WCVB

Frank Solensky photographed the bread aisle at the Somerville Stop & Shop this evening.

Meanwhile, Channel 5 reporters tonight warmed up for their team coverage of Snowpocalypse '13. With no snow on the ground to fashion into a snowball, Sean Kelly started a report by holding a tree branch for emphasis. Jack Harper, however, found a sand or dirt pile with a thin coating of snow, to which he could point with the ruler he of course happened to have. He was showing how high snow got in the Blizzard of '78 or something. And Ed Harding urged viewers to charge their tablets and phones now, so they can keep watching Channel 5 online if need be - apparently not thinking that if the power goes out, those viewers won't be able to use their WiFi to watch him.

Come snowmageddon or aquapocalypse, Fred Somers is ready.

News folks at other stations in town are fuming over the way WCVB's Susan Wornick got first dibs on video from an interview with Tom Menino at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. As one newsie at another station tells us (on condition of anonymity, natch), Channel 5 didn't score some great scoop - the mayor was just gracing them for its live coverage of the annual lighting of the Christmas tree on the Common.

This newsperson says Channel 5 at first told other stations it had the video and said it would provide a copy as part of a "pool" arrangement - common with stories where stations share video due to limited space, for example, at courtroom hearings.

Which you can't do. Pool video has to be talked about ahead of time. Then they said the mayor's office was giving Channel 5 the exclusive for 6 p.m. and then other stations, the Globe and Herald could have it. 5 said the mayor's office was holding it back and the mayor's office said, "because of their partnership with Channel 5, and the tree lighting."

They been giving stuff to Channel 5 for a long time and screwing everyone else, but yesterday was the worse! The Globe was crediting WCBV last night for the video - not WCVB. Wonder if it's a error or deliberate.

Yes, it's bad out there - Ed Harding at Channel 5 just put his glasses on.

On Channel 5, Bianca de la Garza just advised people not to go down to the beach to look at the angry sea - right after John Atwater checked in from Scituate, where he stood by a seawall, looking at the angry sea.

While watching ABC tonight, I caught the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" commercial for Sunday's episode. The show goes to Texas to help a family who lost their daughter because she was texting and driving. Justin Bieber comes on the show to sign a pledge the family created to bring awareness to the cause. It's a touching moment when the dad says that his daughter may be gone but her impact continues on...

As soon as the commercial ends, a smiling Bianca de la Garza throws out the teaser for the local news tonight with this gem: "Why the texting ban may actually be harmful at 11..."

HA! Did I really just see that!? Awesome job, WCVB.