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Bryan Johnson's 50 Years at KOMO
- Thread starter ronrob
- Start date
Bryan Johnson is cool. I never even knew he was at KOMO for so long (even though I've heard his voice all my life in the Puget Sound.) I thought Jean Enersen was the longest running local TV personality!
KOMO playing "Dinner Music"?....Now THAT's a FORMAT....music genre....whatever....
Keep rockin' Bryan......
KOMO playing "Dinner Music"?....Now THAT's a FORMAT....music genre....whatever....
Keep rockin' Bryan......
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searadiofreak
Guest
As an intense viewer and student of local tv news, I have always thought that a "mature" reporter and/or anchor is a good indication that a local market has arrived in the big-time. To put it another way, most smaller/medium markets are transitional, with much of the talent moving in and moving out to bigger markets. When reporters/anchors stick around for lengthy periods of time it says something not only about the station, but the market. In Seattle, Jean Enerson and Dan Lewis are probably the biggest names who fit into this category, but Bryan Johnson is right behind, only because he was never a major anchor. When it comes to local news, the bigger markets win with talent that are willing to stay where they are, become stars, (or atleast household names). There are even larger markets than Seattle that don't offer this consistency. Seattle should be lucky to be the attractive market that it is, to hold on to total professionals who make the local tv news experience one of the highest quality in the country.
searadiofreak said:
ummmm, can't leave out Kathi Goertzen...
Jean may still be the 'Queen of KING', but the 'K' in KOMO stands for Kathi
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searadiofreak
Guest
Agreed, Kathi has some nice longevity, but Jean beats her by atleast a decade. Enerson may be one of the longest, if not THE longest local major market female co-anchor in the U.S.
BTW, best wishes to Kathi with her health challenges. A real talent in the Seattle market, no doubt.
BTW, best wishes to Kathi with her health challenges. A real talent in the Seattle market, no doubt.
-- 41 years Jean's been with KING-TV now - -
You GOT it, sRf!
You GOT it, sRf!
4
4 Towers
Guest
dialtwister said:
or Don Porter, is he still around up there?
Mike James?
Rick Van Cise?
Jeff Renner?
Rich Marriott?
Steve Pool?
Ken Schramm?
the list goes on
-Don Porter retired from KING-TV last Dec '08...
-Mike James has been looong gone from TV news now/unsure of his whereabouts...
-Rick Van Cise is now with KIRO-TV mornings doing the weather
All the rest on that list are 'still' here - at the same stations
-Mike James has been looong gone from TV news now/unsure of his whereabouts...
-Rick Van Cise is now with KIRO-TV mornings doing the weather
All the rest on that list are 'still' here - at the same stations
Jeff Renner started at KING in the late 70's. When I was in high school, I remember him reporting on the eruption of Mt St Helens as the station's Science reporter (well before Jeff started doing weather).
Steve Pool also showed up on the Seattle scene in the late 70's. Steve's done just about everything at KOMO (news, sports, weather, you name it).
Rich Marriott was a later addition (late 80's) to KING 5's weather team.
Linda Brill started at KING in the late 70's as well -- a long-time veteran reporter.
There's a great video of KING 5 News in 1979 on YouTube with a young Jean Enersen and Mike James. It's really an amazing video, reminding us of how rudimentary the graphics and theme "music" were and how LONG reporters were given at the time (2 or 3 minutes, minimum, for their taped reports).
Steve Pool also showed up on the Seattle scene in the late 70's. Steve's done just about everything at KOMO (news, sports, weather, you name it).
Rich Marriott was a later addition (late 80's) to KING 5's weather team.
Linda Brill started at KING in the late 70's as well -- a long-time veteran reporter.
There's a great video of KING 5 News in 1979 on YouTube with a young Jean Enersen and Mike James. It's really an amazing video, reminding us of how rudimentary the graphics and theme "music" were and how LONG reporters were given at the time (2 or 3 minutes, minimum, for their taped reports).
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searadiofreak
Guest
formeraa said:
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searadiofreak
Guest
searadiofreak said:
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searadiofreak
Guest
Sorry about the double-post above, the "quote" feature just doesn't seem to be working for me this evening.
I would add that KING-TV is one of the most interesting examples of local tv news evolution the past 40 years. Few remember this, but KING-TV was one of the first, if not THE first local tv stations to air an on-air editorial against the Viet Nam War, I believe with upper management talking head, Stimson Bullitt. Within a few years, this concept was common in many major markets.
KING remained somewhat liberal, if not balanced at the same time, through the 70's. It certainly was not "in your face" liberal like you see on some cable channels today. The quality remained high, with top notch reporters, and relevant commentators. Charlie Royer, later of course elected Seattle mayor, had a regular commentary that was highly regarded. Don McGaffin's role was less clear, but his reporting always seemed to have some "commentary" in it as well. Jean Enerson became late night co-anchor in the very early 70's, one of the first females to fill that position in the country. Jean joined the late Jim Harriott to create "KING Newservice", a less formal, desk-less format that was copied quickly at KNBC in Los Angeles. It really was must-see Seattle local tv news.
The status quo continued, alteast for awhile. In the late 70's and early 80's, CBS-KIRO 7 became MUCH more aggressive with more of an "action" format, although they never called it that. They relied on crime and sensationalism. KOMO stepped it up, (and to keep this on-topic, Mr Bryan Johnson at his peak), but still remained somewhere in between. KING had no choice to react, so in '83 they brought in new upper management and the product started to change. The old KING disappeared, and suddenly KING, KOMO, and KIRO all seemed to be very similar in style, story selection, and talent. After that, I'm not sure anything needs to be added to this story. The game had changed. Today it is simply trying to put on appealing anchors, attractive graphics, and stories the viewers will find interesting. It wasn't always like that.
I would add that KING-TV is one of the most interesting examples of local tv news evolution the past 40 years. Few remember this, but KING-TV was one of the first, if not THE first local tv stations to air an on-air editorial against the Viet Nam War, I believe with upper management talking head, Stimson Bullitt. Within a few years, this concept was common in many major markets.
KING remained somewhat liberal, if not balanced at the same time, through the 70's. It certainly was not "in your face" liberal like you see on some cable channels today. The quality remained high, with top notch reporters, and relevant commentators. Charlie Royer, later of course elected Seattle mayor, had a regular commentary that was highly regarded. Don McGaffin's role was less clear, but his reporting always seemed to have some "commentary" in it as well. Jean Enerson became late night co-anchor in the very early 70's, one of the first females to fill that position in the country. Jean joined the late Jim Harriott to create "KING Newservice", a less formal, desk-less format that was copied quickly at KNBC in Los Angeles. It really was must-see Seattle local tv news.
The status quo continued, alteast for awhile. In the late 70's and early 80's, CBS-KIRO 7 became MUCH more aggressive with more of an "action" format, although they never called it that. They relied on crime and sensationalism. KOMO stepped it up, (and to keep this on-topic, Mr Bryan Johnson at his peak), but still remained somewhere in between. KING had no choice to react, so in '83 they brought in new upper management and the product started to change. The old KING disappeared, and suddenly KING, KOMO, and KIRO all seemed to be very similar in style, story selection, and talent. After that, I'm not sure anything needs to be added to this story. The game had changed. Today it is simply trying to put on appealing anchors, attractive graphics, and stories the viewers will find interesting. It wasn't always like that.
Maybe the products are similar these days, but I still give KING prop's for (a) efforts to start NWCN (and similar networks in other states); and (b) retaining Sunday Public Affairs when everyone else "cost cut" those out of the picture. KING's culture in the 60's through mid 80's was strong on the responsibility of what it meant to have a broadcast license and how, in turn, you were obligated to reflect and serve the community. Just like the concept of "great personality radio", many of those values gave way to the corporate budgeting process (though Belo, at least, TRIES to retain values of credible journalism in both print & electronic). Same deal with Bryan J. --- a reporter with strong ethical values about what news reporting is all about.
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searadiofreak
Guest
LBB, I would concur. I, too like the Sunday morning local issue programming. Many markets larger than Seattle don't do anything like that.
Belo is a higher-level company when it comes to community-involvement, and having an adherence to maintaining quality. Their regionalized cable nets are certainly a testament to that, and they keep them going despite questionable revenue growth in that sector of the business. I hope that continues.
I guess my main point, is local TV news has become so sanitized and product-driven, as in build the same product in every market and it SURELY will work. Today, weather is the most important local tv news story, despite the fact that there may be absolutely nothing going on in that department. The aggressive, colorful, in your face local reporting of tv news has mostly gone by the wayside. Today, it is what anchor connects with the audience the best, what set and graphics are most visually attractive, and what stories create the most interest, (important or not, that isn't the issue). I understand we live in a different media world today, and I'm not saying the above issues are not important, but kinda miss the old days where there was REAL competition, and that competition was based on the talent of the reporters, how hard they dug, and the end result, did they get the story, and did they get it right? That is what seems to be lacking today. And I am not just being nostalgic here, I actually think the old was better, as the viewer could get multiple, and this is important...intelligent reporting. Final thought: Bryan Johnson, and a select few others still do this.
Belo is a higher-level company when it comes to community-involvement, and having an adherence to maintaining quality. Their regionalized cable nets are certainly a testament to that, and they keep them going despite questionable revenue growth in that sector of the business. I hope that continues.
I guess my main point, is local TV news has become so sanitized and product-driven, as in build the same product in every market and it SURELY will work. Today, weather is the most important local tv news story, despite the fact that there may be absolutely nothing going on in that department. The aggressive, colorful, in your face local reporting of tv news has mostly gone by the wayside. Today, it is what anchor connects with the audience the best, what set and graphics are most visually attractive, and what stories create the most interest, (important or not, that isn't the issue). I understand we live in a different media world today, and I'm not saying the above issues are not important, but kinda miss the old days where there was REAL competition, and that competition was based on the talent of the reporters, how hard they dug, and the end result, did they get the story, and did they get it right? That is what seems to be lacking today. And I am not just being nostalgic here, I actually think the old was better, as the viewer could get multiple, and this is important...intelligent reporting. Final thought: Bryan Johnson, and a select few others still do this.
SRF, thanks for quoting me so many times .
I absolutely agree with you on late 70's/early 80's product changes. KING was absolutely the last in Seattle to move to a faster paced format. But I was just noticing how long the reports were (even if it was more of a mid-70's format).
Clearly, KIRO went there first in Seattle by updating their formal "Eyewitness News" format (think Cliff Kirk) to a much faster paced, happy talk "Eyewitness News" format (Gary Justice and John Marler with LIVE reporter Susan Hutchison). They started doing the "make everything a live report for no apparent reason". Also, KIRO introduced "The News SPECIALISTS", Chopper 7, and -- later -- the KIRO News Jet!!! Of course, KIRO became the ratings leader for half a decade until KING began to make significant changes.
.I absolutely agree with you on late 70's/early 80's product changes. KING was absolutely the last in Seattle to move to a faster paced format. But I was just noticing how long the reports were (even if it was more of a mid-70's format).
Clearly, KIRO went there first in Seattle by updating their formal "Eyewitness News" format (think Cliff Kirk) to a much faster paced, happy talk "Eyewitness News" format (Gary Justice and John Marler with LIVE reporter Susan Hutchison). They started doing the "make everything a live report for no apparent reason". Also, KIRO introduced "The News SPECIALISTS", Chopper 7, and -- later -- the KIRO News Jet!!! Of course, KIRO became the ratings leader for half a decade until KING began to make significant changes.
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searadiofreak
Guest
formeraa said:SRF, thanks for quoting me so many times
I absolutely agree with you on late 70's/early 80's product changes. KING was absolutely the last in Seattle to move to a faster paced format. But I was just noticing how long the reports were (even if it was more of a mid-70's format).
Clearly, KIRO went there first in Seattle by updating their formal "Eyewitness News" format (think Cliff Kirk) to a much faster paced, happy talk "Eyewitness News" format (Gary Justice and John Marler with LIVE reporter Susan Hutchison). They started doing the "make everything a live report for no apparent reason". Also, KIRO introduced "The News SPECIALISTS", Chopper 7, and -- later -- the KIRO News Jet!!! Of course, KIRO became the ratings leader for half a decade until KING began to make significant changes.
I've always thought that KIRO really had strong potential to become a real player in the market (based on their 80's success), but the whole "out of the box" format in the early 90's, combined with losing their CBS affiliation for awhile, really hurt. (BTW, many of the concepts in KIRO's failed "out of the box" are being used today by many successful operations...KIRO most likely tried to do this too soon, and the execution of the format, was at the very least, clumsy.) Current political candidate Susan Hutchison, and former lead female anchor,was rumored to hate it, and if I'm not mistaken, actually quit and/or was not re-newed over it. KIRO has slowly been climbing back, but those episodes set them back big-time.The Seattle demographics will probably always lean toward KING, they kind of have a built-in advantage, which leads me to wonder why KOMO, KIRO an KCPQ don't try to "stand-out" more...
In the mid-80's, KIRO didn't seem to know where to go after introducing the ultimate weapon, "The KIRO News Jet". There was just nowhere to go after introducing the nation's first and (to my knowledge) only news jet! Cue to a breathless Gary Justice: "Jan Charlton is on her way to Yakima on the KIRO News Jet to investigate this story. We will have more tonight at 11!"
Then came the "Out of the Box" disaster... Perhaps a more effective way would have been to simply integrate radio and tv reporting, rather than trying to have the anchors walk throughout the studio. WHDH in Beantown had already tried and failed on a similar concept back in the late 80's.
Then came the "Out of the Box" disaster... Perhaps a more effective way would have been to simply integrate radio and tv reporting, rather than trying to have the anchors walk throughout the studio. WHDH in Beantown had already tried and failed on a similar concept back in the late 80's.
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