MEANWHILE, CBS Network execs have come to Battery and Broadway. A MAJOR Shake-up is rumored.
Indeed, PIX is a disaster zone. Reeling, miserable, and chaotic. It's plain god-awful and it won't be getting any better soon.
On the new anchors: Yamamoto is, by all accounts, a nice guy. Unfortunately, being a nice guy doesn't necessarily translate into a good anchor.
Yamamoto is hopeless. He's got a terrible voice and he looks baseless and out of place. I can't believe this guy is on at 5 PM, he is flat out awful. I'm being charitable. He is hardly the look of a lead anchor. And now the majority of staff at PIX feel the same. Yamamoto is not ready for prime time. Unfortunately, he was hired by Neerman. Ouch.
I'm not as down as everyone else on Donchey, the former SoCal CBS anchor who works alongside Yamamoto. "She looks so LA", said a PIX contact. Yes, Donchey has a few superficial (among other things) personal items; her lips, her hair, the obvious facial work. It's not a pretty picture.
White has to rally the troops. Her staff isn't happy. PIX is a sea of LOUSY. The place is a certified mish-mash. I'm being diplomatic.
Donchey was hired with the idea (maybe) to take over the inadequate Liz Cook. I've said Cook has improved over the years but rank and file staffers thinks she's a bust and is still a poor performer. Cook at least isn't Allen Martin, who just isn't the guy for 6. Martin has the look of a Berkeley law professor, not an evening news anchor. His demeanor and those god-awful glasses is so damn depressing. What a horrible look. I get depressed just thinking of it. Martin makes Ken Bastida look like Walter Cronkite.
Wait a minute.
Maybe KPIX can get Nora O'Donnell? According to the scuttlebutt, her ass is on the line as CBS' ratings are in the dumper. Besides, CBS won't want to pay her a settlement from her contract. Might as well have her working. It can't be worse than having dull and drab (Yamamoto) and Hollywood Swinging (Donchey) on the air.
ReplyDeleteNorah O'Donnell is great during live events - she was magnificent during the Jan 6 fascist insurrection - but the Evening News broadcast is god-awful, I had to stop tuning in, and I'd been watching it since Douglas Edwards. Maybe she should do a Sylvia Chase. And she wouldn't have to wear so much makeup anymore.
DeleteA cardboard image of Douglas Edwards would be an improvement. In fact, take any of the legacy CBS News people (Cronkite, Reasoner, Severeid, Mudd, Rather) as cardboards and it would be an improvement.
DeleteHow does one"look baseless"? What's the "look of a lead anchor"? Two very successful anchors I remember, who didn't have " the look of a lead anchor" were Dave Maclehatton( sp?) and Walter Cronkite.
ReplyDeleteThough respected, when it came to ratings McElhatton was the anchor of the perpetually last-place KPIX news. I don't know if you can consider that "very successful".
DeletePoor Liz, she's so darn cute but lacks gravitas
ReplyDeleteShe'd be better suited doing a lifestyle show like California Live
DeleteI agree with you on Yamamoto. He always looks like he's pissed off. I'd hate to see Mary Lee leave. I like her.
ReplyDeleteI'm happily "TRACKING" her exit so I don't have to see her stupid promos anymore.
DeleteI can't stand Lee's squeaky voice and simpery smile -- the sooner she leaves, the better.
DeleteI never quite figured out why Medina was never a bigger presence at KPIX. She wound up in the South Bay bureau doing hits for the 11 pm news.
ReplyDeleteTalented people to far away outposts while giving the Disney princess the anchor chair. The managers at PIX wondering why they got fired.
DeleteI had not heard about Mary Lee leaving! That is indeed, sad news. As for Maria Medina, I saw her post this morning, and it is surprising to a degree, although as anyone who has monitored your blog knows, it is a mess at KPIX, so her leaving should not be a surprise. But her excuse does seem to be surprising. She said she lost one of her sons a year and a half ago, but I am pretty sure she had two sons, both of which believe it or not, are grown up, so her excuse of wanting to spend more time with the family seems a little bogus to me. So I can see her getting out of the KPIX quagmire, but considering she is PRIME TV MATERIAL, I mean, she is Asian, totally hot to look at, and she has years of experience both in the field and some anchoring experience, so I see her moving on to bigger and better media things. As for that Sara Donkey, she can talk, but that is about it. I can't stand to look at her face either, and Ryan Yamamoto should be following Kenny Choi around, so he learns the ropes that Choi is utilizing.....
ReplyDeleteMaria just turned 40 and re-married. My guess is she has some guilt about being a working mom and wants to start a new family.
DeleteI like Donchey. Give her a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteI can’t watch Yamamoto without think of Harry potter, Martin is a flop placement, they both can go. Cook is pleasant to watch a good voice and deliver the news well in my opinion I think she needs a better cohost to playoff.
ReplyDeleteYamamoto and Martin both can go. Yamamoto conjures up a visions of Harry Potter make him the weather man with a wand to point things out. Martin is a bad fit with Cook who I like but would profit from a cohost that has a bit more personality to playoff of.
ReplyDeleteMartin is a bad fit with Cook because they can't stand each other.
DeleteOdd, I thought Yamamoto is better at reading the teleprompter than Sara Donkey. Just watched a cast and she stumbled a few times while he didn't.
ReplyDeleteI work w/Maria. She is a sweetheart of a gal...and was totally shattered over the death of her son. As with ANY mom, I don't think she'll ever get over it. (her other son is not even a teenager yet--I think may be 10 or 11?). I read her social media post...relating a story about her son saying she needs a new boss...because the boss didn't let Maria take the day off to attend her son's Mother's Day school event--and how it crushed her.
ReplyDeleteI really, really wish her well. She is a great person.
I am okay with Allen Martin and Sara Donchey. I do think Ryan Yamamoto is a nice person, but he not the face of the station. Kenny Choi is a better anchor,
ReplyDeleteI did not know that Maria CId Medina lost a child. I truly believe she has changed her priorities. She is a fantastic reporter and she will be missed by many viewers including me. I wish her well.
But they have FIRST ALERT Weather!!!!
ReplyDelete