Two ABC/KGO-TV Giants in TV Promo 30 Years Ago Thursday; Peter Jennings and Van Amburg

 Peter Jennings and Van Amburg. About as big as you can get.


Jennings passed away much too soon from throat cancer a few years ago. Amburg is alive and kicking in El Cerrito --retired and resolute to privacy and comfort.


The above promo debuted in February, 1984. Seems like yesterday.


To this day, Amburg was the highest-paid anchor in San Francisco TV broadcasting history at a salary of just over a million dollars. He also had considerable clout inside the KGO-TV newsroom and he flexed it--until the end. The king of "NewsScene" off his throne.


He left KGO--some said he was essentially shown the door, only a few years later. There's a lot of speculation as to who and what were the cause of his professional demise but I know it wasn't a happy ending.


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The Lost Art of Simple TV Anchor Conversation: Remember That Age-Old Relic?

 A few weeks ago I was watching the local news--can't remember the station nor the particular story but it was compelling enough that the anchors did something unusual--at least unusual in 21st Century TV news--they actually spoke to one another. WAIT, I mean they went beyond innocuous insincere chit-chat--they conversed! It was telling because in today's news template an actual conversation is tantamount to a really revolutionary idea.

I'm making a big deal about this because when's the last time you saw a TV anchor offer up a few questions back to the reporter doing a live shot? And I'm not talking your garden-variety verbal who-what-where; more to the point concise, specific actual dialogue--remember that age-old relic? It's become a commodity, a rare glimpse of human interaction as opposed to the banal back-and-forth between anchor and reporter.

Matter of fact, when's the last time an anchor had a legitimate conversation between his or her partner on a subject matter? You don't see a lot of it--my feeling is that, A. the consultants don't like it and B. It's embarrassing but in today's younger, newbie environment the anchors simply don't know how to talk to one another and even if they tried it would come off looking foolish and contrived. Imagine that: you have a big news story or some off-the-radar material-- (like the kid with the replica AK-47 who was shot dead by the Santa Rosa cops who thought it was real). In my mind if I were a viewer watching a story like that, the idea of anchors simply discussing the sheer tragic nature of that story would bring out an utter human emotion. Keep in mind that I'm not talking about a long, drawn-out back and forth, merely a few moments of reflection; of actual verbal content and not a phony, "Thanks Bob for that report, giggle, giggle."

The late Pete Wilson, (KRON/KGO-TV), was a master at this formula. Wilson was engaging and focused on certain stories; matter of fact, at times he almost overdid it, but it wasn't phony nor disingenuous--Wilson was as passionate a news reader as there was and it was that element, that personal touch that resonated with viewers. Wilson would have eaten up the tragic Santa Rosa cop-kid tragedy. Most of today's anchors would have simply read the notes and moved on. Ad-libbing is a virtue today. Relevant conversation is a commodity. The times they are a changin'.

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Cox Media Conducts Internal Investigation; KTVU Namegate Still Fluid; Fake Press Release Latest Development

Now that Asiana Airlines has threatened legal action against KTVU, the internal investigation in Oakland has shifted to Channel 2's corporate owner, Cox Media in Atlanta.

Which effectively puts both the GM, Tom Raponi, and News Director, Lee Rosenthal out of the loop on Namegate. Raponi, the GM, was the latest recipient of a fake news release that looked and sounded genuine until the very end. It bears to repeat that someone out there really hates KTVU. Who and why remains to be seen and investigated. The situation gets more bizarre by the day.

Inside the station the staffers remain tight-lipped, (as they should now that the legal arena has entered into the equation). Even a few of my insiders don't know what's going on. They just go to work and do their job although all of this has put a tremendous amount of strain on people in the newsroom.

There's growing belief that someone is going to take the fall. No one is immune. Rosenthal has barely been on the job for three months yet if the situation remains fluid and/or more embarrassing developments occur, he might get the hook. This is Cox mind you; a private company fiercely protective of its name and brand. They've never been in love with their progressive entity in the Bay Area but they also acknowledge it's still a cash cow. (At one point years ago KTVU's vaunted "10 O'clock News" alone accounted for 1% of the overall gross earnings for Cox Media).

**Developing...

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Bay Area TV Anchors lack Passion; I got a Problem with that--do You?

Question: Where's the passion in the Bay Area's TV News anchors?

Answer: What passion?

Bottom line, we are a vanilla market. We have very good solid anchors, don't get me wrong, but they're all pretty much cookie-cutter.

They have been marginalized and fed toast points by the consultants and managers so much to the degree that they rarely show any emotion even on the most passionate of stories. There's nothing terribly wrong with that and nobody's suggesting one or so of the readers to actually do something radical but doesn't there come a time when you, the viewer, want some raw emotion, some degree of anger, some frustration? I miss a little bit of that from the late Pete Wilson. He was good at that without being a dick. When there was a story of particular rage and heat, Pete would show the necessary angst, but it wasn't phony or contrived--it was real, damn the teleprompter and notes.

Today's Bay Area news readers are, for the most part, just reading lines. That's not to denigrate their work, necessarily, but it does illustrate the new world of local TV news. Dammit.

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Anna Chavez: The Mystery of her Disappearance Explained; Former Popular Bay Area TV News Anchor Victim of Stalking; 415 Media Exclusive

Anna Chavez was a very popular and engaging news anchor who spent 21 years in the business, (mostly in SF at KGO-TV and KPIX).

Suddenly, out of the blue, she announced she was quitting and said she wanted to pursue another career. Her co-workers were stunned. How could such a talented newswoman leave an industry she excelled in and was widely admired and respected.

In fact, one of the main reasons why Chavez left TV was because she was being pursued by stalkers--several, in fact, and one individual who was considered, "very dangerous", according to sources who worked with Chavez. The stalking episode lasted several months and years, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"It was unnerving and scary enough to her to a point where she wanted out," said one source who added that Chavez was concerned about her family and its welfare.

Most stalker victims are understandably unwilling to go public. However, one victim told me, "It's well known in the industry, (TV news), that many women and some men have had very scary stalkers." The source said it's not uncommon for police to become involved, including providing private protection by off-duty officers.

Attempts to contact and reach out to Chavez were unsuccessful.

It is generally assumed she now leads a quiet and private life.

*Rich Lieberman 415 Media Exclusive

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