Another KPIX Poser, Reed Cowan (Oy Vey); KTVU Has Zero Direction, Amber Eikel at Center of Storm; The Latest Indignity of "Lt" Jessica Burch, This Time on KCBS; Bay Area TV/Radio Devoid of Local Pedigree and It Shows; There is No Decent Deli in Town; Saturday Schmooze

Reed Cowan is the newest, latest poser on the air at KPIX--a Vegas retread perfectly suitable for PIX because it's the home for wayward has-been frauds, just like Cowan, last pilfering the news screen in Las Vegas.

Cowan sounds sort of like Ryan Yamamoto, what symmetry, PIX, now you have dual MEDIOCRITY! Good job.

*At KTVU, dysfuntion alley, chaos rules the day (and night)--now with all the friction taking place with the anchors toward Julie Haener, you would think a good manager would call for a time out and rally the troops and let off some steam. It would, at the very least, clear the air and provide some much-needed venting but ND, Amber Eikel is not capable and is one of the reasons why the newsroom has NO CONFIDENCE in her.

Eikel, simply stated, doesn't know how to run a basic operation, let alone a major news outfit. She's horribly inept and utterly incompetent. She's been getting by because KTVU has continued to lead the pack but now with KTVU cratering, Eikel has not only lost the newsroom, she's getting HEAT from The Firm's corporate runners and, to quote a newsromm sage at Fox2, "they ain't happy."

No shit, Sherlock!

*The "Lt" Burch, Jessica, on PIX, proves another thing: you can be just as easily AWFUL on radio (KCBS) as you can on TV.

Burch is a DISASTER on both ends. She's woefully inadequate anchoring the weather on PIX but she's even more LOUSY on radio where she talks way too fast (maybe a good thing), sounds rushed and injects humor but it's not funny and her attempts at sweet nothings sound utterly awkward at best and forced at worst. She has no decorum and she's getting worse every day, not better.

On BOTH radio and TV, yeah, a TOTAL ABOMINATION, but just another day at 855 Battery, the home of professional incompetence.

*The LAYOFFS that hit KCBS (Kevin Radich, Rebecca Corral and a producer) has so far escaped all-sports sister station, 95.7 FM, "The Game", although the rumors on the street say one or two guys who make too much money (by Audacy standards) should be a little nervous, especially the guy from Indiana who loves to tout how great he is, whatever that is.

*If you look at the current landscape in the Bay Area (TV/Radio) you'll discover the majority of the reporters and anchors are mostly out of towners--they have NO local roots. It's pretty sad and shows how awful this once-mightly market has fallen. Quite frankly, Sacramento is superior. At least they look good and do a more comprehensive job, while SF is sorely missing any form of identity and lacks basic reporting and anchoring skills.

There are some good people here but the majority is terrible and unwatchable and unlistenable. They don't even know the geography so how can they do just an adequate job reporting from the streets? They can't even fake it. It's become so bad lately and there's no hope for the future. Therefore we continues to get crappy coverage from women and men who don't know a damn thing and it shows.

*Something far more important than all this mess: the Bay Area has NO DECENT deli; a place where you can nosh on a pastrami and/or sip a good cup of coffee and read the paper and eat a bagel. We have a few places that are close but no cigar. It's a shame and outright brutal, an area that is so large and cosmopolitan (allegedly), there isn't a good deli. I like Wise Sons but it's just decent, nothing worth making time for.

Pass the over-cooked corned beef.