YOU HAVE A MESS at KGO-TV (ABC7)You would say things are rosy at 900 Front Street, home to KGO and ABC7. You would be wrong. Like, oh so wrong.
As a matter of fact, there's genuine turmoil; massive unrest; massive bad morale; deep division; heavy-duty favoritism; an ongoing battle with a news director almost everyone can't stand; exceptional distrust amongst the rank and file and a new GM that hasn't rallied the troops when there's hostility and anxiety in the newsroom and beyond. The Circle7 gang has a plethora of hurdles to overcome and no one is manning the conference room to restore order.
We haven't even touched the Natasha Zouves issue and the rancor it's causing; Oh, and still no contract extension for veteran anchor and station de facto ambassador, Dan Ashley. Hello, is anyone home?
It's Sweeps time too and it could hardly have arrived at a worse time for the ABC O and O in the Bay Area. The morning show is a certified mosh pit of overbearing egos and miscreants who think their poop doesn't stink. Reggie Aqui is still the lonely boy Prima Donna --an ego-maniac supreme who is detested by staffers. His love/hate relationship with Zouves seems to have abated with her return but so as long as the two work together, there's a great chance the gruesome twosome will be fighting again. Said a station source: "They have no chemistry together and while Reggie played good on her return, he still has no respect for her." Likewise, she has no love for him. All this poltergeist makes the morning more of a hazardous work environment.
Jessica Castro is stunning to look at, sure, but she's apparently doesn't have the chops to become a central character in the AM platform. Castro supposedly is more concerned about her hair and shoes and doesn't like skewing the news domain. Which doesn't necessarily make her incompetent but growing discontent amongst her peers is proof positive that she's nothing more than a pretty face.
I can't fathom how Tracey Watkowski-Silva, the embattled ND, keeps her job while KGO teeters on personnel disaster zone. We've been down this road before yet Watkowski is given a long rope. Some of the various issues confronting the station aren't her (TWS) her fault but the wide gap between staff and management; the ever deepening division; is all on Watkowski's watch. She is a terrible manager with over-the-top tactics; tactics that include managing like a dictator and displaying outright favoritism as if she didn't care one iota that her players think she's a total witch. ABC continues to employ her too despite numerous legal cases; most have been settled but at a considerable cost in the several millions. It would be trite to say Watkowski has pictures but at this point, it could be true.
Dan Ashley is almost a year away from his contract expiring --a time when most negotiations for a valued anchor would begin. GM Tom Cibrowski, has supposedly decided to put Ashley's extension on the backburner which is a mistake. Ashley has been at KGO nearly 30 years and more than their cornerstone news reader, Ashley does numerous station appearances and acts as its ombudsman --he is the face of the station. He has already received multiple offers from stations and networks back east but would love to stay in the Bay Area. He'll probably be taken care of but the lack of being proactive and getting his deal done makes Cibrowski look like an amateur. This, from a guy who was a big shot at ABC and its major cog in the AM, "Good Morning America." Cibrowski should take a few days off, rent a room at the Fairmont and read some history books. It wouldn't hurt.
Did I say Larry Beil is still walking around the offices telling everyone that he's Larry Beil and terrifying interns? Yes and yes. Beil once went behind Mark Ibanez' back when both were at KTVU and told the GM (Kevin O'Brien) that "I want Mark Ibanez' job. I'm a number 1 guy." To which O'Brien then said to Beil: "Well, that ain't gonna happen, good luck." So you know what you need to know about Larry Beil.
It's not exactly peaches and cream at the local mouse house. But I do hear the late afternoon tuna-melt and beers at nearby Grumpy's are awesome.
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