Ken Wayne, weekend anchor and reporter for KTVU, is the Bay Area's most underrated TV News tonsil.
I have long admired the very low-key Wayne's demeanor and delivery--there is no artificially enhanced persona, no exaggeration, no shouting--with Wayne, what you see is what you get and that's a compliment given today's over-caffeinated breed of anchors and their bosses desire to "turn it up a notch."
Wayne doesn't have to resort to such tactics. His body of work speaks for itself. It's part of the Channel 2 brand that has been a staple of the success of the Oakland-based, Cox-owned affiliate: keep it straight and simple. No need for histrionics or heavy-duty drama unless the story merits it.
Wayne is low-key personified and that's the essence of his effectiveness. And a good reason why he often gets overlooked as one of the region's top news anchors. More telling is his street reporting, which too is a good reason why he's been able to thrive at KTVU for almost two decades.
Wayne has a contract coming up for renewal--here's hoping station brass give the talented newsman a well-deserved raise and re-up.
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As you say Rich...he's steady, solid, and unspectacular. Kind of like one of those ten to fifteen year veteran baseball players, who put up solid numbers, make a few all star games, go to a World Series, but don't get the recognition they deserve.
ReplyDeleteI love this guy. He did Mornings on Two a couple days last week and he was an absolute delight. I love him on the weekend nightly news.
ReplyDeleteMy mom once told me to never trust a man with two first names. Oddly, I never asked her why. This guy reminds me of that random warning.
ReplyDeleteI like him. I love seeing him in the morning. I can't stand Dave Clark so I have been switching to another station. I don't know how he stays on the air.
ReplyDeleteKen Wayne is too dull. What's wrong with showing a little happy personality on tv? Maybe he should be on radio.
ReplyDeleteKen could make it anywhere in the bay or beyond! I watched kpix noon news today, it's nice that they mix 2 mins of news into 30mins of informercial.
ReplyDeleteHe is indeed very solid in both the anchor chair and out in the field, not sure who else covers both so well or for that matter even DOES both anymore (on second thought check that, Heather Holmes and Claudine Wong, Vicki Liviakis, maybe a few few others)...no extraneous patter or cutesy play, but good inflection and manners. Hope he gets what he deserves.
ReplyDeletebtw, is Heather Holmes just forgetting a wedding ring for the last few weeks/month or has the news shuck n jive claimed another marriage? Inquiring minds
I used to work with Ken when I was a photog back in the pre-NBC KNTV days. Yes, he's a pretty damn good journalist. But more importantly, he was pretty fun to work with out in the field. We'd get our "scoop"....and had a fun time doing it. Unlike a lot of Prima Dona reporters who have tunnel vision, he knew how to enjoy his job--and he NEVER had us miss a lunch break!
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