KTVU Considered Ken Wayne Post Somerville; Staff Still No Confidence in Amber Eikel; KRON Mulls Grant Lodes and Justine Waldman; Vicki Liviakis is Still Beautiful; KPIX Eternal Dreck; Dan Ashley Mulls Leigh Steinberg; Tuesday Open

KTVU news personnel (namely, ND, Amber Eikel) had a mini-game plan set when it looked like Frank Somerville was a goner early in the year-- he was; Top execs at Fox and Eikel thought about bringing back current KRON and former Channel 2 anchor, Ken Wayne.

The idea was to try to get a big name and it was thought Wayne could be that person.

Only it never materialized.

Wayne is still under contract at KRON and had no interest in coming back across the bridge to Oakland. Plus, Wayne has hardly moved the needle at Channel 4. And KTVU was not going to offer anything money-wise to wet his appetite. In fact, when he went to KRON his salary was cut in half--that said, the relative tranquility at 4 beats the current chaos at ratings-challenged and toxic-city that is The Firm's KTVU Bay Area outpost.

*KTVU is mired in turbulence with an ongoing crisis in confidence over its current management--and this was before the Somerville chaos.

The vast majority of KTVU's news personnel has NO CONFIDENCE over both Eikel and the MIA GM, Mellynda Hartel. NONE. Staff complain of an ongoing rift between the rank and file and KTVU's awful bosses. There is no confidence because the vast majority of people, including most on-air staff feel Eikel and Hartel are in over their head and lack the experience of running a major-market news department.

When the ratings remained strong, Fox gave Eikel a pass--despite a clear lack of leadership and forward movement. Now, KTVU is still tops in many time slots but its vaunted 10 o'Clock News is LOSING viewers and losing BIG TIME in the early evening. Several times, KRON has challenged KTVU at 10--something unthinkable in the past, and now reality.

Oh and this: Mike Mibach is a DUD and Julie Haener is tired, haunted and has one foot out the door.

*Here's the problem at KRON: when the two major personalities are over 60 --Pam Moore and Vicki Liviakis--you have issues.

KRON and GM, Jim Rose know this. Which is why KRON is looking at Grant Lodes and Justine Waldman --their future double aces.

*Side note: I don't care what age, Liviakis is, she's just plain gorgeous.

*Up the street at PIX, the overall doldrums that plague the building at 855 Battery continue on: talk about a place in dire straits, the newsroom has NO IDEA where management is going; there's NO DIRECTION and a ruderless GM who, yeah, is a "nice guy" but he hasn't done a thing yet except have a few meetings and threaten change. Hurry up, Scott Warren, your shelf life is beginning to wane.

*KGO's Dan Ashley, on the verge of signing a MASSIVE (by today's standards) contract extension: should it not take place, Ashley, acording to Circle7 sources might hire heavyweight agent Leigh Steinberg.

*Raj Mathai and his sloppy seconds #1, Janelle Wang.