Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Ask Rich Lieberman 415 Media Wednesday

 YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, I HAVE THE ANSWERS ABOUT BAY AREA MEDIA...

RADIO/TV/ANCHORS, THE SCENE BEHIND THE SCENES...NEWS/SPORTS/ENTERTAINMENT AND MORE
...You can ask a question and follow me on Twitter too.

*Rich Lieberman and 415 Media are not responsible for comments made by others on this website.

94 comments:

  1. How are monthly radio and tv station ratings derived ??

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  2. Has the Game already given up on the Aubrey Huff experiment in the morning. Hasn't been on in a while...

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    1. Not so officially but any day...Huff is all but out and thus why the Game's morning show has suffered from day one...It would be nice too if Huff knew anything about sports, including baseball, the sport he played but he doesn't.

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    2. Now they just need to get rid of the other two guys. It's unbearable to listen too.

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  3. Why do our weather forecasters (P. Deanno, in my experience) call SF's fog 'low clouds'? Goodness knows we're famous for our fog, why not call it what is?

    Plus, it's easier for us regular folks to understand - and plan for.

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    1. I agree. It's FOG. "Low clouds," is an irritating term ... but, not nearly as irritating as "marine layer."

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    2. The short answer, Anonymous, is we don't seem to know.

      Thanks for asking, tho.

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    3. Do you feel the wetness dripping off your face? Do your glasses become misty and impossible to see through? Are you not able to see past the end of the block? Are there swirly moisture patterns in the air? That's fog.

      Is the sky grey and you can't see the sun, but you can see down the street? Is your face dry, and your glasses unbesmirched? Are the sidewalks mostly dry? That's low clouds.

      - Greg from SF

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    4. They're two different things. Fog is a cloud at the ground. Low clouds are not as low as fog.

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  4. Have you really warmed up to David Weintraub? I heard him for a bit filling in for Marlene Langdenly on Sunday and he still sucks. He needs to stop saying: "I think to myself" every other sentence.

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    1. what is the deal with people hating on this guy?I heard him filling in for maureen this weekend and it was really the first time I had heard him do a complete show.I thought it was great. He brings more energy on the air than all of the other hosts combined. Compared to the putt putt radio they played on Owens show last week and this Matt Ray fellow I'll take it.

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  5. Hey Rich, I haven't heard Aubrey Huff on his radio show for the last week or no mention of him. Is he one foot out the door already? If so, any chance of Tony Bruno being his replacement?

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  6. Is Dennis O'Donnell ever sober when he is on air? He constantly looks and sounds drunk of his ass. Last night he referred to little league superstar Mo'ne Davis as Moan.

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    1. Yup, he's sober. He just doesn't give a shit. He's a Radnich disciple who will get away with anything and keep his job as long as Dan Rosenheim runs the ship.

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    2. I can't stand the smug, & arrogant Dennis O'Donnell...Personally I believe that he would be more suited with the South Bay NBC Affiliate. After the way that he, and his other co-workers rattle on, and on about Santa Clara Co., its either somebody has an Agenda at KPIX, or they all have serious hard on's for that region of the Bay Area...

      And don't mention Levi's Stadium, the way they all hyped that joint last week, you'd think they all hold stock in the place...smdh...

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  7. Any word on what Kevin Metheny is up to lately. He seems to be uncustomarilly quiet. Keeping a low profile doesn't seem to be his style.

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  8. What is with the awful beyond usual commercials for medical stuff and otherwise on KNBR with the woman voiceover with a very annoying voice; forced, overly pronounced, stiff diction, forced laughs and pauses/breaths. There are several of these running, and a couple of different voices actually. Awful.

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    1. It's KNBR why would you be so shocked? There's a reason whey they run 30 minutes of ads in an hour which might be just as well since 90% of their programming is worse than the endless ads salvo.

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    2. That woman is terrible; it's almost like she's a robot thats been programmed with what an engineer thought would approximate an FM '70's languid, raspy DJ tone...her best - or worst depending on your outlook - spot was last year for Benjamin Moore paint, pronouncing the word 'anyway' as ENTI way

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    3. I'm glad that other people have noticed. She sounds like Boo-Boo from Yogi Bear with a cold. She sounds punch drunk. Or just drunk.

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  9. Did anyone count the number of times today that Brian Sussman replayed purported audio of journalist James Foley's pre-execution "statement"? Mindless host continued to alert listeners that they would "cut off" sound before actual beheading occurred.

    Frequency of this litany rivaled repeated ego-promo, of course, announcing BS's substitution for Mark Levin this afternoon. Any preparation required for self-seeking national exposure on "Morning Show Echo" between 3 and 6 p.m.?

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    1. I feel the same way but I've turned off Sussman altogether --he's simply unbearable and the program has become unlistenable. He's no Lee Rodgers and KSFO is a joke.

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    2. I'd rather listen to interstation hiss than that POS "show". The hiss is more intelligent and vastly more entertaining. And I used to be a daily listener in the old days.

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    3. I'm with Rich. I've turned of KSFO. For Batchelor, I listen to the podcasts.

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    4. Well, Brian talked himself into the question. Pandering as usual, he announced during intro to Levin's program that friend and mentor Mark "is my show prep." Guest host also reassured audience that, although not a "backbencher," he takes notes and uses a lot of "his stuff" the next morning on KSFO.

      Is there any doubt that this backbencher, indeed, requires replacement . . . yesterday?

      I know, stop listening.

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    5. Sussman has been unlistenable since the first time I heard him. I've been in too many markets, I guess. WBAP had an excellent product until Cumulus came in the door. KRLD was top drawer until the market changed because WBAP is their primary competition in town. Firing up Brad Barton on KRLD during one of those famous Texas thunderstorms was like hearing the voice of God.

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    6. True. He sucked on his 6 PM show that was just about the only thing I had to listen to driving home when I was working farther north. When he inherited the 5 AM show I was appalled.

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    7. Brian Sussman is the master of repeating words, stories etc. Does anyone every count how many times he says "Folks" seems like every third word or so. He must have replayed the Joe Biden "7-11", hundreds of times. Either he thinks we are idiots and don't remember, or which might be more accurate, he might have an inkling that his show is so bad, they most of his listeners, tune in listen for awhile and move on. Thus is always talking to newcomers.

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    8. We had to take a friend of ours to SJC this morning and listened to Mark Davis fill in for Bill Bennett. Damn, I wish we could get him or someone like him in San Francisco. This place is a media desert.

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  10. Why can't Jacqueline Bennett or whatever her name is wear a blazer that fits? I believe they still give on-air talent clothing allowances, though like everything else it's probably not as generous as it used to be. But that's no excuses for the Ross tagsale, ill-fitting crap she wears almost every night. The other night Rosemary Orozco wore a blazer on KTVU and a few minutes we tuned into KRON and saw blondie giving her forecast and she looked like she belonged in Iowa. In fact, they surely dress better in Iowa. Radar O'Reilly did, at any rate.

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    1. They wear what they wear. Some dress conservative, some not so, it's as simple as that. Some go overboard too but keep in mind, it's television. They want to be noticed.

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    2. Is Jackie wearing ill fitting blazers AGAIN? In the past it looked as though she had borrowed one of The Bloated one's blazers. I just don't understand. Jackie can swing from the hottest weather gal to the least hottest in one fell swoop.

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    3. I don't do measurements or fittings.
      Ask Jackie.

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    4. I love looking at Erica in the morning (gorgeous hair) but it seems she's getting a little sloppy in the back end. Methinks it's time for her to stay out of the bars and restaurants. I can recommend a good trainer.

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    5. @6:05 Ain't nothing wrong with a big ass badonkadonk on Erica. That's just more cushion for the pushin'!

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    6. Amen @7:45! Looks like someone has been in Danville too long. Lots of flat, droopy white butts over there...a big butt is offensive to them...lol

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  11. Whats the scoop on the near total lack of Monte Poole on Comcast Sports...and total lack of Monte on the Yahoo talk show? Its been Rod Brooks -as the you know what- after years of his being ignored as a guest.

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    1. Monte covers the NBA and the NBA season is two months away--I'd imagine MP is on vacation.

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    2. Nah,somethings up- I know it. Monte was a regular on the 5 o'clock show. That stopped and suddenly Rod Brooks was THE regular. And that's been for now a few months.
      I see Monte doing taped Warrior segments...but that still doesn't explain his total lack of visibility on Yahoo sports show. That must been a big reason he even went to Comcast to begin with- more fame.
      I wonder,if he and Kozimor don't get along? 415 did say that there was some off air conflicts on that show months ago. I read it.
      Or..he's ill?
      Its something.

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  12. Is Tim Kawakami as thin skinned in real life as he is on twitter?

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    1. Tim is a pretty good writer and reporter. He has good insight and contacts. Professional, he's as good as it gets.

      Personally, yes, thin-skinned and supremely smug and I'm being kind. His middle name is "BLOCK."

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  13. How long do you give Nightbeat before it's yanked?

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    1. Probably until the end of the year but not 100% certain. The ratings will dictate that--they always do but the show is terrible.

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  14. Will Tony Bruno come back to the Game?

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    1. Good question.

      He performed remarkably well in his fill-in a few weeks back although I doubt Entercom, which owns The Game, would hire him. Mostly money but personal too.

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  15. Is there any objective data to substantiate KNBR's claim that they are the nation's #1 sports station?

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    1. No, KNBR just decided to label themselves as such in their ads. That should tell you a lot about KNBR.

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    2. You should try my "World Famous" potato salad!

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    3. Yes, 50,000 watts on 680 that covers more than a third of the nation on a powerful clear channel frequency. Compared with much smaller sports talkers, there is no challenge outside of WFAN in New York and KNBR beats them hands down. KNBR ... the Sports Leader. I've not heard the #1 line .. only "The Sports Leader."

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    4. And my "World Famous" Oldies show! As for prizes, one can win free buckets of "World Famous Fried Chicken" too! What a deal! Fried Chicken and Potato Salad! World Famous Good! The Leader!

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    5. Knbr beats wfan at what?

      Wfan programming blows knbr away.

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    6. I love your world famous fried chicken and potato salad!
      It's the best!

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    7. Ever hear of WIP in Philly? It's kind of a big deal in the world of sports talk radio.

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    8. WFAN and WEEI are better than WIP, which is better than KNBR. I've spent time in all of these places.

      KNBR is fortunate the Niners and Giants sell because at this point The Game may be better. And this is coming from a Bay Area fan

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  16. What do you think of Michael Savage's New Book ~ http://bit.ly/StopTheComingCivilWar ?

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    1. Haven't read the book yet but will when it comes out in October.

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  17. Who owns the call letters to KOME? If I wanted to start a radio station could I use them? Or are they owned forever by whomever last used them even tho its been 15+ years? If you are not sure perhaps your knowledgeable readers can chime in. Thanks.

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    1. @12.45 I'LL chime in. NO you cannot use them, those calls have been "retired." Most likely permanently. I don't know who owns them, but when the calls were switched to KUFX, an announcement was made stating this. I'll now leave it to others who know more about this to explain further.

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    2. No one at this time ones the legacy KOME calls. They were changed to KUFX (The Fox). They have been turned back to the FCC which maybe has gotten the wiser in issuing those letters as they did many many years ago to San Jose. First, though, you need a radio station to put them on. Good luck and, yes, they are available. You need a license, however ....

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    3. The calls look like they're in Meridian, Texas.

      http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=kome&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C

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    4. Actually, the station is licensed to Meridian, TX but is simulcast with KTFW FM in Fort Worth. I know this because I maintain the radio databases for the Radio Mall...

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  18. Rich,
    This will be the deepest and most provocative question you ever got on your blog. OK ready ? Has the morning crew of KNBR, ever not once mention the Grateful Dead on the morning drive time? As soon as they start talking about them, I just hit the dial for another station.

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    1. Grateful Dead second only to "dude" and 56,876 pop culture references nobody gives a crap about.

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    2. I don't mind the pop culture references, but Jesus Hallowed Christ, ENOUGH with the fucking grateful dead. They were a mediocre (at best) band, and the whole rolling around in the dirt, "Thank You Jerry" crap was beyond over the top.

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    3. To be fair, only one guy mentions the Dead. And Springsteen and the Scorpions and KISS and ('80s hair metal band name goes here).

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  19. Is Sean King, the guy who did voice-over work at KNBR back in the '90s, still around? I don't recall hearing any of his work (if there has been any, locally) in recent years.

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    1. He is, I don't know specifically where but he's out there somewhere.

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  20. How does the Radman keep his job all these years on knbr specially now when he is not what he use 2 b?Dose. He have pictures or something over someone 4 he is just not good anymore:(

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    1. He's still popular and has an audience even though he's clearly not at the top of his game.
      When he is, he's OK and plus he's helped by the fact that there's a lot of empty heads surrounding him.

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    2. You can tell there's a huge drop-off this week with Gary on vacation. I'm a regular listener of the show, but I can't stand the Larry and Kate tandem. Gary adds an element to the show that is sorely missing when he's absent.

      Gary tries to take an empathetic approach with his subjects, when combined with his years of experience with sports and media, can be persuasive. The round-table style debates, involving all three hosts, can help listeners better understand issues.

      The show can be pretty entertaining sometimes when Gary is spunky and playful. When he lets Larry and Kate talk too much, the show can drag. Gary's quirky personality is key to the show's success. Larry's "knowledge" and passion of sports, offset by Kate's reasonable perspective, compliments Gary.

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    3. I don't mind Larry, but Kate is terrible. Though she's merely bad when she isn't trying to imitate Gary (while at the same time mouthing off about him).

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    4. I don't listen to the Gary and Larry show much but here are my takes. Krueger is terrible when he tries to make comments on hoops and baseball but is pretty good when he talks about football, which is okay since the Niners comprise a good half of the year with the season and off season moves. Kate Scott adds nothing - nothing at all. At least I can yell at Krueger when he gives opinions about hoops and baseball because he's engaging his audience. With Kate Scott, she offers nothing but the obvious. If you're listening to KNBR, you want more than the obvious, which most informed sports fans can come up with on their own.

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  21. There is a middle aged, reasonably attractive woman on Chanel Four in the weekday mornings. She will conduct fake interviews (really extended advertisments) for various small business in the Bay Area. This woman never, never EVER combs her thick split ended hair. There is usually some sort of back lighting behind her, which only serves to accentuate all those twigs and branches. Providing a halo affect of sorts. Yes, I have other things to think about. No, I'm not obessed with other folks hair styles, or poor grooming habits. She will be on the air around 8.am, inteviewing people like Tim Wilkins, owner of Optima Tax Relief. Tim always combs his hair.

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  22. Will we see any changes in KRON programing and do they make money?

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    1. Yes, although not as much as you think...yes too, KRON makes money, not as much as they used to but they are profitable.

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  23. Do you believe that with a change in the nation's demographics--whites ultimately no longer being the majority--that conservative talk radio will fade away? In other words, do you think non-whites would listen to conservative talk radio in large enough numbers?

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    1. If it were entertaining radio I think it doesn't matter, call me naïve.
      Black, White, Yellow, whatever ...conservative radio by and large is on because it attracts ratings and ratings drive the domain.

      Although syndicated radio is mostly corporate-owned therefore the abundance of conservative radio versus "liberal" radio but Air America and Mike Malloy, for example, Randy Rhodes too, never were able to attract large numbers to be successful, race isn't a factor.

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    2. Conservative Talk Radio in general is fading away as the old, angry white guys that listen in their cars and truck on the way to contracting or sales work are moving to retirement. Commercial Radio bet the farm on trying to clone Rush Limbaugh and so made the idea of talk radio all about extreme right wing positions. Younger folks think talk radio means "Rush Limbaugh" so poorly executed attempts like Air America had no chance, especially when more moderate and liberal folks had the high polish of public radio shows. Talk Radio as it was is dying, the question is will it remerge in some new form of spoken word radio. My actual guess is that most AM signals because ethnic language stations or vanity stations operated for very specific niche programs. In that scenario the media giants who purchased those signals at high valuations in the late 90s will go bankrupt, because the value of those signals has fallen so far.

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    3. 8:54 what do the anchor baby offspring of illegals listen to? Somewhere in that lineage or.family is someone collecting a government check paid for by those "old angry white men". STFU and appreciate your handouts.

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    4. Thank you, 10:03. Well said.

      It's sickening to me that the people most likely to cry "racist" are the ones who use the term "angry white guy" so frequently. Yet if I were to describe the average La Raza type one sees all over the Bay Area as "lazy seditious brown man", that would be decried.

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    5. I could be defined as an angry old white guy although a liberal one. Honestly 11:17 you seemed a little touchy about about my using the phrase. I didn't know that "Angry old White men" was a no no in the conservative politically correct lexicon. I though only we liberals had that rather awful "politically correct policy," I'm glad you're copying some of our ethics, but I could have appreciated something more like universal health care coverage, but welcome to the party comrade. As for 8:54 mister "anchor babies guy" dude I really think you kind of blow up you point about my mildly offense phrasing with full out racist crap, but hey your merely a "middle class gentleman of advancing years, who appreciates political propaganda under a fine patina of journalism." Hope that's better.

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    6. Just noting the inconsistencies among the holier than thou set.

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  24. Rich, you wrote a good review of KTVU's Allie Rasmus earlier this year. I watched "morning's on 2" this weekend, with Rasmus anchoring. She made several mistakes during the show, tripping over her lines. She had clearly gone to a tanning salon, as the skin around her eyes was much brighter than the rest of her face. She had the look of a deer in headlights while speaking into the camera. She spoke in a very monotonous fashion.

    Frankly, she irritated me. She got my attention for all the wrong reasons.

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  25. Cool questions and answers, Rich. Two thoughts: 1) You may not want to read the next issue of TV Guide. Guess who long-time critic Matt Roush is choosing as Best Supporting Actress Emmy in a Comedy Series? Hint, the Kaiser ads aren't going away any time soon. And 2) If you need to cheer up Kawakami next time you talk to him, brag to him about Screamin A. Smith being suspended from ESPN. That NBA mouth really really riles his thin skin.

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  26. Do the bay area TV news anchors have to have any prior journalism experience if all they do is read the news? Can anyone who is pretty and reads well be a news anchor? The ones I see don't seem to have any knowledge of basic journalism technique.

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    1. Yes, prior experience, not necessarily "journalism" experience but TV News experience is usually a plus unless you're pretty and have fathers working as execs in high-up places like Disney, for example.

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    2. Rich is right, though Elizabeth Cook really isn't that pretty. She's an airhead douchebag/Marina magnet.

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  27. I was wondering about the KNBR/49ers relationship. Did the Niners receive so much money that they don't mind that a third of their season is bumped off "The Sports Leader" for yet another mind-numbing Giants game coupled with nine hours of Marty Lurie and the same 10 lonely shut-ins rambling endlessly about baseball?

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    1. Being the subject of sports talk on a top 5 (Nationally) sports station the other 6 days of the week make it worth it.

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  28. What happened to Jade Hernandez, KTVU, I haven't seen her reporting in a while.

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