And the Emmys go to ...
CBS3 was the big winner Saturday night at the Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Larry Mendte was nowhere yet everywhere at the Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards on Saturday night.
CBS3 station manager Michael Colleran seemed to acknowledge as much, referring to the Mendte-fueled scandals that rocked his station this year as "the elephant in the room" as he accepted the Emmy for station excellence. It capped a night of 22 statuettes for the station. NBC10 took home 9, CN8 and Pittsburgh's WQED took 7, Eagles Television Network got 6, and NJN, Comcast SportsNet, Fox29 and Pittsburgh's KDKA got 3. Eight other outlets won one. WPVI (Channel 6) did not enter, as usual.
CBS3 news director Susan Schiller won for "news excellence," and for the fourth year in a row the station's evening newscast won.
Despite his 19 nominations, Mendte didn't show up at the Philadelphia Marriott among 400 TV people. Mendte faces sentencing in November after pleading guilty to hacking into onetime colleague Alycia Lane's e-mail and forwarding her secrets to the media. He won eight awards. (If you're keeping track, he had 22 nominations last year, and 13 wins. In 2006, he had 15 nominations and seven wins. In 2005, he had eight nominations and three wins. In 2004, six nominations and three wins.)
None of Mendte's former colleagues uttered his name. Lane didn't show, either. She was nominated with several former colleagues for a special. The award went to a CN8 special on New Orleans.
Mendte's wife, Fox29 anchor Dawn Stensland, was there, with Bobbie McGowan, whose fallen soldier son, Cpl. Stephen McGowan, was profiled by Mendte. (Mendte won an Emmy last year for the story.) CBS editor Mike Henry, who had worked on many Mendte projects, handed one of his Emmys to McGowan. She said she would add it to a display in her Delaware home that includes his medals and his boots.
Enough about Mendte and Lane.
Here are a few highlights:
Top winner was CBS3 editor Mike Henry, with 10 statuettes.
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 and invited her whole crew on stage.
Jim Osman and Jim Donovan of CBS3 shared the Emmy for specialty reporter.
John Boruk of Comcast SportsNet won for sports reporter.
This entry has been corrected to reflect that it was Mike Henry who handed his own Emmy to McGowan.