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Cleveland TV Revolving Door

M

MediaLover

Melissa Mack is leaving WJW FOX 8 after today. It was announced on her Facebook page that she was starting a "new chapter."

This was her second stint at the top-rated station as meteorologist. New hire Dontae Jones will take over for Melissa as the 4pm and 7pm weekday/weeknight meteorologist.
 
Beth "retires" and now Melissa is starting a "new chapter". Interesting.

I think Andre is planning to surpass Dick Goddard's longevity record. ;)
 
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I have been told by a buddy who spent 3 decades in local TV, that the large number of on air folks leaving is due to low ball contract renewal offers, or salary slashes, for the same reason radio stations have gotten so cheap: traditional medias have suffered huge declines in advertising revenues in the last decade. “Younger, cheaper” for TV. Many “retirements” too, more likely to come, sadly.
 
skiwest said:
TV stations can save more money by having one news anchor instead of two.
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TV is also relying more on their "digital content" folks on air instead of a full slate of traditional anchors - I know down here in Columbus, OH quite a few of the fill in 'anchors' are actually part of the digital content creation team who produce, shoot, write the web stories for social and their websites/apps and occasionally fill in on the newscasts.
 
A couple of new faces have made their way to these here parts

Reporter Carmen Blackwell joins WKYC NBC 3 from New Orleans

Reporter Catherine Ross joins WEWS ABC 5 from WCMH NBC 4 in Columbus.
 
WKYC has changed their overall slogan to What Matters Most, which had been the name of the news at 6pm. Speaking of, the 6pm news came on tonight as "3News at 6" instead of that "Matters" name.
 
TEGNA, owner of WKYC-3, has been sold to Apollo/Standard General, now waiting for FCC approval. Who knows what this could mean for the station depending on what happens with ownership.
 
Adrienne DiPiazza is leaving WJW FOX 8 after today. She was with the station for four years and spent a good chunk of her time reporting on the morning show.

Meg Shaw is leaving WEWS News 5 after today. She spent 8 years reporting for the station, mainly for the morning newscasts.
 
Two dynamics are key causes of frequent employee turnover, especially in local TV stations: #1-advertising revenues at TV and radio stations and other traditional mass medias have been dropping for over 10 years, with those ad dollars mostly shifting to the internet. Today, over 50% of ad dollars now invested on line. Less ad revenue means lower salaries, smaller staffs. And, #2-younger people in all industries, not just media, aren’t staying put in their jobs as long as millennials and boomers have. They move around a lot, seeking flexible hours and more appealing benefits. They think nothing of “job hopping”.
 
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Cleveland is no longer considered a "major market" for radio or TV....so, many on air folks strive to get gigs here, stay 2 or 3 or 4 years & "move up" in market size (if they are able). This has been very common for large-medium markets for decades.
 
skiwest said:
Even when Cleveland was a "major market" for radio and TV, on air folks were still leaving for larger markets.
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True, but not nearly as often as now. Many on air folks today in most markets might not ever have worked in a major or large market in their entire career decades ago, pre-internet. No offense but reality: the ad drift to the web has rocked traditional medias, who now have a lot less revenue. That means smaller staffs and “younger, cheaper”. Younger people are much more likely to frequent job hopping in a lot of career fields, especially media.
 
skiwest said:
Even when Cleveland was a "major market" for radio and TV, on air folks were still leaving for larger markets.
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WKYC's main purpose in the 70s and 80s - when it was outright owned by NBC - was to groom people to take the next step up the market ladder...cut your teeth in Cleveland to be ready to go to NYC/Chicago/LA/Bay Area/etc.

Al Roker is the main example
 
vjm said:
WKYC's main purpose in the 70s and 80s - when it was outright owned by NBC - was to groom people to take the next step up the market ladder...cut your teeth in Cleveland to be ready to go to NYC/Chicago/LA/Bay Area/etc.

Al Roker is the main example
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I recall from WJW 8 that Kelly O'Donnell went on to NBC News as well as Martin Savidge who also went to NBC and later to CNN.
 
VintageMac said:
I recall from WJW 8 that Kelly O'Donnell went on to NBC News as well as Martin Savidge who also went to NBC and later to CNN.
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That's all true.

But in the 70s and 80s, channel 3 really was nothing more than an incubator for NBC to groom people for greener pastures, which is why there was constant change at the anchor, weather and sports desks.

Just compare it to the almost iron clad stability of WEWS and WJW (with and without the extra K) during the same time frame.

An exception to that rule is Jim Donovan - a Boston guy who cut his teeth in small markets, and was looking for bigger and better - who wound up having the sports desk on lock since 1986, and is now a legend in this town.
 
vjm said:
That's all true.

But in the 70s and 80s, channel 3 really was nothing more than an incubator for NBC to groom people for greener pastures, which is why there was constant change at the anchor, weather and sports desks.

Just compare it to the almost iron clad stability of WEWS and WJW (with and without the extra K) during the same time frame.

An exception to that rule is Jim Donovan - a Boston guy who cut his teeth in small markets, and was looking for bigger and better - who wound up having the sports desk on lock since 1986, and is now a legend in this town.
Click to expand...
True, but some like Doug Adair stayed for more than a few years at least ten I think.
 
WBNX now has a modified logo that brings back the "TV55" branding. First time since 2003 that "55" is in a logo and since 1997 that they are going by "TV55."
 
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