Monday, June 9, 2014

KTVU New Faces; Dwyer Signs Off From KNTV; Christian/Jennings Status Hasn't Changed at KGO-TV; Monday Opener

 There's a whole lot of new faces on the Bay Area TV News airwaves, have you seen a sudden thrust of this especially on KTVU?


We're in a state of flux, particularly at Channel 2, which until recently was a place where most good reporters stayed and retention was a staple of the 2 Jack London Square outlet.


No more.


I haven't seen this many new people in years. Which only reinforces the rumor that the ND, Boy Wonder himself, Lee Rosenthal, has lost the respect of most of his staff. There's quite a lot of internal bickering inside the newsroom. The reporter-a-day shuffle has left many wondering what their status is; if Rosenthal were more transparent and had some influence within the senior ranks, I'm sure the situation at KTVU would be a lot more stable and cohesive. Meanwhile, the uncertainty and lack of direction has left quite a scar over the entire Oakland studios.


**Diane Dwyer signed off last night at KNTV, (NBC Bay Area), with a classy goodbye. Dwyer and management couldn't work out a deal that would allow her to continue to teach at Berkeley and maintain her weekend anchoring gig. Especially when it was made clear to Dwyer that the station wanted her to take a significant pay cut. Sound familiar? Just ask Carolyn Johnson, who told KGO/Disney to shove it when she left Channel 7 and will begin anchoring soon at KNBC in Los Angeles.


**Add KGO-TV: Spencer Christian's recent Good Morning America appearances had nothing to do with his contract status. Christian has done a lot of GMA fill-in, it's where he built up most of his tenure--maybe he's contemplating a move back East again, because as I reported her a few weeks ago, both Christian and Cheryl Jennings have been told that their contracts won't be renewed in December. If Disney wanted Johnson to take a major pay cut, you can apply basic common sense in their dealings with Christian and Jennings. They simply don't want to pay big bucks to talent they deem as expendable. It's as simple as that no matter how much KGO management wants to spin it.


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12 comments:

  1. Christian/Jennings - Lieberman still kicking that dead horse....

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    1. Easy 'prediction' to make.
      Find the most senior members of a news team who work for a company looking to cut costs and viola, you have your "my insiders tell me that so and so won't have their contracts renewed"
      I am predicting an oil tanker accident will occur in busy shipping lanes and a manager/coach of an under-performing team will get fired.

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    2. I believe the big lug.

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  2. While I have no love for TV management, and am always happy to see a reporter/anchor tell them to "shove it," they have to understand that the days where they can be paid half a million a year to read someone else's words off a screen while looking good in a suit or blouse are long over. Both the internet and shrinking TV viewership in general--and a shrinking economy in general--mean TV news is becoming "just another job." They're going to start having to accept the fact that they make what ordinary people make because they do, at bottom, just an ordinary job--something that requires little more talent than driving a Muni bus. And if that hurts their feelings I'm sorry, tough. In Europe and Asia it's always been this way; only in the U.S. are television newsreaders treated like movie stars.

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  3. You would be so correct. The days of Brianna Keilor making a million for CNN and Brooke Baldwin making $1.3 million and the FoxNoise babettes making their million plus salaries are over Tits and ass are common everywhere and we, the sheeple don't care for "journalism" and news readers are not hard to find. How much do you thing Veronica de la Cruz now makes after being headline reader for the "Doc Block" on MSNBC? I'm thinking for PIX 5, not near as much.

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    1. Hottie briana Keillor makes that much? The yum factor just went up a notch. She went to cal as well. Every time she appears on the screen my heart skips a beat. Brooke Baldwin at $1.3 mill is stealing money!

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    2. Brook Baldwin making 1.3 million seems very very high. That's primetime anchor money...not dayside anchor money

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  4. Speaking of changes at KTVU, I understand veteran South Bay reporter Robert Handa is leaving for KNTV.

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    1. Wow. That's BIG. KNTV would have a stranglehold on San Jose and KTVU would be reduced to its kiddie corps. When did this happen?

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  5. I hope you are right about Jennings. She is anchoring the 4:00 o' clock news right now and it is painful to watch.

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  6. Painful? Why? Because she's seasoned? Because she can ad-lib in any situation? Because she knows the bay area inside and out? Because she has forgotten more facts, figures, and news than you have ever experienced? Because she has a social conscience and GIVES to the community? Oh....because she's 'old.' That's it. You like them young. You like them to just read the news. You like to mentally ball them while they deliver the daily drivel. Barf on you.

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