top stories

Monthly Archive for April, 2011

Shake-Ups at 25

Published by admin on April 25, 2011. 2 Comments

WFXT’s news director of 14 years, Lisa Hall, has left the station.  According to TVSpy, Hall resigned to pursue other opportunities.  Incidentally, Fox Television Stations has also been tasked with filling a ND vacancy at their owned-and-operated outlet in Los Angeles.  In Boston, however, Hall’s last day was last Friday.

Also making news is the departure of sports anchor Ryan Asselta, who will be headed to sister station WNYW in New York City to be a weekend sports anchor.  His last day will be this Thursday, and he will start next weekend in New York.  Incidentally, former WHDH sports guy Duke Castiglione is also employed at WNYW.

Asselta has been the only member of the Fox25 sports department since the departure of former-lead sports anchor Butch Stearns.  No word on Asselta’s replacement, or whether the Fox affiliate will adopt the growing trend of eliminating sports segments on local news.

Posted in Boston, Talent Shuffles and WFXT (Fox25). Tags: , , , , .

Grace Promoted to 3rd Anchor

Published by admin on April 11, 2011. 3 Comments

Amanda Grace has been promoted to 7 News Today in New England on weekdays.  She joins Anne Allred and Adam Williams as a third anchor, similar to the formula used by The Today Show with Ann Curry.

Grace, who has been with channel 7 since 2008, debuted today with the introduction of a new segment called “Today’s Talker.”  No word yet on her weekend evening replacement.

The three anchor format has been popular on competing stations, though Today in New England has lagged behind the other shows in terms of morning trends such as expansion and a move toward a more national news-esque broadcast.  However, 7 had announced plans to expand the broadcast into the 9-10a.m. hour, currently filled by Live! with Regis and Kelly.

Posted in Boston, Talent Shuffles and WHDH (7NBC). Tags: .

First on btvn: New Schedule, GM Ousted at 6

Published by admin on April 6, 2011. 1 Comment

The first batch of details have been released from Citadel Communications regarding their plans for WLNE.  Providence’s struggling ABC affiliate will be host to a number of changes, most taking effect by the time May 1st rolls around.

An insider at ABC 6 tells btvn that the daytime programming lineup will be shuffled, moving Who Wants to be a Millionaire? to 4pm.  This means that ABC 6 News First at 4 will be canceled.

In its place, a new newscast at 5pm will debut.  Furthermore, The Insider and Entertainment Tonight will fill the 7pm hour, replacing channel 6′s on-again-off-again newscast during that timeslot.  Hit the jump for the entire new schedule.

Also mentioned by our insider is word that GM Steve Doerr will be leaving his post on May 1st.  This comes after lengthy discussions with Citadel management.  Doerr will continue to serve as a consultant and will help continue the transition from receivership to new ownership.
Continue reading ‘First on btvn: New Schedule, GM Ousted at 6′

Posted in Breaking News, btvn Exclusives, Providence and WLNE (ABC6).