What’s in Stars for Media Stars? Try a Wild Guess : MEDIA

Former Channel 39 sports guy Al Janis asked what may have been the unwisest question of 1988. Frustrated with all the changes at the station, Janis went to his boss and demanded to know whether he was going to be kept around after the transition period.

“Well, Al, now that you mention it . . . “ was the reply, and Al went back to clean out his desk.

The moral: Don’t ask a question if you don’t want to hear the answer.

This is a strong argument for ignoring the urge to speculate about the year ahead. Perhaps we’re better off taking the experiential approach, blissfully letting events sweep over us.

But that would be no fun. As a great philosopher once said, speculation is the spice of life (or something like that).

Certainly it is fair to speculate that KFMB-TV (Channel 8) viewers will be seeing more of anchorwoman Andrea Naversen in the next year. She has that professional, easy-to-look-at, Ice Queen-look, popularized locally by Bree Walker. The Ice Queen-look is apparently “in,” so there is no doubt Naversen will be working her way up the Channel 8 ladder of success, especially since current No. 1 anchor Allison Ross’ relationship with the station is rumored to resemble that of the Bundy family on “Married . . . With Children.”

Over at Channel 39, viewers certainly will be seeing a lot more of former newspaperman Bill Ritter, who is becoming the station’s designated hitter, the epitome of Channel 39’s attempt to build a hard-news image. Now that Ritter has mastered the intricacies of television news--his hair and makeup look great--he is on the Channel 39 fast track.

Also watch for more of Dave Bender at Channel 39. Bender reeks of perkiness. He is perky enough to be a poster child for a campaign to ban caffeine. Bender’s perky weather reports and perky puff features are already starting to get more play, especially since semi-perky weatherman Brian Hackney recently said a short goodby.

And speaking of people born to smile ‘til it hurts, 1989 will be a big year for Bill Griffith and the folks at Channel 10’s “InSide San Diego.” When Channel 10 started the show, station officials said they were going to give it at least a year to build an audience. The year is up in June, and, following standard television operating practice, Channel 10 probably will either can the chat-fest, fire the hosts or make it a semi-permanent part of the station’s schedule.

The year ahead also will be crucial to Larry Himmel, who probably will get a chance to take his new Channel 39 show weekly, and for XTRA-AM (690), which is trying to establish its news-talk format amid a general “who cares” sentiment among radio listeners.

Also in the “who cares” department, KSWV-FM (102.9) will continue its attempt to convince people that modern elevator music is “The Wave” of the future. After an initial ratings flourish, listeners throughout the country have been opting to pass on “The Wave.” The hiring of disc jockey Art Good, local radio’s answer to Sleep-eze, is unlikely to revive the local version.

Of course, all this is simply speculation, similar to these predictions for the New Year:

- Channel 8 weatherman Larry Mendte will be asked to host “The Gong Show,” but he’ll turn it down to take a job in the Bush Administration.

- Channel 10 will rename its 5 p.m. broadcast “ZooNews,” and reporter Margaret Radford will win an Emmy for a poignant and moving feature entitled “Your Friend the Giraffe.”

- Frustrated by lack of interest in his new television show, former mayor Roger Hedgecock will form a traveling nude mud-wrestling troupe, featuring himself as the ringmaster.

- Channel 10’s Kimberly Hunt, impressed with the hair dye-jobs of fellow broadcasters Jerry G. Bishop and Mitch Duncan--and tired of being called a blonde bimbo by local radio personalities--will decide to dye her hair purple. She also will legally change her name to “Babycakes.”

- Channel 39 sports guy Bobby Estill will quit to become the new sports columnist for GQ magazine. He’ll be fired when he refuses to wear socks.

Remember, you heard it here first.

Friday was the last day of local radio traffic reports from the Automobile Club of Southern California, the second traffic report service to fold since the national Metro Traffic service moved into San Diego a few months ago. “The service was no longer unique, so we decided to place the resources elsewhere,” Auto Club assistant district director Bill Schurmer said. Metro will pick up several of the Auto Club’s contracts, but local traffic reporter Jon Hoffman has landed the gig with KKLQ-FM (Q106) and KNSD-TV (Channel 39). . . . KSDO-AM (1130) afternoon talk-show host Stacy Taylor has been one of Kimberly Hunt’s main tormentors. Friday afternoon, Hunt will be a guest on his show. Meanwhile, Michael Tuck will be a guest on Gloria Penner’s KPBS-TV (Channel 15) talk show, 6:30 p.m., Sunday. It will mark the start of Penner’s fifth year. . . .

It must be nice to be editor of your own paper. Not only did the Tribune do a massive puff piece on editor Neil Morgan a couple of weeks ago, but last week Morgan managed to get a Page 1 photo credit for a photo of his own mountain cabin. And, in Friday’s column, he sneaked in a plug for his wife’s cover story in the January issue of Travel & Leisure.