Bay Area TV/Radio Questions? Ask Rich Lieberman

 You can also ask a question on Twitter.

 

Ask Rich Lieberman

 So much to ask I bet you have a plethora of questions about Bay Area TV/Radio.

*You may also ask a question at Twitter

Aloofness at KTVU; Rosenheim's Salary at PIX; Surly Ama Daetz; KNBR Not Ready For Prime Time Players; Bastida and VLDC; Thursday Notes

 THURSDAY NOTES...

While no one will say anything publically, (duh!), a longtime KTVU staffer says the newsroom is completely out of the loop with a lameduck GM and News Director. "We're all in the dark and it's a guessing game."

Staff awaits the direction of the station once Fox takes over in October but clearly, the mood in JLS is tepid at best.

The Boy Wonder, Lee Rosenthal put his Eastbay house up for sale in June and now it's closed. Most likely, as I've said here, Rosenthal is headed to Boston with GM, Tom Raponi, who has already landed the GM gig with Fox25 in Boston.

*The Game, (95.7 FM All-Sports) has a morning show whose star jock, Aubrey Huff, has taken a lot of time off recently, (Mostly vacation), probably to count his Giant's money and update the resume because the program is clearly in trouble and so is Huff's radio career.

*A TV trade based in Florida questioned my report that KPIX's ND, Dan Rosenheim was making somewhere in the 'hood of $350K...a former PIX reporter told me Rosenheim was at about $330K six years ago. I'll take his word for it.

*Ama Daetz, new KGO-TV weeknight co-anchor: more than charming ON the air, a little surly OFF the air.

*Sussman: Drudge Report headlines, repeats stories, bash Obama, play stupid Joe Biden 7-11 actuality, repeat more stories, bash Obama, fake banter with traffic chick whose voice sounds like a gravel machine at the Hayward dump, end of show.

*Spencer Hughes/KSFO hate monger: Was I too harsh? No, kind of tame actually.

*That new KRON VP and GM: looks can be deceiving.

*It's pretty evident that when Gary Radnich, even in his sunset years, takes vacation, his KNBR show suffers from a case of the Not Ready For Primetime Players.

*Ken Bastida and Veronica De La Cruz: Not exactly chummy. The body language alone speaks volumes. More ominous for PIX: Bastida likes everyone!

*Follow me on Twitter

Ask Rich Lieberman 415 Media; Thursday First Take

I'm sure you have a lot to ask.

Fire away.

You can also ask questions on Twitter and Facebook

Glaser and ND Watkowski Weren't Chummy; Overworked/Exposed Cook May Have Been Impetus Behind De La Cruz KPIX Hire; Damon Bruce scores Guest Coup over KNBR's Tolbert; Thursday News and Notes

  So, from a number of KGO-TV staffers, Leigh Glaser, who's set to leave this Sunday after 23 years at 900 Front, wasn't a big fan of News Director, Tracey Watkowski... Supposedly, Watkowski is a control freak. That wasn't what accelerated Glaser's decision to leave; she was ready to split and wanted to be with her family.

On the other hand, the polarizing Watkowski, who's been monitoring weekend newscasts with a mounting urgency, was known to call into the assignment desks and producer's box and make a lot of rash inquiries, including talent. Watkowski wasn't going after Glaser directly but some of her busy bees may have passed on some notes. Weekend newscasts, particularly Sunday nights, generate some of the highest viewer numbers in the Bay Area and Channel 7 in particular. The good news for Watkowski is that given KGO's fairly solid numbers her status is safe but some veterans aren't thrilled with her mercurial style. Factoid: Glaser's sudden decision to leave was announced to the staff via an e-mail by Watkowski. Draw your own conclusion.

*Veronica De La Cruz is set to join KPIX in May and will work the 6 and 10 News. We told you that and made an inference about what may have led management to look for a "prominent hire." Turns out, according to my spies at PIX, Elizabeth Cook, who was almost the face of the operation working the 5, 6, and 11 newscast, seemed to be burning out. Cook is a capable news reader and proverbial "cutesy female anchor look" but PIX's early-evening numbers have been steadily down and just recently they have been getting killed by KGO. The De La Cruz hire is the first major move by PIX upper management. She came to the city via MSNBC and will work alongside Ken Bastida.

NEWS, NOTES, and COMMENTS: Score round one of the guest wars between KNBR and 95.7 FM, "The Game" to Damon Bruce. Bruce, who began his new show on Monday, had highlighted his first guest, retiring Cal basketball coach, Mike Montgomery. Only problem was KNBR's PM driver, Tom Tolbert, had also told listeners "we're trying to get in touch with 'Mike Montgomery...turns out Montgomery did his scheduled 10 minutes with Bruce and about 30 minutes later, went on the air with Tolbert. Kudos to Bruce and The Game which seems to be attracting the better guests and scored another coup by nailing down Giants MGR, Bruce Bochy on its morning show a few days earlier. The latter was especially embarrassing for KNBR considering Bochy was on the A's flagship station. Probably helped that one of the Game's AM drivers is ex-Giant, Aubrey Huff...A note about Bruce: only heard bits and pieces of his first show and while I've had my ups and downs with the new Game PM host, he's at least a breath of fresh air and more than an alternative to commercial spot-heavy, KNBR with 800 hours of commercials, traffic and sports updates. While KNBR's Tom Tolbert has the advantage of Giants/Warriors lead-ins and a better signal and 50K-watts, Bruce's edgy repertoire will sway a few listeners over to FM...Freaky situation over at legendary leftie airwave Berkeley's KPFA where a bigwig was fired only she locked herself into the back office and blocked the door and has the support of many of her staffers...

  *Follow me on Twitter

KRON's 8 PM NewsCast is Solid Even if Morale Isn't; KGO-TV 'NewsRoom' Set is Cool; Savage Taping 3rd Hour; Don't Blame the Dallas Outsourcers on KGO; Thursday PM Headlines and Happy Hour

 Thursday PM Talk of the Town


*At KRON, they dumped the weekly sports talk show; reporters are bitching, once again, about chaos in the newsroom--overworked and anxious staffers being screamed and yelled at by the obnoxious ND boor and his Marie Antoinette assistant.


*Those KGO Radio outsourced Dallas traffic announcers? It's really not their fault most are mispronouncing Bay Area city and street names, performing a sad verbal jabberwocky at night and on the weekends--you can thank Cumulus for this radio miscarriage, but oh hell, it provides for rather stunning and extraordinary comedy.


*Savage is, once again, taping his third hour. Not a good sign.


*That bold new logo in the upper right-corner of this blog should provide for a great tease about something on the horizon --but I'll let it speak for itself, for now.


*I kind of like the KGO-TV look --newsroom in the background--even if a lot of you are irritated. By the way, the anchors don't really care --as long as they're on the air and that's what counts---splashy news desks and studio Star Wars-looking sets don't always bring forth quality newscasts.


*Underrated: KRON's 8 PM cast: A no-nonsense, long on story, short on gimmick program with a gargantuan, (by today's standards), fresh and snappy 60-min presentation. Pam Moore is basic and that's real good and Grant Lodes visual enhancement with the news keys is just enough to make things interesting. I like it. Now if only we can all make you guys happy.


*Follow me on Twitter