CTV Morning Live starts tomorrow!

[Sonic Death Monkey]

http://www.viewers.ca/discuss/showthread.php?p=50214

CTV MORNING LIVE provides viewers in Edmonton with the option of receiving live local morning news in addition to the national perspective provided by CANADA AM, which continues to be available live in Edmonton on CTV News Channel and on demand at canadaam.ctv.ca.

Here are four quick reasons for viewers to start the day with CTV Morning Live:

Rob Williams, Co-Host – Born in Whitecourt, AB, Williams has been a valuable member of the CTV News team for over a decade. With experience both on-air and behind the producer desk, Williams is a seasoned news professional with deep roots in Alberta. “We’re very excited about the opportunity this gives us to connect with the people and events at the neighborhood level,” said Williams. “It’s important to go beyond the breaking news and include the activities and events that make the daily lives of our viewers more interesting.”

Dez Melenka, Co-Host – A true Edmontonian, Melenka trained for her craft at NAIT before working in a range of CTV newsrooms throughout Western Canada. As comfortable as she is covering news from the streets of Edmonton, Melenka loves heading back to the farm every other week for big family dinners. “The way you begin your morning sets the tone for the entire day,” said Melenka. “We can’t wait to help our viewers start off with a smile, and all the information they need to get going.”

Craig Larkins, Weather Specialist –Larkins brings viewers a detailed look at the weather conditions they can expect as they begin their day, as well as an accurate forecast for the days ahead. “CTV Edmonton has such a strong commitment to weather reporting, and it’s great that I can start the day building on that tradition.” A newcomer to Edmonton, this former Winnipegger who grew up in a “football house” is ready to cheer for the Green and Gold.

Melissa Dominelli, Traffic Specialist – Melissa Dominelli provides an up-to-the-minute, comprehensive look at traffic across the city of Edmonton and the capital region. “I grew up in Edmonton and I’ve watched the city’s traffic grow,” said Dominelli. “We have amazing resources that allow us to show our viewers real-time traffic conditions and help them get around the trouble spots.”

I'll be watching it tomorrow morning.

[24karat]

I've set my PVR to record the show.

[Edmcowboy11]

I'm very curious to see the show too.

[Susan B Anthony]

Sorry, I have a life. A busy one. I can't be bothered to watch a group of 20 somethings read the "news" (the same stuff the older newsreaders read at 6PM) and pretend they like each other.

[ED1]

Has CTV Edmonton switched to broadcasting its news in HD this morning? CTV Calgary made the switch over the weekend in time for their morning show to start...

[Sonic Death Monkey]

As for the show itself: So far, so good.
It certainly makes Global's show look like a Mickey Mouse operation.
The traffic coverage is very thorough...I would suggest that Melissa (who is very pleasant on the eyes) include LRT timings and YEG flight delays.

[christopherj]

I thought the first show was good (what I saw at least). It lacked a lot of polish (I saw some awkward moments) at this point - but I think that is to be expected and will get better over time.

I didn't see a business segment which I always enjoy on Global's morning show, but the traffic coverage was fantastic. The strong point of the show so far.

I do think the lack of an HD picture takes away from the quality of the production (not the content of course), which does make the show come off as 2nd tier.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

They had Kim Krushell on earlier in the show (their 1st ever guest) to talk about her position on the downtown arena, but the time seemed rather short. So they need to manage the interview segments better.

[Susan B Anthony]

Originally Posted by Susan B Anthony

Sorry, I have a life. A busy one. I can't be bothered to watch a group of 20 somethings read the "news" (the same stuff the older newsreaders read at 6PM) and pretend they like each other.

Strangely enough, I found time to watch it. I stand by my original statement about what I expected to find.

I ended up switching among the three competing morning shows, before being bored to tears. I eventually found "Maury", who was confronting a loser-stud about his sexual activity with several women. They even had a set-up woman to seduce him on a hidden camera in the green room while he was waiting to go on stage. Now, THAT's TV.

[bobinedmonton]

I caught a bit of it. Same old stuff.

I also caught the first segment of the Marilyn Dennis show. I'm not a fan of Marilyn, but she has a first class show with good guests. They were talking about home renovations/ electrical upgrades/ mold remediation/ re-sale value and curb appeal. Far more informative stuff than the "Morning News Shows".

Why can't we have a show called AM Edmonton that has an engaging local host with a live audience interviewing local guests (or visiting celebrities) about topics that we all care about?

I refuse to believe that Edmonton does not have anybody with personality that can do this - Marilyn Dennis and her predecessor Dini Petty don't have much in the way of charm, (in fact they have NONE) but they are surrounded by good production values, good guests, and informative segments. Yes, she's in Toronto, which as we all know is the centre of the universe, but we actually do have the same expertise HERE that they do.

This would be a better investment for CTV than trying to copy two other stations doing the same old news at the same early hour by doing the same tired old format that really has passed its prime.

I expect better, unfortunately I am constantly disappointed.

[Barry N]

Watched 2 minutes of the new CTV offering before going back to Global. Traffic segment consisted of green squares moving across a map. They couldn't even get moving video from the city road cams,instead viewers where treated to a freeze frame of traffic. Sorry guys I'll stay with Global.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

The green squares is supposed to represent traffic moving at normal speed. Yellow is if it's slowed down, red means traffic is halted. At least that's how I understood it. And I did see live traffic cam feeds in addition to freeze-frame shots. In one respect, Global still trumps them with the traffic copter...when it's actually up and flying.

I didn't watch long enough to see if there's a business/market section, but I hope they come up with something better than Angus Watt droning on and on and putting me to sleep in my chair. Global Calgary and Global Vancouver have much better business segments.

[Dusty Bear]

Originally Posted by Susan B Anthony

I'm pretty sure Rob and Dez are in their 30s.

[thegongshow]

Originally Posted by Susan B Anthony

Sorry, I have a life. A busy one. I can't be bothered to watch a group of 20 somethings read the "news" (the same stuff the older newsreaders read at 6PM) and pretend they like each other.

I agree. And since CTV Edmonton news isn't HD then for sure I'm not watching it

[Sonic Death Monkey]

I'll stick with the new CTV show for now, mainly because I've wanted another local TV news choice in the morning and I got it now - I don't always get a chance to catch the evening news. I'm really sick of the Global morning show...I'll only miss Jennifer. Bridget Ryan keeps me away from Citytv...why she is the only holdover from A-Channel's Big Breakfast while they've gone through other hosts like tissue paper is beyond me. Haven't watched Central Canada AM in many years.

[bobinedmonton]

The CFRN Mature News team at 5PM interviewed the Kids from the Morning Show last night. Rob looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Who auditions these people, anyway? Don't they choose people who have on-camera charisma?

[lobbdogg]

Originally Posted by thegongshow

I agree. And since CTV Edmonton news isn't HD then for sure I'm not watching it

Yeah I noticed it wasn't in HD. Is the evening news the same way? Is there plans for them to go HD?

Have to say, if they don't, I won't be watching their program for very long.

[24karat]

There are plans to go HD, but it's not cheap to do so. All cameras, including remote, mast-cams. studio cameras and ENG cameras must be replaced at a cost of $40 to 60 thousand per camera. All editing suites have to be replaced at multi-thousands of dollars.

[Hilman]

Every other Edmonton news is in HD, seems they found the money to do it, even City TV.

[ED1]

Originally Posted by Hilman

Every other Edmonton news is in HD, seems they found the money to do it, even City TV.

Shows you what Bell Media corporate thinks of its Edmonton operations...

[Sonic Death Monkey]

I flipped between CTV and Global this morning.

CTV lead story - brawl/stabbing during hip-hop gig at Chrome last night
Global lead story - health care story by Global Calgary, no mention of above incident

CTV - 1
Global - 0

[Esk Fan]

I only watch morning news between 5:45 and 6:10 (at the latest)- mostly to hear a local weather forecast/road conditions. Until the last few months Global was my only choice because they came on at 5:30 and nobody else did. I'm sure a certain kind of viewer finds Shaye Ganam to be cool but I sense a lot of unhappiness in him and he depresses me. Jennifer Crosby, who looks like a 14 year old wearing her mom's suit, lets her co-anchor drag her down. Only Mike Sobel's weather and the chopper traffic kept me tuning in until City's Breakfast Television bumped back their starting time to 5:30.

BT's 2 Ryans (Jesperson & Bridget) provide a cheery alternative to the glum proceedings over on Global. I can see how they could get on people's nerves but, to me, only weather specialist Michele McDougall crosses the line into trying-too-hard territory. It does make the presentation of her forecasts pretty awkward. Stacey Brotzel's news reports are actually okay- if you like your info in a concise format.

As a loyal CTV News viewer I knew I would be giving their Morning Live show a good shot and I have. Only Dez Melenka brings much in the way of pizazz to their team but she needs a strong personality to play off of. Rob Williams is pretty 'meh' and weather guy Craig Larkins should realize that the camera picks up how bored he looks while the others are talking. The 5:55 Morning Joe segment, which consists of the whole group sitting uncomfortably away from the desk and greeting traffic reporter Melissa Dominelli, is a little painful to watch. Still, they have the strength of CTV's superior news coverage to lean on while they find their way.

[Barry N]

I guess it needs some time but I have never been a fan of Dez...doesn't do a thing for me. She makes Jennifer Crosby on Global look good . The CTV show is very stiff and they seem to be trying to push to be engaging. I thought they were doing this big search for personalities across Canada and then they bring on a couple of staffers...and not very good ones at that. No way are they going to impact Global very much.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Larkins was recruited from Winnipeg or somewhere there, was he not? As for the cross-Canada recruitment, I suppose starting up similar shows across all Western Canadian CTV stations at the same time resulted in stiff competition for talent.

[Esk Fan]

A few months have gone by and CTV Morning Live has grown on me. I'm still not a big fan of weather specialist Craig Larkin but he's been away a fair bit lately and Ashley Molnar does a fine job in his place.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Larkins has been filling in for Josh Classen this week.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

^^ And yes, I agree that their morning show gets a passing grade.

They've done some minor tweaking here and there to improve (they've done away with the annoying traffic intro for instance). Dez's voice annoys me, but she's a competent host and news reader, while Craig and Melissa have a flirty and fun chemistry together. The 4th guy...is neither good nor bad, just...there. Perhaps someone like Joel Gotlib would be a stronger personality there...or, is Mark Scholz still in town looking for work?

I really like their social media content. It's much better than the often-painful ordeal of listening to the Global hosts embarrassingly trying to guess the celebrity birthdays and "this day in history" bits.

The news and weather ticker at the bottom is a nice touch.

The traffic updates has room for improvement. Melissa focuses too much on the Whitemud, she needs to cover more of the city. In lieu of a chopper, she really needs to utilize the traffic cams more. And how about some colorful lines for the LRT and the north AHD? The travel times on major routes are a nice touch though. Other than that, she is my favorite person on the show (and not just because she's smokin' hot).

They should stick with one business section format. For the first half of the show they've got one of the grim reapers from BNN delivering business news (these guys make Shaye G look happy), the other half is just market update graphics (TSE, C$, etc).

[Sonic Death Monkey]

I hope Melissa is back from holidays soon. The substitute girl's traffic reporting is absolutely horrible.

[Esk Fan]

I don't have much new to say. Dez and Melissa are fine. Rob may be a good reporter but he's a pretty ho-hum co-host. I prefer Ashley or Veronica to Craig.

The main reason I'm posting this is to bump 'Global News' from the list of threads on the home page. Sorry Barry...

[Sonic Death Monkey]

^ Larkins is OK. Sometimes his weather forecast segments seem to be meandering and unfocused, but there's always the scroll feed on the bottom if you just want today's high. I like his chemistry with the others, especially the flirty/footsy thing he has going with Melissa (even though he's on the other team if I'm not mistaken). Plus he does crazy things such as jump out of planes and growing a pornstache for Movember.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Well, for you Larkins haters, he's off to Toronto.
https://twitter.com/Craig_Larkins

it's my last News@Noon show today, & my last CTV Morning Live show tomorrow. thanks for the love #edmonton ... I'm heading east to Toronto.

And that's a wrap. My time on CTV morning live was awesome! Thx @RobWilliamsCTV @ctvmelissa & everyone who got up bright & early with me!!!!

With Melenka's mysterious disappearance after the Olympics and Melissa away this week (I hope she's just on holidays), I wonder if major changes are coming?

[Hilman]

Too bad it wasn't Josh

[North Guy66]

Maybe Richard Ozero will apply for the morning gig at CTV.

And that's a wrap. My time on CTV morning live was awesome! Thx @RobWilliamsCTV @ctvmelissa & everyone who got up bright & early with me!!!!

Interesting Larkins doesn't mention Dez Melenka in his goodbye message.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Originally Posted by North Guy66

Maybe Richard Ozero will apply for the morning gig at CTV.

Ashley Molnar's been doing the weather during the supper hour news this past week, while Josh Classen is moving off the CHED morning show, so maybe he's taking over the CTV morning show from Larkins.

Originally Posted by North Guy66

Interesting Larkins doesn't mention Dez Melenka in his goodbye message.

Quite a few people posted on their Facebook page for the past month asking where Dez Melenka is, but no response. If she was on holidays or having health issues then you'd think they would have said something by now.

[christopherj]

^ on Twitter a week or so ago, Josh Classen confirmed he was still doing the supper time news, he just wouldn't be doing CHED.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Veronica Jubinville is doing the weather this morning. But who knows if that's just temporary. Both Veronica and Ashley have been the equivalents of extra forwards on a hockey team...just filling in holes in the lineup.

[North Guy66]

Dez Melenka's twitter account is still active but nothing has been posted since July 27.

Comparably Jessica Earle's (@JessEarleCTV) twitter account is deactivated. She hasn't been on air for over a month, about the same time Brenna Rose started with CTV Edmonton. Obviously she is no longer with CTV.

So my guess is Melenka is on an extended vacation (last we saw her was before the Summer Olympics started) or on some type of leave.

[hello lady]

Originally Posted by christopherj

^ on Twitter a week or so ago, Josh Classen confirmed he was still doing the supper time news, he just wouldn't be doing CHED.

I will miss him on Ched.

[JJMorrocco]

^ Nicola Crosbie from Gloabal is taking over the Ched weather in the mornings.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

According to their Facebook, Jessica Earle has gone back to school in Ontario.

[Esk Fan]

Originally Posted by Sonic Death Monkey

Veronica Jubinville is doing the weather this morning. But who knows if that's just temporary. Both Veronica and Ashley have been the equivalents of extra forwards on a hockey team...just filling in holes in the lineup.

I think Ashley Molnar would be a solid replacement for Craig Larkins.

[Esk Fan]

Originally Posted by Esk Fan

I think Ashley Molnar would be a solid replacement for Craig Larkins.

Craig Larkins' replacement will be Josh Classen- direct from his own basement. Today at 5:40 am he was sporting a bath robe...

[Sonic Death Monkey]

^ I'm thinking he's just doing that temporarily. Ashley might be on holidays or something.

[North Guy66]

Craig Larkins is working for CBC. I saw him last night and this morning on CBC News Channel.

[christopherj]

It's interesting that Dez Melenka is still listed on the CTV website, but Craig Larkins isn't. Makes me think that Dez is away on medical leave.

I really liked Carmen Leibel as host in the mornings. I wish she was permanent.

[24karat]

CTV Edmonton will not be HD on Bell Express-vu because the satellite is at capacity and has no room for any more HD channels. I bought an RCA HD antenna for $88 at Best Buy and after I installed it to my receiver I was blown away by the HD picture with Dolby sound. Looking forward to the HD News launch on Monday.

[Hilman]

^ That is the same for Shaw Direct (old Starchoice).

[Sonic Death Monkey]

This is the morning show thread. Go here to talk about CTV HD switch:
http://www.connect2edmonton.ca/forum...ad.php?t=23121

[North Guy66]

Dez Melenka is back! She did a report about Valour Place on Monday's CTV News at Six.

4 min into the clip:
http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.981133

Not sure if she will be back to her anchor desk for the Early Morning show.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Jennifer Dolynchuk's traffic coverage is horrible. At 6:10 AM she shows us a map indicating that St. Albert Trail and Yellowhead Trail is moving slow due to volume. I checked the traffic cams at the same time, and they showed light traffic.

[Esk Fan]

Originally Posted by Sonic Death Monkey

Jennifer Dolynchuk's traffic coverage is horrible.

So was Melissa's. Jennifer's upbeat personality makes her a decent replacement.

Despite the addition of Jen, Stacey Brotzel (big positive!) and Jesse Whathisname (okay I guess), the show still needs something. Although not as much of a downer as grouchy Shaye Ganam on Global, Rob Williams is the dictionary definition of a 'fun sponge'. He's likable enough but his awkwardness anytime he's doing anything other than a news read is starting to wear on me.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

^ I liked Melissa much better though - cute, sweet, spunky and funny without being overbearingly so. Jen is attractive enough to keep male tongues wagging, but I find her to be overly hyper and very annoying. Plus she keeps repeating the same traffic report over and over and over. At least Global and BT try to cover multiple roads and utilize the traffic cams.

As for Rob, I like him much better now than a year ago. He really shined when he was going solo, and has better chemisty with Stacey than he did with whats-her-name.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

This week they've had a new girl Kelsey Wingerak filling in for Jesse Beyer while he's filling in for Josh Classen. Wow...Kelsey has a very infectious enthusiastic attitude!
https://twitter.com/Kwingerak