Old School Anchor Team Question

[nativehou]

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.

I saw this LIVE. It was hysterical. That was back in the day with Ron Stone and Doug Johnson at 5 p.m. I usually watched it after school -- they were always so funny and you could tell (at least to me) they were friends and enjoyed doing the show together.

But it had to have been earlier than '87. I'm guessing late 70s-early 80s. And it must have been at the 5 p.m. news time because we virtually never stayed up past 9:30 in my household growing up!

[TheShadow]

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.

The KUHT picture was from a show called "Potpourri". The desk was very weird.

I'd be happy to scan the pictures, but I don't own one. Sorry.

[sunburst]

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?

[sunburst]

Channel 2 had an executive producer in the early 80's named Lee Meredith who was vocal about wanting to hire Bill Balleza as the number two anchor behind Ron Stone. A couple of other people got consideration. Ron Tank had arrived from Indianapolis with anchor experience. Dan O'Rourke also came from Indianapolis, was already anchoring weekends at Channel 2 and was very good but also pretty young, early 20's.

Before that Channel 2 had a couple of woman anchors in the 70s including Anita Martini who anchored sports, and the lady who later appeared on all the Fiesta commercials, and I'll remember her name just as soon as I post this! Paula Zahn arrived in 1981 and was replaced after one contract by Jan Carson, who had moved to San Francisco and had left the business for a while. Terry Anzur and Anna Bond were also in the early-to-mid 80's anchor mix for KPRC.

Sorry that I repeated your original post above with my own name as author, I just hit a wrong button and cant erase it.

[ChannelTwoNews]

Channel 2 had an executive producer in the early 80's named Lee Meredith who was vocal about wanting to hire Bill Balleza as the number two anchor behind Ron Stone. A couple of other people got consideration. Ron Tank had arrived from Indianapolis with anchor experience. Dan O'Rourke also came from Indianapolis, was already anchoring weekends at Channel 2 and was very good but also pretty young, early 20's.

Before that Channel 2 had a couple of woman anchors in the 70s including Anita Martini who anchored sports, and the lady who later appeared on all the Fiesta commercials, and I'll remember her name just as soon as I post this! Paula Zahn arrived in 1981 and was replaced after one contract by Jan Carson, who had moved to San Francisco and had left the business for a while. Terry Anzur and Anna Bond were also in the early-to-mid 80's anchor mix for KPRC.

Sorry that I repeated your original post above with my own name as author, I just hit a wrong button and cant erase it.

Roberta DeFranceso would be the woman from the Fiesta commercials, though I wasn't aware she was an anchor in the past.

I haven't spoken to Terry in years, though she was among the nicest people I've met in television. Even provided me a copy of her demo tape during her time at KPRC to look over for ideas on how to compile mine whenever the time came. Last I'd heard she was in West Palm Beach at the CBS station there, but she's disappeared from there over the last year it seems. Might have to call around to find out where she ended up.

When KPRC was doing news updates in the middle of the night in the early 90s, I was always curious in what capacity the "anchors" worked in other than that. Two names that come to mind are Alice Wolf and Ginger Morgan. Were they producers, freelancers, etc?

[sunburst]

Roberta DeFranceso would be the woman from the Fiesta commercials, though I wasn't aware she was an anchor in the past.

I haven't spoken to Terry in years, though she was among the nicest people I've met in television. Even provided me a copy of her demo tape during her time at KPRC to look over for ideas on how to compile mine whenever the time came. Last I'd heard she was in West Palm Beach at the CBS station there, but she's disappeared from there over the last year it seems. Might have to call around to find out where she ended up.

When KPRC was doing news updates in the middle of the night in the early 90s, I was always curious in what capacity the "anchors" worked in other than that. Two names that come to mind are Alice Wolf and Ginger Morgan. Were they producers, freelancers, etc?

\

Yes, Ginger Morgan and Alice Wolke were producers who worked the night shift and anchored short updates until the morning anchors came in. It worked fine until another producer in that role, Alvin Wright, the single nicest man ever, became frustrated in tripping over a sentence and lived to regret the next few seconds of his life. He said he was just not cut out to be on-air, and the news director agreed . But Alvin would become an HPD spokesman who often appeared on Houston newscasts--including Channel 2 in the middle of the night.

[57Tbird]

Here are some anchors as shown in a TV schedule from a 1963 Houston Chronicle. Chris Chandler was the weatherman for KPRC-TV, Channel 2, at the time.

[TheShadow]

57Third, thanks for the info and picture. Please share more.

Ruminations:

-Channel 13 ran Dragnet reruns instead of the ABC evening news in 1963? I know that ABC News was a distant third to CBS News and NBC News back then, but that was a surprise. I wonder if any stations still do that. Probably not.

-Speaking of ABC News, the Jarriel at Channel 2 is Tom Jarriel, future ABC News correspondent.

-Was Larry Rasco Channel 2's first anchor of note?

-And now for something completely different. Wasn't Doug Brown Channel 11's head weatherman in the early 70s?

[Grippin]

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).

Good list, thanks. Others you can find on Wikipedia.

notes on this list

KTRK:

Had a good young anchior Tim Ryan who went to Chicago early 80's

Don't think Dan Rather ever worked at KTRK

Jan Carson came back to Houston not late 80's but in 1983 replacing Paula Zahn who was dropped after one contract

KPRC:

Notable anchor/reporters not on this list: Terry Anzur and Anna Bond mid-80's then both faded away but Anzur has a website. Tim Lake late 80's went to Philadelphia and is still working as anchor there. Dan O'Rourke 80-95 runs media company in Houston and freelances for networks. Larry Audas 85-90's went to Little Rock now in station management.

Listed as KPRC reporters: Velma Cato worked the assignment desk and sometimes produced shows. Mauri Moore was a special assignments producer/show producer. Larry Weidman was the news director who succeeded Ray Miller in 1979. If any of these three was ever on air it wasnt often enough to be called a reporter.

Craig Roberts sports 1980-2004 still in Houston was working at the Tube 55 and other jobs.

KHOU:

Shern-Minh Chow who scores the rare trifecta of working several years each at 11, 13 and 2 in a single long career.

[marcusfb]

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?

I am suprised that no one has mentioned Jan Glenn, I know the story of her and Bob, then she "Tried" a come back and it went splat, where did she go?

[Retama]

I am suprised that no one has mentioned Jan Glenn ... where did she go?

You can still see Jan Glenn on a channel 55 show called Wild About Houston

Man, Larry Rasco had a great voice. Wish I could hear it again. What about another golden throat, Dick Gottleib? Wasn't he an anchor in Houston? I remember him primarily from the Jerry Lewis telethons (back when they were a big deal). He was often a candidate for local office as well. I remember he died sometime back in the 1980s or 90s. I would love to hear his voice again as well.

Amanda Arnold grew up in Houston, anyone know where she lived/attended high school?

[brucesw]

What about another golden throat, Dick Gottleib? Wasn't he an anchor in Houston? I remember him primarily from the Jerry Lewis telethons (back when they were a big deal). He was often a candidate for local office as well. I remember he died sometime back in the 1980s or 90s. I would love to hear his voice again as well.

Gottlieb went to A&M and worked at WTAW in B/CS before getting into Houston radio in the 40s. Accounts differ about who hired him first; one account says he was hired by W. Albert Lee to do play-by-play of high school games on KLEE (AM-610) for $25 a game, another account has him being hired originally by Roy Hofheinz for his KTHT (AM-1230). Whichever is true he was working for KLEE when their TV station went on the air and handled announcing chores for both AM and TV. Then when Lee sold Channel 2 to KPRC and the Post, he stayed with the TV side and went on to be known as Mr. Television in Houston. He handled just about everything - games shows, talk shows, play-by-play of the Buffs. He may have anchored news on occasion but I don't remember it.

Although his voice had become known to early TV viewers on KLEE-TV he was never seen on camera until just before the change of ownership.

He served on City Council and ran a small advertising firm after getting out of TV. I think he's been mentioned in other threads here on HAIF regarding his political career. Along the way he acquired the unfortunate nickname of Deep Throat.

Another old timer who's been overlooked is Sid Lasher, weathercaster for 11 in the late 50s. He was a very folksy sort who drew his weather maps on a big tablet with a marksalot or maybe it was a charcoal pencil back then.

I think Chris Chandler replaced him at 11 before going over to 2 to host the Happy Talk news format. I don't remember Chandler ever doing weather on 2 but maybe so.

KLEE-TV had news briefs but I don't know who hosted them or if the person was ever seen on camera or was a journalist in any sense or just read news copy off the wires. KPRC-TVs first news anchor was Pat Flaherty who was news director of KPRC-AM when it took over Channel 2.

[djrage]

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!

About as far back as I can remember which is about the early 70s that big silver 2 sat on the side of the KPRC tower until about the mid 90s. Everytime I passed through that area I made it a point to look at that tower. I used to wonder if that 2 was still up there under the current logo.

[djrage]

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.

I remember Debbi Johnson. She co-anchored with someone I want to say Tom Abrahams (mid to late 80s). Both fairly young at the time. There was an April Fool bit done in the Post by Ken Hoffman about them supposedly there had been a quiet thing between for sometime, they decided to make it known and were now engaged to be married. The day after both were dismissing any truth to it in the next days article. I think she had no knowledge of the article and had people asking her if it was true. She was a pretty good sport about it.

[musicman]

I remember Debbi Johnson. She co-anchored with someone I want to say Tom Abrahams (mid to late 80s).

jim rosenfield.

[FilioScotia]

Another old timer who's been overlooked is Sid Lasher, weathercaster for 11 in the late 50s. He was a very folksy sort who drew his weather maps on a big tablet with a marksalot or maybe it was a charcoal pencil back then. I think Chris Chandler replaced him at 11 before going over to 2 to host the Happy Talk news format. I don't remember Chandler ever doing weather on 2 but maybe so.

Chris Chandler did the weather on KPRC for a couple of years in the mid 60s, till he talked GM Jack Harris into letting him do a personality show as a lead-in to the NBC Nightly News at 5:30. Huntley and Brinkley were still vertical and working then.

When Chandler gave up the weather duties sometime around 1965 or 66, Harris gave that job to one of the DJ's from KPRC Radio. A young fresh-faced and smiling guy named Doug Johnson. Doug would also occasionally fill in for Chandler in the personality show.

Sid Lasher was one of the most popular TV personalities Houston has ever had. He wasn't a meteorologist. Never pretended to be one. He just explained the weather and the forecast in words we ordinary folk could understand. His warm and cordial on-air style endeared him to everybody. He died one night between the 6pm and 10pm news.

Ron Stone told me an interesting story about the guy who replaced Lasher. Stone was anchoring at KHOU then, and a guy named Jerry Dale was the backup and weekend weather guy. When Lasher died, Dale was promoted into the weeknight job. Stone told me that Dale really loved Lasher as a friend and father-figure, and he was so grief-stricken by his death he fell into a deep depression. Worse, he believed with all his heart, mind and soul that Lasher's spirit was still roaming the halls and studios at KHOU. He ended up taking a long hiatus from work to get psychiatric treatment and a lot of rest

[missmsry]

Loved Mr. Sid Lasher. I was watching the night he died between the six and ten o'clock shows. Poor Ron Stone was practically in tears reporting the death of his good friend and colleague.

[Retama]

Worse, he believed with all his heart, mind and soul that Lasher's spirit was still roaming the halls and studios at KHOU. He ended up taking a long hiatus from work to get psychiatric treatment and a lot of rest

Wow.

[SecondTour]

ESPN anchor Hannah Storm also spent a few years working in Houston.

[JRH_1948]

I remember a weatherman on Channel 2 in the early '50s named John Wisinger. Sports was done by Pat Flaherty. Don't recall who the news anchor was.

[Heights2Bastrop]

I never knew Pat Flaherty was ever on TV. I used to stay at my grandmother

[sifuwong]

ESPN anchor Hannah Storm also spent a few years working in Houston.

She was a studio commentator for the Rockets with Channel 20 back in the 90s.

[scrubba]

Channel 2 , did you really have to remind al of us ole dinosaurs about Alexis South? Really now without her K L O L radio would have had nothing for it's morning fodder ! I can remember meandering over to Big Texan Bowling for coffee so I could start the day manufacturing Van accessories All this and people tell me over at Vannin .com that was thirty years ago! Could I really be getting that old?

Ed Shaver, scrubba

[tvcowboy]

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"

I just had to correct an erroneous notion that appears in the message above, and about which I have firsthand knowledge. Tom Siler had plenty of time left on his contract when he left WTXL -- time the ownership would have honored. But Tom wanted more money elsewhere, so he faked his "retirement," one of the few contract "outs" the WTXL ownership would allow. Tom told everyone at the station he was leaving the business and moving the the Philippines (!), where he would snooze away his golden years in a beachside hammock, sipping pastel drinks with little umbrellas in them. Siler was entirely unethical in his subterfuge and left a sour taste in everybody's mouth once his duplicity was discovered. But by then, the management had replaced him with a far better meteorologist and didn't see any sense in hassling Siler -- the attitude quickly switched from "bon voyage" to "good riddance." He never generated any real viewers anyway, and the "Weather Wizard" label was just a last ditch effort by a ratings consultant to pump some life into his otherwise flat following. He was rapidly becoming a dead letter anyway, because he lacked the qualifications for an AMS Seal...he had one from the NWA, but it only applies to TV people, not professional meteorologists. Tom was a nice guy, and he knew how to read a National Weather Service forecast just great, but the "retirement" stunt lost him a good many friends in the business.

For the record, I found the above-referenced mistake while Googling my way elsewhere. I recognize that my post is more than two years too late, but since the offending entry is still available I could not, in good conscience, let it stand as a slur on WTXL, whose ownership and management at the time (IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IN DEC. 2005 THE COMPANY WAS BOUGHT BY SOME TRULY NASTY PEOPLE) was very good to their employees and would never have been party to any action that could be even remotely construed as discriminatory. I registered at this site solely to make this one post, in the interest of an accurate history.

[brucesw]

I remember a weatherman on Channel 2 in the early '50s named John Wisinger. Sports was done by Pat Flaherty. Don't recall who the news anchor was.

Just happened on this old thread while searching for something on Chris Chandler. Pat Flaherty was the news director of KPRC radio and became the ND of Channel 2 when the Hobby's took it over from W. Albert Lee. He was the earliest anchor man as far as I know although he may have done it all in the early days, read sports, weather, etc. Ray Miller was there early but I don't remember him. Flaherty's voice and delivery was memorable, even more so than Miller's. An early sports reporter/anchor on 2 was Carl Mann, a tall, young James Brolin look-alike but probably Bob Dundas and Lee Gordon filled in on occasion.

[FilioScotia]

Just happened on this old thread while searching for something on Chris Chandler. Pat Flaherty was the news director of KPRC radio and became the ND of Channel 2 when the Hobby's took it over from W. Albert Lee. He was the earliest anchor man as far as I know although he may have done it all in the early days, read sports, weather, etc. Ray Miller was there early but I don't remember him. Flaherty's voice and delivery was memorable, even more so than Miller's. An early sports reporter/anchor on 2 was Carl Mann, a tall, young James Brolin look-alike but probably Bob Dundas and Lee Gordon filled in on occasion.

Hi Bruce. In the book The Fault Does Not Lie With Your Set, KPRC's late GM Jack Harris writes that Pat Flaherty came to KPRC Radio in the 40s right after military service in WWII. Flaherty immediately started building KPRC Radio News, but Ray Miller went to Australia, where he worked as News Director for Australia's commercial radio service, the Macquarrie Network. That's also where he met and married his wife.

Miller came back to Houston a couple of years later and went to work for Flaherty at KPRC Radio. Both men were there when the Hobby family bought KLEE TV from Albert Lee, and changed the calls to KPRC. Miller also served in Korea, and returned to his KPRC job when it was over.

Pat Flaherty died of a stroke on the air, during his newscast on KPRC radio one morning in the mid 50s. His voice faltered, there was a very long silence, and KPRC reporter Tom Fox stepped in and finished reading the newscast Flaherty had prepared.

When sports became a separate segment of the newscast sometime in the late 50s, Carl Mann was one of the first to hold down that job. His sports segment was "Mann About Sports", and I think his sponsor was Jones Apothecary, a local chain of drug stores.

[little frau]

I could be wrong, but I didn't see Bill Worrell's name listed anywhere. The thing I remember about him, from maybe the 70's, is that he had the absolute most beautiful vividly blue eyes. Also, for that time, very good hair. Couldn't say which channel though.

Wasn't it Jessica Savitch who had one blue eye and one brown (or green)? And, Alexis with her little sweaters and skirts, I thought she got out of television to concentrate on family.

[FilioScotia]

Hi Bruce. In the book The Fault Does Not Lie With Your Set, KPRC's late GM Jack Harris writes that Pat Flaherty came to KPRC Radio in the 40s right after military service in WWII. Flaherty immediately started building KPRC Radio News, but Ray Miller went to Australia, where he worked as News Director for Australia's commercial radio service, the Macquarrie Network. That's also where he met and married his wife.

Miller came back to Houston a couple of years later and went to work for Flaherty at KPRC Radio. Both men were there when the Hobby family bought KLEE TV from Albert Lee, and changed the calls to KPRC. Miller also served in Korea, and returned to his KPRC job when it was over.

Pat Flaherty died of a stroke on the air, during his newscast on KPRC radio one morning in the mid 50s. His voice faltered, there was a very long silence, and KPRC reporter Tom Fox stepped in and finished reading the newscast Flaherty had prepared.

When sports became a separate segment of the newscast sometime in the late 50s, Carl Mann was one of the first to hold down that job. His sports segment was "Mann About Sports", and I think his sponsor was Jones Apothecary, a local chain of drug stores.

I think I should clarify some information in the above posting. How Pat Flaherty and Ray Miller ended up at the same station in Houston.

Flaherty and Miller both served in WWII. Flaherty was an NBC war correspondent in the South Pacific, where Jack Harris got to know him after MacArthur liberated the Phillipines. Harris writes that after the war, Flaherty turned down NBC's offer to run the NBC Bureau in Washington, so he could accept an offer to work for Harris at KPRC Radio in Houston.

Ray Miller was a Navy submariner in WWII, based in Australia. When the war ended, he did a brief stint at KPRC in Houston, but returned to Australia to marry his wartime sweetheart. He stayed, and founded and directed the news department at the MacQuarrie Network, Australia's commercial radio network. Jack Harris writes that after two years, Miller got tired of the Australian bureaucracy and returned to Houston and his job at KPRC.

Together, Flaherty and Miller built KPRC Radio into one of the most respected broadcast news organizations in the country. Their reputation for high quality broadcast journalism continued when their bosses, Bill and Oveta Hobby, bought KLEE TV and renamed it KPRC TV.

[brucesw]

Hi Bruce. In the book The Fault Does Not Lie With Your Set, KPRC's late GM Jack Harris writes that Pat Flaherty came to KPRC Radio in the 40s right after military service in WWII. Flaherty immediately started building KPRC Radio News, but Ray Miller went to Australia, where he worked as News Director for Australia's commercial radio service, the Macquarrie Network. That's also where he met and married his wife.

Miller came back to Houston a couple of years later and went to work for Flaherty at KPRC Radio. Both men were there when the Hobby family bought KLEE TV from Albert Lee, and changed the calls to KPRC. Miller also served in Korea, and returned to his KPRC job when it was over.

Pat Flaherty died of a stroke on the air, during his newscast on KPRC radio one morning in the mid 50s. His voice faltered, there was a very long silence, and KPRC reporter Tom Fox stepped in and finished reading the newscast Flaherty had prepared.

When sports became a separate segment of the newscast sometime in the late 50s, Carl Mann was one of the first to hold down that job. His sports segment was "Mann About Sports", and I think his sponsor was Jones Apothecary, a local chain of drug stores.

Thanks for all the info, Filio. It's been some time since I read Harris' book and I didn't remember all that detail. I think Mann was on the air by the mid-50s, even the early 50s. I accompanied my Mother to the studios several times as a young child - she wanted to be on TV and appeared several times on audience participation shows including Darts for Dough with Dick Gottlieb which I think was on Wednesday evenings and on a daytime home demonstration/cooking show (not TV Kitchen). My brother and I were never allowed to sit in the studio audience - we were sent upstairs to a glass booth overlooking the studio where we stood on the chair arms and leaned on the slanted window to see the studio below. On one of those trips I encountered Mann in the stairwell. I was in awe; he was pleased by my reaction. That was in the 'new' studios on Post Oak (March 53) but not the late 50s.

I need to re-read Harris.

[FilioScotia]

Thanks for all the info, Filio. It's been some time since I read Harris' book and I didn't remember all that detail. I think Mann was on the air by the mid-50s, even the early 50s. I accompanied my Mother to the studios several times as a young child - she wanted to be on TV and appeared several times on audience participation shows including Darts for Dough with Dick Gottlieb which I think was on Wednesday evenings and on a daytime home demonstration/cooking show (not TV Kitchen). My brother and I were never allowed to sit in the studio audience - we were sent upstairs to a glass booth overlooking the studio where we stood on the chair arms and leaned on the slanted window to see the studio below. On one of those trips I encountered Mann in the stairwell. I was in awe; he was pleased by my reaction. That was in the 'new' studios on Post Oak (March 53) but not the late 50s. I need to re-read Harris.

That daytime cooking show you mention was hosted by a very nice lady named Jane Christopher. Her show went off the air in the late 50s and she retired from TV. Years later, in the late 60s, she got into the news when her son was killed in a shootout with Houston Police.

That happened in 1968, when I was chasing police stories for KIKK AM. A man broke into the home of a Houston bank President early one morning. He held the banker's wife and family hostage, and ordered him to go to his bank and come back with a lot of money or he would kill them. The banker went to his bank, but he called police who quickly surrounded the house in Memorial. I know it sounds crazy now, but police charged into the house and chased the gunman to one of the back bedrooms where he was shot to death. He was identified as Dan Christopher, and a day or so later we learned he was the son of Jane Christopher, KPRC TV's 1950s cooking show hostess.

There are a million stories in the Naked City.......