Wjz

Bob Turk is a nice guy. A very nice guy. Everybody says so. "I can't even remember what he reports -- he's just part of the fiber of the city," says Maggie Miceli, 30, a native Baltimorean who currently lives in Washington. "He's been on television as long as I've been alive." Chris Godwin, a 23-year-old security guard from Baltimore, describes Turk this way: "He's just a typical person like you or I." You don't have to take their word for it. Executives at several local stations say surveys consistently show the cheerful Turk -- WJZ's weather forecaster for the past 30 years -- among the most popular people on the city's airwaves.

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.

What was WJZ-TV thinking when they cut to "60 Minutes"Sunday evening ("How about them O's?" May 8)? Reminds us of the old "Heidi Bowl. " On November 17, 1968, the Oakland Raiders scored two touchdowns in nine seconds to beat the New York Jets - and no one sees it, because they're watching the movie, "Heidi," instead. With just 65 seconds left to play, NBC switched off the game in favor of its previously scheduled programming. Sunday, my family and I were on the edge of our seats with every pitch.

I guess no one at WJZ remembers when ABC cut away from a NFL football game to air the movie "Heidi. " Because if they did they would not have stopped the Oriole Game to broadcast "60 Minutes. " Nice move, WJZ. Don Engleman Baltimore

Nick Charles, a pioneering figure in cable TV sports at CNN and one-time Baltimore broadcaster at WJZ-TV, died Saturday at his home in New Mexico, according to the cable news network. He was 64 and had been battling bladder cancer since 2009. Mr. Charles, who worked as a sports anchor at WJZ-TV from 1972 to 1976, died "peacefully, looking out at the spectacular land that drew him to Santa Fe, New Mexico," his wife, Cory, a producer for CNN International, told the network. "As a journalist and sports personality, Nick Charles helped put CNN on the map in its early days," Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement Saturday.

Nick Charles is on the phone from his home in Santa Fe, N.M., a nurse and the hospice people working quietly in the background. "Mike Tyson came out to visit me last week," he says now. "He cried with me. Kept saying: 'I don't want to lose you!' We have a 25-year friendship that dates back to when he didn't trust anyone. The guy wouldn't let me go for 15 minutes. " Now it's Charles who doesn't want to let go of life, not just yet, not at age 64 with another birthday right around the corner.

Weijia Jiang, who came to WJZ-TV in June of 2008 as a reporter, is leaving to join WCBS-TV in New York City. Both stations are owned by CBS. New York is the top market in the country. Jiang came to WJZ from WOBC-TV in Salisbury. She has a bachelor's degree from the College of William & Mary and a master's in broadcast news from the University of Syracuse. Born in China, Jiang grew up in West Virginia where her parents immigrated when she was 2. Jiang, whose last day at WJZ is May 31, will be replaced by Rochelle Ritchie, a multimedia reporter from WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida.

A city circuit court judge has dismissed seven of eight charges in a defamation lawsuit filed last year by March Funeral Homes West Inc., against WJZ-TV. The suit arose from a pair of stories broadcast by CBS-owned WJZ (Channel 13) in October 1999 about a grieving woman's fears that her late husband's casket had been improperly handled at the gravesite. The funeral home, at the time a significant advertiser on the station, claimed the stories by reporters Suzanne Collins and Alex Demetrick blamed March for work done by a veterans cemetery staff.

The July ratings period wrapped up last night, and the city's two leading TV stations - WBAL and WJZ - can each claim victories of sorts for their programs. For the late news at 11 p.m., WBAL-TV (Channel 11) and WJZ (Channel 13) are effectively tied, with roughly the same number of households in the Baltimore region tuning in from Monday through Sunday, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen. (Monday through Friday, Nielsen shows WBAL with a bit of a lead at 11 p.m.) The ratings estimates show WBAL to be securing a slightly greater edge on WJZ for the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts.

Almost 160 local dancers aged 18 to 25 will get at least one chance to star on local television as WJZ-Channel 13 brings back to the airwaves the dance program "Shakedown."The show will premiere at 11:30 p.m. April 25, and will run at least 11 weeks in that Saturday night slot.Although auditions April 3 and 4 at White Marsh and Owings Mills malls won about 160 dancers a chance to appear on the show, only about 60 dancers can appear on any one edition "because that's all we can fit into the studio," says producer Terry Todesco.

What was WJZ-TV thinking when they cut to "60 Minutes"Sunday evening ("How about them O's?" May 8)? Reminds us of the old "Heidi Bowl. " On November 17, 1968, the Oakland Raiders scored two touchdowns in nine seconds to beat the New York Jets - and no one sees it, because they're watching the movie, "Heidi," instead. With just 65 seconds left to play, NBC switched off the game in favor of its previously scheduled programming. Sunday, my family and I were on the edge of our seats with every pitch.

ON THE SITE... Second fatal accident in recent days on Jarrettsville Pike : An unidentified victim died at the scene of a crash Sunday night, the fourth person to die on the same stretch of road since Friday. Canton fire shows gaps in information for responders : Firefighters were initially unaware that 8,000 gallons of dangerous chemicals were inside a burning warehouse April 22 because it lacks a unified database of potential hazards. Preakness weather forecast brightens again : AccuWeather is predicting a high of 80 degrees and mostly sunny skies May 19. Loyola earns top overall seed in NCAA men's lacrosse tournament :  The 14-1 Greyhounds, who captured their first Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament crown, will meet Canisius in the first round.

The decision wasn't in a league with the infamous one NBC made in 1968 to cut away from the ending of an incredible AFC football game to show a rerun of the film "Heidi," but some Baltimore area viewers were feeling a "Heidi Bowl" kind of pain Sunday night when WJZ (Channel 13) left a extra inning Orioles game to carry the top-rated newsmagazine "60 Minutes. " "Epic" might be too strong a word for what was going on in Boston, but it was pretty great. The Orioles, after winning a 13-inning game Friday against the Red Sox and a regular 9-inning game Saturday, were locked in a duel with the Sox that had depleted both bull pens.

John Lanahan Jr. was spending Sunday afternoon at St. Agnes Hospital with his father, who was recovering from an allergic reaction. The two Orioles fans planned to watch the game against perennial favorite Boston Red Sox. Then disaster struck. As the game went into extra innings - ultimately, 17 in all - WJZ interrupted the broadcast at 7 p.m. to show "60 Minutes. " The hospital did not offer the cable station MASN, which carried the remainder of the game. The father and son missed out on the culmination of what is arguably the most memorable game of the O's season so far - in which designated hitter Chris Davis pitched two scoreless innings and the Orioles won, 9-6. "We were both pretty disappointed that we couldn't watch the end of the game," the 36-year-old accountant said.

Weijia Jiang, who came to WJZ-TV in June of 2008 as a reporter, is leaving to join WCBS-TV in New York City. Both stations are owned by CBS. New York is the top market in the country. Jiang came to WJZ from WOBC-TV in Salisbury. She has a bachelor's degree from the College of William & Mary and a master's in broadcast news from the University of Syracuse. Born in China, Jiang grew up in West Virginia where her parents immigrated when she was 2. Jiang, whose last day at WJZ is May 31, will be replaced by Rochelle Ritchie, a multimedia reporter from WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Some radio changes over the weekend... Michael Eric Dyson has left his NPR show that's produced at Morgan State University, and the production will go off the air altogether at the end of the month. For the next three weeks, guest hosts will fill in on "The Michael Eric Dyson Show," according to Richard Prince's "Journal-isms" blog. Read it here . Dyson, a prominent social critic and Georgetown University professor, has been hosting the interview and talk show produced for NPR by Morgan State University's radio station on a grant of $505,000 from the Corporation for Public broadcasting.

John Lanahan Jr. was spending Sunday afternoon at St. Agnes Hospital with his father, who was recovering from an allergic reaction. The two Orioles fans planned to watch the game against perennial favorite Boston Red Sox. Then disaster struck. As the game went into extra innings - ultimately, 17 in all - WJZ interrupted the broadcast at 7 p.m. to show "60 Minutes. " The hospital did not offer the cable station MASN, which carried the remainder of the game. The father and son missed out on the culmination of what is arguably the most memorable game of the O's season so far - in which designated hitter Chris Davis pitched two scoreless innings and the Orioles won, 9-6. "We were both pretty disappointed that we couldn't watch the end of the game," the 36-year-old accountant said.

Channel 13 (WJZ) continued its domination of the local news ratings in the important May sweeps month, at least doubling the ratings of its competitors every time its news came on the air -- other than at noon -- in both the Nielsen and Arbitron ratings.Channel 11 (WBAL) continued its slide in the Arbitron book, where Channel 2 (WMAR) had twice the number of viewers for its 5 o'clock newscast -- a 10 rating and 29 share to a 5 rating/14 share. The 5 p.m. numbers were much closer according to Nielsen -- 9/26 for Channel 2 to 7/20 for Channel 11.Only in the Nielsen numbers for 11 p.m did Channel 11 get out of third place in the afternoon and evening newscast, getting an 8/20 to Channel 2's 7/17.

The summer before Megan Walburn's senior year at Washington College she met someone at a cookout who worked at WJZ. Soon there was a writing test. Then a gig freelancing. She has stayed at WJZ (our media partner) for the last five years producing, and now executive produces the network's 11 p.m. news broadcast. "News is ever-changing, which means my job never gets boring," said Walburn, 26, a Brewers Hill resident. "In some jobs, people watch the clock from 9-5. At my job, I find myself wishing for more time in the workday.

A 13-year-old girl was found slain Sunday evening in the Darley Park neighborhood of northeast Baltimore, police reported. Family members confirmed the girl's identity as Monae Turnage, according to local newscasts. They had reported her missing early Sunday. The body was found about 6 p.m. in the backyard of a two-story, brick rowhouse in the 1600 block of Cliftview Ave., said Detective Donny Moses. Monae's aunt, Paulette Marshall, confirmed on newscasts that the girl's 16-year-old brother and neighborhood youths found the clothed body while looking through alleys.