Channel 6 is 60 years old

[Irishfl]

Re: The Arrest of Jim Gardner

I think Jim Gardner being arrested in New York turned out to be a rumor, one that seemed to be picked up by news sites though.

Can we put this to bed and find out the truth about him getting arrested. It would be quite funny if he was since it would be some nice karma.

Only thing I know on this subject is about a year ago someone uploaded a pic on a NYC anchor's wikipedia page that was a fake. It appeared to be a screenshot from a broadcast, with the over the shoulder graphic having something about Jim Gardner being arrested. Again, this was photoshoped, and altough made its rounds on these boards, was only up for a short time. I don't remember the anchor's page, but it was a female anchor. Anyway, unless something else happened since, I believe this is the rumor everyone is talking about.

For years, there was no separate weather person on weekends, just a quick read of the forecast. And amazingly, that sufficed. We knew if it would rain/snow/bake/freeze over the days ahead. Overall, I think the amount of weather info is overkill for average viewers—not “news geeks” who get aroused by new graphics packages, and not “weather geeks” who live to talk isobars and jet streams (and I'm both of those). Yes, the radars are helpful in letting people know about imminent dangerous weather, but how often is the Storm Tracker Mega Super Dooper Quintuple Doppler 97 Billion being shown to illustrate…..well, nothing. Then comes five minutes of pretty graphics, before you get to what people care about most days—how to dress the next day.

Lots of graphics without someone knowledgeable to explain them IS useless. And, it comes off as hollow. In most markets, the number one station in the market inevitably ends up with the top meteorologist too - eventually. When the weather gets rough (and people pay attention), the audience expects to see someone who knows the science of weather and exudes competence. They can tell a 'good looking' weather reader from a real met.

Real news markets have a weekend meteorologist and I am surprised to learn that any major stations in Philly didn't have one => at least in the age of color TV. Even little places like Richmond, Va and Springfield, MA did, as early as the 70s (if not before).

Exceptions to this rule seem to include NY and LA, but elsewhere it counts. Look to Chicago and Dallas as good examples of what a local newscast should look like.

It really doesn't matter as much as you think. Do you think WPVi had the magnet board, no weekend weather caster, ect because they were too cheap? If it had matter, they would've had everything ch10 does years ago (including a set that changes colors during snow storms). However, for most people it doesn't. If ch6 canned Dave Roberts they would get a backlash, not increased ratings. Its funny, atleast when it comes to snowstorms ch6 seem to be the closest to correct more often to not (compared to ch3 and 10, not 29). Thats why, they get the highest ratings even in snowstorms, while ch10 oftwen has egg on their face, and ch3 quitly updates thei forcast to match what ch6 perdicted the night before. You see, I think inhouse meteorologists often have a disadvantage too. That disadvantage is bias. Take "Hurricane" for example. Two years ago he predicted a major storm to hit here. 16 to 18inches. He based this on the fact that the storm had 13 of 14 signs of what ussally becomes a major storm. Yes, ch6 didn't do so this because they get their weather faxed to them from Penn State. Glen was looking favorible to a big storm, and he ran with this 13 out 14 crap that he himself has noted over his career to base a prediction on. So the night before ch6 predicted 6 to 7inches, 3 had I think 8 to 10inches, and 10 had 16 to 18inches. When the storm hit they all changed it to what ch6 had the night before, and in the end the area got only 5inches.

This sorta stuff happens all the time here, because all the meteorologist look favorable towards data that shows a big storm. Ch6 can't do this.

Also going back to the weekend no weatherperson ch6 use to have, even though almost all markets had this going back to the 70's, you have to keep inmind that weather wasn't as big apart of local news as it is now. Over in the UK some of the geeks laugh at how much attention we give weather over here. Anyway, for the longest time Ch6 didn't even do a 5day forecast during their 5:00PM news. You had to wait until 6. Even the morning broadcast only gave it out once (Altough this was when the morning news was only an hour long). This was just how unimportant weather was just a short 10+ years ago. Now the mornings you get a weather update every 6 minutes(5 day every 12 minutes), a 5day during "here's the weather where you are" spots during the network morning show, a weather tease during the top 5 news stories, and ofcoarse a 24hr digital channel.

 

[Stuart]

Anyone remember (or want to?) when WPVI would use Hank Sperka as the substitute Weather Guy?

 

[dustintv]

Outside of the incoherent post at the top of the page, I think Philadelphians are simply different than the rest. I've heard Philly get called the backwater of the NE corridor when compared to NY, DC, Boston, and Baltimore but I think life is just different there. I recently had a discussion about KYW vs. WINS on the Philadelphia radio board and I described KYW's slow pacing of their news compared to WINS' fast-paced news and someone metioned that Philadelphians like a relaxed delivery.

Which explains using magnet boards until 2000, folks not caring about stylish sets, or outdated music.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Jim Gardner is the original Ron Burgandy ;D

Jim Gardner makes fun of everyone. He goofed on Cecily Tynan's first child when she came back from her first maternity leave.

 

[imhomerjay]

Outside of the incoherent post at the top of the page, I think Philadelphians are simply different than the rest. I've heard Philly get called the backwater of the NE corridor when compared to NY, DC, Boston, and Baltimore but I think life is just different there. I recently had a discussion about KYW vs. WINS on the Philadelphia radio board and I described KYW's slow pacing of their news compared to WINS' fast-paced news and someone metioned that Philadelphians like a relaxed delivery.

Which explains using magnet boards until 2000, folks not caring about stylish sets, or outdated music.

Backwater. Gee, how classy.

It's kind of amusing that in some threads the idea of importing what worked in market A into market B "just because" ignores the unique characteristics of market B. But here we have a market that has rejected flash-in-the-pan trends and instead has said the people are more important than the packagaing, and it's suddenly a bad thing.
What us backwater hicks realized was that gaudy sets changing every few months--and personalities changing at least as often--don't make for a better news presentation.

 

[Jul]

Jim Gardner is the original Ron Burgandy ;D

Jim Gardner makes fun of everyone. He goofed on Cecily Tynan's first child when she came back from her first maternity leave.

Regardless, Jim is really great at what he does. He is doing omething right to last this long at the station, 31 years.

 

[Nertz!]

Regardless, Jim is really great at what he does.

Yes, he is really does a great job being a pompous a**hole.

He is doing something right to last this long at the station, 31 years.

Well, people like pompus a**hole, which explains American Idol, or he has a very long contract negotiated with someone he has dirt on.

 

[BRNout]

What us backwater hicks realized was that gaudy sets changing every few months--and personalities changing at least as often--don't make for a better news presentation.

The thing is: I don't see that there are so many "great personalities" on the air around here. Heck, Carrie Lee Halkett won some local Emmy as best anchor and, though she's pretty good, she was also a pretty garden-variety anchor in Boston. WPVI's personalities strike me as old and cold; NBC10's are a bit better, but merely competent and nothing spectacular; KYW's anchors seem very chilly and I don't care for the way that the newscast is presented; finally, Fox 29's news is tabloid city and, again lacks personalities that you can relate to.

And, this is not necessarily about gaudy sets. If anything, WPVI's whole presentation is about as garish to me as a 70's era casino in Atlantic City. Very tacky indeed. There's nothing understated about any of the newscasts in this city.

Lest you should think I am merely a hater and love to bash Philly, one last thought: I think that this is a great radio market. Better than NY, DC or Boston. On par with Chicago. Very, very good personalities, presentations and format variety. When it comes to radio, Philly has it good. But, when it comes to TV - it IS a backwater. At least for a top 10 market.

 

[imhomerjay]

Sometimes I think we (meaning the junkies who take time to ponder and post about such topics) over analyze things. I tend to think most people are savvy enough to recognize that local TV news is, usually, the same from station to station in terms of content. Fires, car chases, murders & mayhem....the differences are usually quite small, and the biggest of those differences often comes in what specific stations emphasize in the second or third tier of their coverage--the special reports, etc. After all, a firery wreck on a major highway will lead the vast majority of newscasts from New York to Madison. Sure, good marketing helps convince some folks that station X somehow outdelivers station Y in a specific area ("We have 5 sports reporters...that must mean we can read the same scores and show the same highlights better than the station with only 4!"), but that alone won't change the perceptions of the vast majority of people.

That leaves largely subjective characteristics as the drivers of what people choose to watch (among the population that cares, i.e., those that would make a switch to another station if they'd been watching some other channel's programming earlier). What seems like just "old" to one person can just as likely be more like an "old friend" to someone else. Strangely, we seem to have a tendancy to be respectful of longevity only when a person is gone. Jim Gardner is to many people what John Facenda was generations ago--the familiar voice of authority. If Radio-Info had been around all those decades ago, people would have been on here b---hing that Facenda was a pompous old hack, and calling for the new blood to take over.

Emmys are nothing but a popularity contest among insiders. I doubt you could find more than a handful of typical viewers who know or care about who wins what award. In some markets, you have maybe one or two people who are long-term fixtures, but here you have a whole station that adheres to the don't fix what isn't broken mantra, and from a business standpoint, there is no reason to do anything that different. People do like familiarity--that doesn't make them dumb, that doesn't make them media illiterate. It means that, given a choice between generally similar programming, they will pick something they know. Maybe it's even a compliment to their intellect that the pretty-face-du-jour strategy employed by the other stations haven't worked.

I've seen plenty of other cities' newscasts while travelling, because (a) I'm a news junkie and (b) I want the same headlines I do when I'm at home. I have yet to see anything that I would say is all that much better or worse than here in Philadelphia. Murders and fires still make for compelling leads, no matter what city you're in.

 

[dustintv]

Yes, he is really does a great job being a pompous a**hole.
Well, people like pompus a**hole, which explains American Idol, or he has a very long contract negotiated with someone he has dirt on.

So full of bile...if Jim Gardner's car ever blows up I know who did it...

 

[Nertz!]

So how many Emmys has Jimmy Goldman star anchorman won?
I am betting the talentless hack hasn't ever won one even for best toupee or wig in a newscast under an hour.

 

[Stuart]

Nertz,
Maybe job security, working for a good station/network, high ratings, good salary, solid roots in the Delaware Valley,
many fans, are more important to Jim than Emmys? (Big fish in a small pond theory?)
(In my OWN PERSONAL OPINION), I think Jim is a team player, and he probably gets better enjoyment out of the awards the station receives than his own personal ones.

 

[Nertz!]

So how many Emmys has his craptacular station won?
Emmy wins are a perfectly cromulent measure of a station's success and a valid and cromulent yardstick to compare with other stations.
I have not seen any sort of mention of Emmy wins for WPVI, since we all know they would mention it, especially since it embiggens people with big egos like little Jimmy with his 1970s vintage p0rn star 'stashe and synthetic hair. He seems more like a robot than a human being. Him, well I guess the proper pronoun would be it, so lets start over. It being a robot would explain a great deal about its delivery, and seemingly forced attempts at humor. Yes, Jim Gardner has to be a robot. It is the only theory that seems cromulent.

 

[HGN2001]

Channel 6 and their personnel have won zero Emmy awards - because the station does not participate in the Emmy awards!

 

[Irishfl]

Channel 6 and their personnel have won zero Emmy awards - because the station does not participate in the Emmy awards!

Shhh, don't let little facts like that ruin nertz's feeling of false vindication that Jimmy Goldman sucks, because he doesn't have an emmy.

 

[imhomerjay]

Not to mention false vindication because the man dares to have facial hair.

 

[Evangelist]

Jim Gardner was not arrested in New York. That was someone's idea of a sick joke. It never happened.

Channel 6 has never participated in the local Emmys, as far as I know.

 

[Nertz!]

Well he should be somewhere.
He is one of the most smug holier than thou people I have ever had the displeasure of meeting.
His I am better than you attitude radiates on air making his horrible "news"cast even worse.
Can someone please explain why people watch this station?
I have seen little tiny TV stations that do a much better job.

 

[imhomerjay]

Well he should be somewhere.
He is one of the most smug holier than thou people I have ever had the displeasure of meeting.
His I am better than you attitude radiates on air making his horrible "news"cast even worse.
Can someone please explain why people watch this station?
I have seen little tiny TV stations that do a much better job.

Ah, now there's a mature response. Someone is allegedly smug, ergo they should be arrested. Since you can't be arrested for slander, like, say, spreading false rumors, being smug certainly doesn't warrant the slammer, now does it?

People have explained why they watch channel 6. It ain't rocket science; you simply refuse to listen.

 

[Stuart]

Nertz,
Without going into too much detail, has Jim Gardner done anything personal to you? ie...Insult you?, keep you from getting a job or position?. prevent you/friend/or family member from doing something? It seems you have a real issue with Jim Gardner. Is there something else there? Maybe if you share, you will feel better ;D