Two New Faces on CBS 5

[formeraa]

I agree with Prescott Joe (partially). Ryan O'Donnell leaving was terrible for the 3 weekend morning show and moving Tess off that show was equally sad. That isn't to say the current staff is poor but Tess and Ryan were such a great pairing.

Landtuna, I too miss Ryan and Tess on weekend GMAZ. However, we must remember that it is a WEEKEND morning newscast. We were truly lucky to have quality anchors like Tess and Ryan for as long as we did. By the way, I still miss Brittney's weather and live reports on weekend GMAZ. At the end of the day, very few people want to work weekend mornings forever. Tess was lucky enough to move to weekday GMAZ, Ryan found a job as main pm anchor in Knoxville, and Brittney seems to be doing well in Philly. Good for them!

When compared with the talent on the other weekend morning newscasts, 3TV still has a decent team. I've tried to watch 10 and 15 -- their anchors seems awfully young. You never know who is going to anchor on 12, if they don't cancel the newscast. Jamie and Jared do a decent job and I'm sure they will improve over time and Kim is actually dedicated to weather (not just an anchor doing a poor job of reading the forecast).

 

[landtuna]

Kim Q. is still the pearl of weekend GMAZ. I don't have a habit of falling in love with media personalities but have to admit a special attraction for her. I could watch her weather reports for hours.

 

[2Son]

OK, 2Son, Kris is perfect. I'm sure that 5's ratings are shooting through the roof. I'm sure she's a nice person behind the scenes. I'm sure that I did not see that newscast where she did a terrible job (it must have been someone else, because Kris couldn't have possibly had an off night). <sarcasm off>

I have given Kris and Sean a chance now for the past few weeks. The stupid commercials about Kris' unusual last name is driving me crazy. They do an okay but not outstanding job. There's a huge difference between Tucson and a top 15 market like Phoenix. Kris is okay, that's it.

I never said Kris was perfect, but some of you immediately starting criticizing/critiquing/passing judgment from the get-go and you have to admit that posters on this forum are a much more critical audience than regular viewers care to be. Furthermore, some pretty good journalists/anchors have come out of Tucson, so I'm not buying that crap that larger markets equate to better quality. Some of you have been complaining about the Phoenix market for quite some time, so where is this better quality in larger markets you speak of? Thank goodness some of you aren't on the air otherwise you'd be slicing each other to pieces.

 

[KeithE4]

That's rather presumptive of you to assume (1) that she picks and chooses when she wants to read the news professionally (absurd) and (2) that the quality of anchors in Tucson is sub-par, but isn't/shouldn't be in larger markets. I believe you once mentioned that you rarely watch Channel 5, so if she's wearing out her welcome with you fast, change the channel.

I watch 5 more often than the others, so you're thinking of someone else.

I was so disgusted with last night's 6:30 newscast (all Taylor Swift, all the time, except when they kept telling us how hot it is), and her "giddy" presentation, that I am considering dropping the station. It was completely unprofessional. Just read the damn news! Phoenix is a major market, and as such deserves major market news coverage from its network affiliates, not show biz fluff. Keep the fluff on the morning shows. None of our stations pass that test, but some are better than others.

I blame Kris' and Sean's bosses, since they decide what goes into the newscasts and how they're presented.

And yes, newscasts in Market #71 are supposed to be lesser, with people that have less experience, than those in Market #11. Tucson and cities its size are the mid-minor leagues -- the equivalent of Class AA in baseball. Phoenix is the big leagues, or at least is supposed to be.

 

[formeraa]

I watch 5 more often than the others, so you're thinking of someone else.

I was so disgusted with last night's 6:30 newscast (all Taylor Swift, all the time, except when they kept telling us how hot it is), and her "giddy" presentation, that I am considering dropping the station. It was completely unprofessional. Just read the damn news! Phoenix is a major market, and as such deserves major market news coverage from its network affiliates, not show biz fluff. Keep the fluff on the morning shows. None of our stations pass that test, but some are better than others.

I blame Kris' and Sean's bosses, since they decide what goes into the newscasts and how they're presented.

And yes, newscasts in Market #71 are supposed to be lesser, with people that have less experience, than those in Market #11. Tucson and cities its size are the mid-minor leagues -- the equivalent of Class AA in baseball. Phoenix is the big leagues, or at least is supposed to be.

I agree with your analysis of the CBS5 evening newscasts. Hopefully, they will improve over time. I think it may be partially due to the story selection. I see less evidence of the serious "Telling It Like It Is" and more of the "trying to be more like GMAZ except we're on 5". I wonder if Heather Moore would be better paired with Sean on 5. And, possibly, Kris might do better paired with Brandon Lee on 3. Just a thought...

As for the mid-markets like Tucson, there is some combination of veterans who have found their niche in the middle tier market and newer people just passing through. I've been surprised at how fluid the Phoenix market is. Of course, we have some veterans but we seem to have our share of newscasters trying to get to LA or other markets. Finally, we have some people who came directly from Yuma (or similar markets) who SHOULD have stopped in Tucson.

 

[2Son]

I watch 5 more often than the others, so you're thinking of someone else.

I was so disgusted with last night's 6:30 newscast (all Taylor Swift, all the time, except when they kept telling us how hot it is), and her "giddy" presentation, that I am considering dropping the station. It was completely unprofessional. Just read the damn news! Phoenix is a major market, and as such deserves major market news coverage from its network affiliates, not show biz fluff. Keep the fluff on the morning shows. None of our stations pass that test, but some are better than others.

I blame Kris' and Sean's bosses, since they decide what goes into the newscasts and how they're presented.

And yes, newscasts in Market #71 are supposed to be lesser, with people that have less experience, than those in Market #11. Tucson and cities its size are the mid-minor leagues -- the equivalent of Class AA in baseball. Phoenix is the big leagues, or at least is supposed to be.

I never said that anchors from mid-markets didn't have less experience. Yet, you shouldn't be generalizing an entire market because you have a distaste for one particular anchor. John Hook (FOX 10) came from Tucson as did Dan Spindle (ABC 15), Lou Waters (CNN) who worked for KVOA in his earlier years and has done occasional reports in the past few years for KOLD-TV, and Savannah Guthrie (Today Show) among others. You could likely say the same thing for radio stations like KRQ in Tucson that employed at one point, Tim & Willy, Jimmy Kimmel, Carson Daly, Mojo, Gary Coleman, and Johnjay & Rich who were all a part of the different morning shows there.

 

[landtuna]

Has anyone else noticed the hilarity on the set of KPHO (5) daily noon news? Katie Baker whoops it up segueing into the weather report - most of the time with a very lame segue. The previous team of Nicole and Paul were much more professional.

 

[Azlen]

Has anyone else noticed the hilarity on the set of KPHO (5) daily noon news? Katie Baker whoops it up segueing into the weather report - most of the time with a very lame segue. The previous team of Nicole and Paul were much more professional.

I don't think it has anything to do with the professionalism of the anchors. They are doing what their bosses want them to do. If it gets ratings, it will continue. If it doesn't, it will go away.

 

[landtuna]

I don't think it has anything to do with the professionalism of the anchors. They are doing what their bosses want them to do. If it gets ratings, it will continue. If it doesn't, it will go away.

I don't have access to the memos from their bosses so the on-air performance is the only thing that I can comment upon. I used to watch 5 at noon every weekday just to get a different perspective from the earlier KSAZ AZAM version. No more. Of course, I am in the Old Farte demo so it probably won't count.

 

[formeraa]

Has anyone else noticed the hilarity on the set of KPHO (5) daily noon news? Katie Baker whoops it up segueing into the weather report - most of the time with a very lame segue. The previous team of Nicole and Paul were much more professional.

I caught the noon newscast yesterday and noticed the same thing. As I said upthread, they are turning CBS 5 News into some sort of "GMAZ-lite". In fact, GMAZ is generally newsier than the new "Wake Up Arizona" show.

 

[KeithE4]

I never said that anchors from mid-markets didn't have less experience. Yet, you shouldn't be generalizing an entire market because you have a distaste for one particular anchor. John Hook (FOX 10) came from Tucson as did Dan Spindle (ABC 15), Lou Waters (CNN) who worked for KVOA in his earlier years and has done occasional reports in the past few years for KOLD-TV, and Savannah Guthrie (Today Show) among others. You could likely say the same thing for radio stations like KRQ in Tucson that employed at one point, Tim & Willy, Jimmy Kimmel, Carson Daly, Mojo, Gary Coleman, and Johnjay & Rich who were all a part of the different morning shows there.

Lots of good people came from Tucson. But if they were ambitious, like all of those you mentioned, they stayed long enough to get additional experience in a lower-middle market, and then moved on to bigger and better things. Some folks, of course, like(d) Tucson enough, or were natives of the area and always worked there, that they preferred to stay. That's fine, too. Every market from New York to North Platte has those people.

And I don't have a "distaste" for Kris or any other CBS5 anchor. Like I said, I think she seems like a very nice person, and from what I understand, she is. I have a distaste for how she and a few others, mostly the women, are being told to deliver the news. "Nice, but professional"is good. "Bubbleheaded" is not.

At this point, the more professional newscasts emanating from Meredith-land are being aired on Channel 3, not 5. As 5 is the affiliate of a network with a "serious" news reputation, and 3 is still (unofficially) The Place With More Fluff, that should be reversed.

 

[johndavis]

Lots of good people came from Tucson. But if they were ambitious, like all of those you mentioned, they stayed long enough to get additional experience in a lower-middle market, and then moved on to bigger and better things. Some folks, of course, like(d) Tucson enough, or were natives of the area and always worked there, that they preferred to stay. That's fine, too. Every market from New York to North Platte has those people.

And I don't have a "distaste" for Kris or any other CBS5 anchor. Like I said, I think she seems like a very nice person, and from what I understand, she is. I have a distaste for how she and a few others, mostly the women, are being told to deliver the news. "Nice, but professional"is good. "Bubbleheaded" is not.

At this point, the more professional newscasts emanating from Meredith-land are being aired on Channel 3, not 5. As 5 is the affiliate of a network with a "serious" news reputation, and 3 is still (unofficially) The Place With More Fluff, that should be reversed.

Kids. Lawn. Etc.

They're not making the newscast for old men like me. They're making it for my wife and women younger than her. As the TV morning show has replaced the radio morning zoo, I recognize the programming elements.

 

[formeraa]

Kids. Lawn. Etc.

They're not making the newscast for old men like me. They're making it for my wife and women younger than her. As the TV morning show has replaced the radio morning zoo, I recognize the programming elements.

Yes, they are trying to keep the interest of Generation Y and iGen'ers (who by the way consider YouTube a television network!!!).