KCBS, KNBC Dominate 39th Annual Golden Mike Awards

KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KNBC-TV Channel 4 split top television honors at the 39th annual Golden Mike Awards presented Friday for excellence in locally-produced broadcasting. KCBS took home eight honors including best 60-minute newscast, while KNBC garnered 7 statuettes including best 30-minute newscast.

KNX-AM (1070) swept the radio portion of the ceremony, capturing 10 awards including best radio newscast. No other radio station received more than 2 awards.

KCBS was honored for its 5 p.m. newscast and for its documentary “Inside Mexico,” while its veteran newsman Bill Stout took home the award for best news commentary. KNBC was congratulated for its 11 p.m. newscast and its live coverage of the First Interstate Bank fire. The station also won for best investigative reporting, best writing, best sports segment and for Steve Gendel’s health reports.

Local radio stations KSCN-FM, KFI-AM and KZLA-FM all were commended for excellence in their daily newscasts.

The Golden Mikes are presented annually by the Radio and Television News Assn. of Southern California. Some awards are presented in three categories to accommodate the large discrepancy in the size of various station’s full-time news staff.

Other local television winners include:

News Broadcast--60 Minutes, Division B: KGTV San Diego. News Broadcast--60 Minutes, Division C: KSBY San Luis Obispo. News Broadcast--30 Minutes, Division B: KNSD San Diego. News Broadcast--30 Minutes, Division C: KSBY. Newscast Writing: KNBC. Individual Writing: Matt Stevens, “North Fork Murder,” KCBS. Spot News Reporting: Chris Blatchford, “Tide Damage,” KCBS. Spot News Reporting, Division B: KGTV, “Escondido Swat.” Spot News Reporting, Division C: KERO Bakersfield, “Highway 58 Pileups.” Live Coverage: KNBC, “First Interstate Bank Fire.” Live Coverage, Division B: KTLA, “First Interstate Bank Fire.” Live Coverage, Division C: KSBY San Luis Obispo, “Flight 1771.” Commentary: Bill Stout, “Japanese Reparations,” KCBS. Documentary: “Inside Mexico,” Laura Carter, producer/writer, KCBS. Documentary, Division B: KFMB San Diego, “Learning the Hard Way,” Eileen Brennan, producer. Documentary, Division C: KBAK Bakersfield, “Beaten By the Bible,” Jimmy Andrews, writer. News Reporting: “Public Housing,” Harvey Levin, reporter, Michael Singer, producer, KCBS. Investigative Reporting: “FBI Wiretapping LAPD,” Doug Bruckner, reporter, Pete Noyes, producer, KNBC. Investigative Reporting, Division C: KMEX, “Superjobs,” Laura Lucio, reporter. News Series: Jody Hammond “Poor Town,” KFMB. Sports Segment: KNBC-TV, Fred Roggin, sportscaster, Kevin La Beach, producer. Sports Segment, Division B: KHJ-TV, Scott St. James, sportscaster, Tony Richards, producer. Sports Segment, Division C: KERO-TV Bakersfield, Bill Manders sportscaster/producer. Sports Reporting: Steve Jahnke, “AMA vs. Boxing,” KCOP. Feature Reporting: Janet Zappala, “One on One with Mel Blanc,” KTTV. Local Radio winners include: Writing: Michael Ambrosini, “Mountain With No Top,” KNX. Commentary: Charles Harrington Elster, “Vietnam Memorial,” KPBS. Sports Segment: “Fred Gallagher Sports,” KNX. Sports Reporting: Bob Scott, “L.A. Marathon,” KNX. Spot News: KNX, “First Interstate Bank Fire.” Spot News, Division B: XTRA, “Search for Jesus Garcia.” Documentary: “Frozen in Time,” KNX. Documentary, Division B: “The Names Project,” KOST-FM. News Reporting: Bill Cooper, “The Smokeless Skies,” KFWB. Series Reporting: Tom Vacar, “Insurance Initiative,” KNX. Feature Reporting: Tracey Miller, “Singles Traffic School,” KFI-AM.