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On election night, viewers are used to seeing TV news anchors in sober settings – studios with an array of charts and graphs or hotel ballrooms filled with cheering supporters.

On election night, viewers are used to seeing TV news anchors in sober settings—studios with an array of charts and graphs or hotel ballrooms filled with cheering supporters.

So why is WTSP-Ch. 10 anchor Reginald Roundtree anchoring coverage of this historic election from the Push Ultra Lounge in St. Petersburg?

“It takes coverage in a different direction,” said WTSP news director Darren Richards of Roundtree’s broadcasts, fitting in with the station’s new mantra and title, 10 Connects. “Anything that connects us to the people, we like.”

Roundtree’s location may be the most unusual perch in an array of local reports. Most local stations with news departments stick with their regular news programming until network coverage begins at 7 p.m., breaking in with local results twice an hour until their late-night newscasts.

But the new wrinkle here for some stations is a beefed-up presence online and/or on the digital tier, as some stations offer continuous localized coverage in places outside their normal broadcast home.

For more than a year, South Florida has endured economic blows that foretold the current turmoil gripping the entire nation. With construction cranes disappearing from the city skyline, foreclosures reaching record highs and home prices plummeting, WFOR-TV/CBS4 has already gathered some experience in covering tough times.

With venerable financial institutions folding and stock exchanges plunging over the past few weeks, CBS4 has moved quickly to expand the scope of its economic news and how it affects its viewers. CBS4 has billed its coverage as “4 Your Money” and set up a broad-based team under that umbrella.

WFOR appointed anchor Antonio Mora to lead the charge and placed seven specific beats under the 4 Your Money umbrella. Adrienne Roark, News Director, drew upon the station’s wealth of experience in lining up the economic team.

Consumer-Investigative reporter Al Sunshine, in charge of the markets beat, has worked at CBS4 for two decades.

Michael Williams, handling the political aspects of the economic story, joined CBS4 in January but has covered South Florida stories for 23 years.

Although a relative newcomer to the South Florida area, David Sutta has reported on housing stories in the market for the past year and a half.

New Orleans Fox network affiliate WVUE-Channel 8 has announced that Mikel Schaefer, currently assistant news director at CBS affiliate WWL-Channel 4, will be the station’s new news director.

He replaces Mimi Strawn, who departed WVUE in October for WAFF-TV in Huntsville, Ala.

A graduate of Chalmette High School and the University of New Orleans, Schaefer is author of the 2007 book “Lost in Katrina,” which recounted St. Bernard Parish’s experiences during the hurricanes of 2005.

WESH news director Barbara Maushard leaving for New York job; general manager says, “It’s going to be a tough loss for us.”

News director Barbara Maushard is leaving WESH-Channel 2 to take a job with the station’s corporate owner, Hearst-Argyle Television Inc., in New York.

Maushard will become a vice president of news, Hearst-Argyle announced Monday, October 13. She joined WESH two years ago and came to Orlando from the Hearst-Argyle station in Milwaukee.

WESH General Manager Jim Carter said Maushard is likely to leave in December and that the search for her replacement was beginning. He said he hoped to have her successor in place before she left, but added that the November ratings period could complicate the interview process. He said there were good internal candidates for the job.

Carter praised Maushard’s performance. “There’s no one I’ve ever worked with that has such enthusiasm for news,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough loss for us. Good people are going to move on and take new responsibilities, but we’ll find someone to do the job.”

The pilot landed after getting a warning light and looking for a safe place to land. The landing gear on the chopper was damaged and the tail of the chopper was also split in half, but the main section of the chopper is still intact.

Cavanaugh, who was reporting traffic for both radio sports and news station WFTL and CBS 12, told officials at 12 that they were looking for a spot to land when the engine failed and they crashed.

Waterman Broadcasting, which operates NBC2 and ABC7 in the Ft. Myers-Naples television market, is making some big changes in its newsroom.

ABC7 is canceling its 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. newscasts, effective immediately. Morning anchor Eric Weisfeld will stay onboard on the station’s 6 a.m. newscast along with meteorologist John “J.P.” Patrick.

Weisfeld, along with former ABC7 morning anchor Nancy Alvarez, is then jumping channels to NBC2 where the duo will anchor a new 11 a.m. newscast the station is scheduled to launch today. Also, ABC7’s Patrick will pull double-duty by being the weather guy on the new NBC2 show.

The fourth hour of NBC’s “Today” show, with Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee Gifford, is moving from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. “The Martha Stewart Show,” which was on NBC2 at 2 p.m. will now slide into the vacant ABC7 10 a.m. time slot.

ABC’s network news will fill the 5 a.m. hour.

This is the first time in more than a decade that the two stations are co-mingling their on-air talent — an anchor or reporter from one station appearing on the other. While station managers won’t come right out and say it, it’s likely that the sluggish economy and falling ad revenues are a significant factor in this decision.

At a gala event Tuesday, October 21, 2008 in New York City, Broadcasting & Cable welcomed 12 new inductees into its Hall of Fame, including seminal newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Joined by B&C Hall of Fame chairman Bill McGorry and Reed Television Group publisher Larry Dunn, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric hosted the 18th annual awards dinner, held at the Waldorf-Astoria.

THE 2008 HALL OF FAME CLASS INCLUDES:

DON BROWNE, President, Telemundo Communications Group, Hialeah, Florida

HERB GRANATH, Chairman of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Chairman Emeritus of ESPN, Co-Chairman of Crown Media Holdings, and Vice Chairman, Central European Media, Chairman of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Chairman Emeritus of ESPN, Co-Chairman of Crown Media Holdings, and Vice Chairman, Central European Media.

As financially troubled as many newspapers are these days, local television news could face a tougher future as newspapers and their larger staffs provide more video via the Web, the former executive editor of The Washington Post said Monday. “I think there’s just as good a chance of local television news disappearing as newspapers disappearing – and probably more of a chance actually,” Len Downie Jr. said in an interview with Cronkite News Service.

There are deals for show and deals for business. So far, YouTube’s arrangements to host professional video content are more for show, to signal it intends to be serious in that market eventually.

As Brad Stone reported, the Google-owned video site has a deal to let users watch some full-length movies and old TV shows from MGM.

But after a year, Hulu.com, the joint venture between NBC and Fox, has become the most prominent site for mainstream TV shows and, increasingly, movies.

Jim Packer, MGM’s co-president, told The Times: “We will have some long-form videos up on YouTube, but I don’t think that’s the platform to have 30 or 40 movies up at once. I feel much more comfortable doing that on a site like Hulu.”

There are many reasons for this.

Studios are wary of YouTube’s historically lax attitude toward posting copyrighted material. Many media companies worry about the rising power of Google over their own business. And some worry about having their multimillion-dollar epics shuffled in between home videos of babies plopping the pudding on their hair.

SHELLEY BROWN, returns home to New Orleans and joins WVUE-TV (FOX) as a reporter/anchor. Shelley spent the past three years at WTOL-TV in Toledo.

AMANDA BURDEN has become the newest General Assignment Reporter at Belo’s KGW-TV in Portland, OR. The Brown graduate and Boston native has spent the past two years as a Reporter at WPEC-TV in West Palm Beach, FL.

WINK-TV, Ft. Myers-Naples Collier County reporter MIKE ESSIAN is leaving the station to return to the Chicago area where he has family.

JOHANNA GOMEZjoins Ken Lindner & Associates as a client and enters into a new agreement with WPLG in Miami as a feature reporter.

MIKEL SCHAEFER named News Director WVUE-TV, New Orleans from Assistant News Director, WWL-TV, New Orleans.

From Ft. Myers, Florida - BILL WOOD, the goofy feature reporter on Fox4’s morning newscast, has left that show for a new job a little later in the morning. Wood is now the co-host on Fox4’s “Morning Blend,” an infomercial-style talk show airing at 9 a.m. He works alongside longtime host Tracey Edwards.

LOOKING FOR A JOB? CHECK OUT THE ACADEMY’S FREE, NATIONWIDE JOB BANK WITH OVER 700 HELP WANTED LISTINGS AT www.suncoastchapter.org.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Suncoast Chapter

Officers

Dave Game, President, Executive Producer for Digital Media/CBS Stations South Florida
Chip Richards, 1st Vice President, Production Manager, WLRN-TV,
PBS, Miami
Craig Stevens, 2nd Vice President, News Anchor, WSVN-TV, Miami
Rebecca C. Torres Rivas, Vice President Puerto Rico, Operations and Production Vice President, Public Broadcasting of Puerto Rico
Karla MacDonald, Acting Secretary, Suncoast Chapter Administrator
Betsy Behrens, Treasurer and Trustee, television producer
Bob Behrens, Executive Director, television producer

Board of Governors

Mary Ross Agosta, Director of Communications, Archdiocese of Miami
Teri Arvesu, Executive Producer, Noticias23 Univision
Giovani Benitez, Investigative Producer, WFOR/CBS4
Holly Brobst, 11pm News Producer, WSVN-TV/7
Jeff Burnside, Special Projects Producer and Reporter, NBC6/WTVJ
Abel Castillo, News Photojournalist, WFOR/CBS4
Kathleen Corso, Special Projects Producer, WPLG-TV Local 10
Tammy Darling, Director, WSVN-TV, Miami
Mark Drury, Creative Services Director, WSFL-TV
Wendy Feinberg, Managing Editor, Nightly Business Report, PBS/WPBT-TV/2
Steve Greenberg, Independent Producer/Reporter
Joel Kaplan, President, Kaplan Multimedia
Richard S. Maher, Technical Manager, David Brinkley Studios,
Barry University, Miami Shores
Spears Mallis, Mallis Enterprises, Miami
John Mays, Production Supervisor, WFOR/CBS4/UPN33, Miami
Angela Gonzalez Ramos, Programming & Public Affairs Director, Univision 23
Craig Stevens, News Anchor, WSVN-TV, Miami
Rodney Ward, Executive Editor of Nightly Business Report and Senior Vice President of NBR Enterprises

Committee Chairs

Art & Design
Stacey Panson, Graphic Artist, Ft. Lauderdale
Emmy Awards
Spears Mallis, Mallis Enterprises, Inc., Miami
John Mays, Production Supervisor, WFOR/CBS4
Emmys On The Road
Craig Stevens, News Anchor, WSVN-TV, Miami
Newsletter
Bob Behrens, Executive Director, Suncoast Chapter
Scholarship
Angela Gonzalez Ramos, Programming & Public Affairs Director, WLTV/Univision23
Web Site
Dave Game, Executive Producer for Digital Media/CBS Stations South Florida

Karla MacDonald, Suncoast Chapter Administrator
Tel. 954-322-3171
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TUBE TALK is written and published by newsletter editor, Bob Behrens who also is Executive Director of the Suncoast Chapter with design and layout produced by Stacey Panson who also is Chairman of the Art & Design Committee for the Suncoast Chapter. Submissions related to television in the Suncoast region of Florida, Mobile, Alabama, Louisiana and Puerto Rico are welcome. Send to emmysuncst@aol.com.