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Van Amburg On KSCO -- Live Right Now!
- Thread starter BossRadioDJ
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M
mred
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Ask him to show you the first dollar he's ever made, he still has it. Did he talk about the famous "male member on the railroad track story that made him famous?
"Ask him to show you the first dollar he's ever made, he still has it. Did he talk about the famous "male member on the railroad track story that made him famous?"
Mred - are you a disgruntled former ABC/KGO employee? You seem to have a serious hate on for anybody ever connected with KGO radio or TV. And, typically, your information is a little off. The 70s were a time of sensationalistic local TV news..."if it bleeds, it leads." During that night's prime-time programming, Van teased "Severed penis found on railroad tracks - details at 11:00." All the local news broadcasts did this kind of thing, to one degree or another; though Channel 7 "News Scene" did it the best, I'll admit.
Where you're wrong is - Van was already "famous" - at least locally, and was already the star anchor on what had been the highest rated local newscast for a number of years previous to that, and stayed on top for a number of years after that.
I wasn't a fan, and generally watched one of the other local (lower rated) news shows - but what Van and Channel 7 were doing was typical for the time.
As for the implication that Van is cheap - maybe that's how he managed to save his big money salary, and survive - probably comfortably -without a job for about a quarter century now.
Mred - are you a disgruntled former ABC/KGO employee? You seem to have a serious hate on for anybody ever connected with KGO radio or TV. And, typically, your information is a little off. The 70s were a time of sensationalistic local TV news..."if it bleeds, it leads." During that night's prime-time programming, Van teased "Severed penis found on railroad tracks - details at 11:00." All the local news broadcasts did this kind of thing, to one degree or another; though Channel 7 "News Scene" did it the best, I'll admit.
Where you're wrong is - Van was already "famous" - at least locally, and was already the star anchor on what had been the highest rated local newscast for a number of years previous to that, and stayed on top for a number of years after that.
I wasn't a fan, and generally watched one of the other local (lower rated) news shows - but what Van and Channel 7 were doing was typical for the time.
As for the implication that Van is cheap - maybe that's how he managed to save his big money salary, and survive - probably comfortably -without a job for about a quarter century now.
I worked with Van for four years before he became the Ted Knight of Bay Area radio.
He was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was a nice guy with great eye contact and a professionally sincere chap.
He benefitted from a time in television (tabloid era) when intelligence had nothing to do with your success. He was not a good interviewer and usually just scratched the surface when it came to getting a story. His longstanding success proved once and for all that anchoring a TV newscast required superficial skills and not much of a sense of journalism.
Van had the damnest time identifying one East Bay county as he would stumble and often referred to it as "Countra" Costa country.
All that said, I enjoyed my years with him. He was a pro and just plain burned-out with all the TV exposure and I'm glad he got out with his sanity.
He was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was a nice guy with great eye contact and a professionally sincere chap.
He benefitted from a time in television (tabloid era) when intelligence had nothing to do with your success. He was not a good interviewer and usually just scratched the surface when it came to getting a story. His longstanding success proved once and for all that anchoring a TV newscast required superficial skills and not much of a sense of journalism.
Van had the damnest time identifying one East Bay county as he would stumble and often referred to it as "Countra" Costa country.
All that said, I enjoyed my years with him. He was a pro and just plain burned-out with all the TV exposure and I'm glad he got out with his sanity.
Lkeller said:
No, "all" the local news broadcasts did not do this. At the time there were 4 local news broadcasts (with 44 trying something briefly). KTVU and KRON did very serious newscasts with no sensationalism. KPIX was straightforward but a little less serious. But KGO-TV under Van Amburg was the genesis of the entire "happy news" concept. It started there, became a hit there, and spread across the country. KRON, KPIX, and KTVU, however, kept to their more serious styles and did not try to emulate KGO-TV. Lloyd Lindsay Young would have never landed a job on the other 3 stations, for instance.
Typical in other markets like LA and NYC, but not typical here.
Really? I thought he produced documentaries or something.
"No, "all" the local news broadcasts did not do this. At the time there were 4 local news broadcasts (with 44 trying something briefly). KTVU and KRON did very serious newscasts with no sensationalism. KPIX was straightforward but a little less serious. But KGO-TV under Van Amburg was the genesis of the entire "happy news" concept. It started there, became a hit there, and spread across the country. KRON, KPIX, and KTVU, however, kept to their more serious styles and did not try to emulate KGO-TV. Lloyd Lindsay Young would have never landed a job on the other 3 stations, for instance."
Well, maybe we're splitting hairs a little - as I said, News Scene and Van did it better, but I have to disagree that the other channels were bastions of real journalism. KTVU was the first to drop the sensationalism and "happy talk" in the late 70s - but Channel 2 Action News in the early and mid 70s was very different than what the 10 O'Clock News became.
I remember that Amburg's ratings finally started to wane when KPIX brought in Dave McElhatton. McElhatton was considered a stand-up guy, so I'm not putting him down, but KPIX in that era fit the definition of "happy talk," and also became very adept at the sensationalistic tease. KRON tended to flop around without any consistent identity or direction, changing anchors like most people change their underwear - until around the time they hired Pete Wilson, but that was much later.
And all of the 3 network affiliates competed with each other with lurid sweeps months "special reports." Remember those? The subjects of those exposes was generally lurid sex, violence, pornography, or something equally prurient.
Channel 7 was not the only one that played that game. The only exception from that era I can think of was KQED's daily local broadcast. I believe they called it Newsroom. That was real journalism.
Well, maybe we're splitting hairs a little - as I said, News Scene and Van did it better, but I have to disagree that the other channels were bastions of real journalism. KTVU was the first to drop the sensationalism and "happy talk" in the late 70s - but Channel 2 Action News in the early and mid 70s was very different than what the 10 O'Clock News became.
I remember that Amburg's ratings finally started to wane when KPIX brought in Dave McElhatton. McElhatton was considered a stand-up guy, so I'm not putting him down, but KPIX in that era fit the definition of "happy talk," and also became very adept at the sensationalistic tease. KRON tended to flop around without any consistent identity or direction, changing anchors like most people change their underwear - until around the time they hired Pete Wilson, but that was much later.
And all of the 3 network affiliates competed with each other with lurid sweeps months "special reports." Remember those? The subjects of those exposes was generally lurid sex, violence, pornography, or something equally prurient.
Channel 7 was not the only one that played that game. The only exception from that era I can think of was KQED's daily local broadcast. I believe they called it Newsroom. That was real journalism.
The Saturday broadcast began with an interesting interview with Hilly Rose, one of the pioneer radio talk show hosts, talking about his career and a rare recording of his 1965 conversation with Paul McCartney and George Harrison in their suite at the San Francisco Hilton.
At the top of the second hour, Michael Zwerling pulled a shocker -- well, it shocked the hell out of me -- by introducing Van Amburg by phone. Van sounded, honestly, terrific. Having not heard his voice in twenty years (?) and having heard many tales of his hermit-like tendencies, I thought it was a huge surprise.
MZ has the full two-hour show online at:
http://ksco.got.net/MZ_SAT_SPECIALS/2008-03-29MZHillyRoseBeatlesVanAmburgRichardSchmalz.mp3
or http://tinyurl.com/2el9kt
The Hilly Rose portion of the broadcast begins about eight minutes into the recording. The Van Amburg segment starts about an hour and three minutes in.
DJ
At the top of the second hour, Michael Zwerling pulled a shocker -- well, it shocked the hell out of me -- by introducing Van Amburg by phone. Van sounded, honestly, terrific. Having not heard his voice in twenty years (?) and having heard many tales of his hermit-like tendencies, I thought it was a huge surprise.
MZ has the full two-hour show online at:
http://ksco.got.net/MZ_SAT_SPECIALS/2008-03-29MZHillyRoseBeatlesVanAmburgRichardSchmalz.mp3
or http://tinyurl.com/2el9kt
The Hilly Rose portion of the broadcast begins about eight minutes into the recording. The Van Amburg segment starts about an hour and three minutes in.
DJ
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