Sal Castaneda really does want to stay at KTVU--he's been there over twenty years and has earned enough professional capital and respect to make enough money to live comfortably and enjoy relative peace and calm in his Alameda home, a short ride from Channel 2's Oakland/Jack London Square studios.
Then again, Sal likes to be treated fairly and equally. He earns roughly south of $200K a year. KTVU's morning program continues to be profitable in a diminishing viewer world; while KTVU has seen a ratings crater at night, its morning salvo of news, traffic and features is still steady and successful. KTVU destroys the local AM TV wars and it's not even close.
Castaneda is a big part of that, directly and indirectly. He's not just the traffic anchor, he also lends a personality to the news people and he himself, sticks around from 9-10 AM to participate in the hourly discussion and guest portfolio. It's significant enough because KTVU suits want him to be involved in the news presentation.
Castaneda's contract is up in September. A normal re-up with a modest raise probably gets an extension done and retains Sal to continue reporting on fender-benders on 880. Sal is cool with it and probably KTVU/Fox2.
But what if KPIX were to offer Salvatore a BIGGER deal, say a $250-275K a year deal--with, say, three years and a mutual option? CBS has big pockets and PIX needs help in the morning--landing Sal would help with its direct image of a Bay Area native who has significant viewer appeal, especially with women.
As they say, stay tuned.
I worked with Sal for years. I love that guy. Best traffic person in Bay Area bar none. I hope he goes to pix. Ktvu is gone as a station. Amber eikel and the gm have driven it to the ground. So sad.
ReplyDeleteYup, great guy
DeleteI have seen Sal Castaneda. He does a good job, but let's face it, he's a TRAFFIC REPORTER. I do not think anyone is going to tune into a particular news show, because of the Traffic reporter! And really, you say he is making $200K a year? I mean, DANG! Making that kind of money to do traffic reports! I don't think he or anyone else deserves that kind of money for that! And while KTVU certainly does have its own drama, I don't think going into a new studio [KPIX] with its own drama, would be a good move. Better for him to stay where he is, where at least, he is familiar witih the drama happening there!
ReplyDeleteAlso appeal to women??? Are you HIGH Rich? signed, A Woman
DeleteI can’t feel sorry for anyone making that kind of money working for a few hours each morning doing something nobody needs.
ReplyDeleteHe'll have a lot to report after Title 42 expires May 10th. There will be plenty of traffic!
Delete@ 11:18 Why would you say "something nobody needs? You never check traffic conditions before you leave? Especially KCBS traffic reporting is almost non existence
Delete@ 12:11 Lololololol!!!!!!!!
Delete"Why would you say "something nobody needs? You never check traffic conditions before you leave?"
DeleteI certainly do. I look at my phone, or I say "Hey Siri, how's traffic along XXX?"
No, we don't need him. He was replaced a decade ago.
@ 2:32 Typical millennial reaction, it's the human factor we need, no wonder older generations saying last 2 generations has no people interaction skills, everything is electronic, texting and streaming, sad
DeleteSal is great at traffic, but when he does the 9-10am shift reading the teleprompter, he almost puts me to sleep. He no personality at the anchor desk.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
DeleteKPIX can't offer enough money to compensate for their obvious deficiencies relative to the profile Sal currently enjoys on KTVU. They put Donchey and Yamamoto on the air. You think they did that because they wanted to splurge on talent?
ReplyDeleteWhy oh why would a guy with a great commute give that up for 2 hours in traffic every day?
ReplyDeleteSal could probably ride an electric scooter to work and still be there in 15 minutes.
2 hours in a tin-can? No thanks
The ferry will get him from Alameda to the Embarcadero in 20 minutes. An Uber from there to Battery St…..no sweat
DeleteRead the freaking teleprompter, work 4 hours and make around 200K. No wonder these TV stations are not profitable just like BART - their employee salaries are ridiculous. Don't blame consumers and passengers if your business models suck.
ReplyDeleteWho are these women that supposedly like Sal?
ReplyDeleteI find him monotonous and condescending.
And do we need traffic every 7 minutes? Maybe weather, which actually affects everyone.
You get everything every seven minutes with KTVU. They have a seven-minute news cycle. Today I watched the noon news (I was at the car dealership getting service and they had it on in the green room) and it was mostly the same stories as yesterday. I literally found myself wondering if they just rolled yesterday's broadcast again and didn't realize it.
DeleteHey. Don’t leave Paulson behind. He’s the best weather guy around
ReplyDeleteSorry, he mumbles a lot and hard to understand
DeleteAre you serious? I think he once fell asleep in the middle of a forecast. I know I did.
DeleteNever understood his appeal. Looks like a supermarket manager.
ReplyDeleteNailed it.
DeleteA supermarket manager with a non working razor which you would think he could afford on his genourus salary!!
DeleteDriving to SF every day would kill it for me, regardless what the offer is. They'd have to put in an armored limo with an armed driver, and a wet bar on the table for me to even consider it.
ReplyDeleteA bigger Nothingburger than Raj.
ReplyDelete@ 1:43 Sez who?
DeleteSez Raj.
DeleteDoesn't KPIX suck bad enough already? When you're in a hole stop digging!
ReplyDeleteSal is fantastic as is the entire KTVU morning team.
ReplyDeleteThanks for chiming in Gasia.
DeleteSal is harmless and adequate. At least he doesn’t act the ass (paging Dan Dibley) who provokes the audience into wanting to punch him.
ReplyDeleteWho wants to commute to SF anymore? Time is more valuable.
ReplyDelete"Castaneda is one of KTVU's most popular personalities and does a healthy share of speaking engagements, a la Rotary clubs and Chamber of Commerce events."
ReplyDeleteWHY? As you like to say, Rich, he's as interesting as Melba toast, as a Fresno Walmart.
Cheers to him and his longevity and ability, he's a hard worker, but seriously, how many viewers would ditch KTUV and watch PIX in the morning once he arrived? He still looks to me like the guy at the bank who is called over to explain to you why your deposit got put on hold.
ReplyDeleteKRON will accept him with a lower salary. Stable job lots of KTVU staffs love KRON
ReplyDeleteSal is definitely a good human being.
ReplyDeleteRight before the pandemic, one of the father’s from my son’s school had his van stolen. He DJ’d on nights and weekends to make extra money to support his family. All of his DJ equipment was in the stolen van.
His daughter’s 10th birthday was in a couple weeks and he had planned to DJ her birthday party.
One of the parents from the school posted about the stolen van on Facebook and how the father was no longer able to DJ his daughter’s party.
Ktvu didn’t do a story about it, it never made any of the news, the story never went “viral,” but somehow Sal saw the Facebook post.
Sal replied to the father, offered to lend him his DJ equipment for the party, and offered to be a co-DJ.
Long story short, Sal delivered on all of his promises and the party was a huge success. Sal even paid for all of the food and catering and gave the family a tour of ktvu later in the month
Best part? Sal never mentioned it on any of his social media or anywhere else. He simply did it out of the goodness of his heart.
Good try, Sal.
DeleteSal, shame on you. You should be above posting totally fabricated PR spin on this blog.
DeleteDo better.
Pics (or Facebook post) or it didn’t happen.
DeleteHe’s good at the traffic thing because he’s done it for an eternity. Nevermind the fact that most get their traffic from their phone or their cars GPS.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to anchoring and chit chat, he’s awkward like a deer caught in headlights. Nothing about it is natural.
But, as you said, he’s a viewer favorite and their’s a lot to be said for that.
For that reason, I hope ktvu keeps him.
I agree that Salvador Castaneda is a total dud, but that's par for the course at KTVU. His morning show counterparts are Pam Cook, Dave Clark, Frank Mallicrap and Mr. T, all of whom read the same stories off a teleprompter, every 12 minutes for 4-5 days in a row.
ReplyDeleteSal, on the other hand, gets to ad lib each traffic hit, yet he still manages to be a big dud. I'll admit though that his personality shows up when he and Steve have their on-air banter, you can tell they have real chemistry, unlike all the other anchors that Amber Eikel rolls out there (half of whom look like they wanna smack their co-anchor upside the head).
If Sal were to go to KPIX or any other station, I highly doubt viewers will switch over en masse just to see Sal give a traffic report every 4 minutes. It would be out of sight, out of mind.
Sal would look as dopey at KPIX as Roberta Gonzalez does at KTVU.
ReplyDeleteSal Castaneda is a stink on Bay Area airwaves. He just needs to go away. He is one of the reasons I cannot watch KTVU in the mornings and I certainly wouldn't watch KPIX if he were over there.
ReplyDeleteLive traffic reporting will be on the endangered list thanks to phone apps.
ReplyDeleteHe used to come across as quite the creeper back in the day.
ReplyDeleteSal is a big time skirt chaser. Creeper is right!
ReplyDeleteWas or is? I thought he was married with kids.
DeleteLike I said, he IS.
Delete