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Post by raven3 on Oct 25, 2006 3:46:58 GMT -3
I looking on their website today, and under the employment section they have ad for a Chief Meteorologist. Which means one thing, that Jerry Mathewson is leaving. Of the orgininal ten that start in 2004 only Ke'sha Lopez and Brandon Long left.
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Post by atlnewsfan03 on Oct 25, 2006 15:13:35 GMT -3
Since 2004, it would seem like we've been seeing a major turnover in their news department.
Anchors and reporters from the original news team that have since left...
Stephanie Golden
Ashley DeBeltrand Fouri (wife of former WGXA weather forecaster Mike Fouri)
Kaitlyn Pratt (now at WSAV Savannah)
Susan Jackson
Melissa Sogegian (now at Bay News 9 Tampa Bay)
Gaynor Hall
Seth Bauguess (now at WKEG/WRGT Dayton)
Jerry Mathewson, who is believed to be next to leave.
Other anchors and reporters who have since left...
Chris Smith (left 13WMAZ after 8 years, now at WGCL "CBS 46" Atlanta)
Derek Kinkade (now at WVTM/WXTX Columbus, GA)
Ashanti Hathaway
Chrissy Keely
We've got the following other personalities.
Lauren Casey
Ryan Chambers
Mark Christian
Aundrea Cline Thomas
Jennifer Gordon
Heather Graf
**Brandon Long
**Ke'Sha Lopez
Monica Lorraine
Brooke Martin
**I hope that Brandon Long and Ke'Sha Lopez plan on staying in Middle Georgia.
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Post by gartv on Oct 26, 2006 1:34:03 GMT -3
Could it be that since Jerry Matthewson came to Macon from Chattanooga (FOX-61) that he could be returning to Chattanooga now that Morris (owners of WMGT) recently purchased WDEF-12?
Just wondering.
One thing I do wish for is that Morris improves its Macon product at WMGT to the level of those larger stations they recently purchased Because the so-called improvements at Gannett's WMAZ are a pathetic joke. WMAZ won't really feel that they really need to compete with anyone if WMGT does not take extreme measures retain people and take that station to the next level.
Honestly I have given up on expecting anyone to stay in Macon very long.
The Macon market is the bottom tier with people always looking to move up...into larger markets and better income (or fame). This market is always going to be the first (brief) stop for someone after graduation.
Well, at least this is how the Macon market has behaved. None of the market's stations can hold on to any decent person for long.
I do hope that Brandon Long and Ke'sha Lopez remain here. And I do wish that Jerry Matthewson could stay. When he leaves, this area will lack a mature "professional" meteorologist providing a serious weathercast.
We have an immature 30 year old class clown on WMAZ (who thinks he is funny) and a local "kid" on WGXA who I honestly believe he only got the job because he grew up here.
When I travel and watch TV in other "small" markets and see how much better their news products are, I wish I could exchange our stations for theirs.
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Post by atlnewsfan03 on Oct 26, 2006 21:02:36 GMT -3
WMGT had 2 different news operations, prior to this news department operation. 1 from the WCWB era... another from the pre-1993 era. Both news operations suffered from budget issues, poor ratings, techical difficulties, etc. This current operation has been in place since Sept., 2004, and being the 2nd most watched news product, behind WMAZ, and placed WGXA in 3rd place.
Not to go off topic. I'm not all that crazy about WMGT's current "Today's MGT" branding either. IMO, a cheap rip-off of WTMJ's branding... "Today's TMJ4".
I wouldn't mind them bringing back the "41 NBC" branding, which they probably won't... or adopting a newer (and better) station branding.
I'm just praying and hoping that WMGT and Morris Networks plans to continue bettering the news product, as well as plans on keeping the news operations into the foreseeable future.
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Post by raven3 on Oct 27, 2006 2:22:31 GMT -3
Can anybody tell me why Chris Smith and Chris "Ben" Still left WMAZ last year. When Chris Smith left I thought that Ben Still would had made a logic choice as Chief Meteorologist, but he left. Also with Chrissey Keely, I like her, but you could tell she was inexperiece.
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Post by gartv on Oct 28, 2006 20:59:55 GMT -3
Can anybody tell me why Chris Smith and Chris "Ben" Still left WMAZ last year. When Chris Smith left I thought that Ben Still would had made a logic choice as Chief Meteorologist, but he left. Also with Chrissey Keely, I like her, but you could tell she was inexperiece. I don't have answers as to why they left WMAZ. However, it is "ROB" Still, (Not Ben Still). I assume that they left WMAZ simply for better (and higher paying) positions. WMAZ is very often one of the first jobs for any of their on-air personalities after graduation. Chris Smith has worked briefly at another station and interned at an Atlanta station before coming to WMAZ. I was told that his brief stint at WMGT was a temporary fill-in after their original morning person Ashley DeBeltrand (Fouri) left WMGT when her husband, Mike Fouri left WGXA for a position at WSAV in Savannah. Rob Still probably also sought better pay and a greater postion which he definitely has at Channel 13 WBTW in Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It has been widely known that he had a great interest in covering hurricanes, and the Carolina Coast would be a great place to do just that. Both Chris Smith and Chris (Rob) Still stepped up in their careers with Smith in (large market) Atlanta and Still in a growing (better than Macon) market of the Carolina coast. NOTE: Another former WMAZ weather guy James Weiland also moved from WMAZ to WBTW in Florence, then he moved to Maryland to work for the failed Sinclair "NewsCentral" newscasts that were provided to Sinclair owned stations around the country. No idea what happened to him after Sinclair cancelled "NewsCentral" Weiland worked at WMAZ (with Chris Smith) briefly in the late 1990's |
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Post by ryanchambers on Nov 4, 2006 2:33:47 GMT -3
I dont think Chris would mind me saying that him leaving was a contract situation that would take more time than you would want to read.
He's is married and doing well in Atlanta and 46 is coming right along.
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Post by raven3 on Nov 5, 2006 5:13:11 GMT -3
I just tried to visit their website, I could not access it. They are finally update their website. I hope they are not just updating the Newsteams section, the whole website needs to be updated.
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Post by gartv on Nov 6, 2006 0:54:54 GMT -3
I just tried to visit their website, I could not access it. They are finally update their website. I hope they are not just updating the Newsteams section, the whole website needs to be updated. There is a new website for WMGT. I looks like it is still under construction. Some sections are access denied. And this one includes an "About Us" section that has a brief Station History section. |
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Post by raven3 on Nov 6, 2006 3:13:26 GMT -3
I vist it just now, and notice the new site. I also notice they are no longer have the ad for Chief Meteorologist. But they have not add under News Team Lauren Casey, Mark Christian, Ryan Chambers, and Aundrea Cline-Thomas. Also I have to enter in www.wmgt.com to access the website. I tried www.todaysmgt.com and www.41nbc.com, but I could not access the website. The new website is alright, my grade for it is a C+. |
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