Will A Former Shreveport Anchor Make a Return Back to the ArkLaTex?
With the exit of Sonja Bailes at KTBS...is a former KTBS anchor on her way back to fill the gap?
This from the tip box:
Word is...Jody Lowery will soon make a return to KTBS.
Lowery is currently an anchor/repoter at Bay News 9 in Central Florida.
posted by ATN @ 9:08 AM
142 comments
142 Comments:
Really? Jody is coming back? Happy, happy, joy, joy! Happy, happy, joy, joy!
Interesting...but let's deconstruct:
With Sherri & Sonja gone, management can roll the savings difference into one anchor salary (with other duties of course) and still come out ahead.
Let's face it the Gerry & Kid show is weak..weak..weak. (can't believe they've let it go this long.)
Going from AM anchor in a top 20 mkt to primary anchor in 87 mkt usually not a good career-move...unless:
You got a really sweet deal..but it is KTBS so scratch that.
You are borrowing a page from Jennifer Gray's job-hop book.
or you feel you're not getting any younger and settle for the predictable ho-hum that is KTBS to be closer to family in Arkansas.
Either way, if any of the above is true...good luck I guess.
Who's the weekend blonde on KTBS and what's her story?
Used to work at KNOE in Monroe.
Working the Suzanne Somers look.
KTBS has the weirdest news pairs. Mornings-three young. Evenings-one young, one middle aged, one older. Weekends-two older.
KTBS can't decide the type of people they want on-air.
From that bio, Jody Lowery is not an AM anchor but rather a weekend anchor. Going from a weekend big market to a primary small market is not a bad move. Not the greatest move, but not a bad one.
I think it looks pretty bad that two of your main, hometown-type anchors Sherri and Sonya chose not to stick around after decades of being on air. What kind of message does that send? Looks to me like they're hiring cheap on air talent now with no experience. Gerry's younger-version-not-as-good-please-get-him-offair is probably fresh out of college, just like the rest of the crop of reporters they are broadcasting with now.
I always watched KTBS before last year. Now, I watch KSLA. I don't care for their overly excited meteorologist, but he'll do.
@ 10:16 pm
You're right about the meteorologist. He appears to have a tornado in his pants even on a clear day.
As for Jody coming back...Coooool..
TO STORM-TRACKER STEVE: "Is that a tornado in your pants or are you just glad to see me?" Too funny!
As for KTBS, I agree they always had weird on-air pairings. And they sure don't make much effort to complement the local demographics by staying so white-bread on the air. With Shreveport being 52% Af-American, you'd think they'd find a few capable on-air persons of color to appeal to that audience segment. Guess the Wray Plantation keeps 'em in the back choppin' cotton and singin' spiritual music.
I hope Jody does come back. Must have missed her send off package so she must have left on good terms.
4:36 PM November 13. I agree with some of your theories. Considering the time Jody has already served at KTBS she does know what she is getting herself into. Plus Jody would not go to Little Rock. Have you seen their newscasts, or read all the comments they post on here? They are worse off then we are.
Folks have been commenting on the crazy pairings at KTBS for months. A while back someone referred to the "Gerry & Kid show" as a father and son newscast. That is exactly what it looks like to me. Steven, Alexandra, as well as Judy and Neil on the new weekend crew all came from KNOE in Monroe. Makes me wonder what is going on at KNOE for all these folks from that station come over here to KTBS. Is it the company? Is it Marla, the news director? What? If anyone from KNOE knows what is going on please share it with the rest of us.
KNOE...it's all of the above.
Really? Give us the details on KNOE. Inquiring minds want to know.
KNOE staff are overworked and underpaid (sounds like KTBS, doesn't it) but it's small market so worse
Bay News 9 is also a cable station. They generally pay less than an affiliate, so this could be a good move for her.
Anonymous @10:34am, it seems to me that KTBS is making a concerted effort to pander to the white racists, while KSLA panders to the black racists.
12:02 AM I agree with you. Moving into an anchor position is a good move for her. Plus she already knows the station and the market so she is fully aware of whats going on. Being closer to home is a big help too. Once you twenty somethings start to get a little older you will understand.
Well one things for certain is that KTBS likes folks who aren't too ambitious and are willing to do more for less. And competition in Tampa is pretty fierce (have you seen the women in that market? Yowza!)
There's as much self-promotional effort going on outside the station as on-air and it's a tough market.
Shreveport TV market on the other hand is as predictable as a Mardi Gras parade. The only people breaking a sweat in TV news are the poor bastards in the field gathering video and slapping packages together. Everybody else pretty much has it made. If you were an anchor looking for a soft gig, you'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer spot.
Anonymous @1:12 AM:
KSLA covers a lot of stories that happen to be of interest to the Af-American community. Which shouldn't be surprising considering the market.
When Ed Bradley took over, he made sure his on-air staff were reflective of the market and yes, the news focus included more subjects about that part of Shreveport. But hey it was about time and honestly given the market demographics it was a no-brainer, especially considering Bradley's success with it.
Now KTBS has been living and operating in the past. Since Casey Ferand (sic?) left all I've seen is whitebread on the air. Can't imagine their consultant is behind that. But that's been their history...very few on-air blacks and those they've had ...well let's just say they had limited talent & crossover appeal.
If they had a good on-air person of color at 6 & 10, it would boost their ratings which in turn would help their ratecard with national sales. But everything I heard about the way business is handled at that place leads me to believe that the owners are complacent and couldn't care less as long as the checks keep coming in. That's why it is the way it always has been.
No group approaches them on this. If they did it might embarrass them enough to be more diverse but then again this is Shreveport.
8:50pm, I think you are wrong in thinking it would boost their ratings to hire a "good on-air person of color". That would just antagonize the demographic to which they pander. They know their viewers, and they know exactly what they are doing.
Well pandering or not, used to be that a broadcast news op had an obligation to serve the necessity and convenience of the market. That includes all persons, no matter what color.
As for knowing what they're doing...not so sure about that as they suck in the ratings race AND the GM has gone on record to say the ratings "don't accurately reflect the market". Excuse me?
Who needs Casey? We've had GAR/MMJ Rod White working here for like 15 years now.
There have been a few "Gerry & the Kid" comments so far. Stephen Mayer is a weak anchor, not because of his youth or inexperience, but because he just cannot do that position. He's probably an adequate reporter but that doesn't qualify him to become an anchor. Unfortunately, I do not think any amount of experience will help him as an anchor. Let's hope Jody Lowery does return!
Just recently KTBS was advertising on their website for an evening anchor. I wonder if this is where Jody fits in and was Stephen just a fill in during this time..
I always thought he was just substituting for Chrissie until she came back from maternity leave, but I guess with Sonja leaving mgmt felt Chrissie was needed more in the morning than on the evening newscasts.
"Who needs Casey? We've had GAR/MMJ Rod White working here for like 15 years now"
I can't think when I've ever seen him...maybe it's because he's an MMJ and hasn't done many standups?
Like a lot of stations, KTBS will post job openings for EEOC reports but probably has someone lined up for the slot.
Stephen Mayer should not be anchoring weekdays, the best he can do is weekends. But the weekend anchor at KTBS is a distraction, either you love her or you hate her and it looks like most viewers hate her. The only anchors at KTBS who are doing a decent job are the ones who have been there awhile. All the new ones are not so good. I guess management just couldn't afford quality.
Management couldn't care less as long as they keep getting their slice.
But that's just it. I know many people who watch Channel 12 on the weekends because they can't stand Judy W - either her looks or her voice. If ratings decrease - advertising decreases. That will catch the Wrey's attention.
Speaking of 12. I am watching their noon newscast and it looks pretty rough. The open and tease did not air and Summer was clearly not ready, and it went down hill from there. They have crazy stuff like that every single day in this newscast.
So you saw that too. Yeah, 12 does have visible mess ups like that every day. It's sad because they use to have a very tight newscast, but those days are long gone.
Was looking at the KTBS job postings and see they are looking for a weekend Met. So i take it they have not offered Neil the position?
I think Neil is just contract part-time.
To 11:52 AM:
I don't disagree with you at all. In a "normal TV business environment", it would be reasonable to consider the impact ratings have on income. But ratings have never really mattered to the Wrays in the past. They protect their incomes by focusing on operational costs.
KTBS used to be more competitive ratings-wise. But the GM they have has found a way to keep the Wrays happy by cutting costs time and again. Look at all the people they've let go in the last 2 to 3 years. It hasn't improved operations...just maintained profits. It doesn't take Warren Buffet to figure out their talent roster or their cheap-o crappy red-colored tradeshow booth of a newset. It's just simple economics. This is how they do things over there.
Any boost in ratings is considered gravy. They've done so poorly in ratings, they probably no longer subscribe to Nielsen anymore. As long as the family keeps getting their piece of the pie, nothing else much matters.
Amen! Preach on brother.
KTBS' ratings aren't too bad, just a bit behind KSLA's. I heard they're ahead in the mornings, and barely trailing in the evenings. I will say that KSLA's evening anchor talent is more professional ahead of KTBS' and now with Sonja leaving in the mornings and Chrissi taking her place it will look like the mornings will be that way too.
Share points for all stations have been trending down for years as more people get their news elsewhere or are doing other things. It's really been a two-station market for decades but given the audience fragmentation, today's share points are worth a lot more than in the past so trailing by a half-share or point is significant; especially to national spot buyers.
KTBS doesn't really negotiate and that's why you see so much station image spots in breaks. And the way the accounts are centralized at KTBS, it's really no wonder.
Question. Does any one know if KTBS still has traffic process all of the applications and resumes? They did when I worked there and if the application or resume did not match the job posting word for word they would throw them away.
Oh, so you know about that? It was supposed to be a secret but it's out there now. Yeah, traffic use to screen the apps and resumes, but I have not heard if they still are or not.
Judy Wagoner left KNOE 2 years ago to live w her boyfriend in Chicago, then returned with him in tow last year. KNOE did not rehire her. Neil Shaw was fired from KNOE a few years back after threatening the GM.
Isn't Neil a Sheriff's Deputy part-time?
Poor Neil, KTBS will not hire him on full time. KTAL did the same thing.
Well that explains Judy and Neil what about Steven and ALexandra? So what else is going on over there? I heard from several sources Marla is running people off.
Is she the same Marla who use to work at KSLA? Sherry Warrens ex-girlfriend?
Since we are speaking about the weekend anchors, Bob needs to just do stories here and there and not anchor the morning on the weekends. It is the most BORING newscast to watch and when he has guest on Sunday mornings, he asks them the same question 10 times. I love KTBS, but not the weekend mornings.
Marla aka "Mo" used to work at KSLA years ago.
Now that is a name I haven't heard in years. Thought Mo was in Houston or someplace like that.
7:17 If you want to see boring you should have seen KTAL's election coverage last night. It was pitiful. I was embarrassed for them.
Bob Griffen needs to retire the camera He was here doing the weather and sports when i moved here in 78 on channel 12. That poor man is gonna kill over on the anchor desk one morning.KTBS has potetnial the wrays need to sell that station. they can care less about that station
I think Mo actually worked as a TD for network news in New York for awhile. Not sure how she wound up in Monroe.
I think Griffin went to work at KTBS because they knew he would work cheap and maybe get some older viewers tuning in from KSLA. Griffin probably wanted the job to get back at KSLA for firing him but also because without being on TV, his community status would suffer.
As for the Wrays, until the station loses more than it makes and their checks get smaller, nothing will change.
So has any one heard when Jody will be back on air? Is she coming back before the first of the year?
Hey guys! Its Jody! Very funny! ;)
I heard through the grapevine KTBS knew they needed some experience and she's making twice as much...big markets don't pay what they used too. Smart move.
Oh really? Do tell.
Hey Jody, if you are coming back to KTBS... as a gag for your first day, wear some day-glo ultra-Red shiny lipstick so it will match the news set. Man it's like there's just not enough red in the picture. Like the SNL "More Cowbell" skit.... I got a fever for more RED NEWSET!! Yeah BABY!! I NEED MORE RED NEWSET!!
Too Funny! Hey maybe she could add some really red eyeshadow too. And lots and lots of rouge and add red tips and streaks in her hair.
Well the only good thing about the red and gold Christmas color set is that is in season. It looks totally out of place the other ten months of the year.
So when is Jody coming back?
I say out with Judy and in with Jody! Make way for the fresher, younger, better talent.
And I say out with you twenty somethings. Give me mature anchors and reporters wit professional voices. Not 15 year old pep squad girls.
See if you can afford what those mature anchors are asking.
Maybe they could have the news anchors wear Santa caps to match the red studio set at KTBS. That would make sense.
With the monstrosity that is Judy Wagoner, why spend valuable time bashing the adequate-by-comparison Stephen Mayer?
Amen. Old doesn't mean better. Her voice is horrible with fake hair to watch. No business on tv.
How about a 2 for 1 trade? Judy Wagoner and Stephen Mayer to FL for Jody Lowery?
Questions. One, When is Jody coming back? Two, How long has that New Media Manager position been posted? Thought they had that position posted either earlier this year or the end of last year.
Not one person, and I mean not one, has said Stephen Mayer is adequate. By comparison doesn't really count on tv. But I will say that Judy Wagoner does not belong on tv and at least Stephen Mayer can report. Who is hiring these people to anchor? No news director in his or her right mind would be making these choices. They must be coming with cheap price tags.
I agree 100% with the last post. I guess with the departures of Jennifer Gray and Sonja Bailes, KTBS feels like a "warm body is better than no body" and that is why they give us Mayer and Wagoner.
Don't forget the loss of Sheri Talley, also. KTBS is in big, big trouble! They definitely need someone like Jody Lowery to help them from sliding behind KTAL.
KTBS could stink for 5 years before their ratings fell as low as KTAL's! They're well on their way to doing just that, but it's still too early to tell if the viewers understand why the longtime hometown anchors are leaving.
Is it primarily because of the same salary but having their hours and duties significantly increased?
I thought it was strange to see Sonja's "Thankful" promo last week knowing good and well she would not be there for another week.
Picking up on something 6:45 said in the previous post. I do think the public should be aware of the real reason why all these long time, well known local anchors are leaving. If the public really knew why they were leaving they would be protesting in front of the station. Maybe we really should forward our info to The Inquisitor. God knows Danny loves to print stores about local tv personalities. He's had anchors and reporters from KTAL on the cover of The Inquisitor like 5 or 6 different times.
That's a great suggestion sweetie. We really should do that.
If you do that make sure you only send your info by mail only. Danny does record phone calls, phone numbers, e-mails, and IP addresses.
Some of us who read these blogs have never worked in television. Since "Anonymous" is used so much in these posts, why can't some of you former employees give us some insight instead of expecting the Inquisitor to report it? Thanks.
I've heard through the grapevine the workload is unbearable.
Yes 11:13 that is 100% true. Our work load is unbearable. Half of my current duties are not listed any where in my job description and were not disclosed to me until I was about 30 days into the job. Had they disclosed the actual duties in the job description, or during the interview process, I would not have accepted this position and stayed at my previous station.
The workload is incredibly unbearable. There's not a single bear to be found anywhere near the building. Maybe at one of the parks...
In the future, duties will be increased until the point where full automation (including sales) replaces people. Only a handful will remain to handle maintenance and programming. If you think this is a joke just stick around and watch your job disappear.
And remember, the janitorial job is always the last to be let go in any business.
The workload at all stations are massive but I think it's worst at Ch 3.
You are correct. The work load is worse at 3. I have worked at several other stations, and 3 is by far the worst stations I ever worked for.
Miss Mistake you are not alone. They did the exact same thing to me. Like you if I had know the extent of my actual undisclosed job duties I would have stayed at my previous station as well.
Speaking about the red news set and animation; I accidentally tuned into Channel 3 local news this AM and noticed all the anchors & weather guy were wearing black with some red accessory like a red tie or red shirt or red necklace. Is this a coinky-dink or a planned station style choice? Next thing you know they'll be hiring redheads to anchor the news.
If I were George, I'd change the colors to purple and gold, at least that would get LSU fans to watch and bump the ratings by a half-a-point at least!
Lets start a petition to change the set and graphics colors from red to purple and gold. Or even black and gold. I forget what day it was last week, but both Chrissie and Alexandra were both wearing red. I know it's Christmas time, but with the red cloths and set they almost blended into the set. Now the red does work if your are a Republican or a whore, but it just doesn't work for the rest of us.
If they keep wearing Red, all we'll see is their heads. Talking heads that is. Maybe they should wear Chroma-key bodysuits and the engineers can key in whatever color they want. Too funny.
Chroma Key bodysuit is a fantastic idea. They could be walking bill boards for Wray Ford and Ivan Smith.
I'm surprised they're not wearing logos on their clothing already as everytime I see a PSA for some charity, it's tagged with a half-dozen sponsorship logos.
Betcha Sirven is taking notes.
Was this thread "wishful thinking" about Jodi Lowery coming back? Does anyone know anymore about this?
We don't know. We are to busy with our rants on everything else.
Jody probably read all these posts and decided to stay in Tampa........
Just guessing but if Jodi shows, it will probably be after Jan.1st. Then again, who knows? Maybe her current boss found out she was planning to bail and talked her into staying?
Stranger things have happened (as in Jennifer Gray back at WTVJ in Miami).
Does anyone know if Judy Wagonner is permanent or temporary as the weekend anchor?
I hope she's just temporary because she is really bad!!
The way things are managed at KTBS these days, everyone is temporary. That you can make book on!
I just looked at the current KTBS job postings. 8 current positions? WOW! I can remember the last time I saw that many openings there. And that Traffic position that was on there last week was only posted for a few days. I guess Jodi is not coming back since one of the new postings is for an anchor/reporter position.
12:03 PM, Don't be so sure. Just because a position is posted doesn't mean it hasn't already been filled. EEOC filings for broadcasters is a paperwork necessity so as to keep any allegations of hiring impropriety to a minimum. If this just popped up, it means they're just covering their tracks EEOC-wise.
Well someone needs to explain that to KTAL. They are very lax with job postings and break that rule all the time.
6:27 PM:
I'm guessing nobody has complained to Dept. of labor or state workforce commission regarding Fair Labor Standards or EEOC best practices. Smart(er) managers post stuff to avoid such discrepancies. But like anything, if no one complains. . .then why worry?
It's like they say: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it..."
6:27 I work at another owned Nexstar station and KTAL does not operate like the rest of us. They seem to be off on their own.
I was looking at the KTBS web site and you have a lot of jobs posted. The last time I saw that many job postings was at my previous station when they replaced about half of the building in less then a year. You guys who are left better watch out.
11:10 AM:
Oh trust me, we are. It's a given that anyone who has worked here at any length could be let go (or given incentive to leave) at anytime. We just come in and do our jobs, try to minimize the negativity and soldier on. Each one of us knows we're on borrowed time as it is. So yeah, we're aware.
I've been in the exact same situation so I know what you are dealing with. I use to have about 30 contacts at KTBS and every single one of them is gone now. They either quit by choice but mostly by force. Some were fired, but the majority were laid off when the staff was gutted. Good luck to you guys. I have found that life and work is so much sweeter outside of broadcasting.
Hey 12:03 PM Dec 15. I found a station with more job postings but just as many problems as KTBS. KTBS currently has 8 job postings. KWES NBC 9 in Midland Texas has 13 jobs posted.
Midland Texas, I'd want to leave there just because it's Midland Texas.
Exactly. Midland is half way between some where and no where.
KWES really does have as many problems as KTBS. It seems no one wants to go to Midland which explains why they have the same openings for years. Last year a co-worker interviewed with KWES for a management position that had been posted for over two years at that time. Come to find out they repost their job openings every 30-60 days so they look like new postings.
Are people leaving KTBS because the pay is so low?
KTBS ought to consider making Alexandra Cranford the evening anchor with Gerry May. Not only does it look really strange with two men anchoring the news, but Steven Meyer just cannot cut it.
3:23 PM
2 reasons people leave:
Toxic work environment
Other duties as assigned, more workload than originally told or what was specified in their job description. In other words, getting paid one salary to do 2 jobs, no OT pay but they get plenty of OT.
Those are the exact reasons why I left and everyone else I have worked over the past few years.
Is this because George Sirvin doesn't know what he is doing?
I think Sirven knows exactly what he's doing. Tell 'em one thing when they're hired and then change their job after they arrived. What's-her-face who was the Promotions/Marketing Manager who left to work at a hospital got ticked after she came back to work there and discovered her job function involved more than she was led on. Word has it that's why Sherri Talley left, she was handling the station webnews as well as anchoring and her workload increased a lot more than she liked. I think the only sacred cow in the building is Jan Elkins for whom Edwin has some weird affinity for otherwise she would've been let go a long time ago.
Not sure where this came from but I seem to recall a former cameraman "retired" from KTBS only to wind up coming back to work for a short time. The cause of his "retirement" was vague but it seems this guy had sent a letter to state employment commission concerning hours & wages regulations. Guy apparently hit on a law that made some folks upstairs nervous. That's all I know, anybody else have any data?
Well it's about time. I'm sure the D.O.L. could find dozens of other violations if they would just look.
I see one of the nine the job postings KTBS is advertising for a MMJ. Is Rod leaving and this would be his replacement, or are they looking for an extra MMJ?
12:53 PM
D.O.L. only looks when someone brings a complaint up. If more people kept job logs and had the stones to make a formal complaint they might see something happen. But people are scared to do anything like that so they keep putting up with it until they quit or get fired. And nothing changes.
Yeah, what's up with that MMJ opening? Is the Rodman really leaving or what?
Sherri Talley left mainly due to god-awful producers to deal with.
Not surprised by that at all. The producers were "god-awful" when they were at KTAL. Obviously nothing has changed.
Question. What's the deal with Jennifer doing commercials for Bewley's? I thought they were back down in Miami?
Ol' E.H. is at it again... guess he figures getting someone with local name recognition is the way to get noticed. He used to have Al Pierce do these. Maybe this is his way of one-upping Ivan Smith. Whiney-sounding Jennifer. Woo-hoo!
I thought Al stopped doing Bewley's commercials a long time ago? Haven't seen him for a few years. Does any one know if Al still lives here or has he moved off somewhere else?
Al was trying hard to get re-hired as a newsreader at KMSS awhile back but that went no where. He was then selling cars at a usedcar place on Benton Rd and then moved on to selling insurance last I heard. That's been at least 5 years or so ago.
That's about the last time I saw or heard anything about Al myself. I remember him doing commercials for Bewley's and for the old Stumpwater Rest. before they shut down, then that's it. Nothing after that. Well good luck to Al where ever he is.
Al hasn't done Bewleys commercials for years but that was really one of the last TV gigs he had. E.H. Spillers has funny ideas about advertising, those Bewleys spots were shot "live" thinking that people would jump in the car and come on down. The advertising clients in this market are goofy to say the least. It's like they suffer from "Boss-Hogg Syndrome", just because they've been in local biz for years makes them think they know everything there is to know about advertising and marketing when all they are is really hicksville. That's why Shrevesburg is such a lousy ad market.
Your right. We still do "look live" commercials all the time. And a lot of our local advertisers have the worst commercials, but it depends on the individual advertiser and which station produced the commercial.
All the KMSS produced hood rat commercials, and the down home Texarkana commercials with the advertisers kids or grandchildren are just pitiful, and to embarrassing to air. I never thought I would say it but the commercials we are now makes me wish for the good ole days when we rolled a break and heard "Hi I'm Author Tate" or "Hi I'm Ashton Wilkes." I never dreamed back then it would get this bad.
It's funny whenever I see these pretend Live spots I just howl. I can't imagine anyone believes this stuff much less pay any attention to it. Very amateurish look and performance. Does someone hire their relatives to appear in these? Gag!
Shreveport has never been a huge ad market but the quality of local spot has gone to shit in terms of talent and production value. They must not be paying for production the way these things are thrown together.
Yeah, those Patterson Dodge spots KTAL produces are a prime example. They record all those spots during the day but most of the time they run is after dark. If they are going to continue those look lives they should do like Rountree Ford and run their traffic with day time look lives during the day time and the night time look lives during the night time. Or they can just continue on as they already are looking stupid and unprofessional.
I rarely watch KTAL but since someone mentioned bad TV commercials, I just can't see why anyone has that bobble-headed bozo Dan Walters doing their local TV commercials. He's looking rough like he's been rode hard and hung up wet and has spent too much time in a tanning booth.
Looks and sounds like a sucky-car salesmen, whenever on of his spots air I hit the mute or change channels. His voice makes me want to Lysol the remote.
They should have never brought "Plastic Man" Dan Walters back to this market. He was canned when his production company over bought for Champion Ford one year and all the stations had to eat 1/3 of the revenue they should have been paid.
I saw him on an HD tv last week, and he really does look bad. That horrible Umpa Lumpa Snookie orange spray tan is pitiful. He also looks very bloated. Like someone with with liver failure or someone who is taking steroids for cancer or something like that.
OMG, you took the words right out of my mouth. I thought the exact same thing. We were talking about that just the other day. My husband thinks it alcohol bloat, not steroid bloat.
Yeah, I don't know why Rountree Ford, formerly Champion Ford, rehired Dan either? My station had to eat like $20,000 with that traffic mess up. All the other stations were in the exact same boat and lost tens of thousands of dollars on that same deal.
The typical Dan Walters sales gimmick to get a dealer to use him is to play to a dealer's cheapskate ways and laziness. Dan's pitch is:
his agency gets 10% commission instead of 15% providing that the dealer commit a large 6 figures or more to an annual contract. AND
Dan places the buy, does all the spots and gets production for FREE in most cases.
Danny-boy then beats up on TV stations by demanding Free Production AND a hellacious discount based on long-term buys.
What happens typically though is that he has to really pump up the schedule when cars don't sell because the dealer gets pissed when the TV promotions don't sell cars. So Danny-boy has to do some serious volume spots and winds up screwing the pooch because he has to buy more spot than he bargained for and wind up paying a higher rate when inventories get squeezed.
Alcohol-bloat, yep... that's a good guess.
Well obviously he's getting away with. I've seen in doing commercials for dealerships in Atlanta and several other markets.
So is he still having KTBS doing the production work?
Having done spots for dealerships in the past, I can tell you that the folks who run those places aren't rocket scientists. Walters has been doing this a long time and he knows how to press their buttons to get their business. Like someone said earlier, dealers don't like to hassle with advertising because they're basically lazy and don't want to deal with ad buys, placement and spot production. I can vouch for that.
I worked with a dealership here years ago and they insisted on using Shari Warren for their talent. I told them it was a bad idea but they insisted. She showed up looking like a trainwreck and let's just say it was a painful experience. After it was over the manager was in shock but then said "Oh well" and left. What a tool.
Your talking about Sheri's Claude DeBeaux Ford account right? Sheri did those spots for years but the last ones I saw she was way off into her addiction, and calling her a train wreak is being kind. I can just imagine what you had to deal with. Sheri's makeup alone was crazy and she looked like Betty Davis in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane." Judging by her appearance alone she should have been taken straight to Pineville right then and there.
I see Sheri's cousin Melinda still has the Moffitt account.
I think Shari was "dating" the son of a local Ad Agency owner and that's how the car dealership account was managed. From what I heard, the son was no different than Shari and had similar pharmaceutical issues.
Melinda is good friends with one of the Moffitts.
Someone posted on another thread that Jodi Lowery announced on her Facebook page that she's returning to KTBS.
7:51 That sounds about right. Sheri must have been "dating" that guy for years. i remember her doing those spots for like 15 or 20 years.
You guys must be talking about that tool Greg Le-what's-his-face.
Oh god, not him. Yeah, he was/is a major tool. I had totally blocked him out of my memory.
When Shari was doing PR at Horseshoe, her tool boyfriend showed up at one of their rooftop parties and made a big stink with her about something and they started a hillbilly slap-fight that security came and booted his ass off premises. He/she were alleged to be loaded up on pills.
Those two had way too much drama. I heard his old man, the ad agency owner had stepped in to cover his ass on several occasions. That's probably why he still has a job.
I had forgotten about that. I got there right after it was broken up and the "tool" was being escorted off property right past me. My brother-in-law worked at Horseshoe at the time and saw the whole thing.
Yeah daddy had to bail him out all the time. Both literally and figuratively. Exactly like George DeMint did with his demon seed.
Speaking of "local" TV commercials, what's the deal with using the children/grandchildren of the business owners in commercials?
If Maw-Maw wants to see little Kristy Lou on video, please don't subject us viewers to this unnecessary punishment.
What's very cute to relatives comes across as very amateurish to the public.
It's pure EGO. Every client thinks their kids or grandbabies are ohh soo cute... and so they stick them on spots. All their friends and relatives coo about seeing the little darlins on Tee-Vee which plays to the clients EGO and in their mind they think it's great advertising.
What these booger-eatin' morons fail to recognize is that unless the little darlins' are doing something that's YouTube noteworthy, they're wasting branding opportunities and money.
But then again the ArkLaTex is the Hooterville of local media advertising and who really cares as long as they keep writing checks.
What about Jimmy Granger's daughter? Where does she rank with all of these other locals?
OMG! Everybody is so right about Dan Walters! Whenever I see him do those car commercials, I immediately flip the channel. He looks AND acts like a very disreputable used car salesman.
Yeah, I agree with both of the last two posts. Thank God for newspaper ads!
Someone earlier described him perfectly: a bobble-headed a@@hole. He comes off like a real douche-bag character, the kind of car salesman you don't want to have anything to do with. If you shake hands with this guy, you'll want to go wash your hands ASAP or lather up with sanitizer, he comes off as such a sleaze.
Does Dan Walters do any other advertising besides cars?
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