Happy Friday to those who celebrate!
This week we see updates about two station helicopters. The NTSB gives its report on the tragic December crash of the Philadelphia news helicopter and two Pittsburgh stations stop using their shared helicopter over budget concerns.
Let’s get started, then:
The 6abc helicopter that crashed in New Jersey last month, killing its pilot and a photographer, had no engine problems that would have prevented normal operation, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. Click here for the story.
Two big three affiliates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be grounding the news helicopter the two stations share. KDKA, which is owned by CBS, and Cox’s WPXI have been sharing a helicopter for several years now as a way to split the cost of having an aircraft on standby for news stories. Click here for more.
Funeral services have been set for former WHIO news director and sports anchor who died Monday at the age of 93. Longtime viewers may remember Dick Bieser who worked at WHIO from 1965 to 1993. Click here to read about it.
From Poynter: Your mother said you only have one chance to make a good first impression. New Baltimore Sun owner David D. Smith spectacularly failed to do so in a two-hour-plus meeting Tuesday with the Sun’s news staff. Click here to read about it.
A winter snowstorm pummeled the Chicago area Friday morning, with heavy, wet snow and winds gusting as high as 40 miles per hour. NBC 5 reporter Lisa Chavarria nearly blew over during a live hit. Click here for more.
Connor Ullathorne updated viewers that last week was his final one with WPRI in Rhode Island. “I’m lucky to have started my career in an extremely talented newsroom,” he wrote on social media. Click here to see his post.
Sean Kelly left the KXAN Austin and CW Austin Morning weather department in January 2024 for Salt Lake City, according to a social media comment announcing his departure. Houston media blogger Mike McGuff has more.
The Federal Communications Commission has slapped Mission Broadcasting with a $150,000 fine following complaint from Comcast. The complaint, originally filed in December 2022, accused Mission Broadcasting and Nexstar for failing to “negotiate retransmission consent in good faith.” Click here for more.