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.
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.
What station doesn’t want to get paid just for being carried? 
In the most recent example of media companies negotiating for more dollars, DirecTV and CBS affiliate WCBI-TV have reached an agreement to continue carrying the north Mississippi station as part of its local channel lineup.
Current WCBI Logo
We’ve gotten a few tips over the last few days (and thank you for those) that Alexandra St. Pe has already started as a weekend meteorologist for WCBI, the CBS affiliate for the Columbus-Tupelo-West Point-Houston market in Mississippi.
This has been confirmed by her LinkedIn profile, though no official mention has been made on WCBI’s website, nor the news team listings.
It would appear she’s replacing current weekend met Courtney Cooper. No reason was given for Cooper’s departure, and I’m not sure if Cooper’s even still on-air (because I live in Louisiana).
According to Pe’s Twitter profile (@stpeweather) , she’s already begun on-air work for the station (from a profile picture posted to the social networking page).
If you have any more tips on this, please let us know!
Our third state on the list doesn’t have any Top 50 markets (as defined by Nielsen) but still has several smaller ones statewide.
That covers another one of several states we’ll be covering. If you work for one of these affiliates and have news about new hires, on-air graphic updates, HD overhauls, or anything that would be of interest to this local news blog, please let us know.. I’m not necessarily talking about station gossip, but that works, too. If someone uttered a profane word on-air, for example, that’d be something. Station sales, downsizing, things like that are also newsworthy. You can do so anonymously, of course, but have to prove you work for the station in question for credibility purposes by sending us an email to southtvnewser@gmail.com.
South TV News 