The way Cheryl Elias talks over the bumpers is indeed irritating and unprofessional, but the bigger problem IMO is her distinctly unhappy tone. What's with that? If management hasn't taken her to task on both problems, it's hard to understand why.
There is no shortage of reasons to criticize KYW. None, in my opinion, have yet been represented in this thread-- with the exception of call letter pronunciation.
While my reliance on "mainstream media" for anything resembling news is now near zero, I do still admittedly use KYW for a few things-- most importantly, as a running aural "clock." I suspect I'm not the only one who uses the station in this manner.
But when I do listen for information, I want it delivered effectively. Cheryl Elias does this, and quite well. I don't care whether or not she's happy to be there. If she were a jock on a music station, I wouldn't say that. For all we know, she's thrilled to be there. I don't know, and again, I don't care.
On weekends, I-- like many others, I'd imagine-- use the station a bit differently. David Madden's anchoring style is perfect for the weekend. I actually go out of my way to listen to KYW for the whole half-hour when he's at the mic. The only other KYW anchor I have done that for in recent years was Lancer.
Many have said they like the fact that each anchor or traffic presenter has his or her own style. What we hear every day is Cheryl's own style. Some may not like it, but it's still a "style." I for one, do like it. I don't need to "hear smiling" from the person telling me about the house fire or car crash that killed a local family, or about the fact that my republic is being flushed down the toilet.
As far as the mispronunciation of call letters, there's no excuse. When Coke, Pepsi, or Budweiser begin allowing some of their bottles' labels to have the brand misspelled-- I'll consider giving KYW a pass. If someone mispronounced "McDonald's" in a TV spot-- and it somehow made it to air-- jobs would be lost. But only in radio would such nonsense be defended.
