1. For all its much ballyhooed "Bay Area's - NEWS station" --where was KRON during the storm's torrent on Sunday? Running infomercials non-stop almost all day. KRON did an expanded 7-10 AM Sunday news show but after that it was ALL cosmetics, religious, patio furniture dreck all the way up to 8 PM! If you're going to hype yourself as a 24-hour "news" station and run infomercial babble then you're really lying to your viewers. Even by KRON standards, this was embarrassing.
2. Why did most stations have their weekday staff in? Ostensibly to show that the storm news was vital and important enough to warrant their "A personnel" --on the other hand, that presents the viewers with the impression: "our weekend people are not good enough to bring you the story." Of course they'll never say that but that's a fair conclusion.
3. Where was Frank Somerville? KTVU's star anchor was nowhere to be seen. Heather Holmes and Ted Rowlands worked the prime time schedule --maybe Frank was busy preparing his next Facebook posting.
4. Does a big puddle of water right below you constitute a "flood?" Paging Maria Medina, KPIX.
5. Why do so many reporters --mainly TV--act as if they're auditioning for the glee club when filing a report? IT'S YOUR JOB! Enough of breathless wonders while on a distant Napa road --of course, if 20 people are trapped in a big truck while you do a live shot, sure, show some emotion, you're only human. But when you're reporting basic information don't get all shock and awe because there's some standing water near your boots. Good grief!
6. Which station stood out? KGO-TV (ABC7) hands down. Not only did 7 expand its morning newscast on Sunday with Carolyn Tyler and bring in Dan Ashley, they also had hourly, (and sometimes) bottom-hour updates during the entire day with expanded news at 5, 6, 7 and 11 PM. In addition, along with Ashley, KGO brought in Ama Daetz to co-anchor with Eric Thomas in the PM. Plus Mike Nicco and Drew Tuma handled weather duties. KGO also brought in many of their weekday reporters. It may have been overkill at times but it showed KGO utilized a lot of its resources to cover the storm --that's serving the community.
KTVU and to a lesser degree, KNTV (NBC Bay Area) get high marks too but couldn't match 7's commitment.
PIX was hamstrung with CBS' NFL Playoffs (no issues here) (and KTVU with Fox) (also here too) but considering those handicaps, did a OK job. PIX brought in Ken Bastida and Liz Cook during the evening with multiple weather anchors, Paul Deanno and news/weather hybrid tonsil, Brian Hackney.
7. Did the storm warrant all the coverage? In the end, no, but I can't find fault with stations going all out just in case. Yes, their was (and is) flooding issues with the usual rivers, (Napa, Russian, Truckee, Consumes, etc) and power outages and traffic foul-ups but those were more outside Bay Area. By and large the immediate 415-510-925 metro area made it out A-OK.
8. What about the tree falling on Hwy 13 in the Oakland Hills? Uh, yeah, I saw it. Nobody was hurt. Unfortunately, there was a couple of deaths in San Ramon and the South Bay due to fallen trees. It received a lot of attention...as it should have.
9. Who stood out on radio? KCBS had continuous coverage --with its standard "traffic and weather" every 10 minutes --when a big storm hits, right up their alley. Even if they repeat any given story over ten times every day. Sorry, but that's not right.
10. Who didn't stand out? KGO Radio ran its usual taped financial shows and dreck up until 5 O'clock --Cumulus showing it really hasn't a clue but what else is news?
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Cumulus fired all their news people except a skeleton crew to yell over the syndicated morning show at the top of the hour on weekday mornings. The rest of our "news" is really low-rent traffic people filing out of Dallas TX. There is literally no weekend news crew. Nor is there anyone in the building empowered to deviate from the program log. But we already knew that, you and I, didn't we. Garbage in, garbage out.
ReplyDelete> Why did most stations have their weekday staff in?
ReplyDeleteBecause the NDs and EPs are watching the *other* stations, which have their weekday staff. I can just see them saying, "If they're doing it, we have to do it," as they pick up their phones and start dialing.
As for reporters acting like they're auditioning for the glee club, that's because that's what those same NDs and EPs tell them to do. It's that or they lose their jobs to someone younger and perkier.
You hit the nail on the head. I'm just curious which channel did it first.
DeleteAny big story brings the big guns, period!
DeleteRadnich never watched the Raider game as I reported he wouldn't.
ReplyDelete"The Sportscaster bored by Sports"..lol. That's true.
Maria Medina can come stand in my puddle any time
ReplyDeleteDude, I was eating lunch when I read that...
DeleteHumorous how much KNTV pumped up their 'Storm Ranger' for identifying high intensity rain. Others have their 'HD Dopplers'. They all are annoying with the radar-like swoosh circling around their maps. Just makes it more difficult to glean the info that you need. Prediction accuracy was suspect, as the hardest rain in the south bay was at 9:30pm, hours after they said the worst had past.
ReplyDeleteIt's called CazaTormentas at Telemundo stations (same gadget). I agree about the lack of accuracy. One of KNTV's weather guessers on Friday had predicted the next 13 days with continuous rain. By yesterday (Sunday) most weathercasters had adjusted their forecast to rain through this Wednesday only. So bad! Why do forecasts beyond 7 days?
DeleteMedina is attractive, and really really dull. Michelle GriEGO is a fountain of personality compared to Maria.
ReplyDeleteAny updates on who was in the KGO-TV truck that got hit with the landslide in the Santa Cruz mountains overnight?
ReplyDeleteA cameraman who lives in Santa Cruz. He was taken to a hospital and released, thankfully, earlier Monday.
DeleteRich
ReplyDeleteKRON aired 12 hours of News and Storm Coverage this Weekend ..12/48 Hours or 25% of their Air Time.....Do the Math! This is more than all the other O&O's Combined!!!!!!
That doesnt fit Rich's liberal spin tho.
DeleteI'm sure it is oft-mentioned here, but I get annoyed when anchors "thank" field reporters profusely and say things like "appreciate it," as if the reporters were doing something far more fun and just came down to donate their time.
ReplyDeleteEspecially Ken Bastida. He says, "Thanks for that"
DeletePeople and Anchors say "Thank You" because it's the polite thing to say.
DeleteOCD types get uptight about it....everyone else just see's it as having "manners".
Radnich also spent some time whining that the superb actress Meryl Streep gave a political acceptance speech. "Not the place" was his argument. This is the same man who took hours and hours of sports time spread over weeks to ask conservative old guests what they thought of Trumps win. He even spouted "No More Handouts!" Like a Nazi party member at one Trump testimonial.
ReplyDelete"The Sports host who's bored by sports and hates social programs to help African Americans that's also married to a African American woman".
That's him.
Sorry Stan, no more handouts.
DeleteRe: KRON...infomercials, religious programming and patio furniture show is standard Sunday programming. It keeps the lights on and pays the bills. They cut corners already and probably had a skeleton crew in news as usual. Such is life.
ReplyDeleteWhat storm torrent? We got 1.3 inches in Oakland...getting more than that today 1/10. Our meteorologists are clowns. Better off just looking out the window to determine the weather than relying on their unreliable toys...high def doppler, doppler ranger, doppler7. How about "2 eyeballs & a window."
ReplyDeleteThank you for underscoring exactly what's wrong with this country. If it didn’t happen to you it's not important. The flooding mudslides and displacement is a figment of the fevered media mind because it only rained 2" in Oakland (not 1.3").
DeleteBy the way Rich, no one was injured in the latest Hwy 13 tree incident but trees fall across that highway periodically. A couple years ago a UC freshman from China was killed when a tree fell on his car while traveling down Hwy 13. Just saying.
Enema maybe? You might be a little backed up.
Deletebtw, Radnich NOT ONCE asked a black guest about Trump. So,yes,he knew what he was doing.
ReplyDeleteStill hasn't.
What does Radnich have to do with the weather?
DeleteCall your doctor.
109, That told me off.
DeleteOne major piece of news I picked up from the storm coverage?
ReplyDeleteMaureen (Marcia,Marcia,Marcia)Naylor said live on air "Compare me at 5' to this..) She's only 5'? If she admits that, she must be 4,11". Short woman add,tall woman subtract.
Others must amazed like me to hear this. Petite beauty.