Old School Anchor Team Question

[TheShadow]

I was born in 1979 and the earliest I can remember of Houston TV news is 2News with Ron Stone and Jan Carson, Newscenter 11 with Steve Smith and Amanda Arnold and 13 Eyewitness News with Dave Ward and Shara Fryer. Dates may vary due to hazy memories.

The post in the Historic Houston section that mentioned that Jan Carson first teamed up with Dave Ward during the ammonia truck crash in 1976 got me wondering. When did the practice of co-anchors of different sexes(or co-anchors period) first start?

I presume Jan Carson was Channel 13's first female weekday evening anchor. Does anybody remember who Channel 2's first one was, and when? Was it Paula Zahn, and was it during the Big 2 News days? And was Amanda Arnold the first at Channel 11? I think she started in 1978.

Thank you for your assistance.

Bonus old-school local TV question: My mother once told me that Bill Balleza started at Channel 11, but was fired for exposing their practice of "live" reporting (they really weren't). True, false, or partly true?

[musicman]

you old timers step in here please since i only go back to early 70's

for ch13 listen to cool hand luke theme at bottom,

i remember dave ward, ed brandon, marvin zindler, dan lovett

bob allen replaced dan lovett in about 74.

jan came along from about 76 to 79. i had the question of whether there were dual anchors at both 6 or 10 or just one newscast. for some reason i'm thinking just the 6 and the 10 was still dave solo.

jan left in 79 to anchor in san francisco for 5 yrs.

shara fryer and bob boudreaux came along when jan left but was only doing live at 5 with bob boudreaux.

I believe several other stations we doing the dual anchor thing but not for all newscasts. I know 11 had steve smith and Amanda Arnold. But I don

[FilioScotia]

I believe several other stations we doing the dual anchor thing but not for all newscasts.

KTRK's first anchor team was Dave Ward and Dan Ammerman. Jan Carson came to KTRK in the early 70s as a reporter. I'm not 100 percent sure of this -- memory is the 2nd thing to go when you pass 60 -- but I think she moved into the anchor chair alongside Ward when Ammerman left to go into the media training business, which was a new and growing industry back then.

I expect to be corrected on that.

Bill Balleza did work at KHOU. I've never heard why he moved to KPRC, but I doubt it's for the reason you heard. TV and Radio people change jobs all the time around here. Most of the time it's for more money.

And while we're on the subject, I think the phenomenal number of former Houston TV reporters who now work for one of the big networks is a subject worth discussing. I sometimes think that as many as half the network correspondents you see on TV came through Houston earlier in their careers.

I'm not including Walter Cronkite in this list because he never worked in Houston TV.

Others who did include Roger O'Neill, John Quinones, Dan Molina, Bob Brown, Janet Shamlian, Janice Dean (Fox News), Paula Zahn, Dan Rather, Tom Jarriel, and this is just a short list of those I could remember off the top of my head. There are numerous others. The floor is open.

[musicman]

I believe several other stations we doing the dual anchor thing but not for all newscasts.

KTRK's first anchor team was Dave Ward and Dan Ammerman. Jan Carson came to KTRK in the early 70s as a reporter. I'm not 100 percent sure of this -- memory is the 2nd thing to go when you pass 60 -- but I think she moved into the anchor chair alongside Ward when Ammerman left to go into the media training business, which was a new and growing industry back then.

I expect to be corrected on that.

Bill Balleza did work at KHOU. I've never heard why he moved to KPRC, but I doubt it's for the reason you heard. TV and Radio people change jobs all the time around here. Most of the time it's for more money.

And while we're on the subject, I think the phenomenal number of former Houston TV reporters who now work for one of the big networks is a subject worth discussing. That list would take all day to prepare. Dan Rather was just one of many.

dan left in the early 70's i believe and dave went solo til jan came along to anchor later. i guess the barbara walters anchoring abc news "helped" jan along. dan is also an actor on the side. i remember my parents telling me he was on dallas in its heyday for a few episodes.

another anchor i forgot about on ch2 was anna bond in the 80's.

as for big network people.

dan rather

jessica savitch

cronkite

tom jarrell

gina gaston (went nbc in 97 but returned to ktrk in 01)

paula zahn

david glodt was a big abc producer

bob allen replaced a guy who when on to abc news to do sports...but i can't remember his name either.

reporters i've seen recently charles hadlock, james hattori, dan molina, spencer tillman, chris wragge.

[bmil128]

I remember when Bill Balleza was still on Ch 11 and it seems he went right over to Ch 2, so it wasn't like he was fired and without a job that I recall. I remember him on Ch 11 because I still remember when Dan Patrick went nuts and started painting the studio Columbia Blue live on the air when the Oilers were going to play in the AFC championship in '79. He was fired and rehired later after doing this.

As for as co-anchors, I remember Shara Fryer and Dave Ward on Ch 13 from about '80 or so; but I don't remember anyone w/ Ron Stone before Jan Carson in the early 80's; same w/ Steve Smith on Ch 11, I don't remember him having a co-anchor before Amanda Arnold.

Does anyone remember when it was Big 2 news w/ Ron Stone, Doug Johnson w/ weather and Ron Franklin w/ sports? When my dad would want me to change the channel he would ask to turn it to big 2 news and I didn't know what in the hell he was talking about until they showed a retrospective when Doug Johnson left the station.

I miss these good-old days as you had people with real down to earth personalities with real local knowledge doing the local news. When that gas pieline exploded near Cypress last month one of the bimbos on Ch 2 said it was not the first gas explosion in northwest Harris County and went on to compare it to the well blowout that happened near Crosby about 2 years ago. Genius.

[musicman]

I miss these good-old days as you had people with real down to earth personalities with real local knowledge doing the local news.

i agree 100%! that's why i've always liked deborah wrigley, melanie lawson, and many of the long-timers at 13. they are houstonians!

wasn't ron franklin at 11 before?

[FilioScotia]

as for big network people.

dan rather

jessica savitch

cronkite

tom jarrell

gina gaston (went nbc in 97 but returned to ktrk in 01)

paula zahn

david glodt was a big abc producer

bob allen replaced a guy who when on to abc news to do sports...but i can't remember his name either.

reporters i've seen recently charles hadlock, james hattori, dan molina, spencer tillman, chris wragge.

Bob Allen replaced Dan Lovett, who moved to WABC TV in New York. Lovett is back in town now, retired, but keeping himself busy at one of the local independent TV stations. I don't think we can include Cronkite in this category because he never worked in Houston TV. He was long gone from Houston media before TV even came to this town.

I just remembered another former Houstonian who's big with a network now. Dennis Murphy was a reporter and producer at KHOU in the late 70s and early 80s. He's now a contributing reporter on NBC's Dateline.

Chris Curl was one of CNN's first news anchors when it was created back in the 70s. She worked at KTRK in the mid 70s. I have no idea where she is now.

And oh yes, oh lord, let us not forget Linda Ellerbee. The story of how she got fired from the Associated Press and later came to work at KHOU is the stuff of legend. She called herself Linda Veselka then. If I can find my copy of it, I will share with you the embarrassing personal letter she wrote to her boyfriend one night, using the A-P's brand new computerized word processing system.

It's possible that no one would have ever heard of Linda if she hadn't hit the wrong button and sent the letter out to every A-P subscriber in five states. She was fired and out on the streets before lunch time. An A-P staffer told me it took that long because that's how long it took to find the Bureau Chief, who was out of town on business. She was the talk of the state for some time.

Six months later she applied for a job at KHOU in Houston, and the news director hired her largely because of the notoriety she created with the letter incident. She really did get her first TV job because of how she got fired from the A-P.

Ellerbee laughs about it today. She knows it launched her career in TV. She keeps a copy of the letter as it appeared on the A-P newswire framed in her office. She even autographed the copy I tore off the A-P printer at my radio station that morning. I had a feeling it was something I should keep and I was right. There's nothing scandalous in it, but she did make some pointedly personal remarks about her boss. It's very funny.

[ricco67]

Here is a list of FORMER personalities for KTRK:

Past personalities

* David Glodt (anchor/reporter)

* Charles Harrison (meteorologist/voice announcer)

* Vann Hackett (anchor/reporter)

* Chris Adams

* Vicente Arenas (currently with KHOU)

* Alvin Van Black - entertainment/nightlife reporter (died in 2001)

* Bob Boudreaux - weekend anchor

* Jan Carson (co-anchor with Dave Ward during the 6 and 10 p.m. newscast until 1980 - replaced by Shara Fryer. She left ABC13 for a CBS affiliate in San Francisco with Doug Murphy and returned to Houston in the late 1980s as the co-anchor for KPRC.)

* Mary Ellen Conway

* John Nigel Davenport (died in 1991)

* Joe Diaz (Weekend Meteorologist 1989-1997; currently Chief Meteorologist at KOAT in Albuquerque)

* Deborah Duncan (now at KHOU. Duncan also had a locally based talk show from this station 1998-2002; plans for ABC/Disney to pick it up fell through)

* Diana Fallis (ABC13's first African American female anchor - later served as a media relations liaison with Prairie View A & M University)

* Stephen S. Gauvain (died in 1996 when a Ford Explorer SUV flipped over during the coverage of the Hilton Crawford murder trial in Huntsville, TX. The cause of the accident, a defective Firestone tire, would later lead to an investigation exposed by rival KHOU that led to numerous lawsuits and a complete recall of the tires.)

* Roland Galvan (mid-1980s meteorologist; later moved to KTLA; died December 2005)

* Alan Hemberger (current anchor for KHCW News at Nine)

* Corin Hoggard (sub-anchor/reporter, currently reporter at KFSN)

* Cynthia Hunt

* Debbie Johnson

* Nydia Han (currently at ABC affiliate WPVI/Philadelphia)

* Heidi Jones (Current weekend meteorologist at WABC)

* Dan Lovett

* Meteorologist Frank Billingsley (currently with KPRC)

* Darren Lyn (left to become a Houston-based reporter for ABC's corporate cousin ESPN)

* Doug Murphy (sportscaster - replaced by Tim Melton) (Died in 2005; Moved to KPIX-TV in 1980 and reported for Eyewitness News from 1980-2005 before his death in December in a house fire in Lafayette, California)

* Dan Rather

* Gene Norman (weekend meteorologist, presently chief meteorologist at WGCL-TV)

* Sylvan Rodriguez (died in 2000; left ABC13 for ABC News in 1987, later returning to Houston with KHOU 11. Later married dermatologist Shelley A. Sekula (who later became a Houston City Councilmember since 2002), who later went by Shelley Sekula Rodriguez, c. 2000 - June 2002. Currently goes by Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, M.D.)

For KHOU:

Former Anchors

* Steve Smith (5 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (retired 1999)

* Alma Newsome (mid to late 1970s) (then press secretary for U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland)

* Marlene McClinton (5 & 10 p.m. Anchor)

* Sylvan Rodriguez (Noon & 6 p.m. Anchor) (died in 2000)

* Amanda Arnold (6, 6:30 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (early 1980's)

* Jerome Gray (Weekend Anchor/Noon & 6 p.m. Anchor) (currently on KPRC-TV)

* Nesita Kwan (weekend Anchor) (Currently at WMAQ-TV Chicago)

* Clare Casademont (Noon & 6 p.m. Anchor)

* Felicia Jeter (5, 6 & 10 p.m. Anchor)

* Mike Dunston (weekend anchor/reporter 2000/promoted to mornings 2000-2002)

* Dan Patrick (Sports Anchor--1980s) (then to KSEV-AM; elected to Texas Senate, November 2006)

* Chip Moody (6 & 10 p.m. Anchor from 1984-87) (died in 2001)

* Dan Rather (Anchor/Reporter) (early 1960s)

* Tom Siler (weather)

* Mitch Duncan (Afternoon/Evening Anchor)

* Burt Rozell (6 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (mid 1970s)

* Michael Morgan (6 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (mid 1970s)

* Bill Balleza (Noon & 5 p.m. Anchor) (mid 1970s to mid 1980s) (currently on KPRC-TV)

* Bebe Burns (Morning & Noon Anchor) (mid to late 1970s)

* Ron Stone (6 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (1960s to 1970s then to KRPC-TV)

* Anna Werner (Investigative reporter 1999-2004 currently at KPIX-TV)

* David Grant (Chief Meteorologist 1980's)

* Lisa Foronda (Noon & 6pm (1997-1999), 5 & 10pm (1999-2006)

For KPRC:

* Kay Bailey, reporter (Channel 2's first female reporter) Currently a US Senator.

* Chris Bury, reporter in the early 1980s, currently a correspondent for the ABC News program Nightline.

* Velma Cato, a reporter who moved on to NBC News' Atlanta & New York Bureaus and later became a producer of nationally syndicated programs.

* Ron Franklin, Sports Director who came from KHOU in 1980 and left the station in 1987 for a postion at ESPN.

* Charles Hadlock, a reporter here before his lengthier assignment at KHOU, currently a correspondent for NBC News

* James Hattori, reporter who was hired in the late 1980s and later departed for CBS News and eventually CNN. Currently an NBC News Correspondent.

* Mauri Moore, reporter who moved on to NBC News' Bureau in Tel Aviv. Currently a city councilor in Edmonds, Washington.

* Roger O'Neil, reporter in the late 1970s and currently a correspondent for NBC News.

* Tom Jarriel, worked behind the scenes in the news department as a reporter for a number of years. Formerly of ABC News

* Dan Molina, A reporter who had moved back and forth between KPRC & NBC News throughout the 1980s and 90s eventually becoming KPRC's Austin Bureau Chief. Currently a freelancer, as well as a consultant for several broadcast relations firms.

* Janet Shamlian, Was a weekend anchor & reporter during the mid 1990s. Currently a correspondent for NBC News

* Cal Thomas, Notable syndicated newspaper columnist & commentator.

* Spencer Tillman, who began as a sports reporter/anchor during the 1987 offseason period when he was playing with the Houston Oilers. Later moved to WABC-TV in 1997 and joined CBS Sports in 1999.

* Larry Weidman, a reporter who later moved on to helm NBC News' Rome Bureau.

* Paula Zahn, anchor (now an evening show host at CNN).

[musicman]

Here is a list of FORMER personalities for KTRK:

Past personalities

* David Glodt (anchor/reporter)

* Charles Harrison (meteorologist/voice announcer)

* Vann Hackett (anchor/reporter)

* Chris Adams

* Vicente Arenas (currently with KHOU)

* Alvin Van Black - entertainment/nightlife reporter (died in 2001)

* Bob Boudreaux - weekend anchor

* Jan Carson (co-anchor with Dave Ward during the 6 and 10 p.m. newscast until 1980 - replaced by Shara Fryer. She left ABC13 for a CBS affiliate in San Francisco with Doug Murphy and returned to Houston in the late 1980s as the co-anchor for KPRC.)

* Mary Ellen Conway

* John Nigel Davenport (died in 1991)

* Joe Diaz (Weekend Meteorologist 1989-1997; currently Chief Meteorologist at KOAT in Albuquerque)

* Deborah Duncan (now at KHOU. Duncan also had a locally based talk show from this station 1998-2002; plans for ABC/Disney to pick it up fell through)

* Diana Fallis (ABC13's first African American female anchor - later served as a media relations liaison with Prairie View A & M University)

* Stephen S. Gauvain (died in 1996 when a Ford Explorer SUV flipped over during the coverage of the Hilton Crawford murder trial in Huntsville, TX. The cause of the accident, a defective Firestone tire, would later lead to an investigation exposed by rival KHOU that led to numerous lawsuits and a complete recall of the tires.)

* Roland Galvan (mid-1980s meteorologist; later moved to KTLA; died December 2005)

* Alan Hemberger (current anchor for KHCW News at Nine)

* Corin Hoggard (sub-anchor/reporter, currently reporter at KFSN)

* Cynthia Hunt

* Debbie Johnson

* Nydia Han (currently at ABC affiliate WPVI/Philadelphia)

* Heidi Jones (Current weekend meteorologist at WABC)

* Dan Lovett

* Meteorologist Frank Billingsley (currently with KPRC)

* Darren Lyn (left to become a Houston-based reporter for ABC's corporate cousin ESPN)

* Doug Murphy (sportscaster - replaced by Tim Melton) (Died in 2005; Moved to KPIX-TV in 1980 and reported for Eyewitness News from 1980-2005 before his death in December in a house fire in Lafayette, California)

* Dan Rather

* Gene Norman (weekend meteorologist, presently chief meteorologist at WGCL-TV)

* Sylvan Rodriguez (died in 2000; left ABC13 for ABC News in 1987, later returning to Houston with KHOU 11. Later married dermatologist Shelley A. Sekula (who later became a Houston City Councilmember since 2002), who later went by Shelley Sekula Rodriguez, c. 2000 - June 2002. Currently goes by Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, M.D.)

to this list i would have to add jim rosenfield, lesley brinkley, thom dickerson,lesley hill. i think charles harrison was also an anchor in the 60's. i know i have an advertisement from ch13 in the 60's with him in it as an anchor.

[FilioScotia]

Charlie Harrison was never the number one anchor

He was KTRK's "utility" man who did a little of every thing. Commercials, station breaks, and news, weather and even sports on weekends. He also filled in in any of those capacities during the week as needed. They could depend on Charlie to come in on short notice and do any of those jobs and he never failed them.

This was very early on in KTRK's news history, when news wasn't the major profit center it is today. Harrison was also one of the really nice guys in local TV for a long time.

[nativehou]

* Ron Franklin, Sports Director who came from KHOU in 1980 and left the station in 1987 for a postion at ESPN.

Ron Franklin is still with ESPN -- an amazingly long tenure with one media outlet. I see him announcing various college basketball games. He looks great.

[icanluv2]

I believe i remember Ron Franklin doing some weekends with David Boles(anchor), Ted Shaw(weather) back in the early to mid 80s.

[musicman]

here's the ad from 1964 i promised.

[nativehou]

Wow. Great photo. Look at Betty with "Women's News"!

[musicman]

Wow. Great photo. Look at Betty with "Women's News"!

my mom said out of the locals there the only 3 she remembered was betty, charles harrison and garvin berry. it was nice to see jules bergman too. i always enjoyed his science reports with abc news.

[banking214]

This is a really a great thread. Makes me really yearn for the days of old school channel 2. I used to love watchiing Ron Stone and Jan Carson when I was a kid. Then on Saturday nights at 6.30 (I think), The Eyes of Texas.

So, where did Shara Fryer go? I always liked her, even though she sometimes seemed a little "blonde".

[FilioScotia]

Wow. Great photo. Look at Betty with "Women's News"!

This photo is a stark reminder of how early TV news was "a man's world", and the only thing women did was report "women's news", host cooking shows, or, in a few cases, do the weather. KTRK had a woman -- Liz Brandt -- doing the weather, along with Tom Evans.

I remember Brandt's gimmick was a weather map drawn on a big pane of clear glass. She stood behind the glass, facing the camera, and drew the "frontal lines", rain showers and temps on the map with a big marks-alot. Her camera was set to show the reverse image of what it was seeing, so Brandt's writing was reversed and readable for viewers. An eye-catching gimmick. Liz had a great personality and she always did a great job. I hated it when she left in the mid sixties.

Incidentally, Tom Evans also left in the mid sixties to start a private weather service at Hobby Airport -- he called it Universal Weather -- and he continued doing live weathercasts for radio stations -- most notably KIKK AM and FM in the 60s and 70s. Universal Weather is now Impact Weather, and, along with providing weather information for airlines and industry, they still do weathercasts for radio stations in Houston (KUHF) and some other cities.

[musicman]

So, where did Shara Fryer go? I always liked her, even though she sometimes seemed a little "blonde".

when KTRK promised gina the anchor slot, it was inevitable that shara would be leaving within a few yrs. for women, being over 50 and on tv isn't always easy. she shouldn't be having any problems since she's still married to barry silverman and is definitely in the houston social scene.

(6/08/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - KTRK General Manager Henry Florsheim announced that former Eyewitness News anchor Shara Fryer is leaving ABC13.

Shara was the longest serving woman news anchor in Houston history. She served with distinction in the 1980's and 90's alongside Dave Ward, Ed Brandon, Marvin Zindler and Bob Allen.

In September 2004, Shara was reassigned from the anchor desk to be the station's first senior correspondent and host of "In Focus." Her assignments took her to Israel, Italy, England and across the United States. Shara has received numerous awards and she will be honored this November by receiving the Julie and Ben Rogers Ecumenism award from the Anti-Defamation League.

[brucesw]

here's the ad from 1964 i promised.

Great clipping, musicman. The bottom row is all ABC personnel who may have never set foot in Houston; makes it look like they had a bigger newstaff that they actually had.

Ray Conaway (top left) was the first 13 anchor I think. I didn't remember he was still on as late as 64. He had worked at both the Press and Chronicle and KTRH and KPRC, I think. He wore a bow tie and fairly barked out the news. I loved watching him but nobody else in my family did. 13's newscast was still just 15 minutes after 2 and 11 had gone to a half hour I believe. I don't recognize the 2nd or 4th guys. Garvin Berry was mostly a newspaper man as I recall. Bob Stephenson -- was that the guy who had the long running fishing show on KILT?

Guy Savage (top right) was 13s first Sports Director, from 1960 to 1969. One evening in 1969, just after the 6pm news, he went home to rest as he wasn't feeling well. He was dead by 9pm of a heart attack at the age of 59. The obits said he had been Sports Director of KXYZ radio for 11 years prior to KTRK and had started in radio in Illinois but there was a Guy Savage on KTRH in the 30s or 40s - perhaps a father? The obits didn't mention KTRH. I liked him; he was a lot like Mark Berman on 26 as I recall. (I have a photocopy of the obit around here somewhere but can't find it, so this is from memory).

[brucesw]

For KHOU:

Former Anchors

* Steve Smith (5 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (retired 1999)

* Alma Newsome (mid to late 1970s) (then press secretary for U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland)

* Marlene McClinton (5 & 10 p.m. Anchor)

* Sylvan Rodriguez (Noon & 6 p.m. Anchor) (died in 2000)

* Amanda Arnold (6, 6:30 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (early 1980's)

* Jerome Gray (Weekend Anchor/Noon & 6 p.m. Anchor) (currently on KPRC-TV)

* Nesita Kwan (weekend Anchor) (Currently at WMAQ-TV Chicago)

* Clare Casademont (Noon & 6 p.m. Anchor)

* Felicia Jeter (5, 6 & 10 p.m. Anchor)

* Mike Dunston (weekend anchor/reporter 2000/promoted to mornings 2000-2002)

* Dan Patrick (Sports Anchor--1980s) (then to KSEV-AM; elected to Texas Senate, November 2006)

* Chip Moody (6 & 10 p.m. Anchor from 1984-87) (died in 2001)

* Dan Rather (Anchor/Reporter) (early 1960s)

* Tom Siler (weather)

* Mitch Duncan (Afternoon/Evening Anchor)

* Burt Rozell (6 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (mid 1970s)

* Michael Morgan (6 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (mid 1970s)

* Bill Balleza (Noon & 5 p.m. Anchor) (mid 1970s to mid 1980s) (currently on KPRC-TV)

* Bebe Burns (Morning & Noon Anchor) (mid to late 1970s)

* Ron Stone (6 & 10 p.m. Anchor) (1960s to 1970s then to KRPC-TV)

* Anna Werner (Investigative reporter 1999-2004 currently at KPIX-TV)

* David Grant (Chief Meteorologist 1980's)

* Lisa Foronda (Noon & 6pm (1997-1999), 5 & 10pm (1999-2006)

There were many who worked for 11 who made the move to 2 over the years; as I understood it, Corinthian, which owned 11 for many year, was very cheap. Ron Stone did a stint at NBC radio news in NY before coming back to town to join Ray Miller's excellent staff at 2. Steve Smith started at 2, left for an anchor job in Philly, then came back to anchor at 11, as I recall. I always liked him until I saw him in a grocery store being quite rude to some viewer who had recognized him and just wanted to say hi. Chris Chandler was another crossover; he was on 2 during the 'Happy Talk News' days, standing in front of the news desk he would go up to each of the anchors and introduce them and chat with them about what they had to report. Awful stuff. Chandler had a role as a Houston TV reporter in Hellfighters, the John Wayne movie about Red Adair. Another big one was Larry Rasco who started on 11, either replacing or being replaced by Dan Rather. He made the transition to 2 and was a long time anchor there.

By the way, excellent list.

[musicman]

Here is a list of FORMER personalities for KTRK:

Past personalities

* Joe Diaz (Weekend Meteorologist 1989-1997; currently Chief Meteorologist at KOAT in Albuquerque)

i just didn't believe the dates here. i was thinking 2 yrs max so i emailed him.

Hi,

1989-1991

Thanks

Joe

* * * * * *

Joe Diaz

Chief Meteorologist KOAT-TV

[ChannelTwoNews]

Oy. Now I feel like a kid with all of this talk of the 60's and such... I do know a few people that did their internships at KPRC & KHOU during the early 70's so I can ask around about additional people from there. Some that I can recall being mentioned from KHOU in the early 70's include Bert Roselle & Mike Morgan. According to the accounts of the period, those two would come quite close to physically fighting on-set on a number of occasions but once the camera came back on would be as professional as can be. Alexis South was the weatherchick and somewhat of a primadonna at that. She was gone by the early 80's if I'm not mistaken though. I recall hearing that she lived in New Territory or something most recently.

Someone mentioned Charlie Harrison... I swear, I'd always wondered who that voice belonged to growing up. Over the past year I'd actually gotten to see what he looked like thanks to an old newscast I have somewhere around in the boxes. Anyone know if he's still around?

Al Janis, who was someone I'd forgotten until he appeared on an old KTRK newscast from '79 or so I had on tape. He seems to be a real estate agent these days. Looks pretty much the same, save for a few gray hairs.

Thom Dickerson I think went over to HISD to work for their media department. HISD produces a weekly "update" (or they have over the past few years) that airs on Ch. 8 & Ch. 49 at odd hours and he always showed up as a reporter for them. Ben Wilson, another former KTRK reporter also ended up working as a press liason for the district and I think Norm Uhl of KHOU ended up there in a similar capacity at one point.

The Joe Diaz entry on wikipedia seems a bit off... I met him a few years ago at KOAT. We hung out and he gave me some decent advice about getting things together career-wise. Kinda missed a lot about living in Sugar Land it sounded like as well. One of the nicest guys ever. Period.

H Texas Magazine seems to be a collection of a few old media personalities from various places around town. Fran Fawcett-Peterson, Lynn Ashby, Warner Roberts...

Jim Rosenfield is a big anchor WCBS in New York, although his bio is noticeably absent of his KTRK era work. Kinda curious as to what happened to his weekend co-anchor Debbi Johnson now. She was there for a decent amount of time... Last I'd heard she ended up in Austin but that was ages ago.

Space Reporters seemed to be all the rage a few years back. We all know, unfortunately, what happened to Stephen Gauvain. I know that KHOU's John Getter was around Houston for a while and ended up working in a Space-related news service. Actually saw him on Fox News once or twice during coverage of the shuttle program maybe a year or two ago. Catherine Smith, who was KPRC's equivalent (and part of the Florida influx from then sister station WESH in the mid 80's) I think ended up going back to Florida at some point in the 90's to raise a family. Ironically enough, she wasn't one of the finalists from the station from the "Journalist in Space" competition of that time. Dan O'Rourke (aka that guy who hosts the Miss Texas USA Pageants) and Terry Anzur (Who seems to have fallen off the face of the earth recently) were however.

Actually found Dan Ammerman's Firm website. Nice surprise to find one of my favorite other reporters working for them, Rosa Linda Perez from KPRC.

Larry Audas, who was another of my favorite reporters from KPRC did immensely well in the world of Newsroom/Station administration. He's currently the General Manager of KTHV, the CBS affiliate in Little Rock.

[FilioScotia]

Update on local media types

I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but I think Charlie Harrison has passed away. If he's still living he's very elderly now. Liz Brandt -- Houston's first lady TV weathercaster -- at KTRK -- died two years ago at the age of 79.

Debbi Johnson now does media relations for the Texas Historical Commission over in Austin.

Thom Dickerson is now with HISD in their media department.

Ben Wilson is now Deputy Superintendent for Public Information for the Aldine School District. A high falutin' title for a guy who's essentially a PIO. John Getter -- last time I heard -- was an executive with an outfit called SpaceHab, a company that's working to design and build habitats for living in space. Good luck with that.

Nancy Holland came through KPRC Radio as an intern in the mid 70s, and now, after years of first class reporting at KHOU, she's leaving for NYC where she will be an executive producer for an independent news service that provides video for the TV networks. Her husband already lives in NYC, where he's a high level TV news photographer, and she's been commuting up there on weekends to spend time with him. Now she's going to join him full time. Houston will miss Nancy Holland because she's just one of the best TV reporters this town has ever had.

[FilioScotia]

My favorite Ray Conaway story.

This is the story of the day KTRK News Director and Anchor Ray Conaway colored Houston's air blue with profanities and obscenities on TV. Sometime in 1964 Conaway was going to NYC to film some stories on the New York World's Fair for local consumption. He had to catch a plane around midnight, so after the 10pm news that night, he was in a hurry to record his "Conaway Comments" piece for use on the news the next day.

There were carpenters working in the studio building sets for a live production of Romeo and Juliet KTRK was producing, so Conaway asked them to take a break while he video-taped his commentary.

So there he is, rocking right along doing his thing, when a carpenter in the rafters accidentally started up his power saw. Conaway's famous angry reaction was unprintable -- but it went something like "g-dm that m----------ing saw", or something very close to that. Exasperated, he told the director he didn't have time to start over so he picked up where he left off and finished the commentary.

When he was done, he personally took the big videotape reel off the recorder, wrote "Edit Before Airing" in big red letters on a big piece of paper he wrapped and taped around the reel, put it into a videotape box, gave it to the director and left for the airport to catch his plane.

For reasons never explained, the note was ignored and the tape was not edited before it went on the air the next day. It was the talk of the town for weeks. I believe KTRK ended up getting a stiff fine from the FCC, and Conaway retired not too long after that. I missed him because he always had strong and intelligent opinions, and a firm way of expressing them. He really was one of the good guys.

[musicman]

Update on local media types

I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but I think Charlie Harrison has passed away. If he's still living he's very elderly now. Liz Brandt -- Houston's first lady TV weathercaster -- at KTRK -- died two years ago at the age of 79.

Debbi Johnson now does media relations for the Texas Historical Commission over in Austin.

i'm glad you found something on Debbi johnson and alexis south. i always liked both of them and wondered why i could never find anything about them. and nancy will be missed.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

Here is a list of FORMER personalities for KTRK:

Past personalities

* Corin Hoggard (sub-anchor/reporter, currently reporter at KFSN)

How'd this guy slip into the list?!?

[TheShadow]

I love how this thread has turned into nostalgia over Houston TV news history. Allow me to toss some comments and questions.

I have an interest in logos, and I once looked through old TV Guides at the downtown public library to find out when the local stations adopted their previous logos. I found some amusing ads.

-Channel 13's ads from the late 60s-early 70s reeked of desperation. They were basically saying "Please watch us!" I believe that 13 was a distant third to 2 and 11 until Marvin Zindler showed up and they became number one in 1977. I'm sure the "Eyewitness News" concept of happy talk probably helped.

-Speaking of 13, one ad had Dave Ward and Dan Ammerman(I think) wearing blazers with the then-13 logo (a hideous, bloated 13 that the circle 13 replaced in 1971) on the pockets. I always wondered why Ted Baxter wore a blazer with the WJM-TV logo on it.

-Channel 2 used at least 5 logos in the 1960s. There's a picture on the internet of the station in 1960. I saw a different logo during archived footage of Hurricane Carla (I think it was Larry Rasco reporting). A mid-60s logo had a thin, vertically elongated 2 with the word Channel in spaced letters in front of it. From 1968 to 1969, they used a logo in a TV screen that said "Channel 2". It was as boring as dry toast. The classic(IMO) "Big 2" logo debuted in 1969 with a splash-numerous vertical half-page ads that loudly announced "Big 2 News with Steve Smith" (or Larry Rasco). The 2 took up most of the ad, and there was a photo of the anchor inside the 2. Later ads had the letters tv (in lowercase) inside the 2. The station's tower had the NBC Snake inside the 2. I've always wondered if Channel 2 ever changed their logo on the tower before 1985, when the shiny silver 2 was introduced as "new 2" (I remember the ads). One ad had sports anchor Bill Enis (Bart's dad, I presume) wearing a football jersey with the 2 on it. You don't see that anymore. Oh, and the 2 was modified in 1976, but they still used the old one for a while in on-air graphics.

-I'm curious about Alexis South. All I know about her is a picture of the Newscenter 11 team on the air that appeared in the 1980 book "Houston". She appeared to be at least in her 50s. Was she that old?

I think I'll start a thread of old local TV ads that I've culled from the Internet. Please contribute!

[musicman]

-I'm curious about Alexis South. All I know about her is a picture of the Newscenter 11 team on the air that appeared in the 1980 book "Houston". She appeared to be at least in her 50s. Was she that old?

i don't remember her that old but i remember her as popular! scan it in if you can. i guess tom siler "the weather wizard" replaced her. i remember seeing him working in orlando now.

[ChannelTwoNews]

-I'm curious about Alexis South. All I know about her is a picture of the Newscenter 11 team on the air that appeared in the 1980 book "Houston". She appeared to be at least in her 50s. Was she that old?

OMG, someone else has that book! I had to look around ebay for that a few years back. Definitely a classic pic. If memory serves there's a vintage exterior shot of the KPRC studios & some odd set that KUHT was using during the period as well.

Tom Siler 's in Pensacola at WEAR, the ABC affiliate there. The story of his dismissal from WTXL is rumored to be one that smacks of ageism, but regardless he seems to have landed somewhere there's a decent audience.

I saw a mention of the late Bill Ennis... The account from one of my friends that worked there during the period is the night they all learned about his death, Ron Stone and the other personalities could barely keep it together, and the newscast ended with the darkened studio with spotlights focused on the chair Bill sat in each night.

Gail Anderson. There's someone I remember clear as day. Very distinct style... from serious reporting & consumer issues to getting down on the ground and pounding fists on the concrete begging for more items during a food drive during the late 80's. Won a bunch of awards during her time there, but I also remember reading through an item about her "On Your Side" phone banks being protested by the ADL for something at one point.

One piece of footage I'd kill to see is from around 1987 or so. I've only heard bits about it over the years, but essentially Ron Stone was alone and left to do the 10 PM news and weather on his own, with crew audibly laughing throughout much of the show. I recall reading through a Post account of it, and a clip of the weather portion has been used in several of the retrospective clip reels over the years.

"Well, you know your maps... There's California... In the desert? Oh, probably a lot of sand I'd say"

[musicman]

One piece of footage I'd kill to see is from around 1987 or so. I've only heard bits about it over the years, but essentially Ron Stone was alone and left to do the 10 PM news and weather on his own, with crew audibly laughing throughout much of the show. I recall reading through a Post account of it, and a clip of the weather portion has been used in several of the retrospective clip reels over the years.

"Well, you know your maps... There's California... In the desert? Oh, probably a lot of sand I'd say"

there was a similar incident with marvin zindler doing the weather on good morning houston. let's just say the percent chance of rain was changed from 20 to 100 because "it is raining right now" he did the forecast in his zindler persona which made it even funnier.