Paul Greeley

WSEE, and its sister station, WICU, branded together as Erie News Now, took the top two spots in the news ratings for the 11 p.m. news. Scott MacDowell, Erie News Now’s news director, says it’s been more than 10 years since either station has been the top-rated news station at that time.

WTAE partnered with Gateway Clipper Fleet for “Tailgating with WTAE” so Steeler fans can boat to the game and avoid traffic. Gateway Clipper Fleet will donate 25% of the tickets sold to Project Hunger – a WTAE initiative to eliminate hunger in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Mired in third place in the Dayton, Ohio, news ratings, Sinclair’s WKEF and WRGT — combined and branded as “Dayton 24/7 Now” — were encouraged to experiment with new forms of gathering, delivering and promoting news. It’s working.

WGN, Nexstar’s independent station in Chicago, is launching an hour-long afternoon show, Spotlight Chicago, starting Monday, Sept. 11, from 3-4 p.m. CST. “Spotlight Chicago reflects our ongoing commitment to serve our viewers and continue to tell stories of the good things going on in our community,” says Paul Rennie, WGN’s GM

WAPT, Hearst’s ABC affiliate in Jackson, Mississippi, unveiled its new brand positioning statement as ‘Jackson’s Breaking News Leader’. “We wanted something that viewers could know exactly what they were going to be getting from us,” says Brett Kenyon, WAPT’s creative services director.

KAIT, Gray’s ABC and NBC affiliated station in Jonesboro, Ark., produced a special to observe the 25^th anniversary of a school shooting that killed four students and one teacher at Westside Middle School on March 24, 1998. The shooters were fellow students, just 11 and 13 years old.

Most Americans followed the Lahaina fire on Maui, considered the world’s deadliest wildfire on record, on national news. But for KHON, it was, and still is, very much a local story.

For decades, a chemical company in North Carolina dumped massive amounts of toxic chemicals into the Cape Fear River. Thousands of people are still forced to use the contaminated water.

Making connections and joining groups is easy on LinkedIn and makes your daily feed provocative and educational. So in no particular order, here are some examples posted that are relevant to local TV creative services and marketing folks.

KSTP in Minneapolis/Saint Paul has been airing a local lifestyle show, Twin Cities Live, for more than 15 years. Mandy Tadych, director of programming and promotions for KSTP, says the show fulfills several goals for the station. “First, it’s grassroots promotion at its finest,” she says. “We get our talent out in the community meeting and greeting viewers.”