Anchors Away : Has a New Round of Shuffling Started for L.A.’s TV Personalities?

Veteran newscaster Jerry Dunphy’s recent leap to KHJ Channel 9 after 14 years at KABC Channel 7 just might trigger another round of the local TV industry’s most popular game, “musical anchors,” in which local anchors switch stations in search of a better position.

The Disney-owned independent station’s luring of Dunphy to anchor a new three-hour newscast has other local anchors--as well as local print journalists and a sampling of TV and print personnel from across the country--dusting off their resumes. A KHJ spokeswoman said that, before the announcement of Dunphy’s move, the station was flooded with applicants from within and outside the Los Angeles market who had gotten wind of KHJ’s plans for an expanded broadcast.

“I obviously can’t give you names to protect their confidentiality, but if I were to put together a list of people who have inquired, either formally or informally, about the new KHJ news format--anybody who knows the TV news industry and the print industry would be very impressed,” the spokeswoman said.

Although the new opportunity at KHJ has spurred a new wave of on-air personalities sniffing for better jobs and salaries, Los Angeles anchors have always seemed to switch stations as frequently as viewers change channels. KCOP Channel 13’s news anchor, Warren Olney, has made four local station moves; KNBC Channel 4’s Jess Marlow left KNBC for KCBS Channel 2, and then came back. Channel 2’s Tritia Toyota began her Los Angeles TV career at Channel 4. And even Hal Fishman--who seems to have been anchoring at KTLA Channel 5 forever --bounced from KTLA to KTTV Channel 11, back to KTLA, to KHJ-TV and then back to KTLA during the hectic years 1965-75; he has stayed put since 1975.

Although “musical anchors” gets played in every large city in America, TV industry observers say Los Angeles is particularly prone to this phenomenon. Second only to New York as the largest TV market in the nation, virtually no other city can offer an anchor the same salary and exposure he or she enjoys in Los Angeles. Rather than leave, anchors here look to other local stations willing to make a better offer.

“Where else can you go?” reasons John von Soosten, vice president of programming for Manhattan’s Katz Television Group, a national representative for television stations. “The only place left to go is to the network.”

Although New York has a larger TV audience, Los Angeles has more stations to choose from, says Greg Nathanson, general manager of KTTV. Los Angeles’ independent stations are also stronger than most, making them viable options for anchors at network-owned-and-operated stations, such as Dunphy and KTTV’s Kirstie Wilde, who previously was at KNBC.

And, says Nathanson, the fact that many agents representing TV anchors nationwide are based in Los Angeles leads to more wheeling-and-dealing over local contracts than elsewhere. “(In other cities), the agents are only a phone call away--still, it’s easier for them to negotiate here, since they are here,” he said. “I just think there are very strong agents in L.A., who are playing off the stations very effectively.”

“I don’t think people move for money alone,” KNBC Channel 4 general manager John Rohrbeck said. “Sometimes it may be because of an individual at a station, or an operating philosophy of a station that can change with new management.”

KCOP anchor Olney agrees. “Sometimes the new management wants to bring in people who are identifiably its own,” said Olney, who has moved from Channel 2 to Channel 7 to Channel 2 and then to Channel 13 during his career. “It’s a very dynamic situation.”

Dunphy says his move represents the offer of a higher salary and the chance to be at the helm of KHJ’s ambitious plan to expand to a three-hour weekday newscast in January.

Although he will not divulge the salary offered him by KHJ (he acknowledges his five-year contract provides more than $1 million annually), Dunphy expresses surprise at KABC’s decision not to match KHJ’s offer. He believes that the “cut and trim” philosophy of ABC’s owner, Capital Cities Broadcasting, has filtered down to the station.

And, Dunphy adds, “I’ll have more input than I had at Channel 7--where, frankly, not one of the anchors has enough input to really feel they have (any influence). (Management) has always been a little heavy-handed at the top. It’s gotten a little harder to penetrate the upper echelons with ideas.”

Moving from a network station to an independent, Dunphy says, is something he wouldn’t have considered if it had not been Disney: “The Disney people--their approach has so much vitality, such a positive thrust. And I’m not talking about just enthusiasm, I’m talking about the money that’s going to be spent to really make it go--they’re going to spend the millions of dollars it’s going to take to do the job.”

As with most such changes, the decision involves the anchor’s ego. Dunphy denies the speculation from one general manager interviewed for this story that he left KABC because of rivalry between himself the station’s other star anchor, Paul Moyer. But Dunphy has been quite public in his displeasure over Moyer’s higher salary. He has been quoted as saying he wanted to earn “$1 million and $1” just to beat Moyer’s current annual paycheck, a reported $1 million.

“I do know that when he (Moyer) renegotiated his contract--that was a couple of years ago--his timing was terrific,” Dunphy says now. “At the time, I was a little disappointed that they didn’t freshen up my contract. But they didn’t have to, and I play by the rules.”

Moreover, Dunphy confirms an oft-quoted tale about his move to KABC from KCBS 14 years ago. Dunphy, whose KCBS newscasts were in part responsible for the station’s climb to the market’s top-rated station, declared upon leaving the station: “I’m leaving, and I’m taking my audience with me!” He did. KABC rose to the top after the move. Russ Barry, then general manager of KCBS, became infamous as “the man who let Dunphy go” and was subsequently fired.

But--ego issues aside--will Dunphy’s new move be as beneficial to KHJ as his last move was to KABC? Dunphy thinks so: “I do have a following, thank God, that I’ve built in 29 years in the marketplace.”

Other industry observers are split just about 50-50 on whether the Dunphy move--or any such expensive anchor change--substantially benefits a station.

“I think it was a very bright move on the part of KHJ to hire (Dunphy), even though the money paid to him is, at least reportedly, exorbitant,” said KNBC’s Rohrbeck. “In the case of that station, if they were to announce tomorrow that they were putting on a three-hour, 8-11 p.m. newscast, most people might say, ‘So what?’ . . . That makes (hiring Dunphy) worth something, and it will get them some initial sampling, I’m sure, because of Jerry and his reputation in the market.”

George Bane, a Los Angeles lawyer and agent for TV news talent, calls Dunphy’s hiring “a significant move” for KHJ.

“Recently, an anchor at WABC in New York changed to WCBS, and there was an immediate change in the ratings,” he said. “They went up overnight. One doesn’t know over the long haul, but it creates sampling.” KABC’s decision not to match KHJ’s offer for Dunphy, he guesses, may have to do with cost-cutting at ABC or Dunphy’s age: “It might be a question of whether Dunphy has ‘legs’ or not--if he were 47 instead of 67, they might have met the offer.’

Katz Television’s Von Soosten says that, since local newscasts all cover basically the same stories, “the anchor helps define the local image of the TV station.” But, he adds, “In general, a switch of one person does not a ratings change make. A wholesale change in how the news is presented might be more important, with the exception of a supertalent such as Walter Cronkite, the overall mix of various personalities is most important.”

Dan Gingold, USC associate professor of journalism, says Dunphy has a loyal following, but getting them to follow him to an independent station could present a problem. “It’s probably going to take a long, long time,” he says. “Audience patterns . . . take years to develop.”

Bill Frank, president and general manager of KCOP, says: “If it (the anchor) made more of a difference, there would be more jumping, and while the salaries now are high, we’d be seeing huge, unbelievable salaries. That is like an axiom in our business--nothing ever changes overnight, it’s a long haul. If KHJ thinks that hiring Jerry Dunphy will change their ratings overnight, they’ve got a rude awakening coming.”

MOVERS KCBS Channel 2 TRITIA TOYOTA, anchor of KCBS’ “Action News at Noon” and “Action News at 6” since 1985, began her TV career at KNBC as a general-assignment reporter in 1972. She was named weekend anchor at Channel 4 in 1975, and took over the 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts in 1976. KEITH OLBERMANN served as sports anchor for KTLA from 1985-88. In 1988, he jumped to KCBS to become sports director. TONY HERNANDEZ joined KCBS as sports reporter and weekend sports anchor in 1984 after five years as a sports reporter and anchor at KABC. Hernandez free-lanced as play-by-play announcer for the then-Los Angeles-based Z Channel last year. KNBC Channel 4 JESS MARLOW moved from KNBC to KCBS and back again. From 1976-80, Marlow anchored Channel 4’s 5 p.m. newscast and moderated “Channel 4 News Conference.” In 1980, he joined KCBS as co-anchor of the “Channel 2 News” at 5 p.m. and anchored “Heart of the Matter” on the 6 p.m. newscast. In 1987, he returned to KNBC to co-anchor the 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts. COLLEEN WILLIAMS, who has been co-anchor of KNBC’s 5 p.m. news broadcasts since April, 1988, previously anchored KCBS’ “Live at Five” newscasts at 5 p.m. She joined KCBS in 1983 as weekend co-anchor. KTLA Channel 5 JANN CARL, co-anchor of the 10 p.m. news, came to KABC in 1984 as a reporter and became co-host of that station’s magazine show, “Eye on L.A.,” in 1985. She joined KTLA in 1987. STU NAHAN joined KTLA as sports anchor in August, 1988. He served as sports director at KNBC from 1976-86 and held a similar position at KABC from 1968-76. KABC Channel 7 PAUL MOYER joined KABC in 1979 as senior correspondent and now anchors the 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts. He was anchor for KNBC’s 6 p.m. “Newscenter 4” for five years, and 11 p.m. anchor for two years. JIM HILL came to KABC in July, 1987 from KCBS, where he had been sports anchor since 1976. KEVIN O’CONNELL, weekend weatherman for KABC-TV since June 24, had been weatherman for KCBS’ 6 and 11 p.m. broadcasts since 1985. He was weatherman at KNBC from 1982-85. KHJ Channel 9 KTTV Channel 11 JERRY DUNPHY joined KHJ this month to become chief anchor of a new, three-hour news broadcast which will start in January. In 1960, Dunphy became lead anchor at Channel 2, a position he held for 15 years. He spent the next 14 years at KABC. KIRSTIE WILDE, co-anchor of “Fox News at 10” since March, 1988, was an anchor and reporter at KNBC for six years. KCOP Channel 13 WARREN OLNEY has made four moves. He joined KCOP as anchorman of the 10 p.m. “News 13” broadcast in May after a three-year stint as political editor and weekend co-anchor for KCBS. Before KCBS, Olney was with KABC for four years as political reporter, and spent six years at KNBC. Before that, Olney was at Channel 2 for six years. LARRY ATTEBERY joined “News 13” in February, 1988, after 14 years in various news capacities, including anchor and news director at KTTV. He was fired from KTTV in 1987. HOMEBODIESKNBC Channel 4 KELLY LANGE, co-anchor of the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts with Keith Morrison, has been an anchor at KNBC since 1975. KTLA Channel 5 HAL FISHMAN, a former Cal State L.A. political science professor, has been at KTLA since 1975. Now co-anchor of KTLA’s 11 p.m. news, Fishman joined KTLA in 1965, moved to KTTV in 1970, back to KTLA in 1971, to KHJ in 1973 and back to KTLA in 1975. LARRY McCORMICK, a member of the weekday news team and anchor of Channel 5’s weekend news, joined KTLA in 1970. KABC Channel 7 ANN MARTIN, co-anchor of the 5 p.m. news, joined KABC in 1976. She has served as a general-assignment reporter, remote correspondent and Saturday news anchor. She co-hosted “A.M. Los Angeles” in 1982-83, as well as the afternoon magazine show “L.A. Today” in 1983-84. DR. GEORGE FISCHBECK, KABC “Eyewitness News” meteorologist, came to the station in 1972 from Albuquerque, N.M. LONG-TIMERS The three faces that have survived longest in L.A. area TV news are currently not serving as anchors--which may account for their longevity. KCBS Channel 2 RUTH ASHTON TAYLOR came to KCBS (then KNXT) in 1951 as the first woman broadcast journalist in Los Angeles, in a reporting job on the 10 p.m. news. She left the station several years later to concentrate on her radio career, and returned in 1966 as anchor of the Saturday news. Taylor has served as a reporter, commentator and public affairs series host. BILL STOUT joined the station in 1953 as a writer/reporter. He spent 1960-63 at KTLA as an investigative reporter, but has been at Channel 2 for more than 20 years. Since 1978, Stout has offered daily commentary on the 6 p.m. news. KTLA Channel 5 STAN CHAMBERS has been a reporter with KTLA since December, 1947. His career with the station began shortly after it became the first commercially licensed TV station in the West. Los Angeles had 300 homes with TV sets at the time.