Lots Of TV Stuff

We're mostly catching up with stuff this time, but felt it needed to be put up, at least...

GAUTHIER EXITS FOR HOME: We'd heard rumblings that this was about to happen, but WKYC/3 senior director and fellow blogger Frank Macek provides the confirmation and details on his "Director's Cut" blog.

"Channel 3 News Today" co-anchor and "Channel 3 News Midday" anchor Barbara Gauthier is leaving the Gannett Cleveland NBC affiliate for Columbus.

No, she's not going to Columbus, Ohio.

She's heading for the other Columbus, in Georgia. Macek reports that Gauthier is heading for her hometown ABC affiliate, WTVM/9, as a primary anchor. WKYC news director Rita Andolsen says it's the station Barbara grew up watching.

Her move has even prompted a prominent "breaking news" item on WTVM''s website:

After more than 20 years reporting and anchoring the news at stations and news outlets like WKYC in Cleveland, BET and WXIA in Atlanta, WTVM announces the addition of Columbus area native Barbara Gauthier to the talented news team at WTVM. She will join veteran co-anchor Wayne Bennett anchoring the 5:00 PM, 6:00 PM, and 11:00 PM, newscast starting September 3rd.

"News Leader 9" and its sister FOX affiliate, WXTX/54, are owned by Raycom Media, which of course also owns Cleveland CBS/MyNetwork TV combo WOIO/19-WUAB/43.

But in the Southeast, Alabama-based Raycom is a local TV powerhouse. It owns a number of highly successful stations, including the news leaders in many markets in that part of the country.

And Raycom is in the process of launching a brand-new full-power all-digital NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach SC...which has long watched NBC programming from Raycom's stations in Columbia SC and Wilmington NC...with a full local newsroom.

With that, we assume Gauthier will not be in the Columbus GA version of the basement at Reserve Square, despite the common ownership...

AND SPEAKING OF THAT BASEMENT: This one's actually growing a week's worth of cobwebs, as we missed the item by Cleveland Plain Dealer media columnist Julie Washington last Wednesday.

Getting her ticket out of the "19 Action News"-plex is one Markina Brown, and what a ticket it is.

Ms. Washington reports that the WOIO/WUAB weathercaster moves from the Reserve Square basement to the TV penthouse, as primary anchor for Los Angeles station KTLA/5, the Tribune-owned CW Network affiliate.

And Ms. Brown heads to the nation's second largest market as a newly-married woman, hearing that her new gig was in the works after returning from her honeymoon in Cancun. It's hard to imagine anyone in local media having a better 2008.

She'll take along long-term ties to Northeast Ohio, as Washington reports that her new husband is an East Cleveland native.

"Action News" news director Dan Salamone says the station is launching the proverbial "nationwide search" for her replacement, and that the ever-active Jeff Tanchak will hold down the weather fort solo through the afternoons and evenings starting Friday, until Markina is replaced...

AND BACK TO 13TH AND LAKESIDE: ...where "Channel 3 News" meterologist Betsy Kling is finally a new mother to a baby girl.

And back to Frank Macek, who tells us on the "Director's Cut" blog:

Congratulations to Channel 3's Betsy Kling and Paul Thomas, who welcomed Josephine Frances into the world Monday evening.

Josephine Frances, Mom and Dad are doing well.

She is 8 lbs 11oz and is 21.5 inches long.

More pictures are linked from the WKYC.com story here. We'd link the picture page directly, but Blogger chokes on ridiculously long, random-named URLs with a lot of ampersands in them...