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Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Familiar faces leaving KEYE’s airwaves
Tough economic times continue to ripple through Austin media, most recently striking CBS station KEYE in the form of layoffs.
A couple of weeks ago, 14 of the station’s approximately 110 employees were quietly let go. Most of them worked in sales and administration. Next will be the departure of some of the station’s on-camera personnel.
KEYE general manager Amy Villarreal confirmed Wednesday that the station has decided to drop chief meteorologist Byron Webre, morning co-anchor Elizabeth Dannheim and veteran reporter Keith Elkins. Reporter Rebecca Taylor also will leave at the end of her contract.
“We are restructuring on-air talent, and there will be some changes beginning next week,” Villarreal said. “We are adjusting to accommodate what’s going on in the industry. The economy is down and advertising is down, so we’re making some tough calls. But we’ll come out of it when the economy comes back, and we’ll be well-positioned for the future.”
Because they have been instructed by station management not to comment on the down-sizing situation, none of the newsroom staff would speak on the record. The previous wave of layoffs included the station’s long-time receptionist Rose Davis and community affairs manager Thad Rosenfeld, who is married to KEYE news anchor Judy Maggio.
Villarreal shot down reports that the entire newsroom had been asked to take salary cuts or that, as one anonymous e-mailer claimed, the lights had been turned off in the station’s hallways to save money.
KEYE is owned by New York-based Cerberus Capital Management, which bought the station from CBS in February 2007 in a seven station deal worth $185 million.
Until recently, KEYE routinely finished third or fourth in the ratings among local newscasts, behind top-rated KVUE and second-place KXAN. But after launching the first high-definition local newscast last November, KEYE’s ratings began to improve, and in the most recent May ratings, the station finished second behind KVUE at 10 p.m.
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Texas State Strutters to strut on ‘America’s Got Talent’
Look for the Texas State University Strutters to kick up their boots on “America’s Got Talent” next week.
The precision dance team from San Marcos will appear on Tuesday’s two-hour edition (starting at 7 p.m.) of the popular NBC reality show.
Not all of the 79 members of the team will appear, but director-choreographer Susan Angell-Gonzalez will present 14 of the kickers:
Rebecca Freeman — Conroe
Ashley Caterina — Friendswood
Julia Kelly — Round Rock
Kayla Hamilton — New Braunfels
Katie Quisenberry — Houston
Taryn Smith — Alvin
Sterling Martin — San Antonio
Jill Ellis — Luling
Ashley Pergande — Clear Lake
Rebecca Samuelson — Friendswood
Adriana Hattenberger — Houston
Kristin Juengel — Friendswood
Lindsey O’Neal — Bryan
Danielle Barone — Keller
The Strutters have been strutting for Texas State’s beloved Bobcats for 49 years, and they’ve performed in 22 countries around the world.
They were the first U.S. dance team to perform in the People’s Republic of China, according to the school. And they have hoofed it up at presidential inaugural parades, Macy’s Thanksgiving parades and various TV commercials and films.
Now their challenge is to impress David Hasselhoff.
The Dems draw a crowd in their convention debut
The Democrats pulled in a big audience on Monday’s convention opening night when Michelle Obama was the featured speaker. It was also the night ailing Ted Kennedy wowed the crowd with a surprise appearance.
At least 21 million viewers watched the Monday night coverage, according to Nielsen Media Research. That’s an improvement over the first night of the 2004 Democratic convention, when 18 million viewers tuned in.
The ratings represent the combined viewership of the three cable news networks and the four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS).
If the audience builds higher toward Barack Obama’s much anticipated acceptance speech Thursday night, it could be a record-breaker.
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