Contrary to some people's feelings, I like KGO-TV veteran anchor, Dan Ashley, (ABC7 6 and 11 PM).
Ashley has enjoyed a long tenure here in the city at the ABC O and O and does a fine job holding down the forte as the primary anchor. He has a smooth delivery, gives a simple, no-nonsense and crisp read through the news.
Better yet, Ashley is straight-arrow and doesn't dumb down the viewers. I also like his chemistry with fellow KGO anchor, Carolyn Johnson. It helps to watch a team clearly in command of the news program that doesn't try to one-up each other. Like I said, Ashley and Johnson are a solid team.
I've often kidded Ashley about his hair configurations, but in the TV business, even the slightest personal pedigree can be mucho-examined by the viewing public. Ashley wants to get it right and damn, god bless him.
I'm hearing the news veteran can belt out some strong guitar and has a helluva voice. We'll see. Sir Dan and I will be having lunch soon and Dan, while I belt out a little Sinatra, you now have the ultimate challenge to toe-to-toe with me on a crooner of your choice. Winner gives donation to favorite charity.
*While I have mostly disdain for KNBR and its total disregard for anyone/everybody east of SF Bay, I do like Marty Lurie.
Marty has built up a following with his 7-hour post-game shows. If your a baseball junkie and want to know the inside of the Giants and Bruce Bochy's game plan, then Marty is your cup of tea, or maybe a life's worth of garlic fries. Do I think Marty sometimes gets a bit to booster-clubbish? Yes, but the clients like it and so do the listeners and Lurie has become your DE-facto radio DH. Good for Mr. Lurie, as long as he cares about Buster Posey, I care too. (Smart ass, me? You betcha)
*At NBC Bay Area, (KNTV) they can't wait for the Olympics soon enough. Despite spending like a drunken sailor who just won the mega-million lottery, the NBC O and O in San Jose has not been able to attract a consistent audience. Management is hoping the strong Summer Olympics lead-in will jump-start the 2012-13 season and help NBC back into the ratings kings the network enjoyed long ago when Elayne was dating Jerry Seinfeld and George was eating a lot of Kung Pao Chicken. Damn Yankees!
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you mean when KRON was the NBC affiliate and a damn good one at that.. problem is .. NBC Bay Area has been in a state of flux... they need to settle on people.. and allow the audience to grow.. takes at least three years.. just look at KPIX almost let Dave M go after his first contract before teaming him with Wendy and they took over the ratings...
ReplyDeleteThere's too much .. interchangeable parts and people.. also their talent promos.. not very sincere or authentic... the key to running a successful operation is respecting your viewer.. who are they.. provide them with solid interesting stories that impact their lives and those around them... the most precious commodity a viewer has is their time.. what are you giving them in return for that precious investment...
KNTV should select, and groom South Bay talent as their Anchors/Reporters, instead of "cherry picking," & picking up every Ex-Anchor/Reporter located in the SF.
DeleteThis operation, and or expierment with the South Bay being the Bay Area's NBC Affiliate has been going on for at least 10 years, and still, NBC Bay Area has NOT caught on... IMHO
I might be wrong, but I foresee the same future for the SF 49ers, because there is no identity in the Suburbs to latch onto...No insult South Bay, just saying...
I totally agree about Dan Ashley and Carolyn Johnson. ABC7 is my evening news station because of them. I hope you capture the musical duet with you and Dan on video!!!
ReplyDeleteI worked with Dan and Carolyn for several years, they are both very nice people that care deeply for the people around them as well as their viewing audience. I went to Dan's band site and found that their music was very good.
DeleteDan also plays a mean set of drums and makes it look effortless!
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree with you about Dan Ashley and Carolyn Johnson. He is upbeat, reads with authority and feeling, he can crack a joke-- and she is dry as toast and reads copy with as much enthusiasm as Debbie Downer. It would suit ABC to put a new face in that chair that has some chutszpah (sp?) that can really play off of/with Dan. Yes, Ms Johnson is incredibly attractive but the looks are only one part of the whole. While we're at it, Sandya Patel certainly knows all about the weather but is awful at any banter with the anchors and always seems so tired and bored. The lack of chemistry between Pam Moore and gary Radnich is also apparent and its so irritating to watch! Its like a bad Curb Your Enthusiasm where you just want the episode to be over already! Pull the cork out of your butt Pam and play along already.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, why are news anchors always trying to be so statuesque and proper? Yes, in the first few minutes when the stories are big and important, I get it. But the viewers want to see them relax and interact. For heaven's sake, its only local news. You're not anchoring Meet the Press and you're not performing open heart surgery. Loosen up! Now that I think of it the only one who brings any laughter to the ABC 7 news is Larry Beil-- at least THIS viewer likes that.
You're absolutely right about Marty. He's a refreshing change of paced from the frat boy chatter that dominates KNBR's airwaves during the weekdays in the afternoons and mornings.
ReplyDeleteAnd unlike most of the rest of those blowhards KNBR, he actually likes baseball and knows it because he goes to the games. You get he feeling the other guys just watch a few innings on TV and then read the accounts in the papers the next day. They seem to offer very little of the kind of insight that Marty does. You can tell that he spends a lot of time at the park and really enjoys the whole atmosphere. Radnich on the other hand, likes to talk about cross-cultural items, rap music, Beoncye, and other such nonsense that provides little in the way of interest to the sports fan. I wash he would do everyone a favor and just RETIRE!
Love his interviews and insights and his welcoming, polite personality. I always listen in if I'm driving around before gthe game on the weekends. I will Not listen to Eric Brynes however.
He may know what he's talking about, but he sounds as if he's always high on ceffeine and feels he has to scream in short,
juvenile-like bursts to get his points across. Not necessary Eric!
In my opinion... While it's true that primetime network ratings do figure in a station's 11 p.m. Nielsens, and maybe back in the day "Oprah"'s audience might add viewership to the late-afternoon news, nevertheless ratings do reflect popularity as well as traditional viewing habits. And KNTV simply has never built any kind of long-term audience.
ReplyDeleteUnderstandably so. In the most lamentable development in local TV in a generation, maybe ever, the NBC affliation switch from KRON to KNTV made for a blank default station, an "O&O" created from the ground up with set, graphics, and music per network specs. (At least KPIX got to keep its old "Westinghouse" logo.)
The news operation has little identity or image, and minimal connection to viewers. It began life as "NBC Cable 3", not even daring to use its real channel position, with a news team consisting of the Wicked Witch of the South Bay (Terilyn Joe), a robot (Allen Denton), and a sportscaster who used an alias ("Roger," not Raj, Mathai). Eventually the branding "NBC Bay Area" was chosen not only to include viewers in the north but to assuage those traditionalists in The City who think that any San Jose operation is small time (no comment from me, I'm just sayin'...)
I think that the station's newscasts are now pretty good--and I'm glad there are still some holdover reporters from the sleepy San Jose days, but it's going to be a while before it will develop into much more than the channel you turn the remote to if you want to watch NBC's network shows (that's another story for another post).
I heard Byrnes do color on today's FOX broadcast of SF-Arizona and cringed listening to him. It's as if he has to make everything sound so damn important. Dude, ease off the caffeine PLEASE! I met Marty several yrs ago and he's the opposite of Byrnsie..calm, even-tempered guy and very knowledgeable about the game.
ReplyDeleteI'll put in a positive word for Carolyn Johnson's voice (S\she's a solid reporter/anchor too), smooth, almost soothing.
ReplyDeleteI also saw some of the Saturday Giants game, and Spicoli's --er, Byrnsie's -- voice is at the far opposite end of the spectrum from Carolyn's. What a surprise to tune into a national telecast and hear that voice!
Marty is a gem!
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't try to be the loudest person in the room or a middle-aged man who drops his pants and says, "Look at me! Look at me!" His shows with FP during the Giants WS run made it all the more special. Thanks, Marty!!
My only problem with Marty is that he seems to have had to fall in line with KNBR totally ignoring anything to do with the A's. After so many years of Marty being on the air before A's games doing his Memories of the Game and then specifically A's issues, it doesn't sound right to hear him talking nothing but Giants and all other baseball teams EXCEPT the A's. He rarely, if ever, mentions anything to do with the A's. He'll talk about former players, managers, stadiums -- all kinds of baseball memories and stories --but noticeably absent is any talk about A's players, managers, playoffs and all the rest. He was there during many years of A's baseball and knows the players well. But when he talks about players who used to be on the A's but now play elsewhere, he rarely mentions their accomplishments with the A's. Glosses right past it.
ReplyDeleteMarty's fallout with the A's occurred when KTRB decided to syndicate Michael Savage in the afternoons and Marty got squeezed out. It's a pity because the A's used to have the best pre-game show by far. Marty used to buy his own time on the radio and sell his own commercials, hence the "Marty Lurie Radio Network". I normally don't listen to the "sports leader", but it just sounds strange to this A's fan ears to hear Marty talking about the Giants.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I've always had trouble seeing Ashley as a credible source. No soul, plastic hair, corporate smile. Reads the news with the plastic sincerity of a Tide commercial. I don't get the feeling that he cares (or even understands) what he's reading. A perfect corporate automaton, I was surprised to learn that he has a life outside of the TV station.
ReplyDelete