UPDATED NEW HIRE: A Critique of Seattle TV

It's a mess. To wit:

KING -- Kim Holcomb leaves Evening Mag and Amity Addrisi leaves New Day NW, both dumping TV for good. In sports, KING hires a newbie to cover sports out of Denver, filling the spot vacated by Jake Garcia. Only Greg Copeland and Joyce Taylor have any true connections to Seattle news. The rest are average. The Kraken hired Ian Furness to do hockey studio, so that may be a saving grace. But again that is a team hire, not the station's.

KOMO -- News Director leaving at the end of the year and they are still reeling from the retirement of lead anchor Eric Johnson. Have not recovered. It's Sinclair, so who cares? Reporters are crime hype artists. ARC Seattle is a 'do more with fewer resources' and has already expanded to three hours as morning filler. Hannah Knowles is a bright spot, but is not being showcased effectively. She should do the live desk weekdays. MEANWHILE, THEY FINALLY ADD A NEW METEOROLOGIST, GEORGE WALDENBERGER FROM SCRIPPS ORLANDO. (pic below) That company has been rapidly shedding talent, so Waldenberger escapes one mess to join Sinclair here.

KIRO -- has undergone significant cuts, including firing its entire sports department at the cusp of the fall football season. Hires a broadcaster from Canada to replace them?? Best you can do? Jesse Jones is the last newsman standing. Not worth a look, although the two main weathercasters are solid.

KCPQ -- remains the talent sieve of the market, naming weathercasters to news anchor spots, people who have no journalistic credibility. Weekend morning Romper Room newscast is particularly weak. The new sports show is underwheming so far. But Aaron Levine is a standout, hard worker and does sports commentary, which is a strength.

Comments

Rebecca Stevenson has left KOMO

"I am no longer at Komo 4." Thanks. Longtime Weather Anchor Rebecca Stevenson confirms that she left the station just before Christmas. Her last Facebook posts are 12/17. She has the Seattle station Quintafecta, having worked at the old NWCN, KING, KIRO, KCPQ and KOMO. Looks like her decision. Wants a new chapter. She was doing mainly weekend evenings for KOMO. Perhaps Stella Sun will move there. She has been sharing weekend mornings with Theron Zahn.

Where is Frankie?

Many have missed KIRO 7's weekend PM weather anchor, Frankie Katafias, so I reached out to some of my sources to find an answer. She is apparently taking a few months of leave, but not known specifically what the reason may be. Although there is uncertainty, it could be a personal or family matter. I am told she is expected back at some point in the new year. She is a great asset to what has become a troubled station. Meanwhile former KOIN Portland chief met holds down the fort.

Seattle TV Weekender Ends Her Run

So long to KOMO's longtime weekend morning anchor Lee Stoll who did her final show Saturday. She previously worked at KIRO7 and KREM2 in Spokane and did a little fill-in for me at the old NWCN. She's a Northwestern U grad. Weekend weather sidekick Theron Zahn will likely step right into anchor slot. Newcomer Stella Sun may also be in the mix. Zahn bid Lee a final goodbye this morning. She is not revealing what is next, saying "That's for later." Also, next month Komo News Operations boss Dennis Hanson and longtime Production Tech Rena Mullen are retiring. There's a big Studio C station bash for them and retiring ND Phil Bruce on December 5th.

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