Remember? Yes, that Pete Giddings, the guy with the impeccable suits, the polka-dot ties and the "Letter from Home."
Pete Giddings was 1/4th a part of the KGO "NewsScene" Channel 7 dominance in the 70's and 80's. He spent almost thirty years there and developed a healthy following among weather watchers and loyal fan clubs. He was paid well. How well? Try about $400, 000 a year, easily still the highest-paid Bay area TV weather anchor. Giddings knew his weather. He had a habit of making pretty accurate forecasts; he tore into conventional weather predicting and said any forecast beyond 72 hours amounted to a crap shoot. He was pretty much right too. Who could forget Giddings funny shots of himself skiing down Heavenly Valley? Or his shaving rituals. And the "Little people" fishing segments that allowed disadvantaged kids a chance to go fishing on the bay.
Gidding's partners--Van Amburg, Jerry Jensen, John O'Reilly, Don Sanchez, were a part of Bay Area TV nostalgia. "Channel 7 News", to this day, was an iconic part of San Francisco. NewsScene was the birthplace of "Happy Talk" and the infamous, "If it bleeds, it leads." (KGO had a knack for bloody murder, crime scene footage). It also consistently was #1 in the ratings and was one of the most-watched local TV news shows in Bay Area history.
Giddings is still doing weather reports and has his own weather forecast service. We've made contact into Pete's world and hope to have him on the radio show.
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