Florida TV sportscasters canned

(December 4, 2009) WPTV-Channel 5 is letting the contracts of its two sportscasters, Ryan Lieber and Jay Gilmore, lapse and will outsource its sports news to West Palm Beach sports-talk radio station WEFL-760 am, the ESPN affiliate that covers Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

Starting Jan. 1, 760 afternoon drive-time star Evan Cohen (left) will anchor the sports segments on Channel 5’s 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. 760’s Jason Pugh, a former Florida Atlantic University defensive lineman and Palm Beach Post sports department part-timer, will anchor weekend TV sportscasts. That’s in addition to their ESPN radio duties.

“It’s a win-win situation for us and Channel 5,” said Steve Politziner, a part-owner of 760. “Members of our staff have been guests on the Channel 5’s extended sports Sunday nights for almost six years. We’ve always had a strong relationship with Channel 5.”

Politziner said 760 will be totally in charge of its segments and is providing three employees — Cohen, Pugh and producer Herb Uzzi — to replace Gilmore and Lieber. With the added body, he said, viewers will get more complete and far-reaching reports. Channel 5 gets the ESPN logo and news it doesn’t have to produce.

Neither Gilmore, who’s been at the station for three years, nor Lieber, a nine-year veteran, returned calls.

A Channel 5 insider tells me the move isn’t as much a cost-cutting measure as it is a ploy to attract Cohen. No detail about the value or length of the contract is available.

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