Super Bowl Update

ST. LOUIS ― The mayor of St. Louis, Francis Slay, is getting a new press secretary, and her face will be familiar to viewers of the city's CBS affiliate, KMOV 4.

Maggie Crane, who has been a reporter at KMOV since November 2009, will become Slay's new media mouthpiece once she leaves the station at the end of this month, according to Joe Holleman of The Post-Dispatch.

"I have made the very hard decision to leave KMOV at the end of the month," Crane wrote on Facebook. "I have absolutely loved working [at KMOV] and being a little part of all of your lives. Thank you for trusting me and for letting me into your living rooms every night at 10 o'clock. It is a (privilege) to do this job and to have the support I have had."

Slay's chief of staff told Holleman that Crane will be "a great addition" to the mayor's team.

Just days after finally finding a buyer for one of their bankrupt TV stations (WRBJ-TV in Jackson, Miss.), WAZE-TV undertakers owners Mike and Steve Roberts are at long last getting some help with their flagship real estate properties in downtown St. Louis.

The Post-Dispatch reports that UrbanStreet Group of Chicago and North American Properties of Cincinnati have agreed to spend about $16.5 million to develop new uses for Roberts Tower, Mayfair Hotel, Roberts Lofts on the Plaza and several empty buildings adjoining the lofts property.

The deal, which was put together by CBRE, comes five months after the properties were put up for sale.  It's not clear if the $16.5 million infusion from UrbanStreet and North American indicates a sale of the properties or if the brothers will retain some ownership stake.

At this point, all that is decided for certain is that the long-unfinished Roberts Tower - originally planned with 55 luxury condominiums - will instead be completed as 132 rental apartments, and design work on that project has already begun.

With two bits of good news emanating from the Roberts empire in one week (yeah, I know ... unbelievable, right?), could this mean that WAZE is getting closer to finding a white knight of its own as well?

We'll just have to wait and see.

St. Louis CBS affiliate KMOV 4 has hired a new anchor, and as the Post-Dispatch's Joe Holleman reports this afternoon, she's not afraid to let it all hang out.

Sharon Reed, who will co-anchor KMOV's 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts, comes to St. Louis from Cleveland, where she worked for nearly a decade at WOIO-TV.  She's also worked in cities such as Philadelphia, Miami and Baltimore, building up an impressive resume.

So, what's this business about "letting it all hang out?"

Back in 2004, Reed reported on artist Spencer Tunick's nude photo shoot in Cleveland, and in the course of her report, Reed became part of the project.  The report got Reed national attention, and it did wonders for WOIO-TV's ratings (no surprise there).

KMOV management is happy to have Reed on board. In a press release, station news director Sean McLaughlin said, "Sharon is an excellent communicator and brings a lot of experience to the table. Her ability to connect with the audience and her passion for investigative journalism make her a great addition to the News 4 team."

Charter Communications, which formerly served a number of Tri-State communities before scaling back several years ago and spinning off those systems to Avenue Broadband (now NewWave Communications), has decided to move its corporate headquarters from the St. Louis suburb of Town & Country, Mo. to Stamford, Conn., according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The move will involve fewer than 100 employees at the current headquarters.  Charter says it will eventually add 300 jobs as it expands its Charter Business operations.

Charter recently shook up its management team, bringing in new executives from competitor Cablevision.  Those executives - specifically new CEO Tom Rutledge - didn't want to relocate from the New York City area, said St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley.  “I don't believe that individual wanted to move to St. Louis, which is his right,” Dooley told the Post-Dispatch.

PBS board chairman Geoffrey Sands announced on Thursday the results of the 2012-2013 voting that elected six station leaders to serve as professional directors on the PBS board of directors. Member stations across the nation cast their ballots throughout the month of August.

Each of the directors will serve a three-year term that begins on Oct. 26 at the fall meeting of the board.

The PBS station executives chosen in the 2012-2013 election are:

Mr. Karlo, Ms. O’Bryon and Mr. Sickora will be serving on the Board for the first time. Mr. Abbott, Mr. Galmiche and Mr. Wright will each be returning for a second term.

“PBS is enjoying one of the most exciting periods in its history. Increasing relevance in a world where digital technologies and viewing behaviors change almost daily requires the expertise and commitment that these innovative leaders bring to the PBS board of directors,” said Mr. Sands, who also serves as a director of McKinsey & Company. “PBS will build on this momentum in the years to come to ensure the system’s continued strength, so I am very pleased that the station community has elected these outstanding individuals to the Board. I look forward to working with all of our exceptional directors in the coming year.”

The PBS board includes both professional directors, who lead public television stations, and general directors, who represent the general public. The membership of PBS elects the professional directors. The general directors are elected by the Board, which also appoints the PBS president and CEO.

The directors are responsible for governing and setting policy for PBS. In total, the board comprises 27 members: 14 professional directors; 12 general directors; and the PBS president. All PBS board members serve three-year terms without pay.

Nielsen released the list of television market rankings for 2012-13 today, and the big story is that, while the overall estimated number of TV homes across the country dropped again, the drop didn't make enough difference to change the rankings for any of the markets in our part of the country.

Nationwide, the number of TV households stands at 114,173,690.  That's down nearly a half of million - or less than 1% - from last year's 114,649,310.

So how did the markets in our neck o' the woods fare?  Let's look at them from largest to smallest:

Despite not losing position, all of the stations, as you can see above, lost TV households - some more than others.  Among the three larger markets in the region, Indianapolis was the biggest loser, shedding 20,270 households in just the past year.  St. Louis lost the next highest number, at 10,430.  Nashville was third with a decline of 9,650.  Louisville's loss was least at 3,170.

Among the mid-sized markets, Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg shed the most at 4,990; Evansville lost 3,840.

The smaller markets lost even less:  Terre Haute lost 3,180 households, with Bowling Green losing 1,110.

Dish Network and Sinclair Broadcast Group announced this morning that they have reached an agreement in principle for Dish to continue carrying Sinclair's television stations, including KBSI-Fox 23 (Cape Girardeau, Mo.), WDKA-My49 (Paducah, Ky.), KDNL-ABC30 (St. Louis), and the Nashville Fox-MyNetwork TV-CW trio of WZTV, WUXP and WNAB.

There will be no station blackout for Dish's subscribers.

While the details of that new agreement are hammered out, an extension has been put in place and the old deal will carry forward.

As the deadline for Dish Network and Sinclair Broadcast Group to reach a new carriage deal looms ever closer, tempers are beginning to flare.

On Monday, Sinclair warned viewers that they could lose its stations, including several in Paducah, Cape Girardeau, St. Louis and Nashville - the opening salvo in what could be a prolonged battle.

Then Dish fired a volley of its own, claiming that Sinclair's demands for its channels simply aren't reasonable. "We carry more than 1,800 local broadcast stations nationwide. Sinclair is asking for more than any other station anywhere in the country," said Dave Shull, Dish's senior VP of programming. "This goes beyond pure corporate greed - it's profoundly insensitive to the needs of the public."

That was enough for Sinclair, and the company this afternoon replied that Dish isn't telling the whole truth. Here's part of the company's rather lengthy statement:

The prospects of a new deal look pretty dim at this point.

UPDATE, 6:25 p.m.: Customers of Wabash Independent Networks (WIN) in part of Southeastern Illinois would lose St. Louis ABC affiliate KDNL if Sinclair pulls its stations from Dish Network.  This is because WIN gets its local channels from the satellite provider.  WIN's subscribers in Clay and Marion counties as well as the cities of Flora and Xenia will be affected if no new agreement is reached.  Customers in the other WIN service areas receive ABC affiliates from either Terre Haute or Evansville.

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PREVIOUSLY: Sinclair Broadcast Group has begun informing its viewers that it does not expect Dish Network to continue to carry any of its stations - including those in Paducah/Cape Girardeau, St. Louis and Nashville - after Sinclair's existing carriage agreement with Dish ends on Wednesday.

Although Dish and Sinclair have been negotiating for quite some time in an effort to reach a new agreement, at this time it does not appear that these efforts will be successful.

"We are very sorry that we have not been able to reach agreement with Dish and regret the inconvenience this will cause to Dish subscribers who want to continue to watch the extremely popular programming that airs on our stations," Sinclair said in a statement Monday afternoon. "We wish to remind these subscribers that numerous other means exist for receiving our stations, including your local cable provider, DirecTV, and in some markets either Verizon FiOS or AT&T U-verse, as well as over-the air."

Sinclair owns and operates several stations in this part of the country, including two in the Paducah/Cape Girardeau area (KBSI-Fox 23 and WDKA-My49), one in St. Louis (KDNL-ABC30) and three in Nashville (WZTV-Fox 17, WUXP-My30 and WNAB-CW58).

TV viewers in part of Southern Illinois will see a new anchor soon on one of St. Louis' TV stations, as KMOV News 4 anchor Vickie Newton announced Friday evening that she has resigned.

According to the station, Newton will leave the station and return to Arkansas to be closer to family sometime in August.

Newton joined KMOV, the Belo-owned CBS affiliate, in January 2002, and has anchored both News 4 at 10:00 and News 4 at 5:00.  She has also been very active in the community, having served with several organizations over the past 10 years.

"St. Louis has been my home for 11 years, and next to the time I spent in my hometown of Bearden, it’s the place I’ve spent the most time," Newton said. "I have loved my time in this wonderful town, and with this great station. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some great people here at KMOV, and have been blessed to have had the opportunity to be deeply involved and support some amazing organizations."

"Vickie has been a St Louis fixture for more than a decade," said KMOV news director Sean McLaughlin. "In that time she has made an incredible connection with the people of St Louis. She will be missed, and we wish her great success in her future endeavors."

KMOV can be seen on the following Southern Illinois cable systems:  Hamilton Co. Communications (ch. 104), Mediacom (ch. 10 in Clay City and ch. 4 in Louisville) and Wabash Independent Networks (ch. 104 in Clay and Marion counties and ch. 4 in Flora and Xenia).

Michael and Steven Roberts, the St. Louis media/hotel/property development moguls who own CW affiliate WAZE-TV in Evansville, have solved one of their myriad financial crises.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported late Wednesday that the brothers have reached an agreement with Bank of America, which sued them in April for $34 million, the balance of a defaulted loan for renovations to their hotels outside the St. Louis area.

As part of the agreement, the Roberts' six hotels in Atlanta; Dallas; Houston; Shreveport, La.; Spartanburg, S.C; and Tampa are to be sold by year's end. The proceeds from the sales will go to Bank of America.  Thomas DeWoskin, attorney for the Roberts brothers, says B of A will recoup more of its money in this fashion ... and when all is said and done and the money's counted up, the bank is expected to drop the suit.

At least that's what the defendants expect.

“The Roberts certainly hope so (that the suit will be dropped),” DeWoskin told the newspaper. “I think everybody would feel better if this was resolved.”

Interestingly, this development comes just days after the Roberts' hotel and property companies made Black Enterprise's list of the top 100 African-American-owned businesses in the nation (Roberts Properties was ranked 36th, the hotel group 40th).  As the Post-Dispatch points out, however, after the six hotels up for grabs are gone, the hotel group will likely be much lower on next year's list.

Next up on the Roberts' plate: What to do with their bankrupt TV operation and several of their other languishing properties, at least one of which (a hotel in St. Louis) is in receivership because of another lawsuit.

The four Roberts Broadcasting TV stations have been in the protection of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Eastern Missouri since late last year, and a reorganization plan was supposed to be submitted several months ago.  There was some talk from DeWoskin earlier this year that the stations would be sold (and rumors of a potential buyer for WAZE have even surfaced), but nothing further has come along.

At least not yet.