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WLNE's exodus continues

R

rib00

Recently, Chief Meterologist Geoff Bansen and anchor/reporter Alyssa Azzara have left the station. Bansen seems to be working for an Internet based weather service in the New York area. No word on where Azzara has landed. Both were good at their jobs.

For good news, Christina Shalhoup has taken over the evening weather duties and has a nice rapport with the anchors. She brings energy and enthusiasm to the broadcasts and the graphics she uses are well done.

The ABC6 website has job postings for the positions.
 
I think WLNE is being dumb and not realizing its true potential. I mean... hello, Kelly Bates?! Why isn't she the chief by now?! Even if Kelly goes to mornings, why isn't she the chief?! She is beloved in Rhode Island (proof after the WJAR debacle) and would be a fantastic chief. I mean, Geoff was only there two years and is not as beloved as Kelly is or as recognizable as Kelly, Mark Searles (WJAR), or Tony Petrarca (WPRI), whom all three have been on R.I. television for DECADES and the latter two have been chiefs at their stations for at least a decade (for Tony, its close to four).

WLNE needs to get with the program. Poor John DeLuca, he has to see the station burn daily and is another legend in R.I. (now in the R.I. Radio and TV Hall of Fame as proof).
 
A hedge fund (that failed to take over Tegna despite a year-long attempt) owns the station. Unsurprising that they are basically running it on autopilot.
 
Has there ever been a female Chief meteorologist in RI? Or, even Boston? I can't remember one.

Kelly is a bit of an enigma. When she arrived at ABC6, she did a promo saying how happy she was to be back where she started her career and seemed genuinely excited. A bit later she and other employees were leading the effort to unionize the station. Maybe not the best move if you want advancement.
 
rib00 said:
Has there ever been a female Chief meteorologist in RI? Or, even Boston? I can't remember one.
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Cindy Fitzgibbon is the current chief at WCVB but she's on mornings and noon.

Current chiefs in Boston:
  • WBZ/WSBK: Eric Fisher (since 2013)
  • WCVB: Cindy Fitzgibbon (the only female chief; been there since 2013 after working at rival WFXT but became chief in 2022, longest-serving morning met I believe in that market currently)
  • WHDH: Jeremy Reiner (since 2006 but has been chief since 2016)
  • WMUR: Mike Haddad (since 1993 but chief since 1998)
  • WBTS/NECN: Pete Bouchard (a WBTS original since 2016, 13 at WHDH before that, and even worked at WFXT too in his career)
  • WFXT: Kevin Lemanowicz (a WFXT original since day one in 1996)
Current chiefs in Providence:
  • WLNE: None at the moment, as far as I can recall.
  • WJAR: Mark Searles (since 2008, but worked at WLNE from 1994-2007)
  • WPRI/WNAC: Tony Petrarca (the longest-serving chief at either market: 38 years since 1987)
 
itsTheRolyPoly said:
Cindy Fitzgibbon is the current chief at WCVB but she's on mornings and noon.
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Interesting that out of the nine stations you mentioned there is only one female Chief meteorologist. Given the number of women doing weather at those stations, they are under-represented at the top.

I grew up in the Boston area and go back to the days when Don Kent and Bob Copeland delivered forecasts. I stream WHDH and WFXT to get my Boston news. Can also catch NECN on cable in RI.
 
itsTheRolyPoly said:
Let me guess... You have FiOS since Cox doesn't carry it.
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Yup, you got it. Not a fan of FIOS, but Cox was more expensive for less channels. Cox carried NECN many years ago before it was owned by Comcast.

Like the concept of a New England station, but it's sad where it is today compared to years ago when they had reporters in each state and covered all 6 states.
 
rib00 said:
Yup, you got it. Not a fan of FIOS, but Cox was more expensive for less channels. Cox carried NECN many years ago before it was owned by Comcast.

Like the concept of a New England station, but it's sad where it is today compared to years ago when they had reporters in each state and covered all 6 states.
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I know because I go up often since I have family there. Anyways, I hate what NECN has become today. It was better when Hearst was under control, not NBC.
 
A bit of Boston trivia. Sometime, in the late-80's, Burce Schwoegler at WBZ was taken off the evening new and replaced with a woman (don't know if she was technically the chief met or not). It was a short-lived move, but did happen. I don't remember her name, but it was a big deal at the time and the media critics heavily criticized WBZ for replacing Schwoegler (who re-appeared after the end of the experiment).

Is anyone old enough to remember this? In addition, somewhere in the newspaper archives, one of the Boston media critics said she reminded him of a flight attendant doing the safety demo on an airplane. and that, after the weather forecast, it felt like she would be around with a beverage and a cold snack (for those of us old enough to remember when they served food on shorter flights). The critics were pretty vicious back in the day.
 
formeraa said:
A bit of Boston trivia. Sometime, in the late-80's, Burce Schwoegler at WBZ was taken off the evening new and replaced with a woman (don't know if she was technically the chief met or not). It was a short-lived move, but did happen. I don't remember her name, but it was a big deal at the time and the media critics heavily criticized WBZ for replacing Schwoegler (who re-appeared after the end of the experiment).

Is anyone old enough to remember this? In addition, somewhere in the newspaper archives, one of the Boston media critics said she reminded him of a flight attendant doing the safety demo on an airplane. and that, after the weather forecast, it felt like she would be around with a beverage and a cold snack (for those of us old enough to remember when they served food on shorter flights). The critics were pretty vicious back in the day.
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You're not thinking of Mish Michaels, are you? I feel like like it's probably too early if it was the late 80s. I can't remember a time in the 80s that it wasn't Liz, Jack, Bob and Bruce on Eyewitness News.
 
MikeyBos said:
You're not thinking of Mish Michaels, are you? I feel like like it's probably too early if it was the late 80s. I can't remember a time in the 80s that it wasn't Liz, Jack, Bob and Bruce on Eyewitness News.
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No, not Mish Michaels. I want to say that Bruce was gone for -- maybe -- a few months at most and came back.
 
formeraa said:
A bit of Boston trivia. Sometime, in the late-80's, Burce Schwoegler at WBZ was taken off the evening new and replaced with a woman (don't know if she was technically the chief met or not). It was a short-lived move, but did happen. I don't remember her name, but it was a big deal at the time and the media critics heavily criticized WBZ for replacing Schwoegler (who re-appeared after the end of the experiment).

Is anyone old enough to remember this? In addition, somewhere in the newspaper archives, one of the Boston media critics said she reminded him of a flight attendant doing the safety demo on an airplane. and that, after the weather forecast, it felt like she would be around with a beverage and a cold snack (for those of us old enough to remember when they served food on shorter flights). The critics were pretty vicious back in the day.
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I believe her name was Nancy Russo.
 
formeraa said:
A bit of Boston trivia. Sometime, in the late-80's, Burce Schwoegler at WBZ was taken off the evening new and replaced with a woman (don't know if she was technically the chief met or not). It was a short-lived move, but did happen. I don't remember her name, but it was a big deal at the time and the media critics heavily criticized WBZ for replacing Schwoegler (who re-appeared after the end of the experiment).

Is anyone old enough to remember this? In addition, somewhere in the newspaper archives, one of the Boston media critics said she reminded him of a flight attendant doing the safety demo on an airplane. and that, after the weather forecast, it felt like she would be around with a beverage and a cold snack (for those of us old enough to remember when they served food on shorter flights). The critics were pretty vicious back in the day.
Click to expand...
Sorry to bump up an old thread. I just saw this while reading the thread about WLNE and Sinclair. Anyway, IIRC Bruce was demoted to mornings around 1987 and was replaced by Dave Murray as chief. Dave came from St. Louis where he was, apparently, a legend. He left 'BZ to return to St. Louis around 1989, and Bruce was restored as chief. I had completely forgotten about this until now! I don't recall a woman replacing Bruce unless it was after I left MA for good in 1990.

I found this YouTube of Dave at WBZ. One of the comments matches my recollection of what happened with Bruce and Dave.

Side note, I always thought these weather maps were hideous. And I clearly remember that only Dave used these. Bruce and Barry still used the same weather graphics that they had already been using Dave arrived at WBZ.

 


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