Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Here Comes the Inevitable Drought Stories; NBC BA IU; Bruce/KNBR Watch; George Watson; Tuesday Quick Hits

  TUESDAY QUICK HITS
 
*Why do Bay Area TV/Radio broadcasters need to tell us "we need the rain" about 6000 times every day? As if we already didn't know. Yeah, it's been awhile since Mother Nature has delivered her dew on our lawns and pavement. We get it but we've also been down this road before. All we need is an Alaskan cold front with three straight days of moisture and snow in Tahoe and we'll be OK. Get the hell over it and refrain from the inevitable drought stories. Besides, if it gets real bad we live next to an ocean, remember?
 
*I wasn't ripping the NBC Bay Area 'Investigative Unit'--I was just mentioning the fact that for a specialized news division, they weren't delivering the goods given their enormous budget and nonstop ad blitz highlighting their illustrious reporting.
 
*Damon Bruce/KNBR watch: the firestorm has abated but both the show and Bruce himself sounds a little tainted. Bruce was to have emceed the Guardsman luncheon in anticipation of the Big Game but that was shelved. Wonder why.
 
*George Watson is alive and kicking. The former KTVU anchor has battled an ongoing problem with the bottle and we wish him all the best.
 
*The Radnich-Larry Krueger sports show on KRON was to have debuted last Thursday. Technical glitches aced that out. Look for the show to launch sometime this week.
 
*Follow me on Twitter

37 comments:

  1. Keep up the good fight George! A lot of people are pulling for you.

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  2. Bruce sounds like that old Howard Stern bit, remember this ? " I see OJ man,and he looks scared"..well, I hear Damon,and he sounds scared, man.

    Radnich? He said the practice show was bad "I might have talked too much " he said-or admitted- a coupe of weeks ago. And btw- "technical"? Raddy did his KRON sports from,I guess, the set of that new show a few days. Looked retro 70's. I just saw a peak I admit...

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    1. Hey,I just thought that maybe the sets dark wood paneling with red trim looked bad to them too? some updating.
      Could be.

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    2. Has 415 Media become a public platform for endless, nonsensical comments about Gary Radnich?

      Rich, are you now starting to post anything and everything?

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  3. Rich, please clarify the procedure for accessing your premium blog. Dying to read your insider stuff.

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    1. Down the road I'm planning on a more extensive "415Media Extra" which will provide more comprehensive coverage and media tidbits. Launch date TBD.

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  4. I didn't hear Bruce's rant re: women talking heads in sports. I am a female in my 60's, been a baseball and football fan since childhood. I am annoyed by all the sideline-type female "reporters" in all the sports. They have very little purpose, to my mind, other than to be pretty faces and bodies to appeal to male viewers. Somewhere it was written that 40 some odd percent of viewers of sports now are women, so that somehow these women on the sidelines were appropriate for the female audience. This, to me, is nonsense. I've never gotten the impression that most of the TV women have been lifelong sports fans of the sport they're assigned to and have little to no experience or extensive knowledge of the sport or players. THey have some general type questions that anybody could ask. They add nothing that a male couldn't do with usually much more depth of knowledge. And it's not just a coincidence that most of the women are young and VERY attractive.

    I've only heard Damon Bruce on the radio a couple of times, when he was a fill-in on KGO after the mass firings 2 years ago. I was repulsed by him, so I'm not defending him as a broadcaster. But I just think the trend of all the beautiful women commentators on the major male sports is exploitation. Women commentators covering women's sports makes a lot of sense because they usually have played the sports they're covering and have experience and insights that are informative and interesting. Not so with most of the women covering men's sports.

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    1. Someone please post the audio of Damon Bruce on KGO. I have to hear that!

      As for female sideline reporters, there are a variety of reasons they do it. One is diversity, another is they don't get shoved, another is men are less likely to treat them poorly on camera, another is they have earned it. Variety of reasons.

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    2. USC had a female basketball coach who is a black goddess. She now coaches in the south. If she doesn't break into NBA commentary when she retires,then no woman will.

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  5. This morning, Dave Clark urged his viewers to send in photos of the rain, and "maybe we'll use yours." Tempted as I was to snap a shot of the torrential shpritz that dampened the sidewalk this morning during the Great Storm Of November 19, 2013, I refrained. I suppose the storm coverage (with "our radar is better than yours" reminders) gives us a break from the shootings du jour.

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    1. How about "live from the rooftop of the ABC Broadcast Center" - talk about ridiculous - just do the weather and stop the over the top theatrics.

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    2. My faucet needs a washer...made more water this morning than this "big storm"

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    3. God, yes, 2:32 PM. Let the poor woman back in the building!

      I've wondered if she might have offended someone in management, and been banished.

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  6. Anybody know if the Cumulus Big Wigs are in town this week? Doesn't December have some big cuts coming?

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  7. Rich, my co-workers have thin skins. They know the rest of us haven't bought into the "We Investigate" hype.

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  8. "I wasn't ripping the NBC Bay Area 'Investigative Unit..."

    So frequent criticism (your words) isn't ripping, huh? FYI, this isn't me ripping your hypocrisy. It's just frequent observation.

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    1. Another **brave**, anonymous comment from the NBC Bay Area newsroom.

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    2. Rich, don't flatter yourself by assuming that the NBC Bay Area newsroom wastes there time responding to your blog.

      I agree with anon@12:15 completely and am not affiliated in any way with NBC Bay Area newsroom.

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    3. I'm not "flattering" myself and they DO read this ...most of 'em and so what, everybody else does too.

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    4. maybe the NBC Investigative Unit can "investigate" why they're such a joke.

      Excuse me, local shit affiliate, you are not "60 Minutes". You have NO credibility. NONE. You opinions/investigations are WORTHLESS.

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  9. Here in Fremont, we get, on average, between 10-12 inches of rain a year with the majority of that falling from Nov-March. From April-Oct only 2 inches per year - now maybe they will shut up!!!!! Doubting it but I live in hope!

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  10. "The Radnich-Larry Krueger sports show on KRON was to have debuted last Thursday. Technical glitches aced that out. Look for the show to launch sometime this week." No thank you. I don't dislike Radish but I'll avoid the racist Krueger at any cost. He can apologize for the rest of his life but the comments he made, albeit years ago, are a window into his true feelings about all people of color. It's not surprising if you know his background and upbringing. Privileged, spoiled, entitled - he's not the "guy next door" he tries to portray...
    We'll always have big stories about small weather. In SF we occasionally get a downpour that will flood sewers or winds knocking down trees but we're in earthquake country not Tornado Alley. The only severe natural disaster will knock most of the stations off the air at least for a little while. Not that I'm looking forward to it but it will be interesting to see how social media plays in covering the "big one". It's almost comforting to read about a little rain as it takes our minds off of the next great shaker coming our way. But don't forget to stock up on batteries, flashlights, water and canned food...
    Good to hear about George Watson being alive but is this a report that he's fallen off the wagon again? I hope not as it's getting too cold to sleep in ones car.

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    1. The other day, Radnich and Krueger were talking about touring private HS schools,attending private (grammar!) schools, and country club connections blah,blah. Kate Scott the Berkeley Lesbian stood up for the 99% and said " I went to the school closest to my home".
      The most real thing I heard on KNBR in months.

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  11. Seems like when it does rain, the talking heads whine incessantly about the rain. NOW they're talking incessantly about how we need the rain? We ALWAYS need the rain whether there's a drought coming or not. Guess they want to start a frenzy so they'll get more viewers. As for the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit (and some of us in SF STILL can't get the signal!)..lots of sizzle but no steak eh?

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  12. And Melanie Collins is back on Yahoo. She obviously is of superior tastes as she, like me,enjoys the horror and monster movies. She has a striking resemblance to Daisey Fuentes in 92. What a good year that was...

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    1. Daisy Fuentes was HOT. Helped me come of age that one.

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  13. George Watson after getting sober went on to do wonderful work at a Meredith owned TV station in Arizona. He also taught media and politics at Arozona State.
    A class man. It was former co anchor Leslie Griffith who out of her own pocket paid for George's last chance at sobriety. Not any of the KTVU colleagues who claimed to be his friend ...and that includes two people mentioned on the all time anchor list....yes...those two...an odious pair of people.
    George is well.

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    1. Just because you are an asshole off-camera doesn't mean you can't be a good anchor.

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    2. George, back in his KSBW days, was one of those people, very much like Paul Newman....too handsome to believe! and just a very swell fellow..I'm so glad that he has risen from the dead vault in my brain!

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    3. Interesting and informative post at 8:38pm. Good work.
      I have been wondering about the guy as well.
      Leslie Griffith sounds like a real gem of an individual. I did not know about this charitable act. Good for her.
      I do miss Watson's intro to the "segement two" report each night.
      I hope that he is able to put these demons behind hm once and for all.

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  14. What happened to DB's podcast? No shows posted on KNBR website after 11/8. Could that be telling?

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  15. I've long enjoyed Steve Paulsen's weather reports on "Mornings on 2." He's accurate, as well as personable.

    However, over the last couple of months, he has beaten the "one of the driest years on record," "no rain in sight," to a point that it's depressing.

    C'mon, Steve ... couldn't you lighten it up a bit, maybe to every-other, or every-third report?

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  16. The drought thing is such a stinking conspiracy of course all the stations will insist on having a reporter stand in the rain showing us all the crashes and the some noise from a Chippy telling us to slowdown. Do the drought story the right way. Up in the lovely North Bay where they have been told to conserve water they jacked up the water rates. Why? Because of falling demand!!!! So you want us to save water but when we do you stick it to us because we aren't using it? Pfft.

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  17. Very gratified that these seem to be the final days of Damon Bruce broadcasting in the Bay Area.
    Hopefully the excreable Bay Area Sports Guy blog will cease as well....

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  18. Damon has managed to lose his gigs doing Giants and Warriors post-game and now his 49ers gig. He thinks he's the next best thing to sliced bread. Pretty soon he'll be toast!

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  19. And Radnich on KRON said Krueger was mad at him because Raddy wants that "Sports Tonight" to be just 30 minutes instead of 60. And that Kreuger is also steamed that Radnich turned down some commercial endorsements that Kreuger would have been part of. He was vague on that.
    My feeling is,he doesn't even want to do more KRON shows. This must be being pushed by Kreuger on him. "I want a Bentley too"! Is my guess...

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