Wbal

Shortly after the power went off in my home Friday I located my battery-operated transistor radio and tuned in WBAL to listen for emergency information about the storm. Much to my surprise and dismay, WBAL was broadcasting "the post game show from Camden Yards. " As a native Baltimorean and Oriole fan, I bleed as much orange as the next guy. But given the circumstances, I really needed to hear the storm coverage. I kept my radio tuned to WBAL, hoping to hear about the weather.

Ralph Warren Hills, a top production manager at a Baltimore television station who helped shape what thousands of people viewed over four decades, from children's programming to live sporting events, died from complications of Parkinson's disease Thursday at Gilchrist Hospice in Towson. He was 73. Hills, better known as Warren or "Hillsy" to his friends, was born and raised in Baltimore and worked in local television for most of his life before retiring 12 years ago from WBAL-TV.

WBAL-TV won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for a series on judges by investigative reporter Jayne Miller, the Radio Television Digital News Association announced Tuesday. Here's part of what the press release: The award for Best Video Investigative Reporting is for a series by WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller called "Judging The Judges. " The award-winning investigation opens the book on judges who misbehave, violate ethics and break the law. The story focuses ion judicial accountability and reveals a system where reprimands are often kept private and judges remain on the bench...

Dave Durian, a fixture on Baltimore radio for more than 22 years, is stepping down as anchor of WBAL's morning drive-time news program effective Aug. 31, he told listeners Wednesday during his show. He has been with the 50,000-watt station since 1988. While he will no longer be a full-time employee after August, Durian will remain "part of the WBAL family," according to General Manager Ed Kiernan. In that capacity, the 66-year-old Durian will serve as a "relief anchor" when Bill Vanko (mornings)

Everyone in local TV says "sweeps" don't matter as much as they used to now that Baltimore has Nielsen's local people meters (contested as that data might be) Still, everyone who does well in the Nielsen audience survey wants the world to know. And why not? All metrics are up for grabs these days, and everyone in the media wants the ones that show any successs celebrated. WJZ (Channel 13) had another month of big Nielsen success in local news. It won every head-to-head weekday news time period with the most important audience of adults 25 to 54 years of age. Dan Joerres, general manager of WBAL, described adults 25 to 54 as "the key demographic that most advertisers use when considering where to advertise.

In July when Marianne Banister was dropped by WBAL-TV, I wrote about the move as part of a larger issue of middle-aged women anchors being fired as cost cutting moves. Read that here . Last week, Sue Simmons, a long-time star on local TV in New York, made the same kind of headlines when WNBC-TV said goodbye to her after a long run atop the NYC ratings. And while Simmons is 68, her 68-year-old male co-anchor remains on the job. Well, Banister will be back on local TV Sunday for the first time since WBAL dumped her. She'll be talking about the changing dynamics of TV news at 11 a.m. Sunday on Richard Sher's "Square Off. " I know I appreciated Banister's straight talk back in July when I first reported the story with her. She didn't pull any punches about the fact that leaving WBAL was not her decision.

Jayne Miller , WBAL-TV's chief investigative reporter, might be taking on a new role shortly as a member of the board of trustees of Penn State University. The troubled school is expected to publish a ballot online later today with a slate on nominees for the board that runs the school, and Miller will likely be on it. The 1976 journalism graduate has been nominated by 50 Penn State alumni. "I really would like to do it," Miller said Wednesday morning when asked in a telephone interview whether or not she will serve on the board if alma mater calls.

WBAL-TV, which has seen a drop in its year-to-year news audience, is adding another newscast on its WBAL Plus (digital channel) starting in March. Baltimore's NBC affiliate will add a 10 p.m. weeknight newscast anchored by Kate Amara on March 5, the station will announce Wednesday. In October, the station added a 7 a.m. newscast on WBAL Plus. So far, the ratings have been minimal, according to Nielsen data. But Dan Joerres, station general manager, says the newscast is beating some of "the cable channels" in that time period.

Local TV news ratings in Baltimore are rarely news. The market has been dominated for a long time by a back-and-forth battle between WJZ and WBAL. Since the mid-1990s, most years ended in some version of a split decision, with both stations claiming victory. It was all mind-numbingly predictable. Then, last week, came a set of Nielsen numbers for January showing WJZ (Channel 13) scoring a clean sweep over WBAL (Channel 11) - winning every competitive news time period. That defines dominance.

Donna Hamilton will be joining Rod Daniels at the 11 p.m. anchor desk at WBAL-TV  (Channel 11) starting Super Bowl night, General Manager Dan Joerres confirmed Wednesday. Daniels has been anchoring the flagship broadcast solo since July when WBAL decided not to renew the contract of Marianne Banister. Banister had been co-anchoring since 1995 when she arrived at WBAL from station KABC, the ABC owned station in Los Angeles where she anchored early morning and 6 p.m. newscasts in the nation's second largest TV market.