Fear and Loathing Hits KTVU In The Morning; Mallicoat, Wong and Orozco At War; Insider Tells 415 Media: 'They All Hate Each Other'; Wong Tries Sex Appeal; Orozco is Orozco; Mallicoat Enraged; Thursday 415 Media Special

Left to Right: Rosemary Orozco, Frank Mallicoat and Claudine Wong

THEY MAY BE SMILING HERE BUT TRUTHFULLY THEY HATE EACH OTHER'S GUTS!! 

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words and the photo on the left is worth at least double that.

The KTVU AM juggernaut --"Mornings on Two" dominates, still, the Bay Area TV News morning shows-MO2 handily beats lame KPIX and brain -dead CBS This Morning; KGO is dead in the water and NBC Bay Area is bogged down by plunging "Today Show" flat lining. KRON tries mightily with its infusion of local news but continues to fake TV orgasms with shameless Darya Folsom and her cast of misfits. It's a sorry scene every morning because of Darya's stupid antics. Which leaves us with KTVU and inner symmetry --right? Great ratings do not make for stellar chemistry and love among the troops.

A KTVU Insider tells me the bulk of the morning crew can't stand each other. The three main players involve anchors Frank Mallicoat and Claudine Wong. On the outside but very much looking in, perennial "I'm bigger and better than just damn plain weather", Rosemary Orozco. Not again? Oh yes, there's history. And a lot of leg too.

The gist of what's going on inside the studios in Jack London Square where KTVU broadcasts:

* Mallicoat is enraged at Wong's behind-the-scenes showboating and flirtatious behavior with every guy in the newsroom and beyond. "She's using her sex appeal and sarcasm as a device to get a more prominent role in the news domain," said the Insider who watches the mayhem every day.

"Claudine wants the spotlight and is willing to do anything to get her way; she's set her sights on something bigger than the morning job and Frank (Mallicoat) is royally pissed off because of it."

Quietly, Mallicoat wants out of KTVU because he despises the "foxification" of the station. "But he loves the Bay Area too so it's a major dilemma."

The Insider tells me Mallicoat and Wong don't talk at all off the air and have built up quite a rivalry --so much so, one day Wong showed up at work with boxing gloves.! It was considered a joke; Mallicoat wasn't amused. Station brass were also not very happy.

For now, the gruesome twosome have let personal issues and hijinks aside and show no sign of conflict on the screen but that's all smoke and mirrors. "Complete bullshit!" offered another station spy, "They hate each other bigtime!; It's all a mirage."

Orozco is viewed as a peacemaker but can't be bothered by such petty behavior. As I've noted before, the tall weather diva is looking for a Hollywood position; literally! Orozco curries favor with KTVU/FOX upper brass in hopes to get a network gig down south, something both Wong and Mallicoat despise and Rosemary knows it. Which is the focus point as to why she loves working every shift but the morning one.

The fisticuffs in the morning have created tension and turmoil in the newsroom. A fear and loathing of the terrible trifecta is pervasive among staffers and HR especially. The Insider:

"Our coffee machine sucks; we might as well have bottles of vodka and gin. Sooner or later, you need a break!"

Ouch!

The Dysfunction that is KPIX; Watts' Leaving Further Muddies 855 Battery; Sweeps Makes It Worse; KCBS Yappers Mary Lee and Hodousek Torture Chamber; Schulman/Chronicle Steal From Me; KTVU's Gomez Non-Street Savvy; Katsuyama Screams at SF Fire Scene; Gonzales and King Factoid; Thursday 415 Media

"THE ONLY FUNCTION HERE IS DYSFUNCTION." That from one of the growing dissatisfied staffers at KPIX --where incoherence and incompetence rules the day.

To emphasize the current disarray, PIX just lost Julie Watts to their CBS counterpart in Sacramento. There are more moves from Pixies on the way, just in time for February Sweeps. How timely.

Watts wasn't one of KPIX's star players but she was big enough to warrant a lot of chatter last (Wednesday) night amongst some of the local CBS' most influential people, both on and off the air. One management figure tried to spin the Watts' move as simply a colleague "not leaving; instead just 'staying in the CBS family in Sacramento'". Yeah right, what a completely, utter sense of bullshit. And that's exactly how it was received by the rank and file.

As I've stated countless times, KPIX has NO IDENTITY. Very little leadership too. Constant conflict is not a help, particularly in the morning. Growing dissatisfaction and lack of morale is PIX's only consistent virtue.  It's a good thing the station is owned by deep pockets CBS but that's hardly a booster inside the building at 855 Battery.

Watts herself was mostly disliked by a majority of the staff --this incident especially but she was high profile enough to garner industry respect and seven Emmys too. Leaving the Bay Area for Sacramento is not that uncommon these days with the locals eyeing its relative affordability especially real estate. That said, Watts decision to leave SF and go up north primarily because she hated PIX' direction and wanted more investigative reporting makes Channel 5 look bad. Looks can be deceiving only in this case it is absolutely true and for PIX, a bad omen. Trust me.

Mary Lee

*This would be real torture: Put KCBS reporter, Carrie Hodousek and morning weather anchor, Mary Lee, in the same room together. The endless shrieking would be unbearable. Lee sounds exactly like Hodousek or is it the other way around? Either way, the shrieking violets cause eternal ear damage.

*Please, I could care less that some nobody on the night shift on KNBR was given a pink slip. I don't listen to that garbage unless there's some CBS Sports Radio content on the air but that too can be painful.

*Memo to Hank Schulman of the Chronicle: It was 415 Media that reported first, this news.

Schulman stealing from me, imagine that. Damn bloggers!

Alyana Gomez

*It was a pleasant sight viewing Alyana Gomez reporting live from the scene of that big fire in SF on Wednesday --too bad Gomez mispronounced several city street names and kept referring to "Geary Street" --locals know it as "Geary Boulevard." Trivial? No, because it's called knowing your geography and city. How damn irritating but that's just me. I would hope and prefer as gorgeous and infinitely watchable Gomez is, it would help if her street savvy were genuine.

*Then there's  Jana Katsuyama on the scene who appeared to think literally screaming and yelling would heighten the story when it was stated from the beginning that no one was hurt or injured or killed, thank god, only buildings were destroyed.

Jana Katsuyama

Katsuyama's loud outbursts did nothing to inform the viewers on KTVU but only reinforces how bad a reporter she is and why KTVU management thinks she's talented is beyond me. Maybe mediocrity rules the day and this is the best they got which apparently it is and gosh does that nauseate me.

*Between the "flipping houses" moron and "Petersen Dean" jerkoff, my has AM Radio become such a mess.

*If Roberta Gonzales truly wanted to come back to KPIX, she could. Her problem, sorta like Dana King, is that both left wanting to pursue their own independence, in King's case, a desire to become an artist; in Roberta's case to become her own broadcast boss. Problem is, both are not earning anywhere near what they got at PIX; not that the money was great but it was far more then they're making now. Yeah, money isn't everything but it's damn near close.

Dana King

KTVU's Rob Roth Excellent Piece on Ghost Ship Victim is Poignant and Powerful (Video)

   So how's a nice Jewish boy with New York roots surviving in the Gregg Kelley 54 camera world of KTVU? Very well thank you.

Senior Reporter, Rob Roth's remarkable package on the Ghost Ship fire victim, Michela Gregory, last week was so "on message" it was a re-run again the next morning in its entirety.

It conjured up the good ole days when the "10 o'clock News" was the preeminent site for the 2:00 to 2:35 non live package.

Roth took the time and effort to cut a stand-up bridge instead of sending a photographer to spray the area. You have to wonder how Roth has survived when most seasoned reporters in the Bay Area are walking bully-eyes for the HR department to save on payroll.

Now we know why. 

Winners

1. Oakland


2. Bay Area
3. KGO-TV
4. KNBR
5. Parade Planners
6. Chamber of Commerce --510
7.Oracle
8.Tim Roye and Tom Tolbert
9. Lake Merritt
10. Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area


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Fortune Loves Oakland; Welcome To The Party

Fortune Magazine gives a little love to Oakland. Glad you finally made it to the party. We've been saying this for over ten years.

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San Francisco Market: Lightweights And Wussies

 San Francisco Market: home of lightweights and wussies.

We're not breaking any new ground here. It's been that way for quite some time and indicative of an industry-wide malaise punctuated with a bunch of no-talent hacks who play kissy-kissy with their no-talent mangers.

Stooges.

The consumers out here are all wise to you. They see through all the BS and have managed to see the light.

Welcome to the show, wussies. At least we're honest here.

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Dana King Happy With Life; Former KPIX Anchor Is Serious About Her Political Run In Oakland; Friday First Take

 Dana King was on my mind recently; can't believe it's been nearly two years since the talented and beautiful King left KPIX, retired, and chose to begin a life of art and politics. Politics?

King is running for city council in Oakland, where she lives near Lake Merritt.

I asked King on my KSCO Radio Show on Tuesday why politics. I mean the volatility and all. She's supposed to be retired, right.

"Well, I want to help out my community. I think I can make a difference,"says King who was working late into the evening manning phone banks at her campaign office. This is serious business for Dana, not some publicity stunt.

As I noted the other day, King sounded at peace and relieved to be out of the local TV news business.


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Ask Rich Lieberman

KTVU's Heather Holmes Purse Stolen From News Truck Outside OPD HQ; Oakland Takes Hit Too; Tuesday Opener

 Heather Holmes of KTVU was doing a live shot outside the Oakland Police headquarters Monday Night when her purse was stolen from an adjoining news truck.


Ironically, Holmes was reporting on a mugging that took place in the city earlier in the day.


Unfortunately, this isn't the only time KTVU has been hit.


And a KGO-TV news crew was robbed at gunpoint.


This is total bs. This is an embarrassment to Oakland. And it's a bummer too because by and large Oakland is a cool city; a city on the rise with a vibrant downtown, new restaurants and a booming art scene and renaissance in many neighborhoods.


But Oakland, my hometown, is still full of crime. It stinks too that Oakland doesn't have enough cops on the street to combat crime. What took place on Monday night, as bad as it was, and I'm talking about both the woman who was mugged and Holmes having her purse swiped, could have been worse, nonetheless it was bad,plain and simple.


I've mostly stayed away from reporting on these incidents because it's happened elsewhere but more so in Oakland. That sucks.


I've been asked about this subject numerous times and I don't have an answer. Does it mean that stations will be covering less news in Oakland because of these incidents? I hope not.


Oakland, as I said, has a lot going on, positively too, not just the crummy news about crime and the lack of cops on the streets. How sad is it that a city of over 400,000 people have barely 600 policemen? But that's another story.


That news people and their staff are getting robbed and in some cases at gunpoint, needs immediate attention and right away. Not that when it involves news media people is it any worse than the citizens on the street who are themselves victims of crime.


But Oakland has to move on this and immediately. This is serious business. And it needs to be dealt with right away.





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John Madden calls out Steve Bitker on KCBS; And gives out a Shout for Oakland; Rips Warriors Proposed Move to SF; Friday Starter

John Madden confronted a justifiable IN-YOUR-FACE  to a clearly flustered Steve Bitker on KCBS Friday morning.

Good for the coach.

Talking about the now-concluded Warriors season, Bitker, towing a company line about how the Warriors will have more fun and pack the new arena in SF, (I'm paraphrasing), was put in his place by Madden.

Madden thought it was a sham that despite the Warriors packing the Oakland/Oracle Arena, they'd be moving across the bay, (we'll see), to SF. Bitker was incredulous. So was Madden.

Madden seemed pissed off. "How do you, (Bitker), know they'll be a 'success in SF--What about Oakland?"

Bitker finally acknowledged "your allegiance to Oakland, John." Gees, thanks Steve for your insight.

I like Madden. I like the fact that he bitch-slapped Bitker ON THE AIR. While the other SF Media sports lemmings dare lament the fact that Oakland and the Eastbay have SOLD OUT the building, made it the loudest arena in the NBA, etc, Madden, of all people, called out Bitzie, who should know better.

Madden doesn't do this for shock. He's irritated and so am I in case you can't tell. I realize, as did Bitzie, that the proposed move to the city is all about money and location but Oakland deserves better. It's Oakland and the ROARCLE fans that are taken for granted by the Warriors owners. Do any Bay Area writers or broadcasters talk about this? Madden got it right. Too bad the writers and some broadcasters are clueless.

More Madden: "You know, Oakland needs a win. " Coach, you couldn't have said it any better.

Here's a link to the podcast

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