Shayne Wells, Chris Egert and Katie Steiner wake me from my drunken stupor

I'm up in the morning before the local 9 a.m. chat fests begin, but I rarely turn on the TV. 

Tuesday morning, however, I couldn't miss the new battle royal going on between three of our local stations. As noted last night, channels, 4, 5 and 9 all want me to care what their highly educated, intelligent reporters and anchors think. Or at least listen to their boring interviews with fitness experts. 

I flipped between the stations for more than an hour, and found a mixed bag. 

Let's start with the granddaddy of superfluous chat, Fox 9. Now calling their morning fluff "Good Day," the gabbing trio swapped out the jolly weatherman for the roving reporter. It was a lot of the same, or so it seemed. Some of the same regular guests are sure to return, like their longtime favorite, that garden guy I have zero interest in, ever. Old Alix Kendall was outside the studio chatting him up on the "new" show for day 1. 

So what's new? I think they have a new musical ditty for the show. I didn't pay close attention. They definitely have a new set. Instead of sitting around the table, the women sit in extra tall chairs, as if they're trying to give you an "up skirt" peek. I don't get why that's a good choice. At one point there was an awkward camera shot of Alix , as if they haven't figured out the angles for the solo shots of the talking heads perched high above the floor. 

There are also new social media handles, of course, because the hour has a new name. Alix, the lone survivor of the "Good Day Minnesota" program that launched in 1999 spoke to the former name of the morning news fest, and claiming that the new program is paying homage to the first version of the morning news presentation. I believe she also suggested that the old Good Day Minnesota program was a little less news intensive overall, as the rebranded Buzz hour will be. Quite a bombshell you dropped there, Alix. 

Perhaps more relevant, "Good Day" is a tag that Fox likes to drop on local programming around the country. Seems like the Fox 9 program is simply following corporate branding in 2021, for what that's worth. 

Alix did talk about a clip of the old 1999 program at one point, which showed the original foursome. Last I knew, Tim Sherno, Robin Wolfram and Mary Alice Rosko no longer work in TV. Not a shock. We know Sherno has bounced around for years since leaving Ch. 5, his home after Fox 9. Rosko left TV to reinvent herself, she claimed, and did some travelling and blogging for a year or so, then needed a paycheck and is now a media contact for a nonprofit organization (I assume it's nonprofit).

The clip was a fun flashback. Your hair was much darker in 1999, Alix. 

Most of the program was otherwise forgettable, as it should be. They still fluff up Buzz Boy's 10 a.m. talker minutes before it begins. They all slapped each other on the back. Jason Matheson is starting his seventh year as a little league talk show host. Oh boy!

I didn't see all of the program because I flipped back and forth between the competitors. 

On Ch. 4, Mr. Forehead Jason DeRusha was holding court, as usual. His usual sidekick, Heather Brown, was absent, so third wheel Shayla Reaves held court with Mr. Foodie. She was hired in December 2020, evidently. Was she a direct replacement for Kim Johnson? I don't know. We also lost Ali Lucia last year, and since I can barely stomach DeRusha, I almost never turn on CBS in the morning. I'm skeptical they ever replaced the traffic reporter position when Lucia left. So I'm guessing Reaves is a 1-for-2 hire, but I can't prove that. 

The one thing I remember from my brief glimpses at Ch. 4 on Tuesday, they still bring in one of the reporters to contribute to an intellectually stimulating conversation. I doubt they had one, but I assume that's the goal. Today it was Katie Steiner, the fourth-string meteorologist. Or is she fifth-string? Hard to say. But rather than all sit on the couch together, Steiner was in an office, or somewhere else outside the studio, so they could do that magical split-screen banter between her and the co-hosts. Yawn. 

Over at Ch. 5, they rolled out a lackluster "Minnesota Live" show. It's weak, but at least they're trying something different. Seems like that's the perennial goal for Ch. 5. 

Hosts Megan Newquist and Chris Egert run a similar gab fest, from a set that looks like it was discarded by a cable access studio. I heard them give the mandatory speech telling me what the show is, and they introduced a revolutionary element to the show. You can share your photos with KSTP, and they may be featured on the show! 

It all sounds uninspired, but I will note that they are doing something distinct. The show is broadcast in Rochester and Duluth, as well, and they'll be using reporters from their sister stations in those areas to bring general interest segments to viewers in all three markets. Sure, Fox 9 could send a reporter to Duluth to preview some fall festival, which interests me none, but there's interesting potential for this chat fest that will set it apart. Points for that. 

I did see moments of some sort of health and/or fitness segment on Ch. 5. I didn't hear any disclaimers about it being a sponsored segment, and I have no idea if they had a disclaimer at the end of the show, but KSTP's first day health/wellness segment sure looked like a sponsored segment. Not a crime, of course, but one of many reasons I dislike these faux news shows. 

And there was a segment where Egert and Newquist brought out the show director or producer. Whatever her job is, she discussed the grand vision and they answered all our burning questions. Oh thank God, Twin Cities Live isn't going away. It's a sister show to the new Minnesota Live! They had flashbacks to the early years of TCL, too, as if that was relevant somehow. And they sure think highly of TCL. I'm glad somebody does. 

Ch. 5 launched an overall lackluster program, but there's potential. Lord knows there's room for growth. 

I read some tweets today. Somebody claimed that while Egert and Newquist are still anchoring news from 5:30-7, or something like that, they no longer fill 7-9 on Ch. 45, or kick off the morning at 4:30. Not sure if that means another set of staffers fill those gaps, or if Ch. 5 dropped them. I'll take a look soon enough. I'm sure you're dying to know the answer if you don't already. 

And I saw a celebratory tweet from Fox 9. They had a celebratory moment after their first Good Day program, as if they had just worked for months to open a new craft brewery in an abandoned Minneapolis warehouse. I don't care how much planning when into the rebranding, that's all it was. Try to keep it in perspective. But it's TV, those folks never miss an opportunity to slap themselves on the back. 

I stuck with Ch. 9 at 10 a.m. to see the kick off of what's year 7 of Jason Matheson's amateur hour. I see glimpses of it now and then, as Fox likes to run the show two or three times a day between its stations. It's always unimpressive and minor league in its style and substance. It's less focused on local talkers, and somehow the show is carried in other cities. I haven't seen a list of which cities, but a station in Seattle has nothing better to show than an hour of Matheson fawning over his favorite TV shows and sharing his inside Hollywood gossip that can only be gleaned by a talking head in Minnesota. 

The fact that a station Seattle is now carrying his gab fest as of this fall boggles my mind. 

Yes, I'm still retired. Several times per year I find something worth writing about, but I can't bring myself to do it on a regular basis. You never know when Jeff Dubay will be arrested next, or when Keith Leventhal will get a new job, prompting me to get off the couch. But yes, I'm still retired. 

Alix Kendall, Megan Newquist and Brian Oake walk into a bar

I don't have the patience. 

Borrowed from Bring me the News: 

"Few details have been announced by the Eden Prairie-based Fox News affiliate, but FOX 9's "Morning Buzz" will become Good Day beginning next Tuesday. 

Alix Kendall, Kelly O'Connell and Shayne Wells will host the "lifestyle-focused" show. Morning Buzz is currently hosted by Kendall, O'Connell and meteorologist Keith Marler. 

KSTP-TV announced Wednesday that it'll launch a 9 a.m. weekday show called Minnesota Live on Sept. 7. The show will be anchored by Megan Newquist and Chris Egert, and is described by the ABC affiliate as a "lifestyle show highlighting what makes Minnesota an incredible place to live." 

The show will be televised on Channel 5 in the Twin Cities as well simulcast on WDIO-TV in Duluth and KAAL-TV in Rochester, all of which are under the Hubbard Broadcasting umbrella."

Where to begin. 

Every once in a while I turn on Fox 9, and it seems like I never see the jolly weatherman. I know he had health issues and was on the sidelines for a while, but it seems like I run into him on the morning broadcast infrequently. I never understood the appeal of him, but then again, I never understood the appeal of host chats. 

So Fox 9 is dropping the "Buzz" for an all-female chat that is lifestyle-focused, whatever that means. Out with the jolly weatherman, in with the drab former traffic guru. Funny that they're calling the show "Good Day," given that when the local Fox station started morning news and features more than two decades ago, they called it "Good Day Minnesota." It was a lame name then. Why recycle it now? 

It was bad enough Fox 9 gave us an hour of Alix Kendall's bubbly personality. Mr. Forehead, Jason DeRusha, eventually joined the fray. Oh boy. Mr. Foodie gets to pontificate along with whatever reporter draws the short straw and has to sit on the couch near the witty Twitterer. (Do they still do that, or did that die with the pandemic? I haven't watched that crap in eons.)

Now we have the geniuses at KSTP-TV joining the mess with their morning anchors. No more Regis or Kathie Lee at 9 a.m., now we get the morning anchors pontificating. And look, another lifestyle show! 

Ch. 5 already kills 90 minutes per weekday with Twin Cities Live. A couple of yentas talk about the fabulous and exciting world we live in, and sell products through disguised ads that are "provided by" the company being featured. Yeah, we need more of that crap in this world. Sure, the 9 a.m. hour will be sacred... lots of local stories that didn't make the cut of that "So Minnesota" feature they trot out once a week. I'll hold my breath. 

I don't know two things about the cost of television, but somehow trotting out hour after hour of news on Ch. 9 all evening, or filling the schedule with anchors and reporters giving opinions on crap they need not have an opinion about, is a better alternative than running some national celebs ego-driven talk show. What a weird world we live in. This is the evolution of man? We are living in end times. 

GET LOST, PERK

To the surprise of most, Eric Perkins departed from KARE11 last month. 

Dude has to be over 50. He claims he left simply because he needs a new challenge. That may be true. 

But let's look at reality. He's a lousy sportscaster on his best day, who has to be over 50 years old. He had held a job at KARE for 25 years, and against all odds he became number 1 in the sports department. He's at a point in life where he should be salting away his paychecks for retirement in a decade or so, but instead he's going to live life dangerously, without a new job or opportunity lined up? Something doesn't pass the smell test. 

People love the dork when he would play, and for years he did that dopey "Perk at Play" segment. People loved it, because we all love watching a man-child behave like a man-child, I guess.

He looked and sounded like a collegiate stoner having the best Saturday night of his life, and that was good enough for KARE11, and he's walking away from a gig reading sports headlines in front of a camera? I'm sure there'll be a job for the dork if he wants it. Everyone loves having a former TV face on their payroll. Perhaps he can afford to live life to the fullest at this point. Perhaps he inherited a nice chunk of change from his father. I have no idea. 

I'd be content to never hear his name again. Too bad I made the mistake of listening to the KFAN morning show for a few minutes not so long ago. They had no problem welcoming the dork to their highly celebrated "Initials" game. 

May that be the last time I hear his voice. 

I read some online chatter about Perk's departure, and the naming of Reggie Wilson as the new top dog of KARE sports. I have no idea who Wilson is, or why he was chosen. I have my guess. 

A lot of people were wondering why longtime weekend sports geek Dave Schwartz didn't get the gig. We assume he would have wanted a promotion at the station that has employed him for more than a decade. We don't know that, but it's a logical assumption. 

I find it surprising, too. It makes me wonder if we have another Jeff Passolt/Russell Shimooka moment on our hands. (There's not a great story onilne that I've found chronicling this KARE11 blunder, and I'm not going to rehash it here. If you don't know your '90s broadcasting history, you're out of luck.)

Fun fact: Shimooka's Linked In page seems to conveniently forget his ill-fated gig at KARE11. 

ASSHOLE ALERT

If you know the local radio landscape, you know that asshole Brian Oake has returned to Cities 97. 

He was named the new morning drive genius at Cities. The station has become so forgotten I couldn't tell you anything else about what's happening at the frequency these days. Talk about invisible, this station has done a hell of a vanishing act from my landscape during the past few years. 

Turns out the radio hipster had been helping sell records at a Hopkins music store to make a few bucks before being rescued by Cities 97. I guess that podcasting cash cow was a little light on the milk. Cities 97 rescued him from joining the roster of radio has-beens, and now that he's part of the Clear Channel family again, he's back to pimping himself on KFAN. I heard a few minutes of the asshole during a previous 2021 state fair appearance on Dan Barreiro's show, which they replayed on Labor Day. 

I have nothing brilliant to say. I'm just sorry to know that the longtime broadcasting asshole has a gig in radio again. I was hoping he'd become another successful real estate broker in Minnesota.  

AND FINALLY

We're about a week away from the one-year anniversary of Eric Malmberg's firing from The Current. 

I'm not making an argument for or against the guy, but I do find it curious that a guy who was fired by the hipster radio station, over a story the sister station wouldn't air, has yet to be rung up on any criminal charges. Based upon the outrage, he had to be guilty of something. I know the wheels of justice move slow, but what if he's never charged with a crime? In the court of public opinion, he has been convicted of some sort of crime. Will he ever be able to work again? What if he's not guilty of anything more than being creepy? 

I'm genuinely fascinated by the story of a story that never aired on MPR News, and resulted in reporter Marianne Combs quitting her job because of that. She quits, and Malmberg is fired because of a story we've never heard. It's a fascinating world.

I'd pay $89.30 to know what Malmberg has been doing with his time for the past 51 weeks. I'll pay that $89.30 to just about anyone, other than Minnesota Public Radio. At least not until they #bringbackBrianOake. 

The best thing about Oake working for The Current: We didn't have to hear him on KFAN. 

Happy new year

One critic doesn't like my quick and bland posts. I don't care. I had hoped to do an unspectacular post as a Christmas gift, but there was no Eric Malmberg moment to inspire me. Sorry. 

Two quick thoughts that probably aren't worth more than a tweet. 

I saw a commercial on WCCO this evening. It was promoting the fact Heather Brown was the new morning co-host. I'm not sure why she's being punished, but having to share studio space with Jason DeRusha's ego can't be a treat. 

This announcement surprised me none. She was already chatting away during the 9 a.m. hour, one of far too many hours of host chatter that we don't need. Our world wasn't better off when Sally Jessy Raphael was wasting an hour of our day, but our lust for local chatter can't be that insatiable. And the last thing I want to do is listen to a dude with a receding hairline, who has to remind us he's a food expert, pontificate about local issues. 

Sidetracked by that goof. Can't help it, he's a clown. 

Heather was probably taking her share of morning co-anchor shifts already. I don't know, I kinda quit watching morning news talk when I quit working last spring. I have no idea if they hired anyone new to fill Kim Johnson's slot in the payroll ledger, but I doubt it. I assumed that the new co-host would be somebody on staff, and that likely meant no new hire when they kicked Kim to the curb. I'd be impressed if somebody could document that they haven't cut reporting/anchoring jobs since the pandemic. But c'mon, there's no chance their roster is as robust today. 

What I can't figure out is why the hell it took until January to officially announce one of the early morning staffers in the rotation was filling the seat. The fact that there's a commercial promoting it in mid-January is obnoxious. But TV news is despicable that way. 

I'd also love to know how eager Heather was to sign up for this gig. Did they offer it to her, or did they reassign her to the seat, with no meaningful choice in the matter. I know where I'd bet my last $5. 

Speaking of despicable, newspapers are not immune. I didn't scour the internet, but I do know what's left of the Pioneer Press had some sort of story, at least online, trumpeting that Ken Barlow is the chief meteorologist now that Dave "Dull" has retired after 43 years. (That's an old nickname for him for a crappy old broadcasting forum. It wasn't my idea. And honestly, Dave's boring, gimmick-free style is more desirable 100 times out of 100 than Ian Leonard on his best day.)

Barlow is the old hen at KSTP, so he gets the title, for whatever that's worth. Sounds like he'll remain a morning guy. So is he going to race to the station every time a severe storm blows through the metro? You assume so. Otherwise it would seem that chief meteorologist designation is ceremonial. 

And as part of the big announcement, we learned Wren Clair is going to inherit the prized nighttime newscasts, full time. She had been splitting prime time with Dave, evidently. The fact they are giving her full weeks at this point is not really a surprise, either, unless they were going to call up one of their third-stringers to take Dave's place, and that didn't seem likely. 

The change in job titles and assignments ain't news, but we treat TV people like they're special because we see them on TV, and we're suckers for reading such crap, myself included. Nonetheless, newspapers reporting on job changes at a local TV station: Despicable! But entertaining. 

See also: This. 

Liz Collin, Eric Malmberg and Sven Sundgaard walk into a bar

 Lots to pontificate upon. I'm sure I'll forget something/somebody. 

OH THAT COVID!

A lot of what we've seen happen this year is a result of our exciting COVID economy. Not all of it, of course. People don't hate Liz Collin because of COVID. But there's no doubt COVID has hurt broadcasting and print media.

But how much? 

It's not as if 93X was running commercial free from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday. It's not as if Paul Allen went commercial free for the final hour of his chat fest. There were still commercials. 

Other than a slight increase in self-promotion, it seemed that there were plenty of commercials when Frank and Amelia read us the news. I can only assume that broadcasters had to cut deals and sell ads on the cheap to keep the revenue flowing.

So, it was the drop in revenue that ended the broadcasting careers of Dana Wessel and Ben Holsen, the former morning show dudes at Go 96.3? Maybe.

But it's not as if the geniuses programming 96.3 have ever gotten it right. I have no idea what kind of ratings that Wessel and Holsen pulled during morning drive, but I'd wager the return on the investment wasn't that great to begin with, and the COVID economy was the excuse Go 96.3 needed to cut expenses on a station that can't win, much like the Twins during the postseason. (Yes, by the time you read this, the Twins will likely have gotten that monkey off their backs.) 

I don't listen to Go 96.3, and I'm not going to start. I have no idea if those guys were the least bit entertaining. But from what I've seen of Wessel online, he seems to be a down-to-earth guy who isn't pompous and pretentious. But I know nothing, other than the dude seems to like Donkey Kong. 

YOUR CAREER IS DEAD, ERIC

The most recent tidbit to captivate the local broadcasting audience is that a dude who worked at public radio darling The Current is out of a job because he is creepy. 

It's the story of Eric Malmberg, and it is fascinating. Dude works for many years on local rock radio, establishing a rather unspectacular career. He was never on a morning show that I know of. He was never an afternoon drive guy. As far as I can tell, "Dead Eric" has a long career of being a throw away guy on local radio. So he gets hired by The Current to spin that hip, eccentric local and independent music that nobody can sell commercially (I jest, slightly) overnight and/or on weekends. This after nearly two decades of commercial radio success, or so I read. 

Who is this guy's sugar daddy? And how did The Current look at a dude who worked forever at KQ and 93X and decide that's what their on-air lineup is lacking? 

Somebody claimed via Twitter once upon a time that Dead Eric is the nephew of longtime talker Al Malmberg. Not sure if that's true, but I've seen references somewhere to Dead Eric being the son of somebody in the biz, or something along that line. 

Dead Eric has also made a buck or two, allegedly, performing music in a bar band. And most notably, he was a staff member of some degree for an organization I know nothing about, Youth Frontiers. He's cited as an employee in this blog post. 

So what does it all mean? Who knows, but here's what I have learned. 

Dead Eric is out of a job because he may have been inappropriate toward women he worked with during his past radio gigs. We still don't know exactly what he was or wasn't doing that was troublesome to at least 8 women, but it doesn't matter. When you're selling your persona as you babble into a hot mic, you'd better be squeaky clean, or have a tolerant employer. 

The Current wanted to be very tolerant when a reporter on the news side of the MPR corporation, who happened to be working on a story about Dead Eric's creepy past, quit in disgust because the story wasn't being aired. But the vitriol from the reporter's supporters forced MPR to give Malmberg a Timberland boot right out the door a day later. 

Being characterized as creepy by a respected journalist usually spells the end of your career, in at least your current market. 

I'm not going to defend the guy, but I am left wondering who is right and wrong. 

The journalist, whose name I didn't know, is highly decorated. It's unlikely she was chasing after Dead Eric on a whim, and I doubt she has a personal vendetta against him. Somebody came to her with information she thought was more damning than "he's a bit creepy around women."

Where there's smoke, there's often fire. 

It's a big move when a journalist quits over an employer's refusal to run with a story. Tells me the story is damning, even if the guy has never been charged with a crime. People guilty of crimes may be subjected to scrutiny of their actions, public or otherwise, before they're ever charged with their first felony. And if there's evidence that something serious has happened, but no criminal charges were ever filed, that doesn't excuse the behavior. 

I think the story is more than worthy of investigation by a reporter if there's evidence at least one person has been harmed in some way. How much harm does it take to make it a story? Does it need to be a criminal level of harm? Tough call. 

And you automatically get an extra ounce of scrutiny if you're a public figure.

The fact it's a 40-something dude with a bad haircut at The Current, when the reporter's paycheck comes from MPR, makes it all the more complex, and fascinating. 

I don't think the wall between the MPR news crew and the rest of the company was a factor, but then again.... it's a station that has taken a PR beating in recent years for its recent firing of a classical music DJ, its dismissal of asshole Brian Oake and its affiliation with the great Garrison Keillor. Don't automatically assume the corporate fathers and mothers aren't actively looking to avoid another demerit on their permanent record. 

The Current had no choice but to kill Dead Eric's career, at least in the local market. I don't expect to ever know the creepy details of the allegations, but I do wonder, what if Dead Eric isn't guilty of a crime, and simply is too dumb to understand personal boundaries and creepiness? We assume he's a fully functioning adult, despite his outdated teenage haircut, but what if he's not? What if MPR rejected the story because there's not enough damning evidence that he's more than slightly creepy? (I don't buy the argument that because the victims were anonymous, the story couldn't clear MPR's lofty standards.)

I doubt, highly, that Dead Eric is squeaky clean, based upon what little we know. But I do wonder what happened to the idea of innocent until proven guilty. His career in this market, and likely most everywhere else in the free world, is dead, and none of us have even had a chance to hear the evidence in the case against him. But as we're well aware, in the court of public opinion, you don't need a lot of facts to render a verdict. 

I'm shocked, of course, that so many people were upset and threatening to cancel their ongoing financial commitment to all things MPR. I thought that MPR's base of support was down to a few dozen people following the Brian Oake outrage. 

How soon does Malmberg launch his podcast? Maybe he can a part of the Brian Oake Network

WE'LL MISS YOU, ALI

I haven't been watching much early morning TV since the pandemic began. But I was disappointed to find out we were losing Ali Lucia. Not for any good reason, of course, but nonetheless I was disappointed. 

I learned just enough to know that she's leaving for Chicago because of her husband's career. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the end of her TV career. She has a young child, after all. 

As I've said before, there's a reason why so many known names leave the glamour of TV and radio for jobs as the face of a company or government agency. 

I'd bet the husband's fancy new gig in the Windy City makes up for Ali's paychecks at WCCO. 

This Twitter thread was quite impressive and candid. It's from former WCCO reporter Mary McGuire, who is yet another hometown girl made good. She left TV in January, evidently. It's not clear to me what she's doing now, but all indications were that she wasn't continuing her career in front of the camera. 

There are far worse jobs than TV news reporter, but you'll never convince me it's a great job, unless you don't need the paycheck, or you're as indispensable as Jeff Passolt was. 

As for Ali, it's funny that she left about a month after WCCO dumped Kim Johnson, for seemingly no meaningful reason. Would they have cut Kim if Ali had left first?  

Neither Kim nor Ali left a legacy in Twin Cities broadcasting, but I'd take either of them in a heartbeat over Jason DeRusha. (He's a food genius! And has one hell of a forehead.)

LIZ COLLIN IS DESPICABLE

I have enjoyed watching the hatred lobbed at WCCO over their employment of Liz Collin. And, of course, I wrote extensively about the outrage a while ago. 

There's a lot I could write about the morons who took their protest of Liz and her handsome hubby to their home in Hugo. I don't support it, and Mr. Liz Collin is an easy target that deserves criticism. But at the end of the day, I find both Liz and her employer to be despicable. 

Her husband, Trump lover Bob Kroll, is well known locally for being the union mouthpiece of Minneapolis cops. That's enough to make you a public figure, arguably, but when you're the subject of media reporting, (being a racist homophobe, allegedly,) and getting up on stage at a Trump propaganda festival with a T-shirt proclaiming cops love Trump, you most definitely are a public figure in this town. 

It really doesn't matter who you are married to when it comes to your job as the union honcho, but when you're married to a local TV babe, people are going to wonder how your relationship affects what your wife's TV station does or doesn't do regarding its reporting of your union leadership and issues involving your police department. There should be no effect, but some people will always assume there is. 

I don't know how long Liz and Bobby have been lost in each other's eyes, but Bobby sure didn't want anyone to know he landed himself a trophy wife. Irony at its finest. The marriage couldn't have been a secret, but they certainly wanted it to be, as Bobby threatened to boycott Star Tribune reporters if they referenced the fact that he is married to his trophy. It was a story about him and his actions, and a story he granted an interview for, that raised his dander. The story notes his threat to boycott the Strib if they mention he's married, out of concern that it would hurt her career. 

He's right. It does. But that doesn't mean he gets to hide the fact from viewers of WCCO or any other media outlet. And he has carried out his threat, because he's as petty and misguided as those who showed up at his home to protest the fact both he and his trophy are still employed. 

So why does that make Liz despicable? 

Liz doesn't control her husband. She doesn't dictate what he does and doesn't do. But she's a part of the local media. And she has to know that her marriage won't remain a secret forever, no matter how embarrassed she is by it. More important, she has to know that her marriage, and her employment, will be scrutinized whenever the public finds out. And the longer it's kept hush-hush, the worse it looks. 

I have no idea what goes on behind their closed doors in Hugo, but given the fact that Liz can't convince her buffoon of a husband that it's grossly unprofessional to blacklist a media organization for daring to ask about his cozy relationship with a member of a prominent local news outlet, that makes her despicable. She is a party to her husband's malfeasance. Highly despicable.

By the way, WCCO-TV isn't off the hook. The geniuses running the station had to know all about this, of course, and basically admit as much. Since the death of George Floyd, the station has made its anchors read a disclaimer occasionally, noting Liz is married to the buffoon and hasn't reported on police matters in more than two years. 

WCCO only started doing this after the public starting claiming that she shouldn't be employed because she is married to a racist. So the disclaimer is only important now, and not months earlier, when the Star Tribune spilled the beans in a story I believe ran in their once bulky Sunday edition? 

The disclaimer should have been made by WCCO before the Strib ever outed the buffoon as being married to a TV babe. That makes WCCO-TV despicable, too. 

Liz is accused of being racist by association with Bob, but the only thing she's really guilty of is questionable taste in men. So WCCO has meekly stuck with her. She was nowhere to be found for at least a month after Floyd's death, and the couple of times I've seen her report since she quietly returned, she was never on camera. No live shots from the field, and no weekend anchoring that I've seen, although I haven't seen a weekender in a while. My theory is that at this point, WCCO is running out her contract and is going to let her quietly disappear. If not, why are they willing to weather the storm for her when they were willing to kick Kim Johnson to the curb during her vacation for seemingly no meaningful reason? 

It's not apples to apples, but MPR canned Malmberg within a day of the angry masses rioting in cyberspace. Part of MPR's statement dismissing Malmberg read, "Our hosts have to be able to attract an audience that wants to listen to them and trusts them and over the last 36 hours those conditions have changed for Malmberg."

Couldn't the same be said for weekend anchor Liz Collin? 

IS SHE NUTS?

There was a funny moment in that aforementioned Twitter thread by Mary McGuire. 

As people discussed how little they earned when they started their career, or how little they were earning after many years of experience, there was some discussion about risk, or reward, and/or the safety net people (white people, I think) have when they choose to pursue a career in journalism. 

It seemed out of place, and it came from a long lost member of the Twin Cities media, Mary Alice Rosko. Known for her goofy way of gallivanting about the metro for Fox 9 bright and early, she gave it all up to explore Minnesota, and occasionally write about it on a blog, or something. 

M.A., as she liked to be called, is older than you would likely guess, and must have a sugar mama out there. That, or she inherited a fortune. There's no way her career paid such dividends that she is free to roam as she wishes, without a financial care in the world. She was at Fox 9 in some capacity for nearly two decades, and I'm guessing it wasn't her first gig on TV. But there's no way she was highly valued at Fox 9. 

Her financial means aren't really important. What we do know is that she gave up the glamour of TV to wander aimlessly, and in finding herself on the lonesome highway, she's losing touch with the world around her. 

Rosko deleted the tweet, as best I can tell, but it was made about Aug. 1, when every discussion and issue had to be about race. And I feel like M.A. interjected race into the discussion by making some claim about white people having a safety net of some kind and being able to afford to take a risk in pursuing a media career. I guess that means non-whites in broadcasting couldn't possibly have such a safety net. 

I wish I had a screen shot of the tweet, because it was out of place, and wacky, to say the least. Current Fox 9 weather gal Jennifer McDermed took exception to M.A.'s claim, which suggested all white people had some sort of privilege that mitigated any risks they took in pursuing their career. McDermed disagreed with M.A.'s wackiness, and tweeted "I wouldn’t say ALL. Many took a gamble when jumping into this field."

And then McDermed responded in follow up at some point, noting M.A. had blocked her. 

For that? M.A. was triggered by that? 

I'm not sure when or why M.A. became so unhinged, but perhaps it's best for Fox 9 and all its viewers that she wasn't still part of the morning program this past summer. 

As for McDermed, I use to like her. But when I made a suggestion, a simple silly suggestion, that she might have been cut loose by Fox 9 over the holidays last year because the station was renting a meteorologist for a few newscasts, she replied about being on vacation. I would have been happy to hear that, but her condescending response to some anonymous account proved that she's still a kid, despite the fact she should be tweeting like a working professional at this point in her life. 

"Nope, I’m back tomorrow! You see.... I also get vacation days at work. It’s nice. I get to spend time with my family. #vacationearned #dontvacationshame"

I don't know how "vacation shaming" had anything to do with my comment, whatever vacation shaming is. 

In her defense, I was sarcastic about her absence, making fun of the "self-important promos for how vital the weather 'team' is" in my comment. 

Yeah, I could have been less sarcastic, but I'm not employed by a local TV station. It's a bad look when you are, and that's how you respond. But hey, all kids make mistakes in the early years of their career.

And at the end of the day, stations don't care about how you conduct yourself via social media.  

OR DO THEY? 

That brings us to the story of "Nature Boy" Sven Sundgaard. 

I'm a bit stunned that KARE-TV went so far as to announce that he was kicked to the curb in May due to "continued violations of KARE11’s news ethics and other policies."

Tantalizing, isn't it? KARE didn't say much, but they said a lot more than a lot of stations say when they give a prominent face a one-way ticket on the express bus to Unemploymentville. 

We don't know what KARE'S statement actually means, but we know Sven couldn't stop himself, or his boyfriend, from pleasuring his many fans with online discussions about news, politics and anything else that tickled their fancy. Or so I have read. (In a shocking revelation, I know nothing about Sven's life as a social media butterfly.)

Outrage ensued when Sven was dismissed, allegedly, much like the outrage over that asshole Brian Oake. 

I was not outraged. As the kids liked to say a few years ago, "Stay in your lane, bro!" 

You're the second-string meteorologist on a top 15 market's roster. If you want be Lavender's poster child for the gay community, go for it. But don't assume that your station wants you to be the moral compass for liberal/conservative/progressive America, unless you're prepared to live off the crumbs Bring Me the News is willing to throw your way. 

It's funny, once upon a time KARE wanted its "personalities" to shine via station blogs. (Perhaps there's still a space on the KARE website for such nonsense. I can't kare enough to look.) They had a lame ditty and commercial telling you to race to the KARE blogs, featuring "Lady Di," the dork at play and the long-gone "curmudgeon" Allen Costantini. 

KARE loves when viewers engage with their ridiculous Breaking the News crapfest through social media channels. 

And KARE has no problem promoting the personal life of Rena Sarigianopoulos. 

But when you start shooting your mouth off and telling people how you think, sashay out the door, girlfriend! 

The irony, of course, is that KARE soon found itself without its third-stringer, the dude with the creepy beard. And it lost Pat Evans shortly thereafter, a guy who would at least read a forecast occasionally, but managed to find a way to do almost anything else during a forgettable 25-year tenure at the station. 

I'm not sure how Sven will satisfy his lust for a captive audience, but I am confident Bring Me the News won't be his final act in this market. He does nothing for me, but he seemed to excite a lot of female viewers in this town. 

I don't feel the least bit sorry for gay icon Sven Sundgaard. As the kids liked to say, "Know your role, bro!" 

KARE is a disaster these days. Terrible, terrible station. In the long run, Sven might be better off for KARE jerking him off. 

The air. 

Jerking him off the air.

PAPER, OR PLASTIC?

In what seems like a lifetime ago, Jeff Dubay was bounced from 1500 AM simply because they weren't making money. 

I would have bet $100 three years ago that the station would abandon any pretense of being a sports station by now. Instead they scaled back the ESPN marketing, called the station SKOR North, capitalized SKOR for no reason and overhauled the weekday schedule. They dumped the old geezers and created all sorts of new niche programs during the afternoon in an attempt to breathe new life into the station. 

Worked out well, didn't it? 

As best I can tell, there's not much going on until mid-afternoon, when the last two shepherds of ESPN 1500 take to the airwaves and chat away. It beats unemployment, I suppose, but damn, things are grim at Hubbard's AM signal. 

The brain trust at Hubbard axed just about everyone not named Judd or Phil. And that included Ramie Makhlouf. 

What I never understood was why 1500 deemed it necessary to add a third banana to their most prominent on-air duo. A guy who talks sports, tells knock-knock jokes on the side and doesn't root for the local teams was an important addition to an established duo at your station? Seemed like a bizarre move. 

As for Makhlouf, he left Milwaukee for a gig on the vastly inferior (so say the ratings) sports station in Minneapolis, as I recall. And less than 18 months later he began a long career sabbatical that is still going on as of late September. 

Bad career moves for $1,000, Alex. 

Best advice I can give Makhlouf: Don't call Jeff Dubay for career advice. 

Phil Mackey, by the way, blamed the massive salary dump on the COVID. Like the aforementioned Wessel, COVID took the blame for the end of this broadcasting career, too. In Makhlouf's case, he and his "teammates" got the ax less than two months into the pandemic. That tells me that 1500 had one foot in the grave before the pandemic began. 

The house of Hubbard also cut a couple of producers at the chick talk station it runs on the FM dial. One of them was a guy billing himself as "Donny Love." 

If that's the name you're selling on chick talk radio, you deserve your fate. 

Who knows what the future of broadcasting holds for those who have lost jobs this year, whatever the excuse for cutting the positions. But the industry wasn't exactly robust to begin with, and I'm guessing that when the COVID is all over, we won't see a lot of these jobs added back to the payroll. Companies will continue to get by with what they have left. After all, it's working right now, isn't it?

And there's always some young, optimistic, foolish youngster who thinks they'll persevere in an industry that can easily, and happily, live without Eric Malmberg on its payroll. 

You're a valuable asset to the company, until somebody comes along who can do your job reasonably well, and for less money. 

I have a feeling there are a lot of broadcasting professionals whose careers are ending thanks to the COVID. 

For what it's worth, (probably nothing,) there was a guy who worked at KFAN for 11 years, disappeared, probably due to a bad economy circa 2008, and re-emerged a little over a year later at 1500. That tenure lasted five years or so. I seem to recall he was axed at 1500, as well, through no fault of his own.

Does the name Cory Roufs ring a bell? 

He continued to work in radio, evidently, for a while after 1500, thanks to the world of satellite broadcasting. And what is he doing today after nearly two decades of radio experience? He's the front end manager for Kowalski's Markets, whatever that means. This after working for a year for a bus company. 

My point is not to job shame the guy. He may have been planning a career change for the last five years of his sports radio career. He may have run out of local options and was not in a position to move to another major market. I have no idea, but anyone willing to work for a living, in a country where so many would rather look for a handout or meal ticket anywhere they can get one, deserves tons of respect.

I have a feeling a lot of broadcasting professionals will be hoping or praying a bus company or grocery store is willing to put food on their table in the months and years to come. 

FUN FACTS

Time to wrap this up. I put a few hours into this, over several nights. I started it weeks ago, but didn't have the fire in the belly. Eric Malmberg changed that. Thanks dude!

I'm glad I put thoughts into words, but I remain committed to not doing so on a regular basis. Although all bets are off when Chris Hawkey's "damn festival" returns next summer. I was really looking forward to reading about how the morons who ran the inaugural #TCSummerJam screwed over a new set of suckers in 2020.

As for the fun facts, here's one: Jana Shorthair has thin skin. Don't joke, not in the slightest, about her killing network air time by interviewing Santa Claus during Breaking the News. She'll block you in less time than it takes to comb her hair. (What's less than zero seconds?)

Here's one more: Jeff Dubay has started a new podcast. Yes, again. For about the 50th time, it seems. I don't listen, but I say good luck to Jeff. May he find peace and satisfaction in his golden years.

Don't forget, Brian Oake is an asshole, and Keith Levanthal needs a job, again. 

Buy Jason DeRusha a glass of wine, and Liz Collin a clue

I don't have a lot to say about DeRusha. He noshes and he has a lot of forehead. And if he graces you with his presence at your fundraising event, buy the guy a glass of wine, dammit. He doubled down on that in 2019, if I recall correctly.

I'm fascinated, and bored, with the Liz Collin outrage. WCCO has all the reasons in the world to say it's time to go, and if they don't kick her to the curb, it will fan the Twitter flames when they finally trot her out in front of a camera. That will die down, but Twitter reminders that she's married to a member of the Village People, who most people are less than fond of, will never go away. Maybe they'll die down to one or two instances per month, if Bob Kroll keeps his mouth shut, or goes away.

I will have one more dispatch from the bunker this summer, some time after the holiday weekend. The blog is not back. I just don't have time to eat so much low-hanging fruit.

Alix Kendall, Rena Sarigianopoulos and Elizabeth Ries walk into a bar

I want to write about too many things, and I don't want to write 10 blog posts in the next year, so here are thoughts on a variety of topics, rolled into one package.

YOUR LIFE IS NOT THAT FASCINATING

Why is it that TV stations insist on treating their employees like they're part of our family? I'm sure the anchors and reporters are complicit in this.

We all know Rena Sarigianopoulos got married and had a child during the past few years. It's hard to hide the pregnancy when a woman continues to work on camera, but honestly, did KARE-TV need to share pictures of Rena's wedding and pregnancy announcement on its social media channels?

It's one thing to note that an on-air "talent" has had a child. If you watch Rena on that news-fluff program she participates in you noticed the obvious, and were probably reminded of it plenty of times. (I don't watch, so I don't know.) When Rena disappears for weeks, it's understandable that the station will show a picture of the mother and child and note a baby was born.

But TV stations take it to another level these days thanks to social media. I'm not sure which station in the Twin Cities is most guilty, but damn, KARE-TV sure likes to exploit the personal lives of their talent. I have to assume the talent agrees to play along. It's sad, and it is trumped by the fact that people actually care. They will respond to those Facebook posts to congratulate Rena or whomever it is for their incredible accomplishment. Harmless, sure, but a sad indictment of both the stations pumping out the local news and the people watching it.

BRING ME A BARF BAG

I'm not a fan of that lame attempt at news chat that Rena and her pal are doling out at 6:30 p.m., although Rena doesn't seem that interested any more. I don't watch the show, but if I have the TV on at 6:30, I try to see who is hosting on any particular night, and Rena is absent more often than not, it seems.

Perhaps the show is better than it was a couple of years ago when I first watched it, but honestly, these people are not smart.

Did I ever mention Rena once lectured me on Twitter? I made a silly comment about the show, but instead of ignoring it, Rena lectured me for my negativity. Now keep in mind that I had watched the show three times in its opening few months. I was watching on one 2016 night and tweeted that I was going to change the channel because the windbags on #BTN11 were going to praise Chris Kluwe, who should need no introduction to you because he's a media whore. I never said I wouldn't turn the channel back in five minutes to watch the final segment of the show.

So Rena, in response to a snarky comment at the end of the show, "busted" me. And then she lectured me, and tried to flatter her own ego at the same time. How superficial. And so, so wrong. At this point I hadn't tweeted all that much about her show, but she really put me in my place!

I was a social bully for daring to criticize a crappy show and refusing to watch two women babble about Chris Kluwe? OK, honey.

She didn't block me, like she should have if she is so delusional as to think I tweet hate daily.

Ignore those who criticize your crappy show if your skin is so thin. But pretending I'm some social bully who is constantly tweeting about how awful the show is shows how petty she is. Some might suggest it's an indicator of intelligence, or lack thereof.

Rena's not the only person who lives in a fantasy world of self-importance. The show has a producer named Nikki Muehlhausen who once lectured me on Twitter. She's at least smart enough to have deleted her tweets about a day after she did so. But basically darling Nikki told me that I'm allowed to praise her lame show and offer a suggestion, but I'm not allowed to call a spade a spade. I was wrong for calling it like I see it. I can kiss #BTN11 ass, but I can't call out bad TV when I see it. I didn't screen capture it, so I can't share the sentiment exactly as it was expressed, but yes, she was that ridiculous.

There's a dufus named Chad Nelson who points a camera at stuff now and again for Ch. 11. He saw some of my tweets, particularly those simple, dopey ones I sent for a while, noting I wasn't watching #BTN11 daily, despite what Rena thinks. His life is no better than mine, evidently, as he tried to needle me a few times in response. I love dopes who like to fight fire with fire. I'm sure he thinks he's above that.

In its earliest days they had some stiff named Nick Petersen who was their social media genius. They'd turn to him to share with the viewers what they were talking about on social media while watching the show. The guy wasn't smooth. I didn't interact with him much, but I did note his segment was painful to watch. A couple of months later I tweeted something (probably snarky) and made my standard comment about how I hate every segment, every day. He didn't reply. He blocked me, and I'm guessing he did so simply because he wasn't interested in seeing my comments in his social media scouring for #BTN11.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how it's done. Don't get high and mighty like Rena and Nikki, don't be a fool like Chad. Just ignore and move on. I'll have a lot more respect for you, even if you're not great on camera. (I flip to the show for a moment every once in a great while, and I haven't seen that guy on camera for a long, long time. I'm guessing Nikki saw the same thing I did.)

My favorite interaction came from Chris Hrapsky. He's a KARE reporter who has had to feed from the #BTN11 trough a lot, as far as I can tell. (He has my sympathy.) I'm not sure why he was compelled to engage me, but rather than get all high and mighty, he spent a few minutes to learn a thing or two and ask a question. I was impressed.

Chris could be an egomaniac for all I know. He could have the IQ of a diseased cat. But in comparison to all those from KARE who engaged me regarding #BTN11, he appears to be the only person whose elevator goes to the top floor. I can barely watch KARE's newscasts these days, for a myriad of reasons, but I respect a guy who doesn't need to come off as holier than thou.

IT'S HARD TO KARE

I'm no expert or insider, I've said that before. But Ch. 11 has really gone down the toilet when it comes to overall quality of their news and newscasts, and I don't need to be an expert in order to see that. I don't have the time or patience to list all the ways the station has lost my viewership. I watch on a rare occasion just because I like torturing myself. The single best example of how the once-mighty NBC affiliate has gone in the dumper? Weekend sports kid Ryan Shaver.

CAN I GET A BARF BAG WITH JASON MATHESON'S FACE ON IT?

I have mocked the fact that TV viewers find the opinions of the local talking heads to be entertaining, interesting and/or important. It was enough to have the goofballs at Ch. 9 doing it every weekday at 9 a.m., but it must have been too lucrative, as Ch. 4 decided they needed to get in on the action, too. I won't rehash my previous rants about that.

Of all the talking bobos on local TV, nobody is more nauseating than Jason Matheson.

I use to respect the guy. He worked long hours and did whatever it took to land two seemingly decent jobs in the Twin Cities. And with all that effort, he has become intolerable.

I occasionally watch a few minutes of his TV chat fest on Ch. 9, airing weekdays at 10 a.m. and a dozen other times each week at any odd time the local Fox affiliate has time to fill on either of its stations.

First off, God bless Jason for playing up the gay stereotype of being fascinated with pop culture. I don't know if he gushes over the usual gay icons -- Cher, Barbra Streisand and Rosie O'Donnell -- but he gushes over a few people, I've learned over the years. Katie Couric immediately comes to mind. It sells, buddy, so keep it up, I suppose.

Why are people so fascinated about a gay man who will tell you how interesting a "Real Housewives" episode is? I'll never understand people.

A dude working in Minneapolis, talking about pop culture. Big fucking deal. But Jesus, Jason will try to convince you he has his fingers on the pulse of Hollywood, and connections you just won't get anywhere else. Maybe he does, I don't know, but every time I sample his schtick, he's making fairly obvious observations. He's like a poor woman's Wendy Williams. You want a window into the world of mindless sheep, watch Wendy's audience go nuts for her banal observations. Then get a local version of it by watching Matheson gab on Fox 9.

For whatever reason, his two-bit show has been given two summer tryouts as a national talker. I'm stunned that there's nothing better to consider. There can't be if his show is being given a tryout.

I tried to congratulate him for the opportunity. But I didn't simply kiss his ass, which seems to be the way you have to treat him nowadays.

I noted via Twitter to Matheson that it was a tough road to national stardom he was about to navigate, as proven by bigger names who have had summer tryouts in limited markets, but it was impressive nonetheless that he had been given the opportunity. Princess took that as an insult, of course, and had to self-stimulate his ego in responding to me. You'll have to take my word for it, I'm not in the mood to create Twitter images to illustrate it.

I don't read his tweets regularly, but he once bitched about the cost of an Uber ride from the local airport. I get that you don't make millions of dollars per year in local broadcasting, but it seemed silly to me. Perhaps he was trying to appear relatable to all the housewives who adore their gal pal.

I mocked him for his silly bitching, and of course his response was quite Sarigianopoulos-like, pretending that he's constantly under attack by me, somebody who rarely pays attention to his silliness.

He's a great success story whose ego can no longer be contained by his Buzz Boy frame.

I haven't listened to 10 minutes of his chick talk on morning drive radio, so I can't comment about how brilliant, or brutal, his long-form fawning over Shania Twain is.

And last, but not least: Jason, please convince those cheap bastards at Fox 9 to spend some cash on a theme song for your daily parade. Please don't tell me that the garbage you're using now is original, commissioned music. It sounds like royalty-free crap that would be used as filler during some lame children's show.

DID THEY HAVE A PRENUP? 

It's not nice to laugh at the failures of others, but I'll admit that the implosion of Paul Lambert's fairy tale marriage warms my heart a little.

Lambert, known as "Meatsauce" on 100.3 FM's morning show, is a great rags to riches story. He plays his part well, and as I've said before, he's The Fan's replacement for Jeff Dubay.

The hype and publicity he garnered for losing a few pounds and marrying Falen, a sidekick on the KDWB morning show, was a bit nauseating. Two people working for Clear Channel morning shows start dating, get married and live happily ever after. Congrats. More power to you.

It's inevitable that it's going to come up on the morning shows they work for. I assume it was discussed on KDWB. I rarely listen to morning radio, and when I do, I never listen to Dave Ryan. Ever.

But the nuptials got a lot of steam in the Twin Cities. There was at least one feature story in the local media profiling the love affair of these two "celebrities," and the duo didn't hesitate to market themselves as some sort of "Beauty and the Beast" duo. They'd find ways to use their marriage for promotion of themselves and/or their radio stations. I never watched the videos, but they had cooking videos that were shared on the radio station websites, if I recall correctly.

These clowns were nauseating, but that's what you have to be if you want to make money as a "personality." And of course the fairy tale marriage came crashing to the ground within a couple of years. I've read comments about why, but I've never heard or read a reliable explanation, and I don't care.

I don't revel in the failure of these fools, but it brings a wry smile to my face, knowing that their personal lives have been shown to be as fraudulent as their on-air personas.

QUICK HITS

To close out this Twin Cities roundup, here are random thoughts.

It's great that you get to sit on a WCCO couch once a week and give us your insightful movie reviews, Dennis "Rusty" Gatenby, but it's time to put your name to use as some mediocre communications coordinator for a local company and quit trying to hold onto the local TV limelight you lost so long ago.

It has been more than 18 months since I last published on this blog, and the last time I did, I noted what a waste of flesh Cheryl Johnson is. She's better known by her initials, B.J., and since she got in trouble for her idiocy back in 2016 she has been severely neutered by the Strib, which published the garbage she produced. The only reason they don't shitcan her, I'm guessing, is that she'll sue for discrimination. There ain't no way she's worth whatever they're paying her, and there ain't no way she's getting a better paying gig if she's kicked to the curb by the Strib. But it's nice to see the Strib has stopped publishing the garbage she use to produce, which seemed to lack any sort of editorial scrutiny.

I never, in my wildest dreams, would have guessed we'd still have sports talk on AM 1500. I don't know how that low-rated station survives, but kudos to all of you who looked to be out of a job more than a year ago.

And Kudos to the Pohlad family for proving that underachievement isn't limited to the MLB franchise you own. The inability of the Pohlads, whichever brother(s) run the radio/media conglomerate they built, to succeed in running a radio station is a fitting testament to the business savvy the family has demonstrated during the past 25 years.

Brian Oake is still an asshole. It just needs to be said more often than it is.

Last, and certainly least, is the namesake of this blog. I've predicted before that it's going to end on a very sour note for Dubay. His most recent run-in with the law ended with a plea agreement he made. He claimed that he couldn't risk going to jail for years as a result of the lies of a vindictive housemate he may or may not have been having sex with. Even if Dubay's hands were clean, the circumstances of it all show how hard it is to pick up the pieces after you've flushed your career and reputation down the toilet. And we know Dubay hasn't been able to walk the straight and narrow in the years since it all came crashing down around him. Unless Dubay comes to Jesus and makes peace with what's left of his life -- the dude is 50 years old, it's unlikely his life is ever going to be as cool as it was in his 30s -- it's not a matter of what ugliness will befall his life, it's simply a question of when does the next shoe drop. Good luck, Puffy, you're going to need it far more than most degenerate gamblers.

AND FINALLY

It's easy to throw stones at the local media. When pompous script readers like Jason DeRusha lecture the world on how precious his time is, and how great of a human he is for giving of his time, it's hard to avoid vomiting. Oh yeah, he's a culinary genius who eats and writes. He's multi-faceted!

When local "talent" is asked to fill an hour talking about the news and water cooler topics, you'll end up cringing at some point, assuming you're not lapping it up like a Pavlovian dog. (I'll never forget the excitement the recently departed Kylie Bearse expressed about the fascinating hour of chat they were about to launch at 9 a.m. a couple of years ago.)

It's too easy to throw stones because too many of the folks producing news or inane chat are mediocre at best, not nearly as well compensated as you might think. As I've noted before, plenty of folks get out of the biz for jobs that seem far less prestigious, and I'd bet my last $5 that income is a major factor in why former reporters find their way to communications positions with corporations or governmental agencies. Or, if you're fortunate enough to be a trophy wife, a la Natalie Nyhus, you can afford to stay home with your child. Why pass your paycheck onto a day care provider when you can spend those formative years with your child? Good gig if you can get it.

I have occasionally lavished praise, or simple observations, about developments in the local media. But more often than anything, I've chosen the low hanging fruit: Criticizing the mediocrity and mindlessness of the local media. The Twin Cities may be a top 20 market nationally, but our products are weak, and we're not unique. Media companies don't have the exclusivity and license to print money they once held, and they're not interested in being nonprofit entities.

I am pretty much guaranteed years of fodder, should I chose to accept it. But not so long ago, I listened as a motivational speaker discussed the merits of creating, regardless of the audience for your product. Sure, this blog is a creative outlet, and one that finds an audience. With little promotion these days I've found that plenty of people find their way to the blog. Not hundreds per day, but more than most "mommy" bloggers get, I'd wager.

This blog is a creative endeavor, but it's not the most satisfying creative outlet. A few months ago I finally started a new creative project that has nothing to do with writing, and I'm enjoying it. I'm going to keep at it.

I won't suggest that I'm never going to record another thought at this blog, but it hasn't been a priority for more than a year, and since the start of 2018, I've finally found a replacement for that creative expression this blog has provided, even if it is at Keith Leventhal's expense. (As his biggest fan, I had to work a backhanded compliment in one more time.)

Until something changes, I'm putting the blog on indefinite hiatus. Now, if we could just get Fox 9 to do the same thing with Ian Leonard....

Is Brian Oake an asshole?

At least a few people think so, and the stories I've heard would suggest that Brian Oake is indeed a pompous asshole.

I won't waste time recapping how a dude with the gift of gab and the love of music has made a name for himself in this market. You can't argue with his skills.

But the dude has a thin skin, and if you don't kiss his ass and tell him how great he is, he's likely to rip you for it. 

I know of a few stories, but the best story is one I can vouch for. I am connected to a woman whose friend works in the media. He is not a DJ or a news anchor, he's one of those faceless guys who is as important to the reporting as Jason DeRusha. OK, a lot more important than DeRusha. 

My friend showed me some of the online evidence to help substantiate the story. Basically the media guy tweeted a comment about Oake. The comment ripped Oake, sort of, and initially it seemed that Oake was cool with it. Basically the media guy wasn't a fan of Oake's work on The Current's morning show. 

But Oake didn't brush it off. No, he's too sensitive and self-important to do that. He messaged the media guy and asked the media guy about the Twitter comment. I'm not sure exactly how that exchange went, I didn't have access to those exchanges, but eventually the media guy shared via his social network that Oake bitched at him for the comment he initially made. 

The best part is that Oake concluded the exchange by telling the media guy he didn't care what the media guy thinks. Somebody get Oake a dictionary and point him to an entry for "irony." Oake initiated the private exchange for an explanation of the initial tweet. Yet Oake doesn't care what the guy thinks? 

Oake has had a steady, solid career in this market, but his success at the local level has gone to his head. Perhaps he was an asshole growing up in Coon Rapids, I don't know, but there are multiple stories out there that would prompt more than a couple of people to say, "Yes, Brian Oake is an asshole."

Dawn Mitchell is a third-string quarterback

I don't use my Twitter account on a regular basis, but I log in occasionally. And yes, I tweet links to my writing, sometimes, despite the fact I don't have many followers. My account isn't there for chatting with the unwashed masses, it's primarily for reading what others have to say, be it Rena Sarigianopoulos, Jason DeRusha, Keith Leventhal (who?) or "Boring" Joe Mauer.

Not so long ago Jared Allen retired from the NFL. (If this means nothing to you, it doesn't really matter.) There were a variety of posts that day, toasting the dopey goofball for his corny retirement announcement.

Dawn Mitchell, the secondary sports anchor for the local Fox affiliate, tweeted an "outtake" of some sort from an interview she did, evidently. (I didn't watch the clip, I didn't care enough to know.)

Her tweet was the first once I ran across, so I quote tweeted it, which is very different than replying to it, noting Allen was washed up, so what took so long?

Calling him washed up is harsh. He is past his prime, nobody would argue that. His playing time was reduced the past year or more, not because he couldn't do his job on defense, I suspect. My guess is that after years of pounding on the NFL gridiron he wasn't as spry as he was a decade earlier. Like most players, injuries limit minutes on the field, especially after a decade in the league.

He retired at 33, it's not as if he's about to enter a nursing home, but plenty of people don't survive 10 years in the NFL, and he played 12 seasons. I'm guessing wear and tear was taking its toll, and you can't blame a well compensated player for wanting to get out while he can still walk away on his own, especially in this day and age.

So yes, I was harsh in my criticism of his retirement. He's not really washed up. I quote tweeted Mitchell's clip, sharing it with the dozens of people who follow my account. She should appreciate that.

And what if she doesn't appreciate it? What should she do then? Ignore it. Yes, I drew her attention to my comment by quoting her tweet, but that doesn't require a response. Nowhere did I ask Mitchell to comment or respond. I made a statement. Don't like that I called Allen washed up? Ignore it and move on with your life.

But not Mitchell. She found it necessary to respond, saying that "I don't find your negativity appealing." She's well within her right to do that, but she looks foolish for doing so. Not because she gave me her opinion via a reply, but because of what she tweeted afterward.

I replied by telling her that I didn't realize I was seeking her validation. We then exchanged several comments, hers defending the honor of poor Jared Allen. I agreed with her on one point, but noted that it didn't change the fact he was not going out on top.

At that point she should not have responded and moved on with her life. Not being social media savvy, Mitchell chose otherwise.

Her next comment to me; "So?"

So I responded, by telling her that I called it like I saw it, and she drew attention to it. She noted, again, that she finds negativity unappealing.

At this point I'm confused by the lack of critical thinking on the part of Mitchell, so I replied by telling her I find music festivals unappealing. I don't care if she finds my negativity unappealing, therefore I shared with her something I find unappealing, which happened to be unrelated to our entire exchange.

Now you've gotta think that Mitchell is going to stop responding, as the exchange is clearly going nowhere, and I've made a mockery of it.

Nope, not Mitchell. She's not that savvy. Confused, she replies, "huh".

I assume her response was meant to be in the form of a question, wondering what I meant. I don't know, and it doesn't matter, as she quickly tweeted again, noting "answering a tweet sent at you is not drawing attention. Don't tweet into begin w duh."

Of course the flaw with her logic is the fact that I didn't send a tweet at her, I quote tweeted her, and never asked for a response. She gave it freely, and it did draw attention to my opinion, even if it was only my attention. Had she ignored my quote tweet I'd have forgotten I tweeted it, and today I'd still think Mitchell is smarter than she now appears, at least to me.

By the way, my final response was "tweet was not sent at you. Duh".

Splitting hairs, perhaps, but I clearly didn't ask her for a response, she unintelligently chose to do so.

You'd think a media darling who is trying to establish herself as a household name in the market, a la Mark Rosen, would be thankful her content is being retweeted in any form. I'll guarantee you most media jackals foam at the mouth when their tweets go viral.

A smart, savvy sports anchor-reporter takes every follower and retweet she can get and ignores the crap she disagrees with, especially when she's using her official station account. Trying to put people in their place, and attempting to insult them in doing so, makes you look like an amateur.

Word to the wise: Don't be a Mitchell.

Rena Sarigianopoulos doesn't need a part-time job

It's not exactly breaking news: Plenty of our local celebrities aren't living on easy street.

By local celebrity I refer to those who speak on TV or the radio. They're not celebrities, but we like to think of them as special, and act accordingly.

It has long been known that those who have "cool" jobs in major market radio don't necessarily cash fat paychecks. Sure, there are heavy hitters whose presence are a major draw, and their salary will reflect that. But even those folks aren't on the fast track to living next door to a lion hunting dentist, either in Eden Prairie or Marco Island, Fla.

Our local jocks are often shilling for products when they're not dazzling us with their dulcet tones. I'll never forget listening to Jeff Dubay shill for Body Solutions, along with many other local jocks, many moons ago. They were essentially shilling for snake oil, but as long as the checks were being cashed.

When Dan Barreiro was splitting time between sports radio and writing columns for the Star Tribune, he didn't do commercials. Not so long ago we liked to hold our "journalists" to a higher standard. Barreiro wasn't a journalist, but nonetheless.

Wait a minute. Why was Barreiro holding two jobs simultaneously for several years? Like radio, the newspaper game isn't exactly a license to print money. Sports guys working in television or newspapers by virtue of their jobs were a wealth of information, and ultimately opinions, therefore they were good candidates for the low-paying world of talk radio.

Barreiro obviously built a reputation and following that afforded him the luxury of not answering to bosses at the Strib, and therefore bailed out on the newspaper biz, which has taken it in the shorts since the Internet era began. (The rapid decline in the broadcast and print industries both have the Internet to thank for the deterioration of their business model, and the low quality product you're commonly served in 2015.)

Soon after Barreiro sold his soul to radio, he started endorsing products. You'd think that a successful, heralded personality like Barreiro would forgo attaching his name to whatever bidder came along with the fattest check, but obviously the money's good enough for him to grab. Whether his salary is hefty or modest, none of us tires of banking easy money.

Commercial reads and promotional appearances at bars, restaurants and Best Buy have long been a staple of the radio jock. I've heard it said that jocks can double their salary with work outside of, or in conjunction with, their on-air shifts. It's no surprise the time-honored tradition continues, even with the heavy hitters in the industry. Tom Barnard has made obscene amounts of money in his career, both at KQRS and in the commercial voice over biz, and yet he's still hustling gigs.

In recent years we've seen plenty of TV people wading into pools they wouldn't have dipped a toe into years ago. Just as newspaper folk have found income opportunities in radio, sports anchors and reporters from TV land have been offering their talents to the AM and FM dial. Mark Rosen has been the leader in this, dating back to the 1980s.

Randy Shaver has also had a long association with the local radio airwaves, albeit to a far lesser extent, as he mysteriously chats with the metalheads of the 93X morning show. And more recently Joe Schmit has made his presence felt on a recurring basis, thanks largely to his TV station also owning the local ESPN affiliate. (Perhaps he has long had a presence on the airwaves, predating the flip to sports talk, and I just never knew it.)

Although Schmit's arrangement is all about corporate synergy, he's no stranger to shilling for extra cash. Thanks to the loosening of our journalistic standards, the sports guys can hawk all sorts of non-sports products on the airwaves. Schmit has long shilled for local pizza, and was "Vacation Joe" under a previous ownership of Sun Country airlines, an arrangement that Schmit tried to capitalize upon once upon a time, going so far as to leave KSTP-TV for a while. That didn't work out so well. It turned out worse for his buddy, the former owner of the airline.

Schmit may not be hawking vacations this year, but he figured there's a buck or two to be made in the world of print, so he has his own vanity publication to capture them.

It's easy to blur the lines between sports broadcasters and corporate pitchman. These guys may be journalists, technically, but so are the anchors and reporters bringing us important stories via Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood. Rosen, Schmit and the rest are merely entertainment reporters.

Where it gets interesting is watching our local journalists find ways to double dip. Examples of this are fewer, but we've seen some entertaining double dipping in recent years. And I'm not talking about Elizabeth Ries or Jason Matheson, mostly because they're not journalists any more, although Matheson went through the motions not so long ago at WCCO-TV.

I'm not familiar with Ries' resume, so I don't know how much news reporting she did or was doing prior to whenever she arrived at KSTP-TV, but when the door opened to become a shill for local products under the guise of co-hosting a local "talk show," she gave up all pretense of being a journalist. She's now determined to milk it for everything she can.

She became a co-host on the company-owned chick talk station in addition to her hourly TV show responsibilities, at least until she gave birth to a child. She continues to smile for the TV camera on weekday afternoons, but ceased gabbing about celebrities all morning on the radio. She was reported to remain a part of the chick talk radio station as a contributor in some capacity, but I can't vouch for that actually happening.

Matheson has dabbled in news reporting, as I noted, but he's carved out his niche in celebrity talk, as evidenced by his tenure in morning drive at the same chick talk station. One morning radio job isn't enough to pay the bills, evidently, as he has been pulling double duty for a while now. He returned to his mistress, Fox 9, earlier this year after about two years apart, and there's no pretense that his job is to report news of any kind.

I get it, maximize your earnings while you can. That second job may not be necessary, but if it keeps you in the public eye and helps solidify your brand, (I detest that term,) rake in that extra cash.

Anchors can make good money reading a teleprompter and smiling for the camera, as if they're some sort of geniuses. Occasionally an anchor steps out from behind the desk, but often they have it easy. I often wonder how well Leah McLean would do if she had to actually report a story.

Reporters who are well established and specialized probably do OK, but reporting isn't a great gig.

A guy who went by the stage name "Bryce Williams" is well known now that he shot and killed a reporter and camera man during a live news segment this past summer. Williams was a former employee of the Virginia TV station the reporter and camera man worked for. He was reported to have earned $36,000 annually while employed by the station. Major market station? No. But Williams wasn't fresh out of college. Perhaps his odd behavior and issues during his previous employment resulted in his being mired in small market TV. Even had his career progressed to Minneapolis, I doubt his salary would have increased exponentially.

How great is the pay in reporting? You can find several examples of former reporters who have given up their career for something that has nothing to do with TV. As pointed out not so long ago, KMSP-TV's Kelsey Soby bailed out of television for a job she hardly seems qualified for. I can name a few people off the top of my head who bailed out in recent years for jobs in public relations, sometimes as spokespeople for governmental agencies. Somehow being a TV reporter makes you good at communicating the business of the county attorney, county sheriff or a police department.

Tim McNiff, a former sports guy who spent many years anchoring the morning newscasts at KARE-TV, bailed out last year to become the executive director of media relations for some Minnetonka p.r. firm. Really, he was the most qualified person for the job? A guy who had spent the previous decade reading news nuggets that others wrote is the best guy to relate to the media? Perhaps, but doubtful.

And why did McNiff give up a life in the spotlight? He was probably bored with it, a little bit anyway. And he might not have been in line for a better gig at Ch. 11, so that might have been a factor. You think he traded in a hefty paycheck and a few hours of on-air time every morning for a 9-to-5 job and a pay cut? Don't bet on it.

The bottom line: TV isn't all that glamorous, and even if it's not construction work, it's not a ticket to easy street. You'd better be lucky like McLean or able to parlay your pseudo-fame like sports anchors or Matheson if you want a nice house in Eden Prairie. And no, I'm not forgetting another option: Marrying a six-figure salary. What car salesman doesn't want pseudo-celebrity arm candy?

Which brings us to Rena Sarigianopoulos. For a while she walked the fine line few reporters do. She double dipped.

Yeah, Jason DeRusha must bank a few bucks for penning his brilliant observations about the restaurant industry. But other than weather people flashing their smiling mugs on the weather page of a local daily newspaper, few non-sports folks seem to make a habit of parlaying their brilliance into meaningful second incomes.

But Sarigianopoulos pulled it off for a while. She inexplicably was chosen as part of a trifecta that helmed a morning show on 96.3 FM. Alongside her colleague Eric Perkins, who also had no business being on local radio, Sarigianopoulos had an early morning gig on FM radio to go along with the many hats she wears at Ch. 11. I'm not sure how often she was absent from her radio gig, but if she worked every weekday morning, then she didn't have a day off, as she is a busy beaver during the weekends at Ch. 11.

Besides anchoring weekend newscasts, Sarigianopoulos would be on the air bright and early on Saturday mornings to do two hours of local chat, which often blurs the line between human interest and paid advertising. And she'd be on the air a few weeknights filing a report from the asphalt jungle. The woman had a crappy Ch. 11 schedule and yet she added weekday mornings to it? Why would she do something so ridiculous? I'm going to guess her mortgage payments were a little hefty for her KARE-TV paycheck.

But she's married now, and her trophy husband is a car salesman. He sells nice cars, too, it sounds. The commission ought to be good. And if so, Sarigianopoulos – who no longer cashes paychecks from 96.3 FM – won't have to find a second job to pay the mortgage.

For every overpaid face on local TV, there are plenty of others who aren't being compensated as if they're anything special. But the public likes to adore these fine folks as if they're royalty. If only they knew.

Let's not shatter the illusion.

I want to be a TV personality!

There is a group of people in the Twin Cities that I find fascinating, and that's because the fact I know who they are defies all logic.

In the Twin Cities we have this odd channel called Metro Cable Network Channel 6, or something like that. They like MCN6, so I'll go with that.

I'm far from an expert on the channel, and its history, but why let that stop me from telling a good story. The station is part of cable networks across the Twin Cities, allegedly in seven counties, and conveniently it shows up on channel 6 in each cable system. Unlike the public access channels on your local cable system, this is not public access, exactly. Perhaps they do provide free access to groups and organizations, but as I understood it many years ago, the producers of the show pay to have it broadcast on Ch. 6.

Some of the stuff they air doesn't seem to be the type of programming that anybody would pay to have televised, (I'm thinking of certain religious programs I have run across), but some of it is clearly commercial.

And that's where three Twin Cities media darlings have found their niche, and managed to capture my attention.

Capture is a bit strong, but let's meet them.

Mike Woodley is a longtime lurker on the Ch. 6 airwaves. He has hosted a variety of shows. The one I remember most distinctly dates back more than 10 years. Along with a guy whose claim to fame was being a scab member of Toto (his career with Toto lasted about a year, and it was after Toto had its big hits in the 1980s) and a guy whose goofiness deserves an entire novel, Woodley and company tried to produce a monthly show about the local music scene. The scab from Toto, who died a few years ago, lived in the west metro, evidently, along with the goofball who has long wanted to make a living as a singer-songwriter. The three of them produced segments about the area's music scene, and did it for at least a few months. I remember the goofball stopped appearing in the show not long after the premiere episode. Whether this ran three months or 33, I can't tell you.

Woodley has been a regular on Ch. 6 seemingly ever since, although there was about a five-year period where I wasn't connected to a cable system, so I can't vouch for his entire career.

I haven't seen much of him in recent months, but in the past few years he's been as busy as ever, hosting some lame show about local businesses and organizations, and calling his show something like the "Here and There Show." It seems like every time I run across him on Ch. 6 he's interviewing the folks at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, talking about how incredible their productions are. I'm pretty sure the folks at CDT actually invented the concepts of both the restaurant and live theater. How they had the foresight to put them together into one business is mind boggling.

Woodley use to work in legitimate broadcasting, allegedly, and may still, primarily in the sports arena. I've never heard or seen him on a commercial network, but perhaps it's true.

Another staple of Ch. 6 is the lovely Carla Beaurline.

Every month Beaurline produces a 30-minute program about businesses in the Twin Cities. No car dealership or vacuum cleaner retailer is too petty for Beaurline to glorify during "Around Town." Her intro segments are often at the site of some local event or fabulous vacation destination. And sometimes she has a co-host to banter with during these segments. She seems particularly fond of pandering to the Minnesota State Fair.

While she doesn't have a regular co-host, she use to. A dude named Mark DeJoy use to host the show with her. When I first noticed this sexy Ch. 6 minx many years ago she had DeJoy as her sidekick. The banter between these two was horrendous. The transitions were forced and the topics were often idiotic. It was brutal. Years later I rediscovered Beaurline and she was flying solo. I have no idea why.

I did learn, thanks to Google, that DeJoy died at the ripe young age of 49 last year. He was working in some other form of local broadcasting, it appears, and according to the obituary he managed to work in community broadcasting (I presume) for three decades.

Beaurline has never impressed me with her broadcasting skills, but month after month she seems to have a handful of businesses who want her to talk about them. Her charm must be irresistible. I'm sure she could charm the pants off of me.

I'm pretty sure I passed her on the freeway once. I passed something that looked like a mini van, with a license plate that said something like "ARNDTWN." And a blonde angel was driving it.

If you've ever seen her show more than once, you'll remember the painful theme song "Everybody Goes There" by local act Dazy Head Mazy. It's bad.

As smitten as I am with Carla Jean, (which DeJoy liked to call her on the show), you can't help but be seduced by the queen of Twin Cities shilling: Tawnja.

Formerly known as Tawnja Zahradka, Tawnja Peterson has been hawking local businesses for two decades. She's been busy celebrating her anniversary as of late on Ch. 6.

Tawnja, (pronouced Tanya, because she's just that precocious,) is one hell of a success story. She has been telling us about great places to shop, eat, fix our teeth and receive financial advice since 1995. Sometimes using recycled bits from many years ago, Tawnja slaps together 30 minutes of commercials and presents it as some sort of TV show. I think she use to have a name for her show, but now she simply wants her air time to be known as Tawnja TV, more or less.

Not only has she been a fixture on Ch. 6 for two decades, she has managed to weasel her show onto the broadcast airwaves in the past. I know she's had her show broadcast on at least one independent station, and I think she's managed to accomplish that feat on more than one frequency.

Unlike Beaurline, whose voice can be a bit grating, Tawnja has a sultry delivery, and she's not afraid to sex it up. The still image of her, knees slightly bent and hemline pulled up above those knees, never fails to amuse me.

I saw her live, in the flesh, a few years ago. Somehow she was recruited to help emcee a community event. I guess Jason DeRusha wasn't available that night. Lord knows he wouldn't turn down an invitation. I just hope they bought Tawnja a glass of wine, and pronounced her name correctly.

So what does this fascinating trio have in common? They all produce TV shows that exist purely for promoting local businesses. They produce 30-minutes programs that are nothing more than a bunch of commercials.

Each huckster has a different way of presenting it, but at the end of the day it's nothing more than programs comprised of long commercials. These shows aren't news magazines. The programs aren't in search of unique businesses that are quirky or interesting. There's nothing fascinating about a 40-year-old vacuum retailer, and if you held a fire up to her skinny little ass I'm sure Beaurline would admit that.

There's no doubt these shows exist because the advertisers pay for Woodley, Beaurline and Zahradka/Peterson to gab about them, and the shills must make a buck or two, otherwise they wouldn't be tirelessly hawking them year after year.

It's really quite impressive. Tawnja seems to think her show is a "television magazine," but a magazine has content that isn't paid for. But nice spin.

I'm dumbfounded by the fact these shows exist. Ch. 6 loves to promote how many homes it reaches across the metro, but the viewership can't be that high, although I'm guessing I'm not the only person who gawks at these shows periodically and scratches her/his head. Somehow Woodley, Beaurline and Zahradka/Peterson have convinced numerous businesses to buy what they're selling, and it has kept their smiling faces on the local airwaves for years. Color me impressed.

Please, tell us what you think (Jason DeRusha is so smart!)

I'm sure we owe it to the abundance of cable news channels.

When did we start caring what news broadcasters think?

As the years go on, we find networks and stations continuing to serve us opinion after opinion from their talking heads.

We've always looked to broadcasters for commentary and criticism, but when did we decide it's important to know what Alix Kendall and Jason DeRusha think?

I use to scoff at the idea, as if Kendall giving her opinion on today's social issues or political wrangling was some sort of breach of ethics. But let's be honest, Kendall isn't a reporter. She's not a journalist. She may know what's going on when she presents the news, but she's not out there gathering information and filing a report. She's paid to talk, and to look good when she does it. She may have once pounded the pavement, but those days are over. She gets to sit in the comfy chair all morning, and then on a comfy couch to share her keen insight on the day's news nuggets and celebrity non-news, which of course has become increasingly important in our day-to-day lives.

She's one of many at the local and national level. And we care. We care what Kendall and her sidekicks think. We really care. If we didn't, KMSP-TV wouldn't be airing an hour of Kendall and her sidekicks every weekday morning.

That's what local television is coming to, and why not? We've been subjected to a steady diet of this for years now. It wasn't enough to know what Barbara Walters and company think about "hot topics," we needed an afternoon clone on CBS. And now we have a minority women panel doing the same thing on a daily syndicated program. I guess we can't get enough of that sort of thing on cable television. Or maybe too many of us still can't afford it.

We haven't hit the local saturation point yet, evidently, because WCCO-TV opted to share with us an hour of their broadcasting brilliance rather than replace the latest celebrity talk show host failure with another syndicated program. We're calling it Mid-Morning, or MidMorning. I don't know which, as the WCCO Facebook page can't decide what we're calling it.

We now get DeRusha and his giddy sidekick sharing stories and insight into the world we live in every weekday morning at 9 a.m.

But damn, do we have to choose? Those 9 a.m. eyeballs are so valuable that WCCO is challenging KMSP directly. Look out world, it's Carson vs. Rivers all over again!

I had to sample a few minutes of the inaugural show, and it's pretty much as I expected. As the final minutes counted down to the start of the fresh, new and exciting show, the giddy sidekick could hardly contain herself. I didn't realize the start of an hour of fluff was so exciting. You'd think WCCO was about to invent a new format.

But alas, it was not to be. There are straightforward news and weather presentations packaged into the WCCO chat fest, something KMSP avoids doing at 9 a.m. since they're not beholden to a network morning show for the two hours prior to their couch chat.

The lowlight of the morning came when DeRusha and the sidekick actually moved away from the news desk to sit at the in-studio couch, joined by DeRusha's morning news babes, so that the foursome could privilege us with their opinions on the news of the day. Oh thank God!

I turned back at the end of the show to see the self-congratulatory finale of their first chat fest. You' would have thought they had just landed an unmanned spacecraft on Mars.

I had no idea how nervous KMSP was about competition for the thousands and thousands of people who crave couch chat every morning. When I flipped to KMSP I saw none other than the prodigal son, Jason Matheson, sitting on the couch. His TV wife and the jolly weatherman weren't there. It's spring break at many metro schools this week, I'm sure they're busy entertaining the kids in some far away land, as all grade school students are entitled to.

I'd actually pay to read the story of why Matheson – whom we love more than Wendy Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Kelly Ripa combined – spent a year on the bench to earn his parole from KMSP, only to turn around and forsake his first love and return to KMSP less than a year later. (What the hell happened at WCCO in less than a year? Why does KMSP need him on their station so badly? Why the absence of a non-compete clause like the one that chained him to the FM dial for a year before he emerged at WCCO?)

It's unlikely Matheson is going to bail on his morning drive radio gig in order to make a triumphant return to the couch on a regular basis. Perhaps he has learned how to teleport between St. Paul and Eden Prairie. Barring that, KMSP clearly sweet talked him into blowing off at least a portion of today's morning drive in order to counter WCCO's heavy artillery. We've got a donnybrook in the making!

The television landscape has always been far more prestigious than its radio counterpart. But the value of broadcast real estate has eroded with the creation of cable television channels. And digital streaming is further eroding the already fragile ecosystem. We're seeing an increasing emphasis on talk programming on the local airwaves, including the once-coveted FM dial. So why shouldn't our local and national broadcasters and content providers emulate what works halfway decently on local radio? (The bean counters for KTMY-FM might beg to differ.)

We need entertainment in our lives. Not every program can emulate "The McLaughlin Group." But did we really need yet another hour of couch chat, even if it's buffered by news tidbits and slice-of-life profiles by the giddy sidekick?

Of course we did.