of the news presenter was Joseph Blake (J. B.) Biunno).
    (*various messages about the documentary were posted onto a Facebook page for the news presenter)

    Saturday, September 12, 2015

    News for Saturday, September 12th, 2015 (updated)

    • Today's edition of WALA-TV's local news program for Saturday and Sunday mornings (it had the same name as their local news program for Monday through Friday mornings: "FOX 10 News in the Morning") had live reports from Auburn, Alabama (northeast of their local broadcast area) about its university (Auburn University) having plans for their first "home" game of the current collegiate football season today.  
    • The news presenter for today's edition of WKRG-TV's local 6:00 p.m. news program (Chad Petri of "WKRG News 5 at 6") began the edition in a way similar to the way he usually began their local news programs for Saturday and Sunday mornings ("WKRG News 5 This Morning: Saturday" and "WKRG News 5 This Morning: Sunday") when he said, "We don't know who's watching, but we're glad you are" after introducing his self (he said this at the beginning of today's edition of the news program for Saturday mornings: "Thank you so very much for joining us and I don't know who's watching, but I'm glad you are").'
    (update for Monday, September 14th: according to WKRG-TV, their main broadcast channel and live video stream were also set to have special programming about the ceremony expected to occur at Brookley Field in Mobile on this Monday by around the same time as the other stations)

    Friday, September 11, 2015

    News for Friday, September 11th, 2015

    • WALA-TV was set to have a local TV program about high-school football games in their local broadcast area begin appearing on their main broadcast channel five minutes earlier than usual on a regular basis beginning this week (the name of the program was "First and 10", as for when it was usually part of their programming; it was usually on Friday from 10:10 p.m. until around 10:30 p.m.). 

    Commentary: A letter to broadcasters regarding the eleventh day of September

    (note: an earlier version of this commentary originally appeared on the World Wide Web site Examiner when I was one of its contributors) 

    To local and national broadcasters,

    Please stop using the eleventh day of September every year to remind your audiences about a certain series of disasters that occurred in the town of New York in the state of New York, the town of Arlington in the state of Virginia, and the town of Shanksville in the state of Pennsylvania in the year 2001 as if they were the worst events to have ever occurred in the history of the world. I am sure you all know that other events happened on this date both before and after those disasters. 

    If every other terrible event to have ever occurred on this date were like the series of disasters I had just referenced, every day would most likely be declared a somber day or a day of remembrance; so please, stop making the eleventh day of September less than ordinary compared to every other calendar date. Let this date be free to be like every other date and free to be used by every living thing who wishes to make the best of this date, especially the ones who were born or married on this date. 

    In conclusion, please stop referring to the series of disasters I had mentioned earlier as "9/11" or "September 11th". Doing so would really help restore the eleventh day of September to being an ordinary calendar date full of great potential and great possibilities.

    Thank you for reading this message and may every one of your days be filled with great joy.

    Thursday, September 10, 2015

    News for Wednesday, September 9th, 2015

    • The main broadcast channel for WFNA-TV had an edition of a syndicated news program titled "TMZ Live"* instead of an edition of a syndicated discussion program titled "The Wendy Williams Show"** during the time period in which it was usually part of its programming from Monday through Friday in recent times (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.). 
    • According to WFNA-TV, they were set to have a permanent replacement for "The Wendy Williams Show" in their main broadcast channel's programming plan for Monday through Friday by next Monday, September 14th: a new syndicated lifestyle program titled "FABLife".
    (*"TMZ Live" usually only appeared on the channel between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. from Monday through Friday before then)
    (**WPMI-TV was set to have "The Wendy Williams Show" added to their regular programming plans for Monday through Friday by next Monday, September 14th)

    (***the report was originally broadcast in honor of the 60th anniversary of WKRG-TV's first regular broadcast day this past Saturday, September 5th)

    Wednesday, September 9, 2015

    News for Tuesday, September 8th, 2015

    • According to a news release issued by the holding company (or parent company) for WKRG-TV and WFNA-TV (Media General) and the one for the holding company for WALA-TV (the Meredith Corporation) today, the holding company for WKRG-TV and WFNA-TV was set to take ownership of the other one as part of a deal they had and set to either sell or swap either WALA-TV or both WKRG-TV and WFNA-TV in order to finish the deal. 

    Tuesday, September 8, 2015

    News for Monday, September 7th, 2015

    • WKRG-TV had an interview with a former news presenter for WALA-TV named Eleanor Reynolds in a local news segment for their main broadcast channel between 8:25 and 8:30 this morning during one of its breaks from having a national network morning news from their main provider of network programming (the name of the program was "CBS This Morning"; the name of the provider was the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS))*
    • WPMI-TV had at least one news presenter use their local news programming for this day to promote a plan for their live video stream and the main broadcast channel for their companion station (WJTC-TV) to have special programming from a local TV station located outside of their local broadcast areas (WJLA-TV in the District of Columbia) this Wednesday, September 9th (between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.), about a public meeting (or "national town-hall meeting") expected to occur that day.** 
    (*she had talked campaign against bullying called "Bullying Ends with Me" for most of her broadcast and had also tried to promote something about Crittenton Youth Services in Mobile County near the end of it, but was unsuccessful due to the broadcast ending as she spoke)
     
    (**WPMI-TV, WJTC-TV, and WJLA-TV are members of the same company: the Sinclair Broadcast Group

    Monday, September 7, 2015

    News for Sunday, September 6th, 2015

    • One of the news presenters for this past Thursday's edition of WALA-TV's local 10:00 p.m. news program (Bob Grip of "FOX 10 News at 10:00 p.m.") had used a slang term for "feces" or "defecate" ("poop") in a report about Mobile's history with the Carnival cruise line that was part of the the program that day (it was used to describe the journey endured by one of the ships in the cruise line back in the year 2013 (the name of the ship was the "Triumph") that involved a lack of functioning toilets and a lack of power due to a fire before being towed to the Alabama Cruise Terminal in Mobile).
    • The main broadcast channel for WKRG-TV recently had a promotional advertisement that appeared to show the host for a new national TV program (Stephen Colbert of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert") promoting both their local 10:00 p.m. news program ("WKRG News 5 at 10") and the new program with two different voices (the new program was set to be part of their regular programming plans this Tuesday, September 8th), one of which was his regular speaking voice, even though he did not really appear to be speaking while promoting the local news program since he had his mouth covered by one of his hands and the voice used to promote it was not his regular speaking voice (he appeared to be saying "after WKRG News 5" in reference to the news program and "with Mel [Showers] and Rose Ann [Haven]" in reference to its regular news presenters for Monday through Friday after telling folks to watch the new national TV program with his regular speaking voice). 
    (*there are 210 TV markets in the United States in total)

    Saturday, September 5, 2015

    News for Saturday, September 5th, 2015

    • WKRG-TV had a report* about some of their broadcast equipment from the past 60 years (including cameras, film, and videotape) in honor of the 60th anniversary of their first regular broadcast day (today is the anniversary). 
    (*as of this writing, the report is not available through the official World Wide Web site for WKRG-TV or their official YouTube channel)
    (**he was simply called "Randy Patrick" on the radio program) 

    Friday, September 4, 2015

    News for Friday, September 4th, 2015

    (note: the report titled "News for Thursday, September 3rd, 2015" was amended with additional information and a correction involving a letter that was omitted by mistake)
    • WKRG-TV had a report about a former news presenter and a former sports reporter for some of the local morning news programming they had years ago in honor of the 60th anniversary of their first regular broadcast day this Saturday, September 5th (the name of the former news presenter was Drexel Gilbert; the name of the former sports reporter was James Scott Hunter*). 
    • WKRG-TV had some technical problems on today's edition of their local news program for the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. ("WKRG News 5 This Morning") that caused it to have two abrupt breaks for commercial advertisements between 6:02 a.m. and 6:13 a.m. and caused one of its regular features to appear later than one of the time periods it which it usually appeared on the program between 6:19 a.m. and 6:24 a.m. (it usually appeared on the program sometime between 5:35 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. and between 6:05 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. from Monday through Friday; as for what it was about, it was usually about the World Wide Web and other technology and usually called "Around the Web and Around the World"). 
    (*he was simply called "Scott Hunter" in the report)

    Thursday, September 3, 2015

    News for Thursday, September 3rd, 2015 (amended)

    • The local midday news program for WKRG-TV ("WKRG News 5 at Noon") had a cooking segment titled "Grillin' with Greer's" for the first time since last spring today (it was presented by the same person who usually presented such a segment for them in the past: Lucy Greer of Greer's Markets).
    • The news presenter for today's edition of WPMI-TV's local midday news program (Darwin Singleton of "Local 15 News at Noon") had used a slang term for feces or excreting feces while presenting information about the history of the Alabama Cruise Terminal in Mobile on today's edition of the program (he said "poo-poo cruise" in reference to a cruise ship that was towed into the terminal in the year 2013 due to a fire that caused it to lose its ability to generate its own power). 
    • Today's edition of WKRG-TV's local midday news program had announcements about their plan to have special local news programming instead of national network programming from the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) around 1:00 p.m. today through their main broadcast channel and their plan to have regional football programming instead of other national network programming from the same system later today between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. through the same channel.  
    (amendment note: a link to a video recording was added to the first paragraph; the phrase "in months" in the same paragraph was replaced by the phrase "since last spring"; the letter "s" was added to the word "Markets" in that paragraph; the address for the hyperlink "special local news programming" in the last paragraph was changed to an address with updated and additional information)

    News for Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015

    • A former weekly guest of WALA-TV's local entertainment and lifestyle program ("Studio 10") appeared live on the program for the first time since last May today: Lucy Greer of Greer's Markets (a company based in Prichard, Alabama (northwest of Mobile)). 
    • WKRG-TV recently had a report about two former employees of theirs who used to host local TV programs of theirs involving folks under the age of 18 and a report about some of their past weather reporters and past technology for reporting weather information in honor of the 60th anniversary of their first regular broadcast day this Saturday, September 5th. 

    Wednesday, September 2, 2015

    News for Tuesday, September 1st, 2015

    • WFNA-TV recently got a new Facebook page (the one they had before becoming part of WKRG-TV's holding (or parent) company (Media General) and a companion to WKRG-TV is not available any more). 
    • One of the commercial breaks for today's edition of WALA-TV's local entertainment and lifestyle program ("Studio 10") had one of the hosts for the program (Joe Emer) appearing in an advertisement for Virginia College in Mobile (the same advertisement was part of a break for this past Monday's edition of it on August 30th). 
    • The news presenter for WKRG-TV's local midday news program (Devon Walsh of "WKRG News 5 at Noon") used part of today's edition of it to tell listeners of this past Monday's edition of it that the disembodied voices they may had heard in that edition were those of "staff members correcting audio problems" in its broadcast and to apologize to them for the edition having the disembodied voice of someone using an expletive due to those audio problems before saying she and her station would be "working hard" to make sure a circumstance similar to that one does not happen in the future. 
    (*WFNA-TV was part of WALA-TV's former holding company (LIN Media) and a companion to WALA-TV before December 2014)