Channel 5

What would the world be like without Channel 5?

adamg — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:08:19 +0000

John Carroll points out an interesting notice on the WCVB Web site:

WCVB-TV Channel 5's parent company, Hearst Television, is currently negotiating a renewal of its carriage agreement with various cable operators, including Metrocast, RCN, Shrewsbury Electric and Cable, Beld/Braintree Electric, Norwood Light Broadband, Argent Communications and Southern Vermont Cable.

If negotiations are not successfully concluded before December 31, 2011, you may not be able to view WCVB on your local cable system, but you will be able to receive WCVB over the air and from other cable and satellite providers.

It's going to be a long winter

adamg — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:05:45 +0000

Channel 5 reporter Cheryl Fiandaca just made the first on-air snowball of the season, out in Ashburnham - after, of course, kneeling to pick up some snow. OK, it looked more like an iceball than a snowball, which is probably why she didn't throw it at the cameraman.

Best reporter assignment of the day

adamg — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:12:21 +0000

Channel 5 sent John Atwater out to report from a harbor on hurricane preparations.

Question: Who are each station's designated Shelby Scotts, to be sent out for live reports walking into the wind and being strapped to poles on south-facing beaches? If, that is, the most recent track, which shows Irene could hit the Berkshires, instead of the eastern part of the state, that is?

Michele McPhee takes 5

adamg — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:49:58 +0000

The grizzled crime reporter starts next month on WCVB.

Channel 5 maybe needs to try just a wee bit harder with some of the weather graphics

adamg — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:43:56 +0000

Matt Kurkowski, who snapped this off WCVB tonight, calls it:

Literally the least helpful weather map I've ever seen.

Meanwhile, would it be too much to ask for a moratorium on media use of the phrase Here we snow again?

Channel 5 news helicopter makes unscheduled landing on Boston Common

adamg — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:27:48 +0000

Photo by Boston Fire Department

Nobody hurt in emergency landing in an open area by Beacon and Charles streets, the Boston Fire Department tweets. A pilot and videopgrapher were on board.

Conan O'Brien's stalker priest charged with going after Chronicle's Anthony Everett

adamg — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:42:41 +0000

Channel 5 reports David Ajemian was arrested in Cohasset for violating a restraining order Everett took out against him.

Innocent, etc.

Remember when local news was actually local?

adamg — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:59:55 +0000

John Carroll reports that three of the stories on WCVB's news at 11 last night actually had absolutely nothing to do with Boston, including one story on a dispute over a billboard "deep in the heart of the Bible Belt."

The "local live coverage you can count on" that 'CVB endlessly flogs is actually "elsewhere canned coverage you could live without."

Ed. note: But give them credit for their extensive coverage of what turned out to be the un-tornado racing down Rte. 2 - to the point where Heather Unruh had to tell "frustrated" Bachelorette fans to stop their whining because tornadoes are a matter of life and death. Well, OK, so she did mistake Harvey Leonard for Pete Bouchard when she asked if size really matters, but really, should reporters be apologizing for reporting breaking news?

Tornado warning in northern Worcester

adamg — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:54:11 +0000

Richard Beaubien captured twin lightning bolts hitting Bolton.

Maybe Leominster will still be with us in the morning. You know it's serious because Ed Harding on Channel 5 has his glasses down near the end of his nose.

Photo of the storm cell's edge.

Katken photographed a bolt over the Arboretum, after the storm moved southeast.

Johnmcboston photographed lightning over the South End.

Photos copyright Richard Beaubien, Katken and Johnmcboston, respectively. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Heather Unruh verbs the news

adamg — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:34:08 +0000

DSG generally likes Channel 5's Heather Unruh, except when she says things like We're efforting this story:

... No, Heather, you are not efforting the story. Nobody is efforting the story. You're working on the story. You are tracking events. You will have more details later. You are NOT efforting, because it's not a word. It is something mediocre amateurs say to sound impressive, in the vain hope than nobody will figure out that they just pulled a piece of utterly nonsensical drivel out of, well, thin air. The AP Stylebook, the bible of journalists, is the accepted, authoritative source on what is and is not a word you can use in print or on the air. I have an AP Stylebook license. Efforting is not a word, Heather. Your news director and your producer will back me up on that. ...

Policing Channel 5

adamg — Tue, 11 May 2010 03:08:53 +0000

John Keith watches the 11 o'clock news so we don't have to and reports Channel 5 just had a big graphic identifying the location of BPD headquarters as being in West Roxbury.

Ed. note: West Roxbury does, indeed, have a police station. It is SO West Roxbury: It looks like an overgrown colonial and is painted a pleasing light blue.

Mary Richardson leaving Channel 5

adamg — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:59:35 +0000

Longtime Chronicle co-host to pursue new challenges, WCVB says.

At least this isn't a case of yellow journalism

adamg — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:09:14 +0000

Globe: Workers evacuated after white powder found in S. Boston building
Channel 5: Mystery Green Powder Prompts Evacuations

Interestingly, they both rely on the same source at the Boston Fire Department. Wonder what color Channel 25 thinks it was?

Ed Harding ordered to go home before he infects entire newsroom

adamg — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:46:28 +0000

The Channel 5 anchor finally went too far tonight with his dedication to his job (which in the past has included working both morning and evening shifts and coming in on weekends): He gamely tried doing the news with a bad sore throat (which made him sound like he'd been huffing helium), but around 5:40, Heather Unruh stuck a mug and a bottle of honey in front of him and announced he had to go home immediately - and that they'd brought in Liz Bruner to fill in.

Pete Bouchard has a bigger forecast than Harvey Leonard

adamg — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:04:29 +0000

While Harvey Leonard was only calling for 6-10 inches on Wednesday in tonight's forecast, Pete Bouchard was telling us could get up to 15 inches: "Wow! We're going to get hit pretty hard on the South Shore!" he said - adding Boston is also in that big band.

Harv did get points, however, for mentioning the Blizzard of '78, although he was referring to the Washington storm the other day. Pete, meanwhile, was pooh-poohing the 6,000-person snowball fight in DC: "You won't see us calling it 'Snowmageddon,' he said.