I'll have a post on the Media Circus tomorrow, but I'd like to quickly run through a couple of stories tonight:

• Broadcast Engineer Jeremy Andrews is out at KUPL (98.7), sources at the station tell OMC. He had been voice-tracking overnights ever since his local music show, Northwest Nights, was replaced with CMT Radio in September.
• And Jeff Jaeger has begun freelancing for KOIN after KATU let him go in September. You can follow what he's up to on Twitter.

Also, if you missed it tonight, check out the Live Wire Radio podcast in the coming days for Episode 97, featuring Portland's latest radio team, Jacker and Shauna — er, make that Rick Emerson and Tara Dublin.

UPDATE (11/15, 4:40 pm): Nevermind, I'll wait until photos become available to post about Saturday's Media Circus.

This is a bit out of order, but you can compare these September numbers to August and October. All locally produced weekday programs are ranked, and major national morning and evening news programs are included for comparison. There's a significant distance between first and second place, while all other rankings are fairly close.

  = Morning and midday news
  = Evening news
  = Late news

This chart is based on data copyright Nielsen Media Research. In cases of ratings ties, programs are ranked by share.

As always, if you have access to television or radio ratings in Portland, Eugene, Medford or Bend, please contact me. I always need new sources. Thank you!

Compare against September. All locally produced weekday programs are ranked, and major national morning and evening news programs are included for comparison.

  = Morning and midday news
  = Evening news
  = Late news

This chart is based on data copyright Nielsen Media Research. In cases of ratings ties, programs are ranked by share.

As always, if you have access to television or radio ratings in Portland, Eugene, Medford or Bend, please contact me. I always need new sources. Thank you!

Nick Bradshaw will be doing his nighttime assignment editing on the other side of the river, according to KGW Executive News Director Rod Gramer in an email to staff:

I regret to announce that Nick Bradshaw is leaving KGW NewsChannel 8 effective immediately. Nick has accepted the night assignment desk position at KATU.

Nick has made many contributions to NewsChannel 8 since joining our staff. He will be missed.

We are posting the position and hope to have the desk back to full strength as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Rod

Over a month ago, Byron Beck reported that AM Northwest, KATU's morning lifestyles program of over three decades, would shrink to 30 minutes at 9 am, but get a full hour at 7 pm on channel 2.2.

The morning broadcast was halved less than two weeks later, but the evening edition didn't appear until today. The show will preempt programming from This TV, the network currently on KATU's digital subchannel. Following it will be a repeat of Dr. Oz at 8 pm.

The moves for AMNW were caused by KATU picking up Dr. Oz for its 3 pm news lead-in, but still needing to keep Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on its daytime lineup for contractual reasons.

(Thank you to OMC volunteer Jordan J. Frasier for the lead on this story.)

One man has been arrested after attacking KATU photographer Bob Bullock in an incident that was caught on camera. Bullock was injured while shooting weather video outside Laurelhurst School in Southeast Portland.

In video clips cut by KATU, a man later identified as Peter Fournier is seen approaching Bullock and pressing his back against the camera, blocking its view. Fournier calls Bullock a "loser reporter," preceded by expletives deleted by KATU. Fournier then takes a couple of swipes at the camera. The video jumps to a brief scene of struggle as Fournier looks down, appearing to have his hands on the camera and possibly the photographer, accompanied by sounds of distress.

In KATU's report, Bullock says the man initially told him that he shouldn't be shooting video of children. Later, he ripped the camera's viewfinder off. Fournier was arrested for assault, malicious mischief and impersonating an officer, according to KATU. Bullock reported bruised ribs and a cut up hand.

Fournier had previously been excluded from Laurelhurst Park for using a stun gun on a minor, according to police records obtained by KATU. Fournier admitted at the time that "there was a question as to whether I had exceeded my authority."

We've asked KATU if they will release more video of the incident. The clips posted online come with a disclosure that they were edited for brevity.

Watch KATU's on-air report after the jump:

It's official this time: Kerry Tomlinson is moving to KATU. I reported that earlier, but walked it back after having been told that no deal had been reached. Yesterday, however, News Director Don Pratt sent out this email:

Please welcome reporter Kerry Tomlinson to KATU. Many of you are familiar with Kerry from her years of experience at KPTV as an investigative reporter exposing scams, rip-offs, cyber crimes (and bad places to eat). Her experience is exactly in line with our “On Your Side” brand and I am confident she’ll be a strong addition to our Problem Solvers team.

Kerry starts on Monday.

It was also noted yesterday that the bio of reporter Jeff Jaeger, whom Tomlinson replaces, was scrubbed from KATU's website.

KATU and KVAL launched 38 community-focused websites in the Portland and Eugene areas today as Fisher Communications expands on a project that began in Seattle this summer. Among the areas of focus are locations such as Southeast Portland; Camas, Washington; Downtown Eugene and Springfield.

The sites feature content the stations were already receiving but had no outlet for, and provide a new opportunity to establish advertising relationships with local businesses. Fisher is also seeking user-generated content and is partnering with Windermere real estate agents to provide stories on non-real estate issues.

In August, Fisher Interactive manager Troy McGuire told OMC that user content would largely be unpaid, though there would be freelance funds to go to specific content areas, such as restaurants in Seattle. "We could actually help grow traffic for other neighborhood blogs by providing links and creating partnerships," McGuire said. "Not everyone is seeing that opportunity."

Portland-area bloggers we spoke with this summer were mostly positive on the new sites. Silicon Florist author Rick Turoczy echoed the sentiments of many, saying, "I'm a big proponent of any hyper-local, micro-local, or whatever-the-heck-you-want-to-call-it local coverage. Seeing established old school media companies gravitating toward this space is great validation for publications and blogs that have gone before them."

A directory of Portland-area sites can be found here, Eugene sites are listed here.

You can read from today's press release after the break:

Dave Salesky will deliver his first forecast with the KATU Storm Team during today's 4pm newscast, but he already made an appearance on KATU a few mornings ago. "He's a familiar face to many of you," AM Northwest host Helen Raptis says, "but new to Channel 2 viewers." Asked if he was ready for his debut, Salesky replied, "I'm scared."

Salesky went on to talk about his 30 years in Alaska, where he still visits often, and his hobby of flying planes, among other stories:

Salesky debuts on KATU after 20 years as morning meteorologist across town at KGW. He'll be partnered with 16-year KATU veteran Rhonda Shelby at the weather center.

Kim Quintero at 2009
AP Awards in Portland

Kim Quintero, weather anchor, co-anchor and reporter for KVAL in Eugene, is moving to WYFF in Greenville, South Carolina. She'll be making the leap from market #119 to #36 in December.

Quintero is working toward a meteorology degree at Mississippi State University and a seal from the American Meteorological Society. At WYFF, she'll continue to work as a weather anchor and reporter. Quintero previously worked at KMPH in Fresno, California on everything from floor crew and video production to assignment editing, reporting and weather anchoring. We asked her a few questions as she prepares for her move.

OMC: What have you enjoyed about your time with KVAL?

KQ: I've enjoyed the fact that KVAL does not play like a market 119 station. They have almost every tool you could possibly want from a mid-sized market. From traditional photographer/reporter teams, a couple of working live trucks, reliable news vehicles, laptops and cell phones for all the reporters, and fairly new cameras with compatible non-linear editing software just scratches the surface. These things don't always come standard for top 100 stations. They really make the difference between a reporter pulling her hair out while trying to cover a story — and beating the competition. Besides the toys, the newsroom staff has an incredible wealth of experience. Sure, you have the younger ones- like myself — who are trying to learn as much as possible, but KVAL also has numerous anchors, photographers and managers who have been in this business for a long time. They know this region like the back of their hands, and that in and of itself gives the station a leg up over the others in Eugene. I could have ended up in one of a hundred horrible markets — in the middle of nowhere — and I was blessed enough to have landed at KVAL.

Speaking of the "middle of nowhere," if everything wasn't so compact in Eugene, I would classify KVAL's station location as just that. After I signed my contract and made my first trip to the studios in south Eugene, I thought I was driving in "Snow White's forest." I had only traveled about 15 minutes away from downtown Eugene before I hit what looked like the woods. I came across deer in the middle of the road as I trucked up in elevation to about 1300 feet. As soon as I got to the wild turkey trying to out run my little Mazda, I thought to myself "what in the world have I done?" Being somewhat of a city girl, I never would have thought the sight of turkey and deer in the middle of the road would eventually be the norm for my drives to work.

OMC: You'll be doing weekend weather at WYFF Greenville. How did you find that job?

KQ: I found the job with WYFF through TVJobs. I knew my contract outs were coming up, and everyone I sought advice from told me it would take about six months to find a new job- especially in this economy. I started looking in August, sent out resume reels on a weekly basis, and eventually came across the posting for WYFF. Little did I know that's where I would end up!

OMC: You'll be starting December 14. Will you be working over the holidays? Where's "home" for you?

KQ: Since I'll be the newbie, I'm pretty much expecting to work the holiday. Even if I had Christmas off, I'd much rather work it for those at WYFF who've paid their dues and have families nearby. Thankfully, my amazing KVAL news director gave me Thanksgiving off, so I'll be heading home to Fresno, California. That's where I was born and raised. My whole family still resides there. Central California will always be my home, but Eugene definitely has a place in my heart, and I'm excited to find out what roots I'll be able to set in Greenville.

OMC: You've had a lot of different roles in local news. Is weather so far your favorite?

KQ: I'm fascinated with all aspects of this industry. Weather is definitely one of the chart toppers, but right now I'm having so much fun reporting and anchoring as well. I've also found a love for the web and its role in this biz. As long as I can keep learning, I'm happy. I'm the type who can't focus on just one role. I think I'd get bored doing the same thing over and over again. I really struck gold when WYFF offered me a position as weather anchor AND reporter. Eventually, I'd like to get my pilot's license so I can add helicopter/traffic reporter to my belt.

You can watch Kim Quintero report Monday through Wednesday on KVAL's evening newscasts, co-anchor and forecast weekends on evening and late shows, and present the "Weekend Watch" Thursdays at 6.