Retro Friday: Paul Moyer in Shorts

The year: 1996. KNBC's Colleen Williams and Paul Moyer are down in Atlanta to cover the Summer Olympics for their station. On July 27, 1996, a bomb is set off at Centennial Olympic Park, killing two and injuring 111. The news caught everyone off guard -- so much so that Paul Moyer, well, didn't have time to put on pants. (That's fine when you're hiding behind an anchor desk... but odd to see Paul in a suit from the waist up... along with his golf-tanned legs.) Watch the clip.

Ten Things Los Angeles Lost in 2009

It was another rough year for farewells in Los Angeles, where frequently there's truth to that old cliche that nothing here is ever permanent.

A few things we lost in 2009:


(Pic by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.)
1. Much of the Angeles National Forest, sadly, to the massive Station Fire. The fire burned 160577 acres (251 square miles) and killed two firefighters. Ash from the mountains continues to rain down on Angelenos, and it will be decades before the forest starts to recover.


2. Indie 103.1 (KDLD/KDLE) and 97.1 FM Talk (KLSX) both disappeared in 2009, the victim of a weak radio economy and the rise of personal people meters -- Arbitron's new way of measuring radio listenership. Indie was never a big ratings grabber, while KLSX's replacement, KAMP "Amp Radio," has turned into a strong performer for owner CBS Radio.


(Pic by Gary Leonard.)
3. Richard Ankrom's guerilla 110 Freeway sign art installation disappeared after Caltrans replaced its signs on the 110 North. Ankrom attempted to find the signs he made and secretly installed -- but discovered that they'd already been crushed for scrap metal.


4. KNBC's Paul Moyer (above, when he decided to give his on-air farewell from the golf course, rather than show up to say goodbye in the Channel 4 studios) retired due to budget cuts, while former KTTV anchor John Beard, fed up with L.A. news operations, headed to his old stomping grounds in Buffalo, N.Y. Also, Rick Dees gave up his attempt at an L.A. radio comeback, as "Movin' 93.9" flipped to a Spanish format.


5. Former Police Chief William Bratton made major strides in decreasing crime and turning the Los Angeles Police Department around. And although the chief would be the first to tell you that (modesty isn't his strong suit), much of that conventional wisdom is true -- crime is down in the city of Los Angeles, while the LAPD's image has been greatly improved. Bratton stepped down in late fall, replaced by Charlie Beck.


6. A preservation group managed to "Save the Derby" -- at least, the Los Feliz building (the last surviving one-time Brown Derby restaurant) where the Derby nightclub was housed. But The Derby itself -- the club known best for its cameo in the movie "Swingers" and as ground zero for the 1990s swing dance revival --shut down in early 2009. Other clubs closing in 2009 included the Knitting Factory and the Key Club.


7. Chili My Soul, the Encino eatery known for its adventurous chili selections (my fave was the Habanero/Mango Chicken), shut down in late summer after the death of owner Randy Hoffman. Other eateries closing in 2009 included Fritelli's Doughnuts and Twin Palms; also shut down were popular book store Cook's Library, as well as Little Tokyo grocer Mitsuwa Marketplace.


8. The first big event I ever took Evan to, the Echo Park Lotus Festival, didn't take place this year -- a victim of budget cuts, and even sadder, the death of the once-vibrant lotus blooms in Echo Park. Also nowhere to be found this year: Another favorite event, Little Tokyo's Tofu Festival.


9. A year after the Lou Ehlers Cadillac showroom was torn down, a similar fate was in the cards just down Wilshire for the mid-century Columbia Savings Bank building. Demolition has already begun on the 1965 Miracle Mile building, which the L.A. Conservancy notes is "an important example of postwar bank design as well as the innovative integration of art and architecture." The building had most recently served as a Korean church.


10. Army Archerd passed away in September at the age of 87. Army spent more than 50 years at Variety (where I saw him on a nearly daily basis for 10 years), spanning several generations of Hollywood. A lot of us cover Hollywood -- but none of us will ever have the career that Army had at Variety. The stars changed, the pictures changed, the whole industry evolved -- yet there, until nearly the end, was Army, chronicling it all daily in his "Just for Variety" column.

Share your thoughts on L.A.'s great 2009 losses below.

Jay Leno Does KNBC No Favors

As NBC stuggles at 10 p.m. with "The Jay Leno Show," NBC stations across the country are watching their 11 p.m. newscasts take a dip in the ratings as well. Los Angeles' KNBC is no exception: The station's 11 p.m. newscast is down 26% vs. last year so far this fall in the key adults 25-54 demographic.

Of course, Jay can't be completely to blame -- especially because KNBC is down a less stunning 5% at 10 p.m. compared to last year. But it doesn't help. I've got more details at Variety:

KABC continues to lead the 11 p.m. race among adults 25-54 -- the demo of choice for advertisers on newscasts. But through last Friday, the station's weekday late news is down 14% from last year (1.9, from 2.2).

The real drop, however, is at KNBC, which has slumped 26% year to year, posting a 1.4 rating vs. a 1.9 last year. The Peacock-owned station has likely been hit hard by "Leno's" low ratings. (KNBC, though, is down a relatively tame 5% at 10 p.m. in the 25-54 demo.)

KNBC also went through a major anchor shift earlier this year as longtime Channel 4 presence Paul Moyer exited.

Only station posting a gain at 11 p.m. is KCBS, which is averaging a 1.2 rating in the demo -- up 20% from last year's 1.0. Station may be helped by CBS' strong 10 p.m. performers and has also unleashed a major marketing campaign for its newscast rebrand.

Swan Song for Paul Moyer and Bob Long: KNBC Nets Big Local Emmy Haul

Retired KNBC anchor Paul Moyer and its departing news director, Bob Long, went out with an Emmy bang.

Moyer’s final year at the helm of the NBC-owned station’s 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts – which he co-anchored with Colleen Williams, who remains with the outlet – netted KNBC a pair of wins Saturday night at the 61st annual Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards.

All together, KNBC led the total Emmy tally (as it did the past two years), netting eight. Fox-owned KTTV was next, with 7, followed by PBS outfit KCET, with six.

KNBC's 5 p.m. newscast won the Emmy for top daily news over 35 minutes, while the station’s 11 p.m. telecast won the Emmy for news under 35 minutes. The dual wins were a sweet farewell for Long, who announced last week that he would depart the station next month to take a teaching job in Turkey.

KNBC’s 11 p.m. win ended KCBS’ streak in the category. KCBS had won an unprecedented four years in a row in the newscast-under-35-minutes category.

Meanwhile, KTLA’s “KTLA Morning News” once again earned the daytime newscast Emmy. And KCET’s “SoCal Connected” won big, picking up six Emmys.

The 2008 Metrolink train disaster netted KTTV an Emmy for live coverage of an unscheduled news event, as well as KCBS/KCAL an Emmy for serious news story/single report.

More here.

KNBC Bids Farewell to Paul Moyer, Who Can't Be Bothered to Leave the Golf Course

It's been a rather awkward departure for Paul Moyer at KNBC. After anchoring at the station for the past 17 years, his exit went out with a bit of a whimper: Moyer was on vacation when word first leaked that he was leaving; as a result, he sent a statement to the Channel 4 newsroom but said he'd be back for a proper goodbye.

Instead, Moyer -- who was bought out of his contract by NBC, which was looking to cut his salary, rumored to be around $3 million year -- never returned to the desk. In another statement several weeks after his retirement announcement, Moyer said he'd decided to forgo the hoopla and just move on. Some wondered whether Moyer was angry at how his departure was handled, especially given his lengthy tenure at the station.

Moyer got caught up in the trend among cash-strapped local TV stations to get rid of big-bucks anchors who are local institutions, but nonetheless are no longer affordable.

It looks like Moyer must have agreed to some sort of tribute after all, as he finally returned to KNBC's airwaves on Tuesday afternoon's 5 p.m. newscast. But he still stayed far away from the station's Burbank newsroom, opting to appear via live remote from the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

It looks like Moyer has been spending a lot of time at the Riviera golf course in recent weeks; via the remote, he said the "free time is great" but that he still misses the action.

One thing's for sure: He won't be back on Channel 4 anytime soon. He made that very clear, stressing that should he return to the airwaves one day, it would not be at KNBC. Read into that what you will.

"I gotta tell you something, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't want to get in the car and go back in time with you guys and do it all over again," Moyer told co-anchor Colleen Williams, as well as sports anchor Fred Roggin and weatherman Fritz Coleman. "But, of course, that's not going to happen, at least not at Channel 4."



Before getting back to golf, Moyer thanked a litany of staffers, including KNBC news director Bob Long (whom he thanked for "protecting the product") and Channel 7 (where he worked in the late 1980s, early 1990s).

"Am I done in Los Angeles? Yeah, I'm done at Channel 4," he said. "Beyond that I gotta tell you something, I don't know. I really haven't got a clue. But I can tell you this, for me right now it is family and it is making up for lost time with that schedule. This is difficult, but it is goodbye."



Coleman then joked that Moyer -- standing in front of Riviera's lush greens -- looked like he was straight out of an ad for Scott's Turf Builder. Williams, Coleman and Roggin also kept gushing about how great Moyer looked.

A few shots from the tribute:


Classic Paul Moyer moment: During the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing, Channel 4 rushes to the air -- and Paul doesn't have time to throw on a pair of pants.


Check out a very young Kelly Lange. Lange was KNBC's first female co-anchor; she worked alongside Moyer in the 1970s, and then again in the 1990s after Moyer returned to the station.


At one time, both Moyer and Tom Snyder worked at KNBC together (Moyer replaced Snyder on the weeknight newcast once Snyder went national). People at the time joked about how much they looked alike; there's a definite poofy hair-and-sideburns similarity.

Previously on Franklin Avenue:
Channel 4's Paul Moyer: Never Can Say Goodbye (April 24)

Retro Friday: Paul Moyer Edition (April 3)

BREAKING NEWS: Paul Moyer Out at KNBC (April 1)

Channel 4's Paul Moyer: Never Can Say Goodbye

When Paul Moyer announced his departure from KNBC earlier this month, the anchor was actually on vacation. But the plan was for Moyer to return and eventually say goodbye to viewers on the newscast.

Instead, KNBC said today that Moyer plans to make his vacation permanent -- and won't be returning to the air to give a farewell.

Here's the memo from KNBC vp/news director Bob Long:

Paul Moyer has decided to make the transition from vacation to retirement a seamless one, and he will not be returning to our air to say goodbye. I have had the pleasure of working with Paul for a long time and know him as a friend, and the epitome of what a news anchor should be. Paul feels strongly about making a departure with no fanfare and no formal farewells, and we are respecting those wishes. We’d like to again thank Paul for his numerous contributions to the station and for his many years of service. He will be missed.

Chuck Henry has been doing most of the fill-in work when Moyer has been absent, and that's likely to continue. Still waiting to see whether Henry will permanently replace Moyer, or if a different plan is in the works.

Retro Friday: Paul Moyer Edition

With Paul Moyer leaving KNBC and retiring in the near future, how about a trip down memory lane. Above, Paul lets it all hang out for Dr. George Fischbeck; check out the full report below, as Dr. George takes viewers behind the scenes at KABC/Eyewitness News in the mid-1980s.



And yes, it's almost cliche now to show this clip of Paul Moyer's infamous audio exchange with co-anchor Ann Martin -- in which he accuses her of tossing back a few "shooters" between newscasts. But what the hell, here it is:

BREAKING NEWS: Paul Moyer Out at KNBC

It's true: After 37 years here in L.A., anchoring at both KNBC and KABC, Paul Moyer is set to retire.

I just broke it over at Variety. Some details:

Moyer informed the KNBC newsroom Wednesday afternoon that he intended to anchor his last broadcast in the near future.

Moyer, who currently handles KNBC's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts with Colleen Williams, has had a regular L.A. TV presence since 1972 – making him the market's longest-running anchor.

"I have given Los Angeles my loyalty and my professional best, and if I was able to illuminate a dark and dangerous corner with an investigation, or communicate a complex story in a meaningful way, I have been more than repaid for my devotion to this remarkable city," Moyer said in a memo to KNBC staffers.

"Los Angeles has sustained me and will continue to with a vast store of amazing memories that I will carry close to my heart as I move on to the next adventure."

Moyer is still mulling an exact departure date; station will also announce his successor at a later date.

In a newsroom note, KNBC news director Bob Long said Moyer "perfected the role of news anchor in the town that can lay claim to inventing it, becoming all an anchor can be: a team leader and a link to our community.

"Paul's contributions to KNBC over the years are many and profound, and we will watch with great interest as he contemplates his next adventure," he said. "Our personal bond of respect and affection for Paul will never diminish, and we thank him for everything he has done for our station and the industry."

This reps the end of his second tour of duty at KNBC, having rejoined the Peacock-owned station after a fierce bidding war with rival KABC in 1992.

Moyer is said to make as much as $3 million annually. As station groups like NBC look to cut costs, rumors had begun to float that Moyer and his NBC counterpart, Chuck Scarborough, were being bought out of their contracts. But Peacock insiders insist that Scarborough is staying, and that it was Moyer's decision to retire.

Who will replace Moyer? His nephew, Micah Ohlman (who seems to have disappeared from KABC's roster of talent bios on its website)? The return of John Beard? Chuck Henry? Stay tuned.