Two stations in the South TV News area will soon be receiving an alternative to Nielsen for its ratings information.
Morris Network, Inc., has signed a deal with Rentrak Corp. to provide daily ratings that it says is more dependable than the diary method Nielsen’s used for years.
Shawn Kline (Courtesy: Twitter)
Former KATC reporter Shawn Kline just caught a big break. After working in Lafayette, La., he scored a job with Columbus, Ohio, ABC affiliate WSYX.
That’s a jump to market 34. Kline will be a multimedia reporter, according to TVSpy.
Congratulations, Shawn!
Jennifer Ortega (Courtesy: Official Site)
West Palm Beach, Fla., native Jennifer Ortega has been hired by CBS affiliate WCBI-TV as the station’s newest reporter.
She fills the spot left open when former reporter Joe Barnes jumped markets and stared reporting for WLBT-TV in Jackson, Miss.
WBBJ-TV Logo
Jackson, Tenn., ABC affiliate WBBJ-TV has tapped Keith Baker to be the news director there.
Industry firm Rick Gevers reports Baker has roots in the area and comes from WCTI-TV in New Bern, N.C., where he served as assistant news director. Baker also has major market experience in Tampa and Pittsburgh.
Joe Barnes (Courtesy: Twitter)
Joe Barnes, former reporter for CBS affiliate WCBI-TV in the Columbus-Tupelo-West Point-Houston market, has recently been hired at the Magnolia State’s flagship station in Jackson.
Barnes started working at NBC affiliate WLBT-TV last month. Insiders tell South TV News his shift includes weekends and anchoring duties on Sundays.
Russ Geller (Courtesy: Twitter)
It’s usually not a vote of confidence when a job posting is listed for someone still working at a television station.
And while that happens at stations across the U.S. anyway because news directors need to fill that position before a reporter’s contract runs out, it usually doesn’t happen to the man in charge.
Keith Gibson (Courtesy: WCBI-TV)
Keith Gibson, former chief meteorologist at FOX affiliate KEVN in Rapid City, S.D., is now the new chief meteorologist for WCBI-TV, the CBS affiliate for the Columbus-Tupelo-West Point-Houston market.
Gibson’s career has taken him through both Dakotas and the Mississippi Delta, where he once worked at WABG, an ABC affiliate.
Gibson replaces Rob Smith, who’s been at the station for 18 years. A Facebook update on the station’s weather page states Smith is leaving to “concentrate on his studies” as he returns to school, but Smith will be around to fill in from time to time.
South TV News 