KTVU, Channel 2 for my fellow Bay Areans, is NO MORE.
We're witnessing the desecration of a once-mighty news organization --prestigious and vaunted for all its worth but now, (and it's really been the case for years) a sad, sliver of itself with ongoing personnel issues, tech glitches, wrong graphics almost on a daily occurence, a natural (TV News) disaster.
KTVU has morphed into a twilight-zone cacaphony of errors. The anchors are no longer there for us to trust. They come and go and the ones that stick around have a foot outside the door. KTVU used to be the old CBS News credo for the Bay Area now it's The Firm's version of KRON circa 2010 and getting worse by the day and night.
The desecration of KTVU News is here.
I grew up watching KTVU 10:00 news and it was good in good times as a kid in the late 90’s and 2000’s and early 2010’s. I stopped caring after that and not surprised on the trajectory it is going.I guess the reason we report this info is because well it may help us all understand the signs of where things are headed. One minor thing I didn’t like about ktvu compared with other fox affiliates is their logo; others have a box logo with FOX and channel number and affiliate and city/region name
ReplyDeleteAre you trying to indicate this station will shut down or even change their tv format?
Not as long as it makes money, and it is. Not as much as it used to, but no station does today.
DeleteThey're trying to do as much as possible to separate themselves from the Fox News brand (which is toxic in the SF Bay Area), while still staying compliant with network requirements.
Delete@3:54 is it toxic tho? I really don't think people give a shit. They're too busy trying to afford gas & rent. Too busy trying to figure out how to pay their bills in this inflation-run-rampant environment. Too busy trying to avoid all of the uptick in crime and homeless. Trying not to get stuck by a hypodermic needle in this once great utopia. The list goes on and on.
DeleteFigures Copeland Jr. would present a story about the Oakland Roots cutting ties with a pro-Israel company. Hmph, typical.
DeleteTo be honest, I can't watch local TV news any more. It's been that way for quite some time. Sad state of affairs. The alternatives are just as bad (Fox News and CNN are so slanted one way or the other that it's sickening to watch). Truthfully, we need the fairness doctrine to return. It's not perfect, but maybe if that were in place, we'd have some sort of control and not the chaos that reigns all over. But that won't happen as some culture change agent will scream bloody murder. To think you can't even turn to the local newspapers -- the Chronicle is a PR arm for drug companies and their mouthpieces (the Roberto Wachters and Petey Chin-Hongs). It's their way or the highway. Screw that.
ReplyDeleteI agree and my solution has been mostly to watch and read overseas media, British, French, et al, publications. They are more centrist and more intelligently written than the propaganda rags we have here—on both sides of the political and social spectrum. Add journalism to the long list of things America can no longer do, just like we're never going to launch that NASA rocket later this month, trust me.
DeleteI'm guessing that MSNBC is more your flavor of cable news, and the funny thing is that Fox/MAGAites say the same thing about CNN. If both sides think CNN is biased, that suggests that maybe they're playing that "straight up the middle" strategy just right.
DeleteOh look, a political guy @3:55. Thought we were done with those, Rich?
Delete3:55: blah, blah, blah…
DeleteFrank was no Dennis Richmond but he was better than Mibach and there was a time that Gasia and Julie both seemed to read the news a bit more professionally. I agree with Rich, ktvu is a shit show and something I occasionally tune into just to see how awful it's become.
ReplyDelete"...there was a time that Gasia and Julie both seemed to read the news a bit more professionally."
DeleteIt's your imagination. Just check out past clips on YouTube, they were no different than they are now, except that Gassy has toned herself down a bit now. Sometimes.
KCRA in Sacramento is better.
ReplyDeleteYES ...it is.
DeleteThats why KTVU constantly runs news reports from that station.
KTVU ..A total nothingburger. With special sauce of dog vomit.
I care about Rosemary. She's still very attractive to look at. I also like to watch her fashion show for her line of clothing. = )
ReplyDeleteWow, barf. Go away Rosemary.
DeleteI wonder if one day we'll get holograms of Van Amburg reporting the current breaking news. Kinda like Tupac at Cochella.
ReplyDeleteNow THAT'S a great idea!
DeleteIsn't that how we're getting Vacar now?
DeleteComplete with cigarette hanging out of their mouth.
DeleteChannel 2 was great as an Independent. Going FOX really screwed it all up.
ReplyDeleteThey were not an independent. They were an affiliate. Now they are an O and O. An independent is a station like KRON, which doesn't get programming from any of the networks. They buy all their programming from syndication. Even before the Fox takeover, KTVU carried all of Fox's programs as an affiliate, ie, Fox doesn't OWN them, but they carry the Fox lineup.
DeleteLots of things were better 40 years ago
Delete@Anonymous @2:31 - They were independent before 1986, when they became an affiliate of Fox (which didn't exist before then).
Delete@358 and @231 -- agreed. That's why staples before Fox got their paws on them included Dialing For Dollars in the mornings and early afternoons, weeknight movies at 8 pm, locally-produced programs like D4D, Captain Satellite, the roller derby and big time wrestling. Let's also not forget Romper Room and Captain Satellite. KTVU may be better off picking up programming like KOFY TV did--if anyone hasn't noticed, KOFY is now GRIT TV. Has been since April. Y'all can watch Gary Cooper and John Wayne movies all day until your ass is numb from sitting in front of the TV. Yee hah. Actually, that may be better than numbing your brain by watching Ricki Lake or some other yak show.
DeleteThere aren’t enough hours in the day or strong enough words to describe how far from grace ktvu has fallen.
ReplyDeleteOne of their countless moronic decisions was to keep adding more and more newscasts while losing more and more of their talent. Now it’s up to 12.5 hours a day of news and a bare bones crew of has beens, drama queens, old farts, fart sniffers, hangers on, people who stay because they know they can’t get a job anywhere else, and junior reporters who got the job because no other station wanted them and they were desperate for employment.
Combine this with shitty management and you end up with what we have now, which are pathetic newscasts in every sense of the word.
They run the same stories on repeat for 2-3 days, and most of their content is from Fox News, Fox Business, or other Fox-affiliates, again, because they have too many newscast to fill and not enough competent bodies to forth a quality newscast with relevant local news. So when these anchors have to read the same stories every hour for 2-3 days straight, well of course they’re going to phone it in.
KTVU needs Pat McCormick and Dialing for Dollars.
ReplyDeleteThose were the days... Always on the edge of my seat waiting to see who would crack the Count and the Amount.
Bring back Creature Feature!! That is better than local news!!
DeleteI wouldn't go look for work thinking he might call me...jf
DeleteSad to say I don't think the news on tv, radio or in newspapers will ever be like they were years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe 10 o'clock News, the number one newscast ... In the Country!!
ReplyDeleteIs KTVU the 810 KGO of TV??
Frank
Sacramento
They’re well on the way, spiraling into an abyss of irrelevance.
DeleteAnd the old intro of “The number one primetime newscast in the country” might as well have been centuries ago considering their shocking fall from grace. Going from hero to zero.
Yep, those days are long gone. Now we have anchors who…
- can’t get through half their reads
- call in sick 80% of the time
- talk about their jock straps at work
- go on air drunk
- purposely flaunt their wealth for all to see
- don’t know the local geography
- waste their time pretending to be an Instagram influencer
- scream in their car because they can’t stand their co-workers
- show up 15 minutes before they go on air, and are on the road less than 3 minutes after the news ends
- berate and belittle staffers
- have affairs with women the same age as their children or grandchildren
And you think those things didn't happen during the era when they were, according to you, "heroes?"
DeleteKTVU needs talent like Euphegenia Doubtfire and managers like Mr. Lundy.
ReplyDeleteThose were the days.
Mrs. Doubtfire, Columbo, Edith Bunker, Weezy Jefferson, Maude, and of course Alf. Any of the aforementioned would be better than what is on KPIX 6am!!! Gave up on channel 2 when Dennis and Elaine left.
DeleteI'm not like I was 40 years ago...
ReplyDeleteWhat ever happened to GM Kevin O'Brien?
ReplyDeleteHe left. He must be as old as Moses by now.
DeleteRich, while I agree with all you've said in this article, I do take issue with the previous article re: Mike Mibach.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically, who cares if he talks about his jock strap collection at work? What difference does that make? I've never seen an article on this blog about the undergarments worn by women on the news, so I'm not sure why it matters if Mibach enjoys wearing jock straps. It doesn't affect what he's paid to do, read a teleprompter.
"who cares if he talks about his jock strap collection at work?"
DeleteTranslated: Who cares about sexual harassment? Let him just say and do what he wants.
"Translated: Who cares about sexual harassment? Let him just say and do what he wants."
DeleteEXACTLY.
Just go to any major market in the nation and tune in to the local news--and you'll see everything looks the same...sounds the same...flows the same. i find that if I simply focus on the video and scripts...and not as much on who's delivering the news...then it's "all good" for me: Just show me what's going on.
ReplyDeleteExcept they're not showing you "what's going on." They're showing you what they get press releases (and sometimes complementary video) for. Real news costs money to gather; PR is free. Guess which road they take?
DeleteI'll just get my news from the morning newspaper 8 hours later...oh, wait...nevermind.
ReplyDeleteKTVU needs to hire someone like a Howard Beale (Peter Finch.)
ReplyDeleteGet up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"
Hey Rich, KTV-F-U.
ReplyDeleteI worked there for many years It first started changing the day fox took over. Their philosophy was that all of us should just be happy to have a job. That changed everything. But the real killer was dumping Frank and mark. Like them or not they were the two biggest names in the Bay Area and they were the best at what the did. The rating went straight downhill after they left. They also dumped Lindsay nakano who I think is one of the best producers in the Bay Area. She now produces the five at kgo. And guess which newscast is the NEW number on at five replacing ktvu. Yup. Kgo. The also let Debbie Villaloan go. She was a brilliant reporter who got sick of all the crap at ktvu. How amber eikel. Kelly Roman and Amy wentworth still have jobs there and are still allowed to run the show there is just beyond me. And anyone who worked or works at channel two knows that I’m 1000 percent right. And if if not please tell me why you disagree.
ReplyDeleteFrank is a repeat-offender alcoholic who was given NUMEROUS chances to clean up his act. He blew them all. In ANY profession that is grounds for dismissal. He also disregarded his boss' instructions and then lied to others about them. In ANY profession that is also grounds for dismissal. Frank got what he deserved. In fact, I think they treated him with kid gloves. I would have thrown his sanctimonious ass out the door sooner than Amber did.
DeleteI don't disagree with Anonymous
ReplyDeleteKTVU is a clusterfuck. Management knows it and they don’t care. Why? The commercials still bring income into the station. They could dump most of the newsroom and hire SFSU and SJSU recent graduates.
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoy watching as KTVU continues to run itself into the ground and embarrass itself on a daily basis
ReplyDeleteDave Clark is drain bamage
ReplyDeleteKTVU rules! Suck it up you soon to lose control libtards! LOL
ReplyDeleteLast night’s 10pm news only had two stories from ktvu reporters. All other stories were from Fox News. At that point why even have a local newscast? Just simulcast Fox News and save money.
ReplyDeletefrank and julle
ReplyDelete