To Name Or Not To Name?

It is no secret who the female victim was in an early-morning robbery in Fremont Friday.

KFAB (1110 AM) was first to report on the attack on its own news reporter, Karla James. The story was broadcast on both Clear Channel-owned stations and KFAB's website, www.kfab.com.

But what was not intially reported by KFAB was that the suspect who attacked her tried to sexually assault James, according to Fremont Police.

That created a dilemma for media outlets. Most have a policy not to name sexual assault -- or attempted sexual assault -- victims. But many people in Fremont had already learned James had been victimized through radio news reports and a front page story in the Fremont Tribune newspaper.

However, KETV reporter Tom Elser, who reported live from Fremont for the station's 10 p.m. newscast Friday, did not name James, nor did a story on Omaha TV station WOWT's website, wowt.com.

James declined to be interviewed by the Fremont Tribune.

KFAB News Anchor Robbed

KFAB (1110 AM) reporter Karla James found herself in the headlines after being robbed outside her Fremont home this morning.

James was leaving for work when a man forced her back inside her house and robbed her. In an account of the crime on KFAB's website, James says the man held a screwdriver to her throat and threatened to kill her if she called police.

She says he then took $10 and her jeep and left. Police say they arrested a suspect in the stolen jeep a short time later on Highway 275 near Valley. KFAB says James suffered minor injuries when she was pushed to the ground.

James handles both news and farm reports at KFAB.

[Updated: March 31, 3:30 p.m.:]
James' biography and mug shot is not the only one that has been removed from KFAB's website, kfab.com.

NAPBA Meeting Saturday in Grand Island

This year's Nebraska Associated Press Broadcasters Association (NAPBA) meeting is Saturday at the Midtown Holiday Inn in Grand Island, Neb.

In addition to the annual AP business meeting featuring Nebraska Bureau Chief Tena Haraldson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln broadcasting professor Jerry Renaud will speak to attendees about the future of convergence in the age of podcasting.

The AP Broadcast awards will be handed out during an 11:30 a.m. luncheon before the day-long program concludes at 1:30o p.m. with a Republican gubernatorial candidate forum featuring Dave Heineman, Dave Nabity and Tom Osborne.

[Updated: March 31, 2:30 p.m.]
Broadcast news directors or an appointed media outlet representative may contact Sean Weide (sweide@envoyinc.com) Saturday with news of awards won and comments. Because The Reader is not an AP-member publication, it is not privy to the results in a timely fashion.

'The Zone' Finally Off Injured Reserve

Knocked off the air by a lightning strike during Thursday afternoon's severe thunderstorms, Waitt Radio's KOZN (1620 AM) "The Zone" sports talk station resumed over-the-air broadcasting at 3:30 a.m. this morning.

KKAR Program Director Neil Nelkin said station engineers worked through the night to make repairs -- and even received some unexpected help to accomplish a formidable task.

"(Our engineers) had help from engineers at Waitt Radio Networks and from at least one of the other (radio) groups here in town," Nelkin said. "I really can't say enough about these guys. They were unbelievable."

Nelkin said virtually all Waitt's facilities at 50th & Capitol have been restored to normal or near-normal operations.

"There are still repairs to be made and replacement equipment to be installed, but everything is up and operating," he said at 7:15 this morning.

Waitt had taken steps to prevent the very incident that knocked several of itsstations off the air around 3:45 p.m. Thursday, Nelkin said. An emergency power generator worked perfectly and KOZN also remained available to listeners streaming over the Internet at www.1620thezone.com throughout the extended outage.

"Our facilities were designed and installed by one of the top radio engineering firms in the industry, with all the shielding, grounding and safeguards available," Nelkin said. "But when lightning strikes -- especially close by -- it can do amazing
things. Our guys busted their butts to get everything up and running and
our problems had nothing to do with a lack of planning."

Gary Kerr Returns To Moderate Senate Debate

Longtime WOWT anchor Gary Kerr makes a brief return to local television news Saturday when he hosts the Nebraska Republican Senate political debate on KXVO (Cox Channel 11) at 9 p.m.

The debate was taped Thursday at the Omaha Press Club during a sold-out luncheon. Candidates David Kramer and Pete Ricketts accepted the invitation to debate. A third candidate, Don Stenberg, chose not to participate.

Stenberg said he would debate only if all three signed a pledge that, among other things, the candidates will not “make any reference to each other in paid television, radio, print, direct mail or other advertising.” Ricketts and Kramer said they could not sign a pledge with those words.

Kerr, seen in the photo above with former CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite (right) and WOWT co-anchor Byron Wood (left), is a member of the OPC Education Committee and worked at WOWT for 34 years.

The debate was one of the Noon Education Forums that are held monthly at the Press Club on subjects of interest to members and the public.

Special thanks to Todd Clark and Judy Horan for contributing to this article.

The Chief Weighs In: KETV's Bill Randby

---

"Big for us was our fourth meteorologist, John Campbell"

---

A year ago, KETV's severe weather coverage of a spring storm like Thursday's might not have been as comprehensive, says Chief Meteorologist Bill Randby. That is because the station only had three meteorologists on staff.

But on Thursday, four were working both in the station and out in the field: weekend meteorologists Chuck McWilliams and John Campbell (both on their days off) and morning meteorologist Andrea Bredow, who pulled off a herculean effort, working a 3 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. shift.

Randby said having Campbell in the station allowed McWilliams to be out in the field.

"He (McWilliams) brought in the first reports of damage and the overturned semi at I-480 and I-80," Randby said.

Another difference in KETV's severe weather coverage this year, Randby said, is the addition of Super Doppler 7 HD. Its NEXRAD Level II display is what Campbell used to show the storm's damage path.

"I thought we provided an excellent public service," Randby said before leaving the station Thursday around midnight. "We had dozens of emails from viewers complimenting us on the continuing coverage as storms moved across the metro and our entire viewing area."

The Chief Weighs In: KPTM's Tyson Pearsall

---

"Our news director, Allen Beckner, was a huge information source, relaying new damage reports and new warnings."

---

KPTM (Cox Channel 10) was not to be overlooked during Thursday afternoon's storm coverage, despite operating with considerably fewer resources than its competition.

Chief Meteorologist Tyson Pearsall said a team effort, comprised of reporters, photographers, assignment editors and even the station's news director, made for a solid performance that kept viewers informed while the storm was bearing down on the metro.

"We originally had an expectation for severe weather today, therefore Elizabeth Merriman and I took the team approach to the forecast early this morning," Pearsall said. "We planned on phone interviews during the storm and fortunately, we were able to utilize not only Elizabeth in the field for live phone reports, but also several photographers, reporters and an assignment editor."

With Merriman in the field, Pearsall said KPTM news director Allen Beckner stepped in to relay weather warnings and damage reports to him while he stayed in front of the camera as part of wall-to-wall coverage.

"We felt it was necessary to not only share information about current warnings taking place in extreme eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, but also to regularly refer back to the metro to try and give folks a very clear idea that conditions were indeed improving," Pearsall said.

"Some may think the coverage can become repetitive, but today's scenario was serious and we needed to continually get the message across to those who feared the situation and had great concern," he said.

KMTV First To Deliver On-Air Warning

Viewers watching "Dr. Phil" on KMTV (Cox Channel 5) were first to learn of the severity of Thursday's thunderstorms when KMTV Chief Meteorologist Ryan McPike interrupted the talk show with word of a tornado warning for Douglas County.

McPike's "First Warning Weather" coverage began just moments after the National Weather Service office in Valley, Neb., issued the warning. His cut-in preceeded the four other Omaha TV stations and capitalized on a huge viewing audience. "Dr. Phil" is No. 1 in its 3-4 p.m. time slot in the latest Nielsen Media Research ratings, compiled during February.

KMTV News Director Ken Dudzik said he was proud of his team of meteorologists for their performance today and for pinpointing the threat of severe weather days in advance.

"We pride ourselves in being 'First With Severe Weather' and I feel we lived up to the promise today," he said. "Our promise goes beyond just being on the air when the warnings go out, we warn viewers days in advance of the threat."

WOWT Shows Viewer's Video Via Internet

WOWT (Cox Channel 8) received an mpeg video from viewer Tom Wright showing what appeared to be a tornado touching down near Schuyler, Neb. Chief Meteorologist Jim Flowers analyzed the video while showing it to viewers during the station's 4 p.m. newscast.

KETV Storm Coverage: First With Pictures

KETV (Cox Channel 9) won the race Thursday to be the first Omaha TV station to show pictures and video of local storm damage.

A viewer's picture which was e-mailed to the station, showed tree and building damage near 33rd & I Streets. Not long after that, reporter Brandi Peterson was reporting live in South Omaha outside a home where a tree had fallen into the street.

KETV.com webmaster Shiloh Woolman was nearly as busy as the station's meteorologists and news gathering teams during Thursday afternoon's severe weather.

Chief Meterologist Bill Randby's live coverage of the storm was streamed over ketv.com for more than an hour as several intense weather systems passed through and around the metro. Randby pointed out that wind damage would have been much worse had trees been laden leaves.

Meanwhile, Woolman worked quickly to get e-mailed photos from viewers turned into a community slideshow.

And KETV wasn't shy about getting everyone on the station's news team involved. Photojournalist Terry Sedivy appeared onset to share details of what he witnessed and I-Team consumer reporter Mike Sigmond compiled damage reports.

Lightning Strike Knocks Waitt Radio Off The Air

Thursday's thunderstorm delivered a knock-out punch to Waitt Radio stations.

KKAR Program Director Neil Nelkin said it appears a lightning strike at the studios at 50th & Capitol caused substantial damage - and knocked several stations completely off the air just before 4 p.m.

"We sustained substantial damage to a lot of our internal audio routing and processing equipment," Nelkin said. "Two of our station consoles were knocked out, all of our phones failed, and we lost a number of our studio-transmitter links so we were unable to get audio from the studio location to the transmitter sites of a number of the stations in the cluster."

Faced with trying to deliver important information to listeners during the severe weather, Nelkin said station engineers worked quickly to patch audio from KETV (Cox Channel 9) directly to some of the stations, while resuming programming on others.

KKAR (1290 AM) was able to restore audio to its transmitter at 5:10 p.m. However, KOZN (1620 AM) was still off the air at 5:30 p.m.

Severe Weather Pounds Metro

Live weather images from Omaha TV stations' websites at 3:45 p.m. during wall-to-wall severe weather coverage. The threat of severe weather is expected to last through to 10 p.m., the National Weather Service said.

Some local stations are encouraging viewers to e-mail photos of storm damage to them for their 5 p.m. newscasts:
KMTV: news@action3news.com
KETV: news@ketv.com
WOWT: sixonline@wowt.com

Annual Meeting Seeks Journalists for Panel

The Midwest Sociological Society is seeking television and radio journalists to participate in a panel Saturday at its annual meeting in Omaha.

The title of the forum is "Talking in Sound Bites: How to Talk to the Media." It runs from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel. Attendees will learn how sociologists can translate their knowledge and expertise into ways that are valuable to reporters and the media.

Journalists interested in particpating in Saturday's panel should contact Envoy Public Relations Director Sean Weide at 558-0637 or sweide@envoyinc.com.

The Midwest Sociological Society is a professional organization of academic and applied sociologists as well as students of the discipline. Nearly 1,200 scholars, students and practicing sociologists in universities, government and business belong to the organization. The MSS encompasses 9 states: Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Kansas, South Dakota and North Dakota. However, nearly one-third of the members are from other parts of the nation and the world.

Journal Star's Dodgeball Story Honored Nationally

Lincoln Journal Star sports reporter Brian Christopherson's story on the Cornhusker State Games dodgeball competition last summer earned fourth place nationally in the game-story category of the 2005 Associated Press Sports Editors contest.

Christopherson was honored in the 40,000-100,000 circulation division for his story on the Cornhusker State Games dodgeball competition. Joe Posnanski of The Kansas City Star won the APSE’s top column writing award for the second time in four years. He also won in 2002. Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune was second, followed by Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press.

Severe Weather Symposium Is Saturday

KLKN meteorologists Kevin Coskren and Liz Dorland are among several local meteorologists who will make presentations during the Central Plains Severe Weather Symposium Saturday.

The annual event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lincoln Southwest High School (7001 South 14th Street), is open to the public. This year's theme is "Surviving The Storms - We Can't Prevent Severe Weather But We Can Be Better Prepared"

The Weather Channel meteorologist
Carl Parker is a featured presenter.

Other presentations will include spectacular storm videos, talks by storm chasers and storm photographers and free information and displays by weather-related organizations. Weather permitting, a weather balloon will be launched and tracked by computer from the symposium site.

The public is also invited to participate in the storm spotter training at the symposium and see a multimedia presentation to learn about becoming a volunteer storm spotter.

How About Giving Yourself Some Pub?

The world's leading provider of large screen LED video displays is installing one of the largest baseball video boards in minor league baseball at Rosenblatt Stadium.

But you wouldn't know anything about it from looking at the websites of the teams and sports organizations who will utilize the scoreboard the most.

Daktronics says the $1.26 million, 57-by-29-foot video replay board above the left-field stands at the stadium will be ready when the Omaha Royals open their 2006 season in Omaha next month.

However, Rosenblatt Stadium's anchor tenants (the Omaha Royals and the College World Series), and single-event renter Creighton University, are not publicizing news or pictures of the structure that is turning heads along Interstate 80.

The Omaha World-Herald did publish a picture of the scoreboard in its editions Thursday.

KMTV Expands Masters Coverage With HD

KMTV (Cox Channel 5) is making high definition coverage of the opening two rounds of the Masters golf tournament available on its digital carrier station, Cox Channel 805.

A press release from KMTV says programming on Cox Channel 5 will remain as scheduled on the first two days of the tournament, April 6-7, from 3-5 p.m. The third and final rounds of the Masters will be broadcast live by CBS Sports only on KMTV on Saturday from 2:30-6 p.m. and on Sunday from 1:30-6 p.m.

“We are excited to give more extensive HD coverage of this premiere CBS sporting event,” said Steve Wexler, senior vice president of Journal Broadcast Group's Omaha operations. “The Masters showcases the best of the best and now viewers can get the best coverage available in HD.”

Sports This Weekend: Omaha Beef

Dustin Talacko will join the Omaha Beef broadcast team for Saturday night's game on www.1620thezone.com against the Sioux City Bandits.

Talacko is the team's assistant general manager and director of operations. Calling the play-by-play for the 0-1 Beef will be Nick Handley. Kickoff is at 6:35 p.m.

Follow this link to listen to the live broadcast.

In This Week's Print Edition

Pick up a copy of The Reader's print edition this week to read which Omaha TV stations are celebrating big gains in the latest Nielsen Media Research newscast ratings.

The Botched Baseball Broadcast: Behind the Scenes at Time Warner

Time Warner Cable's Manager of Public Affairs & Community Programming said Wednesday that several factors contributed to the problems that kept the Nebraska baseball game in Lincoln last Saturday from being broadcast live to Time Warner subscribers.

Ann Shrewsbury said problems began when Time Warner was not able to do any techical testing of its equipment compatability with Cox Communications until one hour before the game. Cox only recently secured the rights to carry Nebraska's home baseball broadcasts and make them available to other cable providers.

"Their (satellite) truck didn't arrive in Lincoln until Friday night," Shrewsbury said. "In the best of situations, we would be able to test our receivers and our equipment a day or two in advance."

Shrewsbury said Time Warner technicians eventually were able to downlink the digital signal just before the scheduled 12:05 p.m. start, but could not broadcast it to their own subscribers.

"The equipment we have needed authorization codes that nobody knew," she said. "We tried to troubleshoot it with Cox during the game. They had people from Cox and the truck on the phone during the game. We tried three different receivers. We were all trying to work together because it was in everyone's best interests to get the broadcast on the air."

Shrewsbury was at Time Warner's Lincoln headquarters when the broadcast from Haymarket Park was scheduled to begin. When it did not, calls began pouring in.

"I was in the customer service area monitoring our call volume," she said. "It steadily began rising from eight to 10 to 12. By the time of the first pitch, we had 58 calls on hold."

Shrewsbury said Time Warner dealt with each caller personally and that she spent several hours after the game returning calls to subscribers who had e-mailed her to complain about the broadcast not being shown.

Time Warner eventually did air the broadcast via tape delay Saturday night after an employee retrieved a DVD of the game from Cox at Hawks Field and brought it back to the company headquarters, she said.

Officials from Time Warner and Cox will meet Thursday to discuss the next Nebraska baseball broadcast, which is scheduled for April 14th against Texas A&M in Lincoln. Cox was also not without its problems during last Saturday's game. Video was split across the top and bottom parts of the screen for several innings because of a problem at master control, a Cox spokeswoman said.

"This a new way of doing this," Shrewsbury said. "It’s not something either of us has ever done. But we’re confident we’ll get the kinks worked out."

Roger Olson Returns To KFAB

Seven-and-a-half weeks after suffering a mild stroke, KFAB (1110 AM) "Good Morning Show" producer and on-air personality Roger Olson returns to work.

KFAB Programming Director Gary Sadlemyer said Olson was anxious to get back in the studio sooner, but Clear Channel Omaha management made it clear that a complete recovery was more important than a faster return to the broadcast booth.

Olson's stroke, suffered Feb. 4, just hours after wrapping up a Saturday afternoon airshift, was the second time a prominent Omaha radio personality fell victim to health problems. On Dec. 22, KKAR (1290 AM) morning radio DJ Terry Mason died at his home from an unspecified illness.

Sadlemyer said several people -- Lucy Chapman, Matt Tompkins, Jared Hart and Kent Pavelka -- played important roles during Olson's absence.

Morning Brew Listeners Come Through

KQBW (96.1 FM) listeners to "The Morning Brew" quickly expressed their generosity when a listener called in to share her misfortunate brought on by a thief Monday night.

"Her husband's truck was stolen from their driveway and in the back of the truck was a bike that was going to be a reward for their two-year-old son for getting potty trained," said "Brew" co-host Michelle Matthews.

The caller asked Michelle and her co-host, "Mookie", if they could air an apppeal for the thief to return the bike. But they did much more than that - putting out a call for help to their listeners.

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"I'm so stunned and proud of our listeners today."

-Michelle Matthews, Morning Brew Crew Co-Host

---

The result was an outpouring of support, with donations pouring into the station throughout the day, Matthews said.

The feel-good story culminates Wednesday when two-year-old Wyatt will receive a new bike and helmet in an on-air presentation at 7:30 a.m.

Matthews said additional funds remain from the purchase of the bike and helmet. That money will be donated in Wyatt's name to a charity for other children who might need a bike.

"I'm so stunned and proud of our listeners today," she said. "They've truly made a memory for this two-year-old boy."

Cox Clarifies Husker Baseball Technical Trouble

[Updated: Wednesday, March 29]


Cox Communications provided an explanation Monday for the black bar that horizontally divided TV screens tuned into Saturday's Nebraska baseball game in Lincoln.

Summer Miller, Cox Communications public affairs manager, said the technical glitch was a problem with master control. The technical glitch divided the picture for a time between the top and bottom of viewers' TV screens.

TV Industry Website Free At Last

TV news industry website Newsblues is temporarily allowing free access to its website because of a problem with its third-party credit card processor, iBill.

Earlier this month, Wired Magazine reported that personal information for 17 million iBill subscribers had been discovered on computers owned by email spam companies. The magazine later amended its story to note that only three of the more than 17 million entries matched past iBill customers. According to iBill, the story was a set-up by disgruntled former employees.

While Newsblues sets up its own dedicated membership management system, the normally subscription-based site is now accessible at no charge. Industry types will find the Sourcebook and TV Jobs sections particularly of interest.

KETV Wants Feedback For IntheO.com

Six months after its debut, KETV's comprehensive events calendar is preparing for its first report card.

KETV (Cox Channel 9) webmaster Shiloh Woolman said visitors and users of IntheO.com are invited to provide feedback. In exchange for completing a brief survey, respondents are registered for a chance to win prizes.

IntheO.com is produced in partnership with The Reader.

McFayden Out And About, But Not Yet On KXVO

There is still no word on whether KXVO (Cox Channel 11) has hired former Music Television VJ Brian McFayden to co-anchor its 10 p.m. newscast.

However, McFayden has been showing his face on the Omaha club scene. Most recently, he was photographed Sunday night (right, courtesy of Omahanightlife.com) at the 415 martini bar downtown.

McFayden, 29, had his on-air "tryout" on KXVO's newscast Friday, March 16, anchoring solo in place of regular weeknight anchor Calvert Collins.

Newspaper Loses A Blogger: Frost Off To K-State

A popular member of the Lincoln Journal Star's "Always A Husker" blog team is headed south to coach for the opposition.

The Journal Star reported Sunday that former Nebraska quarterback Scott Frost is headed to Kansas State University, where he will work as a graduate assistant on the Wildcats' football team.

Frost hasn't filed a blog entry on the Journal Star's "Husker Extra" section in more than three months. But his blog was frequently mentioned by both Journal Star sports staffers and callers to Lincoln and Omaha sports talk shows as something they will miss now that the Wood River native is moving on.

Todd and Tyler Are Press Club's Next Barroom 'Faces'

The Omaha Press Club announced Monday that KEZO (92.3 FM) morning radio personalities Todd Brandt and Mike Tyler (better known as "Todd-N-Tyler") will be honored as the Omaha Press Club's 106th Face on the Barroom Floor on Friday, May 19.

Over the years, a wide variety of notables have been honored by having their likenesses displayed on the floor of the Omaha Press Club.

Omaha artist Jim Horan draws the caricatures that eventually end up being displayed on the walls of the club, which is located on the 22nd floor of the First National Bank building at 1620 Dodge Street. The most recent "Face" was Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey.

Journal Broadcast Group Vice President Steve Wexler and Daniel Whitney, better known by his stage name, "Larry the Cable Guy," are tentatively scheduled to roast Brandt and Tyler. The pair has been a part of the Omaha radio scene for the past 14 years.

WOWT Cited As Source In World-Herald Story

The Omaha World-Herald credited WOWT (Cox Channel 8) as its source of information that a teenage boy who had been hit by a vehicle Sunday night had died.

In some Monday editions including its online story at Omaha.com, World-Herald reporter Susan Szalewski wrote, "Paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the boy as he was taken by ambulance to the Nebraska Medical Center, a 911 dispatcher said. The child later died at the hospital, television station WOWT reported.

In a search of the World-Herald's archives, the last time the state's largest newspaper cited one of the five Omaha television stations as a news source was for a Nov. 10, 2004 story about an investigation into a black Ciy of Omaha employee's report that a white co-worker showed him a noose at work and said "this is for you."

"The man who allegedly made the remark told Channel 3-KMTV News that he didn't mean any harm. The man declined to comment to The World-Herald Tuesday morning," read the story written by World-Herald reporter Joseph Morton.

The accident last night happened before 8. All five Omaha television newscasts at 9 and 10 p.m. provided some type of coverage. WOWT reporter Rebecca Kleeman reported live from the scene, near 32nd & Q.

Looking For A Job In The Media?

More than a dozen Omaha metropolitan area media outlets will be represented at Tuesday's Professional Career Fair at the Holiday Inn Central Convention Center at 72nd & Grover.

Omaha Area Broadcasters, in association with Career Fairs Global, are sponsoring the event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Advertisements say attendees can "explore professional management; sales, administrative and general career paths of all kinds, along with more than a dozen radio and television organizations on hand seeking qualified applicants."

The following media-related businesses plan to participate:

Clear Channel Radio
Journal Broadcast Group
KCRO KGBI KOTK - Salem Radio Omaha
KETV
KHUB / KFMT - Waitt Radio
KMTV
KPTM-TV, KXVO-TV, KAZO-TV
KVSS - Spirit 88.9 FM
NRG Media - Omaha

High School Hall of Fame Adds Fuehrer

Denny Fuehrer, a sportswriter and sports editor at the Norfolk Daily News from 1961 to 1997 will be inducted into the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame as a "contributor."

The 13 inductees into the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2006 will be honored Sept. 24 at a 1:30 p.m. induction ceremony at the Lied Center in Lincoln.

Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for elementary and high school students. Preschool ages are admitted free. Advance tickets are available by contacting Jenny Kuck care of the Nebraska Sports Council, P.O. Box 29366, Lincoln, NE, 68529, or by calling (402) 471-2544 or by e-mail at info@nebraskasportscouncil.com.

KETV Weekend Morning Crew 'Bad to the Brat'

Don't blame KETV weekend morning news anchors Brandi Petersen and Todd Andrews and meteorologist Chuck McWilliams if they don't eat another brat ever again.

Each of the three TV personalities downed at least two brats in five minutes during the Johnsonville Big Taste Grill brat eating contest Saturday at the Bass Pro Shop in Council Bluffs.

"For the record, our final team score was Brandi 2.7, Chuck 2.4 and me 2.56," Andrews said. "And also for the record: I can't wait to do it again."

And he is not saying that tongue-in-cheek, either. Andrews has taken part in a number of bacon-eating contests (his personal record is 56 slices), said he was dreading this one because he doesn't particularly like bratwurst.

"I was pleased to find out that it would be a 20-on-20 (team) effort — as opposed
to 3-on-3, like I'd originally thought," he said.

But despite their vaiant efforts (along with Iowa Bass Pro Shop employees and National Guard soldiers), KETV was no match for the Iowa Blackhawks indoor professional football team.

The Blackhawks combined to eat 65 brats in five minutes to win the contest.

Petersen said despite that outcome, she enjoyed the friendly competition between her fellow KETV co-workers.

"I think we are all satisifed with the 2.5-apiece tie between the three of us, and we aren't planning a rematch anytime soon," she said.

Baseball Broadcast Not As Smooth As Huskers

More than just subscribers of Cox Communications were seeing red Saturday afternoon.

Time Warner Cable subscribers had been told they would receive Cox's broadcast of the 12:05 p.m. baseball game between Nebraska and Kansas live from Hawks Field in Lincoln. But the Lincoln-based cable company says it was unable to receive the satellite downlink of the game from Cox.

The technical trouble means Time Warner will air the Huskers' 9-2 win over the Jayhawks on Channel 77 tonight, beginning at 7:30.

"Time Warner Cable regrets the inconvenience and hopes you enjoy watching all the action from Hawks Field on tape delay tonight," said a statement issued by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln athletic department Saturday afternoon.

Viewers outside of the Omaha and Lincoln metropolitan areas were also shut out from watching Saturday's Big 12 opener for the Huskers because only Time Warner picked up the Cox-produced broadcast. This year, public broadcast station NET was not awarded the contract to carry Nebraska baseball games on TV.

In addition to Time Warner subscribers not being able to watch the game live, viewers watching Cox's coverage of the game on Channel 2 had to endure a split-screen effect for nearly four innings. The technical glitch put a black bar across the middle of the screen, with the top half of the video feed below it and the bottom half of the picture above it.

McMaster Anchors Final Newscast Sunday

Andrea McMaster says she is leaving WOWT with mixed feelings.

The station's weekend morning anchor, weekday reporter and host of "Heartland Focus" anchors her final newscast Sunday morning. Her last day at the station will be Friday. After nearly four years at the NBC affiliate, she is taking a part-time position with the office of public affairs at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. There, she joins two other former TV personalities: Theresa Cassiday (KPTM) and Margaret Bumann (KETV).

"I will miss my wonderful co-workers here," McMaster said. "I always have enjoyed telling people's stories and that's why I chose the news business in the first place. So I will miss that as well."

But McMaster said her new job will afford her more time to spend with her husband, Steve, and their five-month-old daughter, Erin.

Replacing McMaster on WOWT's weekend morning newscast will be former KOLN/KGIN-Lincoln weekend anchor Mike Cronemeyer and Rachel Pierce, who comes to Omaha from WQOW-ABC in Eau Claire, Wisc. (Nielsen DMA No. 123), where she is anchoring mornings. Her first day at WOWT will be April 24.

Late Night with... Greg Peterson?

KMTV doesn't have a weekend morning newscast. But that was not the case Saturday.

Because the NCAA Tournament games ran long (the Washington-Connecticut game even went into overtime), the "Action 3 News" 10 p.m. newscast was delayed until 12:11 a.m. Saturday (though the station's on-screen clock read 12:08 a.m.).

"Good morning everyone," Greg Peterson said off the top of the newscast.

The after-midnight start is not the latest an Omaha station has broadcast a 10 p.m. newscast. KETV staffers suffered through many a post-midnight shift during the "Monday Night Football" years. And as recently as last fall's baseball season, KPTM actually canceled one of its 9 p.m. newscasts when a World Series game went 13th innings.

Bill Steckis Appears on KMTV

Former Omaha sportscaster Bill Steckis reappeared on one of his former stations Friday to promote his seventh annual Royals-N-Jays Kids Baseball Clinic.

Steckis was KMTV's weekend sports anchor six years ago. He joined Mary Williams on Action 3 News at noon to publicize the free clinic he personally organizes. In addition to having worked at KMTV and authored a book "Baseball in the Prose," Steckis has also done freelance sports productions for KPTM.

The Royals-N-Jays Kids Baseball Clinic is open to boys and girls, ages seven to 15. It will be held Sunday, April 9 at the Creighton University Sports Complex.

Flood of Entries Pushes Back Winner Announcement

So many entries have poured in for WOWT's "Show Us Your Snowman" Contest that Chief Meteorologist Jim Flowers has had to put off announcing the winner and five runner-ups until Monday's 10 p.m. newscast.

"I don't have the final exact number but it looks like it will be over 650 pictures sent in," Flowers said.

A five-member judging panel will review all the entries, Flowers said, and decide which picture is most deserving of the grand prize. The person who submitted that photo will win a digital camera. Five second-place winners will each receive a pair of University of Nebraska at Omaha hockey tickets.

Familiar Name Joins Husker Baseball Broadcast Team

Cox Communications announced today that Kyle Peterson will be a part of the broadcast team for Saturday’s Nebraska baseball game against the University of Kansas. The 12:05 p.m. game at Hawks Field in Lincoln will be broadcast live on Cox Channel 2.

Peterson is a former all-state pitcher for Creighton Prep who went on to pitch for Stanford in the College World Series. He was named College Freshman of the Year in 1995 by Baseball America and went to play two years with the Milwaukee Brewers' organization.

On Saturday, Peterson will be the second analyst on the broadcast, joining former Husker baseball player Paul Meyers. Greg Sharpe will handle play-by-play and former Husker football player Damon Benning will serve as field reporter.

'General Jim' Lands in St. Louis

Radio & Records reports that former KMTV general manager Jim McKernan has been hired as the Vice President and General Manager for CBS Radio Holdings Inc. stations KEZK-FM and KYKY-FM in St. Louis.

McKernan replaces Beth Davis, who left CBS Radio for a new role with Clear Channel/Chicago in January. R&R reports McKernan begins his new position April 3.

McKernan left KMTV prior to the Journal Broadcast Group's acquisition of the CBS affiliate from Emmis Communications. He had previously worked for Journal (where KEZO morning duo Todd and Tyler referred to him as "General Jim") and Pappas Telecasting in Omaha.

Sports on TV/Radio Today: Of Local Interest

The Omaha Beef's season and home-opening game will be carried live tonight on Cox Communications digital cable channel 802. The Beef host defending UIF Champion Sioux Falls in a 7:35 p.m. contest at Omaha's Civic Auditorium. Cox's coverage begins at 7 p.m.

For those fans without digital cable, the game will be re-broadcast Sunday at 7 p.m. on Cox Channel 2. Immediately following tonight's game, digital subscribers will be able to view the game anytime via Cox’s “On-Demand” service (Cox Channel 299).

Calling tonight's action for radio will be Nick Handley and Mike'l Severe. The broadcast will only be heard on KOZN's website, www.1620thezone.com. This season, only 10 of 15 Beef games will be broadcast on KOZN (1620 AM), but all 15 can be heard on the Internet.

Maverick hockey fans can see the University of Nebraska at Omaha hockey team's Northeast Regional NCAA Tournament game against Boston University on Cox Channel 3 today at 3 p.m.

Some fans posting on mavpuck.com have complained about the fuzzy or "ghost" imaged picture on Cox Channel 3. The cause is "bleed interference" from KMTV's analog broadcast signal, which is assigned to Channel 3.

This afternoon's broadcast will originate from the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. ESPNU announcers for the game are Dave Shea (play-by-play voice of the Boston Bruins) and Barry Melrose.

Brat Eating Contest Includes KETV

KETV personalities will take on some of Council Bluffs' biggest eaters Saturday at the Johnsonville Big Taste Grill brat eating contest at the Bass Pro Spring Fishing Classic.

Their competition will be the Iowa Blackhawks indoor professional football team and Bass Pro management. The competition begins at 1 p.m. at the Bass Pro Shop.

Blackhawk players, dancers, cheerleaders, and BlackJack the team mascot will be on hand at 11 a.m. to greet guests and sign autographs.

WOWT Contest Attracts 400+ Entries

A single picture e-mailed to WOWT Chief Meteorologist Jim Flowers earlier this week is what sparked a full-fledged "best snowman" contest, complete with official judging and valuable prizes.

On Monday's 4 p.m. newscast, Flowers shared a "Jim Flowers" look-a-like snowman picture that was e-mailed to him at the station. Then he invited other viewers to send him their snowman pictures.

What happened next was beyond Flowers' expectations. Within 24 hours, the station had received more than 100 pictures. By Thursday at 2 p.m., the total had exceeded 400 -- with a little less than 24 hours to still get entries in.

"The response was overwhelming," Flowers said. "The original idea was a look-alike snowman, but with so many (entries) already received, we changed the concept to 'best snowman' contest."

Flowers said a five-person committee will judge the entries. The winner will receive a digital camera, while five second-place finishers will each get season tickets to University of Nebraska at Omaha hockey games.

"They (UNO) contacted us to be a part of the contest," Flowers said. "This was a great turnaround by our promotional department to put this together on the fly with little notice."

Doleman Signs On With Saltdogs

Fewer than two weeks after announcing he was leaving Lincoln radio station KLMS (1480 AM), Bill Doleman is resurfacing as Director of Broadcasting and play-by-play announcer for the Lincoln Saltdogs baseball team.

Doleman replaces Len Clark, who left the organization last month.

In a press release, Lincoln Saltdogs Vice President and General Manager Tim Utrup said, "Bill Doleman is a quality person and a great broadcaster with a wealth of experience. We are excited to have Bill doing our play-by-play again and he will be a welcomed addition to our full time staff."

Doleman, 40, actually teamed with John Baylor on the Saltdogs' original broadcast crew from 2001 through 2004.

"The offer to join the Saltdogs was too good to pass up," Doleman said in the Saltdogs' press release. "It's an opportunity to call play-by-play, which is why I got into the business, spend more time with my family, and work for a first-class organization."

In addition to his duties in the Saltdogs booth, Doleman will also handle the team's communications and media relations department. He will also continue to host "Goin' Deep with Ron Brown," a Christian-sports talk show, on ESPN 1480 as well as free-lance television play-by-play work.

Omaha TV Ratings: The February Book

The Nielsen Media Research ratings are due out soon for the February 2006 measurement period. Did WOWT maintain its lead or did KETV close the gap? And how much weight should be put into this book since WOWT (an NBC affiliate) broadcast the Winter Olympics?

Brew Still Fresh After Six Months

Six short months ago, KQBW (96.1 FM) "The Brew" made its debut, replacing an adult contemporary "lite" format that long made KEFM a mainstay on Omaha radio.

The Brew re-introduced listeners to original morning radio, complete with locally-produced humorous bits, interactive contests ("Game Show Friday"), music (of course) and a daily coin flip that decides whether co-host Mookie or Michelle will get the final hour of the 5:30 to 10 a.m. show off.

On the ratings front, KQBW has quickly become a contender among listeners aged 12-and-older. Though the latest Arbitron ratings won't be released until next month, this month's "trends" report shows the Clear Channel-owned station has nearly doubled its listening audience since the summer 2005 measurement period. It also hasn't shied away from its biggest competitor down the dial, KEZO (92.3 FM), taking shots at Todd & Tyler, who rely on an all-talk format to drive Omaha's most popular morning show.

In addition to "The Morning Brew" of Mookie & Michelle, the station's on-air lineup includes Crash Davis from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Steve-O from 3-6 p.m. and Lucy Chapman from 6-11 p.m. Only Chapman's shift is voice tracked (pre-recorded).

Michelle (Matthews), who doubles as the Brew's Programming Director, said she is a big believer in "personality" radio - using the station's assets as creatively as possible.

"Anyone can be a jukebox," she said. "We're having a lot of fun and we sure hope it shows. From Mookie and I, to Crash and his stories about grilling and beer, to Steve-O's super geeky music knowledge, to our sassy night rock goddess Lucy, everyone has their own personality and they're not reading from cards."

In This Week's Print Edition

Pick up a copy of this week's print edition of The Reader newspaper to read which Omaha TV meteorologist graded the best in forecasting Sunday and Monday's snowfall.