NewsFix puts Constable Victor Trevino on 'hiatus'

To contact us Click HERE
Earlier today on my Wayne Dolcefino KTRK 13 sighting post, I mentioned how Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino was indicted on four felony charges.

Constable Trevino has been one of the few on air faces for KIAH 39's NewsFix. Since day one, he's read the crime reports.

I reached out to KIAH 39 to ask about Trevino's status after the hoopla surrounding him. Here is the official statement the Tribune station gave me tonight:

"Victor Trevino has been a valuable friend to Newsfix since the show started. His on-air segments have provided a valuable public service, informing our viewers about the crime in their neighborhoods. 'Crime Bureau' will remain on hiatus while he deals with these charges."

Wayne Dolcefino's next career move & party photos

To contact us Click HERE

After posting about Wayne Dolcefino leaving KTRK last week, I almost thought about not posting for the rest of 2012.  No post this year could be bigger than Dolcefino's departure in terms of reader interest and blog traffic. Then I came to my senses.

Last night, the infamous Houston Media Roundtable had a big goodbye party for Dolcefino at The Reef in Houston's Midtown. (Photos slideshow above - mobile users who can't see it, click here).

Wayne told me he is not interested in going back into TV right now. He also said people have been approaching him asking if he is retiring - that is not the case. In fact Wayne just created Dolcefino Communications LLC a few days ago. He is currently taking lots of phone calls and weighing his options.

Can you imagine Dolcefino as a consultant? He certainly has lots of knowledge and advice stored up for media, legal and political types after more than 30 years in broadcasting/investigative reporting.

Stay tuned.

As for some of the folks in attendance for the big Wayne-O sendoff: Rusty Hardin, Bob Martin, Paul Bettencourt, Margaret O'Brien-Molina, Mary Benton, Phil Archer, Doug Miller, Ned Hibberd, Ed Brandon, Minerva Perez, Elma Barrera, Lori Reingold, Bob Dows, Janice Evans, Jessica Michan, Joel Androphy, George Flynn, Carl Davis, Omar Perez, Scott Braddock, August Skamenca, Mary Flood, David Barron and Dr. Richard Murray among others.

TX TV reporters moving up, Jim Rome back in Houston plus more

To contact us Click HERE

MORE VIDEO
- Best News Bloopers Of 2012 (Part 3)
- News Anchors in ‘Trouble’ With Conan O’Brien, Again
- KVUE Gets Videobombed, Anchor Quita Culpepper Remains Calm
- News Anchors Surprise Staff, Viewers by Tendering Their Resignation During Live Broadcast
- Touch Screen 1; French-Canadian TV Reporter 0
- Houston legend Dan Rather reflects on career
- A Cat Interrupts Univision's Weather Report
- Watch a Talk Show Host Purposely Set a Guest’s Hair on Fire
- TV station reports TV show shoot plane crash as Breaking News
- News blooper - Camera tips over during live shot

Texas November sweeps ratings
- CBS 11 KTVT calls November win
- WFAA8 plays games, declares victory in November "sweeps" via cleverly camouflaged promo
- Univision 45 KXLN is Houston’s #1 TV station
- KENS expands its lead
- KVUE, KXAN Lead November News Ratings; FOX 7 Takes A Tumble, KEYE Not A Factor

Unger strike: WFAA8 fills another newsroom vacancy with Albuquerque reporter
Dallas-based WFAA8 continues to fill newsroom vacancies, this time hiring Todd Unger from Albuquerque's KOAT-TV as a general assignment reporter.

KDAF 33 in Dallas launches‘Gay Agenda’
KDAF-TV reporter Doug Magditch has launched a new weekly segment called “The Gay Agenda” — which seems to fit right in with CW33′s flashy new 9 p.m. news format called “Nightcap.”

CBS11 adds to investigative unit with hiring of San Antonio's Mireya Villarreal-Gideon
Mireya Villarreal-Gideon, a member of San Antonio-based WOAI-TV's "Trouble Shooters" team since 2008, has been hired as an investigative reporter by D-FW's CBS11.

Antonitis Tapped for KTXD Dallas GM Job
Broadcast veteran Mark Antonitis has been named vice president and general manager at KTXD Dallas, an independent station owned by London Broadcasting.

D Empire Expands to Television
What happens when a best-selling magazine and the market’s newest, independent network team up? Sophisticated, distinctive television programming that focuses on local issues, local people and local culture. That’s what DFW can expect when D Magazine and London Broadcasting’s KTXD-TV join forces to launch D-TV, a station that will create its own identity, one show at a time.

NewsRadio 1080 KRLD gets hit
Shots ring out as someone opens fire on a Dallas office building, and a window belonging to NewsRadio 1080 KRLD is hit.

(Brian) New guy at CBS11
D-FW's CBS11 is hitting San Antonio hard lately. Its second new hire from the Alamo City in as many days is -- Brian New.

November Houston ratings
November 2012 Portable People Meter ratings.

Rome to return to Houston in January on KIKK
Jim Rome's radio show returns to Houston in January as part of the new CBS Sports Radio network on KIKK (650 AM).

The Chron's Top Execs Write Another Memo
It's homestretch time for Houston Chronicle President John O'Loughlin and Publisher Tom Stephenson, who we've written about before for their determination to be one of the Top 50 Places to Work in Houston while at the same time doing away with regular raises for Chron employees.

Fox 26 anchor car watch
Fox 26 KRIV reporter Isiah Carey AKA The Insite shows us Fox 26 morning anchor Chris Stipes' new wheels.

The Houston Chronicle celebrated Thanksgiving
The editorial page of the Houston Chronicle celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time in more than a decade, probably more like twenty years.

Group seeks to revive local radio station KSTB
Air waves: A group going by Galveston Community Radio is seeking to revive local station KSTB at 101.5 FM.

Justin Fox Upped To KRIV-KTXH Local Sales Mgr.
Justin Fox was named local sales manager for Fox’s Houston (DMA 10) duopoly of KRIV (Fox) and KTXH (MNT).

KUGB-CD Houston Sells For $2.3 Million
Uniglobe Central American Network Inc. LLC. has sold KUGB-CD Houston (DMA 10) to OTA Broadcasting LLC. for $2,3 million in cash.

Hearst evaluating pay models in other cities
The launch of The Houston Chronicle’s premium website marks the first Hearst Corp. newspaper to place content behind a paywall and could herald similar digital initiatives at other Hearst sites.

Sinclair Broadcast Group closes on deal to acquire WOAI-TV
Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. says the company has finalized its acquisition of several television stations, including WOAI-TV in San Antonio.

S.A. reporter top 10 Maxim hottie
Votes will determine whether KWEX-TV’s petite and shapely Marycarmen Lopez, 24, wins next month’s cover Maxim.

Seasoned newsman returns to WOAI-TV
The latest to return to the San Antonio television fold after a lengthy absence is engaging reporter Randy Escamilla.

KENS Forging A Distinctive Online Voice
At the Belo CBS affiliate in San Antonio, Jan Boyd, the station’s digital media director, wants KENS5.com to have a separate editorial focus while still supporting and supplementing the station's on-air content.

Seabers Takes Over for Rutledge at WOAI
John Seabers, promoted to a group manager role at Sinclair Broadcast Group in January, is the new general manager at WOAI San Antonio, succeeding Jackie Rutledge.

Troy Kimmel, Mileka Lincoln Leaving KEYE
The dean of Austin’s TV meteorologists is leaving KEYE. December 28 will be the last day on air for Chief Meteorologist Troy Kimmell, who began forecasting the weather at KVUE in 1984.

Texas Native Sophia Beausoleil Joins KXAN As Morning Reporter
KXAN has a new morning reporter and she’s a Texan - Sophia Beausoleil, 24, a native of Katy.

UT takes over Austin’s KXBT
The University of Texas has closed on its $6 million purchase of “True Oldies 98.9” KXBT, Austin.

Sports Illustrated changes color of Baylor jerseys
Dallas Morning News photographer Louis DeLuca knew that Baylor players wore black jerseys for this game — he watched part of it on TV — so he was surprised to see them green in Sports Illustrated.

KRIS ND takes off
KRIS Corpus Christi news director Sandra Richards leaves after 15 years at the station. AR&D consultant Hollis Grizzard (that sounds like a stage name) takes over.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- NBC 5 KXAS wins top Lone Star Emmy for Station Excellence
- Mix 96.5 KHMX dumps Kidd Kraddick; going local
- NewsFix puts Constable Victor Trevino on 'hiatus'
- Gene Norman out at KHOU 11
- HoustonChronicle.com launches in addition to chron.com
- KPRC 2 latest sports hire Chester Pitts?
- CBS 11 KTVT calls November win
- Wayne Dolcefino and KTRK 13 divorce
- Univision 45 KXLN is Houston’s #1 TV station
- Wayne Dolcefino's next career move & party photos

Houston TV pregnancies, engagements and job moves

To contact us Click HERE
Think of this post like the last of your Thanksgiving leftovers that are still edible since I've hardly been posting the last few weeks.

EXPECTING

If you've noticed that Fox 26 KRIV's Traffic Authority Michelle Merhar has a baby bump when you see her on TV, you are not alone. Lots of questions about a possible pregnancy on her Facebook page and Merhar has responded, "Nope, not your imagination. A baby girl is on the way...due in March!" Congrats! (Thanks you know who you are)

MOVING

The KTRK 13 assignments weekend desk will be taking weekends off from now on (at least at the ABC owned station). Assignment Editor Ryan Rios is moving to CNN. Rios, a former channel 39 assignments guy, is joining fellow KIAH alum Travis Sattiewhite who has been at Jeff Zucker's new network for a few years now. Christiana Onita Olojo (Sic 'Em Bears) is also moving on. (Thanks Stephanie)

Changes over at KHOU 11's Great Day Houston. Associate Producer Suzanne Badger moves to radio at News 92 FM KROI to be an editor. Alexis Jones takes over Badger's duties at Great Day. (Thanks to PR Fairy @farbulous)

KHOU 11's Doug Miller tweeted a few weeks ago that the "biggest news out of city council meeting: Chris Moran is leaving the Chronicle, following his wife to Gainesville, FL."

Former Houston-based Hit Video USA VJ, Fox 26 KRIV reporter and KHOU 11 assignments guy Todd Duplantis is shifting in the PR world. He started The Duplantis Agency with his wife but now she is riding solo on that one. That's because Duplantis took a Public Relations Director gig with HCC Southwest.

See Texas TV job openings (always located at the top of the page on this blog)

MARRIAGE

I hear a rumor that former KHOU 11 investigative reporter and current ABC News correspondent Mark Greenblatt is getting hitched. (Thanks to PR Fairy @farbulous)

Remember, if you want to be featured on the blog, you have to let me know. I can't read every Houston TV staffer's Facebook and Twitter feeds all day. Even I am not that good.

Houston radio DJ AD gets a TV show 'King of the Burbs'

To contact us Click HERE
king of the burbs 10 minutes of awesome teaser from King Of The Burbs on Vimeo.

A Houston radio DJ is going Ryan Seacrest on us...just not as squeaky clean and with a lot more snark.

AD from 94.5 The Buzz KTBZ and Sirius XM (see he already has two radio jobs) is now going "Mr. TV" on us. His show, King of the Burbs, is already airing on Fox 28 in College Station and Fox 4 Beaumont. This Sunday night it comes to Houston on The KUBE 57 (according to the KUBE's site 2am Monday actually).

Basically The Soup-ish show features AD ripping on viral videos and other things. He writes the whole show by himself and gets production work from a friend.

"King of the Burbs is a shameless rip off of every other green screen show that relies heavily on outside content so that television can be made with a minimum of effort money and talent," AD told mikemcguff.com. "It's for mature audiences with an immature sense of humor."

As AD's TV empire hits three Texas cities, he's looking for sponsors to keep growing. So if you want the late night slackers who are watching TV, this show is for you AD adds.

kingoftheburbs.com

KPRC's Andy Cerota talks moving stations & new anchor gig

To contact us Click HERE
I’m teaming up with TXU Energy to help get the word out about the upcoming TXU Energy Turkey Trot benefiting Sheltering Arms Senior Services. The race takes place at Dillard’s near the Galleria on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012.

That means I'm also promoting the Houston media turkey calling contest (The contest will be 10am, Saturday, November 10th at the Houston Zoo - Butterfly Stage in the Children’s Zoo).

The media winner will have the opportunity to designate a public place to have a tree planted by TXU Energy and the Texas Trees Foundation.

KPRC 2 anchor Andy Cerota will be participating in the media contest this Saturday. Cerota talked with me about moving from one Houston TV station to another (KTRK 13 to KPRC 2) and his new anchor gig.

Mike McGuff: So how is it settling in at a station 'across the street?'

Andy Cerota: Wow, it's been fantastic! I can't believe it's been almost 5 months! I hit the ground running from day one.

I've been afforded some great new opportunities at KPRC and I couldn't have asked for a smoother transition. I've never gone "across the street" before so for me, this is uncharted territory but I am so fortunate.

I went from working with a great group of hard-working, talented journalists to working with another great group of hard-working, talented journalists. It's a win-win situation. Everyone at Local 2 welcomed me into the family with open arms.

How is life as an anchor?

I'm thoroughly enjoying my new role. It's been fun and extremely rewarding on both a personal and professional level.

Lauren, Anthony, Jennifer, Daniel, our executive producer and Mia, our midday producer, made me feel comfortable from the get go. They gave me a big on-air welcome when I started and they've all treated me like a valued member of the team since day one. If it sounds like I'm laying it on thick, guess what, I am!

The days where we've got a lot of big, breaking news have been some of the best, especially during fluid situations that are changing by minute. There have been so many recently. I've grown so much as a journalist and as an anchor in the short time I've been at KPRC because of my colleagues and because of those moments.

------------------------------------------

Thanks Andy!

Also participating from KPRC will be morning reporter Mark Boyle. I'll have a full list of all the participants later this week!

Come by Saturday and see the fun. You can participate in a turkey calling contest too.

Get all the details for the race and Sheltering Arms Senior Services at http://turkeytrot.shelteringarms.org/.

(This post has been sponsored by TXU Energy. Learn more about the company at txu.com.)

Fox 26's Natalie Bomke talks shirtless men and morning news

To contact us Click HERE
I’m teaming up with TXU Energy to help get the word out about the upcoming TXU Energy Turkey Trot benefiting Sheltering Arms Senior Services. The race takes place at Dillard’s near the Galleria on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012.

That means I'm also promoting the Houston media turkey calling contest (The contest will be 10am, Saturday, November 10th at the Houston Zoo - Butterfly Stage in the Children’s Zoo).

The media winner will have the opportunity to designate a public place to have a tree planted by TXU Energy and the Texas Trees Foundation.

KRIV FOX 26 Morning News' Natalie Bomke is a participant in the turkey calling contest. She talks with me about anchoring the morning shift and what she likes about Houston.

Mike McGuff: FOX 26 has a big morning show - in terms of number of hours and the number people on air during those times - how do you all juggle it?

Natalie Bomke: “FOX26 Morning News” isn’t just a 6-hour newscast, it’s a 24-hour operation. When “FOX26 News at 9p.m.” with Don and Melinda wraps up, our 4 and 5am producers arrive. The producers, along with our assignment desk, monitor network news feeds, Twitter, Facebook, local papers, police scanners (and the coffee machine) to provide new content for our morning news program.

There is a producer for each hour of the show, so you can bet that behind every (great) FOX26 anchor is a team of experienced producers developing unique news content for the viewer.

My co-anchor, Chris Stipes and I, deliver the news at 4,5 and 6am. And then, kind of like a rock band, Mike Iscovitz is on weather, Michelle Merhar is on traffic and Ford Atkinson and Andrea Watkins are out on the streets presenting either developing stories or hot topics that impact the viewers. Jose Grinan and Melissa Wilson pick up anchor duty at 7am, and then Melissa and Mike co-anchor “FOX26 Morning News Extra” at 9 a.m. In all, we have a team of about 40 people working on “FOX26 Morning News.” I like to think the imagination of our morning team though makes it more like 140.
(We’re still trying to figure out how Mike can do impressions of nearly all of our co-workers between his weather forecasts.)

Morning television anchors must be ready to wake up the audience and keep the show moving. What's your secret to having energy that early in the morning?

I have been anchoring a morning newscast for six years now and the hours never get any easier. That said, I adore my co-workers and spending 8 hours a day with them is incentive enough to get out of bed. With a six-hour newscast, there is always something to do. My favorite (extra) responsibility is live reporting, especially if it involves firemen, police officers or cats. Not all at the same time though. That would be too much.

Having worked in Houston a few years now, what are your thoughts on the city? Are you feeling settled in?

I love Texas! People complain about the weather, but growing up in Central Illinois, I’d take the heat over waking up in the mid-30’s any day! Using a credit card to scrape ice off your windshield, wearing heels and two pairs of pantyhose, is not my idea of a good time. But, I do miss my family.

I love the patriotism of this city. People here stand their ground. They are proud of their beliefs and their freedoms. This is what unites us as a city. I love the southern cooking, the Cajun influences and life by the Gulf. The Texas economy is strong and there are so many inspiring entrepreneurs in our midst.

But my favorite thing (and no, I’m not getting paid to say this) is my job. I LOVE IT! FOX26 is the best television station I’ve worked for during my career.  I have never met a more caring and compassionate group of people. The reporters genuinely care about the people they profile in their stories.
The engineers and photographers and directors, everyone, is here because news is a career they love. The support is overwhelming.

And, if I had to choose a runner-up “thing” to love about our city, it would be all the men at Memorial Park who think it’s a good idea to run shirtless. I’ve never encountered so many, anywhere else I’ve lived. But, it’s an idea I totally support!

See YOU in the morning!

------------------------------------------

Thanks Natalie!

Click for a list of all the other Houston media turkey calling participants.

Come by Saturday and see the fun. You can participate in a turkey calling contest too.

Get all the details for the race and Sheltering Arms Senior Services at http://turkeytrot.shelteringarms.org/.

(This post has been sponsored by TXU Energy. Learn more about the company at txu.com.)