unintentional cross promotion

The local noon news is usually part of my daily routine. Except for the days that I feel like watching "Nothing But Trailers" on HDNet. Anyway, most of the time I watch WATE because Tearsa Smith and Bo Williams do a consistently good job and because I can listen to the beginning of their newscast on 87.7 FM if I'm still on the way home.

On Friday, I was in the mood to flip around the dial. Coincidentally, Tearsa had that day off. I was pleasantly surprised to see Stacy McCloud on WVLT. I don't know if she was just filling in or if the change is permanent. If so, it's something I had hoped for last December.

I tuned in to WVLT on Monday to see if Stacy was on again. She was. Four screens were visible behind Stacy and her co-anchor Bob Yarbrough. On one of them I could clearly see Abby Ham. I quickly flipped over to WBIR and sure enough, there was Abby. It was nice to see her. It always seems like Ben Senger is anchoring solo on the days I tune in.

Today I looked even closer at the monitors on the WVLT set. They are especially easy to see on my plasma screen. One monitor was tuned to WVLT, which makes sense. The second I couldn't identify. It might have been tuned to one of the cable news networks. The third monitor plainly showed Ben Senger. Tearsa Smith was as clear as day on the fourth TV. If I really want to watch both Tearsa and Stacy, it would be easier to catch the convenient replay of the WVLT newscast on WVLT-2 at 12:30.

One of the most entertaining parts of the WVLT news is Chef Walter's cooking segment. I don't know why but I find it funny that they cut to an interminable shot of the floral centerpiece while the meal is "cooking." Then they switch from the flowers to a group shot of the news team enjoying the dish.