Milwaukee Media Notes is back by popular demand.

Well, actually stuff accumulates.

So, where were we before we were interrupted by the Milwaukee Film Festival?

(See my coverage of the fest for Milwaukee Magazine. It’s so good, you have to pay for it!)

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–Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

And WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) still hasn’t named a 10 p.m. anchor to replace Mike Jacobs.

The station’s lineups remain in flux. The latest tweak moves Courtny Gerrish from anchor to I-Team member with anchor Steve Chamraz and reporter Jermont Terry.

Gerish co-anchored the 4 p.m. newscast with Charles Benson and the recently cancelled 3 p.m. newscast. Chamraz co-anchors at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. with Carole Meekins and Benson has done so as well.

It’s as if management is pitting them against each other.

Expect a variety of fill-ins for Gerrish’s newscast. One thing has stuck the landing at WTMJ: the 10 p.m. newscast is holding its own winning in August coming in second in September. Both are non-sweeps months.

It’s hard to tell if this is a long or short term strategy.

Is rearranging the chairs part of a delaying effort that could result in someone to be named later from another Scripps station stepping in?

Or does it signal a commitment to local talent?

For the moment Scripps looks paralyzed.

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–Like autumn leaves new faces flood the local television market as sweeps month approaches.

Brian Niznansky replaces meteorologist Michael Fish at WTMJ-TV.

You can follow him on Twitter at

How new is he? His bio there still reads: “Morning Meteorologist and Co-Host – WGBA NBC26Today Green Bay. Forecasting the Weather in Titletown USA.” 

Also new at WTMJ, as a multi-media journalist, is Veronica Macias, on Twitter at . Don’t confuse her with telenovela actress with the same name.

Macias has an impressive background. She got her MA in Journalism from Georgetown, a BA in political science and Humanities at U-of-C-Irvine and was a Scripps Howard fellow.

How many new faces will it take to move the dial at WDJT-TV (Channel 58)?

Recent additions there include:

Jacob Kittilstad. His bio on the WDJT website is short and to the point: “Jacob Kittilstad was born in Milwaukee and has lived in Saukville, Waukesha, and Thiensville at different points in his life. “

But wait, there’s (not much) more! He previously worked at WJTV-TV in Jackson, Mississippi and  joined WDJT in September. Follow him on Twitter

And Eric Levy joined the station in September as a reporter and weekend anchor.

He is on Twitter .

Instead of a bio he posted a narrative about his life on the station’s website.

His “first story ever” was covering the 9/11 attacks for a station in Connecticut.

His Twitter bio is like a Willie Nelson song; he’s been everywhere. “I’m an anchor/reporter at @CBS58, a transplant from Indianapolis and many other states.” And then he lists them.

CT-IA-TX-FL-VA-IL-IN-WI.

Will WDJT be just another new license plate for him?

And newish morning co-anchor, and Lake Geneva native, Kathryn Chappell joined Milwaukee native Jessica Tighe in August. The pair try to out-perky the WITI-TV (Channel 6) Wake-Up team in promo  that looks like a trailer for a new movie.

“They’re TV anchors. But they’re also best friends.”

Coming in November.

 

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Short notes:  WMYX may have found its replacement for Kidd O’Shea, former morning show host with Elizabeth Kay. Its Wes McCane from across the hall at sister Entercom station WXSS-FM. They call the show Wes and Elizabeth, but Kay & McCane is catchier. He replaces O’Shea’s first replacement WMYX jock Mike Mason. With McKane’s move, The Judge will become a permanent member of the Riggs, Alley and The Judge” WXSS morning show… WTMJ-AM and WKTI-FM general manager Tom Langmyer was named GM of the year by the National Association of Broadcasters and Radio Advertising Bureau.

 

 

 

Tags: Benson, Brian Nizanansky, Chamraz, Courny Gerish, Veronica Macias, WTMJ Posted October 5, 2015 by Duane Dudek