When the best who work in broadcast are recognized for their efforts, the pinnacle of achievement is the Edward R. Murrow Award. WTMJ-TV and WITI-TV both won Murrows in the latest round of awards.

WITI Fox 6 earned an award for hard news reporting on telling the story of oil transportation on area railways. Brad Hicks, photojournalist Jeff Frings, chief photographer Jim Wilson, video editor Dave Michuda and graphics designer Craig Sween shared the potential dangerous situation that rolls through Milwaukee each day in "Risk on the Rails."

See the Fox 6 report here.

"This is a big honor for the station and the team that reported this story – it is national recognition of our excellent work," said John LaPorte, vice president of news at WITI. "I am so proud of them all."

Tribune Broadcasting’s WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia, also won a Murrow for Best Reporting. Earlier this year, eight of Tribune Broadcasting’s television stations were awarded a total of 15 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards.

"We are extremely proud of the award-winning work produced by WITI and WTVR’s news teams and we are honored to be recognized by the RTDNA," Bart Feder, senior vice president of news for Tribune Broadcasting, said in a statement.

The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), which awards the Murrows, announced the Best Local News Website for a Large Market is tmj4.com, the Internet home for WTMJ-TV.

This is the second consecutive Murrow for the website.

"Our team is thrilled by this recognition from the RTDNA," said Joe Poss, vice president and general manager of WTMJ-TV. "Our focus online is the same as it is on air; to bring our local news consumers the best, most accurate content every day."

MERGER: On Thursday, Charter Communications, Inc., Time Warner Cable Inc., Bright House Networks LLC (BHN), and Advance/Newhouse Partnership announced it was seeking the FCC’s approval of license transfers arising from Charter’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable and acquisition of Bright House Networks.

As the firms set a course for the future, the intent will be the creation of a merged company, New Charter.

The businesses are describing New Charter as, "an advanced, growth-oriented broadband cable company that will combine the best of the three companies for the benefit of consumers."

One piece of information that should hold true, and be the largest impact on the viewers in the Milwaukee market, is that Internet speeds should be faster.

"Charter’s slowest broadband tier is 60 Mbps, which enhances the ability of several people in the same house to watch streaming high-definition video at the same time," Time Warner Cable (TWC) reported in a news release. "We will offer this fast, minimum broadband speed (60 Mbps) to TWC and BHN customers. Additionally, New Charter will expand TWC’s and BHN’s highly advanced 300 Mbps service."

Secondly, besides planning to boost customer service and maintain net neutrality, the most tangible impact of the merger for the average user would be the transition to a new guide.

"The new guide will offer intuitive search and discovery and will work on old and new set-top boxes, so consumers will get the benefits of the new guide without needing a technician to visit or to pay more for a new box," TWC’s release reported.

As with the last proposal for a merger involving Time Warner Cable, all of this is rhetoric until the proposal is either accepted or denied by the FCC.