The overall dreck and daily slopfest is painful to the eyes. Anchors who look like they just left the Marin YMCA. Clowns who couldn't ad-lib if their life depended on it. What a disgrace.
To think, a market that once boasted the likes of Van Amburg, Pete Wilson, Dennis Richmond and Dave McelHatton has become such a human pothole.
It’s a bit of a fantasy. The glory days. In reality Dennis Richmond couldn’t ad lib to save his life either.
ReplyDeleteDennis was great as long as everything was scripted. No one better. But despite his issues. Give somerville some credit. That was a guy who could sdlib anything. He was in a league of his own.
Deletehe had the illusion of credibility
DeleteSomeone inside the industry whose name I will not drop but it's a big one, once told me the reason Dennis "read the news as straight as he could" to use his own term, was because he didn't understand half of what he was reading. Another person, also a big name I won't drop, said Fred Zehnder once said of Dennis, "He wouldn't know the lead story if it bit him in the ass."
DeleteSomerville's ad-libs were one of the things that turned me off about him. They were too often forced and holier-than-thou. I'm pretty sure they turned off plenty of other people, too.
DeleteI agree
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about all the names. They were all outstanding. But please remember they all operated with no cable news. No I phones and no social. The guy who actually impressed me was somerville. He replaced Dennis. He didn't try to pretend he was Dennis. He did his own thing. He also incorporated Facebook. And has nearly 600k followers. That's impressive. But now you're seeing the next generation where anchors think it's cool to wear ripped jeans on the air. It's so disappointing.
ReplyDelete" He also incorporated Facebook."
DeleteThey all do; company policy.
My point is as that no one in the old days had to do that. And yes all stations require it. But I hope understand his Facebook page had more followers by a mile than and other local anchor or reporter in the country.
DeleteMaybe it's required but it's not a positive, it's a fuckin' joke. Look at us!!! We're on the internets m3ssag3 boardz!!1!
DeleteCircle 7 folks dress like pros. Ditto Channel 2, when I watch them. Hardly ever watch NBC Bay Area. KPIX has a FEW folks who know how to dress, but most seem like they’re appealing to the People of Walmart crowd.
ReplyDeleteLike Paul Heggen & Sara Donchey who have the worse fashion sense. What makes it worse is that on social media Paul & Liz rubbed it in on their casual Friday. Liz’s casual attire is surely better than Paul’s and she dresses far better than Donchey. But Heggen has no fashion sense. It’s possible he might go casual every day in the future.
DeleteI don't get why people keep criticizing Sara on her wardrobe-she's young and dresses like it. The more that I see of her on the air the more endearing she becomes(literally and figuratively)!
DeleteSara is a Millennial. I’m a Baby Boomer and don’t have any problems with her dress or demeanor. Younger Baby Boomers and Gen X are sitting in decision making position; undoubtedly they realize that social and is the primary source of information for that demographic. Cable news works and online sites still is relevant for Gen X. I feel that Baby Boomers are the primary consumers of local and network news. Younger anchors like Sara Donchey, Audrey Asistio, Dion Lim, Liz Cook, Luz Peña, Karina Nova etc. are for Millennials.
DeleteHit right on the head Rich, couldn't have said it better; yup, those were the good olden times
ReplyDeleteSadly times move on. I also miss the old times when Dave or Van was reading us the news!
ReplyDeleteThe Real problem at channel 2 is the story count.
ReplyDelete2 to 3 items with filler & fluff. Hardly ANY bay area news.
Shit from fox 11, KCRA 3, & national nothingburger story.
Pure shit.
Fox 2 is not the old KTVU News when it was owned by Cox.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right, look how they're running FNC into the ground
DeleteI think some of you hit on it. We miss those times, so we miss the people of those times. Things were simpler then, you had trusted anchors that were almost honorary family members on your big RCA or Zenith who told you what was happening. Before modern media you knew nothing about their personal lives, nor what drama might have been going on in the newsrooms. Those people carried a lot of cache and weight for us.
ReplyDeleteIn a more nuts-and-bolts way, newscasts were much more local. KPIX, KTVU, and KRON had their own identities and KGO was the only O&O. And even Channel 7 had a unique style that didn't have to hew to network standardization. Newscasts didn't need to fulfill network obligations. And of course staffs were bigger, which is I guess a sign of the times.
12:12 what is your point? Without cable news, iPhones and Social media the prior anchors were a lot better; you seem to agree. The only anchor, and former at that, you tout is Frank Somerville with his supposed almost 600K Facebook followers. I just Googled how to fake Facebook followers. Somerville is probably trying to keep up with younger current Bay Area anchors with followers on more popular platforms too. The problem with Social Media is anchors like Somerville want to use it to be the center of attention on stories. Using Social Media as a platform or in a side business for personal gain is detrimental to their trustworthy positions. Reading this blog, I recall some current anchors were caught cheating on followers. So I am not “impressed” with Facebook followers.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to me that you're so cynical.
DeleteI used to work with him. He didn't do it for self promotion. He did it because the station asked him to. And then he worked his ass off. And fyi his page generated so many great stories for ktvu. Just ask amber Lee. That's who he gave all his stories to. The fact that you think he did it for self promotion is a sorry excuse. He cared. THATS why he did it. Why all the hate. He was a damn good anchor who ended up with mental health issues. Dan Ashley is also a damn good anchor. They both deserve respect. Just like van amber. And Dennis Richmond. And many others who came before them. Evan white. Pete Wilson. Bob jimenez. Kate kelly. Anna Chavez. Etc.
DeleteExactly. I have know frank for over 40 years and the whole time he has been cheating on his wife, going out with your girls, drinking, and doing drugs.
DeleteYou only live once, if Frank wants to enjoy himself, nothing wrong with that!
DeleteThat's sure not the Frank I know and I've known him for years as well.
DeleteWe used to have Herb Caen,
ReplyDeleteNow we have Rich Lieberman
I used to wait for Caen's article, happy happy, now it's waiting for Rich's, also happy happy
DeleteNot only looking like they came from the gym but also using slang either to be “cool” or don’t know better which maybe worse.
ReplyDeleteThey should all dress like Fetterman and get it over with.
ReplyDeleteCan you figure out exactly what's he saying when he talks or is it just me?
DeletePeople also used to dress to the nines when going to church. Now if you are all dolled up in ripped jeans and platform shoes, Father Malarkey will still take your confession.
ReplyDelete“Casual Fridays” begot Hawaiian shirts. (Which in and of themselves are A-Ok). You could always tell all the lame losers on Friday by their silly get ups. Even self respecting Hawaiians avoided the Friday follies of frat-rat white boys.
I agree, but times change. Time to move on.
ReplyDeleteFP Santagelo: listened to the Giants on the radio Friday night. FP does not use the words yes/no. It is ya and nay which is not professional. On a play at first base, he described the reason the umpire got the play correctly because the pitcher’s black shoes made it “more better” to see. He spoke of Harvey Kuenn, “Harry Wall bangers.” He stated he loved that name as Harvey was a past manager of the Brewers and maybe he did not realize Harvey was also a Giant in the 1960’s. Maybe FP may need to do his homework. Lastly, in my opinion, his statement may be considered racist. He mispronounced the word “humidor.” After getting his pronunciation correct, he stated his mispronunciation was correct in the south. Really? Why is this guy on the radio?
ReplyDelete