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It's official: Kent Dana is leaving Channel 5

I wonder how many potential candidates have that deer-in-the-headlights look old Kent has made so famous?
 
I moved to Phoenix in late 2004 after Kent had left 12 and was waiting out his non-compete. So many people spoke so highly of him, I was expecting the second coming!!! Needless to say, I was disappointed at his performance on 5. I assume that he was much better in his younger days on 12 -- or maybe it was bad chemistry with Catherine and Diana.

Actually, I thought that the temporary pairing of Catherine and Diana was great! I always liked Diana when she was at NWCN in Seattle.
 
formeraa said:
I moved to Phoenix in late 2004 after Kent had left 12 and was waiting out his non-compete. So many people spoke so highly of him, I was expecting the second coming!!! Needless to say, I was disappointed at his performance on 5. I assume that he was much better in his younger days on 12 -- or maybe it was bad chemistry with Catherine and Diana.

Actually, I thought that the temporary pairing of Catherine and Diana was great! I liked Diana when she was at NWCN in Seattle.
Click to expand...
Rank the pairing of Kent with Catherine/Diana with the pairing of Roger Downey and Christina Wofford.

I too loved it when Catherine and Diana were the readers.
Always wondered what the overnight numbers were.

In Phoenix broadcasting history, he ranks next to his Dad (following not in necessary order), Bill Close, Dave Nichols, Mary Jo West, Ray Thompson, Bill Denney...to name a few.
The Christmas jacket...what can I say?
He's earned his points and deserves a quiet retirement.

I'll always cherish the sight of you driving a KOOL Gremlin from the old Jack in the Box drive-thru lane (where the Phoenix City Hall is now located), chowing down on a Bonus Jack.

In the end, I wish Mr Dana well in future endeavors.
 
I want to be clear that, although I obviously saw Mr Dana in his later years, I certainly wish him well. :)

It will be interesting to see how 5 shakes everything up. Over on tvspy.com, someone jokingly brought up the possibility of Brad Perry doing the evening weather. ???

Frankly, except for the monsoons, Phoenix weather is not terribly difficult to forecast. I do give kudos to Jayme King last weekend. He was the only one mentioning the possible setup of monsoonal (?) flow late this week.
 
Best wishes and good luck, Kent! It's been a great ride!

Question: Does Joe get the Christmas sport coat now? ;D
 
KOHS said:
Best wishes and good luck, Kent! It's been a great ride!

Question: Does Joe get the Christmas sport coat now? ;D
Click to expand...

I suppose so unless there are any other Dana children in the news! :D

But Joe only anchors one morning per week, so maybe he gets to wear it on the Saturday am before Christmas!!
 
Personally, I think someone like Jonathan Elias would be better as the anchor. I know he is happily entrenched in Boston, but I always liked him (he made Channel 15 News palatable).

Sean is a great guy, I met him when I was 12 because I was very interested in becoming a meterologist and he allowed me to spend the day with him at Channel 12. Good luck to him, 3rd place is surely around the corner.
 
Like formeraa, I too am a transplant and didn't have the pleasure of seeing Kent Dana on Channel 12. I do get curious as to what he was like with all the topics, thoughts posted.

I would also like to wish him well in new ventures. Since he isn't retiring and plans to be back in some form according to this article. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/2009/06/22/20090622kentdana0622.html

This article leads to so much speculation. Any chance he could show up at another station?


On a side note I wanted share something I noticed tonight. Nicole Crites filled in for Catherine Anaya last night and tonight. I know people tend to bash Kent Dana about not being on top of his game and stumbling. I noticed though tonight and realized other times he has anchored with Nicole Crites he doesn't seem to stumble and seems a bit more comfortable in the anchor role. Not as tense, anxious. I could be wrong but just my personal observation, anyone else notice this too? Now I'm not trying to start gossip but I wonder if something is going on between Dana and Anaya.

Again Good luck to you Kent Dana on your future endeavors.
 
I agree with MusicFan2009. I've noticed that Kent wasn't particularly comfortable with Catherine or, previously, with Diana. It started out okay, but has progressively gotten worse. Basically, KPHO's Kent Dana experiment didn't work out so well. They paid him alot of money and got very little in return.

Would any other station take a chance on Kent with such a high salary? 12 News doesn't really have a space for him. Fox 10 doesn't have an opening. 3TV is going for women and has laid off a number of people. I don't think Scripps has any money over at 15.
 
Just like a lot of Phoenicians, I moved here recently and didn't "grow up" watching Kent Dana. I could see why he was popular.

I think Dana's next move should be a Senior Analysis on a news show, preferable on Channel 12 since he has history there. He would come on during special events, elections, and periodic commentary on current happenings.
 
Perhaps Kent could go back to 12 and anchor Sunday Square Off! :D I'm assuming that he did anchor it at one time -- longtime residents, did he???
 
formeraa said:
Perhaps Kent could go back to 12 and anchor Sunday Square Off! :D I'm assuming that he did anchor it at one time -- longtime residents, did he???
Click to expand...

Kent was weekend anchor at channel 10 when Mc12 came calling with a
weeknight anchor gig and he grabbed it (figuring he'd be waiting until the
year 2525 to succeed Bill Close at KOOL-TV).

He was well established as 12's main weeknight male anchor by the time
KPNX started a Sunday morning 'cast.
 
But 12 decided not to resign him to a new contract, opting with Mark Curtis instead.
Hence his decision to go to CBS5 (Meredith probably offered a liberal base salary plus stock options).

I had an opportunity to speak with Amy Bender and asked about Kent joining KPHO and she relayed that he will serve out his contract and then retire, which seems to be the case. I asked would he go back to KPNX and she said "no".
This conversation was a few years ago, times do change.

I could see Kent doing some type of programming on KAET.
 
oldiesfan6479 said:
formeraa said:
Perhaps Kent could go back to 12 and anchor Sunday Square Off! :D I'm assuming that he did anchor it at one time -- longtime residents, did he???
Click to expand...

Kent was weekend anchor at channel 10 when Mc12 came calling with a
weeknight anchor gig and he grabbed it (figuring he'd be waiting until the
year 2525 to succeed Bill Close at KOOL-TV).

He was well established as 12's main weeknight male anchor by the time
KPNX started a Sunday morning 'cast.
Click to expand...

I wasn't specifically talking about the Sunday am newscast. I figured (perhaps incorrectly) that Sunday Square-Off had preceded the Sunday am newscast. Many stations have a weekly news/politics/viewpoints program, often anchored by the primary anchor. I assumed that Sunday Square-Off was one of these and had later been integrated into 12 News Weekend Today.
 
I remember him when he first showed up on channel 12 back in the 80's,i wish him the best in what ever he does.God bless you Mr Dana.
 
With Gannett about to have another round of cuts, 12 News might not have the cash to pay Dana. I wonder would the 3 other channels take a chance with him? What about a weekly show on 13?
 
IMHO, the best local ensemble newscast team EVER was Kent Dana, Jineane Ford, Mark Curtis & Sean McLaughlin on KPNX. (And Lin Sue was good, too, after she replaced Jineane.)

NOTHING in our market has ever come close to that, and with things the way they are, nothing ever will again!

:(
 
Market15Schmifteen said:
IMHO, the best local ensemble newscast team EVER was Kent Dana, Jineane Ford, Mark Curtis & Sean McLaughlin on KPNX. (And Lin Sue was good, too, after she replaced Jineane.)
Click to expand...

That was a solid lineup. I think you could also make a case for Dana, Ford, Bill Denney and Bill Austin as well. I think Denney was better than Curtis on sports, and Austin did a good job with the weather before Sean came along.
 
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