Tuesday, April 21, 2015

KRON Will Continue To Suck For The Foreseeable Future

This is what KRON has going for itself now: an 8 PM newscast and "more news than any other local news station." Those last words are from KRON itself and they're right. Too bad the station is mired in less-than-mediocre status otherwise more people would watch it and the current albatross state would be erased but that isn't the case. Whenever I mention KRON to people in and out of the business they shake their heads and giggle.

Just the other day I was talking to a veteran KGO cameraman about the union situation at KTVU (another topic for another day) and he couldn't believe what's going on at KRON.

Not that he knows directly just what he's heard. And like everyone else he's heard a lot.

I can't imagine what it's like to run KRON now. An apparently powerless GM who is supposed to be in way over her head and can't or won't do the necessary chores to make KRON relevant. Maybe she needs to go to corporate but Media General doesn't seem too interested in what's going on in the Bay Area.

In the newsroom, Aaron Pero continues to somehow stay on as News Director. It's come to the point where people openly think Pero must have something of importance in his possession to keep his gig. I've tried to reach out to Pero and let him speak here on the record as to his management ways but he's been forever mum. Pero either is OK with the knowledge of his rep and doesn't give a rat's ass or is completely tone deaf about the major disconnect between him and most of the staff. That's a good way to run a news operation.

So, what's the future at KRON? In its current state, nothing. The station will continue to carry on and do so as some of its very own air talent belittle the operation as its currently constituted. No wonder the guy who drives the famed black Bentley refers to his gig as "my Buster Brown bit." I'm sure that does wonders for morale. Whatever.

My gut tells me that something is brewing. Someone with a smidgen of influence (which is nothing to ride home at KRON) will step forward (finally) and complain loud enough that something/someone needs to go. I can't be specific (yet) because I believe this whole process is in its initial evolution. The problem now, and this is indicative of the vibe that's been in place far too long at KRON, is that nobody seems to care. Almost everyone is resigned to KRON's status as the laughingstock of Bay Area TV and that's a shame. Because even in its schlock mode, if run with a basic, reliable dose of ,leadership, KRON could be a viable news source. And a Bay Area viewers who have a thirst for "more local news than any other TV station" would be well served.

Just not now. Which makes it fairly obvious: KRON will continue to suck for the foreseeable future.

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15 comments:

  1. I'm glad you brought this up Rich. For years I watched Isabel and Marty do the weekend news on KRON. Personable people.
    Now? I put the "news show" on and its ALWAYS in a commercial. Not those short funny national commercials but those unending solar panel and appliance commercials. 10x worse the M-F newscasts.
    Its like KRON is trying to make all it's profit on weekend mornings.
    This last weekend I tried again..I went to 4 when 2 was in a commercial. 4 was ALSO in a commercial.
    And worse maybe? Claudine on 2 didn't come close to sitting in that couch-lol. Behind it,in front of it,circled it..never sat in it!
    All Frustrating.

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    1. Stan thinks he's on a first name basis we these people. SAD.

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  2. But all the other stations in town are undoubtedly rejoicing that KRON is the way it is. With KRON attracting little audience it draws fewer advertising dollars away from the others. Who of the other stations doesn't like that?

    I wonder if that shared services agreement with KGO was really a ploy to keep KRON the way it is, and knock a potential competitor out of the market. Perhaps KGO decided to play to Media General's weak spot, saving money.

    So in thinking about it that shared services agreement may have been a sucker punch that KRON didn't see coming. I've seen plenty of other companies that cease to be competitive once they start to outsource, they give up and it's not long before there's no one left that cares to mind the store.

    Maybe KRON would even be open to replacing there GM and ND with some part-time oversight from KGO personnel. It would be cheaper.

    There is no cure for dementia you know, it is progressive...

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  3. KRON is just going to run more infomericals, more Janelle Marie advertorials, myNetworkTV programming and commit to making its newscasts very commerical heavy. A series of Dr. Phil repeats would be a lot better than what they've got now.

    Perhaps the Wonder Bra bitch can jiggle whilst reading copy. That'll do it.

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  4. KRON will probably sell off its' bandwidth for a to. Of dough, and exist as a "virtual" station. All TV transmitters will be shit off I. The next year or two anyway. All " station" will now be satellite or cable or internet delivery.

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  5. Why not just allow the KRON frequency's to be auctioned off in the upcoming FCC Incentive Auction and TV station "repack"?.

    KRON takes a bullet to the head...and Media General gets close to an estimated 900mil (per the FCC).

    The auction is big news in the trades and at NAB.

    This would explain why KRON is doing nothing.

    Life without KRON can really happen.

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  6. Aaron Pero strikes me as the epitome of how absurd this once proud station has become and how far it's fallen. Pero is an insecure, dysfunctional bully, and though he may not care anything about his reputation among his peers, I know several of his staff who absolutely hate the man's guts. You're right about Aaron Pero Rich; he must have some sort of dirt on upper management to keep his job, else how could have held on to that job for this long? The guy has no clue as far as people skills go and while that's only a tragedy for the everyday person, it's an absolute disaster if you work as a TV News Director!

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    1. It would seem to me that management (and others) would have as much or more dirt on him. I think it's just that management doesn't give a damn. He *does* do his job and he comes in every day and you know he's not going anywhere, not with his rep. So he's a useful tool to just keep in place, like a puppet dictator propping up a wobbly country back in the Eastern Block days.

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  7. Since you said embarrassment Rich...I was watching KRON last week and Grant Lodis was doing a feel good story of "P-22" a mountain lion in the Hollywood Hills...Lodis is going on about the big cats fame and how rangers track him and all that. Then KRON as Lodis continues with a smile, starts showing still photos of the cat taken by rangers trip cameras.
    In one still photo it has something in its mouth. I looked,looked,and froze the picture. It wasn't like any wild animal I recognized. To me, it looked like somebody's small pet Spaniel, dead and about to be eaten.
    That just took the cuteness right out of it.
    It was sort of a Tori moment,like didn't anybody notice that before putting it on air?
    Guess not.

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  8. "KRON will continue to suck for the foreseeable future."

    Especially when stupid tabloid items (i.e.-"Angry Letter to Mom from Fed Up Friends") are considered worthwhile news for a.m. viewers.
    Neither KGO nor KTVU push this kind of moronic garbage.

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    1. Kgo??? Have you seen their Twitter feed? ABSOLUTELY THE WORST. Enough with the kitty videos and the crap all day long. Race to the bottom.

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    2. AND KTVU does their stupid celebrity news now where they talk to Harvey Levin. Oh wow, it's a big deal that Paris Hilton was seen with hair extensions, and some talentless rapper was caught cursing out some other talentless rapper.

      Imagine this sort of trash in Dennis Richmond's day. He bailed at the right time.

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  9. KRON wants watchers to send in stories. See there Rich? You could have sent in that photo of a KRON employee in a black Bentley parking in a handicapped zone who's not handicapped. Took the spot of Grandma Willis ,the 80 year old KRON employee who then had to walk a block by cane.
    I'm sure they would get right on that one.

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  10. Rich, you are spot on with General Media not caring. Even more interesting is that I (along with many others) complained to the FCC regarding the bottom tracker situation that happened a month back. They (FCC) sent me an e-mail thanking me and stating complaint closed. CLOSED!?! There does not appear to be any response from the FCC on what was a blatant violation. Amazing! The FCC seems as messed up as KRON itself.

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  11. Call me crazy but I think Ed Ansin, the owner of two successful stations in Miami and Boston (WSVN and WHDH) should sweep up KRON, and turn it into one of their powerhouses.

    Just a thought.

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