KPIX brass knows they made a mistake in the hire of
Ryan Yamamoto, which is why they stuck him at Noon--that said, he's a
total disaster even at 12 PM.
He looks lost and out of place with a deep sense of NO ENERGY and NO PRESENCE. Nothing has changed in a couple of years, PIX knows it.
*MORE NOON quagmire:
KTVU's ridiculous-looking, sounding,
Gasia Mikaelian, anchoring Tuesday with the opening story of a nasty truck crash on 580 in Oakland. The
Gaas could have been more appropriate emceeing the start of a disco dance night out, talk about out of place.
Then again, it's
KTVU, what else is new? I rest my case.
Better than the guy at 8PM Channel 44 daily, who is the guy? I expect Sexy Sara Donchey and Professional Liz Cook to be on and very disappointed.
ReplyDeleteDevin Fehely? But even Devin is anchor material and is far far more coherent with emotion & confidence.
DeleteIf you expect Donchey to be on, you have to wait till 11PM or even better wait till she fills in on Juliette’s show.
DeleteBesides her decorum, she is cringy and awkward on the air. If anything she can learn a few things from Devin. She is blocking Paul’s 7-day forecast graphics at the end and all the unneccessary banter crap.
Moreover, Liz Cook is far better. She used to do 11PM news and was spot on.
Devin Fehely is 10000 times better than Donchey.
DeleteI don't like the format of the news on 44. News feature stories are fine weekend mornings, but not oweeknignts. Channel 44 news should be like at 6pm, 10pm, or 11pm.
DeleteKRON with their newbie reporters and established anchors did a better job at 8 and 9pm.
Perfect example of why 95% of the time local news is a waste of time. As you say, KTVU leads with a truck accident on 580, an accident that does not impact or is relevant to 99.9% of the audience. Those impacted are not watching. Those impacted are in the in the backup, if there was one, and for them it really doesn't matter, I am, it is driving, traffic. This is the case for 95% of what is pushed out as news. Sure, there are stories that are human interest and unique, that don't impact the masses, that is fine, but most is just worth time fills.
ReplyDeleteAn appropriate name is Ryan Yawnamoto. The quality of TV news as well as the local newspapers is just mind boggling. The Chronicle has become a shill for social justice issues, opinion pieces prioritized as top of the news, Big Pharma and food. One entity owns the Mercury News, Contra Costa Times and other newspapers. So much for variety. What the hell is going on here?
ReplyDeleteMr Yamamoto is doing fine. Yes, he has that “Poindexter” look, and he struggles to be upbeat when the banter is frivolous, but he reads well and delivers well. He does not seem angry at the world, but he knows he has a nice gig and decent pleasant co-workers. He isn’t hurting anyone.
ReplyDeleteSigned, His Mother
Yamamoto is all alone at noon. So sad but its only a matter of time he’ll be let go from KPIX. Doesnt he have a 2 year contract or something?
ReplyDeleteThe news director that hired both Ryan Yamamoto & Sara Donchey is no longer at the station. Donchey job is more safer than Ryan. Getting stucked doing the noon newscast is not a good sign considering he was brought in to replace Ken Batista.
DeleteBastida was miles better than Yamamoto. Somehow my parents like Yamamoto but me, I think he is good at reading but just not anchor material.
DeleteIf I remember from my childhood Bastida used to do the morning show & possibly noon and later promoted to Primetime.
If anything some folks on this board mentioned they should have hired from within when Ken Bastida retired - it should have been Brian Hackney or Devin Fehely to be the face of the station.
Now, Ryan started out as a full fledged Primetime anchor (he has filled in at 3pm on occasion) replacing Bastida’s place. However, last September he was demoted to noon, but I’ve seen and heard he has filled in even as early as 9AM, probably could be a whole lot worse! Time went on & Reed Cowan moved completely to the Morning show and 3PM is done by Liz herself (maybe Ryan if filling in or Anne Makovec). That essentially means with Liz doing 3PM, 5PM, and then Primetime at 8/9PM, they decided to yank her off the Noon newscast & leave behind poor Yamamoto there.
Overall, the way I understand is his demotion is a whole lot worse because simply put, he is simply not performing as per the expectations of KPIX.
Simply put, I won’t be surprised if by next year his contract is completely over & he is fired. Again, many of these new anchors have had a 2 year contract, so don’t be surprised if we see Yamamoto leaving the station & perhaps Donchey.
God forbid this happens, then it’s that point where they start replacing from within and not bring a whole lot of anchors from outside. Brian Hackney should replace Donchey & Andrea Nakano should replace Yamamoto and put someone from the Morning team on at noon (perhaps Reed Cowan or Gianna Franco).
Besides before Amanda left for sometime we saw her alone at noon & also with Yamamoto at noon. I take it that the noon newscast is basically a “dead zone”, perhaps “dead end” for any anchors demoted there.
Ryan is simply not an anchor. KPIX needs to own up to the mistake hire and cut ties, or move him into a reporter role, where he could excel.
ReplyDeleteOkay how about sports? He was also a sports anchor back in the day.
Delete@ 7:06 Sports may be better than anchor, but a reporter seems like a better fit.
DeleteThen I have a good idea. Make him trade places with Andrea from both a weekday reporting & fill-in sports perspective.
DeletePut Sara or Reed at noon.
@ 10:28 I like it. Run it by the KPIX brass and make it happen.
DeleteLol I have no affiliation with KPIX except just a viewer like most of us on the board, but if someone were to run it by them and this works I’m happy if that happens.
DeletePut Sara at noon & 3PM (paired with Liz or as a fill-in). Andrea & Liz can do 5pm, Primetime Edition. 11PM should be the Evening Edition or
The late news with Brian Hackney. For the weekends, I believe some of the new reporters should have an aim at that. Weekend mornings is already now anchored by Max Darrow. Weekend evenings we can put someone like Betty Yu & Kenny Choi.
Delete@ 8:59 Of course you're not affiliated with KPIX, but maybe someone from the station is reading these blogs/comments. Liz should be slotted at 11pm and Sara could go back to the 5pm slot.
Delete💯 percent agree. Liz was there for a period of time at 11 even with Alan Martin & Ken Bastida (and sometimes Brian Hackney filling in). She was professionally dressed & knows how to deliver the news.
DeleteI won’t be surprised if that happens in the future. Going from noon & 5pm to 3pm, 5pm, 8pm & 9pm if anything is more of a promotion.
The primetime anchors have a potential to fill in for Sara, it doesn’t always have to be Juliette
Not to pit the two against each other but Kenny Choi was actually a better noon anchor than Yamamoto. He got sent back into the fields after the ratings continued to flatline. He's actually a really good reporter in that regard. But KPIX's problems lie deeper than who's behind the desk. Some of these hires leave you scratching your head. Hiring to appeal to a certain demographic as opposed to actually watching this persons reel to see if he or she is actually appealing behind the desk seems part of the problem.
ReplyDeleteYeah...I don't see a future at PIX for Yamamoto or Elizabeth Cook for that matter when their contracts run out. The only one that's really watchable over there is Juliette Goodrich. And that's because she comes across as likable. And knows what she's doing which always helps.
I think Bay Area news in general suffers from over saturation. I mean five different networks basically telling you the same thing. Yawn. I'd rather get my news from the internet. It's only during a natural disaster that we really find out what these local stations are made of. I think ABC 7 kinda leads the pack overall. The only one I really watch consistently that is.
The ratings would improve if we see Brian Hackney & Juliette Goodrich both anchor at primetime on a regular basis
DeleteFormer Bay Area sales guy here/moved back east and have been out of the biz for 7-years now. I re-discovered Rich's blog last year...and enjoy keeping up with my former stomping grounds. Having said this... I just don't get the hate for Yamamoto. I finally watched him last week when my wife and I were back visiting her family last week in the East Bay. I was curious--having read a bunch of hate on this blog the past year. WTF??? Dude is a solid pro. He reads well...doesn't get giddy...nor does he pontificate like old White-guy anchors tend to do (a la Frank Sommerville). I was expecting a stuttering fool...or a nails-on-the-chalkboard guy. But he's pretty solid! I don't get the hate. Dude's a pro.
ReplyDeleteI like Yamamoto too. He's not a BIG PERSONALITY, which I appreciate -- just seems like a nice guy who takes his job seriously but without getting an inflated ego about it. I'd be sorry to have him go.
DeleteDecent newsreader. Just kinda dull. Sorry Yamamoto family.
DeleteI watched Da Lin on a taped segment bemoaning a fire in a restaurant
ReplyDeletehe used to frequent. Even though it was taped, he still broke eye contact with the audience -- just as he does on LIVE shots.
Gasia is still an attractive, cute/female. I would rather see her at 10:00 pm instead of Mibach. She was a credible anchor and reporter when she worked in the day/evening newscasts.
ReplyDeleteI think that Ryan lacks screen presence, but he is a competent teleprompter reader. No drama Yamamoto. Incompetent management offered him a contract that he accepted, a promotion for him. Management should let his contract quietly expire.
ReplyDeleteHey, I think Gasia is very good at her job. She reads the news as good as any, does well with her interviews, and during the 9am hour can lead a conversation with her co-anchors.
ReplyDeleteYep, not sure where the Gasia hate is coming from, but I think she's great. Maybe she could be a little too jovial or may go off topic a bit, but it's really a non-issue for me. Her smile and enthusiasm are welcomed in the mornings.
DeleteNOBODY at KPIX can read a teleprompter. I truly believe that it is a technical issue more than a people issue. The techs are too busy with their Virtual Weather toy.
ReplyDeleteNot true. Brian Hackney, Devin Fehely, Anne Makovec , Juliette Goodrich are the few that come to mind
DeleteThe teleprompter issue is most noticeable with Ryan. He's absolutely terrible at improvising, so when he has trouble reading carefully scripted text, he is a liability to the station. The concept of the virtual weather toy is ok, given all the AI buzz, but it was poorly executed. Having that big controller looks awkward, and the city labels on the map are barely noticeable. Plus the 7-day forecast looks the same everyday. There is no contrast to the colors - everything looks blue. KPIX is really striking out in just about every area re: news broadcasting.
ReplyDelete