Dianne Doctor

Encyclopedia : D : DI : DIA : Dianne Doctor

Dianne Doctor was the news director of WCBS-TV from 2002 when she left WNBC-TV, until April 14, 2006 when she was fired[link]. She gradually phased out the tabloid elements of the newscasts that had been instituted by her predecessor, Joel Cheatwood. However, this didn't make much difference in the ratings. WCBS, once one of the most respected local television news operations in the country, has been in third place or lower for much of the time since the 1990s. Rivals WNBC and WABC fight for first, while reruns of Seinfeld and Spanish language newscasts on WXTV and WNJU regularly finish ahead of CBS 2's 11 p.m. newscast.

Doctor caught considerable heat when she fired popular sports anchor and broadcast legend Warner Wolf on May 27, 2004 without giving Wolf a chance to say goodbye on air. Wolf's contract was due to expire in three months. He was replaced by the much younger Chris Wragge, who has been lampooned by the New York press.

Wragge was not one of her more controversial hires, in fact it was John Bolaris from WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. Bolaris had a reputation as somewhat of a "ladies man," but is notorious in Pennsylvania for predicting a major snowstorm that never happened.

By 2005 more tabloid elements started to resurface, which at times would trump the coverage of real news. One egregious example occurred on May 24 when competitors WNBC and WABC lead with an important U.S. House vote on funding stem cell research. WCBS instead chose to lead their 11 p.m. newscast with a story and exclusive video of actor Burt Reynolds slapping a CBS producer.

After her departure from WCBS, a major format, talent and graphics changed occurred garnering favorable reviews from media observers.

SOME Controversial Actions at WCBS

The firing of longtime sports anchor Warner Wolf, who was in his second stint at WCBS, before airtime the Thursday before the three day Memorial Day weekend 2004.
*Made (only story) on front page of the New York Daily News the next day. The NYDN was not easy on Doctor and the opinion pieces were quiet harsh.
The hiring of longtime WABC 5pm news anchorwoman Roz Abrams to anchor 5 and 11pm and take over for Dana Tyler as lead anchor.
*Abrams had always followed Oprah on air at 5pm, and when she came to WCBS, the viewers stayed at WABC. Actually, WCBS lost ratings when she came.
*Tyler had been on-and-off lead anchor for WCBS for 15 years. She was the longest anchor at the station, and a newcomer was not welcome.
*The hiring of Abrams resulted in the demotion of WCBS' two longest anchors: Dana Tyler (now only on 6pm) and Cindy Hsu (now only on noon)
*When Doctor left WCBS, Abrams was demoted, due to her inability to provide higher ratings.
The forcing out of longtime New York anchor Ernie Anastos
*Anastos (in his second stint at WCBS, anchor of 5pm and 11pm), upset with Abrams becoming star (not to mention the horrendous chemistry on-air the two had), was granted permission by Doctor to go looking for another anchor job. He was told he was never part of Doctor's view for the future of WCBS.
*Anastos can now be seen on WNYW's 5 and 10pm newscasts alongside Rosanna Scotto
**He has a contract at WNYW that is worth $10 million for 5 years. This contract made the front page of the Daily News in September 2004, and Anastos left WCBS airwaves on the Friday before Memorial Day 2005.
The hiring of "pretty boy" Chris Wragge to be lead Sports Anchor
*The 34 year old replaced 67 year old Warner Wolf after he was fired
*Came from Houston and formerly anchored Entertainment Tonight
*Married to porn star Victoria Silvstedt
The hiring of Chief Meterologist John Bolaris to replace disgraced Cheif Meterologist David Rogers.
*Infamous for predicting a big snowstorm that never happened
Setting off a revolving door that was much like a drawn out version of the Masacre of '96
*On-air talent that left during Doctor's tenure (believed to be forced out by her)
**Warner Wolf
**David Rogers
**Cheryl Fiadacca
**Arthur Chi'en
**Duke Castiglione
**Todd McDermott
**Michael Pomeranz
*On-air talent that joined during Doctor's tenure (also known as, "Doctor's Kids")
**Roz Abrams
**Chris Wragge
**Shon Gables
**Mario Bosques
**Jay Dow
**Christine Sloan
**Dave Price
**Jim Rosenfield
**Jeff Beradelli
**Audrey Puente
**Scott Weinberger
**Andrew Kirtzman
**Cheryl Fiadacca
**Arthur Chi'en
**Ti Hua Chang
**John Bolaris
**Duke Castiglione
**Vanessa Alfano
**Maurice DuBois
**Magee Hickey
**Lynda Lopez
**Tanya Rivero
**Kerri Lyon
**Andrea Stassou
**Brett Larson
**Tamsen Fadal

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.