Erin Christiansen

going to KGUN 9

Last Tuesday (May 23) wasn’t a happy day at KOLD 13 n within hours of one another, both Kris Pickel, main co-anchor on the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, and Erin Christiansen, morning meteorologist, informed management they are leaving.

Print this story Email this story Post a Comment ADVERTISEMENT

In Pickel’s case, she’s returning to Sacramento, Calif., where she will anchor a new 4 p.m. newscast on the CBS station. After over nine years in Tucson, a move to Sacramento was about the only reason she said she would leave. Her two young sons will now have a chance to live closer to their grandparents.

Christiansen is moving “across the street,” as they say, to KGUN 9, where she will do the weather on the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing Jeff James, who was just hired three months ago. Station officials say James will be reassigned to do the weather on other newscasts.

KOLD has already started national searches to find replacements for both Pickel and Christiansen, according to general manager Jim Arnold, who was willing to talk about Pickel’s departure.

“This is a bittersweet thing,” Arnold said. “We’re losing Kris who’s done an outstanding job for us for 9½ years, and we’re also losing her husband, Carl (Lemon), who is one of our photographers. They have two little boys who are now going to live closer to their grandparents and they’re going to have a chance to see their grandparents everyday if they want to. I can understand going home. It’s what I did when I had a chance six years ago.”

Pickel had just signed a new contract with the station last year but Arnold said it included a “market specific” clause allowing her to leave if she got a job in Sacramento.

“Kris likes it here and this is one of the few reasons she would leave,” he said. “In fact I think we’re darn lucky that she’s been with us this long, considering this isn’t her home.”

Arnold said the station is still working out the details regarding Pickel’s departure but he said it would be “no later than the end of July.”

Among Tucson’s main women TV news anchors, Pickel currently holds the longevity record. She has been co-anchoring with Randy Garsee on the weekday 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts on KOLD since coming here in 1997. During that time, the station’s ratings have been steadily increasing. In February 2004, KOLD broke through to the No. 1-rated spot, according to Nielsen Media Research. The station has continued to win most of the ratings since then.

Sacramento is the 19th largest TV market in the country, according to Nielsen. Tucson is ranked 71.

Not only is Pickel moving to a larger market, she’s also going to work for CBS. The network bought the station, KOVR, a year ago and has been working to improve its image and ratings. The news program Pickel will be anchoring will replace an afternoon lineup that currently consists of “Jerry Springer” and “Maury Povich.” The station has already acquired “Dr. Phil” show to air at 3 p.m. Additionally, CBS also owns the soon-to-be CW affiliate in Sacramento.

Pickel’s career has also included stops in Grand Junction, Colo., and Reno, Nev.

While Pickel remains on the air at KOLD, that was not the case for Christiansen who was immediately removed from the morning broadcasts and references to her were removed from the station’s website. Arnold declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding her departure.

Andrew Stewart, KGUN’s general manger, said the opportunity to hire Christiansen presented itself and the station moved quickly to grab her.

“We know she’s a great talent and that viewers like her,” he said. “When we found out her contract was up for renewal, we wanted to make a run to try to get her. It all happened very fast. She is the kind of talent that can take us to the next level.”

Names in news

Tod A. Smith has been named the new president and general manager of KMSB 11 and KTTU 18, effective June 14. Dallas-based Belo Corp. made the announcement last week. Smith is coming from New Orleans, where he has been vice president and media director for an advertising agency, Peter A. Mayer Advertising, since January 2005. Before that Smith was local sales manager for Belo’s station in New Orleans, WWL-TV, where he started his career in 1980 as a production assistant and then an engineer. From 1984 to 1993, he worked for the Shell Oil Co., before returning to WWL working as a marketing executive, director of research and audience development and then local sales manager in 1999. Smith replaces Lawrence D. “Nick” Nicholson who came to Tucson in November 2004 and, for the last two months has been doing his version of being bi-coastal, traveling between here and his new assignment as general manager of Belo’s ABC affiliate Norfolk, Va.

Jim Kiser is no longer an editorial columnist at the Arizona Daily Star. Kiser said he has left the newspaper after management said it wouldn’t go along with his request to cut back from writing three columns a week to writing two n with a commensurate reduction in pay. Kiser had been with the Star almost 20 years, including 11 years as editorial page editor until he switched to writing the column in September 2004. In the 1970s, he spent six years in the Star’s newsroom as a reporter and editor. His final column appeared May 28. Now he says he will be out looking for new opportunities.

Arran Andersen has departed as KOLD’s weekend sports anchor and, coincidentally is going to KOVR in Sacramento, the same station Kris Pickel is headed for. Anderson also grew up in northern California and is a graduate of the University of California Davis, near Sacramento.

Not everybody is leaving KOLD. Aaron Pickering is the new weekend weather forecaster on the station and filled in last week after Erin Christiansen’s departure in the morning. Pickering came from the NBC affiliate in Salinas-Monterey, Calif., near where he earned his meteorology degree from San Jose State University. He grew up in Columbia City, a small town near Portland, Ore., and has also worked at TV stations in Fresno and San Jose in California.

Pickering replaced Barak Shapiro, who is now in Tulsa, Okla., as the meteorologist on a newly launched early-morning show on the Fox affiliate there. It didn’t take him long to bend with the Oklahoma wind. When he was in Tucson, Shapiro had this to say in his bio on KOLD’s website: “Most people think I’m completely insane when I say I love hot weather. It’s almost harder to say what I like better: My Stone Cold Creamery ice cream or the 100 degree temps. I may have to go with the heat. Why else would I move to Arizona where the highs are almost always above 100 degrees during the summer?” Now that he’s in Tulsa, here’s a quote from the website of KOKI : “He says he’s glad to get away from the heat in Arizona and is looking forward to waking up in Green Country every morning.” I hope the doorknob didn’t hit you in the backside on the way out ...uhhh ... what was that guy’s name again?

E-mail comments for publication to editor@azbiz.com. Contact David Hatfield by e-mail at dhatfield@azbiz.com or call (520) 295-4237. Inside Tucson Media appears weekly.

Jim Kiser is no longer an editorial columnist at the Arizona Daily Star. Kiser said he has left the newspaper after management said it wouldn’t go along with his request to cut back from writing three columns a week to writing two n with a commensurate reduction in pay. Kiser had been with the Star almost 20 years, including 11 years as editorial page editor until he switched to writing the column in September 2004. In the 1970s, he spent six years in the Star’s newsroom as a reporter and editor. His final column appeared May 28. Now he says he will be out looking for new opportunities.

In the May 15 column I didn’t mean to give short shrift to Christine Lion, who is continuing as anchor on the morning show on The Source KCUB 1290-AM while Chuck Meyer is away recuperating from heart surgery. KOLD’s Dan Marries is filling in as a co-host on the program.

Phil Hendrie’s nationally syndicated nighttime talk show parody was short-lived on The Source KCUB 1290-AM. Hendrie gave up radio to pursue acting. He plays the hard-bitten history, Dick Green, on the NBC prime time TV sitcom “Teachers.” He has also provided the voices for several characters on Fox’s animated series “King of the Hill” and “Futurama.” In making the announcement, Hendrie said he had been doing the radio characters for 16 years and that he felt he had taken the show about “as far as I can in the present climate of terrestrial radio.” His radio program joined The Source’s line-up April 3, airing at 7 p.m. weekdays.

Tony Turner, a student at Pima Community College, has won a silver Addy Award in the American Advertising Federation’s national competition. His entry in the student competition, titled “Gerard Way 1,” had previously won a silver award in regional competition in April and gold award in local competition, announced in February. Turner will receive his award at a national gala event scheduled for June 11 in San Francisco.

Three other Tucsonans won regional competition. Frank Williams Design won a gold Addy Award for the “Gadabout Menu” sales presentation for Gadabout Salons. Jed Corkill and Zorbabel Leon, both students Art Center Design College, also won gold Addys - Corkill’s for a direct-mail piece for Platinum Rolla’s and Leon for an Old Navy direct-mailer. Tucsonans returned home with another seven silver awards and 44 bronze awards in the competition covered all of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and El Paso.

At its annual convention last month in Las Vegas, the National Association of Hispanic Publications honored Azteca America anchor José Martin Samano for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Samano was the first Hispanic network television reporter on the ground in Louisiana after the storm and he remained in the impact zone for two weeks afterward, focusing on the human disaster and the plight of Hispanic residents. His reports aired throughout the United States and in Mexico. Samano and Nancy Agosto co-anchor “Noticiero Azteca America,” which airs in Tucson at 6:30 p.m. weekdays on KUDF 14 (Cox channel 61 and Comcast channel 13).

E-mail comments for publication to editor@azbiz.com. Contact David Hatfield by e-mail at dhatfield@azbiz.com or call (520) 295-4237. Inside Tucson Media appears weekly.

© 2006 Inside Tucson Business. All Rights Reserved