Tough break, Rob Guarino! NBC 10 has not yet made an official announcement, but thanks to a sharp-eyed reader, we have learned that meteorologist Michelle Grossman of Weather Plus (NBC’s digital weather network) will become the new NBC 10 evening weekend weathercaster. Grossman announced her new job on the WeatherPulse blog, accompanied by pictures of her goodbye cake.

Grossman replaces Amy Freeze, who departed for the Fox affiliate in Chicago almost a year ago. — Laura Nachman

Catch a repeat of Laura talking about Alycia Lane on CN8’s “It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle” tonight at 9 p.m.

As Howard Stern celebrates his second year on Sirius satellite radio, WYSP 94.1-FM— the Philly station that fell apart after his departure — continues to try to pick up the pieces with a new rock lineup. Jennifer Reed will be the new afternoon drive host (3 p.m. to 7 p.m.) and Gordon will take over nights (7 p.m. to 11 p.m.). They join morning drive host Kidd Chris and midday disc jockey Spike.

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Leslie Gudel and Neil Hartman of Comcast SportsNet, along with Kathy Romano and Matt Cord of WMMR, will join previously announced media personalities Connie Colla and Greg Coy of CN8, Jamison Uhler and Lori Wilson of NBC 10, and Kerri Lee Halkett and John Bolaris of Fox 229 at the upcoming “Dancing with Celebrities” event at the Gershman Y in May.

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National tabloid queen Britney Spears and our own Alycia Lane have more in common than just Dr. Phil. Here’s the tale of the tape:

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With the new year only just begun, there’s still time for a quick look back at the year 2007 in Philly television.

Alycia Lane …
May: Lane was blasted by Suzy Shuster, the wife of NFL Network anchor Rich Eisen, for vacation photos that Lane emailed to Eisen.

August: Lane is linked with New York City news anchor Chris Wragge, who is legally separated from his former Playboy Playmate wife.

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To help you get through the post-Christmas, pre-New Year’s work dead zone, I’ve dug up some vintage Philadelphia television clips from YouTube:

Promo featuring the Stylistics for WCAU Channel 10 (1982)

Promo featuring Chubby Checker for WCAU Channel 10, “The Year to Be Here” (1987)

“Come Home to Channel 3″ (1987)

Eyewitness News Opening with Diane Allen and Jerry Penacoli (1986)

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Today’s “Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia” luncheon at the Bala Golf Club saluted the late Hy Lit (note to Fox 29’s Joyce Evans — it’s pronounced Hy Lit, not “High Light”), who died last month due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. His son, Sam, along with radio’s Pat Delsi, provided introductory remarks.

Radio colleagues Don Cannon, Bob Pantano, Joe “Butterball” Tamburro, Michael Tearson, Dean Tyler and Bill Wright Sr. were scheduled to participate in a panel discussion moderated by Tom Lamaine.

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First, CBS 3 poached Larry Mendte, Kathy Orr, Doug Kammerer and Lisa Mishler from NBC 10. Now the station is stealing the New Year’s Eve Penns Landing fireworks display: Mendte and Alycia Lane co-host, Kathy Orr reports. Of course, both NBC 10 and CBS 3 combined won’t have the ratings of “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” that will be broadcast on 6 ABC.

Foreigner (“Cold as Ice,” “Hot Blooded”) headlines the CN8 New Year’s Eve special this year. This incarnation of the group does not include original lead singer Lou Gramm. (You think CN8 is going to get Lou Gramm?)

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In the winter, meteorologists are arguably more important to local stations than news anchors. Here’s a cold-weather-watcher’s primer to get you ready for the season.

Station: NBC 10
Tag: “Earthwatch”
Talent: Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz, Bill Henley, Dave Warren, Karen Thomas
Pros: Schwartz has the best nickname and gimmick with the bow ties. Management declined to bring back high-maintenance John Bolaris.
Cons: Have been working shorthanded most of the year since Amy Freeze went to Chicago and Doug Kammerer signed with Channel 3. Henley gets points taken off for hosting ratings-challenged 10.

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While 6 ABC and CBS 3 battled for first place at 11 p.m. during this November sweeps race, NBC 10, with no help from its dreadful prime-time lineup, limped into third place.

As of Tuesday morning (sweeps ends tonight), 6 ABC’s 11 p.m. newscast (Jim Gardner, Cecily Tynan and Gary Papa) leads with an 8 rating/16 share. (Each rating point is equivalent to around 29,000 households, and ratings are rounded to the nearest number.) CBS 3 (Larry Mendte, Alycia Lane, Kathy Orr, and Beasley Reece) is close behind with an 8 rating/15 share. NBC 10 (Tim Lake, Renee Chenault Fattah, Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz, and Vai Sikahema) is third with a 5 rating/10 share.

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