March 2002

March 25th, 2002

SEEMS LIKE HE WAS JUST IN SANTA MARIA: Congratulations to weathercaster Steve Villanueva. He jumped from KCOY-TV/Santa Maria, to KCPQ/Seattle...now, he's back to his native New York as a weekend weathercaster at WNYW-TV.

SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WIN AN APTRA AWARD?
J.D. Pruess is now a sports reporter with Fox Sports Net Northwest.
He had been a freelance sports reporter/producer in San Francisco.

March 18th, 2002

WEEKENDS OFF FOR PHILLIP: Phillip Palmer is now the weekday morning anchor at KABC-TV, stepping up from weekend anchor. That means David Ono gets to stop working a crazy split schedule, in which he anchored the 5-7 morning show, and then came back and did the 5 p.m. newscast.

THE RADIO FACTOR: The big fish at the Fox News Network is expanding his horizons into radio. Bill O'Reilly will host "The Radio Factor With Bill O'Reilly," a two hour weekday talk and interview show syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network. KABC-AM/Los Angeles says it will carry the show from 9-11 a.m., up against Rush Limbaugh.

CAN SHE SAY Y'ALL? Stephanie Guadian is now anchoring weekends at KTRK-TV/Houston, moving from reporting at KNTV-TV/San Jose.

MAKE YOUR PLANS NOW: The Northern California Radio Television News Directors Association has an incredible convention planned for April 19-20 in Lake Tahoe. You can still get in on early registration.... and some of the biggest names in Northern California television will be on hand for seminars, and tape critiques. Here's just a sample of what's planned:

Friday, April 19, 2002
8:30 p.m. MEET THE TALENT AGENTS Who should have an agent? How to decide who will best represent you? What does an agent look for in a client? How might the media mergers affect your career? How to enhance your chance of landing the job you want? What effect is the current economy having on salaries?
DAVE AHRENDS, Napoli Management
RICK GEVERS, Rick Gevers & Associates
MARTIN MANDEL, The Mandel Group
JAMES MOLESKY, Hasse|Molesky
JEAN SAGE, Napoli Management
DON FITZPATRICK, Creator-Editor, ShopTalk, Moderator
Author “TV Spy Guide to the Job Search”
Producer: John Catchings

Or STUDENT TAPE CRITIQUES
Students have your audition tape (VHS or audio cassette) critiqued by a panel of news directors and managers. Show fellow students what you have, learn from others good and bad points. Bring your VHS tape and resume to the session.
JANICE GIN, associate news director, KTVU FOX 2
PAUL HOSLEY, associate news director, KCBS-AM
KEVIN KEESHAN, news director, KG0-TV ABC 7

10:00 p.m. Networking, ann gambling...the casino is open all night!

Saturday, April 20, 2002
9:00 a.m. A FOOT IN THE DOOR
A panel of people who are on the front line of hiring on-air and management personnel in both radio and television. They know what catches the attention of news managers from small markets to large markets and the ever expanding Spanish language news market.
JON KILLORAN, news director, KRNV, Reno
JOE McCONNELL, news director, Metro Networks
DON FITZPATRICK, Author of ‘How To Put Together or Improving Your Audition
Tape’ and 26-year veteran of placing on-air television talent for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, ESPN and over 100 local television stations.
Moderator and producer

Or COVERING TRAGEDY, FROM GROUND ZERO, TO YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Has the way we cover tragedy and other news changed in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks? Hear from Bay Area reporters who were dispatched to ground zero, and from those who run the assignment desk back home.
DORY CULVER, Managing Editor, KCBS-AM
MARY ELLEN GEIST, Reporter, KGO-AM
TRAVIS LINN, Professor, Broadcast Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno
DOUG SOVERN, Reporter, KCBS-AM
STACY OWEN, News Director, KRON 4, Moderator

Or One-on-One Tape Critiques

10:45 a.m. BEAT REPORTING: FROM THE STATEHOUSE TO THE COURTHOUSE
Do you cover a beat and come up with your own stories? Or do you sit and
wait for the assignment desk to give you a story. The beat reporter is on
the comeback for TV. Learn how to make contacts, get tips, and smell out a
story with reporters from the statehouse to the courthouse.
KEVIN RIGGS, Political Reporter, KCRA-TV
MICHAEL FINNEY, Consumer Reporter, KGO-TV
KEVIN QUINN, Court Reporter, KFSN-TV
GREG EDMONDS, East Bay Bureau Chief, KGO-Radio
KEVIN KEESHAN, News Director, KGO-TV ABC 7, Moderator

Or WRITING...YOUR TICKET TO SUCCESS
It’s no secret. The news audience is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with traditional news offerings. And if you don’t know what to do about it as a news writer, start by eliminating what not to do.
ED CASACCIA, Consultant, California News Channel
JESSE GARY, Reporter/Writer, KRON 4
GREG LYON, Reporter/Writer, KRON 4
RAUL RAMIREZ, News Director, KQED-FM
STACY OWEN, News Director, KRON 4

This is just a small taste of what's planned...there's a luncheon, afternoon sessions, plus the Saturday night awards banquet. Check out the full details by going to our "links" page and go to "NorCal RTNDA" for full details.

March 11th, 2002

MORE SALES FOR GRANITE? Granite Broadcasting is in the process of selling the gem of its broadcasting group, KNTV/San Jose to NBC. As you probably, KNTV is the new NBC station for the San Francisco television market. Now comes word Granite is selling, or looking to trade its WB Network affiliate in San Francisco, KBWB-TV. Granite had already put its Detroit WB station, WDWB(TV), on the block.

In a teleconference, Granite CEO Don Cornwell said the company would prefer to swap the WB stations for ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox affiliates in midsized markets. The deal with NBC for the sale of KNTV is expected to go through at the end of this month, with $230 million of the $267 million Granite will get from
NBC expected to go to pay down debt.

SORT OF A CROSS TOWN MOVE...BUT NOT REALLY: Jane Velez-Mitchell is now at
KCBS-TV, moving from KCAL-TV as a reporter and fill-in anchor. But, with
Viacom buying KCAL, she could potentially be working with some of the same
people again.

GETTING BUSIER: No breaks for KNSD/San Diego anchor Susan Taylor. The 5, 6,
and 11 p.m. anchor has added the 4:30 show to her duties there.

THERE IS LIFE AFTER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Former KTLA/Los Angeles "News at
10" anchor Terry Anzur is doing well at WPEC/West Palm Beach, Florida...as
the 5:30 p.m. news anchor. The station's February early news ratings climbed
25% over last year, so she must be enjoying the climate there!

March 4th, 2002

BIG KPFK MOVES: L.A. radio's loss is California television viewers gain. Jon Beaupré's last morning show on Pacifica's KPFK/Los Angeles was Friday 3/1, because he's now a part of the new "California Connected" television show airing on PBS stations KCET/Los Angeles, KQED/San Francisco, KVIE/Sacramento, and KPBS-TV/San Diego. He'll be a reporter and backup anchor. Also joining the show is former KPFK News Director Katy Chen, who is working as a researcher.

ANNA MOVES NORTH: Anna Velasquez is now reporting at KIRO-TV/Seattle, making a big jump from KBAK/Bakersfield.

ROME RETURNS TO HIS ROOTS: Sports talk show king Jim Rome decided doing a daily national radio show, and a daily national TV show was just too much. He announced that at the end of his contract with Fox Sports Net this week, he'll step down from the TV gig, so he can spend more time with his wife and baby. He'll continue his wildly successful radio talk show, which is heard on close to 200 radio stations in North America. It's not bad for a guy who got his first on-air work at a radio station while still going to college at U.C. Santa Barbara! And, it's possible he may work out a deal to do a weekly show for Fox, or someone else.

IS BILL WEIR LEAVING KABC? That's what L.A. Times Sports T.V.-Radio
Columnist Larry Stewart reports. In the February 15th column, Stewart
reported the quirky sports anchor is looking at possible host jobs other than
sports. By the way, sports fan or not...Stewart's Friday columns are a
must-read for the latest news in sports-related broadcasting.