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Lori Matsukawa retires....
- Thread starter Roddybob
- Start date
45 years!!! Simply incredible. Once in a while I will see a KOMO-fed Connie Thompson report on KIMA's crappy attempt at Action News. Her consumer reports are still as strong and concise as they were 15 years ago. (Thank goodness I'll get to actually watch a channel 4 feed on a real television in a few months, as I'm moving to Ellensburg and cable carries KOMO on channel 11...)
I think Jean had passed 45 years of doing some type of work at KING before the buyout.
And speaking of Joyce Taylor, anyone remember '7 Live' in KIRO's UPN days? Basically their attempt at a local 'Today' with local news updates. When CBS came back to KIRO, it was gone, but KIRO aired 7:00AM local news (and only the 8AM This Morning/The Early Show) for several years after. Once that was all over I think she went to KING...don't think she was ever at KOMO but I could be wrong.
I think Jean had passed 45 years of doing some type of work at KING before the buyout.
And speaking of Joyce Taylor, anyone remember '7 Live' in KIRO's UPN days? Basically their attempt at a local 'Today' with local news updates. When CBS came back to KIRO, it was gone, but KIRO aired 7:00AM local news (and only the 8AM This Morning/The Early Show) for several years after. Once that was all over I think she went to KING...don't think she was ever at KOMO but I could be wrong.
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Joyce was at KING from 1988 - 1993 then jumped ship to KIRO when management at the time wouldn’t accommodate her desire to move off the morning shift. At KIRO she was originally hired to co-anchor the noon & 6:30pm newscasts but didn’t last long as she was back on mornings by 1995 anchoring 7-Live before eventually being canceled and went to co-anchoring early mornings and noon. She went back to KING in 2002 when Julie Francavilla went from KING to KIRO.
As for Horne, she didn't start at KIRO until around 1990. In the 80s, I was watching her in Providence, RI. Porter started in 1980 on the day that Mt St Helens first erupted! Clancy and Grande also started in the 80s.
Poole and Thompson date back to the 70s!
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Poole replaced ramblin’ Ray Ramsey the longtime KOMO weatherman and former Seattle radio dj. He was something special but I digress.
Had business on the west side yesterday and watched KING5 at 5. Must say I liked the chemistry between Wright and Taylor. Either this a natural pairing or someone has coached them well. I also like Herrera with weather...very sharp and good presence.
Joyce & Mark previously co-anchored the morning newscast for a few years before Mark went to evenings so it’s natural for them to have good chemistry.
I remember when Joyce Taylor and Mark Wright were paired up on the KONG morning news, but I mostly watched Q13. Still awesome that they still have Bill Wixey, MJ McDermott and Adam Gehrke in the mornings, like the good ole days. I also remember when Jake Whittenberg was just a morning reporter, now he does more anchoring work.
Minor correction: Taylor returned to KING before Francavilla left. Francavilla was moved off KING 5 Morning News at that point. Taylor and Francavilla were paired on KING 5 News at Noon and there was more than a hint of tension between the two. (Honestly, I hadn't been so uncomfortable watching a newscast since Karen O'Leary anchor the KIRO Morning News.) Shortly thereafter, Francavilla left for KIRO.
Swapping Francavilla out for Taylor just seemed like a lateral move.
At that point Francavilla was well established on the KING5 Morning News and was on her third (or fourth) male coanchor in the time she'd been there.
Not only did the Francavilla/Taylor pairing not work - at all - but it bounced the capable Susannah Frame out of her long time anchor slot. She has never returned to the anchor desk since losing that newscast. Francavilla quietly left, Taylor anchored it solo for a while, and then bowed out of the noon news in favor of Carolyn Douglas a year or two later.
Joyce Taylor is a "name" talent, but I've never thought she was as good as people perceive her to be. How good she is depends heavily on who she is paired with ... she's literally the only anchor who didn't look good with Allen Schauffler.
Francavilla, on the other hand was one of the best morning anchors I've seen, anywhere. She had a revolving door next to her at both KING and KIRO and was an absolute pro with every single one of her co-anchors over the years.
All that being said - I think Joyce will do fine on the evening news. As noted before she works well with Mark Wright - and he's an outstanding talent.
KING's issues with their news product isn't this pairing. It's .... everything else.
Totally agree. While they may have the anchor team right, the rest of the product continues to be lacking. I still say they bought into a studio space too small to compete. I understand the micro-optics that exist today, but seriously, they look like a news studio in a closet. They also don't have the reporters and secondary people to compete in an uber-competitive market. I understand why they moved out of Dexter, as that property was becoming too valuable, but geez, moving into a compact office building near Safeco (I mean T-Mobile) just to be near a team that hasn't won in 25 years, was short-sided, IMO. Is it too late for another move? Probably due to their lease. So we shall see. KING has a long history of being the premiere news in the market. How do they get back? I'm sure Tegna execs are asking the same questions...or not.
But remember Joyce was originally brought in to eventually replace Jean Enersen. At the tine, I remember speaking to a media expert who said that research indicated that Julie was a popular am anchor, but would never be the main PM anchor. So I think the decision was made to go with Taylor. As for Frame, she has done very well as the Chief Investigative Reporter.
And KING is still number one for news in the market, so for whatever you think of their building size, or product, the formula seems to be still working.
These numbers are hard to find. KING #1? By what results? Today, the morning news, the noon news, the evening news, and 11pm news all factor in. I suppose KING could claim some victories here and there, but overall, who is leading? I don't think it is KING, but I could be wrong.
For reasons you already know, I can't quote exact numbers. Suffice it to say in the desired demographics, KING still is number 1 their 5-11PM newscasts. Early Mornings are a tie with Q13, but after 7AM KING pulls ahead with Today.
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