By Rick Griffin
There’s a San Diego connection for Fox News Channel anchor Tucker Carlson, named last week to replace the ousted Bill O’Reilly in the coveted 8 p.m. time slot.
Carlson, 47, spent part of his childhood, ages 6 to 14, living in La Jolla. He attended La Jolla Country Day School and could be found on warm days swimming from La Jolla Shores to the cove.
“I had the happiest childhood of anyone I know,” Tucker told the Times of San Diego. “I’d credit La Jolla for a lot of that. It’s a wonderful place.”
When Tucker lived in San Diego, his father Dick Carlson worked as an anchor on KFMB-TV (1975-1977) and as an executive with Great American Bank (1977-1983). After Dick ran unsuccessfully for mayor against Roger Hedgecock, the family moved to the East Coast where the elder Tucker served as director of Voice of America and assistant director of the U.S. Information Agency during the Reagan-Bush administrations. He also served as ambassador to the Seychelles and president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“Tucker Carlson Tonight” will replace “The O’Reilly Factor” at 8 p.m. starting April 24. After several dozen advertisers reportedly dropped buying time, FNC fired O’Reilly amid news reports of $13 million in payouts to five women over sexual harassment allegations. O’Reilly’s show had been Fox’ top-rated show for the past 16 years.
Steve Cohen, news director with San Diego’s KUSI-TV, worked with O’Reilly in Boston and New York. Cohen recently commented on the allegations against O’Reilly in a column.
“Bill O’Reilly is the current target of the mainstream media, the left, and a coterie of pundits who do not like him,” Cohen wrote. “By now, O’Reilly has been arraigned, tried and found guilty, with no due process, in the artificial court of public opinion.
“Unlike Bill O’Reilly’s detractors, I actually know the man. I have been his boss, colleague and friend for over 40 years. He is not as portrayed, and he does not fit the canard that the American liberal establishment has thrust upon him. O’Reilly’s advertisers exhibited a misunderstanding of his viewers. His public knows it is a set up. For whatever else Bill O’Reilly might be, he is not this demon.”
Telemundo 20 San Diego Announces Anchors, Sales VP
Telemundo 20 San Diego, launching July 1, announced that Guadalupe Venegas and Lizzet Lopez will lead its news time while Sabrina Lopez will be vice president of sales.
The Telemundo Station Group said Sabrina Lopez will be responsible for developing and implementing all local, national and sales strategies across all Telemundo 20 station platforms. She will report to Richard Kelley, president and GM of Telemundo 20 and KNSD-TV/NBC 7 San Diego. Her first day in San Diego will be June 1.
She brings more than 16 years of experience to her new role after holding sales positions for NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, a division of NBCUniversal that includes 29 NBC and Telemundo-owned stations, NBC Regional Sports Networks, and Telemundo stations in Denver, Chicago and New York. She joins Telemundo 20’s team after working for Telemundo 47 as WNJU’s sales manager and business development director for the past three years.
Additional members of the Telemundo 20 news team include weather anchor Ana Cristina Sanchez, sports anchor MJ Acosta and a team of multimedia journalists that includes Leticia Estrada, Lisette Martinez, Anlleyn Venegas and Rigo Villalobos. The news team will make its on-air debut Monday, July 3. Telemundo 20 San Diego launches July 1, and will air four half-hour weekday newscasts, Noticiero Telemundo 20, at 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. beginning Monday, July 3.
“We’re excited to welcome an outstanding team of journalists to San Diego to help us launch Telemundo 20 this July,” said Kelley. “We conducted an extensive search to find the best Spanish-speaking and bilingual journalists and look forward to Lizzet and Guadalupe anchoring our weekly newscasts alongside a dynamic team.”
Anchored by Lopez and Venegas, the new locally-produced and live newscasts will provide audiences in the San Diego and Baja, California area in Mexico the local news, weather and sports information, the station said.
Lopez is an award-winning journalist and an experienced news anchor who has worked in local broadcasting for nearly a decade. She joins the Telemundo 20 team after working at various television and radio stations in the United States and Mexico, including Univision 45 KXLN in Houston, UniMás KHFT 67 and TV Azteca Zacatecas.
Venegas joins Telemundo 20 after working for Telemundo Network for nearly a decade in various on-air capacities including host, reporter and anchor for Telemundo’s national entertainment, sports and news programs including Al Rojo Vivo. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Spanish Arts from San Diego State University.
Sanchez comes to Telemundo 20 after forecasting weather for local and national audiences by working as a weather anchor for The Weather Company, an IBM business, as well as Telemundo New Mexico and Telemundo Lubbock.
Fox 5 Schedules Los Angeles Rams Preseason Games
KSWB-TV/Fox 5 San Diego has announced it will air Los Angeles Rams preseason games for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Fox 5 said it will provide the San Diego market with exclusive English-language telecasts of the games.
In 2017, Fox 5 will air live coverage of three Rams preseason games including Dallas Cowboys at LA Rams (Week 1, August 10-12), LA Rams at Oakland Raiders (Week 2, August 17-19) and LA Rams at Green Bay Packers (Week 4, August 31 – September 1). Exact dates and times will be announced in the future.
“With over 540 hours of live sports programming, which includes 150 hours of NFL football, we are thrilled to add the Los Angeles Rams pre-season football games to our current NFL football schedule,” said Scott Heath, Fox 5 president and GM.
KSWB also announced it will air a Fox Network pre-season football doubleheader on August 27 between the Chicago Bears and Tennessee Titans at 10 a.m. and the Cincinnati Bengals at Washington Redskins at 1 p.m.
Meanwhile, all Los Angeles Chargers regular season games are currently scheduled to air on KFMB-TV/ Channel 8.
NPR in San Diego for Live Broadcast on Border
Michel Martin, heard weekends on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” will host “Going There: Beyond Borders,” a live broadcast at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 2, at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, 404 Euclid Avenue. Admission is $10 per person. Tickets information is available at www.NPRpresents.org.
NPR said discussion topics for the live broadcast will include the thriving border economy in the greater San Diego area, as well as drug smuggling, human trafficking, illegal immigration and border security. The event will be streamed live on www.NPR.org and recorded for a featured segment on a weekend broadcast of “All Things Considered.” This event is part of the national touring series called “NPR Presents Michel Martin: Going There,” which is made possible by The Kresge Foundation and a collaboration between NPR and KPBS.
“We’re very excited to welcome Michel and the Going There team to San Diego,” said Tom Karlo, KPBS general manager. “This is a great opportunity to engage with members of our community and fully explore what impact the border has to our way of life.”
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.