Channel 4 is imploding on itself. CBS HQ has ordered an internal investigation of WFOR management, and the working atmosphere at the station, according to GossipExtra after hostile work environment accusations by employees. There are allegations that employees were told to work over time without pay.
CBS 4’s ratings have been in the gutter for a while, and stress levels in the newsroom are high. Recently the 11pm newscast producer quit right before air time because she was “fed up”. Then there’s the issue of pay, with on-air staff being told they have to take a pay cut, and some of them wondering whether they’ll even have a job come contract renewal time.
To make matters worse long timers have left the station. Shanno Hori, Jeff Berardelli, David Bernard. And then there’s Josh Benson’s strange firing. SFLTV thinks it’s because he was praising CBS arch rival Aereo, but the station denied the allegation and told us it was because he streamed CBS 4 newscasts without authorization. An odd reason, considering what Benson actually did was to embed the station’s publicly accessible video player on his own website.
Insiders have told me a few times that CBS management at HQ in New York City often doles out orders to local bosses about how they want things done, and overrides their decisions regularly, including hiring decisions and news story judgement. Unfortunately for them the Miami market is unique, and running it from out-of-town cookie-cutter style doesn’t produce great results. We have Spanish-language stations that are strong performers, and who attract sizable audiences. Whatever is left for English-language stations is dominated heavily by WSVN, which excels in the 25-54 demo for a while now. They’re also a stable, and predictable station that connects with viewers better the other outlets. And let’s not forget WTVJ, whose resurgence, deservedly so I would say, seems to have sucked viewers away not just from WFOR but also from WPLG.
Would WFOR recover?
Gee, I wonder which station our “TV insider” works for?
Yeah, but WPLG leads in ex-cheerleaders 25-54 demo!
It is a shame they didn’t do this before Al Sunshine saw the hand writing on the wall and decided to retire. Shannon Hori’s numbers were pretty bad.
Guess it’s time for WFOR to shape up or be sold.
shannon hori had big financial issues too, she needed to move on to a more affordable environment, south florida was toxic
I don’t understand how people can watch WSVN, the lurid headlines…loud graphics, the ugly UGLY sets. Its like it is going back to 1996. Just awful. If someone can explain why they are #1 please do, cause I can only watch them for about 5 minutes. Give me any of the other 3 please.
Wfor does not have enough people to go against channel7 that is why you have to avoid becoming a clone of 7 and make your identity.the management at wfor thinks chasing cops and robbers is the way to do it and they suck at it.
WFOR has always been a disaster even from the WCIX days! everything you are hearing are true CBS stands for “Can’t Buy Shit” it’s more they don’t want to spend the money, the building smells like feet and it’s a dump! the Newsdirector is a loose cannon ask anybody at TVJ, the Assistant News Director is a puppet with no journalisim background just a former photographer that got lucky he’ll be out soon too, the staff is awesome and hardworking, feel sorry for them.
“The building smells like feet” has to be the strangest criticism ever leveled at a local TV news station.
Despite all the distractions they put on a better newscast than the “Haitian Station” . 10. At 10 singing, dancing, eating and using ghetto slang during the newscast seems acceptable.
Low standards I guess.
This has been going on for YEARS.
Middle Management “La Mafia” as the production department calls them try to make their employees fear them. You either “play along” or you are let go. It is about time that they are investigated.
CLEAN HOUSE CBS HQ CLEAN HOUSE
Wow, where do I start? When managers and desk personal are more concerned what other station are doing and 24/7 on twitter that’s a problem! They hire rejects from local 10 weather and low budget reporters = 0 ratings! Since the day Ms High left and layoffs of great staff happen that place went SOUTH! Abandon ship! Run as fast as you can!
CBS 4 has been going down the drain for years…… I noticed the play musical anchors – heaven help you if you’re a woman anchor and get pregnant ( and you’re pregnant by your husband ) the move you out of anchoring. They don’t let gays anchor ( the got rid of a morning news anchor ) but the last straw for me was when they let Jawan Strader go to bring in Josh Benson because at the time his girlfriend was the morning producer. I will never watch CBS again because of their lousy tactics towards their on air personalities…….
FYI Helen, Josh B was there before his gf. She never worked on the same show as him. She was the 6PM producer.
Again every station has been trying to be Ch.7 it will never happen, Ch.7 has Ed with deep pockets! Channel Ten, Channel 6 nor CBS 4 will ever be able to compete. Tens new guy is a smart effective GM but as long as the News Director remains they have no chance! WFOR 4, has never has a chance only when Shannon HIgh was there, Channel Ten has no standards ever since it’s present Newsdirector was brought in many moons away! CBS HQ will clean house, I see Roldan, Bourne etc.
I wish cbs 4 could be like WTSP, with Scott chapin vo ing.
Yes, that’s what will take them to the top.
It will be a clean slate come 2014 from Roldan,Bourne, etc. Roldan is a nutcase, Bourne is clueless, do i hear Shannon High coming back or even Tens Newsdirector G
od forbid?
I’d like to see someone from wtsp work for WFOR.
At WTSP we have Charles Billi, formerly of WSVN. He’s helped WTSP become WSVN to a point. WSTP hasn’t added any additional newscasts as they are a CBS affiliate and can’t attract viewers because of WTVT and Bay News 9.
I – no from what I heard from insiders………
Helen, I worked with both of them and was there before both of them.
I think that should say enough.
CBS is not “imploding on itself” ( redundant). This happens every 3-5 years at WFOR. They have been blowing out management teams regularly since the early 90’s. They have always been the C or D-team in the market.
The investigation is not a police investigation. It means that CBS is covering it’s legal bases to protect itself, not the producer or anyone else.
The management team goes because they lose money and have no ratings. The ratings and revenue are bad. It has nothing to do with whether a producer was mistreated. Those things happen every day at a company as large as CBS and Viacom. It’s not a big deal.
Losing money? Bad ratings? Now that’s what gets people fired.
And Miami is not a unique news market. They do the same thing everyone else in the country does. Small cities have Spanish TV news too. That’s not unique.
And yes CBS HQ does tell it’s station what to do. They do this because they are the owners. It’s their TV station. It’s their property. No one in Miami owns it and what would be different if they did?
FYI… NBC runs WTVJ and Post Newsweek runs WPLG. And yes those corporate offices tell them what to do too because they are the owners. It’s their responsability.
alright calm the fuck down don’t need to get your panties in a knot like that
This is written for the viewers who watch the stations and who don’t know how the business operates