415 Media Exclusive: KTVU Rebuffs Mike Mibach; Maintains Rotating Anchor Policy at 10 PM; Rage Continues Inside Newsroom; Ibanez Set To Leave March 31st; Eikel/Hartel ND/GM Reign Under Further Scrutiny; Staff "No Confidence"

In the "You Gotta Be Kidding Me" dept., a New Low at KTVU...

Management, and it goes right to the top at News Director, Amber Eikel, has told staff that they will continue to use a rotating-anchor policy at 10 PM and that no official replacement will be chosen until summer, according to multiple sources.

I REPORTED here that veteran anchor, Mike Mibach, was given the job but that Mibach and Fox2 execs were involved in a salary dispute and that has delayed a formal announcement. Whether that development dictated the decision to continue to rotate anchors at 10 O'Clock isn't known but it may have influenced the decision. Either way, the policy has further enraged a staff at KTVU where the working environment is downright toxic and disgusted.

This won't help matters.

*For starters, it has once again, alienated a KTVU staff that regards Eikel, (notably) and GM/SVP, Mellynda Hartel, as incompetent and inexperienced. Staff repeatedly has complained that its bosses are ill-suited to run the news (TV) operation and are "responsible for the unease at KTVU."

*The about face has Mibach both angry and confused. Mibach, I'm told, is still interested in the job and is willing to work at a reduced salary but he's also exploring other options. What that entails, nobody knows, but a KTVU source said the veteran anchor is not pleased. Who could blame him.

*This comes at a time at KTVU where it just lost its longtime, troubled, lead anchor, Frank Somerville, who was formally BOOTED in January --Mibach was thought to get the permanent replacement job, but now, who knows.

*The future of longtime sports anchor Mark Ibanez, a 43-year veteran, is all but determined; Ibanez, barring a last-minute miracle, will LEAVE the desk come late March as Ibanez has been working without a contract and has been rebuffed in an extension request. Ibanez was told by Fox2 brass his situation would be addressed after the NFL (football) season; instead, he's been ignored and has told friends he's ready to walk away and leave KTVU. That would leave two major faces off the 10 PM News and gone from the storied newscast.

*With the station mired in employee turmoil and facing an increasingly hostile work environment, I'm told, Fox execs are examining the internal relationship between Hartel/Eikel and senior KTVU staff--virtually all the newsroom personnel included. The Fox corporate division sent a team to the Bay Area last year to look into the dysfunction at Channel 2--no decision by the Fox team ever materialized, formally, but the execs told Fox corporate O and O suits, that the situation in Oakland, "was tenuous."

*Eikel's fragile, at best, newsroom control is thought to be safe and her futute at KTVU stabile but the continued cloud inside the building isn't helping matters. Sure, KTVU's ratings continue to remain strong and relatively un-changed, but its not because of Eikel-- says a source, "in spite of her."

The Firm's Bay Area O and O is about the worst working shop in local TV News history and isn't getting better anytime soon.

*415 MEDIA EXCLUSIVE

Showdown at KTVU: Somerville Contract Up; Will He Sign New Deal Amid KPIX Rumors; Monday Open

FRANK SOMERVILLE is the topic of conversation around the Bay Area TV News scene: why? Somerville's contract is up. No big deal he will automatically be renewed would be the logical thinking so what's all the commotion?

The word on the street is that, yes, Fox/KTVU will re-up the veteran Monday-Friday anchor --but at virtually no raise and perhaps even a cut. Somerville's annual salary is among the highest in the Bay Area at roughly $630K a year. It's a lot of money for an anchor even one as popular as Somerville but KTVU is awash in cash and still has record ratings particularly at nighttime where Frank leads the way at 6 and 10 PM. He's been at Channel 2 for over two decades.

Making matters more interesting is possible interest from other stations should Somerville want to jump ship if he doesn't get a contract that's suitable for his standing. A source close to the situation tells me one outlet that might pounce on Somerville: KPIX, CBS-owned and operated has lots of money and KPIX needs a face of the station. At the very least, a PIX offer would provide much leverage to Somerville who, I believe, would prefer to stay at KTVU and finish out his career in Oakland.

I would bet he get's a deal done --a new contract somewhere in the $700K a year frame is likely. Then again, these days nothing shocks me.

I will be on this and report back to you when there's news, or not.

The Official Disintegration of KTVU

I REMEMER KTVU when it had a soul. A pulse. A beat. An incredible part of the community.

Not any longer.

KTVU has become a benign, soulless, less-than-ordinary TV News station with very little direction and institutional incompetence; a once-proud news operation that has slithered beyond hope and inspiration. You can see it in the eyes of its staff; there's a very vivid malign of people who used to care and give a shit which is now been turned into a home for chaos and no sense of direction. And that's the good news.

KTVU has lost its grip. And I'm not even mentioning the Asiana debacle in 2013 or the equally pathetic and embarrassing Nia Wilson picture of 2018. Of course those stand out and they should. It's pretty difficult to have one clusterfuck --KTVU managed to have two in five years.

No, I'm talking about the people on the air and the people behind the scenes; the bulk of these folks are miserable. They don't like going to work. They frown when entering the premises wondering what's next on the horizon. KTVU is about to debut a new set (which is why you see a lot of anchors reporting from the newsroom) but a new set can't create spark and energy for a staff saddled with morale issues and intensification of action by "The Firm." The Firm is the industry code of present day FOX and its management of its owned and operated (O and O) TV stations. They are run by fear and intimidation. They loathe human interaction and abhor employees who aren't thrilled with working conditions that harbor deep resentment but dare not say anything negative or you're likely to be liquidated (figuratively speaking) to the outskirts of hell. I'm being extreme but I'm right.

Used to be KTVU (under its old corporate owner, Cox Media) was a gold-standard station with a heralded news reputation with solid anchors and reporters in the field that knew their territory and had tremendous vision. They were smart and solid and not only great at their gig but invigorating to watch and learn quite a bit. This was evident most solidly on "The 10' O'clock News", which used to be the most respected and admired, singular newscast in not only the Bay Area but around the nation.

Now the 10 PM news is a load of spam and lemon jello. It no longer has any relevance nor supreme being. It's just an ordinary newscast with insipid anchors and vanilla reporters with about a hundred thousand weather teases and anchors asking fake questions and looking and sounding the quislings they've become.

Frank Somerville is out front and passionate but Frank seems to be sort of driven by artificial emotion. It's not a knock on him it's just the facts. Take a look at him. He's sort of just plain out there. If his real passion were sincere and genuine he'd be more than just a guy in a great suit and look and ask real, legitimate questions and not the Ron Burgundy variety presently on screen.

Julie Haener used to be a dedicated, friendly, smart, news reader who seemed confident and relaxed. She's no longer warm and fuzzy on the air which would be OK if she weren't too a conniving, gossip monger who likes to stir up shit off the air. How do I know? Trust me, I do.

Bill Martin was once clever and original and made his weather reports interesting and informative. His ad-libbing was point perfect and forecasts usually on the spot. No longer. Martin seems to mumble now, quite a bit in fact. If this sounds harsh it is and I'm trying to be diplomatic but watching Martin now is the equivalent of a double root canal. If Martin were to emit one, tangible thought on the 300, 000 weather reports he does nightly on KTVU's news platforms, call me, I'd be enlightened because I haven't seen anything close. Bill seems lost in the fog.

I used to love Mark Ibanez on sports. The best writer in the market and a sports anchor that could make even non-sports fans interested in sports. But that great enthusiasm has been tempered with flat-out arrogance and self-importance. There's no passion anymore and less sincerity. What once was a genuinely interesting man who cared and was your best friend has turned into an insufferable lout with all the heart and soul of month-old rye bread.

Reporters come and go. The good ones, mostly, have either retired or just took off; there's hardly any veterans left. Tom Vacar is old and boring, uninspired too. Rob Roth used to be decisive and effective in his understated manner but seems to be just hanging on until they tell him to leave. Amber Lee is so much of a lightweight I can't imagine how she's lasted this long.

I'm not going to drone on about the morning on KTVU because you already know if you read me how much of a disaster its become. If you like superficiality and vanity disguised as news presentation then watch Channel 2 in the morning and gyrate to the human windbag known as Gasia Mikaelian and brute force banality named Dave Clark. Gravitate to a once charming Sal Castaneda who's ego and smarminess is self evident. Observe the warmth and creativity of Claudine Wong who last giggled in the latter years of the Clinton administration. Yeah, I'm generalizing but you get my drift. Oh, did I leave out my biggest fan, the ego maniac Broom Hilda with about as much inspiration as a rotten kumquat, Countess Pam Cook? I should know better.

KTVU will tell you they still rule the ratings. They do, in certain time slots including morning and late evening. Fine.

They won't tell you how many diminishing viewers they have. Nobody watches TV News anymore anyway except media bloggers and retired bridge players but so what, someone still has to make a living.

It would be nice if KTVU were to go back in time and produce a half-decent newscast with people that were excited and dedicated to their craft.

I won't hold my breath on that last one.

Neither should you.

KTVU's Rob Roth Excellent Piece on Ghost Ship Victim is Poignant and Powerful (Video)

   So how's a nice Jewish boy with New York roots surviving in the Gregg Kelley 54 camera world of KTVU? Very well thank you.

Senior Reporter, Rob Roth's remarkable package on the Ghost Ship fire victim, Michela Gregory, last week was so "on message" it was a re-run again the next morning in its entirety.

It conjured up the good ole days when the "10 o'clock News" was the preeminent site for the 2:00 to 2:35 non live package.

Roth took the time and effort to cut a stand-up bridge instead of sending a photographer to spray the area. You have to wonder how Roth has survived when most seasoned reporters in the Bay Area are walking bully-eyes for the HR department to save on payroll.

Now we know why. 

Someone Inside KTVU Is Messing With KTVU Again And It's Not That Pretty; UPDATE 1: KTVU Offers 'Apology'; Source: No Accident

 

This was the banner graphic on the  KTVU "10 O' Clock News" Wednesday Night. I think we have a problem.

Anchor Frank Somerville threw it to reporter, Ken Pritchett, for a live shot from San Bruno on the fifth anniversary of the massive PG&E pipeline explosion.

So the "San Burno" graphic seems to be an intentional hit by some devious employee. Probably, and this is just a guess, but Sum Tim is very Wong.

Oh, I'm on this immediately. And I'm pretty sure some heads will roll. Again.

UPDATE 1 --11: 14 AM PT

KTVU has offered this rather lame apology ---meanwhile, a well-placed station source said "San Burno" graphic was no accident. No typo.

We're investigating.

So are others now.

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KTVU And Boston Fox Station Staffers Nervous And On Edge As Raponi and Rosenthal Move East; Channel 2 Uncertainty Lingering; Thursday Starter

 The recent Fox acquisition of KTVU as its O and O, (owned and operated station), from Cox has a lot of people on edge...not just in Oakland, but in Boston too.


Tom Raponi, the GM for Channel 2, is headed out of the Bay Area and back to the East Coast.


Raponi will take with him, News Director, Lee Rosenthal, (whom we refer to as Wonder Boy)--we do so with profound lovingly charm as Rosenthal will take his talents to Boston's Fox 25, eventually.


While no one in Oakland will cheer on the record, it's common knowledge the majority of 2's newsroom staffers are thrilled in that respect even though uncertainty looms in the offices around impending changes coming to the Bay Area TV station once the deal closes sometime in the fall.


Raponi, as a hands-on leader, didn't do much leading at KTVU. His buddy-buddy system of dealing with personnel was OK so as long as you were one of his buddies. That mode of operation works well too if the rest of the staff feels as if they're a part of the club. Conversely, it's not a workable strategy when the ship takes a sharp detour and you have to lead. Boston's Fox 25 news people are understandably fretting.


Rosenthal, as we reported here first, has put his house up for sale--his breakaway from Jack London Square can't be too soon. Like Raponi, the Boy Wonder all but disappeared after the Asiana debacle and will forever mark an indelible stamp on both men's career. To this day, their button-up and shut-up tactics after the embarrassment speaks volumes about how they manage crisis. Or lack thereof. Rosenthal's act in Boston will be a sight to behold.


Meanwhile, at KTVU, reporters are coming and going. The lame-duck status of the mangers up top has created a source of extreme anxiety --particularly those folks, like in Boston, who make a lot of money. Staffers have not a clue just what the heck to expect under the impending Fox ownership and no management suit has stepped to the plate to calm down the nerves.

So you have continuing new names and faces. Reporters coming and going; something completely uncommon in the old days; a slew of indecision; and subsequent chaos on the news TV screen complete with operational errors, mixed-up story lines, and more embarrassing graphics malfunctions taking place on an almost daily basis. This is not a pretty picture, both in Oakland and in Boston.


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Silence Of The Lambs at KTVU

 The GM never talks even after repeated e-mails that would love to give him a chance to talk, to speak openly and set the record straight. And I'm not the only one he doesn't answer after endless requests.

 

--The News Director has also been silent. Never talks, never bothers to at least try to make his case and by extension, the station's case. That's not very bright.

 

Even before the Asiana name disaster, the station PR effort was mum's the word unless highlighting ratings which is fine, SOP.

 

But ever since that day, it's been abysmal from a once preeminent Bay Area TV News Masterpiece Theatre.

 

KTVU should know better.

 

God knows they could use a bit of transparency and injecting a whole lot of oil into a sputtering engine. That's what professional operations do, even the rank amateurs because the current silence of the lambs policy isn't working and only further revving up those in the newsroom and beyond who talk of dire straits at 2 Jack London Square.

 

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Exclusive: KTVU Reporters Vacar and Fowler Get Stripped of Editor Status; News Director Rosenthal Does Dirty Deeds Behind Back; Indignation at Jack London Square

  Siege Mentality inside KTVU...

KTVU veteran reporters, Tom Vacar and John Fowler--both with over two decades of tenure over at Jack London Square, have been stripped of their "Editor" status. Worse yet, the indignation was told to them by co-workers and not by the ND, Lee Rosenthal, who did the dirty deed himself!

How coincidental.

Word is that both Vacar and Fowler were outraged, according to a station source.

Vacar was KTVU's Consumer Editor and Fowler, the Health and Science Editor. Both have won numerous industry awards and local Emmys.

**In another outrageous move, according to my sources, Jeff Holub, the PR director, had reporter, Eric Rasmusen's, wife, one of their best promotions writers and producers escorted out of the building when he learned she landed another job.

Another producer in the department is supposedly going to a Cox station in Oklahoma, so she gets to stay for her last two weeks, and is given a heroes send off.

It used to be at KTVU, if you were being wooed by another offer, KTVU would do something to keep you, and failing that, they would win you the best, allowing you your last two weeks. Now their intent is to humiliate you as a shot across the deck as a warning to all the worker bees in the hive.

**Rich Lieberman 415 Media Exclusive

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