Todays Headlines

• San Francisco's KPIX CBS 5 Unleashes 'Eye on Blogs'
  KPIX San Francisco had trouble getting its staff to blog -- many of them thought expressing a strong opinion on a subject would damage their objectivity -- so the station hired a full-time blogger, Brittney Gilbert. It’s a bold experiment and bolder still because Gilbert moved from Nashville, Tenn., to San Francisco and doesn’t know much about her new city.
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• Virtz Software Turns Mobile Phones Into Mini News Cameras
  Graphics vendor Vizrt said its new Viz/Reporter is a way for every TV reporter to become a shooter, too. Vizrt’s technology takes advantage of the video capabilities of better cell phones and allows reporters to shoot video at the scene of a story, transmitted back to the station by small files. Vizrt is still in tests with it, but its chief technology officer thinks the next big thing is a little thing. more » » » 

• WINK Seeing Payoff from Transition to HD
  WINK in Fort Myers, Fla., said its demographics have improved since switching to HD at the end of October. What’s doubly remarkable is that WINK made the transition quickly. It decided its HD path at the NAB show in April and got it together between then and October. more » » » 

Briefing Room

• New Media, New Newsrooms
  Indeed, the face of local stations is changing dramatically, and the newsroom of 2008 is looking less and less like the newsroom of five years ago, or even one year ago. For one, it's getting smaller, as corporate cost-cutting and technological developments, such as automation software and the paperless-advertising platform known as ePort, mean fewer bodies are needed to make the station run. According to a study from the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Ball State University, stations in top-25 markets had an “average total staff” of 60.5 people in 2007, down from 72.4 in 2006. more » » » 
  
  
• Philly's KYW Stakes Its Future on HD
  Viewers may have noticed something different about KYW Philadelphia's 11 p.m. newscast April 2 -- if they happened to be watching an HD television set. That evening's edition of KYW's Eyewitness News was the first to be produced in HD. more » » » 
  
  
• Weather Channel HD Facility Nears Finish Line
  The Weather Channel said its 12,500-square-foot HDTV-production facility in Atlanta is on track to be completed this month, and the network set June 2 for the premiere of its first HD studio programs. more » » » 
  
  
• Gannett’s TV Revenue Plummets in 4Q
  Gannett’s fourth-quarter-2007 earnings per diluted share from continuing operations were $1.06, compared with $1.47 in the same quarter of 2006. Total operating revenues for the company were $1.9 billion in the quarter, down from $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006, an 11.9% decline (the 2006 fourth quarter had one more week). more » » » 
  
  
• Heavy Layoffs at Young Broadcasting
  Just as a ratings book is about to begin, beleaguered broadcaster Young Broadcasting reportedly demanded a $20 million cut in costs across its station group, according to multiple sources. The higher-priced talent was the first to go, according to these sources. more » » » 
  
  
• Landmark Communications Puts Stations Up for Sale
  Landmark Communications put KLAS Las Vegas and WTVF Nashville, Tenn., on the block. more » » » 
  
  
• WUSA Teams Up with Weekly Defense News
  WUSA Washington, D.C., will ally with print weekly Defense News to launch a weekly program focused on the military. Both the CBS affiliate and the publication are Gannett properties. more » » » 
  
  
• Study: Internet Becoming Political-News Force, but TV Still Rules
  The Internet is becoming a "major source" of campaign news, particularly for young people, while local TV and the network nightly news' share of those campaign-news viewers is down significantly and cable has remained essentially flat. more » » » 
  
  
• Weather Channel: Winds of Change
  The Weather Channel is forecasting a busy spring as it puts the finishing touches on a new 12,500-square-foot HD facility that will allow it to broadcast HD programs from the studio. The new facility will officially go live June 2, when the network plans to offer Your Weather Today and Evening Edition in 1080-line-interlace HD. more » » » 
  
  
• Chyron Acquires Axis Graphics
  Chyron acquired Web-based graphics-system provider Axis Graphics and will subsequently launch a new Chyron Online division. more » » » 
  

Around The Web

Gore's Current Media Files for IPO
The (San Jose) Mercury News reported that Al Gore's Current Media, the cable-TV company better known for its Nobel Prize-winning cofounder than for any of its shows, disclosed intents to sell stock on NASDAQ in hopes of raising up to $100 million. For More...

Videos on the Money: New Strategy for CNN Site
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Time Warner’s CNNMoney.com plans a major push into online video starting Tuesday, with an array of original business and financial news clips posted daily. For More...

KREX Keeps Telling the Story
The Grand Junction (Colo.) Sentinel reports about the fire at KREX-TV in late January. Employees who had been inside their burning building allowed themselves some time to be thankful they escaped with their lives. The others let shock and dismay sink in. And then, within a couple of hours, their thoughts shifted back to the news. How would they report it? How would they report on themselves? For More...