Greatest and Worst Local News Teams In History

[RALfan]

Allow me to start a new thread, please...

I would like to know both the best and worst local news teans in the history to television. Le me get it started with the best in my own market of Raleigh/Durham:

WRAL
Charlie Gaddy/Adele Arakawa/Bob DeBardelaben (weather)/Tom Suiter (sports)
1983-88
Pam Saulsby/David Crabtree/Greg Fishel (weather)/Tom Suiter (sports)
1994-present

WTVD
Larry Stogner/Miriam Thomas/Bill Reh (weather)/Drew Smith (sports)
1994-97

 

[dgabenski]

> Allow me to start a new thread, please...
>
> I would like to know both the best and worst local news
> teans in the history to television. Le me get it started
> with the best in my own market of Raleigh/Durham:
>
> WRAL
> Charlie Gaddy/Adele Arakawa/Bob DeBardelaben (weather)/Tom
> Suiter (sports)
> 1983-88
> Pam Saulsby/David Crabtree/Greg Fishel (weather)/Tom Suiter
> (sports)
> 1994-present
>
> WTVD
> Larry Stogner/Miriam Thomas/Bill Reh (weather)/Drew Smith
> (sports)
> 1994-97
> Worst news team in history, anybody that has worked for WDHO/WNWO Channel 24 in Toledo from it's first day on the air to present day. I know it seems like I pick on 24 a lot, but it's so easy. It was really a kick to the "peacock's" nuts when ABC bought WTVG back in 1995. They were forced to go with the worst station in town. UHF signal, low budget, no news team, except for sports god Jim Tichy, crappy ratings. I think the peacock laid a stinky egg, when they were stuck with good old 24. I notice you mention Adele Arakawa, in case your wondering, she's now here in Denver on KUSA Channel 9, number 1 in Denver by the way.

 

[KeithE]

Chicago & Phoenix

> Allow me to start a new thread, please...
>
> I would like to know both the best and worst local news
> teans in the history to television.

Chicago:
Best: Floyd Kalber (news), Jim Tilmon (weather), Tim Weigel (sports) - WMAQ-TV 5 in 1975. Adding Jane Pauley to this team in late '75 started WMAQ on the way down the toilet quickly.

Runner-up: Fahey Flynn & Joel Daley (news), John Coleman (weather), Bill Frink (sports) - WLS-TV 7, late '60s thru the '70s. The original "Eyewitness News" team. Flynn was already a legend from his days at WBBM-TV.

Worst: Ron Hunter & Jane Pauley (news), Jim Tilmon (weather), Chet Coppock (sports) - WMAQ-TV in 1976. Tilmon was the only reason to watch NBC in Chicago after Kalber left for the Today Show and Weigel went to WLS-TV. Pauley was just not up to the job at her then-current level of experience (or lack thereof). Hunter was a hairspray-model lightweight (tell me that Will Farrell's Ron Burgundy character in "Anchorman" isn't based at least partially on Hunter) who eventually returned to Philly. Coppock was as bombastic in 1976 as he is today.

<hr>

Phoenix:

Best: John Hook & Kari Lake (news), Dave Munsey (weather), Jude LaCava (sports) - KSAZ-TV 10 for the last several years.

Runner-up: Bill Close (news), Joe Daugherty (weather), Bill Denney (sports) - KOOL-TV 10 (the current KSAZ) in the early-mid '70s, back in the Gene Autry/Tom Chauncey-owned CBS era. Close was a cantankerous guy who didn't read copy well, but his newscasts were tops in accuracy and credibility.

Worst (network affiliate): ??? (news), Micha Axline (weather), Tom Schoendist (sports) - KTVK 3, early-mid '70s. I forget the anchorman's name now, which shows how much I really remember or care. Ms Axline was a grandmotherly-type who just wasn't up to the job. Schoendist was the only reason to watch this drek. Ray Thompson (from KTAR-TV) and Dave Nichols (from KOOL-TV) came over from their previous stations in the late '70s and gave KTVK some credibility they'd never had before.

Worst (overall): Keith Hauser (news), ??? (weather), Pete Solomon (sports) - KPAZ-TV 21, 1973-75. This was probably the worst newscast of any kind in any market but it was the only 5 PM newscast in Phoenix at the time. Hauser was a Wally Cox-lookalike who couldn't read copy to save his life. Compared to him, Bill Close was Walter Cronkite.

I don't remember the weather guy's name but his "high-tech" weathermaps were National Geographic maps of the US and Arizona with plastic overlays so he could write on them with his magic marker.

Solomon tried his best given the crap he had to work with and he also did Phoenix Giants baseball for KPAZ. I don't know whatever happened to him but he was actually halfway decent for a young guy.

This was pre-TBN, when KPAZ was owned by a local church but was still running some secular programming.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Keith Elster on 04/17/06 02:27 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[FreddyE1977]

> Allow me to start a new thread, please...
>
> I would like to know both the best and worst local news
> teans in the history to television. Le me get it started
> with the best in my own market of Raleigh/Durham:
>
> WRAL
> Charlie Gaddy/Adele Arakawa/Bob DeBardelaben (weather)/Tom
> Suiter (sports)
> 1983-88
> Pam Saulsby/David Crabtree/Greg Fishel (weather)/Tom Suiter
> (sports)
> 1994-present
>
> WTVD
> Larry Stogner/Miriam Thomas/Bill Reh (weather)/Drew Smith
> (sports)
> 1994-97
>


KDKA-TV2 Pittsburgh - Weekday Noon News, featured long-time veteran Bill Burns (who was around at the dawn of Pittsburgh television) and his daughter Patty.
She was a polished, professional newswoman when she got to town, having honed her skills in other markets. But KD could not resist pairing her up with "Daddy" and having her go all folksy and syrupy on us. (he would muff his lines as often as not, once annoucing the upcoming program as "The Young and the Breastless".....she would begin every story with "Well, Dad....) This went on every day at noon for a least 15 yrs. till Daddy retired. The average noon news viewer was a 60+ Female waiting for the soaps to come on, and I guess somebody at KD thought this is what they wanted....YEEECCCHHHH!!!!

A close second was WPXI-TV in the late 80's. They paired up a twenty-something Edye Tarbox (fresh from MTV to the six-o-clock news, and now known as ED Hill on Fox News Channel) and Mike Hambrick, who for some reason always bore the look of a disturbed serial killler on his face whenever the camera was on him. They then took a photo of these two and plastered it on every bus in town with the slogan "Mike and Edie are On the Bus!" Eventually that bus was a Greyhound headed right out of town!

 

[dgabenski]

> > > > Worst news team in history, anybody that has worked for
> WDHO/WNWO Channel 24 in Toledo from it's first day on the
> air to present day. I know it seems like I pick on 24 a
> lot, but it's so easy. It was really a kick to the
> "peacock's" nuts when ABC bought WTVG back in 1995. They
> were forced to go with the worst station in town. UHF
> signal, low budget, no news team, except for sports god Jim
> Tichy, crappy ratings. I think the peacock laid a stinky
> egg, when they were stuck with good old 24. I notice you
> mention Adele Arakawa, in case your wondering, she's now
> here in Denver on KUSA Channel 9, number 1 in Denver by the
> way.
>
Best local news teams, Frank Venner/Gordon Ward-news Frank Venner-weather yes Venner did both news and weather for quite a while. Frank Gilhooley-sports-WSPD-TV 60's-70's. 80's, Jeff Heitz/Jill Olmstead-News, Charlie Umpenhour-Weather, Dan Cummins-sports, Cummins started doing weekend sports, promoted to weekdays when Orris Tabner retired sometime in the mid 1990's

 

[WMC2005]

Boston

Tom Ellis and Robin Young on Channel 7 (which, I'm guessing, may have been WNEV at the time (It's currently WHDH)

 

[AuntPresident]

> > > > > Worst news team in history, anybody that has worked
> for
> > WDHO/WNWO Channel 24 in Toledo from it's first day on the
> > air to present day. I know it seems like I pick on 24 a
> > lot, but it's so easy. It was really a kick to the
> > "peacock's" nuts when ABC bought WTVG back in 1995. They
> > were forced to go with the worst station in town. UHF
> > signal, low budget, no news team, except for sports god
> Jim
> > Tichy, crappy ratings. I think the peacock laid a stinky
> > egg, when they were stuck with good old 24. I notice you
> > mention Adele Arakawa, in case your wondering, she's now
> > here in Denver on KUSA Channel 9, number 1 in Denver by
> the
> > way.
> >
> Best local news teams, Frank Venner/Gordon Ward-news Frank
> Venner-weather yes Venner did both news and weather for
> quite a while. Frank Gilhooley-sports-WSPD-TV 60's-70's.
> 80's, Jeff Heitz/Jill Olmstead-News, Charlie
> Umpenhour-Weather, Dan Cummins-sports, Cummins started doing
> weekend sports, promoted to weekdays when Orris Tabner
> retired sometime in the mid 1990's
>
Speaking of the Glass City of Toledo...Someone mentioned a sports guy in Phoenix named Jude La Cava. Don't remember if he did TV in T-town, but he was the morning guy at WSPD Radio in the mid-late 80s (I think he was the last morning guy there before they flipped from music to talk.)
I didn't move to the Toledo area till the mid 80s, but I do remember people talking about the Ward-Venner Report on 11. Gordon Ward did commercials for quite a while, and I remember Frank Venner on Channel 13, both on the newscasts and hosting High School Quiz ("No, I'm sorry, that's incorrect...The question now goes to the team from Sylvania Northview".)
Jeff Heitz' co-anchor in the late 80's was Sue Parcells, who died much too young...They were very good together.

 

[jjkktj]

Re: Boston

> Tom Ellis and Robin Young on Channel 7 (which, I'm guessing,
> may have been WNEV at the time (It's currently WHDH)
>

Would they be best or worst? Ch7 was definitely WNEV by then.


My vote for best in Boston would be the former husband and wife team of Chet Curtis and Natalie Jacobsen on WCVB.

Boston's worst... Jeff Bard and Karen Marinella (sp) on WLVI.

 

[dgabenski]

> > > > > > > Speaking of the Glass City of Toledo...Someone mentioned a
> sports guy in Phoenix named Jude La Cava. Don't remember if
> he did TV in T-town, but he was the morning guy at WSPD
> Radio in the mid-late 80s (I think he was the last morning
> guy there before they flipped from music to talk.)
> I didn't move to the Toledo area till the mid 80s, but I do
> remember people talking about the Ward-Venner Report on 11.
> Gordon Ward did commercials for quite a while, and I
> remember Frank Venner on Channel 13, both on the newscasts
> and hosting High School Quiz ("No, I'm sorry, that's
> incorrect...The question now goes to the team from Sylvania
> Northview".)
> Jeff Heitz' co-anchor in the late 80's was Sue Parcells, who
> died much too young...They were very good together.
> The Venner-Ward report was on TV-13 not TOLEDO 11, Although Ward did the news on 11 for a while before moving to 13. Venner is a TV-13 institution. The sad part about Sue Parcells was she died after coming back from China to report on some stupid pandas that came to Toledo that nobody gave a crap about anyway. What a waste of a good talent.
BTW, I was on High School Quiz in 1983/84, don't remember which, with the team from Rogers High School. I also won the WTVG TV-13 High School Editorial competition in 1983.

 

[DrBear]

Just to represent Green Bay...

Best ever: Probably Don Sidney (news)/Bob Schulze (sports)/Fred Wagner (weather) at WFRV-TV 5 in the late 1960s. This was the first local station to do a "30 minute" news show with everything integrated, rather than separate 15-minute news, 5-minute weather and 10-minute sports in the Green Bay market. Sidney was a veteran who had moved over from the strong news department at WBAY-TV; Schulze was a solid sports guy (who later moved to WLUK-TV to do sports, then news) and Wagner was the market's first "legit" meteorolgist and had the first radar in the market. Quite impressive for the 1960s in Market 69.

The "worst" wasn't really that, but it was the strangest.
WLUK-TV, circa 1971 - Stanley Siegel (host), Ray Wheeler (news), Bob Schulze (sports), Glen Loyd (Action Man).
Host? And no weather? Read on...
WLUK had been out of the news biz since 1967.(Strangely, they were owned by a nearby newspaper). When they started up again, they did so with a strange newscast. Siegel was the host, introducing the show each night and doing offbeat features. (His most famous were his driving of a Volkswagen into a creek to see if it would float and, in one that got him national attention, donning a wet suit and climbing into a tub of Jello to see how fruit felt.) Schulze did sports as he did at WFRV, while Wheeler was a classic Ted Baxter newsreader - handsome with great pipes. Weather? Well, the genius who put this together decided weather wasn't that important, so Wheeler just read the forecast. The show stunk - I would dearly love to have videotapes of it now - and after a year, Siegel was out, meteorologist Bob Thomas was imported from Chicago, and the show became a "legitimate" newscast, more's the pity. They may just have been ahead of their time. It wasn't that the talent was bad - Wheeler stayed as anchor until 1980 when Schulze replaced him; Siegel got a local talk show in New York that, for a year or so, gave Phil Donahue a run for his money. It was just, in the immortal words of Dr. Johnny Fever, "deeply weird."

 

[WMC2005]

Re: Boston

> > Tom Ellis and Robin Young on Channel 7 (which, I'm
> guessing,
> > may have been WNEV at the time (It's currently WHDH)
> >
> Would they be best or worst? Ch7 was definitely WNEV by
> then.

They would have been worst.



>
> My vote for best in Boston would be the former husband and
> wife team of Chet Curtis and Natalie Jacobsen on WCVB.


Most definitely.


> Boston's worst... Jeff Bard and Karen Marinella (sp) on
> WLVI.

I disagree. Jeff Barnd (not Bard) wasn't too bad. Karen and Jeff would never make an all-star best anchor couple but I liked them together.

 

[MCarney]

Re: Boston

> > Tom Ellis and Robin Young on Channel 7 (which, I'm
> guessing,
> > may have been WNEV at the time (It's currently WHDH)
> >
>
> Would they be best or worst? Ch7 was definitely WNEV by
> then.
>
>
> My vote for best in Boston would be the former husband and
> wife team of Chet Curtis and Natalie Jacobsen on WCVB.
>
> Boston's worst... Jeff Bard and Karen Marinella (sp) on
> WLVI.
>
Yes - Robin and Tom were pretty bad together. Tom had just come back from a stint at WABC in NY (and had been a big star a decade or so before on WBZ; he also had co-anchored with Chet & Nat at 'CVB) and Robin was a former "Evening Magazine" host. Their styles just clashed, and there was no clear news vision at 7.

As for Karen and Jeff - they also suffered from a lack of chemistry.

 

[AuntPresident]

> Just to represent Green Bay...
>
> Best ever: Probably Don Sidney (news)/Bob Schulze
> (sports)/Fred Wagner (weather) at WFRV-TV 5 in the late
> 1960s. This was the first local station to do a "30 minute"
> news show with everything integrated, rather than separate
> 15-minute news, 5-minute weather and 10-minute sports in the
> Green Bay market. Sidney was a veteran who had moved over
> from the strong news department at WBAY-TV; Schulze was a
> solid sports guy (who later moved to WLUK-TV to do sports,
> then news) and Wagner was the market's first "legit"
> meteorolgist and had the first radar in the market. Quite
> impressive for the 1960s in Market 69.
>
> The "worst" wasn't really that, but it was the strangest.
> WLUK-TV, circa 1971 - Stanley Siegel (host), Ray Wheeler
> (news), Bob Schulze (sports), Glen Loyd (Action Man).
> Host? And no weather? Read on...
> WLUK had been out of the news biz since 1967.(Strangely,
> they were owned by a nearby newspaper). When they started up
> again, they did so with a strange newscast. Siegel was the
> host, introducing the show each night and doing offbeat
> features. (His most famous were his driving of a Volkswagen
> into a creek to see if it would float and, in one that got
> him national attention, donning a wet suit and climbing into
> a tub of Jello to see how fruit felt.) Schulze did sports
> as he did at WFRV, while Wheeler was a classic Ted Baxter
> newsreader - handsome with great pipes. Weather? Well, the
> genius who put this together decided weather wasn't that
> important, so Wheeler just read the forecast. The show stunk
> - I would dearly love to have videotapes of it now - and
> after a year, Siegel was out, meteorologist Bob Thomas was
> imported from Chicago, and the show became a "legitimate"
> newscast, more's the pity. They may just have been ahead of
> their time. It wasn't that the talent was bad - Wheeler
> stayed as anchor until 1980 when Schulze replaced him;
> Siegel got a local talk show in New York that, for a year or
> so, gave Phil Donahue a run for his money. It was just, in
> the immortal words of Dr. Johnny Fever, "deeply weird."
>
Stanley Siegel...Wasn't it his show where Truman Capote guested once, and was absolutely hammered, and made a total, unintelligible spectacle of himself?

 

[leach]

> Stanley Siegel...Wasn't it his show where Truman Capote
> guested once, and was absolutely hammered, and made a total,
> unintelligible spectacle of himself?
>

Thats correct. As a result of Truman's "interview" a lot of his closest friends dropped him like a hot potato.

 

[leach]

Denver

> Allow me to start a new thread, please...
>
> I would like to know both the best and worst local news
> teans in the history to television. Le me get it started
> with the best in my own market of Raleigh/Durham:
>
> WRAL
> Charlie Gaddy/Adele Arakawa/Bob DeBardelaben (weather)/Tom
> Suiter (sports)
> 1983-88
> Pam Saulsby/David Crabtree/Greg Fishel (weather)/Tom Suiter
> (sports)
> 1994-present
>
> WTVD
> Larry Stogner/Miriam Thomas/Bill Reh (weather)/Drew Smith
> (sports)
> 1994-97
>


When I lived in Denver in the late 80s, KUSA channel 9 by far. I still remember Ed Sarella (?) and Mike Landess even though I haven't been in Colorado since 1993. KUSA's Paula Woodward was great. She was actually fun to watch. I still remember her going after some guy after catching him in the act stealing. "..sir why are you stealing from Goodwill?" !!

KCNC channel 4 was quite good too with Bob Palmer and Larry and Ed Green.

I remember watching KMGH channel 7's news back then but I don't remember who anchored then.

I do know that I was NOT impressed with KWGN channel 2. Barbara Berlin was one I remember. She was bad in Richmond, VA..dittos in Denver too.

 

[dustintv]

Re: Denver

>
> KCNC channel 4 was quite good too with Bob Palmer and Larry
> and Ed Green.
>


When I lived in Denver I fell in love with KCNC's newcast and team. God, I wish I remebered the names of the anchors, especially the blonde woman who did KCNC's evening newscasts.

 

[oldiesfan]

> Speaking of the Glass City of Toledo...
> Someone mentioned a sports guy in Phoenix
> named Jude La Cava.

La Cava is the #1 jock on KSAZ-TV 10 (Fox O&O).

The only guy who gets 7:11 for his sports
report, since his nickname is "Hey Jude."
(Just kidding, he doesn't and it isn't.)


> ...he was the morning guy at WSPD Radio
> in the mid-late 80s (I think he was the
> last morning guy there before they flipped
> from music to talk.)

Did he follow, precede, or in-between WSPD
morning guy Jack Mitchell? (Who recently
retired from WRVF.)

 

[dhett]

Re: Chicago & Phoenix

> Best: John Hook & Kari Lake (news), Dave Munsey (weather),
> Jude LaCava (sports) - KSAZ-TV 10 for the last several
> years.

It's a good thing we're judging "teams" here because IMO Dave Munsey drags the team down with his obsession for telling the audience every place in the nation that received over 1" of rain that night.<P ID="signature">______________
Dave</P>

 

[AuntPresident]

> > Speaking of the Glass City of Toledo...
> > Someone mentioned a sports guy in Phoenix
> > named Jude La Cava.
>
> La Cava is the #1 jock on KSAZ-TV 10 (Fox O&O).
>
> The only guy who gets 7:11 for his sports
> report, since his nickname is "Hey Jude."
> (Just kidding, he doesn't and it isn't.)
>
>
> > ...he was the morning guy at WSPD Radio
> > in the mid-late 80s (I think he was the
> > last morning guy there before they flipped
> > from music to talk.)
>
> Did he follow, precede, or in-between WSPD
> morning guy Jack Mitchell? (Who recently
> retired from WRVF.)
>
I think (emphasis on THINK) La Cava was after Mitch and Mary Beth, and he was in turn replaced by Dave Macy; M&MB had already left Speedy by the time I ever heard them, and they had already begun their long run on K100.
(Paul W. Smith has to fit in there somewhere, but I'm not sure where.)
Now, to keep it kinda on topic, worst T-town newsguy ever had to be Don "I Do A Passable Imitation Of Foster Brooks" Edwards on Channel 24.
Checking in from Fort Wayne, the best individual guy, based on how far his career went after leaving the fort...Channel 15 had a guy in the mid 60s named Rolland Smith, who I think went on to WCBS in New York, and even hosted the CBS morning show that preceded "This Morning" (The one with Mariette Hartley and Bob Saget).

 

[dgabenski]

> > >> Now, to keep it kinda on topic, worst T-town newsguy ever
> had to be Don "I Do A Passable Imitation Of Foster Brooks"
> Edwards on Channel 24.
> It's a shame to hear that you didn't like Don. Let's not put it all on him though. Don't forget Channel 24 sucks. They could make Murrow look like a moron.