Monday, September 18, 2023

Monday Mundane; Raj Mathai and Janelle Wang Love Connection Gets More Fluid; KTVU Just Another Lousy TV Station; Haener/Ibanez Secret Summit Not So Secret; Circ le7 Doldrums; Key People Left; Nobody Said Anything; KPIX Tries, Tries; CBS Heavily Invested; Larry Beil Had High Hopes

REAL LIFE love connection? Raj Mathai and Janelle Wang in San Jose at NBC Bay Area, I'm certain it has to be double mojo.

*They don't even pretend it's like old times at KTVU, the mood is DOWN and SOUR. every day, every moment. Just another LOUSY TV news station that was once Bay Area royalty. Too bad nobody gives a damn there, especially Julie Haener, who should know better.

*While I was in an Oakland shul celebrating the beginning of the Jewish New Year on Saturday, less than a few miles away, in a dark back part of a cafe in Jack Londom Square, both Haener and Mark Ibanez huddled and talked about a lot of things, it seemed both sad and poignant. Whatever it was, it was SECRET, oh, but my spies were on it.

*The MOOD at KGO-TV, even before the Disney/Nexstar rumors, was pretty sad and PUTRID, toxic to a point of serious and extreme. Circle7 staff saw some of its best personnel leave and/or retire. Producers, news writers, directors, the whole shebang. Dan Ashley knew, so did Kristen Sze and others, but said nothing. They could have but, well, that's all you need to know about ABC7 these days.

*ABC7 news boss, Tracey Watkowski-Silva and Disney: birds of a feather...

*MORE ABC7: mystery woman who all of a sudden, says nothing, does nothing, to the surprise of many at 900 FRONT: Ama Daetz. Bizarre and a little curious too. Ama maybe waiting in the wings to make a move once Ashley makes his move or when he's told to go home.

*Yes, KPIX (CBS News/Bay Area) continues to shuffle the deck and try, try, try. It's innovative, it's an attempt to try new stuff, it's creative, but so far, the numbers haven't moved a lot. CBS will stay the course, they have to, they have way too much moolah invested here, trust me.

*One person on the rise at PIX: Devin Fehely.

*ON THE OUTSIDE, LOOKING in, but FAILING miserably: Larry Beil, he had high hopes. Mp> Disney didn't.,p>

*, Larry time to all Steph down in San Jose.

33 comments:

  1. I feel better knowing the Ibañez Haener tryst remains viable and oh so secret.
    The photo of Ibañez in jeans, waistcoat, jacket, tennis shoes, and untucked shirt proves his fashion sense remains weak and infantile.

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    1. Agreed. Here I am thinking that in order to bed Haener, at the very least I’d need to wear a Brioni suit and a Rolex watch, yet there’s Ibanez dressed like he’s a 12 year old going to his friend’s quinceañera.

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    2. I don't mind the way Ibañez dresses. Hell---it's California. I grew up in SoCal and STILL favor shorts and flip-flops on my days off--and I'm 58. If anyone says anything to me, if I'm in a good mood I say, "Who are you, the EFFING fashion police?" If I'm in a bad mood, I'll just punch you in the face.

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    3. Ibanez seems to be an exception to the old adage, 'if you ain't tuckin, you ain't fuckin.'

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    4. I'll pass on bedding Julie, strikes me as the frigid type.

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    5. Haener on air seems cold and frigid but checking her Instagram she seems like she’d be fun under the sheets.
      @7:26 sounds like it’s Ibanez himself getting a bit defensive about his “fashion” sense.

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  2. Meanwhile KRON has apparently done something right for a change and given Vicki Liviakis Pam Moore's slot in addition to her old 5pm slot. You see Liviakis on KRON more than Lodes and Wayne now. May just be temporary but I hope not.

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    1. Is she sober while on the air that late? She's known for drinking before she goes on and the GM Jim Rose knows that but he plays favorites with the staff. Really pitiful management at kron nowadays. Sadly that station will never come back. They've already lost 50% of their viewers

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  3. In the immortal words of a great media blogger RL - Devin Fehely is MELBA TOAST!

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    1. What do you mean by that? He is one of the few, engaging anchors who is solid and gets to the point without any nonsense approach and asks tough questions.

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  4. Has KPIX tried reviving the Naked News format made famous in Canada back in the day? At this point...why not? I think it would fit best with their late news at 11pm broadcast. If nothing else it would get Sara Donchey out of those hideous outfits she chooses to wear at times. And the bumper trance music they use would fit right in. Heck, even put that guy Shawn on late at night so everyone can see all of his Chitness. lol

    Julie Haener: So my son is not going to be the next Tom Brady?

    Mark Ibanez: No. And at this point the next C.J. Beathard would be a stretch. Now let's see about those room rates Raj and Janelle were talking about. lol

    Watched The Point After for the first time since Ibanez departure. Boy...Even Bubba Paris is not the same without him. They were a great tag team for all things 49ers post-game. It's like that Brady Bunch episode where they replaced Alice with Ann. Not the same.

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    1. I love Shawn Chitnis too. Solid reporter & fill in anchor and gets to the point without any nonsense approach. I’ve seen him anchor the morning show and was great

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    2. I'd watch KPIX if they went that route.

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  5. Fehely does a solid job. He's stuck on KPIX+ weeknights. It's a shame. They should put Sara Donkey or Ryan Yamamellow in that slot. Who watches the lazy person's version of KPIX?

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    1. Who watches kpix?

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    2. Stuck? What do you mean by stuck? Devin was on the weekend mornings for years and reports at times and was stuck there. If anything he should be the face of the station.

      This if anything is a promotion for him well deserved. I agree he is great & solid something missing in many anchors like Yamamoto & Donchey. I only wish he would have done 11 on weeknights with the flexibility of filling in on other weeknight broadcasts.

      My thought is keep Devin where he is but really shuffle Brian Hackney & Andrea Nakano. Take them both off weekends and find a suitable weekday primetime time slot to anchor. Both are solid and have always made a great team (Goodrich is great too).

      I would trade Hackney & Nakano’s weekend spot for Yamamoto & Donchey.

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    3. I have said it before her several times, in that Devin Fehely has anchor material written all over him. The guy is flawless in his delivery and persona. He gives out an aura of truth, that he knows what he is talking about and does not seem to slant it, the way other media people do.
      Regarding Sara Donchey and KPIX, to answer a question above, I now watch KPIX in both mornings and the 11pm news. Mornings have gotten a lot better now that they brought in Nicole Zaloumis. She has great delivery and she has legs that will just make you salivate all night long! As for Sara Donchey, ok, she has a strange wardrobe, most of the time, but I have to say that I love it when she wears shoes that show her feet and toes. The lady has totally delicious looking feet and the irony happened a few weeks ago when she was reporting on a story about a guy who entered women's homes and then fondled their feet. She acted like it was puzzling to her, but I was smiling during the whole story because I understood! So I watch 11pm news in the hopes of seeing Sara wearing revealing shoes, like she did Monday night, September 18th. Wow!

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  6. I don’t watch KNTV news anymore. Does Raj Mathai still wear dirty sneakers with a cheap suit? For a while there it seemed to be his uniform.

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    1. Yeah he still does. Apparently he does it for Janelle Wang. Rumor has it she has a filthy sneakers fetish.

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    2. Yes he does. Have no idea what Wang sees in him

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    3. 10:21, It's certainly not the looks or sense of fashion (or lack thereof), and I can't imagine Mathai's bank account has much more than 3 weeks worth of savings in it, so 9:06 is probably right, it's likely the dirty running shoes that has Wang groveling over him like a sick puppy dog.

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  7. An ode to KTVU:

    Each day's slow march in somber cadence flows,
    Culminating in a change, we mourn what goes,
    A television realm, esteemed of yore,
    Now fades, a relic lost, forevermore.

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    1. Not sure what’s funnier, the ode or William Shakesbeer.

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    2. Damn, that wasn't bad, except forevermore almost sounds like Poe ("Nevermore!") But still, it's far better than the actual writing on the newscasts themselves these days.

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  8. Maybe KPIX should report on actual news rather than using Human interest stories as their top story. Somerville's personal life is a total mess, but he was better than what KTVU has now.

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    1. Huh??? PIX hardly ever leads with "human interest." That's KTVU's forte. Actually PIX has done a very good job lately with "real" news—crime in SF and Oakland, goings on at Oakland's city hall and the police chief, both the fired one and the yet-to-be-hired one. Don't know what station you're watching.

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  9. "Raj Mathai and Janelle Wang in San Jose at NBC Bay Area, I'm certain it has to be double mojo."

    Why do women always have such shitty taste in men? In 1987 Connell Cowan wrote "Smart Women foolish Choices." Things haven't changed much since then.

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    1. @12:55 Couldn't agree more, both yucky

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  10. Wang & Mathai, eww, eew, ughhh, I'm blinded!!!!!!!!!!!

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  11. From the glory days of KCBS radio. A day in the life of reporter Jim Hamblin....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wivev16sruU

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  12. Darren Peck is filling in today for Paul. Saw the 5PM news briefly and the 7PM news and now watching Primetime and he'll be on at 11PM and I can see he's more comfortable in the evening. None of this joking around crap he wants to deal with on the Morning show. He is good on explaining on the smoke & air quality and makes the viewers understand in the right way. No ego that I've seen come out of him on the evening shows vs. morning.

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    1. Yes Darren Peck filled in again Friday in for Paul. No ego or attitude like he has on the Morning show. Just a nice explanation of the weather and factor on weekend & evening plans.

      One nice thing about him at 11PM was that yesterday he didn’t let Sara block the weather graphics of the 7-day forecast until he was done and called her name.

      Today not so bad either. I think they should stick Darren as an evening fill in & for a morning fill-in get somebody else.

      On the nonsense banter Donchey does, unlike the way he acts on the morning show, he just comments a little bit if something catches his eye but for the most part is quiet & reserved. Paul on the other hand gets really involved in it.

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  13. My intuition was Correct: Mathai likes wang.

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