While not the #1 racket in town, but a winner, (barely) at 6 PM and with big time clearance and a bevy of strong, late night-lead in shows from its network mothership, CBS, why on earth is local KPIX in such dire straits?
You would figure a news organization and station that delivers millions of dollars of net profit would be in the proverbial happy zone. Not.
Maybe they have too much time on their hands to worry about what the bosses back in NY think; after all, its a lot of those corporate suits that have decided to shed some of the big names and salaries that have departed the building at 855 Battery.
Sure, the Kessler move may have been logical from a financial standpoint, (not huge numbers given the salary,) but neither has Mallicoat, (so far.)
And talk about creating a wedge between viewers and popular on-air personnel. And we're not just talking about "Save such-and-such" on Facebook either. After all, all you need is 50 or so louts to spawn a page on Facebook. Then again, the rancor between KPIX and its viewers has never, ever been so pronounced. There's a feeling of mistrust and betrayal. Loyalty has gone out the door.
Granted, Sydnie Kohara isn't going to get you perennial top numbers in the morning, but it does take a little time and patience to build up an audience. Especially when you bring in the new guy from Boston. Patience is not a virtue in local TV news, most notably at KPIX.
Much of the moves come from NY, but the news director and GM, (one of whom isn't particularly well-liked,) have had major influence over the dust-ups. And while its not enough to warrant any potential MGT. shake-up, fact of the matter is the rank and file aren't very happy and morale is dipping. You don't believe me? Take a look inside the newsroom, Mr. Rosenheim. Behind the cubicles and out near the coffee machines, whispers abound and people are pissed.
Fact: KPIX has 4--FOUR!...field reporters. OK, I may be off--maybe they have five, but for a 4th-market CBS 'O and O', that's ridiculous.
For a station that has such dedicated and top pros like Dana King and Ken Bastida, you would think the big boys would try to build on some momentum, but since when did logic ever take precedence over there at media gulch?
Never mind.
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ch7 is still the one to watch. They have the best news division-with a real investigative reporter,a real consumer reporter,and Cheryl Jennings keeping the faith and memorys of Van Amburg and co. Its a real news team.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to Mel Wax? he was ch9's news guy when they did honest to goodness news. I will never forget when he butchered the name "Coelacanthe" ( a primitive fish re discovered on occasison) and school kids visiting the set laughed loud like smart alecks that teens are. Mel could'a strangled each one-lol..
They'll can Ken & Dana for another cheap Mallidrytoast too, I'm sure. Common sense simply does not exist there anymore. =(
ReplyDeleteYou lose Ken/Dana/Roberta/O'Donnell, I go to the 'ole standby channel 2. I choose 5 over 2 at 6pm as it is a little more lively than the staid channel 2 (not that staid on 2 is bad... It's made them one of the best). Right now 5 has a good team. I may even watch 7 and I've never been a 7 fan but they've gotten better. I hope the guys at 855 look hard at where they are
ReplyDeleteAll the more reason to watch KRON. Sure, the talent and product is a little less but at least it tries. The class act in market is channel 7. Give me KRON and the hot weather people and I am happy. I watch KRON at 6 and I see a lot of field reporters, I don't know how many but it looks like more than 5.
ReplyDeleteRich thank you so much for giving us the inside scoop! You truly are the KING! Keep exposing the dirty little secrets they don't want us to know! A's far as an anchor goes I really like Ashley at 7, this guy could be doing the network evening gig.
ReplyDeleteThe young Asian hottie who replaced Syd shares a bad trait that seems to be running rampant-Woman 'casters who talk with that nasal OMG,valley girl,WHATeeeever!,girl voice. Not many mature woman voices like say, Kate Scott are getting hired.
ReplyDeleteIt's all that way down the line at Comcast.
"...A's (sic) far as an anchor goes I really like Ashley at 7, this guy could be doing the network evening gig..."
ReplyDeleteDITTO. I watch Ash at 9 and I've never been an ABC7 news fan but he puts on a solid newscast with Spence on weather
KPIX - whatever you do do not get rid of my girl roberta gonzalez! she is the only reason i watch your newscasts!
ReplyDelete@2:46 thank the good lord for your service.
ReplyDeleteKPIX blows!! I stopped watching their morning show after John and Sydnie were let go. It's nice to see Christina Loren in the morning, she's a stunning FOX who gets me to rise in the morning.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, so Mallicoat is officially Malliprop. Well, as far as potential disarray at 5 goes, sounds like the GM is starting to show some evilish jealousy toward the more popular PIXers. A shame. It's already happening at 2 and 11 (NBCBA). Is it happening at 7? Each station's management and their network headquarters need to come back to earth as far as their most successful affiliates go from a news standpoint. "Don't be an idiot and let viewer-friendly and highly-skilled reporters go because you don't like them or they're too expensive. Give me a break. I know this has been happening since dirt, but come on, start a more positive revolution. Start proving that respective your staff can lead to not only better relations, but better product, better ratings, and even better profits" (yeah, right)
ReplyDeletePeople, ... They are news readers who do a very good job in selling the image of sincerity. These characters do not cure cancer. ... What the f--k wrong with you people? ... The field reporters are the real talent. Ash, Dana, Ken Sydnie, etc. They are all overpaid, freaking news readers. ... You should listen to what some of them say when the camera and the audios are off. ...
ReplyDeleteI used to work at KPIX in the 1990's. And, yes...you SHOULD hear what they say off-camera--particularly Bastida. He is one of the funniest, nicest, wittiest dudes around. And he was this way with fellow anchors (like the late Mac) and the janitors. Dana was pretty cool, too.
ReplyDelete