There's a great sign with the WJET and WFXP logos you can see from the road as you approach the station.
Soon enough, Mr. A and I had arrived at the building that houses both WJET and WFXP!
We saw a great American Idol display when we entered, which caused Mr. A to salute his own Idol - Mariah Carey. (A day earlier we pulled over during our drive to Erie to watch the results show live on my portable TV!)
Jill McCormick came out and gave us a really warm greeting before starting our tour! Mr. A and I weren't sure what reaction we'd get when we said we were in town for Drenched Fur, but Jill was totally cool with it! (In fact, she wondered why the station hadn't done a story about the event!) She also gave great suggestions for attractions to check out while we were in Erie.
I didn't quite have the mustache to fill in for Sean Lafferty, but it was a thrill to sit at the news desk with Jill! (Compare with a pic of Jill and Sean seen on the WJET news later that day!)
I also got to meet meteorologist Linh Truong and we posed with as much Authority as we could! (I actually caught some of Linh's noon forecast on my portable digital TV just before our tour!)
All three of us stormed the weather center for a bright and sunny group shot!
The tour continued with a look at some of the control rooms inside the station. Like most TV stations, WJET has a mix of old and new equipment in use, including the vintage sound board below.
There was a cool array of monitors tracking various programming being received at the station. There are satellite feeds for network shows, plus local inserts added before WJET and WFXP hit the airwaves!
The classic WJET logo couldn't resist mugging for the camera!
Jill also showed us some of the videotapes the station has as backups in case the satellite feeds go out. Check out some of the WFXP lineup, including Frasier and Family Feud.
The station walls were lined with great ABC posters, including one for Good Morning America. They have a FAB team, including the hunky Josh Elliot, the openly gay Sam Champion and Robin Roberts, who's a champion in her own right!
We made our way to sports director Craig Smylie's work area, where I spotted an autographed poster of the Erie Bayhawks on the wall!
I was also pretty Smylie when I saw figures of various athletes that I wouldn't mind bobbling...
There was even a Joey Stevens bobblehead in the newsroom, which was quite a sight to SEE!
I loved this mousepad, which featured classic WJET and WFXP logos!
Jill posed at her desk in the newsroom and surprised me with one of the BEST swag bags I've ever received! I actually squealed a bit when she presented it to me!
Here are the contents of the superb swag bag! It was filled with everything I could want from a station, including a hat, scarf, t-shirt, water bottle, mug, pens and more.
Jill also remembered from my previous blogs that I love getting pics of the various news trucks! She took us to the parking lot, where I caught a WFXP vehicle looking pretty FOX-y.
There was also a van-tastic JET 24 Action News vehicle.
We even got to take a look at one of the JET 24 vans in storage, which is used for live satellite shots on location! I was still beaming over my swag bag!
Back inside, I got to meet reporter Jessica Starr who I had seen earlier that day on Good Morning Erie!
Mitt Romney had a binder full of women, but I was quite happy to find a binder full of station logos!
Jill also found a cool "Friday Night Lights" vest with the classic JET 24 logo for me to model. I struck a pose with one of the station's promo editors!
This photo of Jill was twice as much fun to take! (Another really cool thing I learned during our tour is that her father is Canadian!)
I became a bit animated when I saw this Simpsons poster with a great FOX 66 station ID!
Before leaving, I sailed back onto the news set for a picture with the "tall ships" backdrop!
Jill really went above and beyond to give us a FABULOUS tour and the experience was awesome! She was incredibly fun, personable and went out of her way to welcome us!
Mr. A and I were heading back to our car when Jill came out and told us that sports director Craig Smylie had just arrived! She brought us back inside to get some pics and chat with him! Later that night, I got to see him reporting live during the 6pm newscast!
I was still giddy after the WJET tour, so I decided to try my luck with Erie's PBS station WQLN!
WQLN is one of the "dual nation" PBS stations, having a large Canadian support base in Southwestern Ontario. (In fact, there was much controversy when Rogers Cable tried to drop the channel back in 2009.)
WQLN wants visitors to make their programming a habit instead of cigarettes, as evidenced by this sign.
I approached WQLN's receptionist, told her about my blog and to my surprise she arranged for Tom New to show us around! (I dug through my TV G'Archives and New I'd seen him during a pledge drive back on Sept. 2, 2010!)
WQLN's programming is now fully automated with streams delivering the main station plus "Create" and "World" subchannels to over-the-air viewers. (Tom mentioned that they might be looking to add another subchannel in the future. I suggested MHz Worldview, which I've seen on some of the Ohio PBS affiliates.)
There was a great station logo on one of the older control panels in the building!
Even though food was banned, I found a tasty assortment of TV and Radio station decals on a door that we passed!
Mr. A made an appointment to check up on WQLN's original series Meet The Doctors. Judging from the equipment on set, they'll be dealing with some weighty matters in future episodes!
I wanted to raise a toast to the golden branding on this mug. Cheers to WQLN!
I was also in good spirits when I drank in this intoxicating poster for Pennsylvania Wineries!
We met one of WQLN's editors, hard at work on an episode of the LECOM Healthy Living Kitchen with Mary Mulard.
I was surprised to learn the LECOM Healthy Living Kitchen with Mary Mulard is the first cooking show filmed in HD in northwestern Pennsylvania. Check it out here on WQLN's You Tube channel!
There was a wonderful portrait of the many talented folks that work for WQLN hanging in the lobby!
I also spotted a really sweet layout of candy dishes spelling out the WQLN call letters at the front desk!
As with many PBS affiliates, WQLN also houses a radio station. In addition to regular programming, live concert performances are held right there in the station lobby.
WQLN was founded in 1967 and there was a great plaque commemorating the expansion of their facilities in the early 1970s!
I pledged my support for WQLN by slipping a small donation into this nicely branded jar before leaving!
A HUGE thank you to Jill McCormick and Tom New for the wonderful tours of WJET and WQLN respectively! Check out these links for more information:
WJET/WFXP - http://www.yourerie.com / Facebook
Jill McCormick - Your Erie Bio / Facebook
Linh Truong - Your Erie Bio / Facebook
Jessica Starr - Your Erie Bio / Facebook
Craig Smylie - Your Erie Bio / Facebook
WQLN - http://www.wqln.org/ / Facebook
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this amazing visit to Erie covering the sights, the reception and Mr. Fudgie Fudge!
No comments:
Post a Comment