Thanks to WSMV-Channel 4, Robert Fisher came down with a severe case of road rage recently. Fisher, who lives just down the road from the station, says he saw Channel 4 crews filming a red SUV last week as it careened up and down the street. Fisher says there were children playing nearby and a couple of neighborhood cats scuttling about. A few days later, he saw that same SUV featured in a Channel 4 promotion for a news series on bad Nashville drivers.
”He was driving like a madman; he was taking off and then swerving,“ Fisher says of the SUV driver. ”He was doing this about 10 times.“
According to a source at Channel 4, it was all staged by the station for the promotional spots on the series. But this source says the driver of the vehicle, a Ford Bronco, was merely driving up and down a roadside curb.
”There was nothing dangerous about it,“ says the source. ”Evidently this guy came out and said, ‘You better watch out for cats.’ He can expand on it all he wants, but we would not put anyone in harm’s way.“
”Well that’s what they say,“ replies Fisher. ”But I never would have bothered to leave my house if that’s all they were doing. I’ve been here a little more than a year, and I’ve never seen anyone drive like that.“
Let’s hope Channel 4 doesn’t do a story on plane crashes anytime soon.
On the ball
The 1996 disappearance of Janet March was our own little Elian story—a galvanizing event that ignited public debate and a media frenzy. But Tuesday morning at the opening of Perry March’s wrongful-death civil trial, two TV stations simply forgot to show up.
Channel 4 sent a news crew. But WTVF-Channel 5 and WKRN-Channel 2 were nowhere to be seen. According to a court clerk, they neglected to ask permission to film the trial’s opening. As a result, they had to think on their feet.
Channel 5 filmed some of the trial through the window in the courtroom door and apparently snuck in during a recess to take a picture of Janet March’s artwork, an exhibit in the trial. Channel 2 was forced to use file footage.
After obsessing over this story for years, channels 2 and 5 were both caught napping.
Numbers game
There’s a cloud in this silver lining. According to a recent report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, The Tennessean’s weekday paid circulation is 189,359, up nearly 20,000 from the last year tracked. But the paper’s Saturday and Sunday numbers are down for the second consecutive year.
Over the years, clever marketing tactics have helped drive the newspaper’s weekday circulation. For example, The Tennessean often offers weekend subscribers daily delivery at no extra charge. Tennessean publisher Craig Moon says the daily offers this deal only for 13 weeks before subscribers have to start paying the full rate. But there are reports of people who have received daily delivery for months without paying the full rate.
In any case, the paper offered slightly more than 77,000 discounted subscriptions during the last tracking year. If you’re only receiving The Tennessean on weekends, you might want to give the customer-service folks at 1100 Broadway a call. Their number is 242-6397.
Tim bit
I’m guessing WZTV-Channel 17 meteorologist Tim Ross probably got beat up a bunch in high school. He uses the word ”nippy“ regularly. And recently, after displaying the seven-day forecast, Ross made the following goofy remark: ”You look at those temperatures and you can only say three things: humma, humma, humma.“
But the same traits that might banish you to geekdom as a teenager actually can be an asset for a weather guy. Right now, Ross might be the most entertaining and informative meteorologist in the market. His seven-day forecast is the only one of its kind in prime time, and he always has fun trivia to share with his viewers. For example, he noted that this past April 17 was the 55th anniversary of the earliest 90-degree day in Nashville. If you’re a weather buff, that kind of stuff is priceless.
Of course, if you’re not, you might find Ross’ avuncular style about as grating as an old Styx record. In fact, recently he received an e-mail from a viewer saying he would rather watch the Teletubbies program. Talk about a cheap shot.
Matt Pulle, who has no old Styx records, can be reached at 244-7989, ext. 445. Or you can e-mail him at mpulle@nashvillescene.com.
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