Saturday Schmooze; Dennis O'Donnell Mystery Still Lingering; PIX Mum; Dysfunctional ABC7 Saturday; KCBS Poo Zone; Darts and Parts

SATURDAY SCHMOOZE

*Dennis O'Donnell continues his mysterious LOA at KPIX; they aren't saying a word. Neither are those in the know, even in conversation ad plain talk. And not a word from our so-called illustrious SF media and a total ASLEEP-AT-THE-WHEEL high-school newspaper, the Chronicle, and the flailing SJ Merc.

*A PRODUCER at KGO Radio is FED UP and so PISSED they went to the UNION. Think about the time when KGO had a limited Saturday schedule and you'll know about the beef. It has to do with MONEY, or in this case? NO MONEY.

*Some one at NBC Bay Area was so ANGRY that someone in the nesroom failed to alert staff on a San Jose fire the individual did a LOUD scream and yell. It's all on the news director whp was too busy watching her beloved Giants to care about this latest skirmish in the NBC BA office but NY Knows.

*ABC7 (KGO-TV) Saturday News: 20,000 weather reports and two minutes of news with Nordstrom cosmetics clerk, Liz Kreutz.

*FRIDAY 5 PM, Downtown SF, then Union Street and Marina: Giants aftermath. My spies at Perry's said you had ample time to get a table at the window with relative ease. Good time to watch the yuppies and first-wives club in action.

*Truly, KCBS is just a major shithole right now with NO ONE minding the store.

*Lisa Argen: every man's third wife.

*The problem (among many) with 95.7 (FM) The Game is that when they turn the MIC ON? Well, that's the problem.

Bay Area Posers; No Stars; PIX 3 PM Newscast Factoid; KGO Radio Crisis (Again); Changes Coming to KNBR; Lund Brown Toilet Paper Ode to Papa; KQED News '22 Omen; Chuck Nevius Goes to Ex; NBC Bay Area Internal Issue; Friday Feast

ONE THING I MISS (among other things) is the lack of STAR POWER in Bay Area TV News.

I miss a Dave McElhatton anchoring alongside Kate Kelly--I miss the steady Pete Wilson when there's a calamity and Pete calms us all down. I miss the old guard Van Amburg and Jerry Jensen. Evan White, Tom Sinkovitz, some of the greatest TV anchors the Bay Area ever produced.

Nowadays, we have NO star power. Outside of a Dan Ashley, the Bay Area is left to a few bread crumbs. The market is chock full of POSERS. A sad bit of reality considering the old days when the area was rich with known commodities.

*Had the GIANTS advanced through the playoffs, KNBR/Cumulus would have made close to $2M in both ad revenue and branding deals. If that sounds high, it is but it's the truth too. The Giants lose the NLDS and the 49ERS have a bye week; at KNBR, the loss of MLB and NFL games (this weekend) means a dark two weeks.

*The new PD at Knibber is waiting to HIRE a new nightime guy to replace Mark Willard (who went to FM's The Game)--he's also looking to alter the Morning Show where too many voices overload the zoo; looks like he may remove one of the Irish frat boys. That would save some money.

*KGO Radio: talk about a new round of CRISIS at 810 AM which is only appropriate as the ten-year anniversary of the Dec./2011 massacre nears. As usual, the natives are PISSED because management has NO MONEY and both the morning show and 10-Noon are CRATERING in the RATINGS.

*The concept of a Somerville/KRON marriage has HEATED UP if you believe what the Insiders are saying: I'm one of the chosen but I still believe PIX (CBS) is in the mix.

*That 3 PM newscast on PIX costs CBS NO $$ which is why even if a few Marin housewives are wathcing is OK. TV News pays for a lot of the bills.

*Greg Papa is saddled with a MORON sidekick, a fool, an imbecile lout named John Lund who couldn't lead an Eskimo to an Alaskan ice cube.

*Ronn Owens is retired and living in Arizona dreaming of the days when Mickey Luckoff made studio visits on his show.

*NBC BAY AREA has an internal issue with its ND, Steph Androuny, whose news staff is not that entirely in love with Steph. It's a case of selective favortism between some of the newbies and old rank and file. It wasn't such a big deal but it got big when one of the chosen few got extra chummy with the boss.

*KNBR without the Giants/49ers: like a whorehousse without hookers.

*Lund's giggle after each and every Papa utterance is proof positive that Lund and brown toilet paper are a cohesive combo.

*KQED has not officially announced its plans for a 2022 "Newsroom" launch but it continues to look for staff both on and off air.

*Maybe the reason why they steal content from a blogger: the CHRON is BLEEDING RED INK.

*Chuck Nevius was hired by the EXAMINER which means his retirement from the Chron was short-lived.

*By the way, who the hell reads the EX?

*KCBS: more dead air than a Cass Elliot wake.

*YAWN CENTRAL: Anything on The Game.

Crisis at KTVU; Latest: NO ONE Showed Up for 7 PM Newscast; Staff in Fear; Hostile Work Environment at Fox2 with Eikel and Nohr Finger Prints; Exclusive

SO FEARFUL the staff at KTVU are toward ND, Amber Eikel, and HR rep, Chris Nohr, they now meet at the condo parking lot next to the Fox2 studios in Oakland. It's NOT a gossip club, rather a group of directors, writers, producers, and the like, who speak about FEAR and INTIMIDATION. A HOSTILE work environment? Try an underground bunker with folks feeling utter PAIN and ANGUISH. Sprinkle in ANXIETY and DESPAIR too.

Welcome to the tranquil KTVU.

Many newsrooms have their excess stress and emotional turbulence. It's a part of the business, but at KTVU, the stress level is OFF THE CHART. Employees WORRY about their jobs. They LOATHE showing up to work.

The situation is so DIRE, a few weeks back, NO ONE showed up for work and a 7 PM NEWSCAST had to be CANCELLED! No DIRECTORS, no air talent, no producers, not a one. KTVU had to run a pre-recorded newscast from 6 PM at 7 PM. Nobody showed up. And Eikel was left to fend alternate personnel but could NOT deliver. It was not only EMBARRASSING but made the rounds in Channel 2's break room and across Bay Area TV News circles. Eikel heard a ton from Fox Corporate who read her the RIOT ACT, but she was not even reprimanded. At other places, she may have been shown the door.

KTVU used to be a news operation admired by not only local news stations, but nationwide admiration. now, it's a LAUGHING STOCK and Eikel's "rule-by-force and fear" is the topic not only at Channel 2 but around the Bay Area. Even top-notch ratings are beginning to go south. Eikel is DETESTED. And her reign of TERROR is beginning to make its presence known to Fox corporate. They are null and void at this point but the powerful suits are now paying attention. They should.

A COMMON theme at KTVU: "she's (Eikel) OUT of CONTROL!" The HR czar, Nohr, has less power but her want to SPY on staff and her constant observance of over 24 caameras at and around the premises has almost everyone at KTVU emotionally TATTERED. "Nohr is also DETESTED," said a KTVU source.

It's reacched CRISIS PROPORTIONS at KTVU.

Sea of Paranoia at KTVU; Eikel (ND) and Nohr (HR) at Center of Storm; No-Faith and Then Some; Haener Confrontation Latest

KTVU: SEA OF PARANOIA

"They are destroying the essence of KTVU"

The "no-confidence" continues...staffers "disgust" is on high zone

Haener (Julie) confrontation latest hit on staff

The scene at KTVU is probably at its worst. Only marginally good ratings keeps the staff-management combo in place but it's a fragile peace. The place is a wreck. NOBODY and I do mean nobody, has any faith in the bosses, namely News boss, Amber Eikel, and most especially HR czar, Chris Nohr --really NO HR in many people's mind at Fox2

Mind you, we haven't even mentioned the Frank Somerville story, a story that sees Somerville GONE from KTVU any day now. It's 99-1 he's gone and now the story is FOX is deliberately making Frank twist in the wind. They (management) haven't contacted him (Frank) and are just waiting for the time to lower the boom as Somerville hides out in his Oakland condo.

LATEST: Eikel has LOST the Newsroom. Chris Nohr might as well be Nurse Ratched. Both are REVILED. And it's getting worse by the day.

*A KTVU source tells me: both Eikel and Nohr CONFRONTED an anchor (believed to be Julie Haener) and said she was "part of the gossip club."

Exclusive: Frank Somerville Transitions for Life after KTVU --UPDATE; Source Close to Somerville: "99-1 Percent" Frank is NOT Coming back to KTVU

NOBODY IS TALKING, nobody has-- either the main character or FOX itself, but in this case, silence speakes volumes.

My sources tell me KTVU anchor, Frank Somerville, is quietly preparing for the REAL POSSIBILITY he's NOT COMING BACK to the Bay Area Fox O and O and has begun dealing with a post-KTVU life with the 415 and 510 area code in his rear-view mirror.

Somerville has been on an indefinite SUSPENSION. A suspension triggered by a major dust-up over him and KTVU News bosses over his want to use a controversial tag line dealing with missing non-White women victims. Somerville has been OFF THE AIR for over two weeks. His MIA status has caused quite a STIR and made for uneasy times both for himself and KTVU staff --not to mention FOX corporate which is dealing with another potential PR FIRESTORM no matter which outcome they partake in on the matter.

A KEY SOURCE tells me at KTVU the general feeling is "Frank is gone. 70-30 percent he isn't coming back," said a reliable contact.

Somerville is still MUM. He politely DECLINED a series of texts requests by me for any comment on the situation.

But other local contacts tell me Somerville has begun looking at stations both in and OUT of the Bay Area as a potential "new start." He's mentally preparing for the likely possibility he's no longer in KTVU's plans. How sudden that equation is? Somerville, according to an industry figure, has even floated the idea of going to Arizona to work there in case a Bay Area TV deal is not in the cards. A KPIX flirtation, which might have been accelurated by the retirement of Ken Bastida, seems a long shot now. Other Bay Area stations have no interest in Somerville or already have anchors in place.

Somerville has reached out to a close friend (an attorney) who is advising him --both on the latest bruhaha and his career path.

UPDATE, 1: 40 PM

A SOURCE CLOSE to Somerville just told me "it's 99-1 percent, Frank is NOT coming back." Said Frank and Amber Eikel (KTVU ND) can't co-exist and that differences are "way too many to overcome."

*415 MEDIA EXCLUSIVE

*Content from the above article is copyrighted by Rich Lieberman 415 Media

KRON Names New ND and the Natives Aren't Happy; Assistant ND Palefsky Has Pero Tentacles

Josh Palefsky is the chosen one at KRON; the former assistant News Director at KRON has been appointed the head of KRON's news division, but that's NOT the story.

Palefsky is an Aaron Pero believer. In fact, it was Pero's tentacles that brought him to KRON to begin with and that DNA has the natives--the KRON staff, very disillusioned about his new role. Said a KRON source: "He's not really a 'manager. He's not really a leader." The general consensus is that Nextstar (KRON's corporate owner) struck out. They didin many ways.

KRON's new GM, Jim Rose, was dealt a bad hand from corporate. The ND gig paid very little money (by Bay Area standards) and that element played a significant role in the eventuaal hire of Palefsky. The lack of money didn't attract any significant interest from outside the Bay Area and there was virtually NO interest in any of the local industry. Quite frankly, Palefsky was chosen because he was already in the building and that was a major instrument in his hiring. Nextstar basically didn't feel like really offering a ton of dough for a postion it deemed ordinary. Adding to Palefsky's favor was the fact that KRON has been consistently BEATING almost all the stations at 5 and 6 PM.

So now at KRON, the rank and file staff are not so happy. They rid themselves of the polarizing and angry Pero only to have one of Pero's amen corner membership at the position of News Director. They aren't thriled and believe me, I'm being diplomatic.

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