TV50 another loss of 'local' in our news, institutions

Television news is no longer Edward R. Murrow.

We all know that. But we weren't ready for Channel 50's announcement (or lack thereof) that its local news programs are canceled, its news staff out of jobs.

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. It sometimes seems we are constantly bearing witness to the loss of "local," the unrelenting demise of our hometown institutions.

True, TV50 is still on the air. But the media professionals whom viewers had come to regard as friends are gone, without so much as a chance to say goodbye. One more black mark on our checklist of corporate stewardship.

THE NEWS (if I may use the term) set me to remembering how we greeted the prospect of local TV. We took it as a sign that our "cow county" days were ending, that we were coming into our own.

The first time this happened - the first TV50 - was short-lived, lasting just a year, August to August, 1972 to '73 - but, while it lasted, its news programming was a class act. Owner Kit Spier, a KNBC-Los Angeles executive, was undercapitalized ($500,000 total) and, perhaps, overly optimistic about the advertisers. But he brought first-rate talent to the studios on the corner of Fifth and Davis, in the old Bettini Building that had been a postal distribution center.

Despite the west-end location, it was definitely an uptown operation. And it got an enthusiastic response. While it lasted.

Among the station's 23 employees was the news director, Stan Atkinson, who would become the dean of Sacramento Valley anchormen. And a kid with a full head of hair named Jon Miller, who was the sports guy. Miller is currently one of the most respected sportscasters in major league baseball and the "voice" of the San Francisco Giants.

A couple of footnotes: The Sonoma County supervisors were so pleased at the notion of being televised that they voted funds for high-density lighting in the boardroom. They said it was to spare the fledgling station expense but many suspected they just thought they'd look better. Maybe younger?

Also, for the record, the Channel 50 designation was awarded to this area by the Federal Communications Commission in 1962, with an application by Hugh Codding for a UHF station that never materialized.

AFTER Spier's grand experiment folded, there was an eight-year TV drought. But not without hope.

Wishard Brown, owner of the San Rafael Independent Journal and an investor in Marin County radio stations, had purchased the rights to use the KFTY call letters. Thus, in 1979, when Gannett Publishing Co. (read: USA Today) bought Brown's newspaper, his Sonoma Broadcasting Co. took on new importance.

In 1980, Brown bought a furniture store on Mendocino Avenue (K Sanford, the first "Danish modern" vendor in the area) and added a wing to make room for studios. And he hired Jim Johnson as general manager.

Jim came from a TV network of four stations in western Nebraska, northern Kansas and eastern Colorado, bringing experience in startup stations.

The station went on the air in May 1981. Bob Sherwood from KGO-TV was news director; the veteran KPIX anchor Rod Sherry was weekend anchor. The cable channel's program director, Afton Sizemore (soon to revert to her maiden name, Auld), was host of a daily interview show called "Good Afternoon," which morphed into the long-running and popular "California North."

Despite the fact that they had to fight for a channel position with cable providers around Sonoma County and learn to cope with our weather, which had a tendency to knock out their Mount St. Helena transmitter, the 1980s would constitute the glory days of local television.

The station started off with 10 local newscasts each day, put together by Sherwood, Sherry, a former radio reporter named Robb Deignan and a flock of five able interns from SRJC's communications program.

In addition, they had good Sunday night movies and shows including "Richard III," "Heidi," Phil Donahue in prime time, Lawrence Welk and "Wild, Wild West," Forum 50 for public affairs debates, and local film festivals ("American Graffiti," "The Birds").

People were paying attention.

The staff was, well, folksy. It was, in many ways, a mom and pop operation. Johnson's wife, Linda, who had TV experience, was a producer. Deb Kostal, the co-anchor, was married to news director Sherwood. Sportscaster Doug Silveri and reporter Elizabeth Martinez were man and wife.

When Sherry, the undisputed dean of the staff, became the weekday anchor and news director, he shepherded the talented interns to full-time positions. Intern Debbie Swearingen changed her name to Nelson when she became a co-anchor. She left for a Phoenix station but returned to the Bay Area as Debora Villalon to join Pete Wilson on KGO-TV's evening news.

Another Sherry protégé, Frank Somerville, anchors Channel 2's news, which features two other TV50 grads, meteorologists Steve Paulson and Bill Martin.

Sherry, who is about to turn 90 and lives at The Lodge at Paulin Creek, was pretty much appalled by last weekend's events.

"I do think it was badly handled," he said. "I've never seen a station do this."

"I have some very good memories," said Sherry, "and the best part of it was the kids, all the first jobs. Even the guys who worked the controls were learning. There was such satisfaction in seeing the progress they made. It makes for very pleasant memories. I brought what I could and I'd be pleased to claim a little credit. I'm so sorry it has come to this."

AFTON Auld now lives near Sacramento with her husband, former Hewlett-Packard exec Kit Tuveson. In her 11 years at the station, Afton wore a lot of hats. At one time or another she was program director, marketing director and public relations director; but her great love was the "California North" show that she hosted for most of those years.

Winner of at least two Northern California Emmy awards, the programming ranged from very serious - one award winner reunited a Vietnam vet with his foxhole buddies - to the sublimely slapstick - including a troupe of performing motorcyclists, one of whom ran over Afton's foot. If there was a county fair, a parade, a sheepdog trial, a grape stomp or a charity barbecue, Afton was there.

There were also interviews with the Smothers Brothers, Kris Kristofferson, Cab Calloway and Billy Daniels, and a classic with singer Kate Wolf that brought viewers to tears when it was rebroadcast the day after Kate died in 1989.

Afton has a not-so-fond recollection of the big cat trainer who brought his mountain lion into the studio. "I still remember that the lion's name was Joker," she said."He was huge. He sprawled on the set and every time the air conditioning went on, he gave this hiss, and my voice went up two octaves."

The 1980s, Afton said, "were the years when the timing was right for the station. Sonoma County was emerging as Wine Country, with just enough egos around to make a TV station an important part of the community."

IRONICALLY, it was the wine connection that spelled the beginning of the end of those good times. Owner Brown, watching his fortune ebb, put the station on the market in the late 1980s, and in 1990, after firing Jim Johnson, he announced the sale of the station - with an on-air champagne toast - to Gary Heck, owner of Korbel Champagne Cellars, and his then-wife, Marsha.

The Hecks spent a goodly sum on remodeling and made myriad staff changes. Marsha Heck replaced Afton on "California North" and became chief executive officer. In an atmosphere that one staffer described as "Hecktic," Marsha was dismissed in '92 and she and Heck divorced.

Offered a chance to reflect on his television adventure last week, Gary Heck sent a message through his assistant, saying, "It's been a long time since he was in the television business, and he thinks he'll pass."

THE END of local ownership came 11 years ago when Heck sold to the Ackerley Group of Seattle, which, in turn, sold to the current owner, the mega-multimedia company known as Clear Channel, in 2001.

Corporate ownership, with its bottom-line mentality, has cost local programming dearly. But there is plenty of evidence that viewers are still paying attention. Veteran newsman Ed Beebout has a faithful following, as does reporter Curtis Kim.

Letters and e-mails from Press Democrat readers lament the loss of "old friends" among the 13 staffers who were dismissed with no notice (as management changed the locks).

THE MAN who was at the center of it all for nearly a decade, Jim Johnson, waxes philosophical about the current situation.

Johnson remains active in the community. He is a partner in a firm that manages employee benefits, a dedicated Rotarian and a recent candidate for Santa Rosa City Council.

"Depressing," is the word Johnson chose for the change in programming. "It's like having one of your grown-up children go bankrupt," he said.

He was, after all, in at the birth - or "rebirth" - of TV50. And he has his own fond memories of the '80s.

"Wishard Brown had money to spend and we spent it!" said Johnson. "We were experimenting and trying to create a niche.

"What makes me saddest," he said, "is that this is an example of what America has become. We live locally. And when we lose that local connection, things fall apart."