Thursday, July 10, 2014

KTVU And Boston Fox Station Staffers Nervous And On Edge As Raponi and Rosenthal Move East; Channel 2 Uncertainty Lingering; Thursday Starter

 The recent Fox acquisition of KTVU as its O and O, (owned and operated station), from Cox has a lot of people on edge...not just in Oakland, but in Boston too.


Tom Raponi, the GM for Channel 2, is headed out of the Bay Area and back to the East Coast.


Raponi will take with him, News Director, Lee Rosenthal, (whom we refer to as Wonder Boy)--we do so with profound lovingly charm as Rosenthal will take his talents to Boston's Fox 25, eventually.


While no one in Oakland will cheer on the record, it's common knowledge the majority of 2's newsroom staffers are thrilled in that respect even though uncertainty looms in the offices around impending changes coming to the Bay Area TV station once the deal closes sometime in the fall.


Raponi, as a hands-on leader, didn't do much leading at KTVU. His buddy-buddy system of dealing with personnel was OK so as long as you were one of his buddies. That mode of operation works well too if the rest of the staff feels as if they're a part of the club. Conversely, it's not a workable strategy when the ship takes a sharp detour and you have to lead. Boston's Fox 25 news people are understandably fretting.


Rosenthal, as we reported here first, has put his house up for sale--his breakaway from Jack London Square can't be too soon. Like Raponi, the Boy Wonder all but disappeared after the Asiana debacle and will forever mark an indelible stamp on both men's career. To this day, their button-up and shut-up tactics after the embarrassment speaks volumes about how they manage crisis. Or lack thereof. Rosenthal's act in Boston will be a sight to behold.


Meanwhile, at KTVU, reporters are coming and going. The lame-duck status of the mangers up top has created a source of extreme anxiety --particularly those folks, like in Boston, who make a lot of money. Staffers have not a clue just what the heck to expect under the impending Fox ownership and no management suit has stepped to the plate to calm down the nerves.

So you have continuing new names and faces. Reporters coming and going; something completely uncommon in the old days; a slew of indecision; and subsequent chaos on the news TV screen complete with operational errors, mixed-up story lines, and more embarrassing graphics malfunctions taking place on an almost daily basis. This is not a pretty picture, both in Oakland and in Boston.


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4 comments:

  1. Who were the geniuses who signed Torrie Campbell and Dave Clark to long
    term contracts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The former CEO of Asiana Airlines, "I tink."

      Delete
  2. Who said Rosenthal is going to Boston? You want to attribute that to someone or just pull it out of the air because it sounds good. Just because his boss is going doesn't mean he gets to go along for the ride.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Attribute? It's a blog. Not the Merc or Chronicle. Just follow along. You can't make this stuff up Can you?

      Delete