NBC5 sports department down to a twosome
11/30/06 03:26 PM
By ED BARK
NBC5's already smallish sports staff was further downsized this week with the layoff of reporter Richard "Cash" Sirois and the departure of the executive sports producer to ESPN. The weekend producer earlier quit and wasn't replaced.
That leaves anchor Newy Scruggs and part-time sports reporter Derek Castillo, whose most visible contribution is the station's Friday night high school football segment.
Ongoing corporate-mandated layoffs have left NBC-owned Channel 5's sports department "torn apart" in the words of a station staffer who requested anonymity.
Scruggs has been struggling to keep his chin up of late. His nightly two-minute segments on NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts are roughly three-fifths the time his competitors get on Fox4, Belo8 and CBS11. And NBC5 is the only station in D-FW to split its sports segment with an elongated commercial break that lasts far longer than the sports segment itself.
On Wednesday's 10 p.m. newscast, which marked the close of the November "sweeps," Scruggs was squeezed out entirely by elongated "Arctic Blast" coverage. Meanwhile, Fox4's Mike Doocy, Belo8's Dale Hansen and CBS11's Babe Laufenberg had their usual segments that night.
NBC5's already smallish sports staff was further downsized this week with the layoff of reporter Richard "Cash" Sirois and the departure of the executive sports producer to ESPN. The weekend producer earlier quit and wasn't replaced.
That leaves anchor Newy Scruggs and part-time sports reporter Derek Castillo, whose most visible contribution is the station's Friday night high school football segment.
Ongoing corporate-mandated layoffs have left NBC-owned Channel 5's sports department "torn apart" in the words of a station staffer who requested anonymity.
Scruggs has been struggling to keep his chin up of late. His nightly two-minute segments on NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts are roughly three-fifths the time his competitors get on Fox4, Belo8 and CBS11. And NBC5 is the only station in D-FW to split its sports segment with an elongated commercial break that lasts far longer than the sports segment itself.
On Wednesday's 10 p.m. newscast, which marked the close of the November "sweeps," Scruggs was squeezed out entirely by elongated "Arctic Blast" coverage. Meanwhile, Fox4's Mike Doocy, Belo8's Dale Hansen and CBS11's Babe Laufenberg had their usual segments that night.
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