KBWB, KICU, KBHK news in the past

[e-dawg]

DId TV20, Action 36, and UPN 44 ever produce their own news in the past? For how long and what happened?

 

[Floyd]

> DId TV20, Action 36, and UPN 44 ever produce their own news
> in the past? For how long and what happened?
>
Jim Gabbert produced its own 10:00 News for KOFY with Robert McCormack. I'm guessing sometime in the late 80's. I also believe KRON 4 produced a 10:00 News for KOFY in the early 90's. When Granite took over TV 20, they also had a prime time news but I am not sure if it was produced exclusively for 20 or produced by then sister station,KNTV 11. KICU 36 has had various Prime Time News at both 7:00 and 10:00. I know that Jan Hutchins once anchored the news at 36. When KTVU 2 took over initially at 36, they did a simulcast of their morning show and afternoon news but showed the KTVU 10:00 news on a one hour delay at 11:00. To my knowledge, KBHK 44 has never had a locally produced news show(the syndicated national "INN News" does not count.).

 

[Rich]

> When Granite took over TV 20, they also had a prime
> time news but I am not sure if it was produced exclusively
> for 20 or produced by then sister station,KNTV 11.

The WB20 News at Ten was indeed produced by KNTV from their San Jose studios. When KNTV lost the ABC affiliation in 2000, the newscast was simulcast on both stations, and continued into 2002 for a few months as "NBC 3 News at 10 on WB20," when it was cancelled outright.

 

[bigbubby]

20+ years ago KBHK had newsbreaks (I can't remember how or if they were timed, I was very young). One of the anchors was named Ricki Stevenson. I seem to remember them being titled "Bay Area Update", although a video tape my dad had from 1984 has one that is just titled "TV44 News Update".

 

[paulsecic]

> 20+ years ago KBHK had newsbreaks (I can't remember how or
> if they were timed, I was very young). One of the anchors
> was named Ricki Stevenson. I seem to remember them being
> titled "Bay Area Update", although a video tape my dad had
> from 1984 has one that is just titled "TV44 News Update".
>
In 1966 when KEMO Channel 20 debuted they had a half hour newscast daily. It didn't last too long.

 

[Floyd]

> In 1966 when KEMO Channel 20 debuted they had a half hour
> newscast daily. It didn't last too long.
>
I almost forgot, but you are right, except I believe KEMO debuted in 1968, not 1966.

 

[LKellerIII]

> > TV44 News Update was on every hour or so from the 70s into the mid (?) 80s. The 2 major "anchors" I remember were Edwina Moore, and Mary Lou Mannali. Mary Lou also did public affairs shows for 44, and has more recently worked for KGO radio. Edwina had a very nice on-air presence, I thought, and I have no idea what happened to her. These newsbreaks were very minimalistic - just the anchor reading headlines for 1 or 2 minutes - no tape, no grahpics.


In 1966 when KEMO Channel 20 debuted they had a half hour
> > newscast daily. It didn't last too long.
> >
> I almost forgot, but you are right, except I believe KEMO
> debuted in 1968, not 1966.
>

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

KBHK-44 was originally owned by Kaiser Broadcasting (in fact, the call letters stand for Kaiser Broadcasting/Henry Kaiser, the company name and the name of it's major owner). Kaiser's sister station here in Boston, then known as WKBG-56 (now WLVI) produced a half-hour 10 P.M. newscast for about a year from December, 1969 through December, 1970.

At the time WKBG's news was dropped, I thought I read in a newspaper that some other Kaiser stations had launched local newscasts but that they were also cancelled at about the same time.

If my memory is correct, I suspect KBHK may have one of the other Kaiser stations that had news around that time.

Hopefully, someone will let us know if KBHK had local news in the late 1960's and 1970, and when it started/ended.

 

[LKellerIII]

> I didn't get to the SF Bay Area until 73, so I can't speak for the 60s. But there were NO newscasts at KBHK 44 in the 70s, only the aforementioned "News Updates" which only lasted a minute or two. It was very low-rent, just the anchor reading the headlines, with no tape, film, or even graphics. I'm fairly sure KBHK never had a real newscast - because I remember being surprised when I moved here that only one independent station (KTVU/2) had a newscast. Growing up in LA, all 4 independent stations had newscasts of some kind. As mentioned in this thread, KICU/36 out of San Jose had a 30 minute newscast for a few years in the late 70s or early 80s, and TV 20 tried it for a very brief time in the late 80s or early 90s when it was James Gabbert's KOFY. It wasn't an entirely bad effort, but I remember they were criticized for using VHS cameras (to save money) for on-the-scene reports, which gave those taped or live reports a washed out and cheap look. Their anchor was Robert McCormick, a Bay Area radio veteran who now works for KNX in LA. In the 70s, most stations, and the networks did those short "newsbreaks" between shows - at least in prime time. In the Bay Area, the network affiliates would cut in with their own newsbreak (usually nothing more than a teaser for the 11:00 News). You could tell because the timing would occasionally be off, and the network newsbreak would run for a second or two before the local anchor cut-in.

KBHK-44 was originally owned by Kaiser Broadcasting (in
> fact, the call letters stand for Kaiser Broadcasting/Henry
> Kaiser, the company name and the name of it's major owner).
> Kaiser's sister station here in Boston, then known as
> WKBG-56 (now WLVI) produced a half-hour 10 P.M. newscast for
> about a year from December, 1969 through December, 1970.
>
> At the time WKBG's news was dropped, I thought I read in a
> newspaper that some other Kaiser stations had launched local
> newscasts but that they were also cancelled at about the
> same time.
>
> If my memory is correct, I suspect KBHK may have one of the
> other Kaiser stations that had news around that time.
>
> Hopefully, someone will let us know if KBHK had local news
> in the late 1960's and 1970, and when it started/ended.
>

 

[KEWB]

Growing up in the Bay Area, I remember KBHK-TV doing a daily half hour newscast M-F. It was short lived, maybe a year or so or less. I think it started at 7PM and then later moved to 10PM. It was anchored by Jerry Jensen. Jerry would later join Van Amburg at KGO-TV, in the early 70's, to become the powerhouse anchor team of local SF news until 1984. I hope this helps to fill in the gap.

 

[KEWB]

I forgot to add, the KBHK news program was on the air in the late 60's, 1968 or 69.

 

[LKellerIII]

Re: Jerry Jensen - Van Amburg

Haven't thouight about Jerry Jensen in along while. Yes - (Fred) Van Amburg and Jensen were the hottest thing in local news on Channel 7 for probably a decade. The 11:00 show would often appear as one of the Top 10 rated shows in the Bay Area (overall!) on busy news days. KRON and KPIX could only muster a fraction of KGO-TV's viewership during those years, and had revolving anchor chairs. Anybody remember Gene Tuck, Stan Bohrman, or the two Hambricks? I believe Jensen retired in the early 80s - Amburg anchored alone for awhile and had a well publicized ego-tantrum when ABC decided to bring in Suzanne Saunders as his co-anchor. Van wanted to work alone. KPIX brought in Dave McElhatton in 1978 or so, and Dave put a dent in KGO-TV's ratings. After a few years of lower (but still substantial) ratings, cost-cutting Capital Cities bought ABC and canned Amburg, who was costing them about $600,000 a year. They brought Pete Wilson down from Sacramento who started for less than half of Van's salary. Ronn Owens (KGO radio) was one of the few people sympathetic to Amburg, and interviewed him one morning after the ax fell. Amburg indicated that he had been willing to negotiate his salary down, but Cap Cities refused to negotiate, and just wanted him out the door.

 

[tvradiofan]

Re: Jerry Jensen - Van Amburg

Haven't thouight about Jerry Jensen in along while. Yes - (Fred) Van Amburg and Jensen were the hottest thing in local news on Channel 7 for probably a decade. The 11:00 show would often appear as one of the Top 10 rated shows in the Bay Area (overall!) on busy news days. KRON and KPIX could only muster a fraction of KGO-TV's viewership during those years, and had revolving anchor chairs. Anybody remember Gene Tuck, Stan Bohrman, or the two Hambricks? I believe Jensen retired in the early 80s - Amburg anchored alone for awhile and had a well publicized ego-tantrum when ABC decided to bring in Suzanne Saunders as his co-anchor. Van wanted to work alone. KPIX brought in Dave McElhatton in 1978 or so, and Dave put a dent in KGO-TV's ratings. After a few years of lower (but still substantial) ratings, cost-cutting Capital Cities bought ABC and canned Amburg, who was costing them about $600,000 a year. They brought Pete Wilson down from Sacramento who started for less than half of Van's salary. Ronn Owens (KGO radio) was one of the few people sympathetic to Amburg, and interviewed him one morning after the ax fell. Amburg indicated that he had been willing to negotiate his salary down, but Cap Cities refused to negotiate, and just wanted him out the door.

Jensen was forced to scale back his duties in 1983, and finally retired late that year, due to his failing health.(He died in early '84,of pancreatic cancer; Amburg read Jensen's 'farewell message' when it was clear Jensen would not return to the air.)

 

[ChuckinEugene]

I have a few TV Guides from the late '60s. Channel 44 signed on in January 1968. I have a TV Guide for April 1968 (the month Channel 20 signed on). It lists news at 10:00 pm on channels 2 and 44. No other details. However, the TV Guide for the week of October 12th, 1968 has an ad that says, "Now there's a better 10 o'clock news on TV...It's on Kaiser ch 44. Bob Raiford and a team of 20 news specialists". Does anyone recognize Bob Raiford?

 

[LKellerIII]

Re: Bob Raiford

I'd never heard of Bob Raiford, but I googled his name and came up with a couple of likely hits. A Bob Railford is listed on the WBT ("Newstalk" radio in Charlotte, N.C.) website. This quote is from the website dedicated to the late Charles Kuralt:"Most people in the book you've probably never heard of. There was, however, 28-year-old Bob Raiford, who was fired from WBT for playing some opinions of the attack on Nat King Cole in Birmingham, Ala. He went on to New York and NBC, and is now, all these many years later, still in the business and on the air as the commentator and "curmudgeon at large" on the John Boy and Billy morning show in Charlotte."Probably the same guy. Interestingly - the late Owen Spann (KGO radio in the 60s and 70s) also gets mention on the WBT website.

 

[TedL]

KEMO news in the past: Anyone remember Virginia Rigg?

> In 1966 when KEMO Channel 20 debuted they had a half hour
> newscast daily. It didn't last too long.
>
I almost forgot, but you are right, except I believe KEMO debuted in 1968, not 1966.

In 1977, 78, 79 I used to shoot film in Sacramento for Virginia Rigg, a woman who worked at or for KEMO when Leon Crosby owned it.

She was attempting to get some chops as a political reporter. I wasn't really clear about what program the film I shot ended up in. I was just a hired lens at the time.


One Sunday afternoon, I remember shooting the (Democratic, if I recall correctly) state party convention with her at the Sacramento Convention Center the day that Jerry Brown appointed his transportation secretary Rose Bird to the State Supreme Court.

If I'm not having an AARP moment (too young for Senior Moments) one of my San Francisco TV clients (KTVU or KGO-TV?) wanted an interview, and we managed to get one in Bird's corner office in the Caltrans building opposite the Capitol.

I went over and shot it. I think I let Virginia ask questions because she'd originally hired me for the day. Something like that.

I wonder whether any of that footage (either the Rose Bird stuff) or the material I shot for my film-days clients is still in storage somewhere. I wouldn't mind having good copies of the stuff for hysterical or historical purposes.

Prince Charles and Gov. Jerry Brown would be a nice clip.

Ted

 

[LKellerIII]

If the tape was in storage at KEMO, it's probably long gone. It was big news when James Gabbert (of K-101 fame) bought KEMO in the early 80s- which was (to say the least) NOT a well run or successful station. Everybody thought Gabbert was nuts for buying the dump, though he proved them wrong and managed to make a big success out of TV 20. But I remember stories at the time - Gabbert talked a lot about what he was up against. The studios on Marin St. (bottom of Potrero Hill) and equipment were a mess - and Gabbert had to literally clean house. Though I guess it's possible he saved old video (like hundreds of hours of the Joey Bavaresco Show), I kind of doubt it. And of course, Gabbert sold the station in the mid or late 90s, so the new regime may have cleaned up, as well.

 

[TedL]

Re: KEMO news in the past--Anyone remember Virginia Rigg?

If the tape was in storage at KEMO, it's probably long gone.

Film! We're talking [FILM] here. Back when it WAS "film at 11" because live or tape wasn't really "there" yet.

Since Virginia paid me to shoot it... I'd suspect she is the "owner" of the film... and may still have the edited pieces and the outtakes.

Anybody heard of or remember KEMO's Virginia Rigg?

 

[paulsecic]

Re: KEMO news in the past: Anyone remember Virginia Rigg?

> In 1966 when KEMO Channel 20 debuted they had a half hour
> newscast daily. It didn't last too long.
>
I almost forgot, but you are right, except I believe KEMO debuted in 1968, not 1966.

In 1977, 78, 79 I used to shoot film in Sacramento for Virginia Rigg, a woman who worked at or for KEMO when Leon Crosby owned it.

She was attempting to get some chops as a political reporter. I wasn't really clear about what program the film I shot ended up in. I was just a hired lens at the time.


One Sunday afternoon, I remember shooting the (Democratic, if I recall correctly) state party convention with her at the Sacramento Convention Center the day that Jerry Brown appointed his transportation secretary Rose Bird to the State Supreme Court.

If I'm not having an AARP moment (too young for Senior Moments) one of my San Francisco TV clients (KTVU or KGO-TV?) wanted an interview, and we managed to get one in Bird's corner office in the Caltrans building opposite the Capitol.

I went over and shot it. I think I let Virginia ask questions because she'd originally hired me for the day. Something like that.

I wonder whether any of that footage (either the Rose Bird stuff) or the material I shot for my film-days clients is still in storage somewhere. I wouldn't mind having good copies of the stuff for hysterical or historical purposes.

Prince Charles and Gov. Jerry Brown would be a nice clip.

Ted

Granite sold TV 20 to some company, but the deal fell through because WB is almost gone.

 

[LKellerIII]

Well, excuse me, Ted L. You did indeed say "film." Nevertheless, my comment about KEMO being a mess would be as valid in reference to a reel of film, as to a videotape. I never worked in the TV industry, but I'm under the impression that film and tape were BOTH used widely in TV news earlier than 1975, when Jerry Brown became Governor. Anchorman George Putnam, famous in LA in the 50s in 60s for being a pompous ass (the Ted Baxter character on Mary Tyler Moore was modeled after Putnam)was also famous for his catch-phrases, of which he had many ("that's the up to the minute news, up to the minutes, that's all the news.") He opened the show with the catch phrase "Details on this and all the news, live, on film, and video-tape..." Putnam had left TV news by 1971 or 72.