"TODAY'S RAIN WAS JUST AN APPETIZER; THE MAIN MENU YET TO COME." - Shelly Monahan, KCRA alum from 1995
KCRA president and general manager Ariel Roblin may not be new to California in the past, but the station itself is new to editorials. In my last blog, I told my readers of how KCRA has yet to explain why it took more than 20 years since Hearst Television took over operations from the Kelly Brothers in 1999, who trademarked the slogan, "Where the News Comes First" back in 1980. Remember that fellow Hearst station KSBW started editorials not long after Hearst took over the operations by their former president and general manager, Joesph W. Heston in 1999. Since Heston's retirement, KSBW has yet to resume editorials under current president and general manager, Laura Williamson (also a former KCRA personality as general sales manager) - I personally would love to see what Williamson is saying about the editorials sooner than later now that KCRA president and general manager Ariel Roblin started editorials just recently. I would keep in mind that Ariel Roblin's mission of the editorial, according to Heston, should state that "editorials are not part of the news, but they are part of our commitment to serve the public."
While I'm still waiting to see KSBW resume their editorials as a regular viewer myself residing in San Martin, California, I would like to take the time in advance to say cheers to KCRA chief meteorologist Mark Finan, who this November will be his 30th year of telling viewers about the California weather since his first weather forecast on November 11, 1991. Although Finan may be from New Hampshire, he may have established a huge fan base for viewers from all over the state of California to ask him informative questions about the weather or to cheer him up in hard times via Facebook (soon to be "Meta"). The rise in accessibility to access local or regional news in the past decade may come from out-of-market stations that is now viewable anywhere a person goes no matter the location. I can best describe Mark Finan as the Sacramento variation of KSBW's former lead weather forecaster named Jim Vanderswaan, who he retired from the station in 2015. KSBW's current weather team is helmed by their chief meteorologist Lee Solomon with AMS-sealed meteorologist Gina De Vecchio in the mornings. There are too many clips on YouTube that feature KCRA's old newscasts or a portion of an old video featuring Finan before even YouTube was invented, which was uploaded by various users that remembered watching a newscast.
Over the years, Finan had seen a lot of meteorologists come and go, including 2 of NBC Bay Area's current weather team consisting of their chief meteorologist Jeff Ranieri and meteorologist Rob Mayeda (both of them are AMS-sealed). I'm just hoping that there will be a time that both Rob and Jeff will come together and say a message to Finan on his 30 years of California weather around California's capital city of Sacramento. This to me have already given a taste of watching KCRA's online newscasts from any mobile and tablet devices even outside their media market, even though I watch both Jeff Ranieri and Rob Mayeda regularly on social media & on TV as a viewer. I feel that both Raineri and Mayeda often mimic each other's messages to viewers in times of severe weather in the Bay Area despite not being on social media often to interact with viewers, with an added bonus of their own mobile live doppler radar (on wheels, that is), something that neither KCRA (despite their own live radar at Walnut Grove) or KSBW have. While weather graphics under Finan's command have changed over the years, Finan noted that his commitment to his weather coverage that presently included fellow meteorologists Dirk Verdoorn, Elleen Javora, and morning meteorologist Tamera Berg remains unchanged.
Until meteorologists Lee Solomon, Gina De Vecchio, Rob Mayeda, and Jeff Ranieri offers Facebook live chats on a regular basis, I will sadly be tuning in to Mark Finan's live weather chats on Facebook most Tuesday and Thursday evenings around 8pm (Pacific Time). I'll be very surprised if both Rob Mayeda and Jeff Raineri will be typing his words to congratulate Finan on 30 years of California live on Finan's Facebook page on November 11, 2021.
My message to Mark Finan: See you on the Facebook chats and congrats on your 30 years of California weather in California's capital city. Until then, I'll leave you with this quote below...
"William Randolph Hearst founded our news and information company way back in 1887. One thing you quickly learn about working for Hearst: you don't get to be a successful 133-year-old company without managing and embracing change." - former KSBW president and general manager, Joesph W. Heston, in an editorial in 2020
Kyle Chak
Email: chak595301@gmail.com
Social Media: @KyleSChak
