Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Action News

 

courtesy:  New York Post

Bill Jorgensen is the man you see here on the left, in a photo from his days at WPIX in New York City.  Jorgensen died last week at the age of 96.

He came over to WPIX after helping establish the news operation at cross town WNEW, now WNYW.

Let me back up a bit, and do what I usually do here-- inflict myself in to the story.

WPIX revamped its news in the mid 70's.  New title:  "Action News."  Great theme.   Fantastic set.  Solid anchors-- Pat Harper in the center and Steve Bosh on the right.  It was a perfect mix of reporters-- Kamen, Bloom, Casey, Witker, Ferer, Malloy, Scott...  Some were great at features.  The others were intrepid investigators.  You can't forget about Jerry Girard on sports.  Jeffrey Lyons did movie and Broadway reviews.  I had occasional access to WNEW, but I couldn't see the major network affiliates on my cable system, so this is likely an unfair judgement, but I loved Action News and thought it was the best newscast in the city.  It was informative, visual, fun, interesting...  My joy was only amplified when they added a 7:30 pm version to the 10 pm edition.

There are a handful of major influences on my television "career, " and many minor ones.   The two biggest are WNEP and WPIX of the 1970's.

Okay, foundation established.

Harper and Bosh handled most of the anchoring chores, until 1979, when Bill Jorgensen joined the crew.  Jorgensen was just about the perfect anchor-- great voice and delivery, tight writer.  The man dripped gravitas.  If Bill Jorgensen said something, you believed it.

Unfortunately...  there was no chemistry with Bosh and Harper.  The three anchor arrangement just didn't work and the newscast lost its luster.  It just seemed awkward and uncomfortable.  You can sense something was amiss.

Let me branch off for a moment, and how much I hate talking about "chemistry."  It's television.  If the chemistry is a little off, no one dies.  On the other hand, a newscast is much more watchable and easier to handle if the people on the screen like and respect each other.  You can't teach that.  You can't fake that, and I have been so fortunate over the last several years.  One day, I will tell "the rest of the story."

Harper eventually defected for WNBC.  Bosh made a couple of other stops, including Dallas and San Diego.  You might find this story semi humorous.  I had a friend working at Bosh's San Diego TV station.  We were messaging one day, and I said "Tell Steve Bosh I said he is a God."  My friend replied "He's standing right here."  I nearly dropped my phone.

Jorgensen stayed at WPIX for eight years, until his retirement.

I'm searching for a clever way to wrap this up, and looking for the moral of the story.  Bill Jorgensen was a great anchor, but I never thought WPIX was a good fit.  He informed millions for decades, and I hope his contributions to journalism are never forgotten.

Monday, March 18, 2024

Hurry Up and Wait

 

Once upon a time, ABC hired a young reporter out of Canada.  It was the mid 60's.  The kid showed great promise and he was handed the evening news anchor job.

He bombed.

Bigly.

It didn't help that ABC had a station line-up that was far inferior to CBS and NBC, but the kid wasn't ready for the evening news anchor gig.  Awkward.  Chilly.  The audience didn't warm up to him and he was soon replaced.

The new former anchor became a correspondent for ABC, traveling the country, and then the globe.  There were assignments in Europe and the Middle East.  He did great.

The correspondent was installed as the news reader on a new ABC network morning show.

It flopped.

It lasted less than one year.

It was back to Europe and the Middle East.

When ABC needed an anchor in the mid 70's, This man was given another shot.  He was ready this time.  It was the best newscast on network television.

You might remember the correspondent/anchor:  Peter Jennings.

For some bizarre reason, Peter Jennings came to mind when the Pittsburgh Steelers traded Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles Friday.

Pickett was handed Pittsburgh's starting quarterback job.

He bombed.

Bigly.

The Steelers decided to go with the now journeyed Russell Wilson, who will be 36 when the season starts.  Pickett pouted.  Rather than sit on the bench for a while and learn from a player who will be in the Hall of Fame one day, Pickett wanted a move.

Now, he'll sit on the bench in Philadelphia.

This should have turned out differently.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Andy's Angles: Ft. Jenkins

 

You can't put a picture of the Water Street Bridge on the blog without a photo of its companion span.  This is the Fort Jenkins Bridge over the Susquehanna River.  Pittston is on the left.  West Pittston is on the right.

Unlike Water Street, this bridge is still open.

This photo begged to be cropped, at least a little.  I didn't.  I wouldn't.  I couldn't.  I like the blue sky and the reflection on the water in the left part of the shot.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Andy's Angles: Again?!

 

Outside of the trains at Steamtown, this has to be one of the most photographed things in my catalog.  This is the Water Street Bridge over the Susquehanna River.  Pittston is on the right.  West Pittston is on the left.

In a blog post about one of my favorite songs, "Baker Street," I mentioned that I notice something different each time I hear the song.  The same is true when I have this bridge in my viewfinder.

The bridge is old and it closed a few years ago.  There is a plan to replace it.  We'll see if the politicians follow through after the election.

A look at its companion bridge tomorrow.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Business Friday

 

Dollar Tree bought Family Dollar.  Big mistake.  Too much debt, too fast.   The company announced 1,000 stores will be closed.

I have no problem admitting that I visit both, on occasion-- Dollar Tree more than Family Dollar.  The latter have manageably sized stores.  You can usually get in and out without an issue.  On the other hand, they are nothing special and the prices aren't that great.

Wendy's, which recently was caught with its hands in the "dynamic pricing" cookie jar, is introducing an Orange Cream Frosty.  It's a temporary menu item.  As much as I've been avoiding Wendy's recently, I am intrigued.

How would you like to be the public relations person for Boeing right now?  Someone has a lot of explaining to do.

Gasoline prices are at a four month high.  The peak demand summer travel season is hitting early.

Chocolate prices are on the way up.  That one is going to hurt.

Tik Tok might be on the way out.  Come on?  You can do without it.

Gap reported a good holiday season, and its sister chain, Old Navy is also doing well.  Old Navy doesn't surprise me.  Gap does.  It's become extremely pricey.

Price Chopper in Taylor closes next month.  It's clear the store isn't making money, and that's unfortunate.  I always enjoyed my visits. Value minded shoppers hit WalMart across the street.  Shop Rite, just a few miles in Moosic, does a lot of things better.    This could have worked.


Thursday, March 14, 2024

First Person: The Morning Relay

 

It is a shocking crime-- three people charged with shooting a man in Bradford County, cutting up the body and burning the pieces.  Getting it on the air Tuesday morning was a major challenge, and here is that tale.

The arraignments were around 2 am in Troy, just about the far western edge of our coverage area.  Photographer Jason was dispatched to get the video.  The district justice provided copies of the affidavits filed by police.  The work in Troy was finally finished around 4 am.

Here comes issue number one.  We transmit video and information via cell phone, and coverage in the western part of Bradford county isn't the greatest.  Jason had to high tail it to Towanda, where the service is better.  He sent the video back to editor Tim back at home base in Moosic.

Jason also sent back, electronically, the police paperwork, and that leads us to issue number two.  Three defendants.  Multiple charges.  A complicated case.  Lengthy paperwork.  If that wasn't enough the crime was grisly, gruesome, and downright horrific.  We had to find the words to convey exactly what happened, while still conforming to broadcast standards.  Morning TV is a different animal.  It family time.  Parents are getting the kids ready for school.  Some aspects of the crime were sexual in nature, and the rest were, literally, bloody awful.

Executive producer Brigid poured over the pages and pages of affidavits, conveying to me what police allege happened.  After 43 years of broadcasting (plus knowing the back roads and side streets), I can bang out a script pretty fast.  The 4:30 am edition was completed with seconds to spare.  I jumped in my newsroom camera chair to deliver the first news of the arrests at the top of the broadcast.

As the morning broadcast progressed, we had a few more minutes to digest what police believe happened, and every report, every half hour, had new facts.  This story is an artichoke-- one unsightly layer after another.

I should add, while all of this was happening out in the newsroom, producer Leo was in the control room to make sure the broadcast ran smoothly.  Jon and Mindi delivered the introduction to my stories, rolling with the latest changes, and I know the first time they saw some of the copy was when it zipped past on the teleprompter.  

It's a cliché, but television, especially morning television, is a team effort.  Yes, my face is on the marquee, but it takes a lot of people to get me there. 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Wednesday Scrapple

 

The political party makes no difference.  If you can't behave at the State of the Union address, where can you behave?

Speaking of politics, gang violence seems to be the new "in" issue.  I'm having a hard time seeing how any politician can fix this.  Throwing money at the problem won't help.  This is a "home" issue.

Some Taco Bell restaurants in and around Oakland, California are closing their dining rooms because of an increase in crime.  It's now drive-through only.

Jimmy Kimmel stopped being funny a long time ago.

RIP, Eric Carmen.

The Sunday morning network talk shows used to be more light than heat.  Now, it seems like they're trying to out-do each other and make headlines for their arguments.

Today's entry in the "you know all the words, even though you haven't heard the sing in years" is Arlo Guthrie's "City of New Orleans."

FOX will air some college football games on Friday night this year.  More cannibalism.  Fridays used to belong to high school football.  Christmas was NBA territory.  Black Friday was college football time.  Now, the NFL is moving things about.  There are no rules.

I'm sorry Paul Giamatti didn't win an Academy Award Sunday night.  His time will come.

By the way, the Academy Awards hit a four year high Sunday night.  It's easy to see why.  Popular movies were up for awards, and the broadcast didn't last until 1 in the morning.

Media collapse:  Deadspin.com sold.  Entire staff fired.

Fun fact:  There are 32 Dollar General stores in Erie County, PA

What's with all the wind the last several months?

I'm not sure Russell Johnson is the answer to the Steelers' problems, but he has to be better than Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph.

A reputable Yahoo! Sports writer predicts the Atlantic Coast Conference is the next to implode.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

40 Years Ago

 

I spent the 80's on the radio, and I valued the experience.  It was also great fun.

There was a period of violence here in our area way back when, and the homicide trials that followed.  I was throwing the bull with one of our engineers one afternoon.  He is one of the smartest people I ever worked with.  He had spent some time working in Detroit, a city known for its violence.  The engineer remarked that northeastern Pennsylvania was different.  People here, said the engineer, kill people they know.  He added it wasn't like Detroit, where random mini mart clerks were killed during robberies.

That conversation flashed in to my memory last week, after a man walked into a mini mart in Scranton.  He shot the clerk and a customer.  One died.  The other survived.    It wasn't far from the scene where a Scranton Police officer was shot  in the head and nearly killed in January.

Friends, welcome to Detroit.

Sunrise Silence

 

We flipped to Daylight Saving Time Sunday morning, and I can't say DST are my favorite months of the year.  As a third shift worker, I like my sunshine in the morning rather than at night.

This year's switch was a little different.  

No one in Harrisburg or Washington was yammering about picking Standard Time or Daylight Saving time and sticking with it, year 'round.  As Newswatch 16's Ally Gallo reported Friday morning, efforts to pick one and keep it are just about dead.

I suspect you'll see some chatter in the fall, because those early sunsets aren't very popular, at all, except with me.  Some politician will be looking for a quick headline and a little face time.  Bills will be introduced, again, that will go nowhere.

There are advantages to two standards, and advantages to sticking with one.  No one is thrilled with an 8:30 am sunrise, especially parents who have to send their kids to school in the dark.  I experienced that during the energy crisis of the 70's, when we switched to DST early.  Believe me, it was no big deal.  I still found my way to the bus stop in the dark.  I can see how the people in agriculture wouldn't like it.

If we did change, it would be a couple years of adjustment and the routine would become normal.  Maybe we should give it a try.

As I say here, twice a year, I'm just tired of talking about something that will never happen.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Drink Up!

 

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board came out with its annual report last week.  The bottom line:  Boy, do we like to drink!!!

Sales are very strong, spiking around the November, December, and January holidays.  There is major growth in the canned cocktail sector.

So, what are we drinking?

It terms of bottles sold, Fireball cinnamon whiskey is at the top, even thought it is down 11 per cent from the prior year.

Second place goes to New Amsterdam vodka, by 46 per cent from 2022.  I have to admit I've never tried it, but now the bug is planted in my year.

Third place goes to perennial favorite, Tito's vodka.  But, look at this.  The PLCB report  has a different entry for each bottle size.


If you add them up, Tito's blows everyone else out of the water.

The entries in the top ten amaze me.  No Crown Royal, Jack Daniels, Captain Morgan...

Tito's is king.


Sunday, March 10, 2024

Andy's Angles: All Aboard!

 

Yesterday, I mentioned my recent wandering around the Reading and Northern yard in Pittston.  Weekend train trips to and from Jim Thorpe start and end here.

This a flawed photo of an engine and passenger cars.  The sun was not my friend and the scene is horribly back-lit.  You might ask, why I didn't simply go to the other side.  Well, that other side is right up against a guide rail and the road.  I love taking photographs, but it's always safety first with me-- especially when it involves traffic.

I did try to fix it, a little, in post production.  As as friend says, "You can't sell fish off an empty truck."  A bad photo is still a bad photo.

I would like to try it again some afternoon, especially now that there is more light later in the day.  There are some things to like with the composition-- mainly the curving track in the foreground.