I thought Morgan Chesky was next up.....Where does this guy fit in?
https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2018/11/19/phoenix-anchor-heads-to-seattle
https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2018/11/19/phoenix-anchor-heads-to-seattle
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New Evening Anchor at KOMO.
- Thread starter Roddybob
- Start date
Living in the Phoenix market, Preston Phillips really never caught on here. He is a more traditional newscaster, relatively serious with a "broadcast"-type voice. Perhaps he will make more of an impact in the more serious Seattle news market. That said, who is leaving -- Eric or Morgan or will Preston join the 4pm newscast???
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Either Johnson is on his way out/full-time Eric's Heroes & "special reports" or Chesky is back to weekends? I'd doubt the latter, he's definitely on his way up the primetime ranks. Also, over-saturation of newscasts all day, imo. Sinclair at work in Seattle..
Interesting. My best guess is KOMO wants a strong male anchor in the evenings, and this is their play. As for Johnson, he is quite good, but may be nearing retirement. Chesky is an up and comer, but perhaps not ready for prime time quite yet. I am not certain of any of this, but good to see KOMO make an aggressive move.
Final news tonight: Phillips indeed in, Chesky out at KOMO. Congrats on a two+ year run- thoughts?
By "out" you mean Chesky has turned in his key card? Wow. Leads me to believe there were other issues than on-air performance. But who knows...
I still like KOMO's approach here...they have been meek for too many years. Time to get aggressive and regain some market share.
By "out" you mean Chesky has turned in his key card? Wow. Leads me to believe there were other issues than on-air performance. But who knows...
I still like KOMO's approach here...they have been meek for too many years. Time to get aggressive and regain some market share after losing Dan Lewis, and of course the late Kathi Goertzen. Not to mention the questionable status of Steve Poole, though I sincerely hope he does well with his medical problem and makes a nice return to the KOMO set.
II don't see hiring Phillips as an "aggressive" move. He came to Phoenix as a weekend evening anchor and moved to mornings. As I mentioned, he never caught on and, the past year, was clearly had a greatly diminished role on the am newscast. But, to be fair, it was Phoenix. Seattle is a much different news market.
He's still tweeting KOMO stuff...
He's gotta be "out" on his way to a bigger market. I didn't think he'd last long in Seattle before he was scooped up.
Per Wednesday night broadcast, last day/broadcast right before primetime anchors' Thanksgiving break. He will reveal his next project next week.
15 years ago or so, a young anchor from Seattle went to NBC News as a National Correspondent. They plucked Peter Alexander off weekends from KCPQ. It took him a long time, but he's worked his way up to Chief White House Correspondent.
IMHO, Morgan Chesky's skill / on air presentation is far better than Peter Alexander's was at the same point in their careers. He could go far.
Peter Alexander is now one of the hosts on the Saturday Today show as well.
Generally the same assignments of Chesky during his tenure, anchoring 3:30, 6 & 11, live desk at 4 & 5. Seems to deliver well without flubs, imo.
I'm late to the discussion but Preston Phillips drives me nuts. He frequently introduces a news story with an animated "check this out," "listen to this," or something similar. It is annoying and sounds unprofessional.
He is also apparently the only on air person at night who will plug the Sinclair propaganda pieces. As much as I like Mary Chen, Shannon O'Donnell, and Mike Ferreri (but not so much Taff), Phillips could drive me away from KOMO after many years of viewing.
He is also apparently the only on air person at night who will plug the Sinclair propaganda pieces. As much as I like Mary Chen, Shannon O'Donnell, and Mike Ferreri (but not so much Taff), Phillips could drive me away from KOMO after many years of viewing.
I offered a favorable opinion of Preston in the "March "19" thread. I thought he had good presence and a nice style. As for plugging Sinclair programming, doesn't happen as you describe. Anchors are giving their teleprompter script almost always written by someone else. An anchor, especially a new anchor does not have the power to increase or add promos to the newscast. (Atleast these days, I guess you could go back 40 years and find examples, but that is almost entirely over).
But to add to my "March '19" thread, I think Preston is the next KOMO star. He definitely has the chops.
That's the meaning of 'must run'. Michelle Macaluso and the Terrorism Alert Desk 'has' to run somewhere during the day on the Sinclair-owned stations, like KOMO and KIMA. KIMA usually puts their must-runs in the 5pm newscast, the TAD usually goes at 11PM. On the other hand, KOMO tries to avoid them as much as possible...weren't they banishing them to 4:30AM?
KOMO had been pushing the Sinclair mandates to early in the morning (the locals know the Seattle area audience). Mary Nam (I screwed up her name above - way to make a good first impression) appeared in the Washington Post for resisting earlier Sinclair's edicts.
Even without the Sinclair plugs, Phillips just rubs me the wrong way with his story introductions. I have no idea what other viewers think. (My wife think he looks like Eddie Munster but that's neither here nor there.)
Even without the Sinclair plugs, Phillips just rubs me the wrong way with his story introductions. I have no idea what other viewers think. (My wife think he looks like Eddie Munster but that's neither here nor there.)
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