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| Melanie Woodrow |
News that Leigh Glaser is leaving KGO-TV after 23 years as weekend meteorologist is not at all shocking. Glaser told the boss as much in an e-mail late last week. She wants to spend more time with her family and makes that clear in her bio:
Family is everything. My young daughter is my heart and my husband makes me laugh. I love football, am an avid runner, and love to entertain. I have a passion for gardening, country music and everything Southern.
I believe Glaser and have no reason to believe there's any other speculation. It is, however, a rather sad tale of the TV news biz how many veterans, even the good people and performers like Glaser, are leaving en masse.
Rare are the air talent that reach middle age and beyond stay on the air and continue to work in an environment that is becoming more thirty-something every day.
*KTVU has added an LA "Investigate Reporter" to its news staff, Melanie Woodrow.
Woodrow, by all accounts, is a fairly decent reporter and looks like she's easy on the eyes. I didn't say the latter--it was sort of the buzz in the Channel 2 newsroom. Is Woodrow the new Rita Williams? Guess so although I would imagine that a few other people, like say, Tom Vacar or Rob Roth might be perplexed.
Maybe they haven't read the handwriting on the wall.
NOTES: What happens first? Will "The Game" ever break a 1 rating and when does KGO Radio reach a 1?...KSFO: Very much for sale. All stations are for sale you say but Cumulus is looking to unload this increasingly useless property, probably to pay off some exec's per diem account in Atlanta...(Psst, that part was a joke but you get my drift)...Speaking of KSFO, that morning "show" has become a de-facto morning zoo but I don't think their bits are resonating with listeners. Unless you like a guy doing Hee-Haw jokes and the gravel-voiced traffic performer who thinks she's hilarious. Oy! and the endless Joe Biden cracks: nauseating...My sports-predicting days have ended after a 72-hour experiment. Damn!...April 1 is not a good day to announce TV/Radio biz transactions. I received a few e-mails last night that were interesting. One was actually true...The item about the alleged, all-sports FM station having difficulty selling spots on the new PM drive show came direct from their sales dept, no, not on memo, dummy...Sarah and Vinnie: quite an act!--off the air...From the mouth of a person who knows: In its heyday, KTVU's "10 O'clock News" accounted for 1% of the entire gross profits of its corporate owner, Cox Media. That's a lot of moolah...KTVU slogan making the rounds: Who have we hired today?...800-Kids-for-Kars, clever but not so clever...Morning terrestrial radio: repeating stories that were already told two hours earlier as if they were fresh and spontaneous--another tale of we got nothing to say, we're not creative and having a simple conversation is way above our food chain...The new song videos posted from time to time is a occasional break from the news--some of you really like it and a few want constant media items and gossip--well as Herb Caen used to say, send me items! Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com but damn, those George Benson and Average White Band selections were DYNOMITE !!
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Having "a passion for ...everything Southern" doesn't seem to jibe with living in this part of the country.
ReplyDeleteThe music videos are fine. If I don't like the video (or text and/or pictures), then I just skip the post!
ReplyDeleteGuessing by the music posts that Lieberman is in his early 50's.
DeleteRich keep digging. Leigh can't stand ND Tracey Watkowski. Is the much anticipated KGO payroll purge starting? Spencer next victim?
ReplyDeleteI think Spencer has a job there as long as he wants ...the GMA decal still helps and he's doing a decent job --probably a few more years shelf life.
DeleteI always admire Spencer because the guy has good taste about his own clothing , he always present himself in a impeccable way ,and his clothes fits him perfectly .
DeleteHe has also a fantastic body ,which ad some +++ to his appearance . I just would love to see him shave his head ,once and for all, and stop worrying about it , he would look 10 times better w/o it
More time??? m-f And half of S&S isn't enough?..that's the generic answer. Meredith Vierra said the same thing on leaving NBC. A year later on the Tonight Show she told Jay "My family said get a job,leave us alone!".
ReplyDeleteWell,Leigh did always come across as a country gal. I sort of expect that she lives in Danville?..wouldn't be a bit surprised. Good luck,she was one I watched over the decades "To Sir with Love" like, go from college girlish to (hot) Ma.
She does look very Danville, doesn't she?
DeletePeople who live out here do look a certain way.
The young people are taking over because they're cheap, will work long hours since most don't have families, and are easily more disposable. And there's a huge pool to pick from. Judging from the increasingly less and less talented young people now flocking on the air here ion the bay area, I don't see it changing. If you're a young person in their mid to late 20s, with a reasonable amount of talent and drive, you can make a very nice career out of broadcast journalism here in the SF area. The standards aren't nearly as high as they used to be (nor is the pay!) because media has consolidated, and with it have come the attendant lay-offs of the experienced 'middle class' announcers, and the cut backs on other expenses including salaries for the workers. I'm just glad I got to live during a time when this wasn's so, and when blogs, computers, e-mails, and tweets were unknown and people actually still knew how to have a face to face conversation!
ReplyDelete> If you're a young person in their mid to late 20s, with a reasonable amount
Delete> of talent and drive, you can make a very nice career out of broadcast
> journalism here in the SF area.
Till you hit 40...
A couple of days ago you said that the Raiders and DeSean Jackson already had a contract in place pending the Raiders background check into Jackson rumors.
ReplyDeleteToday Jackson signed with the Redskins.
What happened?
I swung and missed and said so on Twitter and HERE today.
DeleteWhat more do you want?
I made a prediction based on info that I and the person that gave me the info was good. But it didn't turn out to be. I'll own up to it.
You want more torture? I'll go watch Cleveland Browns highlights.
The April 1 Kids 4 Cars spot was creepy. Given the human trafficking stats, I'm sure that some clueless folks considered picking up their phones.
ReplyDeleteThat the "Kids for Cars," aired on April 1st, didn't connect with me.
DeleteI had high hopes that KGO/Cumulus, had allowed the enormously talented Mike Amatori to do what-comes-naturally.
Alas.
Rich, you are too thin-skinned to publish comments mentioning that you were completely wrong about DeSean Jackson signing with the Raiders?
ReplyDeleteYou think know one notices?
Apparently you didn't read the post TODAY...so YOU don't notice.
DeleteWHAT POST?
DeleteIt's impossible to notice something that isn't there!
In Notes: Here: "My sports-predicting days have ended after a 72-hour experiment. Damn!"
Delete(Boy, I thought I was only one who needs glasses.)
Wow, you really don't have any cojones do you Rich?
DeleteHoly Lee Fuk! Investigative reporter??? Here's the promo: Tonight only on 2. Watch as we turn a C cup into a D cup!
ReplyDeleteWho is the Most Annoying Stan Behind a Mike? a. Stan Merrill, who wants to teach you to 'Flip This House". He accentuates every single word and phrase. Stan pours it on heavy, with intonnation, as he 'over-animates' and uses the stereotypic announcer's voice to ride up and down the octave scale. This guy would be perfect as a voice-over for a cartoon character.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a talking podium at one of those Informational Workshops. When will they finally have that blasted workshop so I can stop hearing about it?
b.. Stanley Roberts; Mr. Gotcha! Looking for people doing dumb things as he narrates in a smug, know it all, sing songy voice.
This new reporter isn't easy on MY eyes. She looks like the sort you wake up with the next morning and say, "WTF happened?" while looking at the empty bottles of vodka strewn on the floor.
ReplyDelete100,000,000% agree.
DeleteInvestigate shumestigate. Rita Williams and veterans like her didn't need some fancy title. They investigate naturally because they are damn good and develop good sources. When people trust you, you are going to get good tips and scoops. Now days they just hire people and slap the title on them to brand it. Look at the legendary investigative unit at 11. That is all the proof you need. Reporters are supposed to be investigative by nature. The good ones get the scoops and break stories. And that comes with experience and knowing the area.
ReplyDeleteWhere's my Pinto?
ReplyDelete95.7 FM ..? Is that... "the bear" or "the wolf" ...country station. IDK.
ReplyDeleteJust checked 95.7 now .... A s game simulcast.
ReplyDeleteJust like KFRC used to do.... (Stupid mixing sports games with music stations)
So country after the game.
Dumb programming this station sucks.
Stan stole it. You will get it back after the cops bust him and taser his ass.
ReplyDeleteMelanie resembles my very first tranny
ReplyDeleteWhat is a 'tranny' anyway? I keep reading that here on Rich's blog and I get the feeling that it isn't something you'd want to call someone to their face.
ReplyDeleteYou're presumably in the Bay Area and you have to ask 'what is a tranny?'. For some people, for whom gender issues have replaced religion this group should be called the third sex, after male and female. Trannies are either Transvestites; people who like to wear the clothing of the opposite gender or Transsexuals; people who wish to physically transform them selves into to image of the opposite sex. I would say the surgical and hormonal changes a dedicated Transexual go through cannot be reversed, but I dont know if that is still true. I could swear I;ve heard of at least one case where a man and wife changed their respective sexes. After all the healing and all the emotional dress rehersals were done, neither person was truly happy in their 'new bodies'. So what did they do? Both were changed back into their original states of gender. Whew! Thank God there were no children to explain all the morphing and shape changing to. Obviously, they 'had money'.
Deletewhen I was growing up a tranny was the transmission on your car.
DeleteNow, it's another word that has been co-opted and perverted by the look-at-me freakshow set.
The KSFO morning show might be Spencer Hughes salvation. After Brian and Katie it is hard not to sound good. I listen the morning Brian was doing his "He Haw" imitation, or whatever you want to call it, it was god awful, and has nothing whatever to do with a good morning show, being it liberal or conservative, or in the middle, it is bad, bad, bad. Who can listen to this juvenile crap. Brian is not some kid trying to find his way. Does he really think his show will attract listeners, young, old, middle age. Talking about denial, as far as I can tell former KSFO listeners are leaving in droves. What a disaster. Isn't there some program director or SOMEONE, who can tell him his current stick is not working. Or don't they care??? What a loss for us listeners.
ReplyDeleteI don't really care for Spencer, either. He's very predictable, very formulaic...I guess I'm spoiled. This seems to be what passes for conservative radio here and I've stopped listening for the most part. It's awful.
DeleteHe is no genius, at times I listen, at least he does not repeat the Republican Party's talking points. He is for gay rights, even for gay marriage, and since he is on a conservative station, the calls are interesting. I don't think it matter if you are a conservative or liberal (as I am) if you use to listen to KGO and KSFO when they had good hosts, you (we) are spoiled and it is hard to find good hosts these days, no matter their political bend. I often find Tom Sullivan interesting, I like his personality, he is actually nice to callers who disagrees with him, unlike Levin, Savage or Sussman who can only scream at callers who disagrees with them. Also Tom Sullivan does a lot of programs that isn't politics,
DeleteIs her head way too big for her body. Damn she is freaking me out!
ReplyDelete