Tuesday, August 29, 2023

It's Official: Amanda Starrantino Leaving KPIX for SoCal Gig; KCAL /CBS-LA

AS I reported here, FIRST, Amanda Starrantino is headed to SoCal. Bye KPIX, hello LA and KCAL.

She confirmed it on her Facebook today, (Tuesday).

Starrantino had a short tenure in the Bay Area at CBS-SF. Not enough time, to some, to build an audience but that's life.

It's a tough business, TV News, even in today's world.

Amanda will thrive, probably in SoCal, just a hunch, she has that LA vibe.

73 comments:

  1. That market, i.e. her native area, will be the best fit for her.

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  2. Replies
    1. @2:04 Why so much hate? Take Relaxium Sleep and stay asleep

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    2. @2:04 The word is "riddance".Oh,grammatically challenged one.

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    3. A scholar right there, folks.

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    4. @4:05 You mean @2:04?

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    5. what's a "riddens"? No wonder you didn't like her.

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    6. "Yeah! Yeah! He said riddens... It's like riddle and rinse had a baby."

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    7. KPIX had a good thing with Amanda, Jocelyn and Jessica. They did a good job of self imploding the morning show. Now it's just like every other channel. Guess they want old fogies as an audience and alienate the youth who were watching. Can't do KPIX anymore. Good luck Amanda, YOU were the reason I tuned in every morning. Might watch KCAL instead.

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  3. She’ll have “Star” power there. Good for her, good for Wendy McMahon getting the promotion done.

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    1. Boo Hoo, always liked her, will miss her beauty gracing PIX's screen, best of wishes

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  4. Say what you will about Starrantino (I was not a big fan from the start), but this is a major promotion for her and kudos to her agent. From a weak Bay Area market to the real deal in Los Angeles. She's leaving behind all the hapless anchors and reporters at the sinking ship (PIX). Imagine the jealousy and cat fights going on in that news room once this story broke!

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    1. Boo Hoo, always liked her, will miss her beauty gracing PIX's screen, best of wishes

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    2. LA news isn't much better IMO.

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    3. One market isn’t too different from the other.

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    4. Just how is KPIX a sinking ship? Outside of mornings, the Nielsens are apparently improving. When there’s nothing to lose, experimentation is a good thing and while some of the changes weren’t appealing, others were. It’s 2023 and McMahon has brought a refreshing vision and change that fits with today’s media landscape. 11 of 13 CBS O&Os “are now #1 or #2 in late local news. CBS Stations' local streaming channels viewership is up +61% year-over-year in 2023, and the last 11 months have been the local streaming channels' 11 highest months to date.” Old-time stodgy news reading from anchors with big booming voices is cringe. Casual and relatable is where it’s at.

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    5. Her agent? LOL! She is a news reader... not an actress.

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  5. Slow down Richie. You’re working too hard.

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  6. As expected….bad management KPIX switching reporters back and forth. Is Kenny Choi still with KPIX??

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  7. Good for Amanda. She landed on her feet. A much better gig.

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  8. The media business is terrible for one's morale. Riding the roller coaster of emotions from joy to absolute despair

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  9. I wish her well. She is one of the most beautiful women in the world.

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    1. @4:54PM and 5:10PM
      Yes, the spray-on tan does wonders along with the bleached teeth. LA should suit her just fine.

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    2. 6:06 - Nailed it. She can live in a beach house with her boyfriend, Ken.

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    3. She is stunning just like Heather Holmes.

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  10. Amanda wasn’t a bad anchor by any means. She was good but I saw that she was lacking a lot of energy from time to time. Also goofed a little too much on the news when transitioning.

    As much as it sounds sad that she is leaving, honestly, I won’t miss her.

    So is putting someone at the noon newscast a “dead” end in their career? The other thing I wonder is that many of these news anchors have 2 year contracts so would next year spell the end for say, Yamamoto & perhaps Sara Donchey?

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  11. Rich, since you've been gone KCBS is still kcBS!

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  12. Will not miss Amanda, her Taylor Swift stories, or anything else about her. Where are all of the others? Jocelyn Moran, Da Lin, Kiet Do? Use Ann Macovic more.

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    1. Yeah I agree about this! Jocelyn Moran looks to be off the mornings & doing evening reporting & working at the desk. But I certainly hope it gives her the potential to move up.

      Da Lin is still reporting on the field and still great. Kiet Do, good question I wonder where he’s been these last couple of months.

      Anne Makovec is great and if I’m being honest she is a LOT better than Sara Donchey. On Thursday night she was filling in at 11pm and did a stellar job. I am happy she is getting some primetime recognition. I should have also put her in mind when it came to a weeknight newscast.

      Now Max Darrow is gonna likely take over weekend mornings while Devin is on the primetime edition which I can’t wait for Friday.

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    2. They’re on the air.

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    3. Da Lin "still great"?? We have set the bar very low. He still does not make consistent eye contact with the camera on
      live shots. Mediocre at the very best....

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    4. Hi, Will Tran.

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    5. @5:06 Nice try, Ryan Yamamoto

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  13. The type of anchor that should be (and will be soon) succeeding. But the Bay Area just isn't the fit for what she brings anymore. Too bad, she'll be missed...

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  14. The Bay Area is a double A market. Good for Amanda for going to the majors in So Cal.

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  15. Too bad, she's cute... in Malibu Barbie sorta way

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    1. Wishing it was Burch who was packing her bags instead of Big A.

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    2. Amanda does have a Malibu Barbie look. She’s blonde, cute, and sweet.

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  16. Meh I felt she was boring to listen to.

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    1. To a level yes Amanda was boring, that’s why she is probably one of the anchors for the first time I feel like I will not miss.

      I still miss Len Kiese & Justin Andrews. They were fairly decent & delivered the news with solid delivery, some good humor and energy. Especially loved Len Kiese, and still miss him. Most of the new anchors do not match up to what the current ones are like now (i.e. Sara Donchey, Ryan Yamamoto). Don’t be surprised if we see Donchey or Yamamoto leave in 2024. However, Jocelyn Moran, Reed Cowan, and Max Darrow are really good. Reed Cowan messes around too much that some people like Darren Peck get pissed off easily,

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    2. But fun to watch... with makeup! Not so much without.

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  17. Where is Jocelyn Moran? I liked her.

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  18. It's a step up, not down.

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    1. Looks like a step sideways at best.

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  19. Let us remember, boys and girls, that KCAL is where Evelyn Taft left KRON for. The place is a blonde magnet, as well as a promotion.

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  20. Too bad her style hasn't rubbed off on the ghoulish Liz C

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  21. Amanda is cute and she should do well at KCAL. Will she be an anchor, reporter or both? Will she be working as a weekend anchor and weekly reporter?

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  22. While I had gotten used to Amanda, this new person, Nicole Zaloumis, is WAY better at her delivery, etc. And Amanda is only 30 years old, people, but with her tons of makeup, she looks WAY older than she is. She is not aging gracefully, that is for sure. So kuddos to her for just trying to get it while she can in a visual business.
    Someone else mentioned Jocelyn Moran, and I too, was wondering where she was, but I saw her on Monday night's KPIX news, so I think she has at least temporarily, gone to working nights. I have to admit that for me, the morning news now is much tighter since adding Nicole Zaloumis. They have quit having the anchors walking all over the place, and The Lieutenant weather girl is kept off to the sides and not a part of the core group anymore. Regarding Amanda though, once again, Rich was right, as he usually is! Go Rich!

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    1. I saw Nicole on the 9AM news and honestly she is way better as far as her energy, personality & delivery. I am yet to find out if she is on at noon or just back to Ryan & Liz.

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  23. I wish her the best. Too bad she’s going from one shitty station to another.
    Nobody does it better than NBC LA.

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  24. Does anyone actually care about this?

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  25. I can't get over all the fuss y'all make over TV anchors and personalities. It is so overblown. Let's see...Pam Moore, one of the most respected and long lasting names in local TV news leaves and the station is still fine. Now, given, I can likely fit all the viewers a high school gymnasium, but as much as Pam had name recognition, I would bet her departure has had little impact on the ratings 'numbers'. PIX makes big moves in its morning show. Yes, it might be too early to tell, but I know the station's get overnights. I would bet a pint from Grumpy's that its numbers have not changed.

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  26. "Pam Moore, one of the most respected and long lasting names in local TV news..."

    And don't ask me why, as all she would do is come in, quietly sit at her desk until it was time to go on the air, and ignore all the white people in the room as much as she could.

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  27. These people come and go all the time. In two years nobody will remember her in SF. Not a deal...I wish her the best luck wherever she goes. She will do fine.

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  28. Amanda isn't bad but she doesn't have morning show energy. Perhaps she'll do better when she's back home in her comfort zone. Plus, a couple months ago she broke up with her boyfriend and then immediately began dating a woman she met through work.
    Sounds like their move to LA will be a much needed change of scenery.

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    1. Correction: Yes, Amanda recently began dating a woman but they did not meet through Amanda's job. They met each other socially and have known each other for a while now. They're excited about their next chapter in SoCal.

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  29. Now we have to get rid of Ryan Yamamoto. He is awful and has been since Day 1.

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    1. And Sara Donchey. Don’t be surprised if this happens in 2024. It seems that these new anchors have 2 year contracts and contigent on how they’re doing, they may be out depending on how they’re doing.

      Oh God Sara is awful she was wearing pajamas on air on Wednesday night.

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  30. All I can say is that it was nice seeing such a hottie on the morning news. Eye candy
    makes the bad news a little better. I’m a leg and butt man and she has the sexiest. Until KPIX finds someone just as sexy I’m not watching anymore except once in a while to see Lt. Jessica.

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    1. Man she was definitely worth getting up in morning for.They sure messed up the morning show ,new zelda ruins it. Should have plugged in Jocelyn Moran,only Lt.Burch worth watching now in am.

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  31. I always wondered what it was that she had wrapped around her leg. Anyone know what that was??

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  32. I will miss amanda in the morning I wish her the best in her future . where did justin edwards go to

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  33. Jessica Burch weather please go away so I can come back to watch kpix

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  34. The politiks @KPIX are infuriating...

    TV news is a visual medium. More on that in a bit.

    Amanda Starrantino is not an air head, but she may have been set up to look like she couldn't handle "transitions."

    Have you ever worked with inept teleprompting? Why does anyone assume that prompters were precisely choreographed to match all of the management forced walk-abouts on stage? (The same geniuses who came up with VR Weather, I suppose.)

    Did I say visual medium? Absolutely nothing wrong with "eye candy," because Amanda had brains to back it up with. I don't expect any news reader to be a scientist or hold the PhD. I also don't denigrate news reading, especially with local news and it's shoestring budgets for everything that actually matters. There's no point memorizing copy that's being written moments before it's broadcast.

    There is a peculiar kind of hate in the San Francisco Bay Area. It includes all of the old school bigotry, against color and culture and women for that matter, glossed over by a veneer of alleged progressivenss.

    I don't worship Barbie, but nor do I despise her. In the SFBA, I see a lot of Barbie hate that's driven by Barbie envy. Or, even worse, would be Barbie stalking.

    Hairspray, tastefully applied chemical tan, straight and white teeth do not offend me. Do we excoriate figure skaters for those things? Amanda is a figure skater, at the professional level. Her appearance is hopefully her choice. I definitely enjoyed it.

    What does her romantic life have to do with the news? Nothing. It's crypto -stalkers who obsess over that. I have no romantic intentions towards her. I do just fine solo. Boyfriend, girlfriend doesn't matter to me. It's always nice to know if she's happy, though.

    Amanda is more beautiful than any Barbie, even the one in the movie. In my book, quietly celebrating beauty is a great reason and way to wake up in the morning.

    In my book, Amanda going to CBS LA is our loss. It's her gain if she gets a better paycheck. The management down there is not likely to be one bit smarter than the bozos up here.

    And news readers are "talent." All of the savvy ones have agents.

    ...

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    1. An editor colleague who had worked in TV news once explained that when newsreaders stumble over their words or pause at the wrong places, it's often because the teleprompter script didn't use "sense lining," i.e. putting line breaks at places where the meaning would dictate a pause. Amanda is not the only local newsreader who may have suffered from that.
      Still, like many other straight men commenting here about hot on-air talent, I am profoundly conflicted about my male gaze being pandered to so openly.

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  35. The whole VR Weather set is a total joke (and not the fault of Lt Burch, who probably didn't sign up to do Avatar weather segments).

    Only an AI could conjure visual garbage like the glass cylindrical planters with illegible print on the circumference of their pedestals.

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