HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE KTLA MORNING NEWS!
5:35 AM July 8, 2011
Today the KTLA Morning News is celebrating 20 years of giving you the news, weather, traffic and---if we've done our jobs right--putting a smile on your face.
I'm a Johnny-come-lately to the program--joining the team in 2007 after one of the program's original co-anchors Carlos Amezcua left for KTTV Fox 11 and long after the show had become a model for other morning news programs across the U.S. The show has had its ups and downs in the ratings but it has survived and thrived and I'm proud to say that these days we're #1 again in Southern California. I feel honored to be part of this special broadcast and while I often joke on the air that "everything I do is for you, the home viewer," there really is a truth to it. I know it's a privilege to be invited in to your homes every day and I thank you.
I also want to thank the original on-air team including Carlos and Barbara Beck, Sam Rubin and Mark Kriski, Jennifer York, Michele Ruiz, Eric Spillman, and a couple of years in to it, Gayle Anderson, along with the countless producers, writers, photographers and others who set the tone for a program that at the time was groundbreaking. They took on the network morning news programs like Today and Good Morning America and gave viewers not just the national news but also what was happening down the street. At times, the originals were hard-hitting and tough. At other times, they were downright silly. What you were seeing is what I hope you still see on the broadcast--real people who happen to be news people telling you stories, providing you with information, sharing a laugh with you. This morning, we'll look back at 20 years of news and fun. I promise you some of these clips will bring that smile to your face and maybe even a tear to your eyes.
One of the executive producers of our program once said if we cover the news properly, our viewers will allow us to have fun on the air. I have to admit it didn't come easy to me. When I was asked to anchor the KTLA Morning News, I wondered if I could do it. I had spent a career keeping my personal thoughts to myself and being a "serious" hard-news reporter. At CNN, the motto was: The news is the star. In other words, keep yourself out of it. What I've learned from you and my friends at the KTLA Morning News is that you want us to take the news seriously but not ourselves. You want us to be ourselves and you'll cut us some slack if we say something you don't agree with or if we're having a little too much fun on a given day as long as we hit the news hard when it's appropriate.
As some of you heard me say during our 20th anniversary special last night, I occasionally get asked: "What's the next step in your career? Where do you want to go next?" I don't want to go anywhere. I've arrived at my destination. This is my next. I hope I'm still with you on the KTLA Morning News when we celebrate 40 years of the best local morning news program in America with the best viewers in Southern California. Today, we celebrate 20 years. I hope you'll join us. See you at 7.
Posted by Frank Buckley | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)
I enjoyed following the whole entry, I always thought one of the main things to count when you write a blog is learning how to complement the ideas with images, that's exploiting at the maximum the possibilities of a ciber-space! Good work on this entry!
Posted by: rxmex | November 22, 2011 at 12:34 PM
The only thing that will make the morning news show perfect would be to replace Michaela. She adds nothing to the show in my opinion. Anyway great show other wise.
Posted by: thomas sabo sale | July 25, 2011 at 11:27 PM
Helen, and Linda,
You would think after the Rose Bowl mess with Michaela, that KTLA would have figured out that many of the viewers don't care for her. It's clear on the air that even her co-workers don't like working with her. Yet, they let people who viewers love slip out of their hands. Go figure.
MR883831
Posted by: Mike | July 13, 2011 at 04:15 AM
Frank:
I enjoyed the 20th Anniversary show.
I can't figure out why Michaela had such a big speaking role. She added nothing to the program.
I wish Barbara Beck would come back anchor with you in the morning.
Posted by: Helen | July 12, 2011 at 04:31 PM
The only thing that will make the morning news show perfect would be to replace Michaela. She adds nothing to the show in my opinion. Anyway great show other wise.
Posted by: Linda | July 08, 2011 at 02:03 PM
Frank, you fit the Morning News like a glove! We missed Carlos, but you made us love you right off!
The two Anniversary Shows were wonderful. They covered (almost) everything I remember from being a loyal viewer since Day 1. A couple of things I would like to have seen covered:
1) They say you always will remember where you were/what you were doing when a national tragedy strikes, like 9/11. My husband got me up a few minutes early because "something has happened in New York at the WTC", turned on the TV, and we saw the first tower on fire. Gayle was on the desk that morning (can't remember who was with her), and they were reporting on the incident. Suddenly, I saw the second plane come from the right and not come out. There was dead air for a long time and then Gayle said, "Did I just see what I think I saw?". That phrase has stuck in my head all these ten years.
2) The other thing was the Northridge quake when Mark came in, pretty disheveled looking, with his personal video of the damage at his home. I thought to myself, boy this is really a "hard news" guy at heart, even though he was nutsy at times.
Just a couple of the important things, to me, that I remember, and the reason I have been a loyal viewer for 20 years. We even take our DTV antenna in our trailer when we go on vacation so that we have KTLA with us all the way!
Here's to another 20, at least. Keep up the wonderful work!
Posted by: Connie Cooke | July 08, 2011 at 10:16 AM
Frank,
Happy 20th anniversary to the KTLA morning news! I am a huge fan of the morning show and have been watching you all for years. Each day I promptly turn my TV on at 6:00am to get caught up on the news but most importantly get my morning laughs. What a great way to start my day! You are all a special group of people. Here's to many more years of fun!
Sincerely,
Lana
Posted by: Lana | July 08, 2011 at 09:41 AM
Frank,
I remember your first day as anchor of the KTLA Morning News. I remember your stories of Palm Springs, CNN, and how you grew up in Twentynine Palms. I am so glad that you were sold on a formula that works.
I watch you and Michaela, via Dish Network from Texas and tape the Morning News on DVR. It is the ONLY reason why I got Dish Network and pay the extra to get KTLA.
I'm so glad that you guys are on. You guys make my day. Everyday.
Posted by: Jim | July 08, 2011 at 07:58 AM
Hey Frank,
I just want to wish you and the rest of the Morning crew a Happy Anniversary!!!! I've told you guys at various events, but it's true... the KTLA Morning News has been my wake up call since that first show! Seeing the original crew - Carlos, Barbara, Jennifer and Michele, along with Sam, Mark and Eric - was a treat! And the segment on Gayle was handled with the class she deserves.
I loved your post this morning, because you mentioned how grateful you are to the originals for giving you guys a formula that you have continued to improve each day. But I wanted to also show my appreciation to the "newbies" - you, Michaela, Jessica, Allie, Ginger, Megan, Henry, Chris, and now, Chris, MB and the weekend crew. You guys came in from different workplaces, from different countries, etc., and learned that all you needed to be was yourself, and not the "hard-hitting news reporter"... and now it feels like the old times. It's hard to believe that you've only been here for 4 years... you've kept the feeling of the Morning News alive and well and, as Allie said, you all seem to fit well together.
My friends know that I am and always will be one of your biggest fans, and I wish you all the best as you go into year 21 and will be around when you celebrate the 25th, 30th and 40th anniversaries... so you have to stay!
I'm toasting you guys with my morning coffee, so "KAMPAI"!
Posted by: Jon Fujiwara | July 08, 2011 at 07:28 AM
I'm going to say pretty much what a lot of people will say. I've been watching this show since its inception - twenty years to the day, in fact. I was one month shy of my thirteenth birthday and two months away from starting a new chapter in my life - new friends, new surroundings and making my career choice as a musician within that year.
Fast forward twenty years and I'm in the same (almost) situation. I am one month shy of my 33rd birthday and two months away (again) from starting yet another chapter in my life when I will become a Father for the very first time.
I have literally grown up with this show and, like every person who has arrived to work at KTLA, I have had my good days and my bad days, but you all at the Morning News put on your best face and work through your personal Hell to deliver the news as best as you possibly can. We appreciate it.
I HOPE, Frank, you're still with KTLA in twenty years to give us the good word every day. You're good at what you do and the only place to go from here is forward. Here's to another twenty...and I'll be there watching.
Lastly, GO DODGERS!
Posted by: Darren Chandler | July 08, 2011 at 06:03 AM