Saturday, December 23, 2000

Stephen Clark Leaves CBS 2

Last night at 11:00, Dana Tyler said goodbye to Stephen Clark. And Stephen Clark said goodbye to Dana Tyler, who will be leaving the 11:00 news. Earlier today on the CBSNEWYORK.COM Message Board, Stephen Clark posted a message for everyone:
To all my friends and viewers: I want to thank you most sincerely for the support you've shown me on these pages. It certainly warms my heart to know so many of you care about me and the general well being of CBS2. Like you, I agree with the concensus that Channel 2 is making a big mistake by letting me go, and by moving Dana off the 11, and in a lot of the others moves the station has made lately. I agree, as you all have made abundantly clear, that the station needs to stop making changes and let viewers get used to the station for a change. But, having said that, as a veteran broadcaster I understand Joel Cheatwood's rationale as to why he thinks he needs to make these changes...although for obvious reasons I don't think it will work. It would also be easy for me to agree with you that you should stop watching Channel 2 immediately. But before you do that I want you to think about all the good people still there...Dana and Ira and Warner and all the great people behind the scenes working against great odds to put on news shows. Your boycott would certainly get your point across, but it would also hurt a lot of good people. Having said that, I am not at all opposed to your continued letters and emails of support sent to Tony Pettitti, WCBS General Manager...I think it's important he understands what viewers think of the changes. I also support your calls and letters on my behalf to other stations in New York. I certainly intend to stay in the city and hope to be working elsewhere as soon as possible. In the meantime, all of you please have a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. If you'd like to contact me...I'm on America OnLine at I'd love to hear from you. Stephen Clark
Stephen Clark's e-mail address is SClarkWCBS@aol.com.

Friday, December 22, 2000

Emotional Goodbye To Stephen Clark

If you saw the special holiday edition of "New York Live!" today, you know what I mean by saying it was an emotional show. The last 15-20 minutes of the show were holiday memories with the anchors. Ira Joe Fisher read a poem to a bunch of kids in the studio, and then all of the 4:00 anchors were at a table talking about their Christmas memories. Tony Tantillo ("The Fresh Grocer"), Robyn Carter (entertainment reporter), Todd McDermott (news anchor), Ira Joe Fisher (weather man), Dana Tyler (4, 6, and 11:00 anchor), and Stephen Clark (4, 6, and 11:00 anchor) were all there.

At the end, they mentioned it was Stephen's last day at CBS 2. Dana couldn't finish talking, so Ira Joe quickly helped out. Stephen was obviously very sad about this too, as his eyes became very red, and he didn't say much at all, only smiled. Then at the very end, he played his guitar and sang a song to end the show.

Tonight is Stephen Clark's last newscast, at 11:00. It will also be Dana Tyler's last newscast at 11:00 as she has next week off, and Angela Rae takes her place the week of January 1st.

Thursday, December 21, 2000

Angela Rae and Ernie Anastos?

Today's New York Post reports that CBS 2 will soon be announcing that Ernie Anastos will do the 6:00 and 11:00 newscasts next month. That was expected. What comes as a surprise to most people is that his co-anchor at 11:00 will be Angela Rae! Dana Tyler will continue to co-anchor "New York Live!" and "The News at 6:00".

Thursday, December 14, 2000

Stephen Clark Leaving Next Week?

Justin from PrincetonWeather.com tells me that he talked with Stephen Clark yesterday. He was told that Friday, December 22nd (one week from tomorrow) is Stephen Clark's last day as news anchor on CBS 2 (at 4:00, 6:00, and 11:00pm). He will soon be flying to San Fransisco for a job offer at KPIX-TV, a CBS affiliate. Stephen Clark's contract is supposedly up on January 2nd, the same day Ernie Anastos joins CBS 2. FOX 5 New York is also said to be looking to get Stephen Clark if John Roland retires, which may be soon. If we find anything else out, we will have it as soon as possible!

Tuesday, December 5, 2000

What Happened To Mark Danon?

From today's BLUEZETTE from NewsBlues.com: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO........Mark Danon, the young CBS weekend weather dude who was busted last summer, outside the WCBS studios, when he reportedly tried to buy cocaine from New York City undercover cops. His new boss, Joel Cheatwood, suspended him...and Danon later pleaded innocent at a hearing. A CBS source tells us Danon "left the station in July and relocated to the West coast." That's all we know. Mark Danon's court date is this Friday. If we find out anything, we'll have it here!

Friday, December 1, 2000

CBS 2 Openings Add Two New Sources

Today on The News at 5:00, I noticed that in the "You're watching the CBS 2 Information Network" opening, the "US News & World Report" logo was added. In the 5:30 opening, the "TLC" and "US News" logos were there, and at 6:00 only the "US News" logo was there.