Friday, December 10, 2010

Lisa Kim leaves NBC Bay Area; The Inside Story; Friday dish



NBC Bay Area's 5 and 11PM anchor, Lisa Kim, delivered her final newscast Thursday evening, biding farewell to viewers in an emotional last few minutes.

Kim, who worked at KNTV for over a decade, was informed by management early last month that her contract, (believed to be in the $175-200K area) would not be picked up.

Kim co-anchored the 5 and 11 program with Tom Sinkovitz.

Jonathan Mitchell, news director at the San Jose station, was the key individual behind Kim's departure, according to a person familiar with the situation. "He simply wasn't impressed with her", said the source.

In fact, said the person, "Mitchell isn't particularly enamoured with any of the anchors here."

NBC BA's ratings lagged in November, only beating out moribund KRON, due in large part to a weak  lead-in by NBC's fledging prime-time schedule.

No word yet on who will replace Kim.

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57 comments:

  1. So, they are left with Slinkovitch and the Joker.
    That's a really clever move! Almost Presidential!
    Their only hope is Vicky Nguyen and she's too intelligent to take any crap from management or the Tijuana Lips.

    One more deletion to my TIVO box.

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  2. I find it hard to believe that a woman of Lisa Kim's caliber (MSNBC, many Emmy's, Northwestern grad with masters) does not impress this News Director? Oh, that's right he came from that big market of Spokane. Boy, who is calling the shots over there!?

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  3. I'm sorry to see her go, she brought a lot of class to the station.

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  4. They should let go of management staff and keep talent like Lisa Kim who I thought was easy, pleasant and personable on the air.

    I beleive it just comes to down to it being a money issue.

    Watch they'll hire a "No Name" at half the price.

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  5. Sad day.... She was bright, fun and comforting as well as intelligent, informative and professional. Management obviously doesn't "get it." I echo the comment above about Spokane. What a joke of a market.

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  6. It was a bad call. I've been watching Lisa since MSNBC launched so that makes it 14.5 years. I can think of others at KNTV I'd toss overboard before her.

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  7. I can't believe that KNTV is letting Lisa Kim go. She's such a pro and brings a real dignified presence to the news desk. What were they thinking over there?

    I think Jessica Aguirre is good too, but the comment another poster wrote here about her being the "Joker" made me laugh because there is something kinda disturbing about those humongous lips. I mean, they look like they were blown up with a bicycle pump! And they DO kinda make her look like the Joker. She needs to DEFLATE those puppies and go back to her natural look. She's a pretty lady so I don't know why she blew them up in the first place.

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  8. One other point that should probably be made. Mitchell should probably spend more time worrying about the shitty canned repackaged pieces his station routinely rebroadcasts and less time worrying about the talent that have to introduce said shitty canned repackaged pieces his station routinely rebroadcasts. Just a thought...

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  9. How good can any of them be if nobody is watching? And nobody is watching even when they get a strong lead in like NFL Football.

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  10. Hello People! Her fake news anchor voice was ridiculous. She is completely amateur.
    She belongs in the Monterey/Salinas market where KNTV comes from and right now, still belongs. It's about time at least one bay area news manager showed some common sense. This whole market needs a makeover.

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  11. $175-200K doesn't seem like much for an anchor in the Bay Area. I'm not in the business though, so I'm just guessing.

    Of the four major networks in the Bay Area, KNTV clearly has the most poorly-produced news, akin to what I've seen in Toledo. But poor Lisa Kim (along with Tom Sinkovitz) was one of the few people at that station who came off as polished, personable, and professional.

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  12. If KRON is the poster child for the foibles of Young Broadcasting, KNTV is the poster child for what happens when you get acquired by a network in decline and disarray. I remember how KNTV's news looked when it lost its affiliation with ABC. I remember how it looked after Doug and Maggie were gone and it was Alan Denton, Terrible Joe, Lisa, and John Farley. I remember when KNTV had a a reporter corps you could count on more than two hands.

    And then NBC got its hands on KNTV. At first it boosted the channel by moving it into a state of the art facility but the good vibes from that were short lived as the cuts started coming down mandated from the top.

    You can't cut like that and expect the quality to continue. And the quality suffered at KNTV. Changing the anchors around and dumping people who have long associations with the channel is not the way to fix what ails KNTV. It's merely a band aid being used to plug an open artery.

    It would be nice to see Lisa show up eventually on another channel here but the odds are against it. Meanwhile KNTV continues to hemmorage sub-quality news. It's not as bad as KRON but that's like comparing dog crap to elephant crap. It's still crap.

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  13. Your station had the best news team in the bay area. Tom in the lead with the others around him made it worth getting our news, weather and sports in a professional and fun fashion. It is great to see the various anchors interact with each other and become part of your evening everyday. Mr Mitchell what in the hell were you thinking! I want you to know that I don't think much of you or how you manage this station. You have lost a true professional in Lisa. I hope she lands a job here with another channel to take your viewers to a better place then the one you are trying to change.

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  14. I've made NBC my news of choice for the last 10 years. The continuity of anchors was something I enjoyed and I thought it refresing that they often teamed two women as anchors. I like both Lisa Kima and Jessica Aguire and find it unfortunate that some feel the need to critique the appearance of any of the news staff. I'm also disappointed that Laura Banke has left but in her case it appears to be for a bigger market. I think KNTV has made the same mistake they made with John Farley last year.
    Don't they know what matters most is how WE perceive the on-air talent not how a new manager feels. I am a 31 year resident of San Jose (female/white/57) and I will be changing my station of choice if the idiotic KNTV management continues it's purge.

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  15. Lisa Kim was always happy, intelligent and pleasant (yes, pleasant, not in-your-face) and show will be missed. First Laura Behnke and now Kim. I'm not impressed with Jonathan Mitchell. NBC makes some fantastically stupid choices.

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  16. :(

    who the h#ll is this Michell guy anyway? not impressed with the anchors here? WTF

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  17. I just spent a week and a half back in the Cleveland area, and I think their anchors are better than ours. You actually have to know a few things about weather to forecast there and for the most part they do.

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  18. I hope this was just a money situation.

    Laura Benke is gone too? That stinks. She was/is good.

    Anyways, thank you, Lisa Kim. Take care and best of luck in your future endeavors.

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  19. I have been watching NBC news at 11:00PM for last 10+ years. I am pretty pissed they are letting Lisa go. The KNTV management team has complete lost touch with their audience. How the fuck did this Mitchell guy become the VP?

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  20. I've never understood how KNTV could be so much worse as an NBC owned-and-operated station than KRON was during its NBC affiliate days. I mean, if KRON was a 10, KNTV is a 2.

    I live in northern San Mateo County, and never received KNTV until they became an NBC station. Except for Terilyn Joe (who they quickly got rid of) and Cheryl Hurd, I had no clue as to who anyone was down there. Because of that, I felt like I was watching an out-of-town station that hadn't earned the credibility to report Bay Area news. So after the novelty of watching a new news broadcast for a few days, I switched back to the SF and Oakland stations.

    It put on a terrible news broadcast, but I expected KNTV to sink money into the operation to increase quality and production-value, and to go out and poach a few well-known names from other local stations to increase its credibility. That didn't happen. KNTV news started out bad, and hasn't gotten much better over the last 9 years.

    KRON was a first-rate, big-city operation that was arguably as good as, or better than, stations you'd see in NY or Chicago. (LA stations have been terrible for years, so they don't rate a comparison.) KNTV does come off like a station out of Spokane or Toledo, and I guess their ratings demonstrate that.

    It's really nice to have local anchors and reporters who've been around for awhile, and know what they're talking about. I think Sinkovitz brought a little of the aura of KRON's glory days to KNTV, but not enough to light up the whole news operation. Lisa Kim may not have been the most electric on-screen personality, but she's been around awhile and earned credibility.

    I can't wait for the new KNTV anchor hired from the #80 market, who will inevitably pronounce San Rafael as "San Raf-AY-El," Newark as "new-ARK," (as in NewARK, Delaware,) and Gough Street as "Gow" Street.

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  21. She's not blond and she's pushing 40. I imagine her benefits were adding up and the anti employee management know there is younger and cheaper.
    Being Asian must have hurt also. Local news dept know they can let them go without howls of protests of racism. And they take full advantage of that.

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  22. I hope Laura Benke will replace Kim Coyle at CBS5. Coyle is the WORST sportscaster we have here in teh Bay Area. I wish Laura well. Kim, go back to Oklahoma or wherever you came from. This market is too big for your britches.

    As for Lisa Kim, I also wish her well. Its never easy being let go from any job, let alone a very public one. While she didn't possess that "star" quality (in my opinion) she is certainly better than "The Joker!" I swear those lips are going to jump out of the screen someday and swallow us all! Eeeew. Get a new plastic surgeon Jessica! You look ridiculous! And stop comparing KNTV to KRON. They're both shit. One is no better than the other. Both stations are desperate for viewers.

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  23. I have just emailed KNTV to let them know of my dismay at their dysfunctional decisions.

    I would encourage all those who support Lisa Kim and any other 'worker' doing their best to keep alive a wounded company, to do the same.

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  24. When KNTV took over the ownership of being the Local NBC affiliate in the Bay Area, they recruited boatloads of our local San Francisco/Oakland Reporters, and Anchors to work for their News Station in San Jose. My guess is to give the viewers in the North Bay the feeling of familiarity...But It does Not Work, because KNTV is basically a San Jose News Media Outlet...

    I live in the North Bay, and have no overwhelming interest in what occurs in the South Bay! I.E. a Ross Department Store has opened in Downtown San Jose...Child Please!

    These 2 News Outlets KNTV, and KRON need to get over it and switch affiliates BACK! KRON - NBC, and KNTV - Goes to being an Independent Affiliate.

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  25. Harsh move, but the correct one. Kim's faux sincerity forced me to avoid their newscasts - and I'm sure I'm not alone in that assessment. Just look at the last ratings book.
    Tom is the only news pro there. Clean house and bring in some folks with Bay Area cred. This isn't LA.

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  26. I watched KNTV news a few times and after a few times of them not knowing what city they were reporting from, I switched back to KPIX and KGO. Both at least know what city they are reporting from. Both stations have anchors, reporters and video people living in the Concord/Walnut Creek area and do an excellent job of coverage and look good doing it!

    Radar

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  27. I just watch ch5 or 7 now, I don't care how many awards ch2 gets..all those former anchors with horror storys of FOX influence turn me off of them.
    Even good old Ross McGowan was too liberal for them.

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  28. KNTV -

    The station whose video looks like it's downloaded from youtube

    The station that disguises ads for websites selling discounted handbags and shoes as genuine news. (As KRON does.)

    The station that broadcasts its weekend Bay Area weather forecasts from a studio in Los Angeles.

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  29. Laura already got a job in the big apple with WABC. Good move for her. She is too good for KNTV. I think Lisa Kim is great. I am sad to see her go.

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  30. This is surprising, it makes no sense. This is not an anchor problem, this is a programming problem. How can you terminate someone this good, this popular and this experienced? Plus, she doesn't look "Dennis Richmond old", I don't know how old she is, but is she even 40 yet? KNTV must be hemorrhaging cash. The new 20 year old blonde better be good, this has all the makings of a lawsuit!

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  31. I enjoyed watching Lisa Kim, and I thought she was especially good when paired with Tom Sinkovitz. I was very sad to see her sign off for the last time. I mainly watch KGO and KNTV for early evening news, but I'll be watching more of KGO now. Bonehead move KNTV!

    Best of luck Lisa. Hope to see you back on Bay Area TV soon!

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  32. Look forward to seeing John Kessler and Lisa Kim on a bay area news station together.
    ABC or KTVU-KPIX get it done, your ratings will go up.

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  33. Glad to see her go -- now they need to get rid of botox/clown face and the guy (Tom something) with the really low forehead. It's sad to say, but SF is the WORST of the top 10 markets when it comes to newscasts. I moved to the area from Dallas where WFAA set the example for local news and have since moved to Orange County where all the LA newscasts (ABC7, KTLA, KCAL) are top notch with fresh stories, tons of live reports on every newscast and people that are GOOD LOOKING reading the news. Anchors really are talking heads and the Bay area has some of the ugliest in the Bay area.

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  34. John Kessler? That sullen looking grouch? Talk about a face made for RADIO! That old man either smokes too much or has really bad genes.

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  35. I am really sad to see Lisa Kim leave! The low ratings are due to Jessica A, not Lisa. You have let all good people leave and have the worst on the evening news! I watch the other stations. The only time I watched NBC evening local news is when Lisa was on with Tom. I also miss John Farley.
    What you need is a new news director not getting rid of well liked anchors.

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  36. I know Lisa Kim will be picked up by one of your Highly rated evening news competitors. No too smart letting the best evening anchor get away. Your ratings will certainly go a lot lower now. I will be watching the other stations.

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  37. Lisa Kim will end up in a 3rd tier market if she is LUCKY! That fake smile made me sick whenever I tuned to Channel 11. Maybe her and the husband/wife team can all move back to KSEE in Fresno.

    Bring back Terilyn Joe! She was funny and hot.

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  38. Hey look, Terilyn Joe just posted above this post! Nice posting Terilyn, too bad you're out of the biz, was looking forward to some more tomato throwing incidents! If you only knew how to laugh, good God, what a crank!

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  39. First comment, please, Vicky Nguyen has the most annoying grating voice! She should not be on TV reporting, her voice sounds like a cat scratching a tin roof!

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  40. I watch the 5:00 cast because I like the Brian Williams show after but I often had to switch channels because Lisa's voice drove me up the wall. At the end of every sentence her voice drops to a growl.

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  41. Lisa has more cred than anyone in the Bay Area with her education, her multiple Emmy's and experience at MSNBC. Funny how an inexperienced ND can almost ruin a career. Fortunately for Lisa, she is very bright and will bounce back doing something at a much higher level, and hopefully in a better newsroom. She can only do better going somewhere else. Good Luck Lisa, we'll be waiting your return.

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  42. Pay all these people minimum wage.

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  43. Who the hxxl is Jonathan Mitchell, some mediocre idiot newsperson who doesn't know his xxs from his xxxxxle. By getting rid of 2 of the station's best women, you give me reason to believe you're afraid of smart good-looking women. Face the competition man!!!

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  44. Cannot wait for the day, when someone else tells Jonathan Mitchell "I'm simply not impressed by Jonathan Mitchell" - your day will come buddy!!!

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  45. Am very saddened to hear this news. Was also wondering where Cheryl Hurd & Laura B went as well. Does anyone know if Craig Herrera was axed as well? I do miss him and the new morning weather gal Loren needs to tone it down in all the obvious ways!

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  46. Jonathan Mitchell is a "chargie"

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  47. Lisa Kim was a very nice person who simply could not read the teleprompter without making mistakes. And, Vicky Nguyen is a very competent newsreader. I suspect both will do fine....somewhere else. I miss KRON.

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  48. What? I worked in that newsroom and if anyone could read a prompter it was Lisa. And I know firsthand that if you thought she could not, it had everything to do with the ridiculous glitches we had every night with our technology, or lack of it. Lisa has also got to be one of the best at ad lib, very funny, and made all of us laugh.

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  49. Sorry to see her go, she was great and added much needed class. We have not watched since she left and won't again. We miss her class.

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  50. Lisa and Tom where good. Terralyn Joe, too. KRON with letting Gary Radnich (sorry for the spellings) go crazy in "taking over" the newscast is just not fun to watch. He's turned into an asshole, basically, and I stopped watching him 8-9 years ago. NOW, KNTV has Raj leading the 11PM show I just watched. Yes, I like him, but he should be in sports. It seems to me like you're creating another KRON-Gary situation. How smart of a move is that? Fire the Station GM! Bring back Lisa Kim and Tom or Terralyn to co-anchor. John Farley sounded good, too.

    So here's the line-up

    Lisa with either Terra or Tom, or with Jessica again. Then Raj on sports. I liked Mayeda on weather/traffic, too.

    Lisa wasn't as "Hollywood" or made-for-tv as the others are, BUT, she came across as genuine to me. That gave her credibility in my book. For a company to oversee that basic attribute in her, is a mistake. You'll see her on another station in the Bay Area if they're smart. Heck, if KNTV were to bring her back, it would be better then what they're doing now.

    Take a hint from tv and social networking KNTV! People want to watch the news from people they have a connection with, and seem to be down to earth, someone you could talk to and they'd talk with you, too. We had that with Gary on KRON until 2000. Lisa Kim gave KNTV that, too. Why not try a new concept- go with loyalty and genuineness. It's what I liked about Don and Maggie growing up in S.J. They weren't the handsomest or sexiest, but you knew they were genuine, and that they knew the South Bay and region. Their delivery was straight-forward and that was refreshing. Lisa had that too.

    For now, I'll go back to getting my news from Google. If I want to watch sexy people there are programs for that. The news needs credibility and loyalty, something the GM at KNTV just doesn't have or get. Now your image is: "Hey, we'll fire these people too! Just like you Mr. and Ms Viewer at your JOB!" No reason to stay "Loyal" to kntv if there's no loyalty there, too. Be different! Do what's right!

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  51. Tom, Lisa, and Laura are the main reason I watch KNBC news at 6. They are class act, the type of anchors who connect to the people in the Bay Area. They will be hard to replace. Best of luck to Lisa, Laura, and Tom. We will be waiting for your return.

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  52. Lisa Kim was beautiful and had a very sexy voice, that was the ONLY reason I watched KNTV at 11pm. I guess, now I can sleep earlier....Lisa, hope to see you on another station soon :) @jonathan Mitchell, whoever u are? GET A CLUE!

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  53. I used to watch the 11pm on news on KNTV every night.
    Not anymore.
    The morning new team should have been replaced. They are the ones that are hard to watch.

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  54. I have stopped watching their news, since Lisa Kim has left and switched to ABC. She was such a classy, professional and beautiful lady and will be missed.
    I wish her the best.

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  55. Craig Herrera was not axed but left on his own when Jonthan Mitchell arrived. That says a lot! He is now in San Diego with ABC.

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  56. I cant believe that you guys let Lisa Kim go. She was the best and you replace her with and old lady. Come on man we need to fire the manager for letting her go.

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