New Channel at NBC10

Dan Gross reports today in the "Philadelphia Daily News" the folks at Channel 10 are in the process of putting the final touches on a new 24/7 digital channel that will appear on the Comcast and Verizon Fios channel lineup. A new studio has even been built to accomodate the new channel which will be a local lifestyle-type channel to the likes of "LXTV" aired on WNBC-TV in New York.
Shows that air on LXTV are "1st Look" (a look into local restaurants and sites); "Open House" (a home decorating type show) and "I Do" (wedding planning tips) to name a few. Also, Gross reports some type of local news effort on the channel in the weekday 7 p.m. hour.
Currently, Channel 10's other digital streams are sports programming from NBC Universal as well as the now-defunct Weather Plus! which continues to run minus any national programming.

WHO is Shirleen Allicot?

In my local news surfing...I've seen Shirleen Allicot reporting a few times on "Action News" as well as filling in on the anchor desk recently. Yesterday, once again, she sat alongside Rick Williams filling in for Monica Malpass. So, I wondered, who IS this Shirleen Allicot anyway?
According to 6abc.com, Allicot joined WPVI in May from "News 12 Network" in Connecticut where she began her career shooting, writing and editing her own stories and anchored the weekday morning newscasts. Allicot is a native of Queens, New York with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.
Hopefully, we'll see more of her on the anchor desk! She sure is much more of a compliment to the 5 o'clock newscast than Monica Malpass.

Maria LaRosa Spotting

Maria LaRosa, former CBS-3 morning meteorologist, has completed her maternity leave and is on-air at The Weather Channel. I spotted her on the evening shift one night this week working with Jim Cantore in the 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. timeslot. She's looking good and her hair is a bit longer these days.

...And The New Morning Anchor on CBS-3 Is...

Erika von Tiehl has been named the new co-anchor of CBS-3's "Eyewitness News" opposite Ukee Washington. Von Tiehl comes to Philadelphia from Miami's CBS4 where she anchors the 5:30 PM and 10 PM newscasts, a position she's held since October 2007. Prior to Miami, Von Tiehl anchored at Buffalo's WKBW-TV where she covered the October 2006 winter storm that brought the city to a halt and left more than 400,000 without power. Expect an August debut.

THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM!

Chris May has tweeted that CBS-3 will hatch their plan in the next month or so to join FOX-29 on the 4:30 a.m. hour with "Eyewitness News". KYW will be the second in this market to bring news to their viewers at the earlier hour...a trend across the country to capture the ever-important advertiser dollar and important rating.
In addition, CBS-3 will revive their Saturday morning newscast they abandoned a year-and-a-half ago due to cost-cutting.
No word yet on Liz Keptner's replacement, let alone WRC-TV bound Doug Kammerer's.

Former CBS-3 Reporter Promoted...

Calvin Hughes, former reporter and weekend anchor for CBS-3's "Eyewitness News" until 2006 has been named co-anchor of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news at ABC affiliate WPLG-TV in Miami where he departed for.
Hughes has been co-anchoring the 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., 9 a.m.-10 a.m. and noon newscasts since moving to WPLG in October 2006. He was one of the first reporters to arrive in Port-au-Prince Haiti in January to report on the devestating earthquake there.
Hughes resides in Miramar with his wife and two children.

So Long Doug Kammerer...

I was disappointed to read Michael Klein's news today that CBS-3 morning weatherguy, Doug Kammerer, is leaving the station this summer. Kammerer has landed the Chief Meteorologist position at Washington D.C.'s WRC-TV. Kammerer started in this market at NBC's WCAU-TV and has spent the past three years at KYW's CBS-3. Kammerer was probably my top two favorites for weather...next to WPVI's Adam Joseph. Good luck Doug!