October 2005 ff amera TheC National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences www.emmysf.tv San Francisco/Northern California Chapter SAN FRANCISCO STATIONS HIT THE ROAD FOR KATRINA By Bob Goldberger It was Friday, August 26, 2005. Sunday night and Monday morning as Hurricane Katrina had rudely slapped the storm rolled in, before moving to the Florida Keys, and was now New Orleans and Slidell the next day, chugging through the Gulf of Mexico to cover the gut-wrenching flooding, on a collision course with New evacuations, and rescues. Orleans, growing stronger by the Two other stations weren’t far hour. News managers in Northern behind. By the end of the week, crews California and throughout the country from KTVU (Fox 2) and KPIX (CBS 5) were struggling with the same were also in New Orleans. In fact, question: “Do we send our own KPIX committed three reporters and people to cover this developing photographers at once. News Director story?” Dan Rosenheim says it was a special The Bay Area’s five primary news situation. “We don’t normally send stations each answered that question reporters to hurricanes because they differently, for very different rea- don’t happen here. If we were in New sons. Three went, two did not, but York or Miami, where they deal with they all brought their viewers exten- their own hurricanes, it would be sive coverage of the disaster now different. But when the magnitude of known simply as “Katrina.” Katrina’s damage became clear, we When Katrina hit Monday morn- knew we had to go.” ing, it was a strong category four KTVU news director Ed Chapuis storm, with sustained winds of 150 gives the same reason for sending miles an hour and waves up to 40 feet high. It left the reporter Ken Wayne to New Orleans, but he says for Gulf Coast in shambles from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to them, one crew was enough. “Our goal clearly was not Mobile, Alabama. By Tuesday, two sections of levee to try to out network the network. We wanted to do the protecting the sunken city of New Orleans had crumbled, human stories about our local people who were there— and 80% of the Crescent City was severely flooded. to show how California was helping with the recovery First on the scene was KGO, ABC7, although news effort. We saw it as a local story because we’d seen so director Kevin Keeshan says they didn’t exactly plan it many crews coming out of here. Our goal was to find that way. “We were first in because we had the good them and tell their stories.” fortune of (reporter) Mark Matthews already stationed KNTV (NBC 11) and KRON 4 News opted not to send in Crawford, Texas, covering Cindy Sheehan’s protest their own crews, again, for different reasons. KNTV news outside the President’s ranch. That story essentially director Jim Sanders says it simply was not necessary, ended Saturday, so on Sunday, Mark drove eight hours because the NBC O&O group (owned and operated to Baton Rouge to cover Katrina.” Matthews reported live continued on page 4 MEDIA NIGHT 10/7 SILVER & GOLD 10/15 NATAS’ Northern California chapter will host this Later this month, your Northern month’s “Media Night” in Sacramento. California NATAS Chapter will induct eight The monthly get-together will be held at 11 p.m. on more outstanding television professionals Friday, Oct. 7, at the Riverside Clubhouse in down- into the Gold and Silver Circles. town Sacramento. A. Richard (Dick) Robertson will be NATAS will provide a drink coupon for any television inducted into the prestigious Gold Circle, industry employee from the region who signs up at the which honors individuals who have served chapter’s information table. in the television industry for 50 years or The “Media Night” is held the first week of every more and have made a significant contribution to the month in Sacramento as a way for industry professionals industry. Robertson, owner of Mother Lode Communica- to get together and exchange information. tions, began his broadcasting career at KSL-TV in Salt continued on page 3 Off Camera, October 2005, page 1 NEXT ACADEMY FORUM KEVIN O’BRIEN’S BACK IN THE GAME Former KTVU “TV AD General Manager Kevin O’Brien has joined the SALES” Granite Broadcasting Corporation as a con- sultant to its stations on “People Meter Forum” programming acquisi- 9/22/04 KPIX Wed 11/2 tions and strategic sales Photo by Robert Mohr © 2004 initiatives for 2006. Granite owns eight What is the status of television advertising sales? broadcast stations Is California’s special election helping? nationwide, including Are ads sold on TV stations’ web pages the key to the KBWB (WB affiliate) in future? San Francisco and KSEE If you don’t work in the sales department, why should (NBC affiliate) in Fresno. you care? The corporation previ- These and other questions will be the focus of a ously owned KNTV forum on TV ad sales next month. (NBC-11) in San Jose The forum will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, before selling the station to General Electric (NBC parent Nov. 2, in the north studio at KPIX-TV, 855 Battery St., company) in May, 2002. San Francisco. O’Brien’s partnership with Granite comes shortly after It will feature panelists from sales departments as the company announced the pending sale of its WB well as general managers and station managers. stations in San Francisco and Detroit. W. Don The event is sponsored by NATAS’ Northern California Cornwell, Chief Executive Officer of Granite Broadcast- chapter. ing Corporation, says, “Kevin O’Brien is a gifted operator “There is probably no issue more important for people with over 38 years of broadcasting experience, including who work in the TV industry than the current state many years of direct experience and excellent relation- of advertising sales,” said David Mills, chapter presi- ships in the San Francisco and Detroit markets. His dent. “We want to provide a forum for discussion on this background in independent television and his contacts in issue that is vital to everyone in the television business.” the industry are very valuable and will greatly enhance The forum will be free to NATAS members as well as the current positive momentum at our stations.” non-members. O’Brien has kept a low public profile since being dismissed as President of the Meredith Broadcasting Group last October. In an unusual move, the company EMERALD YEH HONORED stated its Board of Directors terminated O’Brien for “violations of Meredith’s Equal Employment Opportunity The National Associa- policies.” tion for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) presented former KRON reporter Emerald Yeh NBC11 TRANSMITTER with its prestigious At midnight on Sep- Margaret Cork Award for tember 14th KNTV ceased her ground breaking operations from the Mt. documentary Lost Loma Prieta transmitter Childhood: Growing Up location and begin broad- in an Alcoholic Home. casting from it’s new The documentary, state-of-the-art facility on first aired on KRON in San Bruno Mountain, just San Francisco, is now south of San Francisco. being aired on PBS stations across the country as part of This improved or restored a public awareness campaign started by Yeh. NACoA over-the-air service to approximately 400,000 viewers also honored Jerry Moe, National Director of the Betty throughout the Bay Area. Ford Center Children’s Programs, whose efforts are From this new location NBC 11 will broadcast all recognized in Yeh’s program, for his three decades of analog and digital signals. This means viewers may be work with children and families affected by addiction. able to receive Channel 11’s regular analog service and The Margaret Cork Award was created in honor of one also see their digital and high-definition signals including of the pioneer researchers in the field of children of NBC11 Weather Plus, their 24-hour weather channel. alcoholics, whose seminal book The Forgotten Children, Most televisions with regular antennas will need to be helped catapult the plight of children of alcoholics into reprogrammed to activate channel 11. Viewers on cable the public eye. The award was presented to Yeh at the 3 were not affected by the relocation. Washington Club in Washington, D.C. on September 22nd. Off Camera, October 2005, page 2 CIRCLE INDUCTION 10/15 SILVER CIRCLE PROFILE continued from page 1 Lake City in 1951. JAN MOELLERING He spent a year as Promotion Man- ager for KTVU in Oakland before moving to KRON, where he remained for 18 years. Adams After a stint in Flagstaff as a professor in the Northern Arizona University’s communications program, Robertson returned to the Bay Area and worked three years as KQED’s Director of Corporate Communica- tions before starting his own firm, Mother Lode Communications. In “Moe” in the middle with former GM Stew Park 1996 he retired to the Gold Country, (Silver Circle ‘88) & present GM Linda Sullivan where he became marketing manager By Meredith Smith Bonavolonta for the Tuolomne County Film Com- mission. Robertson now lives in Jan “Moe” Moellering’s (Silver Circle ‘94) “15 Plantation, Florida. minutes of fame” began literally as the producer/host of Seven new members have been a 15-minute radio show about her high school that aired named to the Silver Circle, which every Sunday night on a local radio station. Feeding her honors NATAS members with 25 or fascination with broadcast, Jan enrolled at San Jose more years in the television industry. State University as one of only a handful of women They include Dan Adams, a reporter majoring in Radio & TV Production.