415 Media Exclusive: Mark Ibanez To Stay At KTVU; Veteran Sports Anchor To Sign Extension Through 2018; 'I'm Elated'

Mark Ibanez will be staying at KTVU Sports

 IBANEZ TO STAY AT KTVU; VERBAL AGREEMENT IN PLACE; WILL SIGN CONTRACT THIS WEEK

Veteran weeknight KTVU sports anchor, Mark Ibanez, has reached a "verbal agreement" with the Fox O and O to remain on the station at least another three years.

Ibanez' current deal expires on April 1.

Reached by phone, Ibanez confirmed the deal: "I'm elated with the terms. Really happy to get this done. On cloud nine baby!"

Ibanez will formally sign the contract extension this week.

Ibanez had the luxury of another station expressing an interest in him --that station is KGO-TV, but it never reached a point where negotiations over a deal were close but KGO was interested enough to make Ibanez an offer.

Ibanez, who's been at KTVU since 1979, didn't want to talk about specifics on his salary but it's believed to be about $360K per year. Not bad considering today's new compensation model for even big market stations and a Fox one at that.

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Veteran Morning EP Calls It Quits at KRON; Gives Two-Week Notice; Union Problems at 1001 Van Ness

Union Problems at KRON...Among other items--

Yet another Executive Producer is calling it quits: veteran morning news staffer, Marci Kusanovich, according to my insider has given 2-week notice to management...

And This:

Major SAG-AFTRA "issues."

"Same old shit", says long-time newsroom worker.

Another: "just when you think things are getting tranquil, all of a sudden the 'shit hits the fan."

It could be worse: KTVU took the spotlight away from the 1001 Van Ness posse.

*Developing...

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KTVU: Thanks For Trusting Us to Cover Up

Dear KTVU:

You have now become a punchline. Instead of acting transparent you are now in the business of trying to cover up. That is not the way to run a business based on credibility with your viewers, your affiliates, your reporters and anchors, your entire staff inside the building.

Thanks for trusting us? Excuse me.

I'm not the only one who feels this way.

In case you haven't heard, you, KTVU, has managed to make this nightmarish gaffe even worse. Apologies can only go so far and in light of your behavior since the gaffe, more is needed. It all starts at the top. Who is to blame? Where's the managers? They aren't talking, not to me nor anyone else. That's hardly the act of contrition.

In light of the latest developments, someone needs to go. Yesterday.

This isn't some lame-brain piling on top of a train wreck SF blogger. Its traction is reaching epic proportions. Trust Us? Hell, why should we trust you when it's apparent all you've done is to run and hide.

That's not the KTVU I used to know.

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KTVU and Consultants

From a sage TV media observer who knows a few things...


The big problem is KTVU starts with the assumption that the people that actually do the job on a daily basis know nothing, hence the need for consultants. That explains a lot of why local news in is the dumper. Trash the model, then blame employee headcount for the loss in revenue that is sure to follow. The new news director is taking a template of failure and running with it. Amazing that a tribute to YouTube like KRON can beat any station, much less KTVU. But it has come to that. Rather than even taking into account quality of content, they are focused on the nonsense like graphics and story count. Sizzle is useless when the steak has become the sole of an old Bass Weejun loafer.

About KTVU; KPIX and Me; Tuesday Starter

When I think of Channel 2, (KTVU), I think of a dominant local TV outlet that has been the envy of not only industry people here, but nationally too.

I think of a TV station that had built its brand on consistency; a station whose news division has produced some of the finest reporters and TV anchors in the business. A station, up until of late, that has seen very little turnover amongst its rank and file; a station that has churned out some of the very best news directors, (Fred Zhender, to name one), ever. It doesn't stop there: the writers, the assignment editors, the producers, the people behind the scenes very few of you get to know.

With time comes change. Change is inevitable. KTVU is still the gold standard in the Bay Area, particularly at 10 O'clock. Still too, it has some of the finest people working in all platforms: news, sports, traffic, weather and all. It's very rare that so many of its core talent, (like Frank Somerville, Mark Ibanez, Rita Williams, Tom Vacar, Ken Wayne, etc), are still churning out quality work.

We hope the recent changes, including the very latest one, (News Director, Ed Chapuis leaving), will not impede the success of one of the finest TV news-gathering outlets in the Bay Area and beyond.


*Memo to KPIX PR Dept: If you're going to begin disallowing air talent to do interviews with me on my radio show, you're only hurting yourself, not me. And besides, it's not me that looks bad here, it's you. Moreover, the fact that you're going down that road, (quietly), suggests a mild case of paranoia. It's not me you have to worry about and frankly, I don't need your staffers on my show or this site. Some of them provide me with the information, unsolicited, that suggests you guys have issues. No big deal, we all do. But to begin to tell people not to do my show doesn't hurt me and makes you all look pretty lame. Parenthetically, I may add, some of my best guests have been people I've ripped, (civilly and jokingly), in the past. They know how to play the game. You guys at PIX, maybe change your thinking, but thanks for giving me an item.

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