BREAKING NEWS: Tony Parsons Moving to CHEK, Confirmed, BIG News in B.C. Broadcast News, Global’s Final Acknowledgement of Our Scoop, New Details Here!
It broke here Monday afternoon, before the News Hour began (not a whisper from there!)
And now that the cacophony of Doubting Thomases heard Tony confirm his departure (scheduled for tomorrow) at the end of the news hour tonight, and after several attack emails through the day, I’ve since been getting mea culpas, one after the other. Strange that so many were so exorcised over this story. The venom was unbelievable. Why? Because I called it? No… Because they’re in love with the status quo…maybe. Read on.
This story was never about me. Tony has been a great friend to me, spoke at my wedding and I didn’t conflict him or me by demanding a comment or persisting until he relented. This story emanated from someone whom I will only describe as ‘close’ to Global, who is gravely concerned about the direction they are going and the general lack of integrity in the media today.
Here is a direct quote from an email my source sent me late last night (with that source’s permission):
“I read your story and I wanted to cry. You know how long it takes to build a career and relationships, etc….the press Alex will never accept you because you won’t lie or just sit there and do nothing. you are a breath of fresh air in a news world of stale press rooms. Your (sic) damn right about the Botox and the bullshit. Producers are lazy and it’s not about a lack of funds. Advertising agents became key way before any financial troubles and are now more important than talent. Your comments about NW and Bill Good went through every newsroom like wildfire not because they came from you but because they were RIGHT ON. You were way ahead of everybody on this and the Carole Taylor story and all I can say is please don’t stop doing what you’re doing. The public needs you. We (the media) have slipped so badly it’s exactly as you say, we have become lazy. I had xxx xxxxx xxxxx you sent me for four days and couldn’t get an editor to go with it because she wanted me to carry a story on the Christmas toy run and some consumer interest story instead. You should know that it wasn’t about the story on Tony that got everybody rankled it was the comments you included. People are now paid Alex to stay away from your old style reporting that was what made us great. No wonder Oberfeld thinks you’re terrific. Too bad you were busy so many years ago.”
Let’s be clear; when the story starts being about you, then you’ve failed. So let’s get to the details that some of you have been clamoring for.
Tony is going to CHEK and the announcement could be made this year but likely in the new year. He will first begin by anchoring a 10pm show (beginning in March 2010) and then likely in the fall of next year or before, start anchoring their six o’clock news. There is some chatter about a non-compete clause, but this is absurd–how can you stop a man from earning his keep particularly if the contract might have been frustrated? If Global are as good as they claim, then get on with it. I have heard that Global wanted to give Tony next to NO time through the Olympics. Frankly, I would have left, too.
Here’s what Global’s Top Man – Brett Manlove, finally told his staff - – nearly a day after the story broke here, and they were falling all over themselves for answers:
“It is with mixed emotions that we can confirm tonight that Tony Parsons will be announcing he is leaving the News Hour after 34 years – our icon, our friend, is calling it a day. His last show will be tomorrow night.
Tony had asked us to keep the announcement low-key – and not to make a big fuss. But the news, as we knew it would, has started to leak out. Tony will announce he is leaving tonight and we will make a “small fuss” on tomorrow night’s final broadcast.
Tony’s legacy is unparalleled. His first day in this newsroom was on September 15, 1975. Tomorrow, Tony leaves us as a bona fide legend. And he has helped the News Hour become the newscast that it is – one of the most popular on the continent.
We are indebted to Tony for all his years serving our station, our viewers and our community. We will miss him.
Tony has been instrumental in helping us plan for this day, helping us pick his replacement and advising us on the transition.
Tony and his wife will be heading south for a well-deserved break. Although Tony is leaving the News Hour, he has indicated that he would like to remain part of the BC broadcasting community after his winter break. We are talking to Tony about several options; however, there is nothing specific to announce at this time.
Tony asked us to add these words:
“I want to thank everyone for a great ride at BCTV and Global. We all knew this day would come and while this is obviously a bitter-sweet moment, I know it is the right decision for the station and for me. Chris Gailus is the right person to take the News Hour into the next decade. I wish him and all of you – my friends – well. And continued great ratings now and forever. To all of you – thank you and good luck.”
Brett Manlove
Vice President/General Manager, Global BC
Also, CHEK will become more provincial and less Victoria-centric and Tony will also hold an executive position (which is typical of one at that point in his career…similar to the deal the late Peter Jennings had at ABC during his last ten years with them).
The really interesting part of this story is that the investors stable lined up to expand the new CHEK, is solid and considerable. If this pans out as an expansion, with possible bureaus in different parts of the province, you heard it here again, Global might be in big trouble. It will also be interesting to see if CTV finally becomes the little engine that could (will!). It won’t happen with Pamela and Bill on, who both have contracts to just past the Olympics, but I think the world of Mike Killeen and Jina You (and St. John Alexander is a SUPERB reporter, as is Stephen Smart). I’m not sure if Colleen Christie could like herself more, but the early news is a good slot for her, where the fare is a little lighter. As for Global, I like Chris Gailus, but not enough that I won’t switch to watch something compelling and interesting. He often seems wooden. Maybe this will change with time. And maybe not. I think they are well-positioned with John Daly, Brian Coxford, Mike McCardell and Ted Chernecki. But Wayne, Squire, Sophie, Deb, Christie, Jill (a tremendous anchor), Randene (another great anchor) and Anne (wonderful presence) et al are a great team.
I like Global a great deal but they have been slipping, very badly, notwithstanding the super on-air staff.
But CHEK is, undoubtedly, the new home for the informed BCer. Tony’s move to CHEK will provide the sea-change I predicted and PROVES my contention that people are watching the dearth of real reporting–AND!…are willing to put their money up to secure the public’s right to know. The competition will be healthy, but will force autocratic producers, particularly at Global to get moving on what made them great. You just know CHEK will.
At the end of the proverbial day, Global will say goodbye to the most trusted man in this country when it comes to delivering the news. We let Tony into our living rooms every night for 35 years and he never let us down. An intensely private and sometime complicated man, he never switched up his feelings for his viewers. He told me recently, “My job Alex was to make sure that by the very end of the show, actually from the beginning, that the viewer trusted us enough to come back the very next day. And again the day after. That obligation is never something I took lightly and it was the reason Cameron (Bell) and others insisted on doing everything the right way from start to finish. I love doing my job”.
What do you say about a guy like Parsons? Consummate professional–he always knew his place atop the nightly news was a huge responsibility and never took it for granted–EVER.
He’s leaving Thursday morning, with his lovely wife, for their home in the desert. A well-earned rest.
So enjoy the machinations over the next few days and few months. 2010 will not just be the year of the Olympics. It just may very well be the return of REAL news in this censored province–and it will all begin with CHEK TV.
A lot of what you will see in Vancouver media in the next few years is due to stations not wanting anyone making good money on the payroll. Their thought is (right or wrong) that the station or show and pool of reporters are what makes people tune in and they you can have a fresh kid out of BCIT come in for low wages and the ratings wouldn’t suffer as long as all the other support is there.
Sorry to see Tony go but I got the feeling in the last year that he was really getting bored and needed a new challenge. This move should charge up his batteries and get him focused again. Hope he does well.
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Hi Jack: I’m not so sure… I think this whole episode will be a shift, for certain. This is one of the most significant stories in media in over a decade. If Tony was just retiring, then that would be that, but this is so much more. In time, people will see many things which I cannot reveal at this point. If I were Global or CTV I’d find another Oberfeld or Daly fast. One is retired and the other is alone in that class of reporter. They will need to ramp up because with the amt of $$$ behind CHEK, they can;t afford to be left behind. Trust me.
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This is great news. CHEK has already become a favourite stop for me on the dial. I would really enjoy a provincial news source that is not beholden to the BIG media giants. Wish I had a few extra shekels to invest in it myself.
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I think all the media are in huge financial straits, I emailed a local editor pointing out several columns in one edition where there were stories that were almost incomprehensible. This editor (who seems, himself to have come from nowhere) admitted that they were running on fumes what with the Olympics, sick staff, etc.. I would suggest they are pinched for cash, have let many of their better writers go, and are hiring practically out of journalism school, or bringing them in from the boondocks.
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And that’s why the level of reporting is where it is: However, this was a problem with the media in this province well before any financial pinch was on the horizon.
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I highly doubt CHEK is going to go provincial. Remember when CHCH in Hamilton tried that? CHEK isn’t going to imitate that mistake. Plus now that they’re locally owned by their employees, I’m pretty sure their focus is local on Victoria.
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CHCH was quite a while ago, and you’re comparing apples and salamanders. There is a dearth of the kind of reporting CHEK is uniquely positioned to provide. There is a great deal of investment money coming in addition to employees money. It won’t sit still.
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Well, I don’t see what’s changed since then. CHCH and CHEK are still both small city stations that have very high ratings with local news. If it didn’t work for CHCH it probably won’t work for CHEK. CHEK may be getting Tony Parsons but as far as I know Global BC is still number one on nights that they don’t have him, it’s going to be very tough to beat them. And they risk loosing viewers to /A\ which will still have local news.
Also, all of the investors are local too. And at least one major investor has said they’re going to have a hands off approach and let the employees run the station. Why would the employees want CHEK to go provincial? Especially after all the local support they got in saving the station and when they’ve said they want to return CHEK to its local focus?
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Okay…lemme help…CHCH was in a dead market in a not particularly hot province. CHEK is in a down market, yes, but in B.C. the potential is HUGE. There is NO ONE doing the old BCTV routine. You seem awfully exorcised about this. I’m just thinking that they will give it a try at least. There is more I could provide to easily refute your theory, but out of respect fro Tony, I will wait. And what? The employees have a problem making more money??? Please… Bottom line: Great station = good return. Just wait ’til after the Olympics. Won’t take that long.
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Well, the people who just helped save CHEK are going to be really let down, that’s for sure.
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You sound like an employee that might have thought that your money would work as ballast for an eternal status quo. Business doesn’t work like that. But I don’t think you should worry. I think I have the thumbnail to the plan. It’s not such a huge departure in the structure of your current deal. It’s the substance that will change–much for the better.
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As much as I have respect for what the CHEK staff is doing, I don’t see how making CHEK provincial would be a good thing. They’re doing great with what they’re doing at the moment. They’re still beating A 2-1 even though CHEK has had years of troubles. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
When the employees bought the station, it was for Vancouver Island. They’re promoting themselves as “Your Island’s Own”. They want to return to more locally produced content that is focused on the Island.
I don’t see why CHEK would bother to compete with Global BC. Global BC is a monster in ratings. It’s going to take a lot more than simply having Tony Parsons at CHEK to beat Global. It takes money to hire more people and build bureaus around the province.
They can choose to piss off Canwest by directly competing with them and losing their news from outside the Island. Or they can continue to focus on the Island, beat A, and continue sharing stories with Global and their affiliates (including the Pattison stations).
Both sides would WIN if CHEK decided to stay local and focus on the Island.
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You mischaracterized what I’ve written. CHEK has a GOLDEN opportunity to give everyone a run for their money by being less Victoria-centric and more provincial. I didn’t say they’d toss the emphasis on being local. But the discussion is still on as far as I ‘m told. Don’t be in such a panic. Wait til you see the final product. I think it will not only meet the expectations of the employees, but exceed them. Who doesn’t want to make more money on their investment? You mean they went into business to achieve mediocrity by besting A and that’s it? If A shifts a little, what happens then? What if the market splits? Business isn’t about pie-in-the-sky. Besides, Global TV, in large part, is being gutted form what it once was. And there is no more money to throw down for them. The other Global TV properties were being propped up by the Burnaby Mountain property.
The CHEK employees think that the status quo will sit forever? That’s not business savvy, that’s asinine.
Better to have gone off and sold tomatoes. This is a business proposition that emanates out of REAL news, the right way. And not the other way around. Let’s see what they do before we go cry over the milk.
There is more than one angle in every business deal, that makes said deal a “winner”
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Hi Alex, It is great to have your scoops and being able to read the truth about the news. I heard the possibility that Tony Parsons will get involved on a talk show and the underserved CKNW reign will finally end.
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Very interesting stuff indeed. Now before people go off and start bawling their eyes out about not so poor Tony,Go back in time, to 1991, read, learn what occurred at BCTV to a very popular Anchor man by the name of Robert Malcolm, and other well known reporters, just maybe then your sympathies for poor “old” Tony may diminish somewhat. After you read the below site , goggle Linden Soles, then you will see how karma works.
http://www.bcradiohistory.com/Biographies/RobertMalcolm.htm
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I disagree here. Tony was never SOLE decision-maker. We’ve spoken about this many times and I can assure you, there was no map to hatchet anyone–least of all by Tony. There were other factors at play. I’ll be seeing him after he comes back from Arizona. I’ll ask. If he agrees, I’ll happily give you the details.
As for Linden Soles…don’t get me started. They needed a green room just for his ego. Until they realized it wasn’t going to just sit there, constantly in need of expansion…
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Ok lets wait and hear what Tony says. In the mean time here is another site that may stir your Sole.( maybe you have already seen it, but just in case )
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Sorry here it is,I can’t chew gum and paste at the same time.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/dead-beat-dads/linden-soles/linden-soles-from-cnn-to-deadb-4fmfc.htm
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I’ve seen it. No surprise…
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Saw Tony’s grande finale tonight on the News Hour.
I didn’t realize that prior to his arrival here on the BC news scene during the mid-1970′s that the most-watched supper hour news show in BC during the 1960′s and up until that period of time was actually Walter Cronkite on CBS News.
Suffice to say, Tony was our own version of Walter Cronkite in that Tony had credibility and was trusted with his calm and rational demeanour. And that’s why the News Hour has been the highest rated news show in BC ever since.
And I still remember, as a kid, Walter Cronkite signing off in 1981. “…And that’s the way it is…” So long Tony!
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Not sure if there is any room for a Canadian Superstation ala WTBS but CHEK might be able to swing that and create a national station out of Victoria. They would have to discover a niche though.
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Hi Jack, I don’t think the superstation idea is even on-deck. But a more provincial venue would be quite something, with some good investigative journalism. Haven’t had that, as a main, for many years…
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Well Alex, who is laughing now? You called the story before anyone, took lots a heat from some of your colleagues but in the end the story is just like you said it was. on Monday. Please add me to the long list of people wowed by your Carole Taylor and then Tony Parsons scoops. I honestly didn’t believe the Tony Parsons story to begin with but it nobody had your detail and accuracy. Do you think they hurried up the tribute because of your story? It sure seems that way. No more doubting you Mr. T! You’re the man!
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Too kind. Way too kind. Just doing what I’ve been doing for five years. I’ll get more, stay tuned. Thx for coming by Robert, pls come again!
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Tony’s move to CHEK will definitely help their quest for survival. What they really need to become a player on the local market is to exploit their advantage of being based in Victoria which happens to be the capital of BC.
Vancouver may be a much larger city, but the majority of news that affects the citizens of BC comes from the legislature. Chek needs to use their geographical advantage to become the source of all that emanates from the legislature, and I don’t mean cursory coverage that is provided by the PAB but in depth investigative information. The accredited media has the ability to go where the common man is persona non grata and it is their duty to use this advantage to their utmost.
If the reporters do not do their jobs and the editors theirs, then it matters not who delivers their message.
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Agreed, Cranky…
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I see a few Canwest Global types have been writing here (hard to type with fingers crossed) their hopes that Global’s preeminence will survive regardless of what happens elsewhere. The dominance they cling to was gained by being better than competitors. There was a day when no self respecting news-junkie would miss the 6pm BCTV newscast. Now, you can catch much of it again at 11pm, or the next morning or the following noon news. Recycle. Recycle. Recycle.
So, when Tony Parsons, presuming a decent start-up budget, puts his head into designing a real provincial news source in Victoria, the market will change. There is a waiting pool of skilled and widely experienced news people ready to commit to a project in which they can take pride. More importantly, there is a pool of potential viewers hungry for quality. And, every place beyond Hope cares rather little for a Vancouver focus so Victoria makes a sensible base for a provincial focus.
In the sixties, British and North American car dealers didn’t worry about the Japanese imports. After all, who was the dominant market force? Who knew best what the customers wanted? Arrogance in business always breeds failure.
BCTV News was great and held its lead despite a steady, if slow, decline. Other organizations were also wasting away with the beancounter malignancy. Global may still lead the ratings but I would bet their viewer loyalty is a slender thread, easily broken.
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