Robin Swoboda Returns...Again!

[CleveFan]

I know this item already made news, but I wanted to get some thoughts here...

Weeks after leaving WJW Channel 8, Robin Swoboda has already resurfaced in Cleveland television. She'll become the new 7 p.m. news co-anchor with Chris Tye on WKYC Channel 3.

http://www.wkyc.com/weblog/directors_cut/

Robin is returning to news after an 10+ year hiatus. She co-anchored the 11 p.m. news with Ted Henry on WEWS Channel 5 from 1999 until 2000. Since then, she's been at WFHM FM/95.5 (2002-2005) and WJW for a third stint (2007-2011) until recently.

Of course, she's well known for her first stint at WJW as the 6 and 11 p.m. co-anchor with Tim Taylor from 1986 until 1991. She returned to WJW for a second stint from 1995 until 1998, and later co-hosted "The Morning Exchange" on WEWS for a year (1998-99) until its cancellation.

I am a fan of her's, and I am happy to see her back on television, but I know there are those who are not excited at all of her return once again to the Cleveland television landscape.

 

[vjm]

I wonder if they'll try a "super team" pairing up Robin with Romona Robinson.

The best way to do it would probably be to do the super team at 6, Robin solo at 7, and Romona solo at 11.

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

Would.

 

[Capulet]

eh? Mark me down as one who can do without her act. Give a young up and comer a start. Send her home to raise the kids.

 

[Tim L]

eh? Mark me down as one who can do without her act. Give a young up and comer a start. Send her home to raise the kids.

There's been plenty of time lately to give "up and comers" starts, as a lot of older veterans have either retired or been "downsized" in Cleveland TV in recent years..Robin is not that old..She has news experience, and she should bring ratings to TV 3..By the way, while I dont care that much for being Politically Correct, I thought that "Send her home to raise the kids" remark could be construed as a little old fashioned..Just saying..

 

[Capulet]

eh? Mark me down as one who can do without her act. Give a young up and comer a start. Send her home to raise the kids.

There's been plenty of time lately to give "up and comers" starts, as a lot of older veterans have either retired or been "downsized" in Cleveland TV in recent years..Robin is not that old..She has news experience, and she should bring ratings to TV 3..By the way, while I dont care that much for being Politically Correct, I thought that "Send her home to raise the kids" remark could be construed as a little old fashioned..Just saying..

Reading a teleprompter does not qualify as " news experience ". It's called news reader. Read this
out loud. See? Pretty easy huh? That's what news readers do on the TV.

I never liked her act and don't care to watch her. Report me to the blog police. :

 

[CleveRadioInsider]

Robin Swoboda needs to hang it up already. She retires and comes back more than Brett Favre. Cleveland for some reason loves has beens and Robin is just another example. Give her a year she will pull the "I want to be with my kids card" and then show up on Channel 8 again. Lame.

 

[74WIXYGrad]

Ahhh...As one who spent most of last year unemployed, and in my fifties, I have to take offense to the age discrimination being expressed in this thread.

 

[Capulet]

Ahhh...As one who spent most of last year unemployed, and in my fifties, I have to take offense to the age discrimination being expressed in this thread.

I'm motivated to respond.

Age discrimination cannot apply to certain professions. Pro sports, modeling, acting and media hosting ( like DJs and TV news readers ) to name a few, are not and should not be subjct to a concept of age dicrimination.

The whole concept of Age Discrimination may apply to those industries where looks and image do not matter. Most jobs are like this. Media and show biz jobs are not. Fact is, age discrimination has been "practiced" ( or has existed ) in show business and media for YEARS! No one called it discrimination though. It was called " matching a product to a target audience ". So don't be offended. Look at the current crop of reporters on the local TV news stations.....I won't be the first to notice that they keep getting replaced by younger, cuter "reporters" ( I'm sure there's a TV term like " camera friendly " ) every couple of years. And is it me or do young women holding
mics on location out number young men? Moot point these days as those jobs are being eliminated.

I doubt there is a DJ on 96.5 older than 30.( Somehow a 45 year old talking to teens on the radio seems creepy to me.) Teen hearthrobs like the new crop on the recent Grammys are in their 20s. ( Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga, etc ) Age is relevant to relating to a demo specific target audience. But to your point, if the Beatles were in their 40s when they played Ed Sullivan, they certainly would have had NO appeal to the teenagers then buying records and listening to WIXY 1260 or whatever the Top 40 station was back then. This is historically true with Elvis, through New Kids on the Block, to the Backstreet Boys.
Miss America never was Mrs. America. ;D

I agree with the post above. She routinely and historically "retires", plays the " I want to be with my kids card " and then decides she misses the money. I think that annoys many folks, those trying to earn a living in the media more so than the civilians watching the TV news. I never cared for her giggle-cute-but-confused-gigglesomemore act when I used to watch TV news.
( Part was job related, but in the 1990s watching the pm TV newscasts was routine. I watched and compared.) Now I get my news online where the interactive aspect just fascinates me. So if this lady gets a gig on TV, good for her, but thats not going to make me watch. A new cute news reader might. So will someone call me sexist for that remark? Tell the GM that.

Being 50 and out of work is horrible. Your predicament is worse if you are going to attempt to get work in radio or TV. Our culture loves youth. Young and pretty means more that experienced and wise. Good luck with the job hunt. Try universities and public radio. These places may have respect for the wisdom experience brings. Then again, I could be wrong.

 

[1sttimecaller]

Elvis Duran is in his 50s.
Kasper is in his 30s.
I believe Java is 31.

 

[Jimme]

A little off topic, but all you people bashing Robin for her age remember Kitty Carlisle returned to NBC's revival of "To Tell The Truth" at age 80 back in 1990. And Kitty was a lot sharper, prettier, and funnier than Robin ever was locally or on the national show they put her on which replaced the 1990 revival of To Tell The Truth.

 

[Capulet]

Elvis Duran is in his 50s.
Kasper is in his 30s.
I believe Java is 31.

Dick Clark is 136 and Rick Dees is 167.

Regardless how old a few of these guys are, it still creeps me out that these old men are talking to children. I think CHR jocks should be college age, and when they hit 25, they move up a demo notch to Hot AC. Then again, I could be wrong.

 

[Capulet]

A little off topic, but all you people bashing Robin for her age remember Kitty Carlisle returned to NBC's revival of "To Tell The Truth" at age 80 back in 1990. And Kitty was a lot sharper, prettier, and funnier than Robin ever was locally or on the national show they put her on which replaced the 1990 revival of To Tell The Truth.

Damn right! Put Jane Scott and Dorothy Fuldhiem on as co-anchors!

 

[Jimme]

A little off topic, but all you people bashing Robin for her age remember Kitty Carlisle returned to NBC's revival of "To Tell The Truth" at age 80 back in 1990. And Kitty was a lot sharper, prettier, and funnier than Robin ever was locally or on the national show they put her on which replaced the 1990 revival of To Tell The Truth.

Damn right! Put Jane Scott and Dorothy Fuldhiem on as co-anchors!

Not Fuldheim agan - she will start yapping about "UFO's are real" again or what she had for dinner yesterday. She may have interviewed Hitler, but hse was a washout by the time she died.

 

[Jimme]

Can you Robin Swoboda fans tell me what makes her great. I look at professionals such as Christianne Amanpour, Mona Charen, Candy Crowley, or Greta Van Sustren - people with education, contacts, and a grasp of world events. And Cleveland is enamored with Robin Swoboda who never discusses more than what she did at the mall. Similar to the morning show post where local shows are seen as better, while other markets have Imus, the Wall Street Journal report, or The Grandy Group talking news, politics, and world events, we have WTAM guys who rarely discuss more than the local sports teams. Are Clevelanders that stupid they don't care about the world around them? Forget Egypt, gas prices, Obamacare, or the Grammys - turn on WTAM and let's talk about that big trade which will make the Tribe #1.

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

Can you Robin Swoboda fans tell me what makes her great. I look at professionals such as Christianne Amanpour, Mona Charen, Candy Crowley, or Greta Van Sustren - people with education, contacts, and a grasp of world events. And Cleveland is enamored with Robin Swoboda who never discusses more than what she did at the mall. Similar to the morning show post where local shows are seen as better, while other markets have Imus, the Wall Street Journal report, or The Grandy Group talking news, politics, and world events, we have WTAM guys who rarely discuss more than the local sports teams. Are Clevelanders that stupid they don't care about the world around them? Forget Egypt, gas prices, Obamacare, or the Grammys - turn on WTAM and let's talk about that big trade which will make the Tribe #1.

Greta Van Sustren? :

And you evidently don't listen to TAM much - practically all they do is bash Obama and Democrats.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Can you Robin Swoboda fans tell me what makes her great. I look at professionals such as Christianne Amanpour, Mona Charen, Candy Crowley, or Greta Van Sustren - people with education, contacts, and a grasp of world events. And Cleveland is enamored with Robin Swoboda who never discusses more than what she did at the mall. Similar to the morning show post where local shows are seen as better, while other markets have Imus, the Wall Street Journal report, or The Grandy Group talking news, politics, and world events, we have WTAM guys who rarely discuss more than the local sports teams. Are Clevelanders that stupid they don't care about the world around them? Forget Egypt, gas prices, Obamacare, or the Grammys - turn on WTAM and let's talk about that big trade which will make the Tribe #1.

Greta Van Sustren? :

And you evidently don't listen to TAM much - practically all they do is bash Obama and Democrats.

Well, with the Browns, Indians, and Cavs all simultaneously in rebuilding mode and nowhere near any form of contention whatsoever...

That being said, WTAM is still hands-down the more credible sports outlet in the market. Says a lot. None of it good.

 

[Capulet]

Can you Robin Swoboda fans tell me what makes her great. I look at professionals such as Christianne Amanpour, Mona Charen, Candy Crowley, or Greta Van Sustren - people with education, contacts, and a grasp of world events. And Cleveland is enamored with Robin Swoboda who never discusses more than what she did at the mall. Similar to the morning show post where local shows are seen as better, while other markets have Imus, the Wall Street Journal report, or The Grandy Group talking news, politics, and world events, we have WTAM guys who rarely discuss more than the local sports teams. Are Clevelanders that stupid they don't care about the world around them? Forget Egypt, gas prices, Obamacare, or the Grammys - turn on WTAM and let's talk about that big trade which will make the Tribe #1.

Well said. Excellent perspective.

 

[vjm]

Can you Robin Swoboda fans tell me what makes her great. I look at professionals such as Christianne Amanpour, Mona Charen, Candy Crowley, or Greta Van Sustren - people with education, contacts, and a grasp of world events. And Cleveland is enamored with Robin Swoboda who never discusses more than what she did at the mall. Similar to the morning show post where local shows are seen as better, while other markets have Imus, the Wall Street Journal report, or The Grandy Group talking news, politics, and world events, we have WTAM guys who rarely discuss more than the local sports teams. Are Clevelanders that stupid they don't care about the world around them? Forget Egypt, gas prices, Obamacare, or the Grammys - turn on WTAM and let's talk about that big trade which will make the Tribe #1.

People like Robin because she's viewed as "one of us"...a midwestern girl with an ethnic name who done good and married a Browns punter (since retired).

You obviously weren't around during the mid 80s-early 90s when WJW had the absolute dominate evening news team of Tim Taylor and Robin Swoboda as anchors, Dick Goddard on weather and the late Casey Coleman on sports.

She's a throwback to that time, and people think of that when she comes along.

And WTAM really doesn't talk sports during the week unless something big goes down.

Wills, Beck, and Rush are all about poltics/issues/current events (though Wills does interviews with local sports stars because TAM has "All the balls") and Triv and Frantz are all over the board...they started as pure sports guys who have since branched out, but will talk sports when something big goes down.

Other than that, they talk about politics/local issues/current events (or whatever else pops into Triv's mind).

And of course, George Noory talks about aliens.

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

And of course, George Noory talks about aliens.

And he's the only one that is not completely full of BS.