Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Dion Lim-Kristen Sze Rivalry at Circle7 Re-Ignites; KRON Attempt to Keep Reporter Who Witnessed Shooting Private; Anne Makovec Anger at PIX; O'Donnell Seen at Dinner; Thuy Vu "Newsroom" Gig at KQED; Starkey Will Be Back as Cal Football PBP Guy in '22; Another (Again) Hellish Sunday at KCBS; Tuesday Media Grill

THE FIERCE WAR--and its intense--between ABC7's Dion Lim and Kristen Sze--has become THEE STORY at 900 FRONT.

Only the rivalry is NOT your standard, garden variety, competition. Lim's continued influence and growing stature at KGO has ENRAGED Sze, the veteran anchor who has gone out of her way to ace out Lim in anchor duties and spread BS around the newsroom. The venom displayed by cunning Sze and her few allies at Circle7 aren't working, says a KGO spy. Namely, while Lim is beloved and admired, not to mention, RESPECTED, Sze is frowned upon and DETESTED at the station. Furthermore, the rank and file staffers think Sze is nothing more than one of ND Tracey Watkowski's snitch. Either way, while Lim continues to up her profile, Sze is pretty much IGNORED and DISSED at KGO. Maybe she (Sze) should go to the boss and start a petition.

*KRON top suits have gone out of their way to try to keep the reporter who witnessed the shooting and attempted robbery of the slain security guard private. OK, all legit only the entire station is already aware of the reporter's name. Not only that, the bad guy (who is still out there and has yet to be captured) already knows the ID. Out of respect to the reporter, I'll leave the ID private.

*At PIX, Anne Makovec, a senior reporter/anchor, is quietly PISSED OFF; she thought CBS here was going to use her more and provide for better prime time anchor placement and that has NOT been the case, Makovec has never been considered for week night usage--she knew that--but she was also told by various KPIX brass that she'd be used more often, maybe as a reporter, and her patience would be all worth it. Nope. Makovec is a good soldier and will not rock the boat but she's not a happy camper.

*MIA and on LOA (for a mysterious medical issue) KPIX sports anchor, Dennis O'Donnell, made it out to a recent social dinner; he looked lucid and alert but had difficulty speaking. A Bay Area broadcast source tole me that "there's no way he'd be back at PIX anytime soon." *Thuy Vu is the odds-on favorite to become KQED's "Newsroom" anchor if/when they go to a nightly newscast come January. The show, which will be centered on INTERVIEWS and LOCAL, LIVE reporting and fixture, has not officially been announced by KQED but their brass is working to staff a show and make sure they are ready when it all become official. Vu, a Bay Area veteran and whose last stop was PIX, is a hard worker and dominating presence. She deserves the gg and will be a welcome addition.

*Joe Starkey will be back as Cal Football pbp-broadcaster (heard here on KGO Radio) for his 43rd and probably LAST season in 2022, the 40th anniversary of "The Play" and Starkey's "AMAZING, SENSATIONAL..." account of the crazy 1982 Big Game ending. Starkey himself has always said he didn't think highly of the call, no matter how crazed it was, but whatever.

*A local broadcast guy said "The Game" (95.7 FM) had an audience (more like a gathering) in the "teens" recently. "Yeah, 15 or so people were listening." I think that's kind of high. More like 6 or seven. The brand manager who runs the station ain't gonna tweet that out, I'll bet.

*All-HELL at KCBS on Sunday when sounders were mis-played. Anchors reporting over DEAD AIR. An entire commercial spot played over and over. On-air, anchors could be heard giggling over the LATEST embarrassment at all-news 740 AM (106.9 FM) where THIS CRAP is an on-going JOKE. Only the lady ND who runs the place continues to get a PASS. What a DISGRACE!

*Vern Glenn's CONTINUED on-air goof-fest, which includes his endless shuffling of copy and bizarro yelling and screaming, is making waves at PIX. The suits have told Vern to TONE IT DOWN. He either won't or refuses. Controversy in place.

29 comments:

  1. Glenn has to put on the "Uncle Vern" buffoon act. When it comes to sports, he doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.

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    1. Peter Felch and son Davis Felch at KCBSNovember 30, 2021 at 3:25 PM

      I saw Glenn at a party recently and he acts that way in private. He was telling people that he’s the face of KPIX Sports. Made me run to the bathroom

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    2. Felch, yikes! Almost made me run to the bathroom just reading your post!

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  2. Vern's a clusterfark.

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    1. Vern’s tired sports reporting act is a joke. He thinks he the heir to Radnich. His mannerisms are worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. I wish he would STFU and read the teleprompter without the facial expressions and voice intonations,

      If station management has common sny sense, they would immediately appoint Andrea Nakano as lead sports anchor. She is articulate, smart and relatable.

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    2. Vern’s tired sports reporting act is a joke. He thinks he the heir to Radnich. His mannerisms are worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. I wish he would STFU and read the teleprompter without the facial expressions and voice intonations,

      If station management has common sny sense, they would immediately appoint Andrea Nakano as lead sports anchor. She is articulate, smart and relatable.

      Delete
  3. I am not surprised KPIX Anne Makovec is quietly “pissed off” right now. She was really overlooked as a likely candidate to replace Griego as morning anchor and also a candidate to do primetime anchoring. She definitely has the ability to do it. She has every right to be “pissed off”...

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  4. Thuy Vu. Wow. I haven't heard anything from her for a while since she left KGO pretty much. I had actually forgotten that she was at KQED. Thuy Vu was a fantastic reporter/anchor at KGO. She was not given the respect she deserved. She could read copy about as clearly as you could ask for, without any "ummms or hmmmms or uhhhhs...". She was great and it didn't hurt that she was/is totally beautiful. There are others though who are similarly not given the credit they deserve, like Elizabeth Bermudez and Malou Nubla. Both were very good at what they did, especially Elizabeth Bermudez, but both are/were sorely under utilized.
    As for Ann Mackovic, while she is certainly a competent anchor/reporter, she just needs to lose the weight. People can say whatever they want to in this politically correct world we live in now, but the media is still a visual medium. This is also why Gianna Franco just didn't make it as a morning anchor, even though she did a very good job once Griego left. But once the new Amanda Starrantino, who absolutely has STARR written all over her, arrived, it was case closed as far as Gianna Franco goes. So sorry, Ann, but the weight has to go if you want a higher profile.

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    1. Amanda Starrantino has bad skin and wears too much makeup. Not even worth a glance. As anchoring goes, she's just another talking head.

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  5. I like the KPIX weekend news, but when Vern Glenn comes on it's channel-changing time for me and even my wife. They lose us for the rest of the evening.

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  6. when glenn is on ,I turn to KGO. It's too bad he and condescending peck share the time with very good Hackney and Goodrich.

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  7. But Thuy Vu was already the main anchor on Newsroom. She has to reapply??

    FRANK
    Piedmont

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  8. Vermin Glenn shouldn't be doing sports in a Top 5 market. His on-air mien is more suited for Chico or Bakersfield.

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  9. Empress Ming Sze is a talking head who doesn't know how to do anything beyond a softball interview. Not an idea in her head. Dion's a real journalist doing hard reporting. So of course Sze is jealous. She's where she is because she kisses the back of Trixie's pantsuit. Which admittedly *is* good job security at KGO today.

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    1. Ming has Hot topics and the 3pm #@$#show. Its probably been 15 yrs since she actual reported on anything. Dion is everything Ming wishes she was and a new haircut and Dye job is not changing that.

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    2. > Ming has Hot topics and the 3pm #@$#show.

      I watched that show one or two times when I was in a public places that had that channel on on their overhead TV. It was a generic softball local TV news "magazine."

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  10. Joe starkey will have a long joyous retirement battling termites with chip franklin in between taking copious notes from steve the tax scam guy who might buy kgo with joe cordell

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  11. Poor Starkey could never call a play as it occurred. He waited until the play was nearly over before giving it a shot. A truly below-average play-by-play guy.

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  12. Sounds like maybe O'Donnell had a stroke? Hope he is able to regain his speech.

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  13. It sounds like ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) to me. Slurred speech is one of the early symptoms.

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  14. I agree with 3:50, I tried listening to a Cal Game but after 15 minutes gave up. I'd get more accurate play by play "reaching for the peach" the next day!

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  15. This morning I flipped between the four local morning shows...

    KTVU: The writing is atrocious. It seems like every read contains some glaring syntax error or a sentence that simply doesn't make sense. It's annoying.
    Two examples: When referring to the new covid variant, Dave Clark talked about countries banning travelers from 'countries in South Africa.' It should be either 'countries in Southern Africa' (if the intent was to reference the region), or 'banning travelers from South Africa' (if the intent was to reference the country).
    Another strange read, this time by Pam Cock: When referring to Rosa Parks sitting at the front of the bus, she referred to it as a 'critical mansion in the Civil Rights movement.' I'm assuming that she meant to say 'moment,' but mansion??? Ummmm. no.
    These are just two examples, but the show is filled with them. The amateurish quality of the show, the poor writing, the constant re-running of the same stories, and the fact that Dave and Pam are clearly phoning it in makes it channel-changing time.

    KPIX: I don't know what the hype is about Starrantino. Sure, in the looks category she beats out the other women she's competing against, but that's not saying much when your morning 'competition' is Pam Cock, Laura Garcia-Cannon, and Donnie's sidekick over at ABC7. The problem with Starrantino is she talks like she's constipated and presents herself like her shit doesn't stink. Chill out girl, you're anchoring some morning show with abysmal ratings...you're not Barbara Walters. Lose the 'stick up your ass' attitude.

    ABC7: Reginald'Donnie' Aqui. Need I say more? The constant giggling and watching Donnie and his co-anchor play verbal grabass with each other made the show unwatchable.

    NBC Bay Area: Of the four this one was definitely the most watchable and professional. A good pace, good writing, anchors who know how to do their reads and who actually seem like a good pairing. Their local stories have a south bay focus to them, but that's understandable considering they're based in San Jose. They still seemed to cover all the big bay area stories though. Of the four, this one is the one I ultimately landed on.

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    1. I've been watching KNTV 11-1 lately too.
      The constant re-runs of old news on KTVU 2-1 shows the station is out to lunch.
      They replay news clips that are 2 & 3 days old.
      Talk about re treads.
      The website is just as bad with outdated content.

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  16. I hope it's true what you're writing about Thuy. She is on pretty cool chick. Emphasis on "pretty"...and "cool"....VERY beloved in the PIX newsroom (and as I learned, at every other newsroom she's worked).

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  17. The irony is that Starkey thinks he's a superb play-by-play guy. Hell, he never once uttered "lateral" during The Play. He was too busy screaming hysterically. I consider him the polar opposite of Bill King when calling a football game.

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  18. I want to give a shout out to SZE... i know you read this page. You need to learn keep your mouth shut! When you fuck with people and their livelihood to promote your own agenda is never a good thing.

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  19. Re the "world we live in"...

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    “[…] when you do things to people against their will and force them it destroys their spirit, it destroys the integrity of their body. […]. Being an adult is meaningless if you cannot even protect the integrity of your own body.” -- Jennifer Daniels, MD, MBA, Holistic Doctor

    If your employer (even educational or federal employers) wants you to take a Covid vaccine give him/her one of these form letters of exemption found at w w w d o t lc d o t o r g/exempt

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