WTVJ meteorologist Ryan Phillips has been moved to weekday mornings. He takes over for Shiri Spear who left NBC6 recently for a morning weather job at Boston FOX affiliate WFXT. Check out the promo WTVJ is airing a promo making it official.
Ryan Phillips Moved to Weekday Mornings on South Florida Today
I see that they moved Jennifer Reeves to weekend evenings, and a new guy (David Pluna?) did weekend AMs the last 2 weekends, so does this mean that the new guy is trading w/ Ryan, and will now do weekday AMs? (he was on this morning). Presonally, I’d prefer Jennifer Reeves to do weekday AMs and put the new guy on weekend PMs, but that’s just me.
When was Ryan Phillips not the weekday morning weather guy? Ryan took over for Lonnie in 06 or whenever that was, and (I thought) has been doing it ever since. They’ve been running that exact promo since Keith joined the team.
When Shiri Spear Came To WTVJ 2 Years Ago They Move Ryan Phillips To Weekends Then After Nathalie Pozo Left In April & In The Month Of May It’s Announce That Shiri Spear Was Going To Weekends & Ryan Phillips Was Going To Weekday Mornings & Now WTVJ Is Looking For a Meteorologist & A In Studio Traffic Reporter To Replace Nathalie Pozo & Roxanne Vargas & Total Traffic ?
Jeremiah is right. Shiri only held the weekday AM spot until after the reshuffle at NBC-6 in the spring, when Live Miami (South Florida Today) got cancelled. At that time they brought Ryan Phillips back to weekday mornings (he had been working weekend nights) and put Shiri on the weekend night shift. So… this story needs to be updated.
Jason NBC 6 Maid a dum move leting go Nathalie Pozo ?
I know you are a huge Nathalie fan from your posts on this forum, but I must disagree… I did not find Nathalie to be that strong, and quite honestly I am not sure that an in-studio traffic reporter adds much value to a newscast.
Granted, I am not sure Nathalie had a fair shake at growing into her role because she was at NBC-6 during a period of turmoil and reported lack of management.
The News Morning News Cast Was Better Jason With Nathalie Pozo & Shiri Spear & Trina Robinson & Roxanne Vargas & Pam Giganti & Jason You’re Right Shiri Spear Was Tired Of NBC 6 Just Like Amara Sohn & Kristina Pink & SFLTV Should Had Put This Up Back In May ?
They already have Joe Brennan with the Morning Traffic.
i Found Nathalie Pozo She Working The Same Place Where Joe Brennan Is Working At Total Traffic ?
This post is both hilarious and informative for WTVJ’s management and prompts a free consultation.
Why hilarious? Even those who “pay attention” didn’t realize that the old weather guy was back in for nearly a year. What does that tell you? Based strictly on business experience and with all due respect to all involved, I can tell you the following:
In the Television business (local news in this case) you have 3 types of talent: the unnoticeables the fillers and the stand-outs.
WTVJ’s morning show reached the coveted number one spot briefly right before the departure of Lonnie Quinn. A south Florida favorite to say the least and a definite Stand-Out.
Mr. Phillips, was given the opportunity to take over for Mr. Quinn. Comparisons are never fair, no one was expecting him to be like Quinn and it was no secret that these were BIG shoes to fill. It was respectable on management’s part to give Mr. Phillips the chance to do the job. We all know the rest. WTVJ has never reached the number one spot again. Is this Mr. Phillips’ fault? Absolutely not. It should however, provide clear information to management about their viewers and their talent.
In fact, WTVJ’s old and the fairly new management have failed to see what their business is all about. They have failed to see why viewers leave and never come back. Times have changed, they don’t need to tune in order to know what’s happening. Does anybody need to wait until tomorrow morning for the news or forecast? No. They can look it up right now.
What people want is simple. They want Personality. A Stand-out. Give them a reason to tune in. That’s the reason why to this day, people ask for Kelly, Julia and the late Joel Connable. People love THEM, not the news they read. They connect with people. That’s why Lonnie was a success. He brought life and energy to the newscast. He was “real” on the other hand, Mr. Phillips doesn’t have “it” He often looks uncomfortable when having any type of exchange with other talent. He’s somewhat plain, It simply doesn’t work for morning news. In a smaller market he may be a good “Filler” but in south Florida you need at least one Stand-Out in your weekday AM and PM newscasts.
Stop spending your budget placing “The unnoticeables” in key roles. This is the case here. You don’t need a “Lonnie Quinn” but you do need a Stand-Out Talent. Why bring Shiri Spears in to replace Mr. Phillips and then put him back on the job when it clearly never worked. Don’t reshuffle. Replace. Invest in a few good hires and watch your newscasts thrive. This post should serve as an eye-opener for management. Keep the unnoticeables in key roles and you will remain just that, unnoticed.
Same With The People at Total Traffic You Replace Nathalie Pozo & Roxanne Vargas With Off Air People At Total Traffic There Cheep Look at CBS 4 & WPLG Local 10 They Have In Studio Traffic Reporters & The People At Total Traffic Do Are There Traffic Updates On Radio & For NBC 6 ?
Free consultation, I completely agree with you, but I think we need to consider a few more things…
1. To me there should be some consideration for credentials. To my knowledge Lonnie Quinn did not formally study meteorology, but Ryan did, and technically he is very strong with weather. Shiri studied meteorology as well and I believe she just received a higher level of certification. I think the bigger issue is we are in an age where personality trumps knowledge in all areas of the newsroom, it seems. When you look at national weather casters like Al Roker and Sam Champion (and even Lonnie Quinn who does weather on for CBS This Morning on Saturdays) you don’t usually have strong meteorology credentials behind them. Personality wins… and not to stereotype, but meteorology nerds are typically not the life of a cocktail party or a news broadcast.
2. To me, the anchors (like the name “anchor” would suggest) really need to carry the show. I think Pam is great (and I know many would agree) but I am not sold on Keith. Also keep in mind that Bob Mayer left during this time and they had Pam solo-anchoring (a common move which I think is a mistake no matter how strong the anchor is). The rest of the show has been a revolving door of reporters who have come and gone or have been reassigned to other time slots. NBC-6 needs time to rebuild the show with the current team and focus… and they need to commit to one direction before scrapping it all together.
3. Another thing to consider is that the local morning shows are lead-ins for national programming. The Today show has lost a huge number of viewers in the last year and a half to GMA, so you can undoubtedly attribute some of the NBC-6 ratings shed to that.
I think everyone would agree that the news is in many ways a broken business and I think it is impossible to appeal to the varied types of viewers. I think the morning news has it hardest in many ways… there’s the pressure to lead in to the national shows, and the dichotomy between those who just want a chat fest, and those who really want the news. And of course the types like me who are optimistic and hope you can combine both and do it well. Maybe that’s too much to ask?
Jason: I agree with you. Find people who do “both” well. And when you find them, keep them. Good post. (yes, I still read from afar)
Hi john – thanks for chiming in, nice to see you on here… just my humble opinion but I think you’re one of the media talent who strikes the right balance between credentials and personality. We miss you in South Florida!
Julie Durda To NBC 6 & Nathalie Pozo To CBS 4 WSVN Or WPLG Local 10 In 2013 Jason ?
I couldn’t agree more, Jason, that we do indeed, miss John here in South Florida. And as noted by “Free Consultation” mentioned above, our late good friend, Joel Connable, also had that excellent mix of being an excellent and serious news reporter and anchor, as well as a “nice guy” image. I think we really appreciated that fact when Joel did the story on juvenile diabetes and explained, on-air, that he suffered from the disease and even displayed his insulin pump, on camera. It was a gutsy move for a market of this size.
I agree with Free Consultation. The “unnoticables” just keep getting moved around. The reporters in the morning have really gotten weak at WTVJ… Julia Bagg is good, but that Donna Rapado is virtually unwatchable. The moved her from nights to mornings–she just needs to be moved out. They need to find more personality. Aside from Pam, Viewers just don’t connect with the current crew.
The TVJ AM reporter team has gone from two regulars in the morning, to now three with only Bagg being permanent, and Rapado and Yu rotating. A lot of change in a year.
Wow – what a c-r-a-z-y business – guess I should be glad that it was meant for some of my former co-workers at the NWS and not for me (lol). It must be rough not knowing from one month to another whether the person will still be with the station, though I had a feeling from early on that Shiri wasn’t going to stay long – she’s from NE and is probably happier up there (and her family), than dealing with what goes on down here. I’m starting to wonder about Jennifer, too – she’s now on weekend evenings, though she seemed happier on weekend mornings. Again, what a crazy business…
Something is seriously wrong at that station. When you make Sharon Lawson your weekend morning anchor it just cries of despiration. As soon as this woman goes off the telepromptor
she is unbearable to listen to. Just look at the weekend morning news ratings. Looks like
her favorite hobby is food tasteing as well. Sorry, but that is all true.
I’m pretty sure he was moved back 5 or 6 months before she left to Boston. They traded places and he went back to where he was initially, so I don’t understand how he replaced her exactly? Good for Shiri, though. Nice market jump back to northeast and into top 10. And if that’s home for her, double score. Pam and Ryan still most natural and real morning news anchors on here. Really enjoyed Shiri, though.
Keith Jones ?
FINALLY A REAL WEATHERMAN~ WITH NO NONSENSE~HE IS THE ONE TO LISTEN TO-I LIKE TO HEAR A VISION OF THE WEATHER FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS WEATHER WITHOUT
ALL KINDS OF SILLY DRAMA~THAT’S WHAT RYAN BRINGS TO THE WEATHER..REPORT &..THANKS FOR BRINGING HIM BACK-WE SHALL BE WATCHING NBC 6 AGAIN~I SPEAK
FOR MANY …………………………………………….