Terry Morrow of the Scripps owned News-Sentinel got it wrong yesterday. He said that Jessa Goodard of WVLT “left of her own accord on Friday”. According to Brian’s Blog sources within the WVLT station staff that is not the case.
WVLT on Friday abruptly laid off Craig Edwards, WVLT weather guy; Kim Bedford, popular Reporter; Jessa Goodard, fill in Co-Anchor; Liz Tedone, former Co-Anchor, current temporary Special Assignments reporter and wife of Craig Edwards and Steve Coy, popular longtime WVLT photographer.
I love WVLT Volunteer TV as Brian’s Blog readers will recall. I still love WVLT but you have to wonder, what were they thinking?
So, now Stacey McCloud will co-anchor with Alan Williams. The joke line being that everyday will appear to be “bring your daughter to work day.”
I will continue watching WVLT, simply because the other alternatives (WBIR and WATE) in this town just ain’t worth it.
Brian,
I figured that was the case. You generally dont have 3 names disappear from the website and it went down for a while on Friday as well. Any clue what prompted this. Craig was brought down from KY and was a big buddy with Chris Baker back in like 98.
I can personally say that I knew 2 of them and they were great to work with. I know the economy is bad and all. Just makes you wonder the status of Knoxville TV with all the recent turnover across all 3 stations.
not sure if you know but jessa and stacey are same age and kelli parker hadn’t hit 30 when she left wvlt i dont think.
so what if she looks younger than them. she is very good.
less tanning bed visits or better genes i guess
i dont think it was a choice from what i’m reading elsewhere and hearing from inside media sources.
i think stations everywhere are making cuts and keeping the most popular. not sure why the reasoning for who they picked, but i’ve heard they were at top of list for a reason.
lets support the team still there .. not their fault.
Kyle:
I said in my post that I still support VLT. My point is that if you have the best morning team in Knoxville with Bob and Stacey, why screw it up.
Jessa was doing a great job with Alan.
I don’t know about the ages being the same for Jessa and Stacey, if that is the case. Jessa presented a more mature presence on camera.
there is another possiblity on the Craig situation. He had been the evening weather guy for years. They release Rick Katzfy from PM to elevate Craig. He had survived the WKXT-WVLT swtich. Sam Brown didnt. Then they got rid of him. He was not on the list of favorites.
I am wondering if there was an issue with him not being happy about being named Chief Meteorologist. He had held that position for years. Rick was chief and working the AM shift. Why not make Craig the chief. So in a way the writing was kinda on the wall there.
I hope Craig lands somewhere. I know that there is a chance CBS46 in Atlanta could be looking for a person even though its no posted.
Lets make sure Craig gets a good job somewhere. Starting working everyones connections. I don’t know the others, so i cannot speak on them. Were other people from behind the scenes let go out of production or sales or other areas?
On-Air talent: Kim Bedford, reporter covering government. She did an excellent job and knew all the players.
Liz Tedone, former co-anchor and special project reporter.
Jessa Goodard, fill in co-anchor when Kelli Parker left and doing a good job.
Off air talent:
Steve Coy, in the field photographer. He had many good connections, knew all the players. In my opinion, he is likely to land on his feet faster than anybody.
The real issue is the harshness of the process. On Friday morning they call these people in and lay them off. Word from within the station is that they kept the morning meeting going on so that Kim Bedford could leave and no body would know that she was gone and that she was upset.
Brian, thanks for setting the record straight. I hate to see WVLT ratings go down but I don’t see how they can survive this one dumb move. Kim Bedford is a quality reporter who has high integrity and moral values. She will survive this with her head held high. It’s just a shame to see this happen. If it’s money, did Chris, Steve or Brian in management take a pay cut??