By all accounts, the soon-ex KPIX GM, Kevin Walsh is a good guy. Everuone I speak too--and I speak to a lot of people says mucho positive about Walsh. That said, to call his sudden "retirement" (at month's end) is simply misleading.
Walsh was the boss to former ND, Mark Neerman. Neerman had a host of personnel issues at PIX. Many. And so Walsh, who, yes, was thinking about retirement sooner rather than later, was instead told to retire by CBS brass. Had he not, they would have forcibly told him to get lost, simple as that.
I'm amazed that some of these trade papers publish such unmitigated bull. Not surprised though.
*More PIX: hearing from my 855 Battery spies that there will be some new hires coming. Anchors and reporters. CBS needs its Bay Area O and O to prosper, which it definitely is not doing now. Grumpy, miserable peeps at PIX --with a new ND, (Lisa White) is a recipe for change. And White has some things to do on her to-do list.
I recall them being in a very similar situation in the late 90s. Changes were coming! They came...but nothing much was really different. In the last 20 years they've never really had much "star power," for whatever reason. And from what I've heard, Lisa White (like most of them) is more of a technocrat than a leader, more of a manager than a visionary. Since this industry is sinking faster than the Lusitania, anybody who's a visionary doesn't come to work in TV anymore.
ReplyDeleteRich is telling the truth, folks. As an employee at 855 Battery, I know.
ReplyDeleteI knew Lisa White during my time at Pix. She was no more than an errand boy (girl) for Dan Rosenheim who I understand brought her over during their stint together at KRON. As 2:03 rightly said: She was nothing more than what we used to call in the old days an Office Manager; set schedules/vacation request and the like. As editorial prowess, she much reminded me of another former Pix ND wanna be Dianne Fukami "make me care". What PIX needs is a total transfusion. The CBS suits let this once legacy station go to waste a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteLisa White is in fact a relic from the Rosenheim days. She was just an assistant then and not the fresh blood that KPIX needs now. If they hire her full time it is a sign that the brass at CBS has no clue what they are doing and don't care about the direction of the station despite recent moves.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read posts from wussy snowflake conservatives...whining because invariably most of the new PIX hires will likely be women...or people of color. LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteWe wussy snowflake conservatives don't have a problem with PIX hiring women, as long as they're hot.
DeletePlenty of Asian-American men I've known have both presence and a good speaking voice.
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