THE
OFFICIAL DOPE on
Azenith Smith and Debra Villalon LEAVING KTVU: Smith is so freaked out over the various shootings (and want to see family) that she's put the TV News biz in her rear-view mirror; Villalon, a Bay Area (
KGO) veteran reporter, is retiring.
All legit and reasonable but my KTVU sources also tell me the current toxic atmosphere at Fox2--under the mercurial ND, Amber Eikel--has everyone on edge and that may have accelerated both Smith and Villalon's split. Let's put it this way: It sure didn't help.
I'm told Eikel's position at KTVU remains safe and that her tenous (at best) hold on power is still very much intact but I also know senior
network Fox officials are not so happy with their
Bay Area O and O operating system/ They feel it's been under-performing as a whole even as they acknowledge the ratings remain solid. Not great but steady which is responsible, for the time being, for allowing Eikel to carry on as News Director. But the tense atmosphere at KTVU--magnified by
TWO STAR REPORTERS departures--is not getting any better. Moreover, the list of those leaving is NOT finished. More turnover is in the offing. More changes, a source tells me, are coming to the newsroom.
The holiday season at KTVU is not very rosey.
I would hardly call Azenith a "star" reporter. Journeyman at best. In the good old days you pine for, she'd be Modesto material.
ReplyDeleteModesto? HA...Try harder!
DeleteAnd to top that off.
ReplyDelete....Someone lit the Jack London Square christmas tree on fire !
Nothing rosey there at all.
Horror indoors & out.
Watching Smith say her goodbyes the other night, I got the impression she was taking a spokesperson or PR job with a local agency. Bill Martin said viewers would still be seeing her.
ReplyDeleteHi Rich: With Debra Villalon retiring this is a critical loss for KTVU as she was their primary North Bay reporter for over a decade. Always did solid work along with the ability to easily adlib when necessary. Now with Debra & Azenith leaving along with Maureen Naylor, Emma Goss & Candace Charles also recently departing I now notice a disturbing trend-all were females. Rich: as you recently wrote KTVU News Director Amber Eikel is particularly difficult & harsh towards Channel 2 female staff. Fox Big Wigs just canned the Witch Chris Nohr-now they also need to quickly terminate the equally Toxic Amber Eikel.
ReplyDeleteSo you are a woman, 12:10?
DeleteDon't forget Kyla Grogan.
DeleteI'd like to know what Amber was expecting from her that she did not get. Dumb move on AE's part.
@9:29 "Kyla Grogan ... I'd like to know what Amber was expecting from her that she did not get." Try "dressing like an adult."
DeleteDebra Villalon, always a class act. Good reporting with a pleasant personality.
ReplyDeleteThankfully she'll no longer have to appear in the rain at 10:00 PM.
I remember Debra Villalon did KOFY TV Primetime News in the late 1980’s along with Fred Wayne and I believe Barbara Simpson when KOFY had news at the time...
ReplyDeleteAmber Eikel hates women. The damage not making the cheerleading squad in high school does is REAL. Until she goes more will leave as contacts come up. Count on it. And they'll be replaced with small market yahoos who don't know the bay and belong in Santa Maria.
ReplyDeleteKTVU Karen is on the rampage!
So it's the news director's fault that news folks are getting shot? Who the hell would want to do this job right now?
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad to see how someone has taken something good and destroyed it to bits. This applies to all of the TV newscasts, and let's not forget KGO and KCBS on the radio side. KRON was decent until new ownership took over and then it went to hell. KTVU used to be billed as the "nation's leading independent station." Now it's one a Fox property that's gone to shit. KPIX Eyewitness News was worth watching at one point. No more. Dan Ashley notwithstanding, you might as well put KGO in the same boat. You would think you could read the Comical. Hell no. Let's draw attention to stories about parklets and restaurants. The BANG newspapers have no pop either. Dreck, dreck, dreck. It's the truth and you can't deny it.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the main reasons, seriously, why democracy is crumbling. There's no decent source of news anymore. When was the last time there was an investigation into the massive corruption in municipal governments, and trust me, there's TONS of it. But Bay Area "journalism" today is "Oooohh, look, that house in the Marina just sold for $3 million."
Delete@5:44 PM ... Dan Ashley withstanding ...
DeleteSo happy the only reporter I known so far reporting in the Bay Area news station who got pregnant then, immediately have the wedding in March before the birth of her daughter in November is leaving the station. She has no chemistry reporting the news story, just boring news out of no where. It is better she goes to TFC Channel reporting North America News.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think that KTVU was the only channel in town.
ReplyDeleteAlways loved Debra Villalon. She's excellent in every way.
ReplyDeleteIt's becoming the Fox Television Stations mentioned in episodes of Married with Children.
ReplyDeleteso let's see who's left: That Evan guy with the creepy dude mustache, Jamez Torrez, Elisa Harrington, Rob Roth, Tom Vacar, Maureen Naylor, and that new Amanda girl. In other words, expect to see even more segments from Fox40 in Sacramento, Fox News, and Fox Business.
ReplyDelete