Big shake-up at CW39 News

[editor]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/5842864.html

In summary:

Anchor Sherry Williams: Out

Anchor Alan Hemberger: Down, possibly out after a transition

News Director Joe Nolan: Out

Anchor Mia Gradney: Up, but maybe just for now

Anchor Steve Simon: Up, but maybe just for now

[CoolBuddy06]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/5842864.html

In summary:

Anchor Sherry Williams: Out

Anchor Alan Hemberger: Down, possibly out after a transition

News Director Joe Nolan: Out

Anchor Mia Gradney: Up, but maybe just for now

Anchor Steve Simon: Up, but maybe just for now

Whatever. I don't dig the station, 11 and 13 do it for me.

[Pumapayam]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/5842864.html

In summary:

Anchor Sherry Williams: Out

Anchor Alan Hemberger: Down, possibly out after a transition

News Director Joe Nolan: Out

Anchor Mia Gradney: Up, but maybe just for now

Anchor Steve Simon: Up, but maybe just for now

I hope all of those billboards are down. It's funny how we on HAIF use "shake up" to describe these changes like KRBE and KPRC. If only it were really that chaotic, it would make for some good TV drama. Too bad they can reveal what the personal issues were. Maybe Sherry asked for too much money, like Suzanne Sommers. Come on Sherry sign on to HAIF and give us the real dirt at KHCW.

[musicman]

In summary:

Anchor Sherry Williams: Out

Anchor Alan Hemberger: Down, possibly out after a transition

News Director Joe Nolan: Out

Anchor Mia Gradney: Up, but maybe just for now

Anchor Steve Simon: Up, but maybe just for now

i was wondering what happened. i'll bet they were looking for people more youthful.

[Pumapayam]

i was wondering what happened. i'll bet they were looking for people more youthful.

She is still alive and well on the KHCW website, but for how much longer.

When was her last news cast, Monday night?

I am surprised Isiah Carey's 'Insite' is not all over this, he is usually the first to break news about people coming and going from local TV. . .

Maybe lisaleese (former KHOU's Lisa Foranda) will stumble in on HAIF in a drunken rage and tell us to mind our own business, and don't expect Sherry to smile at us anymore at the local Krogers. . .

[MidtownCoog]

I think there is a future for Sherry Williams in Midland.

Her country twang and Ron Stone ripoff closing drove me crazy.

[Pumapayam]

Maybe lisaleese (former KHOU's Lisa Foranda) will stumble in on HAIF in a drunken rage and tell us to mind our own business, and don't expect Sherry to smile at us anymore at the local Krogers. . .

Look out grocery shoppers on aisle 7. . . you might see Sherry out and about, be nice, and don't expect miracles. Poor thing just got axed.

Sherry, you are still loved by Houstonians, and don't worry, if it worked out for Debra Duncan, it will work out for you too.

[ricco67]

is it really a shake-up if no one really notices if they hadn't read the news?

[editor]

I think it's a bigger deal than most of you think. 39 was the one station in town that didn't go in for the flash and trash, car chases and gang shootings that you all complain about all the time. Funny how when a station does the very thing that you ask for, you don't watch it.

As for dissing Sherry, if you knew her you wouldn't do it. How she is on the air is how she is in real life. That can be said of very few anchors.

I won't miss Hemberger. He and I got into it on more than one occasion.

The big thing behind-the-scenes is the loss of the news director, Joe Nolan. Sure, none of you know his name because he worked behind the scenes. But it was he who started that station's newscast and ensured that it lead instead of followed, kept the fluff and filler to a minimum, and avoided all of the TV news cliches that people like to complain about so loudly. Joe was an old, crusty newspaperman; and a Texan's Texan. He was the old fashioned kind of newsman that I wish was more common. The sort of person who didn't care what the consultants said, he was going to just report the damned news and that was that. Joe is the last of the old breed of pre-Headline News journalists and his leaving the industry closes the door on a chapter in Texas broadcasting.

Again, I didn't get along with all of them all of the time. I probably had arguments with all of them at one time or another. In fact, Hemberger was the biggest reason I left Houston. But the one thing they all had was integrity. The kind of integrity that simply doesn't exist in television news anymore. If you didn't watch, then you lost out. Enjoy the media morass you've created for yourselves.

[MidtownCoog]

I don't think it's a dis to say Sherry was not a good fit for Houston.

39 blows Ch 2 away. And their coverage of UH sports is second only to Fox 26.

[sifuwong]

I don't think it's a dis to say Sherry was not a good fit for Houston.

39 blows Ch 2 away. And their coverage of UH sports is second only to Fox 26.

When it comes to sports and scoops, only Fox 26 can do it right!!!

I think there is a future for Sherry Williams in Midland.

Her country twang and Ron Stone ripoff closing drove me crazy.

I don't know, i like her , but i can see why people think she is kinda strange. Her "goodbye friends and neighbors" at the end of every newscast was pretty cool.

[editor]

When it comes to sports and scoops, only Fox 26 can do it right!!!

You are correct. Fox puts a ton of effort into its sports reporting. It's a niche that it really captured well. But it's a strange decision. Sports doesn't do very well in newscasts. Hardly anyone watches it. Here's the rule of thumb when it comes to sports in a local newscast:

1/3 of the viewers are interested

1/3 of the viewers don't care and suffer through it

1/3 of the viewers turn the TV off

There's a reason that sports is last in the newscast, and it's not because of its great tease value. Fox putting such effort into sports is an artifact of the launch of the Fox network which heavily targets men 18-35. It makes sense from that standpoint. But men 18-35 are the adults LEAST likely to watch the news in the first place. Maybe the thought was that they could be converted into news viewers, but it hasn't happened. 18-35's (and especially 18-24's) think they know everything about the world and don't want someone telling them what happened today.

[Pumapayam]

I am surprised Isiah Carey's 'Insite' is not all over this, he is usually the first to break news about people coming and going from local TV. . .

Well, Isiah FINALLY acknowlegded why he did not report on Sherry Williams last Friday, only after someone else posted a comment about it.

Anonymous said...

Isiah, why didn't you report that Sherry Williams was sent packing from CW 39 this month ?

Hemberger is likely on his way out as well after a transition.

ISIAH CAREY said...

I felt kind of sleazy reporting someone has lost their job...but you've done it so there...

The Insite

I always thought he blogged about these things. I guess he turned a new leaf.

[editor]

There was a party for Sherry on Saturday night. She cc:'ed me her going away letter. Class all the way, as usual.

Hemberger has some unusual personal circumstances that have him hanging on as long as he can. Even though I hate him with the passion of a thousand exploding suns, I can understand his decision. No, I'm not going to elaborate.

[Pumapayam]

There was a party for Sherry on Saturday night. She cc:'ed me her going away letter. Class all the way, as usual.

Did she reveal her next venture, or is she going to take a break for a while?

[editor]

Did she reveal her next venture, or is she going to take a break for a while?

She's going to lay low for a while. She called me on Friday but I haven't called her back yet, and I feel really bad about that.

Last I heard (2003), her husband had the kind of job that would support both of them for a while.

[Pumapayam]

She's going to lay low for a while. She called me on Friday but I haven't called her back yet, and I feel really bad about that.

Last I heard (2003), her husband had the kind of job that would support both of them for a while.

Well, if she is aware of HAIF, she might appreciate that people will miss her, and heck even Isiah was respectful.

[Pumapayam]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/5842864.html

In summary:

Anchor Sherry Williams: Out

Anchor Alan Hemberger: Down, possibly out after a transition

News Director Joe Nolan: Out

Anchor Mia Gradney: Up, but maybe just for now

Anchor Steve Simon: Up, but maybe just for now

Add to the list, KHCW: Out

KIAH: In, July 15th.

Yes, just like Bush Intercontinental.

Barely got used to the current call sign.

[editor]

It's part of the parent company's larger strategy to insulate itself from the potential (impending?) implosion of the CW network.

KHCW/KIAH is owned by the Tribune Company. CW is owned by CBS and Time Warner. There is some talk that the CW may go bye bye soon. Tribune has been buying up syndicated properties left and right so that its stations will have something to air if that happens.

Further -- Tribune owns stations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and also owns its own Hollywood productions studios (they make shows like Family Feud and a few others you have probably heard of), leading to speculation that Tribune may start its own network. It has enough stations in the right cities to make it happen.

And now the new guy in charge of Tribune Broadcasting is Randy Michaels -- the guy who turned a couple of AM radio stations in Cincinnati into the monster known as Clear Channel. It wouldn't be unlike him to try to start his own television network.

[Pumapayam]

It's part of the parent company's larger strategy to insulate itself from the potential (impending?) implosion of the CW network.

That sure is a huge investment with name changes and advertising.

Think of all the mousepads and koozies that have to be redone because of this.

It reminds me of the whole AT&T Wireless ► Cingular ► AT&T debacle.

[editor]

That sure is a huge investment with name changes and advertising.

Think of all the mousepads and koozies that have to be redone because of this.

It reminds me of the whole AT&T Wireless ► Cingular ► AT&T debacle.

It's not such a big deal anymore. Stations rarely have spiffs with their logos on them anymore. The biggest expenses will be changing the big sign on their STL tower next to the Westpark Toll Road and getting the satellite truck re-wrapped. After that it's pretty much just stationery which can't cost more than $1k. Even new graphics won't cost. If it's done at the corporate level (which it was until recently so most of the stations had a similar look to save money [WPIX/New York and KPLR/Saint Louis had identical CW11 branding]) then Chicago picks up the cost. If it's done at the local level, it's no big deal because 39 has full-time artists, a nice feature that many local stations (mostly NBC O&Os) are starting to lose.

Of course, I'm still using my WB39 pens. The sales guys got these fantastic pens with the logo on them once. They weren't very high quality, but they were just the right size and they feel unusually good to write with. Much like pizza, when the sales department was done with them the leftovers found their way to the newsroom.

[stan the man]

It's part of the parent company's larger strategy to insulate itself from the potential (impending?) implosion of the CW network.

KHCW/KIAH is owned by the Tribune Company. CW is owned by CBS and Time Warner. There is some talk that the CW may go bye bye soon. Tribune has been buying up syndicated properties left and right so that its stations will have something to air if that happens.

Further -- Tribune owns stations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and also owns its own Hollywood productions studios (they make shows like Family Feud and a few others you have probably heard of), leading to speculation that Tribune may start its own network. It has enough stations in the right cities to make it happen.

And now the new guy in charge of Tribune Broadcasting is Randy Michaels -- the guy who turned a couple of AM radio stations in Cincinnati into the monster known as Clear Channel. It wouldn't be unlike him to try to start his own television network.

It will not surprise me if the CW goes broke. The network has been a major disappointment IMHO and they are now focusing exclusively on younger women (they dropped wrestling for instance) but I don't seeing the network lasting past the DTV conversion. We are also going to see a resurgence of the independent station as well (i.e. the newscast is rumored to become "39 News").

[HoustonianInColorado]

The CW network may be going down if the Denver station, KWGN-TV/DT is any indicator. They rebranded in quick succession as WB2, CW2, and now just "2" with a logo that removes CW references and just has an offset 2 in a circle. The newscasts are also 2 News.

BTW, this station is available in Houston on DISH Network as part of the Superstation package.

As for KHCW, when I left Houston it was still Gaylord-owned independent KHTV.

[SecondTour]

Her "goodbye friends and neighbors" at the end of every newscast was pretty cool.

I agree. I thought she was a great news anchor. Seemed like a genuine person - not a personality. Hopefully she'll turn up locally after she takes a break.

[editor]

The CW network may be going down if the Denver station, KWGN-TV/DT is any indicator. They rebranded in quick succession as WB2, CW2, and now just "2" with a logo that removes CW references and just has an offset 2 in a circle. The newscasts are also 2 News.

That's another Tribune-owned station, so it's part of the same strategy by the same company being employed at (now) KIAH.

[editor]

It's interesting to see the difference between 39's analog and digital signals:

Analog (channel 39):

Digital (channel 38) covers more territory:

And the station's filed an application to extend the range even further with an additional 25,000 watts of power:

[dalparadise]

Editor - Nice job trying to make KHCW's lack of viewership into some kind of moral issue.

Sometimes things just suck.

[editor]

Editor - Nice job trying to make KHCW's lack of viewership into some kind of moral issue.

Sometimes things just suck.

I didn't make it into anything it isn't. I just pointed out the hypocrisy rampant among amateur media critics on the internet.

[Disastro]

I didn't make it into anything it isn't. I just pointed out the hypocrisy rampant among amateur media critics on the internet.

Remember the Channel 39 news shorts back in the 70's (News Before The Hour) in the afternoon during cartoons?

Here's a Channel 39 retrospective:

More 39 (Who can forget Mary K Isaacs? LOL!!!):

[rreini]

Remember the Channel 39 news shorts back in the 70's (News Before The Hour) in the afternoon during cartoons?

Here's a Channel 39 retrospective:

More 39 (Who can forget Mary K Isaacs? LOL!!!):

Thanks for the links -- those montages were a blast! I'm a bit young to remember the hula weather girl...