LV ONE NEWSCAST DISCONTINUED
Las Vegas One's 9 p.m. newscast, winner of two Emmys in the last four years, is no more.
The Las Vegas One board of directors announced Tuesday that "due to the continued economic decline" production of News One at 9 p.m. is cancelled immediately.
The newscast was three-way collaboration by the Greenspun Corp., KLAS-TV, Channel 8 and Cox Communication, folded on Tuesday.
Anchor Jeff Gillan was blindsided by the development. An hour before Gillan was informed, Vegas Confidential had contacted him for a comment on the rumored closure.
He put in a call, got confirmation that that the newscast was discontinued as of today, and announced the news on his Facebook site.
"Blindsided, yes, but you're really not. Everybody in our industry has be very worried. I'm just sorry a bad economy sunk it in the end," said Gillan, who has been LV One's anchor and managing editor for eight years.
He's proud of what his four-member staff achieved.
"We tried to do a serious, thoughtful presentation every night," he said.
"My head is held very high. I'm proud of what we did. I work with some very dedicated colleagues," said Gillan.
His staff included reporter Carol Wilkinson, photographer Vincent Cano and producer Daniel Gutierrez.
News One at 9 (Channel 19) won its first Emmy for best evening newscast for 2005. The channel continues with "Face to Face with John Ralston" and "In Business Las Vegas."
Last week, Greenspun Media Group announced it was disbanding its TV division, 702.tv.
-- NORM CLARKE, Vegas Confidential
