The good: The mind-numbing, antiseptic, Jason Brooks (pictured), is DONE as a news anchor in the morning after tomorrow's (Friday) show, (5-10 AM)--Brooks, so the story goes, wanted back to his normal business reporter gig.
The bad: awful, not ready-for-prime time, Eric Thomas, will co-anchor with Melissa Culross (yawn) starting Monday.
Brooks, who is worthless as a morning-drive personality, has no personality and can't ad-lib or do any decent interview. He has questions written for him to do the sports toss. His anchor style and disposition is about as inviting as a Daly City pawn shop.
So I'm not surprised he read the tea leaves and decided to tell Seelig (Jennifer, ND) that he wanted to go back to business reporting.
The idea, Thomas, who is also crummy and lacks any ad-lib talent and can't evoke any strong emotion, will be back (even as a fill-in) is downright laughable and shows just how sad a deal it is today at KCBS.
Culross has been filling in--she too has NO personality and is about as benign and formulaic as it gets. It appears Holly Quan is destined for field reporting --which is better than her terrible news anchoring.
Look at it this way...at least we don't have to listen to Lisa Chan on the weekdays. Sadly, we still have to hear (if we can considering how she handles an audio board) her voice on Sundays.
ReplyDeleteThese are (or should be) the very basic skills required of a TV or radio news personality: ad libbing, perspective, having something interesting to say when things veer off script. That people in one of the largest markets lack skills that even a college student in Duluth *should* have is simply mind-boggling. Are no skills required anymore to get on the air in one of the country's top markets?
ReplyDeleteI really like Culross voice, give her time
ReplyDeleteAgree with 7:17. Culross has a nice delivery and is a refreshing presence on morning drive. Quit hating on everything!
ReplyDeleteI must say the one thing Eric Thomas does is when he is interviewing someone live he always thanks them at the end of conversation and waits for their response to say goodbye. Most others just cut their guests off at the end.
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of either Eric Thomas (just generally inept on the air), or Culross (with her chirpy chatty too-fast delivery.....chalk-on-a-blackboard). But - KCBS did not take a poll before making these changes.....
ReplyDeleteEric Thomas is abs always has been a gentleman! Aside from being a good reporter! Loved working with him!
ReplyDeleteI’m in favor of this move. I didn’t think Brooks was bad and I’ve always thought Thomas needed a bit of behind the scenes support— I’ve noticed when he’s teamed with someone with more board experience he’s not bad.
ReplyDeletePlus, I thought Culross sounds much better than Quan… better delivery and hand off. Quan’s sing song delivery and nasally tone wears on you. It’s okay for a report segment but it’s nails on the chalkboard for more than 15 minutes.
Gotta agree that Culross is a huge improvement over Quan who never grew into the role, never got past her old, stale questions, and never even said good morning to her co-host. Culross has potential. And yeah, Thomas is better as a co-host than working on his own. Let's see what happens...
ReplyDeleteThe morale at KCBS these days is at an all tune low. Truly awful. Most of the veteran reporters and anchors who have retired or been forced out have been replaced incompetents.
ReplyDeleteThe news director is a joke. She’s clueless ditz who keeps hiring rookies and dim wits. Very few of the vets who still work there want to be around for much longer. As one longtime on air staffer says recently: “ the atmosphere around here is poisonous.”