Like KTVU's vaunted and uber-branded, "10 o'Clock News", KRON was the ultimate dream gig for all reporters, editors, news directors, and anchor people.
As Tom Sinkovitz pointed out, it produced some of the finest, network-quality newscasts during the 90's and into the early 2000's.
Evan White was one of the most hard-working, dedicated and professional news guys I've ever met. What you saw on the air was what you saw off the air too. Bob Jimenez had migrated from KRON to NBC News for a reason: his credentials were first-rate and over the top. Pete Wilson, the late, great semi "managing editor" was hard-working and as dogged as they come--maybe too much drama for some, but his work superseded anything even remotely negative.
Mark Thompson was not merely a weatherman. Just like Al Goldstein and Herb Dudnick were far bigger and larger figures than mere news directors. At KRON, that distinct, very family-like translated not just inside 1001 Van Ness, but to the viewers as well. KRON dominated; they couldn't touch KTVU at 10 PM, (nobody could either), but they ruled the forest almost every other news block.
Vic Lee? One of the best street and crime reporters in the biz. Glad to see him still working hard over at KGO-TV. Wayne Freedman, with his 2000-plus Emmys, (not a knock) could pull out some of the very finest special reports. With Freedman, it wasn't just the work that was great, but the writing too. (Freedman is also over at KGO).
And yes, let's be fair and not forget Radnich himself. When his game was on, he could do one of the very BEST one-on-one interviews. The split-screen was a Gary delight. And he was the only sports anchor that refused to allow any sort of BS and trite answers from all-too image-conscious jocks and their handlers. "SportsFinal" was a throwback show that was uniquely local, but nationally recognized throughout the industry. Too bad ESPN doesn't even come close today. Oh well.
Yes, the old KRON. For a time, it mattered.
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It's really sad to see the garbage that is passing for KRON news these days. They remind me of a once great baseball franchise that has fallen on hard times. When they lost their NBC affiliation, that was the kiss of death. And KNTV never filled that breach, as they have a very regional look to their newscasts.
ReplyDeleteWhat is most alarming about KRON these days is that they apparently have some real crappy people running their operation, especially in news. I hear that the morale there is the worst it's ever been, and that the News Director is a small-minded, egotistical bully who loves to push people around. That's a really good way to build morale! How do these nit-wits get hired? I guess they know how to suck up to the 'suits' who make the decisions.
You look at some of the reporters and anchors now working at KRON, and these clowns wouldn't have been able to have gotten jobs in Fresno back in the day. It's amateur-hour on KRON nowadays and for that matter, at so many other local radio and TV stations where professionalism, experience, and credibility doesn't seem to mean much anymore. The stations today would rather hire 'young, cheap, dumb, and noisy!'
A classic example: I was listening to a weekend sports talk show on KNBR the other day, and they had some clown who called himself 'P-Con' co hosting with Marty Lurie. I like Marty Lurie because he knows and understands and respects the game of baseball. What ah f...does this 'P-Con' know about anything that gives him the right to be on the radio? It's a joke!
What does it say that all the old photos you post of the old KRON 4 teams..never have Radnich in them?. They never told Gary?..or was he too full of himself to be an equal? Guess what I think is the correct answer.
ReplyDeleteI think all it says is that Radnich wasn't present when the photo was taken.
DeleteInteresting that you somehow read more into it. That has more to do with your uncontrollable, villainous fantasies about Radnich rather than any rational speculation about why he isn't included in the photo.
Anyone who has listened to or watched Radnich for any length of time can tell you he openly admits to arriving moments before he's due on the air and leaves immediately thereafter. He's not one to hang around and socialize with the staff, which obviously includes posing for group pictures.
Deletelol "rational explanations". Year after year?. Sounds rational that the same man who skips out on his colleagues is self centered. VERY rational.
DeleteWhat am I missing?
DeleteThere is a picture above of some KRON employees at some unknown date and time. Gary Radnich is not included in the picture. Perhaps he was on the air at KNBR. Perhaps it was a time of day he wasn't normally at the studio. Who knows?
Maybe he doesn't hang around and socialize with the staff. Who cares?
This somehow demonstrates that he is self centered? HUH?
@5:16
DeleteWhere are you coming up with "year after year?" Just imagining these things doesn't make it true, Stan.
Again Stan, this is all about your persistent, villainous fantasies about Radnich. Sorry you're so traumatized by Radnich's absence in the above photo.
Hey Stan,
DeleteYou forgot your other predictable rant about the above photo.
LACK OF DIVERSITY!
Why aren't you railing against KRON's outrageous racist hiring conspiracy proven by the photo?
Show Stan a blank piece of paper and he'll tell you it proves just how despicable Gary Radnich is.
DeleteIs Radnich in the photo? fact one. NO. Is he in any of the photos that Rich has posted of team KRON pics over the years? NO.
DeleteLOL..SO,Its you boobs making up the story's.Fact no.2 I NEVER said KRON was racist..Again that's you boobs imagining-lol. And before you take me on..know your local media history..that's Bob Jimenez in center on the photo.
I know the history.
Correct, Radnich is not in the photo. Neither are lots of other people.
DeleteWhat does that tell a normal person? That Gary Radnich is not in the photograph.
What does it tell Stan? That Gary Radnich is a despicable human being.
Stan, get help!
Yes,1154,there was a conspiracy to keep Gary out of all team photos-not his fault. And lord knows Gary wanted to be in them.
DeleteAnd fact three-I never said he was despicable. AGAIN you boobs have to make statements and attribute them to me as your only way to sound credible. The last resort of scum,I guess.
1154,and of course YOU KNOW,he isn't?..eh,your just a waste of time. I know when they find the missing hookers in Gary's rented storage,since the 70's-lol..you wont write,"Hey,he was on to something".hee.
DeleteTommorow Raddy,the bad Mormon, does his gambling promoting. Just read some Jack Daniels script to be the total lack of ethics complete.
DeleteOh man Rich ..you really need to do a post on that bizarre Adam Meyer/Raddy segment. I missed the first hour of todays show..but as 10am rolled around I put the program on..and,No Radnich on camera..just Krueger in cahoots with Meyers. And from last week's show where Radnich said that Meyers had "visited" he and Krueger,I deduce that Meyers ability to sound like he "knows" the local markets teams is by having a flunky local host like Fitz or Kreuger help him with some rough descriptions. Otherwise he cant know squat.
DeleteSo,after Kreuger and Meyers corrupt youths minds who are listening at 10 am..Raddy just does a take when the segment is over..like he disapproves right?
WELL, I find it hypocritical for Raddy to say a few months ago "My show will never talk about Mark Jackson cheating"..And that of course made the Warriors happy..and KNBR.
BUT,to be a bad Morman and promote a vice?..THAT he will allow on HIS SHOW.
Phony..biggest phony ever.
And Gary still loves Larry. Even if Larry threw him under the Mormon bus...
DeleteSee? this is more of why I wrote of all that " I love Larry" bs..like I said,,if Kreuger has a chance to take Radnich's job-he will.
DeleteAfter all Radnich did to bring him back,Kreuger tromps on Radnich's Mormon beliefs. And you want to know why? Because Larry is a dad like Radnich praises him..And Larry thinks also "Yes,I have kids-and why cant they ride to school in a Bentley?"..uhuh. That's the damn truth.
How fast do my posts get to KNBR? Radnich informed the "public",that Larry has a Lexus.
DeleteSorry Gary,but Kreuger still has eye's for the left seat. I would advise you listen to your wife who I would guess see's a company climber like Kreuger as willing to do anything. He's not gonna go back to selling insurance to old fat white guys.
Listen to her.
Stan,
DeleteThere are free or low-cost mental health clinics in all bay area counties.
I'd suggest you visit a nearby facility in the not-too-distant future to discuss your recurring Radnich issues. Please be sure to mention your concerns about Radnich's absence from a particular photograph and your indignation with his religious practices.
Remember...Krueger was all for the Cumulus removal of Bruce from the 49er postgame show. I'm waiting for the day Fitz and Krueger are made to go head to head. "There's only room for one to advance in this company"...as broken pool sticks are handed to each.
DeleteThe first 120pm...Tell me,which is more phoney-your concern for Radnich or your concern for Me?
DeleteAnd your compulsion about me seems a bit hypocritical,I must say.
Stan,
DeleteNot surprised that another blog is trying to get rid of you?
http://www.bayareasportsguy.com/radio-wars-knbr-stays-on-top-while-the-game-surges-in-latest-ratings/comment-page-3/#comments
Congratulations on running up a 27-4 disapproval for your tiresome posts. "Hidden due to low comment rating" Way to go Stan!
27-4? 4 in my favor? Hell I didn't think THAT many smart people read sports blogs!. And no sports blog is trying to get rid of me..that's your big lie right BA Rich/reg?. Its a few guys like you.
DeleteAnd thanks!..and get back to me baRich/reg, when you move the needle past boring and lame!
And-as usual..no proof I'm wrong. You repubs are brain dead.
btw,to my "fanclub" and the rest of Rich's readers What 307 leaves out is my "hidden comment" was (paraphrasing my multiposts) that THEGAME on 95.7 somehow,in the great bay area have filled EVERY daytime weekday sports slot with middle aged white men. Jason Barret PD is now on my list. "THEGAME..100% white men!..AND we know sports so much better then all those black and latin players ex players or media could EVER tell you!"
DeleteKNBR with Brooks and Kate Scott is now a Equal opportunity poster company compared to Jason Barrets THEGAME.
And THAT'S what 307's kind don't want to hear..the truth.
Back in the day the news at KRON was constructed by intelligent, ambitious people who wanted to get to the heart of the story and share it with viewers and had the support and backing of reasoned, thoughtful management who actually had the good of their staff and viewership in mind when approaching their work. Now you’ve got a guy who comes across like Voldemort running the place, with his douchenozzle of a News Director getting back at the world for making him short, unpleasant and bald by screaming at everybody and Shouty McClownTits bumbling her way through a story by making it up as she goes along, then reading comments from Facebook on the air. At this point the Street Sheet that bums sell for booze money has more thought put into it than a broadcast at KRON.
ReplyDelete"The stations today would rather hire 'young, cheap, dumb, and noisy!"
ReplyDeleteYeah, and you're surprised? Apparently you're new to this blog. Each day we are reminded yet again that the industry was grand in the good old days but now is going to hell in a hand basket.
Apparently 415 Media has been unable to reverse or even slow that trend.
Of course they can't do anything to stop that trend. The reason these stations have downsized their staffs and 'dumbed down' their on air product is that they're all trying to save money to keep their shareholders and CEOs happy. 90 percent of the local radio stations are now owned by four companies: Entercom, Infinity, Clear Channel and Cumulus. When stations own 'clusters,' they cut jobs and have younger people 'doubling up' and working at one or two or even three of their stations.
ReplyDeleteIf you think this trend will end soon, think again. The problem with the whole thing is that the Communications Act of 1996 which the Congress Passed and Clinton signed, allowed for the deregulation of the broadcast industry. Of course the Republicans were the first to trumpet the benefits of deregulation, but they had no idea that their legislation would lead to this kind of
disaster....if they had had some foresight, this whole thing never would have happened, and we'd still have an abundance of quality announcers on the air and Rich's blog would probably be less compelling reading each day!
Kron is the most unprofessional work environment there is! There are some good people still there but not many! The ND has to stay there he has no where else to go. And some of the talent is not worth dealing with
ReplyDeleteThe ND at KRON use to be a waiter at his parents restaurant over in Laurel Heights. He use to refer to a certain talent as Jabba the Hut; this person was the first of many buck nintyfive talent Young brought in. The nice thing about this station is you don't have to watch it.
ReplyDeleteThe only good thing that still makes me watch KRON is "People Behaving Badly" with Stanley Roberts. I love it when Stanley gets in the face of these Douchebags who run Red Lights, Stop Signs, and Speed who get visibly annoyed when Stanley exposes them!!
ReplyDeleteSame can be said for just about any 'old' media. Boy, the Examiner sure ain't what it used to be. Jeez, have you seen The Chronicle? It sure ain't what it used to be. Have you listened to KFSO? Man, it sure ain't what it used to be. Times change and so does the way we consume information. Heck, if anyone understood that it should be the writer of this 'blog'. This was not around when KRON was in it's heyday, neither was the plethora of cable options. No station matters any more. They all serve a purpose and have relevence but their impact has diminished.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that San Francisco is leading the way in new media and residents here simply do not turn out in mass any more with so many options available to them. There are markets where stations still dominate sun up to sun down but they are few and far between and in places like Sioux Falls, Idaho.
News now is all around us. We don't need to tune in at six or eleven, let alone ten to find out what is going on. If you need it is only because something is happening right that instant and you want to see pictures. TV will and always will be best for this. Breaking news. Sure one may find out about it on Twitter or elsewhere but then you want to turn on the TV to see the video.
I am just tired of reading this blog and always seeing a reference to the 'old' days and claims of its greatness. Get over it. Move on. Understand we live in a fluid media environment where the broadcast landscape has not only shifted, it has dramatically changed.
TV stations today (KRON included) are doing their best to put out the best product they can with the budgets they have been given. In the 'old' days they were one of the few getting dollars from ad agencies and businesses. Now those dollars are being divided up ten fold. Would you do anything differnet in the same circumstance? Let's see, less money is coming in....guess I have to cut back on expenses. Every business must do it.
Now, I am not saying KRON, or any station, has not made a bad decision here or there or have people who may or may not reach some standard, but it all goes back down to what you have available to you and you have to make the best with what you have. Not every reporter wants to do every aspect of the reporting process....shooting, reporting and editing, but that's what they need to do to make ends meet. Times change and technology allows us to do it. Heck, there was a time when it took dozens spread the word to a few now one person can reach millions...look at this blog for example. Technology allows this.
Enough with my comment rant. I just wish for once you would get off the old days and focus on the present.
Rich is a one act pony. That's all he's got.
DeleteAre you going to let him call you that?
DeleteIsnt Rich here on his bloggy blog just a component of the "new media" you're espousing?
DeleteCan someome out there please explain to us exactly why KRON was allowed to lose its NBC affiliation to the ABC affiliate in San Jose???
ReplyDeleteIt mirrors the San Francisco 49ers relocating to the South Bay. And sadly I believe the 49ers will experience the same results as the San Jose NBC News outlet has...low ratings.
KRON was bought by a company that thought they did not need to be affiliated with NBC. A company that preferred to hire cheap. A company that because of its business practices went belly up. End of that story.
DeleteThe folks in the south by have been living for years with this inferiority complex and now they're all lathered up and crowing about: "we got the Niners, we're going to get the A's, (no they're not!) we've got a station that is a network affiliate!"
ReplyDeleteSan Jose, Santa Clara and it's environs have been and will always be white-bread
suburbs. Downtown San Jose compared to San Francisco? A world class city with beautiful vistas and impressive history compared to some little back suburban sprawl that sits in the smog-gathering valley at the bottom of the bay? You remember that song from the 60s? "The breakfast garbage you throw into the bay, they drink for lunch in San jose!" Still true!
You're kidding, right? You're just saying this stuff to get some reaction? OK, I'll bite. Frankly, could care less about the sports thing, so if that's why you're so disturbed, sorry.
DeleteThe other comments.. well, it's obvious you have no real sense of the South Bay. I'd be happy to quote you stats on air quality, population demos, education, income, production, race relations. It's my job to know that stuff, and it's too easy to refute your knee-jerk reactionary viewpoints. But hey, you have internet, so I'd recommend doing a little research on your own. It could be life-changing. Before you decide to insult a community of several million people, enrich yourself with some actual knowledge. Correct, the South Bay is not known as a vacation destination, with shorefront vistas. But it is so much more than you credit.
I think "Adam" makes a legitimate point when he questions whether long time anchors in the market are worth the kind of money they used to make. No, they are not. In fact they don't drive ratings the way they used to, as Adam points out. That argument could also be made about veteran reporters.
ReplyDeleteSo, is there no role for them? What is a station to do? Get rid of everyone who has helped to establish the station's credibility and reputation? What should the image of that station be, a collection of just-out-of-college reporters and youngish anchors who don't appear to have much seasoning? To a certain extent, we have that. That's not moving the meter either and at a time when industry surveys indicate that viewers are migrating back, there's no there there when it comes to some of these stations.
When the internet finally did to the broadcast audience what cable TV was supposed to do during prior decades, the industry responded by and large by competing on a bottom line basis. Thus, many local stations shoved away their veterans. What they did was to eliminate much of the station's value. As consumers learned they could get their information from hundreds of sources whenever they wanted, local TV stations had to respond by increasing their relevance, not simply by decreasing their expenses as many opted to do.
Keep the productive veterans who are still there. They continue to be the nuts and bolts of a professional shop. They know the score. Most are already earning less than the did in "the good old days" and those who are still making money are doing triple the work and in some cases carrying their own cameras and edit gear. There is always room for good and motivated young talent. Believe me, there's FAR more opportunity for younger people now than there was when I got here. Remember that the "old farts" were the young ones a couple decades ago. You go from one to the other in a helluva hurry.
The good old days were about relationships with the audience, Adam. When did that go out of style?
Bottom line; with all the options they have, viewers will tell you, "Don't waste my time." It's still about credibility --- and that equals experience.
Damn, I miss the good ol' days of KRON.
ReplyDeleteJust a quick differing opinion....The Dudnick era was really the beginning of the end....
ReplyDeleteKRON's empire came crumbling down in haste when they lost their NBC affiliate. KRON had a very solid structure in its Newscenter 4 days. Nowadays they're just barely hanging on. KGO's News Scene and KPIX's Eyewitness News were all very solid operations in their day. KTVU's Ten O' Clock News was at its zenith with Dennis and Elaine. Television nowadays is virtually unwatchable. And as for the biggest circus in journalism that goes to all cable news outlets. CNN was the best until Ted Turner sold out:( And don't even get me going on the biggest travesty of them all: Fox "News".
ReplyDelete