Another set of items on our plate, and we’re hungry, so let’s eat…
5’S NEW ANCHOR: Again, this is no surprise to OMW readers, who read about it last week, but Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 has officially announced the name of its new 11 PM co-anchor.
The shoes Chris Flanagan has to fill at “NewsChannel 5” are big – those of retired anchor Ted Henry (who left those empty shoes in May 2009), but the anchor heading to Cleveland from Dallas is looking to hit the ground running.
From the station’s official release, posted this evening on NewsNet5.com:
Currently a morning news anchor at WFAA in Dallas, Chris has 15 years of broadcasting experience. At WFAA, he has covered major events such as the Ft. Hood massacre, World Series and Super Bowl.
Prior to working in Dallas, Chris was the main anchor at WOI in Des Moines, where he helped the station earn its first “Best Newscast” award. There he also hosted two Presidential debate specials and moderated the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial debate.
WEWS confirms that Flanagan will occupy the 11 PM co-anchor chair next to Danita Harris, with chief meteorologist Mark Johnson and sports director Andy Baskin still rounding out the team.
There’s no word on what Chris will do other than co-anchor the 11 PM weeknight broadcast with Harris, but in this converged, multimedia world, he’ll certainly do a lot.
From the WEWS release:
“We’re looking forward to adding Chris to our experienced team at 11p.m.,” stated NewsChannel5 News Director Jill Manuel. “He will play a role in expanding our in-depth coverage of stories northeast Ohioans want to know about before bed, as well as complement the personalities our viewers enjoy and trust.”
“Our audiences on all platforms will get to know Chris very soon,” added station VP & General Manager Sam Rosenwasser. “His contributions will add another layer of dimension to our already strong 11 p.m. newscast.”
We’d like to correct an error in our earlier item – Flanagan has been present at WFAA until his departure for Cleveland…most recently as co-host of the station’s mid-morning show “Good Morning Texas”. He went to that show after starting as an early morning anchor.
Dallas TV critic Ed Bark got the confirmation on his departure from WFAA management, and says he’ll be in Texas “for most of October”.
And he notes the original item in the online TV news gossip supersite NewsBlues.com:
The subscription website newsblues.com first reported Flanagan’s impending transition, saying he had to “wade through six months of focus groups to get the job.”
From what we hear out of 3001 Euclid, that last statement by NewsBlues is no surprise to anyone…
WCLV TRANSFER OFFICIAL: The donation of classical mainstay WCLV/104.9 to its new owners at Cleveland public media empire Ideastream is complete, according to long-time WCLV president and OMW reader Bob Conrad:
October 1 was the date of the closing that passed ownership of WCLV 104.9 to ideastream, the Cleveland public broadcast organization which also operates WVIZ-TV and WCPN FM.
But operationally, nothing has changed.
WCLV moved into the Idea Center at Playhouse Square last year, even before announcing the station sale.
And Conrad’s Cleveland Classical Radio still has the “keys” to run the station for just over a year, as part of the sales arrangement:
WCLV will continue to be operated under an LMA by Cleveland Classical Radio until November 1 of 2012, the 50th anniversary of WCLV. At that time, full operational responsibilities will pass to ideastream.
At least one trade report said that would happen this November, but it’ll be November of next year instead.
Even after Ideastream takes control over WCLV programming, expect very little change. The transfer agreement includes all-but-a-promise that classical music will stay on the station well past the end of the LMA…
RADIO CHANGES AT THE TOP: As Bob Pittman moves up to become the CEO at Clear Channel Radio (after a smaller role there), there are changes in public radio as well.
Gary Knell, most recently the president and CEO of Sesame Workshop (yes, home of PBS children’s TV icon “Sesame Street” and its associated items), takes over as president and CEO of NPR on December 1st.
The news item from NPR itself has more:
Dave Edwards, chairman of NPR’s board of directors, this evening called Knell “an extraordinary leader with extensive experience in public media, programming and education.” For his part, Knell said in a statement that he’s thrilled to be joining “one of the world’s most respected and leading providers of news, music and cultural programming.”
Krell takes the positions left open after Vivian Schiller left NPR in a Whole Lot of Controversy (see the linked NPR item for more).
Public radio watchers note that though he has a dozen years running the House of Big Bird, he has no public radio background – though he does have lots of experience dealing with government funding sources, not a small item for NPR and other public media outlets.
Locally, NPR affiliates include Ideastream’s aforementioned WCPN/90.3 in Cleveland, Kent State University’s WKSU/89.7-and-its-long-list-of-simulcasters, and Youngstown State University’s WYSU/88.5…
With WCLV giving up the ghost and becoming a “little bitch” to WCPN/WVIZ, it is only a matter of time that it gets spun off to a commercial broadcaster (as it should be) and WCLV becomes WCPN-HD2, forever an asterisk in Cleveland broadcasting.
Norm dePlume