The Times-Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • 8

Live! B2 THE SCRANTON TIMES THE TRIBUNE SATURDAY, JULY 19,2003 TV news personnel playing take-it-or-leave-it contract game You cant fire anyone without cause, Mr. Dowdell said. LaSpina out Speaking of Ms. LaSpina, she was fired Monday as general manager of Viacom-CBS-owned WCCO, MinneapolisSt. Paul, Minn.

Brian Lambert of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reported, LaSpi-nas departure had been rumored for almost as long as shed been at WCCO (since September 2001). Whether it was directly her fault or that of Viacom or her subordinates, WCCO was buffeted by merciless profit expectations, extraordinarily clumsy employee relations, often bizarre news judgment, slumping staff morale and further erosion of key audiences. RICH MATES, a Times-Shamrock staff writer, writes about the local television industry for Satur-Day. He can be reached at usually until death or retirement.

Professor Thompson said ruthless negotiations are reserved for employees whose departure would not trigger a loss of the audience. Established anchors, such as Keith Martin, Nolan Johannes and Debbie Dunleavy, who Dr. Thompson called beloved anchors, would not get this kind of treatment because management fears that viewers would desert the station with the anchor. Ergo, when Debbie Dunleavy was not given a contract and left WYOU the ratings plunged. This is the first time WBRE has posted jobs when someone has not signed a personal services contract, said Bill Dowdell, president of Local 23, National Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians.

NABET is working without a contract and is unable to grieve disputes or seek arbitration. He said when personal services contracts were not signed, the talent fell under the union contract, but did not leave the station. workers from seeking out counter offers. "I decided to not take the contract offer. It was not something that I thought was validating to my work here, said Ms.

Weaver, coanchor of "Pennsylvania Morning and Midday. I told them I was not necessarily looking to leave the station, but that the contract Mitpc was not something I wanted to give a long-term commitment. She said she will look around for a new job and will hang around until her replacement is named. She has not formally given any notice that she will be leaving, but WBRE-TV posted the job as soon as she said she would not sign the contract she was offered. There was no negotiation, apparently, just a take-it-or-leave-it deal.

I think Ive been treated fairly, Ms. Weaver said. "I think that the company has certain goals as an entire entity, rather than looking at specific stations right now. I think local managements hands are somewhat tied by corporate into helping it do what it needs to keep local talent. Ms.

Weaver, an Allentown native, said she expects to find a better job in the northeastern United States. She said the WBRE (and its news sister station WYOU-TV, Ch. 22) job kept her close to her family and she would have liked to stay. Ms. Deleste did not respond to an interview request.

Tactic not limited It is not just WBRE and WYOU. WNEP-TV, Ch. 16, showed sportscaster Tom Tidey the door when he declined to sign the contract he was offered in August 1999. There was no counter offer. It was My way or the highway, as far as then-general manager Rene LaSpina was concerned.

Its time for Take It or Leave It. Wow! What is this? A new game show? A new viewer contest? No! Its increasingly becoming how television stations get contracts signed these days. When the boss says Cmon and an employee is handed a new contract, there is no room for negotiation or making a counter offer. Its Sign on the dotted line, or we post your job. It happened last week at WBRE-TV, Ch.

28, to main coanchor Charlotte Deleste and morning anchor Stacey Weaver. These days, TV news is journalisms answer to the plantation. About 70 percent of the contracts these days are take it or leave it, said David Brunner of Neffs, an Alien-town-area TV talent agent. Especially frustrating to agents are demands that a contract be signed within a day and making a contract offer six months before the old pact is to expire. That effectively stops Mr.

Tidey, who is no longer in television, declined to be interviewed. I have not run into that, agent Rick Gevers, of Rick Gev-ers Associates, Zionsville, said about no-negotiation pacts. He deals with larger market stations. He is the exception. In Beverly Hills, TV talent agent Mendes Napoli of Napoli Management Group says it is all a function of the economy which has hit TV stations hard.

There is certainly more of them taking a hard line than there were a few years ago, Mr. Napoli said. He said it is not a trend limited to stations in the Wilkes-BarreScranton market. He said lots of stations have taken hard lines during talks, especially if they do not have much to offer. Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse Universitys Center for the Study of Popular Television, said this trend will continue as long as we have bands of traveling anchors and reporters who do not remain in the community long enough to put down roots, as was the case years ago when anchors stayed 20 or 30 years, Group of regional radio stations being sold small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

To commemorate this historic event, Shadoe Steele, host of WKRZs Saturday Night at the Oldies, will feature a special show with music, rare interviews and audio clips from that mission. Well showcase the sounds of the top event in the history of the 20th century, Mr. Steele said, adding that former NASA Apollo 11 flight director Glynn Lunney, an Old Forge native and friend of Mr. Steele, will be his special guest and will talk about the mission as well as dispel rumors the event was a government hoax. The program airs tonight from 8 to 9 on KRZ and Monday from 9 to 10 a.m.

on The WILK Network (910, 980 and 1500 AM). MARY ONDRAKO writes about radio for Saturday. She can be reached at mondrakocitizensvoice.com. TELEVISIOfJiZottf have come a long FROM B1 Thats why people didnt favor Channel 22 for a long time, because the picture was crappy, Mr. Scannella said.

The only rating that was good was the news rating. Added Mr. Chedekel: When color came in, they had to get service, and that was in the 70s. Birth of news film Originally, anchors Tom Powell or John Perry would only have still pictures to show during the news. For a while, WYOU photographers carried Speed Graphic still cameras.

The first film we shot was in October 1953, Mr. Scannella said. It was an experiment. Regular film coverage began Jan. 1, 1954.

Mr. Scannella was experimenting with processing movie film in huge buckets. When a carbonic gas plant blew up in Scranton on a Sunday, Mr. Scannella took a Speed Graphic and gave another photographer a movie camera to cover the event. Both men took pictures.

Back at the station, Mr. Scannella processed the movie film. The anchor on the news was an old radio announcer. He gets this film and says, What do I do with it? Sid Harris, who shot the film, said, Ill go on. He went on and the two narrated the film, Mr.

Scannella said. Getting film from a shoot outside the Greater Scranton area, however, was more of a problem. Mr. Perry, retired and living in Florida, recalls, That was really a chore, getting (the film) you shot to the studio in the days before direct (microwave) relay. He said to get film shot in Wilkes-BarreHazleton or points west back to the Scranton studios, Mr.

Perry would set up a relay using cars, not electronics. What we did was we would have a meeting place at a halfway point, and we would have a man from the studio in Scranton drive down and meet him at the A cluster of radio stations in northeastern and central Pennsylvania is marked for new ownership. Max Media Properties, based in Virginia Beach, has agreed to buy WFYY-FM Flyte 106.5 in Bloomsburg and Big Country stations WLGL-FM 92.3, WWBE-FM 98.3 and WYGL-FM 100.5, and 1240-AM in central Susquehanna Valley from Sun-air Communications Inc. Purchase price is $7.5 million, according to the Radio and Records Web site. Larry Saunders, president of the radio division of Max Media, said the sale allows the company to enter into the Pennsylvania market.

We are building small-to-me-dium stations and we were looking for a group in this region, Mr. Saunders said of interest in the stations. Its a nice region with several universities and a great business area. Top 10 1. Crazy in Love, Bey once (feat.

Jay-Z). Music World. 2. Magic Stick, Lil Kim (feat. 50 Cent).

Queen Bee. 3. Rock Wit (Awww Baby), Ashanti. Murder Inc. 4.RightThurr,Chingy.

Disturbing tha Peace. 5. Never Leave You Uh Ooh, Uh Lumidee. Universal. 6.

Unwell, matchbox twenty. Atlantic. 7. Bring Me to Life, Evanescence (feat. Paul McCoy).

Wind-up. 8. Get Busy, Sean Paul. Black Shadow. 9.

Miss Independent, Kelly Clarkson. RCA. 10. In Those Jeans, Ginuwine. Epic.

Albums: Top 10 1 Chapter II, Ashanti. Murder Inc. 2. Dangerously in Love, Be- yonce. Music World.

3. Fallen," Evanescence. Windup. (Platinum) 4. Dance With My Father, Luther Vandross.

J. 5. Get Rich or Die Tryin', 50 Cent. Shady. (Platinum certified sales of 1 million units) 6.

Hotel Paper, Michelle Branch. Maverick. 7. St Anger, Metallica. Elektra.

(Platinum) 8. Come Away With Me, Norah Jones. Blue Note. (Platinum) 9. 'Greatest Hits Collection, 1 Vol.

1, Trace Adkins. Capitol. 1 0. The Very Best of Cher, Cher. Geffen.

(Platinum) Adult contemporary 1. Drift Away, Uncle Kracker (feat. Dobie Gray). Lava. 2.

Have You Ever Been in Love, Celine Dion. Epic. 3. If You're Not the Daniel Bedingfield. Island.

broadcasts way halfway point and drive it back, Mr. Perry said. All the black-and-white film WGBIWDAU ever shot is in negative. The station would electronically reverse the film when it was played back to make it look right. Sound did not come to the film cameras until 1956.

During the Diane flood of 1955, we convinced management we needed better equipment, Mr. Perry said. For instance, they could not shoot film after dark because they had no floodlights. They only used Speed Graphic cameras with flashbulbs at night. Going live One of the first remote broadcasts was the St.

Anns Novena. Staffers used a truck borrowed from WCAU-TV. It was seat-of-the-pantsTV. I directed that. And on Saturday and Sunday I did the Mass for the shut-ins.

Im not Catholic, Im Jewish, Mr. Chedekel said. The first time I did it I had the priest sit next to me. Then I got the idea of it. WYOU began using minicams and tape for news in the mid-1970s.

During the Senate rackets hearings, which focused on this area, Mr. Scannella used film. They would film all day, have it developed in Washington and fly it back here for airing from 11:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. Mr.

Chedekel was the soundman and Mr. Powell was the reporter. That film and virtually all the film and tape shot during Mr. Scannellas era still exists. But while Mr.

Scannella treated it like my baby, it is now endangered, he said. It is stored on the basement floor at WBRE-TV, one of the first places hit by the Agnes flood in 1972. The flood wiped out WBREs pre-1972 film library, Mr. Scannella said. I babied that stuff until I retired in 1995, Mr.

Scannella said. Since he quit, most of the cataloging has been lost and the video was nearly trashed once. Nobody else has this (video), Mr. Scannella said. It hurts me.

ory. The onboard memory allows the camera to double as a storage device for other files and data it can carry the same amount of data as 44 3.5-inch floppy disks would. This camera couldnt be simpler to operate. It plugs into a Universal Serial Bus port to charge up or download images into your computer. Charging time is about two and a half hours, after which you need only turn the lens cover to open the lens; this is the on-off switch.

A button on top of the cylindrical device releases the shutter. There is no flash, so indoor photographs can be a bit dark. Outdoor photographs, however, were superb. More Information: (800) 531-0039 or www.philipsusa.com. Max Media owns 14 other stations in North Carolina and Arkansas as well as 10 TV stations in Montana, Kentucky, Maine and Michigan.

The stations are the total radio holdings of Sunair Communications operated by David and Susan Bernstein, who are retiring after more than 45 years in the business. It was a tough decision to sell, but we feel these are (going) to the right people, Mr. Bernstein said. Added Mr. Saunders: No.

changes in staff or programming are planned. FYY plays adult contemporary music while the other four play country music. Listen to 4. The Game of Love, Santana (feat. Michelle Branch).

Arista. 5. Can't Stop Loving You, Phil Collins. Atlantic. 6.

Don't Know Why, Norah Jones. Blue Note. 7. Beautiful, Christina Aguilera. RCA.

8. Hole in the World, Eagles. ERC. 9.One,Faith Hill. Warner Bros.

1 0. Big Yellow Taxi, Counting Crows (feat. Vanessa Carlton). Geffen. Contemporary Christian albums 1 Worship Together: I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, Various Artists.

Time Life. (Gold) 2. Almost There, MercyMe. INO. (Platinum) 3.

WOW Worship (Yellow), Various Artists. EMI CMGWordProvi-dent. (Gold) 4. Stacie Orrico," Stacie Orrico. Forefront.

5. Rise and Shine, Randy Travis. Word-Curb. 6. Offerings II: All I Have to Give, Third Day.

Essential. 7. The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot. Sparrow. 8.

Adoration: The Worship Album, Newsboys. Sparrow. 9. Two Lefts Don't Make a Right. But Three Do, Relient K.

Gotee. 10. Spoken For, MercyMe. INOWord-Curb. Mainstream rock tracks 1.Headstrong,Trapt Warner Bros.

2. 'Send the Pain Below, Chev-elle. Epic. 3. Like a Stone, Audioslave.

Interscope. 4. Stupid Girl, Cold. Flip. 5.

'St Anger, Metallica. Elektra. 6. So Far Away, Staind. Flip.

7. Just Because, Jane's Addiction. Capitol. 8. Caught in the Rain, Revis.

Epic. 9. Show Me How to Live, Audioslave. InterscopeEpic. iJEIIED1 'inaps nasait' David and Susan (Bernstein) did an excellent job growing the stations and we plan to keep doing that.

The sale is expected to be completed by the end of the year, pending FCC approval. The FCC implemented a freeze on all pending applications for station license transfers shortly after its June 2 vote that modified broadcast ownership rules. The freeze is expected to remain in effect while new forms that reflect the changes are developed. The process is expected to take between 30 and 45 days. One giant step Thirty-four years ago Sunday, Apollo 11 Astrpnaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon and summed up the ekperience with that famous phrase One the music 10.

Somewhere I Belong, Linkin Park. Warner Bros. Modem rock tracks 1 Seven Nation Army, The White Stripes. Third Man. 2.

Just Because, Jane's Addiction. Capitol. 3. Send the Pain Below, Chev-elle. Epic.

4. Faint Linkin Park. Warner Bros. 5. Headstrong, rapt.

Warner Bros. 6. The Boys of Summer, The Ataris. Columbia. 7.

Go With the Flow, Queens of the Stone Age. Interscope. 8. Like a Stone, Audioslave. Interscope.

9. So Far Away, Staind. Flip. 10. 'Stupid Girl, Cold.

Flip. Country singles and tracks 1. My Front Porch Looking In, Lonestar. BNA. 2.

Red Dirt Road, Brooks Dunn. Arista Nashville. 3. Beer for My Horses, Toby Keith Duet With Willie Nelson. DreamWorks.

4. Celebrity, Brad Paisley. Arista Nashville. 5. Stay Gone, Jimmy Wayne.

DreamWorks. 6. It's Five O'clock Somewhere, Alan Jackson Jimmy Buffett. Arista Nashville. 7.

No Shoes, No Shirt No Problems, Kenny Chesney. BNA. 8. Speed, Montgomery Gentry. Columbia.

9. Forever and For Always, Shania Twain. Mercury. 10. The Love Song, Jeff Bates.

RCA. Country albums 1 Greatest Hits Collection, Vol. 1, Trace Adkins. Capitol. 2.

From There to Here: Greatest Hits, Lonestar. BNA. 3. Unleashed, Toby Keith. DreamWorks (Nashville).

(Platinum) Boys Girls KATITV KAREV CTI1LDRE.VS SHOPPE 4. Buddy Jewell, Buddy Jewell. Columbia Nashville. 5. Honkytonkville, George Strait.

MCA Nashville. 6. Shania Twain. Mercury (Nashville). 7.

No Shoes, No Shirt No Problems, Kenny Chesney. BNA. (Platinum) 8. The Truth About Byrd. RCA.

9. Live and Kickin', Willi Nelson Friends. Lost Highway. 10. Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors, Tim McGraw.

Curb. (Platinum) singles and tracks 1 Crazy in Love, Beyonce (feat. Jay-Z). Music World. 2.

So Gone, Monica. J. 3. In Those Jeans, Ginuwine. Epic.

4. Right Thurr, Chingy. Disturbing tha Peace. 5. P.I.M.P., 50 Cent.

Shady. 6. Magic Stick, Lil' Kim (feat. 50 Cent). Queen Bee.

7. Rock Wit (Awww Baby), Ashanti. Murder Inc. 8. Get Low, Lil Jon the East Side Boyz (feat.

Ying Yang Twins). BME. 9. Never Leave You Uh Ooh, Uh Lumidee. Universal.

10. Frontin', Pharrell Featuring Jay-Z. Star Trak. albums 1. Chapter II, Ashanti.

Murder Inc. 2. Dangerously in Love, Beyonce. Music World. 3.

Dance With My Father, Luther Vandross. J. 4. After the Storm, Monica. J.

5. Da Unbreakables, Three 6 Mafia. Hypnotize Minds. 6. Get Rich or Die Tryin', 50 Cent.

Shady. (Platinum) 7. Kings of Crunk, Lil Jon the East Side Boyz. BME. (Gold) 8.

Chocolate Factory, R. Kelly. Jive. 9. Joe Budden, Joe Budden.

Def Jam. 10. Soundtrack: 2 Fast 2 Furious. Disturbing tha Peace. PROVIDED BY Billboard, Soundscan and Broadcast Data Systems and is provided to AP members for print use only.

1 1 Camera key ring makes decent digital photos BY KEVIN, WASHINGTON BALTIMORE SUN WRITER Carrying a camera of any size can be inconvenient, especially if you like to take pictures everywhere you go. The Philips Digital Camera Key Ring solves the heavy camera syndrome. A thumb-size camera that can hang from your neck on a lanyard, the Digital Camera Key Ring takes nice photographs for Web viewing at 1.3 megapixels, but would leave much to be desired if you wanted to print images 5-by-7 inches or larger. The Digital Camera Key Ring ($99) tested came with 64 megabytes of memory, more than enough for scores of photographs. Another version ($149) will have 128 megabytes of mem.