Which has more seniority in a TV market?

[dgendvil]

Here's the TV markets with the most seniority in a single local TV news market.


1. Philadelphia (WPVI has the most seniority with its Action News & it's theme "Move Closer To Your World", along with its senior anchors, Jim Gardner & Rob Jennings, both have been at the station since 1976, also reporter Cathy Gandolfo, not to mention some others who has been at the station. Channel 6 dumped a few personalities throughout the years such as Jim O'Brien (who died in 1983), Don Tollefson, Marc Howard (who went to channel 3 to replace Larry Kane), Wally Kennedy, & Lisa Thomas-Laury. Personalities come & go, but Action News & "Move Closer To Your World" still lives. There's others like Marc Howard, who has been around for many years, so as Gene Crane, who has been around for 57 years, Bill Baldini, Edie Huggins, & Terry Ruggles who had been with channel 10 for many years, not to mention reporter Malcolm Poindexter at channel 3, who has still been with the station since 1967, & reporter Robin McIntosh who has been around since 1970.)

2. Salt Lake City ( A conservative TV market who's most of the staff has been there for quite a while. KSL has Dick Nourse, who has been around since 1964, then there's reporter John Hollenhorst, anchors Bruce Lindsay, Carole Mikita, Keith McCord, & weathercaster Kent Norton who all been around since the 70's & early 80's. Weathercaster Mark Eubank has been at certain stations in Salt Lake City for 40 years & still going strong. Michelle King has also been co-anchoring channel 2 news for 28 years now, & sports director Reece Stein has also been with the station since 1968, but he joined the sports department in 1972. I'm not sure Terry Wood has been anchoring the news for some time there, but he's now anchor with KTVX-TV. I think Chris Vanocur of KTVX has also been around since the mid-80's, also channel 4's Randall Carlisle worked at Salt Lake television before heading to Minneapolis. He returned back there in 1992. Sports anchor Wesley Ruff also has been at the station for 20 years now.)

3. New York (WNBC has Sue Simmons & Chuck Scarborough at 11 PM for 26 years, plus Gabe Pressman, who's been around for 57 years, Ralph Penza has worked at WCBS, & now with WNBC, has been around for 40 years. WNBC co-anchor Jane Hanson has been with the station for 27 years now. Marvin Scott has been with WPIX-TV for 26 years, Kaity Tong who started at channel 7 in 1981, is now co-anchor at WPIX-TV, she's been around for 25 years, weathercaster Mr. G who started at WCBS-TV, is now at WPIX, & sportcaster Sal Marciano has worked in certain stations in New York, except for a stint at ESPN, he has been around for about 40 years. Reporter David Diaz, who started with WNBC, is now at WCBS, he's been around for 30 years. Nick Gregory, who has been at channel 5 for 20 years now, also Rosanna Scotto worked at WABC before moving to WNYW. She has been around for 25 years, I think. It has never had a lot of seniority than what it was before. Also WCBS-TV reporter Pablo Guzman also worked at certain TV stations in the New York area for many years, too. Also, Dr. Frank Field, a one-time weathercaster at WNBC & WCBS, still shows up once in a while on WWOR-TV, he has been doing the weather for 47 years now, while his son Storm Field, has worked at various TV stations like WABC & WCBS, has still been doing the weather for 30 years now. Unfortunately, Bill Beutel, Roger Grimsby, Jim Jensen, & John Roland have all passed on into the sunset, except Roland, who retired from WNYW a couple of years ago. They had been anchoring for a long time, & we'll sure miss them.)

4. Los Angeles. (Even though Salt Lake City has the most seniority in a local TV market throughout the west, the nation's second largest market doesn't have a lot of seniority in their news market these days. Jerry Dunphy, a long time anchorman since 1960, unfortunately died four years ago, also long time anchors Bill Stout, John Schubeck, Larry Atteberry, & Sam Chu Lin have all set in the sunset as well, & they had been in LA TV for a long time. But there's still some seniority in the market as well. Stan Chambers, has been on KTLA-TV for an amazing 60 years, Hal Fishman, an anchor has been with KTLA since 1961, but has been an anchor since 1974. Also anchor Harold Greene has been anchoring the news first, at KABC-TV, & now at KCBS-TV today, he's been around since the mid-70's. Sportscaster Jim Hill has been with KCBS-TV for 30 years now, & Laura Diaz, who first started at KABC with Martin & Greene, is now co-anchor at KCBS-TV. She began as a reporter in 1983, & went up her way to anchor a couple of years later. Anchor Paul Moyer of KNBC-TV has been around 34 years, except for a 15 year stint at KABC-TV. KABC-TV morning anchor Gene Gleeson has been around since 1980, also reporter Bob Banfield has been with the station for 39 years now. Weathercasters Johnny Mountain (KCBS), Dallas Raines (KABC), & Fritz Coleman (KNBC) also has had a lot of experience in LA television for a long time, too.)

5. Washington, D.C. Not much I can tell you on that. There has been a lot of experience in the nation's capital, especially their long time anchors, too. WRC-TV anchor Jim Vance has been around since 1969, while weathercaster Bob Ryan & sportscaster George Michael has been around since 1980, & still going strong. WJLA anchor Gordon Peterson has had a lot of experience at WUSA-TV for 35 years, & Maureen Bunyan, his co-anchor who worked for channel 9 for many years, until she switched to channel 7 in 1995, has been around for 33 years. Co-anchor J.C. Hayward has also worked for channel 9 for many years, too. WJLA Weathercaster Doug Hill also has had a lot of experience throughout the years, especially at channel 9, which he has been around for 20 years. WJLA reporter Sam Ford also has been around for 19 years at the station.

That's about all that I can post. If you have anything to offer about all this, please let me know. Thanks.

 

[bpatrick]

Atlanta: Monica Kaufman has been at WSB since 1973; she
co-anchored Channel 2 Action News with John Pruitt (who
started there around 1970) until he went to WXIA in 1978.
He went back to Channel 2 in the mid-'90s, and the two
of them are still co-anchoring there.

Wes Sarginson of WXIA came to Atlanta in 1978 as
Pruitt's replacement on WSB. Although he spent time in
Tampa in the '80s/early '90s, he went back to Atlanta,
where he co-anchors 11 Alive News (with Brenda Wood).

Dallas/Ft. Worth: Tracy Rowlett was co-anchoring WFAA's
News 8 as far back as 1976; he's now on KTVT. And
recently-retired WFAA weathercaster Troy Dungan came
to the Metroplex in 1976.

Charlotte: Although he retired last year, WSOC's Bill Walker
co-anchored Eyewitness News from 1968.

Raleigh/Durham: Larry Stogner of WTVD has been in the
Triangle since the late '70s; he was at WRAL before co-anchoring
ABC11 Eyewitness News.

And, lest I forget:

Columbia, SC: The great Joe Pinner of WIS, weathercaster and
kids'-show host Mr. Knozit going back to the '50s. He still makes
on-camera appearances about once a week.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

So far as I've read, in Houston Dave Ward has been with KTRK-13-ABC and "Eyewitness News" since the mid-60s when he anchored their 7:00am newscast (which lasted into the mid-90s, preempting the first half-hour of Good Morning America for several years even after ABC owned the station, for a more standard GMA lead-in newcast).

In the 70s, he moved to primary 6:00 and 10:00pm anchor, which he holds to this day. Sports anchor Bob Allen joined sometime in the mid-1970s as did 6:00pm weatherman (not a meteorologist) Ed Brandon.

In Evansville, Indiana, David James at WFIE-14-NBC has been primary news anchor since the mid-to-late 1970s. The other primary anchors in the market, Brad Byrd at WEHT-25-ABC and Randy Moore at WTVW-7-Fox, all started in the early-80s or mid-90s.

 

[dgendvil]

I thought I was going to put Atlanta at #5, but I changed my mind for that, so I had to put Washington as the #5 on the list.

 

[genius]

Rochester: Don Alhart has been on WOKR/WHAM since 1966.

 

[Smittian]

In the Rio Grande Valley, KRGV has 3 long-time broadcasters. News Director/6 Pm anchor Rick Diaz has been with the station since 1967 (39 years) and has been News Director since 1976. Sportscaster Dave Brown has also been at the station 30 years, since Dec. 1976. Chief Meterologist Tim Smith has been at Channel 5 since 1981 (25 years). A total of 94 years at KRGV-TV between the 3 of them!
Down the road at KGBT, Larry James has all of them beat, doing the weather at Channel 4 since 1964 (42 years)


Up the coast, at KIII in Corpus Christi, anchorman Joe Gazin will soon be celebrating 30 years as anchor, coming to Channel 3 in 1977. Sportcaster Dan McReynolds has been with the station since 1976, although he was gone for a few years in the early 80's. Fellow Sportscaster Alan Harwell began his gig as an 17 year-old Carroll High School senior in 1977(29 years) Across town at KRIS Channel 6, Meterologist Dale Nelson has done the job since 1981.

 

[formeraa]

What about Seattle? ???

Jean Enersen has been at KING 5 for nearly 40(!!) years, with 34 years as an evening news co-anchor. She was one of the first evening anchorwomen in the country. Lori Matsukawa, Jeff Renner, Linda Brill, Steve Pool, Essex Porter, Steve Raible, Clark Stahl, Keith Eldridge, Ken Schram, Byron Johnson, Kathi Goertzen, and Connie Thompson all have 24+ years in the market. Many more anchors and reporters have 20+ years in the market: Dan Lewis, Elisa Jaffe, Chis Legeros, Karen O'Leary, Don Porter, Linda Byron, Glenn Farley, Rich Marriott.

While they may not be famous on the national level, Seattle does have a number of 20+ year news veterans. Another dozen or so younger reporters and anchors have 15-19 years of experience. Seattle is amazingly stable...

In addition, KING 5 News has used this name (or a slightly longer version -- KING 5 NewsService) since at least the mid-70's. KOMO has also used KOMO 4 NEWS (or KOMO NEWS 4) since at least the late-70's.

 

[bhayes1016]

So far as I've read, in Houston Dave Ward has been with KTRK-13-ABC and "Eyewitness News" since the mid-60s when he anchored their 7:00am newscast (which lasted into the mid-90s, preempting the first half-hour of Good Morning America for several years even after ABC owned the station, for a more standard GMA lead-in newcast).

In the 70s, he moved to primary 6:00 and 10:00pm anchor, which he holds to this day. Sports anchor Bob Allen joined sometime in the mid-1970s as did 6:00pm weatherman (not a meteorologist) Ed Brandon.

MARRRRRVIN ZINNNNDLER joined the station in the mid-70s as well. They've had quite a few reporters who have been around for years, also. Elma Barrera (who will retire at the end of the year) and Deborah Wrigley come to mind. Don Nelson has been around in some capacity for that long, also. Weekend sports anchor Tim Melton (who was once married to Nancy Lopez) has been there for at least 20 years.
Brandon left the station for about a year in the late 80s or early 90s (don't remember the year) after getting into some legal trouble.

 

[toby]

Actually, Chuck Sacarborough started at WNBC in 1974.

 

[tvradiofan]

Dennis Richmond has been a reporter for Oakland's KTVU since 1969, and co-anchor of its 'Ten O'Clock News'(the first in the country) since '72.
Pete Wilson(not the former governor of California) has been a news anchor in S.F. since 1983, first (and more recently)at KGO and later at KRON(he also does a radio talk show on KGO-AM).

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

Here in Denver, we have a few. They are listed by their current employer.

KWGN Channel 2 (WB - Soon To Be CW)

News2 anchorman Ernie Bjorkman has been in the Denver market, alternating between KWGN 2 and KMGH 7 since the 1980s (Not sure about the year though).

KCNC Channel 4 (CBS)

Weatherman Ed Greene has been in Denver TV since 1978 or so when he was hired by then (??) KLZ-TV 7 (then the CBS affiliate). Since then he's been at KCNC 4 except for a short stint at KUSA 9 (starting shortly after they inherited the NBC affiliation from KCNC 4).

Weatherman Larry Green, another long-time Denver TV personality, recently retired after a lengthy career at KCNC 4. He also began his Denver TV career at Channel 7 right around the same time Ed Greene (no relation BTW) began his career. In fact, at one point, Channel 7 once dubbed the two "The Greene Brothers" and took advantage of the similarity in their last names in station promos.

Anchorman Bob Palmer is another long time Denver TV personality. He began his career in the 1950s as a photographer for then-KOA-TV when it first signed on the air. He ultimately moved to KLZ-TV Channel 7 where he started his illustrious career as anchorman of the station's 5:00 PM newscast. In 1981, he moved to then-last-place then-KOA-TV 4, which then renamed itself to KCNC and dubbed itself Colorado's News Channel, a moniker they still use somewhat to this day.

KMGH Channel 7 (ABC)

Midday Anchorwoman Bertha Lynn has been at the station since the mid (??) 80s, though she (like so many others in Denver TV) began her Denver TV career in the late 1970s (I'm thinking 1978) with then-ABC affiliate KBTV 9.

KUSA Channel 9 (NBC)

Weekend Anchor/Investigative Reporter Ward Lucas has been at the station at least since the mid-to-late 1970s.

KDVR Channel 31 (FOX)

Yes even this startup news operation has a couple long-time personalities. Weeknight anchorman Ron Zappolo, who's a converted sportscaster, spent most of his career at KCNC 4 and KUSA 9. The other personality is the infamous Troubleshooter Tom Martino. Before joining KDVR 31, Tom spent his Denver TV career at KCNC 4. In fact, he was lured away from KCNC at the same time Ron Zappolo was lured away from KUSA 9.

Am I missing a few Denver TV people?

Cheers

 

[dgendvil]

Here's some missing people from LA:

KNBC reporters Furnell Chatman has worked with the station for 30 years, Doug Kriegel has worked for 28 years, Patrick Healy 22 years, Chuck Henry who first started at KABC in the late 60's or early 70's, & I think he's worked at KNBC since the early 90's & I 'm not sure on Fred Roggin, too. If i'm guessing he's been at the station for like 20 years, maybe more. Colleen Williams has also been the co-anchor of channel 4 news since 1987. Reporter Conan Nolan also has been at channel 4 since the early 80's as well. John Beard who had started at channel 4 in 1980, is now anchor of the ten o'clock news for channel 11. Paul Dandridge has also worked first at channel 7 since the late 1970's, was anchoring the weekend newscasts at channel 2 for 10 years, I'm not sure if still anchoring on the weekend on either channels 2 or 9. Jess Marlow was another long time fixture who retired six years ago from the station. He had been anchor at KCBS-TV & certain LA stations since as far back as the late 1950's, but in 1997, he had cut back on his duties anchoring the 6:00 pm news on channel 4, because he had been doing commentaries for the station until he had retired. Larry McCormick was another LA TV fixture who had anchored the KTLA weekend newscasts since 1969, died a year or two ago. That's all I can tell about it.