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Iconic Detroit Anchor Bill Bonds dies

I'm sorry to hear that some guy died, but couldn't you at least tell us all what city he worked in? I never saw him.

And don't tell us to follow the link. If you can't be bothered typing in the relevant details like what city he worked in, why should the rest of us care?
 
Avid Listener said:
I'm sorry to hear that some guy died, but couldn't you at least tell us all what city he worked in? I never saw him.

And don't tell us to follow the link. If you can't be bothered typing in the relevant details like what city he worked in, why should the rest of us care?
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You clicked on the subject line. It must have piqued your interest in this story. So, take a split second and read that subject line again. Your answer is clearly right there.
 
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Avid Listener said:
I'm sorry to hear that some guy died, but couldn't you at least tell us all what city he worked in? I never saw him.

And don't tell us to follow the link. If you can't be bothered typing in the relevant details like what city he worked in, why should the rest of us care?
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If you had said this doesn't really belong on the National TV board, I'd agree.

However the phrase "Iconic DETROIT Anchor" should give you a hint where he worked.

He was so big on ABC's one-time owned station in Detroit, that ABC gave him shots briefly in New York and LA. He was in LA long enough to do a cameo in a Planet of the Apes sequel.
 
AbsalomWasADemocrat said:
You clicked on the subject line. It must have piqued your interest in this story. So, take a split second and read that subject line again. Your answer is clearly right there.
Click to expand...

The subject line was subsequently edited after my reply. That wasn't the original title.

FredLeonard said:
If you had said this doesn't really belong on the National TV board, I'd agree.
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It doesn't, but the moderators don't give a damn about off-topic threads, so I stopped worrying about it. If they don't object to chaos in their forum, why should I?
 
Nobody will miss Bill more than than folks across the river over at Hiram Walker but the highways will be safer in his absence.
 
The city name of Detroit - was it there? Or wasn't it?

Avid Listener said:
The subject line was subsequently edited after my reply. That wasn't the original title.
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Been playing around a bit with the "edit' feature. Perhaps "Boz" has some special edit magic I'm unaware of, but it appears to this less than humble user that edits (even edits in subject line, as I just executed) result in a "last edited" footer at the bottom of the original post -- even edits from moderators. (And it does seem that moderators consistently make clear when they've executed an edit.) Let's not forget that there is a time limit on edits. For example, I can no longer edit my reply from this morning. That was only nine hours ago. Almost ten hours had passed from the time of the original post and your pleasant reply.

As for me? I hit radiodiscussions.com at 9:15 this morning and read the headline under "Hot Topics," complete with Detroit in the title. Poured a cup of coffee, chose to pull up the Free-Press and WXYZ websites and read the story there first. Then returned here, logged in and got my usual morning laugh from another of your testy little comments - time marked 9:39 AM. I responded just four minutes after your reply. By the way, the "I'm-never-wrong" right-wingnut crabby-old-coot act of yours is a real gut buster some mornings. You almost never fail to disappoint. And the recent addition of more cursive language only helps make your point. Thank you, congratulations and cheers.
 
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Bonds worked in New York and other markets in addition to Detroit. There is no Television Board for Detroit here, so placement of the topic here was appropriate.

Bonds was quite a legend, one that the present business model of local news will not produce again. I hope he rests in peace.
 
C'mon. He was a prima donna, a drunk - even worse, a violent drunk and a drunk driver. All of which got him fired. He did some good work on his way but apparently couldn't handle either success or adulation.

As I pointed out earlier, he worked briefly in LA and New York. Whatever it was that caused people in Detroit to connect with him did not transplant. Some popular local personalities can change markets and the lightning keeps striking (like Mort Crimm and Soupy Sales). Sometimes it doesn't (like Bill Bonds and J.P. McCarthy). The latter more often than the former but that doesn't stop station managers from bringing in somebody from out of town and crossing their fingers.
 
Yes, Fred, he had no shortage of ego, and a problem with alcohol, which was exacerbated by the death of his daughter. He was still a fine journalist and one of the few broadcast types worthy of that title.
 
I missed Bill's heydey on WXYZ, but I saw some of his work, especially his commentaries, on WJBK Fox 2. The man was an excellent communicator, writing and delivering every line in a compelling manner. I always thought he's be a great narrator for books on tape. :)
 
Bonds also served a year or two - starting in 1968 - as anchor for KABC-TV in Los Angeles. He was in on the ground-floor of their Eyewitness News format, which reportedly then became the basis for the Action News format in Detroit when he returned.

For the couple of years previous, KNBC had dominated the ratings with anchors Tom Snyder and Tom Brokaw, but IIRC, Eyewitness News made some head way, finally reaching number 1 after KABC hired veteran So-Cal anchor Jerry Dunphy.
 
newsmark said:
I missed Bill's heydey on WXYZ, but I saw some of his work, especially his commentaries, on WJBK Fox 2. The man was an excellent communicator, writing and delivering every line in a compelling manner. I always thought he's be a great narrator for books on tape. :)
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What makes you think he - or any other presenter - writes any lines in any manner? Why do you think the stations for which he worked had writers (and producers)?
 
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