Scandal-marred CBS3 wins 22 awards at local Emmys
NBC10 came in second. Ch. 3 ex-anchors Mendte and Lane didn't attend Saturday's fete.
CBS3 was the big winner Saturday at the Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards, capturing 22 statuettes at a black-tie gala at the Philadelphia Marriott. NBC10 took home 9; CN8 and Pittsburgh's WQED 7; Eagles Television Network 6; and NJN, Comcast SportsNet, Fox29 and Pittsburgh's KDKA 3. Eight other outlets won 1. WPVI (Channel 6) did not enter, as usual.
CBS3 news director Susan Schiller won for "news excellence," and for the fourth consecutive year, the station won for evening newscast with an entry that was among three wins for coverage of the shooting of Philadelphia Police Officer Charles Cassidy. CBS3 general manager Michael Colleran, seemingly eager to put CBS3's scandal-marred year behind him, accepted the award for station excellence.
Tracy Davidson of NBC10 won for news anchor, Kathy Orr of CBS3 won for weather anchor, Bill Vargus of Fox29 won for sports anchor on his seventh try. Lynn Doyle of CN8 won her first Emmy for program host/moderator. Jim Osman and Jim Donovan of CBS3 shared the Emmy for specialty reporter. John Boruk of Comcast SportsNet won for sports reporter.
Former CBS3 anchor Larry Mendte, facing sentencing after pleading guilty to hacking into onetime colleague Alycia Lane's e-mail, didn't show up for the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Nominated for 19 Emmys, he won eight. Mentions of his name met mainly with silence from the more than 400 TV people.
Early on, Susan Buehler, the chapter president, drew titters and hisses by quipping that no one other than the accountant knew the results, unless "you tried to hack into our Web site."
Mendte's wife, Dawn Stensland of Fox29, did a wickedly on-point Sarah Palin impression as a presenter. Stensland attended with Bobbie McGowan. Mendte won an Emmy last year for a report on McGowan's son, Cpl. Stephen McGowan, who was killed in Iraq. CBS3 editor Mike Henry, who won 10 Emmys on Saturday night and who frequently worked with Mendte, gave McGowan one of his statuettes.
Lane, nominated with former colleagues for a special about the work of Sister Mary Scullion and Jon Bon Jovi, did not attend. That award went to a CN8 special on New Orleans.
The night's biggest cheer accompanied the announcement that a made-for-TV-titled report called "Strippers on Course" had won for NBC10 reporter Harry Hairston.
The academy also honored pioneer newswoman Edie Huggins, who died in July. Her children, Hastings and Laurie, accepted the award. The chapter also remembered the late KYW general manager Pat Polillo, sportscaster John Marzano, and broadcaster Bob Bradley.
Awards are listed at the chapter's Web site, www.natasmid-atlantic.org.