*BOTTOM LINE: I SAID IT HERE FIRST, WHICH IS WHY YOU COME HERE
Natasha Zouves was the only person interested in the morning show gig at KGO. Nobody of any particular position with regards to talent or stature was interested in it. Why? For starters, it didn't pay well, at least by Bay Area/Top market standards. In fact, its $100 grand salary was laughed at by most people in the business. You may think a hundred grand is a pretty good salary but try living on that in the Bay Area. This may have accelerated her frequent professional turbulence at Circle7.
Zouves was quick to the lure of having a high-profile anchor position in the nation's top 10 market and stature, dollars be damned. It helped that her family has considerable assets and money which is a good back-up when your gig was as tumultuous as it was for Zouves from day one --she couldn't stand major schmuck, Reggie Aqui, (I can't blame her there) and she was resented by most of the staff, especially when this incident took place.
More to the point, that affair bought her time off the station premises to pursue other interests and/or thinking about something else, including the Stanford fellowship gig. Sure, the education deal is nothing to laugh at but Zouves was always and STILL IS gravitated toward being a local TV News anchor She could still do the Stanford gig and anchor its taking a break from TV and the pressure of dealing with egos (including Natasha's) that prompted her to take a break.
The MORE COMPELLING issue for KGO --and it's a huge deal for Circle7--is the growing discontent in the morning platform. Now, 3 people have left the show and it's crap central for anyone even remotely interested. Again, Disney, (which owns the KGO station) is notoriously cheap and isn't propelled to offer any serious money for qualified anchors and reporters to make morning any cogent destination.
*The AM station for doofuses and complete amateur acts held its image intact of late: KNBR and its band of mentally impaired yahoos have been yelling into the mic, "DICK, DICK, DICK" --in reference to Giants'
Dickerson and his Giants' players began screaming the "DICK, DICK, DICK" chant when Dickerson began hitting homeruns. It was cute for awhile but as it began to gain steam and he began to suck and get injured, the chant wore off its novelty if it had any to begin with. (NOT!)
But KNBR mutants, like its entire moronic morning show; its Daffy Duck schmuck, Mark Willard; its contemptable "TKB" human waste, began screaming it out virtually every day. WHY? Because KNBR employs brain-dead torsos from the Pacific Ocean who aren't very talented and act like complete morons on the air. The dumber, the more ingrate, the more talent-impaired, the better.
Yeah, what artistry: DICK, DICK DICK. Just so damn compelling.
QUICK HITS:
*Speaking of eternal dreck, the Tolbert, Krueger, Brooks experiment in the afternoon is horrible. It has no cohesion and ZERO chemistry. It's a pedantic, sophomoric, wretched sports-talk show that has no hope.
Again, as I've said before, 3 voices make for BAD RADIO. And now that word has reached the 3 cretins that it's impossible to create good show when everyone talks over everyone else, they've adapted an even worse tactic: they know practice pregnant pauses and by doing so, KNBR has a bevy of DEAD AIR on its PM drive from 2-6. The show is awful. And clearly Tom Tolbert is having a horrible time. Larry Krueger is out of place. Rod Brooks and his stilted dialogue is an embarrassment.
*KTVU has a problem --someone down under the bowel at Jack London Square clearly has issues with the station and that has manifested itself in more drama at the Bay Area's version of "The Firm."
Then again, it doesn't help when your core4 evening news team is on borrowed time, courtesy of the FOX intent to shed major salaries more sooner rather then later.
*Alyana Gomez: very stunning to look at only the personality of week-old cottage cheese. Hey, dear, smile every now and then. It's not gonna kill ya.
*And then there's the opposite: Andre Senior, who seems to think that everything is a box of chocolate and life is eternal giggles and cliche phrases. Maybe Senior left Sacramento but Sacto didn't leave Andre.
*I'm sorry but I still don't get Andria Borba over at PIX; I've tried real hard. Weird would be too easy but strange fits the bill. She's not really bad just more mildly eccentric --I wish she'd open up more. Or maybe more precise that she find the chance to evoke a personality, I'm not saying she has to become Joy Behar but please, I sometimes feel watching Borba that I'm observing a human robot. And my god, the voice, oy vey, da voice!
*FINALLY, a big shout to local, famed muscle man, Dennis Fanucchi, the celebrity fitness freak who is the King of Livermore and makes for exciting TV appearances and comedic relief. More to the point, Dennis is an avid 415 MEDIA reader and fan so being the mensch I am and professional journalist you love and hate, Dennis gets my new feature PLUG OF THE DAY!
Keep reading, King Dennis. You have excellent taste.
| King Dennis Fanucchi |
My God, let's hope she's no Joy Behar. That's a pretty low standard Rich.
ReplyDeleteJoy Behar is an immensely successful comedienne and host of a highly watched national program. IS that your idea of a "low standard"?
DeleteJoy was much funnier 20 years ago. Long before she was surrounded by an echo chamber and became so biased. But that's kind of easy when you have your DNC talking points handed to you.
DeleteRich
ReplyDeleteAlex Dickerson isn't a rookie. He played with San Diego 2015-2019, was picked up by the Giants off the waiver wire earlier this year.
Three people left the KGO morning show? Castro, Zouves, and ? Not Alexis Smith, KGO's fertility goddess?
ReplyDeletePowlie Mac was off yesterday; you could tell because a) the level of discourse went waaaay up and b) no one was interrupting people.
I don't hear anybody screaming that KRON is still off the Directv menu. Nothing but infomercials, pseudo-court shows, and Maury. Oh, did I fail to mention infomercials? ... all day long! No loss there.
ReplyDeleteBorba is tough to watch, although I like being horrified by her alliterations and cheesy paperback style narratives. She's been gone for awhile, seems she's resurfaced again recently, but maybe that's just because KPIX was black screen for so long on my DirecTV. When she finishes her story with "Andria Borba, KPIX 5", she looks disappointed, disgusted and genuinely annoyed. A smile or some warmth would go a long way with Ms. Borba.
ReplyDeleteI already previously wished Zouves "best wishes" and believe she's a great talent. I hope to see her return to TV someday, although many TV reporters have moved to other career directions.
ReplyDeleteAlyana Gomez is doing a great job, whether on the street reporting, or when doing anchor duties, especially with J. Haener's many vacations (it's good to negotiate more vacation time off if one should foresee a need or desire to take time off). Some folks really like the travel-life. Apparently, Julie H. is one such person and I really like seeing her travels on her IG pages.
It's a damn shrewd move by Natasha...She knows it's not just mornings and it's not just KGO - market wide, even prime timers are not making anything close to what used to get tossed around. It's WAY less. (hence, the Dress for Less wardrobes; average talent at best) Local TV news viewership is way down (WAY) and has been in a serious, consistent decline for years. Disney is cheap, yes. ABC7 is at the bottom of the pay scale in this market, yes. But, advertising revenues across the market aren't what they were. (Sellers work on much lower, straight commissions; rough gig, too!) Local news will continue to slide with news now found everywhere else, 24/7. And, BTW, KGO-TV is filled with desperate, horrible people, and one of the lead anchors has bullied just about every attractive female with any shred of talent out of the building, and generally, out of the market...the wrath and reputation is well known by all.
ReplyDeleteThe Papa and Lund Caboose Pistol bit is another voyage into the childish depths of bad radio on KNBR
ReplyDeleteyep. Lowest common denominator. Wonder how long Lund lasts? Probably a year, when contract is up. Then back to 95.7 or out of the market all together. He sounds 18, yet is 50?
DeleteIn regard to Borba, I suspect that what you see is what you are going to continue to get. At least on-air. Much improved, however, from her (shaky and less presentable) early days at PIX. As somewhat flat as she seems on-air, she demonstrates plenty of personality on her social media accounts.
ReplyDeleteThank you to all KGO Morning Staffs and all KGO staffs disliking and boycotting Natasha at work forcing her to leave the station. She should have just never come back after the fall and her comeback made her co-workers hated her to the next level, she decided to leave. The worse, Jessica Castro was force to leave. I am sure those co-workers back up Jessica Castro and look forward seeing her as the new Morning News replacement. To fans, if you look at the farewell picture of Jessica Castro, Reggie, Alexis and Mike sitting so close to Jessica and guess what, the main anchor coming back is sitting far far away is you guessed it, Natasha. Back to the question to why people hated Natasha so much, my interpretation is her lack of front anchoring experience as a new college graduate and possibly relationship and connections promoting her to any main anchor spot. Like Rich reported, she is rich gal except nothing is fully perfect with an autistic member. And, finally, the new director make the worse decision ever letting go Eric Thomas and Kristen Sze still gaining the good viewership and these cheap salary new folks reduce the ratings. Her arrival and dislike by other people is like a karma for the station. As you said, 2 good reporters Jessica Castro and Leyla Gulen both left because of the new anchors and lets just finally point the fingers at Natasha altogether when she is the most dislike news anchor ever at KGO.
ReplyDeletePlease proofread. And perhaps take a writing class. And then take a long look at yourself in the mirror. Try not to throw up.
DeleteWow...that photo has some "nice" legs in it. Kinda of like Fox's Outnumbered! Overall though, I think Bay Area News is kinda dull.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and best wishes to Natasha Zouves. She's young and bright, and has a great career ahead of her. The Stanford Journalism Fellowship is a plum award for a talented young woman who may choose an academic career, if that is where her interests lie. Whatever her future holds, I'm sure she will excell and make an impressive contribution.
ReplyDeleteI was willing to give Mark Willard a chance, but his clumsy interviewing makes me feel uncomfortable for the interviewee. Recently, he interviewed former 49er Dennis Brown. When Dennis mentioned that he loved cornbread stuffing, Willard laughed because he had never heard of cornbread stuffing. He left Brown hanging on the air to have to explain what cornbread stuffing was. Really, is that how you treat your guests?
ReplyDeletenothing compelling about him whatsoever, he is bland as hell and comes across as a doofus
DeleteNot surprised by Mark Willard's ignorant response to Dennis Brown's choice of food.
DeleteWhat do you expect from juvenile radio host?
Willard is typical of sports talk radio where everything must be funny.
There must be humor in all you say or do.
They can't seem to listen to their guest and respond accordingly.
Mark Willard just another in a long line of stupid hosts.
I love Andrea Borba's voice...Then again, I recall you having problems with Neda Iranpour's voice too, and to me it's honey. To each his own.
ReplyDeleteAndrea Borba does an exceptional job. She has an utterly unique voice and delivery and I have seen her and her crew do stories that were award worthy. KPIX is lucky to have her.
DeleteI have no problem with the reporters and anchors. I don't care for Deanno and whoever is delivering the commercials, at least on MY computer live stream. Otherwise, I would watch it more often.
Google News shared John Travolta's latest return to the KGO-TV studios to promote a pair of new movies. Bald and bearded for a late 2020 film he's making, he actually taught "Donny" a dance lesson or two. Didn't know Aqui was taller than Travolta, who probably thought he had better Circle7 visits than this, as he has visited so many times in 44 years since he promoted his Kotter series with Gabe Kaplan in 1975.
ReplyDeletethe pregant pause thought that was something only the three morons on KGMZ "drive time" show did..the other three morons in the "midday" constantly try to out do each other with phony arguments and idiotic comments..
ReplyDeleteThe first 30 mins of the Murph and Mac show today was them talking and laughing about a viral video going around showing someone falling off of a building, surviving, but being completely mangled. It was absolutely disgusting.
ReplyDeleteLaughing inappropriately, and I'd call that laughing inappropriately at another's suffering, is symptomatic of mental illness.
DeleteDennis does have great taste. He did run an excellent bowling centre for many years before retiring from it. Bowled there many times in the 90s and early 2000s when visiting relatives in the Tri-Valley.
ReplyDeletegood luck natasha, you will be
ReplyDeletemissed,intelligent and beautiful,
you will go far, enjoy the ride
Kyla 'knobby knees' Grogan back at KTVU morning weather? Thought Howdy Doody chased her off?
ReplyDeleteNatasha Zouves is a very pretty young lady -- who may also have a degree of talent -- but she had no business anchoring a major market newscast. When she's done with the fellowship, maybe she'll get a job in a smaller market, work her way up again and become a big star.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Natasha
ReplyDeleteMaybe, just maybe Natasha is a young women who has been theough an unplanned medical trauma who has taken the time to reevaluate her life. It happens.It takes guts to make changes. I applaud her. So much better than writing a mean spirited, misogynist blog and then pathetically begging for dollars to perpetuate ones hate under the guise of "the real story," dontcha think? Ah, well, what do I know?
ReplyDelete