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Abc 13 What Happend To Don Nelson?

citykid09

By citykid09
in Houston and the Media

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editor

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If he is gone, Don and 13 may not have had a say in the matter. Most of the traffic people on the air in Houston aren't directly employed by their stations. They are employees of Metro Networks, which can (and often does) move them around as they see fit.

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If anyone should be fired, it's Ed Brandon.

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Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Date: THU 04/27/89

Section: A

Page: 25

Edition: 2 STAR

Brandon equates his coke addiction to `skid-row alcoholic'

By DIANNA HUNT

Staff

Former television weatherman Ed Brandon said Wednesday a 10-year cocaine habit left him as addicted as a "skid-row alcoholic," but he denied the rumors of sexual improprieties that have circulated around him.

Brandon, cheerful and upbeat in his first public interview since he abruptly resigned from KTRK -Channel 13 earlier this year, said he is taking it "one day at a time" in an effort to kick the habit.

"I used drugs for 10 years," Brandon told the Chronicle. "I'm sure I started out as the typical person who was making a lot of money and was presented with this attractive way to escape life's problems.

"I turned out to be one of those people who just should not have done it. I'm just as bad as the skid-row alcoholic when it comes to that."

Houston police, meanwhile, said Wednesday their investigation into allegations against Brandon had ended without charges being filed against him.

Sgt. J.C. Mosier said the decision not to file charges came after a months-long investigation by the department's vice division that included reviewing hours of videotapes, some of them homemade.

"There's nothing in there that could be looked at as any criminal activity that we could prove," Mosier said. "They (vice officers) don't foresee any charges coming out of it."

Brandon, 46, came under investigation last year after a man complained to Houston police that he had been sexually assaulted at Brandon's townhome in southwest Houston. The same complaint included allegations of child pornography. No charges were filed.

Brandon denied the allegations but later agreed to settle out-of-court for $3 ,500 when the man threatened to file a lawsuit over the alleged assault, said Houston private investigator Clyde Wilson, who was hired by Brandon to handle the settlement. Brandon resigned his position at Channel 13 just a few days later.

Brandon admitted later in a written statement that his drug dependency left him vulnerable to blackmail, and he elaborated Wednesday - two weeks after his release from a drug treatment program - on his ordeal.

"I have feelings that I brought this on myself because of my drug usage, and I left myself open," he said. "On the one hand I'm very angry about it, but I know that it's the way I was leading my life.

"I thought I could do drugs socially and I couldn't."

Brandon said his years of drug abuse affected not only his lifestyle, but his health and career as well.

"The drug use was causing problems in my life," he said. "I had extremely elevated blood pressure, and that's under control now. It turns out that I'm just normally prone to have hypertension, but I was exacerbating it with drugs."

Brandon was admitted to a local psychiatric hospital and spent several months in a drug treatment program. At the time, he said, he was aware of the swirl of rumors that began to circulate throughout the city, but said the hospital environment insulated him from the full impact.

"They're so bizarre, and they're not true," he said. "Just having my name brought up in connection with those things is just horrible."

Brandon said his recovery was helped along, though, by the cards and letters he received from people who had watched him during his 17 years with Channel 13.

"A lot of people were really concerned, and I'm very grateful for that," Brandon said. "It helped me a lot."

The decision by Houston police not to file charges should also speed his recovery.

"I'm very pleased that no charges will be filed," said private investigator Wilson. "We were confident that the man who had made the original allegations was a contemptible liar."

His attorney, Marian Rosen, agreed.

"We felt confident all along that there would not be any criminal charges filed. I think that what Ed wants to do at this point is go forward with his life, to put those problems behind him and get back to work at what he loves doing."

Now, Brandon says, he is struggling to do just that - without thinking too much about the future.

"The job situation is something that is definitely on my mind, and I don't have one right now," he said. "But at this point, I'm trying not to worry about anything. My main goal is to continue to get physically healthy. I feel absolutely fantastic right now, and I want to keep feeling that way.

"I have a drug problem, I'm solving it, and I'm just feeling good. I'm taking things one day at a time."

Brandon, whose real name is Winham Edward Branstetter, came to Houston in 1972 from Austin's KHFI-TV, where he had worked since 1969 as a weatherman and host of talk shows at 5 p.m. daily and on Friday nights. He was born in Texarkana and grew up in Austin.

Brandon studied radio-TV at the University of Texas, and his first jobs were as a radio disc jockey on stations in Texarkana and Longview.

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ssullivan

ssullivan

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ktrk_bios_brandon_lg.jpg

where did you get that old article? I did not know that about Ed! How in the hell did he get his job back? I can never look at him the same way!

Ed returned to Channel 13 in the early 1990s after being gone for a few years and undergoing rehab for his addiction issues. He has since been off the air a few times for heart problems and last year Tim Heller replaced him as the station's chief meteorologist, but Ed remains on the 6:00 newscast.

I don't think Don Nelson was with Metro Traffic. He has worked at Channel 13 for many years, including before Metro Traffic even existed. He also has done a lot more than just the morning traffic reports, such as weather reports, feature stories, and cohosting the old Good Morning Houston morning show.

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ssullivan

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Do you guys remember Ted Ishler? He use to do funny reports for KTRK

Yes but I rarely found him that funny. On the other hand, I did always enjoy Alvin Van Black's "Alvin at Night" segments where he went to all the high society functions (in what must have been the world's largest tuxedo). Didn't he die a few years ago?

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dbigtex56

dbigtex56

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How come we're rehashing the dirt on Ed Brandon from 15 years ago?

Yes, the man had a problem - a very bad one. As I recall, some hustler was attempting to blackmail him, too. Rather than sweeping it under the rug, Ed acknowleged that he had a problem. Channel 13 should be commended for sticking by a faithful employee, and Mr. Brandon should be commended for turning his life around. Would you rather that he was tossed in the trashbin? If people cannot be given a second chance, what motivation would anyone have for reforming himself?

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debmartin

debmartin

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i think don nelson was on "dialing for dollars" on channel 13 before he was on the news. the woman on the show with him was jan glenn and she was married to bob allen, the sportscaster. they later divorced. as the world turns, on channel 13.

debmartin

my friends and i used to call brandon "ed the head". yes, he turned his life around which was no small accomplishment. it was generally decided that his being close friends with dave ward saved his job, along with the obvious reason that he was well perceived by the public.

debmartin

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UrbaNerd

UrbaNerd

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MAN, these anchors are real people with real problems!

This really shows you guys that, YES! the smiling faces behind the camera who bring you the "local" and national news and weather have troubled lives- just like any other human being!

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Why does PAX TV carry KHOU News at 11?

All television stations are required to carry some local content that is of public service. Small stations like PAX meet that requirement by carrying rebroadcasts of other local news broadcasts.

For example, WBQC-CA/Cincinnati(25) carries the rebroadcast of WCPO/Cincinnati(9).

PAX doesn't actually operate its own facility. It's run from KHOU's technical center, though PAX maintains seperate offices elsewhere because it is licensed to Conroe, not Houston.

There was a plan in the works to run KHOU and PAX by remote control from Dallas. Much of the equipment was put in place, but I don't know if they ever got around to finishing the project. When it was completed, KHOU/Houston(11), KHOU-DT/Houston(31), KPXB/Conroe(49), KPXB-DT/Conroe(5), WFAA/Dallas(8), WFAA-DT/Dallas(9), KENS/San Antonio(5), KENS-DT(55)/San Antonio, KVUE/Austin(24), KVUE-DT/Austin(33), and KBEJ/Fredericksburg(2) were all to be run by remote control from Dallas. There was also talk of adding WWL-TV/New Orleans(4), and WWL-DT/New Orlenas(36) to the project, but last I heard that didn't get off the ground.

When you have a small station, like KPXB being run from inside a larger station like KHOU, very often that smaller station gets bought by the larger one in a few years. Or at least that was true until this year. With the brouhaha in DC over ownership rules, very few TV stations are bring bought or sold anymore until the mess gets straightenede out. No one wants to take a chance buying a station they might be forced to sell.

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citykid09

citykid09

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There was a plan in the works to run KHOU and PAX by remote control from Dallas.  Much of the equipment was put in place, but I don't know if they ever got around to finishing the project.  When it was completed, KHOU/Houston(11), KHOU-DT/Houston(31), KPXB/Conroe(49), KPXB-DT/Conroe(5), WFAA/Dallas(8), WFAA-DT/Dallas(9), KENS/San Antonio(5), KENS-DT(55)/San Antonio, KVUE/Austin(24), KVUE-DT/Austin(33), and KBEJ/Fredericksburg(2) were all to be run by remote control from Dallas.  There was also talk of adding WWL-TV/New Orleans(4), and WWL-DT/New Orlenas(36) to the project, but last I heard that didn't get off the ground.

What do you mean by remote control. Where they going to move all of the news crews to Dallas?

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What do you mean by remote control. Where they going to move all of the news crews to Dallas?

No, not the news operation -- the running of the station. News operations are generally small parts of the overall television station. The part that would be run by remote control is an area known as "master control" or "local air control" where programs are played back, commericals are inserted, network programs are aired, network and syndicated feeds are recorded, etc...

Houston would be left with the news operation, sales, and local management. It would only eliminate about 10 jobs at each station.

Although, for years there have been people of the opinion that KHOU's news content is dictated by remote control from the mothership in Dallas, but that's a discussion for another time.

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