After 15 minutes on the 10 PM News last (Sunday) night, Frank Somerville abruptly LEFT the news desk and didn't re-appear. Co-anchor Julie Haener broadcast the rest of the newscast solo and didn't explain Somerville's absence nor even acknowledge it.
Somervile did not appearr on the 6 PM newscast.
In March, Somerville missed over two weeks from KTVU and told me that he was battling an alcohol-abuse issue and that he spent some time at a North Bay recovery center. He returned to KTVU News a short time after.
I've reached out to Somerville. I will keep you informed of any information I obtain.
UPDATE, 8: 31 AM PT: A source tells me Somerville was asked to leave after the first segment. The source told me the producer said "Frank looked haggard." Another source who watched the program was more blunt. "He (Somerville) looked drunk."
*We're monitoring the situation
*Developing story...
Somerville responds to me.
UPDATE 10: 28 AM PT: I just received a text from Somerville: "I took the wrong meds last night. The ones that put me to sleep." "I'm OK."
UPDATE 10: 44 AM: I asked Somerville if he was going to be back tonight (Monday) on air at KTVU: He texted back: "Yeah, I'm totally fine. I just screwwed up (and took wrong medication) The ones that put me to sleep." "What an idiot I am!."
He was intoxicated. I saw it. Sad for Frank.
ReplyDeleteHave you never heard of diarrhea? Walter Cronkite famously had a bug and had to ask for a blanket to wrap around himself after delivering a newscast while so afflicted. People get sick while working, all the time.
ReplyDeleteOh stop!
DeleteHe was drunk.
Stop enabling him and make him get help.
He doesn't sound drunk to me, and he doesn't move as if he were drunk.
DeleteAlso, how come KGO-TV Channel 7 doesn't have Melanie Woodrow on their website under Newsteam? I can't remember the last time I saw her on air. Is she still working there? Part-time? Long investigative pieces that only air occasionally? It seems odd.
ReplyDelete> Also, how come KGO-TV Channel 7 doesn't have
Delete> Melanie Woodrow on their website under
> Newsteam?
Maybe she's oldsteam? ;-)
He looked off last night. He was speaking more slowly than normal, and he was mispronouncing and slurring some words. I told my wife I bet KTVU pulls him off the air at the commercial break, which they did. Sadly, it looked like he was drunk. At the start of the 11 PM news, Julie Haener said "Frank is off tonight". Hope he can get some help.
ReplyDeleteI watched Sommerville on Sunday's 10 p.m. newscast and noticed right away that he was having difficulty reading the teleprompter and speaking clearly. I definitely noticed when he did not return after the commercial break. He wasn't missed. It's time KTVU makes a permanent change on their main anchor desk.
ReplyDelete> It's time KTVU makes a permanent change on
Delete> their main anchor desk.
They don't have much male talent they could bring in. Male talent seems to bog that station. They're not like another Bay Area station, that has a mediocrity [*cough-cough* Ken Bastida! Ken Bastida!} while a far more talented anchor toils away in the background {*cough-cough* Brian Hackney! Brian Hackney!}
Guess he needed a drink.
ReplyDeleteI watched the first 10 minutes of the 10 PM news and Somerville seemed pretty impaired. Sad.
ReplyDeleteWhat scares me is...Did he drive home?!
DeleteI watched the show, he was having a hard time delivering the words, slurring a few words
ReplyDeleteQ: What does George Floyd have, that Frank doesn't have???
ReplyDeleteA: 1 Year sobriety !
Quick....Somebody call George Watson.
I was tempted to make a George Watson joke, but...
Delete(Jessica Savitch too...)
Frank's on-air situation on 5/30, and his "explanation," was Savitch-esque... and very sad. Get well soon, Frank.
DeleteThere but for the grace of god...
ReplyDeleteHe took the wrong medication...
ReplyDeleteThe vodka instead of the Scotch.
Haener seems like a landing strip kinda girl.
ReplyDeleteTo me it seems like Haener, who has been sleepwalking through the news for at least the last year, perked up and seemed to be trying harder last night after Frank departed.
DeleteJust an observation.
yup, agree
Delete> Haener seems like a landing strip kinda girl.
DeleteOr at least a strip kinda girl... ;-)
The old, lame sleeping pill excuse. He needs to find a new line of work which suits him better.
ReplyDeleteI wish Somerville well in his personal life. As a news reader, he's average and somewhat stiff, but his health is more important.
ReplyDeleteHe is getting old and maybe time for early retirement. We got Mike Mabach, Andre Senior, Frank Malicoat to take over his spot.
ReplyDeleteRight, in other words, nobody...
DeleteAndre Senior???
DeleteFrank was definitely impaired last night. He looked awful and sounded worse. He really needs help.
ReplyDeleteDrunk on TV?
ReplyDeleteA viewer could have been killed with this carelessness.
Have you all gone mad?
Why is Rich Lieberman so absolutely giddy when other people face personal problems?
ReplyDeleteHope Frank gets the help he deserves. We all need help at some point.I personally am too embarrassed to ask for help currently.Severe depression going on 4 years now. Pray constantly for pain to go away. Hopeless.
ReplyDeleteI have had severe depression a few of times in my life. Once after my divorce, which I asked for by the way. At that time I thought professional help and it did help. Last time in 2007 and 2008, the economic downturn hit me hard, I was working on commission only, and my business disappeared in a matter of weeks, because I was too late to face reality I also lost my condo. I had to move in with a friend and get a retail job that paid minimal, however, getting out and working and helping people was the cure. No I was not deliriously happy, but I was not depressed. I have since rebuild my life. At that time I did not seek professional help due to finances. However, I urge anyone who is depressed to get some help, life will get better.
DeleteHmmmmm
ReplyDeleteFrank Somerville
Pam Moore
Veronica De La Cruz
This crap is spreading like a wild fire!!!