Just What the Hell is going on at NBC Bay Area? Lack of Direction; Misguided Anchor Placement Makes For Dull KNTV; Tuesday Open

What's going on at KNTV (NBC Bay Area) ? Nothing really, and that's the point. The NBC O and O that still hasn't decided whether it wants to be a Silicon Valley/San Jose stalwart ...or a SF-centro outlet with South Bay tentacles.

KNTV hasn't any idea and it shows.

This is a station that rests on its network laurels and that's about it.

NBC Bay Area ND, Stephanie Adrouny

For a TV News operation that has ultimate deep pockets, you would think its newscasts would show some depth. Not so in San Jose. Blasé anchors, mostly, who have all the substance of a Gilroy 7-11 doesn't cut it. KNTV has no soul, no mark, no identity. I'm almost about ready to call them, "KPIX South." Ouch.

KNTV needs direction, badly. Its News Director, former KGO assistant ND, Stephanie Adrouny's honeymoon is over. She's been rather tepid in her early, one-year-plus reign and there exists in the newsroom, a certain uneasiness that reeks of a lack of confidence in Adrouny's guidance. Whether that can change, no one knows for now. KNTV's ratings are just OK
for the most part and that has NY worried. KNTV, being a network partner, has a Winter Olympics to look forward to in 2018, but this year is different on that front so the prospect of a ratings buttress is not so dependable.

Terry McSweeney

Anchors make up a good portion of a station's identity and KNTV has some star power, most notably, veteran news reader, Jessica Aguirre, although, curiously, you don't see many promos touting the still elegant and popular, anchor. Raj Mathai is a capable, mostly solid newsreader but he lacks presence and has become sort of sullen in his latter years since taking over seven years ago.

For my money, NBC Bay Area has one of the BEST anchors in the Bay Area horribly wasted on the weekend and that's former KGO tonsil, Terry McSweeney, who belongs on the weeknight, somewhere, maybe 5 PM where he'd be more valuable but I'm not a consultant.

Janelle Wang

Other anchors are highlighted and they're overrated. Earlier in her career, Janelle Wang, was a superstar in the making. She too is a former KGO talent but Wang's presence has greatly diminished and no one has any explanation. Maybe you can't just rely on looks and sit in the chair and read off the teleprompter. I like Wang but she's become sort of tepid and stale. She needs an energy boost fast and furious.