TVSpy
According to reports from local bloggers, it looks like Austin’s CBS-affiliate KEYE has fired its weekend sports anchor, Chris Pelikan. Austin journalist and blogger Jim McNabb posted his suspicions on Friday and noted that Pelikan had been “scrubbed thoroughly” from the station’s website.
McNabb was unable to get any details from KEYE management on Pelikan’s departure, beyond its classification as a “personnel matter.”
But other sources told McNabb that Pelikan was fired after airing inappropriate locker room footage. An interview with a Round Rock Express player on September 7th included a split-second flash of nudity in the background. Though the FCC hasn’t registered a formal complaint against KEYE, the station has a zero-tolerance policy on the subject. (More at newsmcnabb.blogspot.com)
Local TV critic Dale Roe said the incident reminded him of KEYE’s dismissal of Robert Flores (another sports anchor) in 2004. The station refused to provide details then, too, though it was commonly thought that Flores was fired after a tape aired in which the anchor muttered an expletive under his breath.
Before coming to Austin, Pelikan worked as a sports reporter and anchor, first for Texas Cable News in Dallas, and then at the Fox affiliate in St. Louis. He joined KEYE in February, 2008.