Posted on 04/04/2008 12:02:55 PM PDT by MplsSteve
Paul Douglas, WCCO's longtime weatherman, was released today from the station as part of a nationwide purge of CBS employees, a wide-ranging, dramatic response to a sluggish economy and steep competition for the Internet, which have caused ad rates and audiences to dwindle.
Douglas, who also serves as a Star Tribune columnist, joins at least five WCCO employees, including weekend anchor John Reger, who were told their services were no longer needed.
They have plenty of company. More than 100 employees at CBS's 29 owned TV stations were cut, a lis at the CBS-owned station to get their walking papers. CBS's 29 owned TV stations made cut more than 100 positions, including many high-profile, high-paying personalities like WBBM's top female anchor, Diane Burns in Chicago, and KPIX San Francisco mainstay Rick Quan.
At first glance, it appears that the Twin Cities got off easy. Douglas's departure wasn't announced until today because he was out of town visiting a sick relative. He will no longer be appearing on the air.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Keep reading this article as there is talk that "DFL Don" Shelby, the smug and pompous lead anchor for WDFL...I mean WCCO, may be contemplating retirement in a year or two.
Comments or opinions - anyone?
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Jason Lewis will be saddened.....
;-)
Paul Douglas is a smart guy. He anticipated the decline of Old Media and made jump to New Media. His interactive weather-forcast services (my-cast.com, Digital Cyclone, etc) are now used by cellphone makers Verizon, ATT, etc. They probably will earn him a lot more money than his WCCO-TV gig.
It’s true. Paul Douglas is very tech savvy and definitely won’t fall on his head once he packs it up at the Evil Neighbor.
OTOH, Paul Douglas was one of those global warming disciples in the media business.
Last year, he did a series of short news stories entitled “Global Warming 101”. By the title, I think you can easily surmise where he stood on that issue.
Yes he will. Very saddened.
If there was ever a Twin Cities media figure that Jason Lewis loved to trash, it was Don Shelby.
ping
Too bad - but sour fruits don’t sell well with the folks at home watching TV. He was also a card carrying moon bat with global warming paranoia. I remember him and Dave Dahl getting into it over this topic someplace and Dahl basically handed him his @ss in scientific terminology.
Good Riddance to stinky garbage. Paul was one of the worst forecasters I’ve ever watched...From the Overblown calls of BLIZZARD to Missing a tornado that blew away my house. The guy couldn’t predict the sun coming up...much less convince me he knew what was going to happen in the next century. Not to mention his bully pulpit global warming sermons with Smarmy Don.
See yah Paul...Don’t let the door hit you in the vagina on the way out.
See Post #6. I absolutely agree with you.
Paul Douglas was not particularly competent as a meteorologist. See Post #11.
Of all the Tv meteorologists in the Twin Cities, I considered him to be the smarmiest (sp?) and least capable.
Good riddance?
Not much else comes to mind.
Paul, who?
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