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Monday, December 1, 2008
Even news anchors feeling tough times

The New York Times has a story this morning about the economy-driven layoffs of big-name local-market TV anchors.

The story's "nutgraph," or central point:

Across the country, longtime local TV anchors are a dying breed. Facing an economic slump and a severe advertising downturn, many stations have cut costs drastically in the last year, and veteran anchors, with their expensive contracts, seem to be shouldering a disproportionate share of the cutbacks. When station managers are forced to make cuts, hefty anchor salaries are a tempting target.

TV news is a big deal in Philly. Stations so far have not seen wholesale anchor cuts, though whittling has been going on here and there for some time.

Dave Huddleston, let go in June from Fox29, took a pay cut when he signed to do weekends at CBS3. Staying in town was important to him. Who out there thinks that Thomas Drayton, who replaced Huddleston at Fox29, is making Huddleston's old salary?

David Brunner, a TV agent in town, says stations are going after what may be perceived as "expendable" employees. "The days of three- and four-person sports departments and weather people who produce three [shows] a week are over," Brunner says.

Slots are going unfilled. There have been no direct hires to replace the four Philly anchors who left involuntarily this year: NBC10's Vince DeMentri and Lori Delgado and CBS3's Alycia Lane and Larry Mendte. (Lane-Mendte were making a combined $1.5 million while their successors Chris May and Susan Barnett, who were already on staff, probably are making half of that.) May, incidentally, was brought in to replace the retired Marc Howard, who was paid $800,000 to anchor one 4 p.m. newscast.

Stations are teaming up to save money. NBC10 and Fox29 are pooling video and helicopters.

Crain's New York Business reported last week that CBS took a $14 billion write-down on its television and radio assets in the third quarter and reported a 17 percent drop in operating income for its television division related to lower ad sales. At News Corp., operating income for Fox Television Stations dropped 48% in the first fiscal quarter, which ended Sept. 30. CBS's stock price has plunged 83 percent in the past 12 months; News Corp.'s has declined 73 percent. New York's local stations are expected to end the year down as much as 15 percent to 20 percent.

One quote in the Times story:

[Hofstra journalism professor Robert] Papper says longtime anchors at top-rated stations in local markets are at little risk of being laid off. But “if I were a very highly paid anchor of a No. 3 station, I’d be really nervous,” he said.

Renee Chenault-Fattah? Tim Lake? Dawn Stensland? Unless you're the top-rated Jim Gardner (who might have the only $1 million-plus deal out there) or one of his colleagues on Action News' 6 and 11 p.m. shows, you may be vulnerable.

Posted by Michael Klein @ 10:02 AM  Permalink | 9 comments
Comments   
Posted 01:50 PM, 12/01/2008
JJJenn
All you need to be a news anchor is average looks (some pancake make-up will take care of the rest) and the ability to read. The Philadelphia "celebrity news anchor" will be as scare as a Hummer H2 in the coming years.
Posted 02:21 PM, 12/01/2008
Radioheadless
Drayton is a tool and Huddy couldn't read from a TelePrompter.
Posted 02:36 PM, 12/01/2008
Chipper32
It's shocking to me that they make so much money for doing nothing but read a teleprompter and look pretty
Comment removed.
Posted 04:17 PM, 12/01/2008
TronSector82
You can get hotter girls from Delilah's Den for less and still sound "credible."
Comment removed.
Posted 04:50 PM, 12/01/2008
Foxclove5
Action News has the best News Team in Philly. It doesn't matter who you replace Larry Mendte or Alycia Lane with. No one watched that channel anyway. However, I can't wait until the book and the movie about those two soap opera stars come out.
Posted 11:38 PM, 12/14/2008
jeanne mcdonnell
I watch 10 o'clock fox news to hear Dawn Stensland's enthusiastic comments, along with her warmth. It makes the news more interesting
Posted 12:14 AM, 11/01/2009
schrunch
fattah is a joke...my child attending grammar school reads better than this clueless bimbo!
9 comments
About Michael Klein
Michael Klein chronicles local people, places and things (in easy-to-digest portions) three days a week in his Inquirer column "INQlings." He also covers the restaurant scene in his Thursday Food column, "Table Talk." See his work at http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_klein.
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