NBC Bay Area, (KNTV) veteran news anchor, Tom Sinkovitz, worked his last show on the station Friday night in an abrupt departure.
Sinkovitz, a former KRON anchor, spent almost three years at the NBC Southbay o and o.
Sinkovitz' departure coincides with ex-sports anchor, Raj Mathai, ascent to the position of news anchor at NBC Bay Area, which no doubt played a part in Sinkovitz' decision.
We have contacted Sinkovitz and hope to get a more detailed decision soon.
UPDATE 2: 05 PM: Sinkovitz just responded to me via e-mail:
"I agreed a couple months ago to anchor the five only through the end of February. In a few weeks time, the station and I will be discussing other avenues. For now, I'm looking forward to life without the daily commute.
I felt the time was right to do other things and no single factor led to that decision.
I have only admiration and good wishes for my co-workers at NBC Bay Area. They are some of the most professional people in the market. I know. I've been around.
I know what you're thinking. There's really no separation agreement to protect."
RL 415 MEDIA EXCLUSIVE
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Tom is a great journalist & a class act. What a loss for the Bay Area. Hard to believe NBC would let such a professional go.
ReplyDeleteHe should replace that good for nothing gasbag Dave Clark on MO2.
ReplyDeleteWhat a loss trading Tom for Raj
ReplyDeleteHow sad. Tom is one classy professional. I hope he lands with another station here in the Bay Area very soon.
ReplyDeleteWow -- who would you rather see on election night -- Tom, who understands what's going on, or Raj, a useless fanboy?
ReplyDeleteIts happening all over the south bay and Fremont. The Indians have taken over, and are laughing to the bank. Walk down Main Street Milpitas. Every business there replaced by Indian ownership. In the mean time white america was sleeping. Wait until this happens in Kansas. You won't be laughing anymore.
DeleteWow that sounds like bigotry straight up. I come to read this post out of curiosity for what happened to Tom Sinkovitz and have to come upon this comment. Why is everything always about race in this country? It's like people have no real problems and love to troll. BTW, I'm sure the Native Americans are not laughing.
DeleteThat aside, I was cynical of Raj but have found him to be a well-versed anchor with an agreeable personality. But I always question what news anchors do besides read the news.
Like I've said before KRON has a stink to it...showcasing ex-kron talent on another station just degrades the later station. I'd say the same thing about Darya and Pam Moore etc. One step up losing Tom, two steps back promoting a sports guy to the anchor desk. Image and preception seem to mean nothing at nbc11.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a fan or non fan of Tom's. He read the news,had a good nature. But,it is teleVISION and older chubby guys as lead anchors aren't ratings grabbers. Guys don't want to be like them,woman don't want them..like that.
ReplyDeleteBubba must be a little gleeful today-it was the talented homely guy who got screwed this time.
NBC11 lost me when they went "bay area" for god sakes San Jose is the 10th largest city in the country!
ReplyDeleteYours truly
408er
Another class act leaving the area. Tom is professional, classy, excellent at reading the news and obviously isn't interested in playing the "game." Talent doesn't matter, age matters - salaries matter - Tom should take Pam Moore's spot, she needs to go.
ReplyDeleteTom is a great professional with creditability! Who else can you that about at NBC11? Well except Diane Sharp on weekends.
ReplyDeleteI have no dog in this fight, but a few items...
ReplyDeleteLet me guess, Tom probably makes $600,000 per year, while Raj is probably making... $200,000? Like I said, just a guess.
Raj - a stab at youth and "diversity"?
Pam Moore. Likeable. But when she recently mispronounced "Acalanes", I knew she hadn't even read the copy one time (nor written it). Secondly, she's been in the area how long? 10, 15 years? She should know how to pronounce that name by now!
It is a major disappointment to see Tom leave. Tom was the best of the Bay Area from a journalist prospective. Raj and Jessica at six are just not a match in this market.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the ratings the next best thing that can happen is KNTV and KRON merge their news departments..this would blend the best of both worlds to give KPIX, KGO and KTVU some plausible competition.
Best of luck Tom. Always enjoyed your delivery.
ReplyDeleteSinkovitz is forced out of every station for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteHair envy...
Managers and male on-air staff don't want to sit next to him for fear of comparison.
Balding male viewers switch stations so their spouses won't say "Why doesn't your hair grow like Tom's?"
Perhaps he could just wear a hat while reading the news.
This is a win for style over substance. Just when it looked like KNTV was upping it's game, they stay true to form with disappointing decisions.
ReplyDeleteI can understand his issue with the commute, though. I believe he lives in Marin, and going down to San Jose must have been murder.
Can someone just explain Today on the Bay and how the Cannon/Garcia -Cannon keep their spot? I'm baffled.
ReplyDeleteI ask the same question. Brent Cannon seems devoid of personality and his wife comes across as being very hard. Those pronounced blinks of the eye that she does makes her seem like she's hating every minute of it.
DeleteWasn't really a fan of Sinkovitz. Good solid guy but didn't make me forget Pete Wilson- but that's all you can really ask of a guy... be good and solid. Don't care for NBC-BA anyway so- meh.
ReplyDeleteFirst I've heard of Pam Moore being called anything less than classy and professional. Everyone mispronounces words every now and again. I guess its just the disease of KRON creeping in.
Tom for Dave Clark ? One in the same. Good solid non inspiring anchors. Shrug ?
Back in the day when anchors were truly stars Raj wouldn't qualify to get water for the crew. Tom will bounce back because he has some real presence and is one of the best at what he does.
ReplyDeleteHave never watched Raj Mathai on anything but his coverage of giant games last fall. I'm sorry but he was dorky and gave the impression he knew nothing about baseball, and was just trying to fake it.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ March 5, 2011 12:18PM,
ReplyDeleteYou're exactly RIGHT, NBC Bay Area is predominately a San Jose News Outlet! But the powers that be had to coin the title "NBC Bay Area" so that the entire Bay Area would tune into their News Outlet, because they would lose News viewers if people knew the station was geered solely towards the SJ Region.
But the problem is that once you tune in, you soon find out that NBC-BA is geered totally to the San Jose Region of the Bay Area. And I have NO interest in what occurs in San Jose, which to me is just a Large Suburb made up of small towns. Hence, which makes up Santa Clara County.
Btw...Good Luck Tom, I hope you get a better Gig.
Raj Mathai sucked at being a sports broadcaster and even worse as a news anchor. His arrogant style is a turn off and his delivery of the news is plain boring. Tom at least presented well, albeit still a tad boring but seemed genuine and a lot less arrogant. I guess NBC wants to appeal to the ever growing Indian population in Silicone Valley with making Raj an anchor. I never watched sports when Raj was broadcasting and now will not watch the news either.
ReplyDeleteNBC wanted to buy KRON from the Hearst Corp. and was unable to reach a deal because of the asking price. Then some wise guy at NBC decided it would be a good idea to purchase Channel 11 in San Jose. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This was the beginning of the end of NBC's news presence in San Francisco. It is shameful that NBC decided to hang its hat in the San Francisco market on a station in San Jose. Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteI heard a rumor that radio sports caster Ken Dito would come out of retirement to co-anchor with Raj.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they can get James Gabbert. He could really makeover Bay Area news!
ReplyDeleteWHEN NBC BAILED OUT ON KRON, I DIDN'T GO WITH THE FLOW. I MAY WATCH NBC TV SHOWS, BUT I DON'T WATCH THE NEWS FROM THE SAN JOSE STATION.
ReplyDeleteIT DOESN'T MATTER IF OTHER ANCHORS FROM SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BECOME THEIR NEWS ANCHORS. I WON'T WATCH THEIR TV NEWS. EVEN AFTER SO MANY YEARS, THAT STATION STILL HAS THAT SAN JOSE FEEL TO IT.
KNTV is missing the boat playing copycat to the other Bay Area stations. And it ain't working (see prior post on ratings). The rest of the stations center their new on San Franciso, and that's fair enough, it's the cultural and recreational center of the Bay Area. But they get carried away with over-the-top detail on the SF BOS, City Hall goings on. Stuff nobody outside SF gives a shit about. KNTV should say they are the Silicon Valley station, plenty of stuff about the Apples and Googles down there to carry a newscast And they would find an audience disenchanted with the remainder of the Bay Area coverage.
ReplyDeleteTom is ok and will be missed but Raj peaked doing high school sports highlights
ReplyDeleteThe Ken Dito comment made me laugh. Who remembers that guy? At least Gabbert is still around KOFY sometimes. I dunno about Raj, either, but he does fit a powerful Bay Area demographic, esp. in Silicon Valley. Too bad they can't get an East Indian with a little more gravitas.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I started watching NBC11 was when I saw that Tom had moved there from KRON. Now maybe I'll try ABC7. I'll miss you, Tom.
ReplyDeleteHey James Gabbert would win hands down at any tv station.May be he should run for president.
ReplyDeleteFour words:
ReplyDeleteBring back Lisa Kim!
Please!
(ok, five words)
Big thumbs up for Dave Clark on KTVU. I really like their morning shows and I like the calm delivery. Also I don't feel like I'm going to be sent to informercial every 15 minutes or so.
ReplyDeleteTom S. seems like he really knew his stuff, but I'm not too sure about Raj. Needs some gravitas.
Didn't you people read Tom's email? he was sick of making money by working. Only because ch11 begged him.
ReplyDeleteSure,that's it.
Tom Sinkovitz will land another local gig. He's solid. I bet KTVU will take a close look...
ReplyDeleteTom is a good solid guy who I hope will land on his feet. Raj was hard to stomach even when he was doing sports, especially those drop-ins during Giants games. Tom and Lisa Kim made a solid combo, but as we all know it's a numbers game.
ReplyDeleteFinding a new gig in this market as an experienced anchor making decent coin is very difficult - Look at John Kessler, great guy with a huge following and a boatload of talent, but other than a few stints on KGO radio still on the sideline.
Raj Mathai and and Vern Glenn have very similar mannerisms and delivery which always bothers me. Has anyone else also noticed? They seem to have graduated with honors from the Radnich Yugoslav Academy of the shoulder tap and fake cackle during interviews.
ReplyDeleteWhats gets me is Vern Glenn has more mannerisms and expressions and vocal delivery of Radnich then his OWN Daddy. Dan Dibly is going down that road too... and Henry Worford better watch out...like it's contagious.
ReplyDeleteBefore I moved to Southern California, I used to watch Tom doing the news on KRON. Now that he's out of a job, I can really envision him anchoring the news on an L.A. station such as KTLA, KCAL, KABC, KTTV (and join up with Mark Thompson who was a popular weathercaster from KRON years ago); or maybe here in San Diego at NBC 7/39 anchoring with Mark Mullen (again, another former anchor at KRON), or at KUSI and anchor with Allen Denton, former anchor at KNTV. Yes, he would do well here in the southland, and if in LA would definitely make more $$$ than in the Bay Area.
ReplyDeleteBring Tom Sinkovitz back!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHe was the major reason I watched NBC news.
I guess ABC 7 next.
your station is one disappointed after another...this is the last straw...now that Tom is gone and Raj is in his place?? bye-bye NBC11...
ReplyDeleteNo matter who comes into KNTV, they will never add up to the San Francisco Stations.I watch KPIX news and frequently watch Channel 8 from Salinas. KNTV always seems bush league
ReplyDeleteRE: Tom in LA? Seriously? With that hairline and looks I don't think so. In SoCal we know these people are just reading prompters and we want them to be attractive.
ReplyDeleteWhen KNTV dropped Tom Sinkovitz and Lisa Kim, they lost this household as viewers! They were PROFESSIONAL!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
Tom is a "Man", Raj is a "boy", and NBC is a slave to trend. Note to station heads: younger demographic may want "young" pretty anchors, but those of us mid-40's people with $$$ to spend with your sponsors want WALTER CRONKITE reading & reporting the news, not Skippy & Bambi. Sink is the most legit newsman in the Bay Area. McGrew is second. Will some News director please come out of coma and get Sink back on the air?
ReplyDeleteKNTV looks small-market compared to KTVU, KPIX, KGO, and even KRON. Small-minded too, apparently. Good luck with that Raj Mathai idea.
ReplyDeleteThe station is obvoiusly just going for diversity and wants minorities reporting the news. Its so obvoius.
ReplyDeleteI have been watching Raj recently and have been quite impressed with his presence. good luck Raj
ReplyDeletea lifelong BA resident
As regular NBC viewers, we've had enough. Raj is laughable as an anchor: too "hot," too silly, and someone who clearly doesn't understand some of the stories he's reading. Lisa Kim was terrific - gone! Tom was solid - gone! Jessica has looked panicked for awhile, seeing the writing on the wall. In addition to the loss of good anchors there's now a rotating cast of characters in the sports and weather chairs. As the ratings continue to go down management should ask itself: Is it working?
ReplyDeleteI will miss Tom, bad enough they have Laura Garcia Cannon which makes me feel ill ... now no reason to watch the afternoon~eve news
ReplyDeleteI've been noticing Tom's absence and thought I'd check on him. I enjoyed his work. Not a big fan of the current anchor (RM) News or Sports. I recall seeing Tom cover a story falling house in San Francisco. I snapped a photo of him while he interviewed spectators watching the falling house.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck Tom
OK, I've watched (painfully) Raj a couple of times now and he is still the arrogant butt sniffer he was on the sports desk. What a waste.
ReplyDeleteI think it's freaking ridiculous that a sports anchor got promoted to be the anchor. i have no respect for NBC after it fired both Lisa and Tom. I believe the news director likes Raj and with the sports news being done by Comcast SportsNet, which now owns NBC, he wants to put Raj somewhere. Horrible decisions. KTVU remains the most professional newscast of all Bay Area channels. No personal opinions of news stories needed by Jessica.
ReplyDeleteNBC Bay Area news rating will continue to go down.
I live in Sacramento..so I don't watch any of these folks..except when I'm in San Francisco.. I don't think he's old or unattractive..at all.
ReplyDeleteBubba
I think it was Jessica Aguirre that got Tom fired. She was cold and nasty to him, talking over his news story and just plain ugly to him. From the first newscast they did together it was obvious she did not like him.
Delete