Wednesday, May 30, 2007

In This Week's Print Edition...

On newsstands Thursday, Media Watch features a review of a(nother) revamp of Omaha.com. Plus, read how one Omaha video production company is using YouTube.com to broaden its reach.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Colorado Columnist Explores Nebraska Differences

John Peel is certainly not the first newspaper columnist to explore the differences between Colorado and Nebraska. (Denver Post sports writer Woody Paige immediately comes to mind.)

But Peel, a writer for the Durango Herald, does offer some unusual insight in his observation of the Cornhusker state in a column published over the Memorial Day weekend.

For instance, Peel writes that "people in Nebraska are noticeably larger."

Maybe it was just the buffet restaurant we went to - a smorgasbord featuring dozens of pastas, greasy foods and at least two types of brownies in a fantastic dessert bar - but it sure seems that eating in the Midwest is a serious pastime.


Peel points out that Nebraska ranks 17th in obese adults (at 25.1 percent), while Colorado is the thinnest state.

Click here to read Peel's entire column.

Monday, May 28, 2007

KOPW Jock Scores Ultimate Fighting Upset

Houston AlexanderKOPW (106.9 FM) on-air personality Houston Alexander, who goes by “Strong Arm” on his “Sunday Night Raw” program on “Power 106.9” scored a first round upset in his bout of the Ultimate Fighting Championship 71 on Saturday.

Alexander, who is known as “The Assassin,” knocked out Keith (The Dean of Mean) Jardine with an uppercut that sent the 4-1 favorite’s mouthpiece flying just 48 seconds into the bout that was televised on pay-per-view. Afterwards, Alexander credited his coaching staff and a series of fights against larger opponents for the victory.

“I just came from a heavyweight tournament where I was fighting guys who were 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds,” Alexander said. “This guy was my size.”

Though he was making his UFC debut, Alexander has more than 200 fights over seven years to his credit.

Friday, May 25, 2007

CNN Revises Video Delivery System

CNN's subscriber-only video delivery service on its website will be available for free beginning July 1.

The $25-a-month "Pipeline" service on CNN.com was launched in December of 2005 and was designed to enhance the way people viewed news by offering "an extensive portfolio of online content and live video streams." CNN's video archives and on-demand news clips (about 50,000) from the network's newsgathering operations were also available via the service.

This will be the second time in two years that CNN has changed its subscription policies for video. In June 2005, the Time Warner Inc. unit stopped charging for its video in preparation for a premium offering that launched six months later.

CNN it said may eventually show ads with the live video but not immediately.

In a related story earlier this week, CNN has entered into a content and advertising relationship with Internet Broadcasting (formerly known as Internet Broadcasting Systems or "IBS") to supply local news content to CNN.com. Already, KETV (Cox Channel 9) has begun supplying video content and stories as part of the agreement.

A press release reveals that as part of the relationship between the two entities, CNN is acquiring an equity position in Internet Broadcasting, joining Hearst-Argyle Television, as well as Post-Newsweek Stations, McGraw-Hill Broadcasting, and Split Rock Partners as equity owners in the company. CNN will also gain a seat on Internet Broadcasting's Board of Directors.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

CNN's Most Popular Videos Come From Omaha

Thursday morning, the two most popular videos on CNN.com were a pair of stories from Omaha.

The most popular was a story on the "virgin birth" of a shark at the Henry Doorly Zoo. Reporter Damon Green of the London office of the Independent Television Network (ITN) produced the report.

The second-most popular video comes from KETV (Cox Channel 9) reporter Carol Kloss and her story earlier this week about a University of Nebraska-Omaha sociology student who took a job as a stripper for class credit. (Watch the KETV.com version here.)

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Memorial Day Weekend Tributes On NET TV, Radio

NET Television and NET Radio will honor members of the armed forces with special programming on Memorial Day weekend.

Canteen SpiritIt begins at 6 p.m. Saturday with patriotic music on the "Lawrence Welk Show." At 7:30 p.m., an NET production, "The Canteen Spirit," chronicles the story of the World War II North Platte Canteen. The canteen made history when residents of 125 communities from across the state welcomed more than six million soldiers who passed through North Platte on their way to serve in World War II.

Saturday at 8:30 p.m. on NET1, "Pacific War: They Filmed the War in Color" tells the two-part story of the Pacific war from the front line and in full color. To add urgency to the war efforts, President Roosevelt took drastic action by lifting the decades-old press ban on showing the corpses of American soldiers. Roosevelt also sent cameras to the front lines to create a first-hand documentary of the war.

Five surviving American soldiers recount their experiences of D-Day in "D-Day: The Price of Freedom," on Sunday at 6 p.m. on NET1.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, "The National Memorial Day Concert (2007)," will be broadcast live on NET1 from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. This American tradition is a star-studded tribute in pictures, letters and songs honoring America's servicemen and women. The concert repeats immediately following the first broadcast at 8:30 p.m. on NET1.

Memorial Day ConcertAt 10 p.m. Sunday, "Air Group 16: We Came to Remember," features pilots, radiomen and gunners who served on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Lexington in World War II accepting honors at the dedication of the National World War II Memorial. It will be followed by "All Hell Can't Stop Us!" which tells the story of Nebraska's 134th Infantry regiment at Omaha Beach and beyond. The program begins at 10:30 p.m. on NET1

In 1942, two fighter pilots - one American and one Japanese - faced off in a dogfight over Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands. The Japanese pilot shot down the American, who crash-landed behind enemy lines but managed to escape before being captured. At 9 p.m. CT on Monday on NET1, "Secrets of the Dead: Dogfight Over Guadalcanal" re-creates the World War II showdown over the Pacific.

Walter CronkiteNET Radio will honor servicemen and women by broadcasting "WWI Living History Project" from 12 noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The program honors the sacrifices and contributions of America's last twelve surviving WWI veterans. Aged 105 to 115, the veterans share their reminiscences, humor and wit on this two-hour radio special hosted by veteran journalist Walter Cronkite.

NET2 will also feature a slate of Memorial Day programming. On Saturday at 7 p.m., the NET Television production "On The Frontline: Nebraskans At War in Iraq" tells the compelling stories of the 63 Nebraska National Guard soldiers from Troop A of the 1-167th Calvary. Dangers like roadside bombs and sniper attacks were part of an average day for these Nebraska Army National Guard soldiers.

On Sunday at 11 a.m., "The Canteen Spirit" will be rebroadcast. At 1 p.m., Cronkite and others return to London to see how their work changed the course of history in "City at War: London Calling."

"Afghan Journey: A Story of Friendship," airs Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on NET2. It follows former Lincoln Journal Star reporter Matthew Hansen and photographer Dior Azcuy as they travel to Kabul in October 2005 to explore the connections between Nebraska and Afghanistan for the newspaper.

Monday, May 21, 2007

KPTM Will Air Severe Storms Special Thursday At 10

KPTM headerKPTM (Cox Channel 10) will air all five of its "Worst Storms in Nebraska" segments Thursday as part of its "Nebraska Severe Storms Special" at 10 p.m.

The special will be hosted by KPTM Chief Meteorologist Tyson Pearsall and weekend meteorologist Nathan Moore. On the "News at Nine" last week, Pearsall counted down the five deadliest storms in Nebraska history.

The station is also inviting viewers to share their experiences of severe storms through the Community Correspondent section of KPTM.com.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Leftovers from the Laptop

World-Herald Coverage Not As Advertised
Apparently not quite grasping the concept of what is "live" and what is not, the Omaha World-Herald's online editorial staff is advertising "Live Track" coverage on its website, Omaha.com. Well-documented in this column is the World-Herald's tendency to avoid the word "blog," which is what sports reporter Stu Pospisil is providing for readers from the press box at Burke Stadium Friday and Saturday.

Radio Auction Raises Money For Camps
Omaha radio station KSRZ (104.5 FM) will be auctioning off several high-profile items Monday morning to raise money to send children to the College of St. Mary's Summer Girls Camps. The camps are for girls ages 6 to 18 that promote careers in health, forensic science, Spanish and an all-around life balance. Among the items up for bid will be a VIP pass to an upcoming B-52's concert and tickets to Gwen Stefani's concert in Omaha June 4.

No Children's Miracle Network Telethon on WOWT
WOWT (Cox Channel 8) will not televise the Children's Miracle Network Telethon next month. A message on the station's website says, "In lieu of a telethon this year, WOWT along with Children's Hospital would like to invite you to participate in a fundraiser for sick children in the Omaha area." The "Chip in for Kids" golf event on Monday at Champions Run replaced the telethon. Cash donations are also being accepted at area Baker's stores or by calling 955-6851.

Chris Egert, Courtesy of WFTVFormer KMTV Reporter Heads to Seattle
Chris Egert, former reporter/anchor at KMTV (Cox Channel 5) is moving from Orlando to Seattle to accept the weekend anchor position at KIRO-CBS.

Egert has worked at WFTV-ABC in Orlando the past five years. He and his wife Kate (a former producer at KMTV and WFTV) have one son and are expecting another child in August.

New Reporter Hired at WOWT
WOWT's replacement for reporter Rebecca Kleeman is Michelle Leach. The Hastings native has previously worked at WEYI in Flint, Mich., at independent station "6 News Lawrence" in Lawrence, Kan., and at NTV-ABC in Kearney.

KMTV Invites Viewers To Shred Documents
As a follow-up to Carol Wang's story about identity theft, KMTV (Cox Channel 5) is inviting viewers to bring up to 50 pounds of paper to its studios Saturday for shredding. InfoSafe will provide the document shredding from 9 a.m. to noon at 10714 Mockingbird Drive.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Kailyn Reid Enjoying Life Outside TV

Kailyn Reid, courtesy of IBSYSFormer KETV (Cox Channel 9) reporter Kailyn Reid says she misses the TV news business, but that her new job as public information specialist for the Omaha Public School district utilizes many of the same skills.

Reid started her new job with OPS on May 1 after leaving KETV the day before. She had interned at the Omaha ABC affiliate since the summer of 2003 and worked off-and-on part-time over summers, weekends and school breaks while finishing her degree at Drake University. She returned to KETV last July after going to work at KHBS in Fort Smith, Ark., following graduation.

Reid said when a full-time position at KETV was not immediately available, she started looking for other opportunities. Then, shortly after being hired on full-time at KETV as a reporter, she was offered the job at OPS.

"It was really, really hard to leave KETV, but I couldn’t turn this job down," she said. "I'm doing a lot of the same things I did as a reporter - writing press releases, writing and shooting photos for the district newsletter and writing, shooting and editing recruitment videos for the district."

Corey Rangel Leaving KMTV For Phoenix

Corey Rangel, courtesy of Action3News.comKMTV (Cox Channel 5) reporter Corey Rangel is headed to Phoenix's ABC affiliate, KNXV, to be a general assignment reporter.

Rangel has worked at KMTV since February of 2005. His last day at the station is Friday.

Veteran KMTV photojournalist Harry Flansburg also left the station recently to start his own video production company in Omaha. Flansburg was a multiple winner of Photojournalist of the Year honors by the Nebraska News Photographers Association.

Death of South Carolina Photojournalist
Sparks Memories of KETV Tragedy

Jeff FrolioThe death of WHNS-Fox 21 photojournalist and assignment editor Joe Loy in South Carolina earlier this week sparked memories of a similar tragedy involving an Omaha TV station photographer.

It will be three years next month that KETV (Cox Channel 9) photojournalist Jeff Frolio was struck by a car and killed while shooting footage of an intersection at 222nd and West Center Road where two teens had died. He was survived by his wife, Marianne, and their three children: Nicki, David and Carly.

Monday night around 5:30 in Spartanburg County, S.C., Loy was shooting video of a tractor-trailer that had lost its load of lumber across the southbound lanes of Interstate 85. Only seconds after he arrived, a van lost control and hit him. Station insiders tell Newsblues.com that Loy continued to roll tape until the moment of impact, which ended with "a wall of white." (The station did not to air the entire tape.)

Investigators are now trying to find the driver of a red GMC pick-up truck that may have played a role in the accident. Loy's tape shows the pick-up veering in front of the van, causing the driver of the van to overcorrect and lose control. According to a witness, the red pick-up had been weaving in out of traffic for a while. The pick-up did not stop after the accident that killed Loy at the scene.

At KETV, Frolio's locker in the photographer's office remains preserved as he left it on June 10, 2004. After the accident, KETV photojournalists began wearing reflective vests in situations where they would be shooting video close to traffc.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Ordinance Regarding Public Access Channels
Up For Vote By City Council Today

[Updated 5:20 p.m.]
An ordinance to approve an addendum to the cable communications agreement between Cox Communications and the City of Omaha was approved by the City Council today. By a six-to-one vote, Cox received permission to cut the number of public access dedicated to public, educational and governmental programming channels from six to four.

Cox had asked to reduce the number of public access channels to three in order to provide for improvements and enhancements to its cable system.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Omaha.com Takes A Page From TV News

Page 1 Photo, Omaha World-Herald newspaper[Updated May 13th]

In a move that shows the editors at Omaha.com are trying hard to compete with their local broadcast counterparts, a story about a convicted murderer is labeled as an "exclusive interview."

The word "exclusive" is used twice in the Sunday print edition of Robynn Tysver's more than 2,100-word story about Carey Dean Moore.

This is the second straight week that the World-Herald has published a copyright story on Page 1. Last week's article about a plan to replacement Rosenblatt Stadium with a new baseball arena built near downtown spurred a number of follow-up stories.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Cowherd Originates National Show From Omaha

Cowherd at ESPN STudiosESPN Radio talk show host Colin Cowherd (pictured) originated his national radio show Wednesday and Thursday from NRG Media-owned Omaha radio station KOZN (1620 AM).

Cowherd was in Omaha to serve as the keynote speaker at the annual B’nai B’rith Sports Banquet Wednesday night. Nearly 1,000 sports, business and government leaders attended the event.

NRG Omaha awarded $1,500 scholarships to Omaha North's Niles Paul, male high school student-athlete of the year and Kelsey Woodard of Bellevue West, female high school student-athlete of the year.

The Colin Cowherd Show is heard weekdays from 9 to noon on 1620 The Zone and more than 300 stations nationwide.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

A New Way To Do TV Live Shots

Something Jim Rome touts on his nationally-syndicated sports talk show may end up being the successor to TV live shots produced with expensive satellite and electronic news gathering (ENG) trucks.

The "Slingbox" allows you to watch TV remotely using a laptop or smart phone. But now, a San Francisco TV station is using the $300 device to deliver live news, traffic and weather updates wirelessly back to its studio.

According to a story on Cnet.com, a smaller camera, a Slingbox and a data card (combined approximate cost: $900) could potentially change the way broadcast TV news does business.

(Thanks to Mike James of Newsblues.com for first bringing attention to this story.)

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

New Baseball Stadium Is 'News' to WOWT Viewers

Advertised as "New Tonight," WOWT (Cox Channel 8) led off its 10 p.m. newscast with reporter Sheila Brummer's story on the revival of a debate over a new baseball stadium.

Sound familiar?

See this copyright story on the front page of Sunday's editions of the Omaha World-Herald.

Competitors KMTV (Cox Channel 5) and KETV (Cox Channel 9) led off Tuesday night with the fight to hold back floodwaters in Southwest Iowa. WOWT spent 37 seconds on that story immediately after Brummer's live report from Rosenblatt Stadium.

And this is the May ratings period?

KXSP Relaunches BigSports590.com

Sports talk radio station KXSP (590 AM) re-launched its "Big Sports 590" website this week, promising even more changes in the coming weeks.

The new site features links to podcasts, profiles of its two local sports talk show hosts, Travis Justice and Matt Perrault, as well as and a game schedule for the Kansas City Royals baseball team.

The site's once-popular forum is still being developed, Perrault said.

Former Sports Editor Chronicles Marathon

Former Grand Island Independent Sports Editor Jeff Korbelik, who is now an arts and entertainment writer for the Lincoln Journal Star, co-wrote a column Tuesday with regional reporter Cara Pesek about their experience.

Korbelik (pictured wearing the headband in a photo by Journal Star photographer Eric Gregory), finished the 26.2 miles in four hours and 46 minutes.

"The first half was like a party, the second half more like a funeral," Kobelik writes. "The first 13 miles featured a mass of people, runners and cheering spectators. At the halfway point, two-thirds of the field dropped off and spectators became scarce on Normal Boulevard. It’s weird, but I missed 'the insulation' of hundreds of other runners around me."

Kobelik said he "probably" will run another maraton, but that Pesek will have to talk him into it.

Monday, May 7, 2007

World-Herald Gives Narrative Writing A Go
As PR Professionals Scurry To Pitch Ideas

Word of a new approach to writing that will launch a regular feature in the Omaha World-Herald newspaper is sure to send local public relations professionals scrambling to pitch story ideas for it involving their clients.

The new feature will be called "Slice" and will appear every Tuesday on the front page of the Living section. It will be a 15 to 45-inch story with multiple photos that provide a "slice" of the routines and rituals of life.

Prospective story angles, as provided to reporters by Investigative Projects Editor Cate Folsom, are:

- Seeing a teacher through the end of her last school year as serious health issues force her into early retirement.

- Taking us through the nervousnous (sic) and exhilaration of giving voice to your intimate thoughts at an amateur poetry reading.

- Following spring produce from one person's garden to another person's plate via a local farmer's market.

- Tapping an aging group of church women as they muster their forces to feed the crowd after a funeral.

- Showing the ebb and flow of life as families and teams come and go, win and lose at a kids' sports complex.

- Detailing behind-the-scenes work before, during and after an event at the Qwest, from polishing the windows to preparing the food to picking up trash, from the view of the workers and their boss.

- Following a priest or minister or rabbi preparing for services.

- Tracking activity at the pickup dock at the Mart on a typical Saturday.

- Tagging along with an elected official through a long day of work or through the work of getting a piece of legislation drafted, discussed and voted on.

Narrative writing style tells a story of an experience, event, or sequence of events while holding the reader's interest. It is typically written in first or third-person and may include dialogue that is organized in chronological sequence.

The World-Herald also has plans to post audio files with each "Slice" story and photos on its website, omaha.com.

Adrian Fiala Will Receive Hall Honor Tonight

University of Nebraska-Lincoln sports broadcaster Adrian Fiala will be inducted into the Omaha Oldtimers’ Baseball Club Hall of Fame tonight in Omaha.

Fiala, a baseball and football standout for the Huskers, is one of eight members of the Hall's 2007 class of inductees. Joining him are Bellevue University baseball Coach Mike Evans, Richard “Bubby” Harrison, Buddy Hunter, Herb Kupfer, Dani Mancuso, Dan McGinn and Jerry Ryan.

The ceremony takes place at Cascio's Steakhouse with dinner and the program beginning at 7 p.m.

Fiala currently serves as a color analyst on Husker football and baseball radio and TV broadcasts.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Stadium Story Spawns Several Follow-Ups

The Omaha World-Herald's front page story Sunday about the City of Omaha's hopes of building a replacement for Rosenblatt Stadium somewhere north of downtown spurred two follow-up stories in Monday's editions.

One story, by sports reporter Rob White, revealed that the World-Herald was more in tune with the proposed developments than Rosenblatt Stadium's anchor tenant, the Omaha Royals baseball team.

Johnny Rosenblatt photo, courtesy of cwsomaha.org"Like most, (Omaha Royals President Alan) Stein first learned about it from Sunday's Omaha World-Herald," White wrote. "It's fair to say we're disappointed that we're not part of the conversation," Stein told White. "If the Royals are being considered for anything in the future in terms of a new stadium, or a stadium upgrade, or no stadium, it would occur to me that the Royals deserve the opportunity to be in the discussion. As you can tell, to this date we are not."

The other story in Monday's editions was written by government services beat writer Kristin Zagurski. It found that some people who live near Rosenblatt Stadium are not happy with plans to build a stadium somewhere else and remove the ballpark that has hosted the College World Series for more than 50 years.

The story is noteworthy in that it is believed to be the first time the state's largest newspaper has referred to Rosenblatt Stadium in a news story as "The Blatt."

Rosenblatt Stadium was renamed (from Omaha Municipal Stadium) in 1964 to honor Johnny Rosenblatt (pictured at right). Local sportscasters and sports writers have typically shied away from using the derogatory reference to the man who served as mayor from 1954 to 1961.

Copyright Story Reveals New Stadium Plans

Omaha World-Herald Front, 5/6/7The Omaha World-Herald took out a copyright for its front-page story in Sunday's editions announcing the city's plans to build a new baseball stadium and demolish venerable Rosenblatt Stadium.

The story, co-written by sports columnist Tom Shatel and government services beat writer C. David Kotok, outlines the option of constructing a ballpark in the downtown area near the Creighton University campus and the Qwest Center. The stadium would include approximately 9,000 permanent seats, with the ability to use portable seating to expand its capacity to 25,000 seats.

Rosenblatt Stadium was built in 1947 and has a capacity of 23,145. It has served as home to the College World Series for the past 57 years. More than $30 million in improvements to Rosenblatt Stadium have been made to ensure the CWS remains in Omaha.

A copyright on a news story only protects the wording and ordering of phrases. One important exception to copyright law permits the "fair use" of copyrighted work for purposes such as news reporting - meaning other news agencies may refer to the story by noting that the World-Herald took out a copyright on the story.

As of Sunday morning, The Associated Press had not moved an abbreviated version of the story on the Nebraska wire. In the past, the AP has shared copyright stories with its members by using the phrase, "in a copyright story," somewhere in the opening paragraphs of the story.

Saturday, May 5, 2007

The Four-Letter Word The World-Herald Avoids

It's beginning to become almost comical how the Omaha World-Herald rarely takes advantage its online component (read: "website") affords to produce timely updates as an event is in progress (read: "blog").

We won't fault business reporter Joe Ruff for the ridiculous headline, "Berkshire Live: Updates from Q&A session," Saturday on Omaha.com. After all, he was only responsible for the content. However, exactly a year after the newspaper first trumpeted the concept of blog updates - without using the word "blog" and about five years after everyone else became familiar with the term - the World-Herald continues to resist use of the word "blog."

You would have thought the decision-makers on the seventh floor of the former Qwest building would have learned from their mistake during the trial of Christopher Edwards. Then, reporters Lynn Safranek and Todd Cooper filed a number of "live" reports (read: "blogging") from outside the courtroom, which were subsequently posted under the heading of "trial briefs."

The style of those entries - far removed from the staunch, matter-of-fact writing by reporters that is found daily in the news section of the newspaper - almost made an otherwise life-or-death matter seem comical at times.

Friday, May 4, 2007

Webber Honored By Girls and Boys Town

Dave Webber, courtesy of WOWT.comWOWT (Cox Channel 8) Sports Director Dave Webber was awarded Thursday with Honorary Citizenship at Girls and Boys Town for his longtime dedication to the nation's largest privately funded organization serving severely at-risk children.

Webber has served as emcee of the Girls and Boys Town Booster Banquet for more than 10 years. He has also performed voiceover work and assisted the community and its residents in a variety of other ways, according to Girls and Boys Town Director of Public Relations John Melingagio.

"Because we are an incorporated Nebraska village, all of our children are officially sworn in as citizens when they arrive," Melingagio said. "Special people like Dave are honored by Girls and Boys Town with citizenship."

Girls and Boys Town Mayor Caitlin Huber and National Executive Director Father Steve
Boes presented Webber with his citizenship in front of more than 200 of the community's student-athletes and a total audience of 1,200 at last night's Booster Banquet.

During a story in Thursday's 10 p.m. broadcast, Webber said he was honored to join the list of Girls and Boys Town honorary citizens such as Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney and Mike Ditka.

"Dave had to promise, like our girls and boys, to study hard, play fair and pray well all his days as a citizen," Melingagio said.

Internet Music CEO Makes Appeal To Listeners

Live 365 LogoMark Lam, chief executive officer of Internet radio network Live365, is asking listeners to voice their support for the Internet Radio Equality Act (HR 2060), legislation that sets Internet radio rates equal to that of satellite radio, while also providing the same rules for public and non-commercial Internet radio.

Lam met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., earlier this week after the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) recently denied webcasters' requests for a rehearing on its ruling of new royalty rates. The new rates were a 300 to 1,200-percent increase for Internet radio stations and included a minimum of $500 per station, per year.

"Should this ruling stand, many of your favorite stations will be silenced," Lam wrote in an e-mail to Live365 users. "You will find Live365's 260 genres reduced to the same meager, homogenized list carried on AM/FM radio, because the unfair rates would drive webcasters in niche genres with unique content unavailable elsewhere out of business."

Lam encourages listeners to contact their Congressman to ask them to co-sponsor HR 2060.

Tracy Madden Expecting in Late June or Early July

Tracy Madden Baby Shower, Courtesy of WOWTWOWT (Cox Channel 8) viewers who wondered whether anchor Tracy Madden was pregnant again got their answer Thursday night.

Madden confirmed what many had suspected (judging by inquiries to Media Watch) during a story on a community baby shower to benefit the parenting programs of Lutheran Family Services and the Visiting Nurse Association.

Though she did not reveal when she is due, her husband, former KETV (Cox Channel 9) sports anchor Sean McMahon, told the City Weekly earlier this week that they are expecting the new addition in late June or early July. The two already have a pair of twin sons, Ryan and Quinn.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

'Antiques Roadshow' Episodes Taped in Omaha
Will Begin Airing On NET May 14

Antiques Roadshow HeaderThree episodes of "Antiques Roadshow" which were taped at the Qwest Center in July of 2004 will be broadcast on three consecutive Mondays in May on NET1 (Cox Channel 12).

The first hour of appraisals from Omaha airs Monday, May 14, followed by the second on May 21, and the third hour on May 28. All three episodes air at 7 p.m. CDT.

The first hour features a collection of letters and drawings chronicling the contentious relationship between the owner's feisty great-grandmother and Frank Lloyd Wright, the renowned architect hired to remodel her house. The collection is estimated to be worth $100,000 to $125,000.

In the second show, a woman brings a striking piece of 1960s-era memorabilia for appraisal. Although she only paid $200 for a 1961 "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" movie poster, Audrey Hepburn memorabilia has skyrocketed in value since her death and the poster's value is estimated between $4,500 and $5,000 today.

Among the thousands of cherished heirlooms featured in the third hour, "Antiques Roadshow" appraisers find a circa-1770 Chippendale desk complete with the Civil War era documentation and an incredibly rare daguerreotype of the mysterious Edgar Allan Poe, worth $30,000 to $50,000.

The "Antiques Roadshow" episodes will also be repeatws on three consecutive Thursdays. Hour one airs Thursday, May 17, with hour two May 28, and hour three May 31. All of these episodes air at 8 p.m. CDT on NET1.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

KFAB News Director A Guest On 'Nancy Grace'

Tom Stanton, courtesy of KFAB.comKFAB (1110 AM) News Director Tom Stanton shared details Monday with CNN's Nancy Grace of a pit bull's weekend attack on an Omaha mail carrier.

While introducing Stanton, Grace referred to KFAB's frequency as "1-1-1-OH." The interview also featured Mark Langan, a former Omaha Police sergeant who is now vice president of field operations for the Nebraska Humane Society.

Here is a partial transcript of the interview:

GRACE: How many attacks on people will it take before legislation is enacted regarding pit bulls? Let`s go out to Tom Stanton, news director with news radio 1110 KFAB. What happened?

TOM STANTON, NEWS DIRECTOR, NEWS RADIO 1110 KFAB: Well, Nancy, good evening. This was a case that happened Saturday afternoon. A mail carrier in Omaha was on his routine route. He went up to a house and, as he was delivering the mail, he was greeted at the front door by a pit bull.

These mailmen are trained to put their foot up against the door to keep dogs from charging out of the house. In this particular case, though, the pit bull jumped through the screen on the door and began attacking the mailman on the front porch. He was trying to fend off the pit bull with his mail bag, but it was ripped out of his hand.

The carrier struggled with the dog for what we believe is about three minutes before the owner could come out and pull the pit bull off of the mail carrier. He did suffer some serious bite wounds to his right leg and also both of his hands, as he was trying to fight with the dog. The good news, though, he was released that night from the hospital, and he`s preparing to go back to work.

Read the rest of the transcript by clicking here. (Scroll down past the introductory story.)

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Marissa Exits KQKQ After 10 Months

Marissa, courtesy of myspace.comKQKQ (98.5 FM) midday maven “Marissa” is gone, a scant 10 months after arriving from her hometown of Albany, N.Y. The deaths of a relative and friend as well as illnesses in her family led her to make April 27 her last airshift at “Q 98 Five.”

“I could really feel the stress starting to take a toll on me not only emotionally, but physically as well,” she said. “So, I decided it was time to get back to New York.”

She’s not giving up radio, though. She has already secured a pair of part-time jock shifts on Albany’s urban/crossover hit station WAJZ (96.3 FM) and Top 40/Pop station WFLY (92.3 FM).

With Marissa’s departure, “Sterling” has moved from nights to middays at KQKQ, meaning Program Director Nevin Dane is currently looking for a new night jock.