Dan Hicken

[Wacca Pilatka]

Speaking of sports - a couple weeks ago local news was reporting about a brawl between our arena football and Jacksonville arena football - one of the coaches ended up in jail for assault over a racial slur?

I think it was the general manager, who got in a fight with the other team's GM and called him "boy" in the course of it.

[exnewsman]

^^^IMO local news in general (not just in Jax) there's way too much time dedicated towards the weather segments; It seems like atleast ten minutes minimum (not counting when there's a significant weather event going on). The time that's reserved for sports on local news is normally about a fraction of the weather.

Simple reason for that. weather effects EVERYONE. Sports does not. Surveys done by each station confirm this over and over again. Only a small portion of the population get their sports from lcoal TV. If you're a sports junkie - you already know the info from web, alerts, ESPN, etc.

If a station doesn't have a marketable wx person - they are never goign to be successful. Lousy sports guy - nobody will even notice.

[Tacachale]

Speaking of sports - a couple weeks ago local news was reporting about a brawl between our arena football and Jacksonville arena football - one of the coaches ended up in jail for assault over a racial slur?

I think it was the general manager, who got in a fight with the other team's GM and called him "boy" in the course of it.

SaberCats coordinator charged after post-game fight with Jacksonville Sharks

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-05-19/story/sabercats-coordinator-charged-after-post-game-fight-jacksonville-sharks

[FSBA]

The day Hicken and Kouvaris are off the air our long local nightmare in sports coverage will be over

[coredumped]

The first channel that gets a helicopter gets my viewership:)
This has to be the biggest city without one.

[jaxjags]

Before the ABC affiliate was purchased by the FCN parent, they were on the cutting edge in JAX. The had a very modern facility off JTB between I95 and Southside (I believe it is now T Mobile) with a very modern news set and a news helicopter. they hired a lot of new people and their news cast had a more "professional, upscale" feel. Then when the economy tanked and the FCC said a company could own more than one station in a broadcast area they were purchased by FCN parent. The news was consolidated, helicopter gone and the news staffed dissolved to  other local stations (ie Paige Kelton to CBS).

[copperfiend]

Before the ABC affiliate was purchased by the FCN parent, they were on the cutting edge in JAX. The had a very modern facility off JTB between I95 and Southside (I believe it is now T Mobile) with a very modern news set and a news helicopter. they hired a lot of new people and their news cast had a more "professional, upscale" feel. Then when the economy tanked and the FCC said a company could own more than one station in a broadcast area they were purchased by FCN parent. The news was consolidated, helicopter gone and the news staffed dissolved to  other local stations (ie Paige Kelton to CBS).

I completely agree. It sort of reminds me of when AM600 went all sports about the same time ABC25 started. It brought in new talent to the area and offered a superior product to existing sports radio in town. But for whatever reason, both flamed out within 5 years or so.

[fsujax]

No news helicopters here since the Channel 12 copter crashed live on the air during morning rush back in the 80s and killed everyone onboard.

[JayBird]

No news helicopters here since the Channel 12 copter crashed live on the air during morning rush back in the 80s and killed everyone onboard.

Didn't know they once had a chopper, but every time I think of news helicopters I think of NBC's NewsChopper 4 when growing up  in Jersey and cannot help but think how ridiculous they are http://youtu.be/Ij5Y4A0mR5w They cost a lot and require heavy maintenance, and do we really get any better news coverage? I would actually think that in 10 years time, the daily news broadcasts will be thing of the past.  With the internet people will get the news off of sites like YouTube and network media sites.

[I-10east]

^^^+100. That youtube bit was funny as hell LOL

[I-10east]

Dan's good old buddy Bob is at it again, condescending as ever. Dan's a Mets fan too. LOL

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_aYsfuue-s

[KenFSU]

No news helicopters here since the Channel 12 copter crashed live on the air during morning rush back in the 80s and killed everyone onboard.

Minor clarification, the cameraman was badly injured and needed over a year to recover, but did survive the crash after emergency surgery for organ damage and broken bones. The NTSB investigated and found that the driveshaft coupling that powered the tail rotor failed mid-flight, causing the helicopter to lose control. Awful story.

June 1986:

[JayBird]

Wow great find, thanks for posting.  On another note, weird reading them call it the Duval Sheriffs Office, I had thought it had been Jacksonville since consolidation.  Very young crew, wonder if he continued to be a cameraman.

[fsujax]

thanks for the correction, i was a little kid when it happend.

[Lunican]

Can anyone explain the real need for a news helicopter? Aerial shots of mall parking lots on Black Friday?