Switching Dials, Again : Television: Channel 8’s news director is taking what some call his last shot at putting together a winning combination for the once dominant, now sagging television news operation.

By last summer, KFMB-TV (Channel 8), the station that once dominated the local television news ratings battle, had degenerated into a newsroom full of noticeably unhappy campers, rife with petty bickering and second-guessing of the station’s strategy.

Anchorwoman Susan Roesgen in tears became a familiar off-camera sight in the newsroom, as her frustrations grew with critical memos from news director Jim Holtzman and with her strained professional relationship with co-anchor Stan Miller. To staffers, her unhappiness was something of a symbol.

Roesgen, Stan Miller, Greg Hurst and Larry Mendte were supposed to represent a new era for the station. Young, good-looking, they were recruited from around the country and touted as the next generation of Channel 8, the station’s version of the best and the brightest.

A flurry of mediocre ratings, frayed relationships and devastated morale put an end to that.

This month the station officially embarked on another new era. The young, handsome, cover photo anchors are all gone. Instead, news director Holtzman is going with a roster of faces familiar to San Diegans, such as Hal Clement, a 20-year veteran of local television, and sports personality Ted Leitner.

The new strategy is diametrically opposite of the previous one. In the place of young and fresh, it’s conservative and family oriented, with a focus on helpful information and folksy-feature news stories. The emphasis is on older, more down-to-earth personalities, and the team has been rounded out by the addition of anchorwoman Susan Peters and weatherman/environmental reporter Loren Nancarrow, who returned to Channel 8 earlier this year after a stint in San Francisco.

For Holtzman, who has guided Channel 8 through the good, the bad and the ugly for 13 years, the new strategy is one more shot at returning Channel 8 to its ratings glory. He talks about this team being a staple of San Diego television for the next decade.

In a business where news directors are only as good as their last ratings book, it may be Holtzman’s final chance; his contract is up for renewal next year.

“I think in his mind, and management’s mind, this is his final set,” said longtime friend Clement. “Jim jokes that this is his last news team.”

Five years ago there was no doubt the station was in need of some fresh blood. Two years earlier, in 1984, Channel 8 had made what many perceived as a serious mistake, allowing anchorman Michael Tuck to jump to Channel 10.

Channel 8 had offered Tuck, a hot property, a paltry $10,000 raise. Tuck says the station wouldn’t negotiate. Holtzman says that’s not true. But it’s a moot point. Tuck was insulted and he left for Channel 10, where he says he made $65,000 more in his first year than he would have made at Channel 8.

Tuck helped jump-start Channel 10’s ratings. His replacement at Channel 8, Marty Levin, was capable and popular, but he and Holtzman feuded, and Levin eventually jumped to Channel 39 (then known as KCST-TV).

Holtzman, notorious for avoiding consultants and market research--the elements which tend to make most television newscasts look remarkably similar--was convinced that San Diegans, with their enthusiasm for health and fitness, would respond to young and healthy-looking anchors.

In 1986, three new anchor/reporters joined the Channel 8 staff within a few months of each other--Linda Mour, Hurst and Miller. With the later additions of weatherman Larry Mendte and anchorwoman Susan Roesgen, they were the nucleus of Holtzman’s strategy for rebuilding Channel 8.

Holtzman recruited Mour, Hurst and Miller with a vengeance. Hurst, who was working in Arkansas, received a taped message from fellow Arkansas native Kevin McReynolds, then with the San Diego Padres, urging him to move to San Diego. He reportedly shunned interest from WABC in New York and “Entertainment Tonight” to take the job with Channel 8.

When Mour, who had worked in Sacramento, Detroit and San Francisco, arrived, she was immediately put to work on a wide range of projects. She was omnipresent on the newscasts doing entertainment reporting and a special “Mour’s Corner” segment, in addition to general features.

Holtzman had decided that weather no longer needed to be a separate segment of the newscast--a revolutionary concept for the staid world of television news. It was left to Mour to give weather news at the end of her entertainment segment.

Many members of the established Channel 8 audience didn’t like it, nor did they respond to the other changes. After posting a 17 rating and 35 share in the November, 1984, book--with a full five point lead on Channel 10--by May, 1987, Channel 8 had fallen to a 9 rating and 22 share.

In 1988, Mendte, who Holtzman had originally tried to hire in 1986 for “This Day,” a failed attempt at an unconventional 11 p.m. newscast, was brought in to do weather. He was working as reporter and weekend anchor for WABC in New York at the time.

Encouraged by Holtzman to be outrageous in order to establish his name identity, Mendte did almost daily attention-getting stunts, from getting his hair cut on air to doing on-air polls about his own popularity (he didn’t fare well, but the station received more than 120,000 calls for one poll).

The final piece of the puzzle supposedly fell into place in July, 1989, when Roesgen came in to replace Allison Ross.

Undoubtedly one of the most popular anchors in San Diego, Ross had been with the station for 12 years. But Holtzman felt it was time to make a change. Ross had personal problems, not the least of which was her working relationship with Holtzman. She had missed several months of work the year before.

In June, against the advice of many at the station, Holtzman chose not to renew Ross’ contract. Without any fond farewells or tearful ceremonies, one day Ross was simply off the air.

Of the class of ‘86, Mour was the first to go. Viewers complained angrily about the lack of weather coverage, and Mour took most of the heat. Before long she was receiving lengthy memos from Holtzman, detailing her flaws. Within the corridors of Channel 8, Holtzman’s memos are famous for their directness and lack of sensitivity.

“They’re not memos, they’re like novels,” said Mour, now a reporter with KABC in Los Angeles. “It seemed kind of silly. I’d be reading one of these memos, and he’d be sitting 3 feet away from me.”

Mour’s departure was, in her own words, “swift.” After being a fixture of the newscast, her relationship with Holtzman deteriorated in 1988, as they fought over such things as her hairstyle. When a subject of an interview complained about Mour--Mour says the man called her “babe,” and she pointed out that that was inappropriate--it led to a last blowup, and Mour left to take a job with Fox News shortly thereafter.

“Jim has the ability to find really good people, but he doesn’t know how to nurture them and make them feel respected,” said Mour, echoing the sentiments of others.

Hurst was the next to fall out of favor. In 1989 he was relegated to the 6:30 p.m. show, passed over in favor of Miller for the key 5 p.m. slot. He kept his temper, but there was no doubt that he was on his way out. His agent, Conrad Shadlin, who also handles Roesgen and Mendte, eventually got him a job with WABC in New York.

Meanwhile, Miller, dubbed a “stud puppet” by a local radio station because of his lightweight on-air image, was alienating people in the newsroom: several jokes circulated about his ego and his ad-lib abilities.

Worse than the behind-the-scenes squabbling was the clear on-air friction between the main news talent. The “happy talk,” the witty banter between the on-air personalities, was always forced and strained. There was no rapport between Roesgen, Miller, Mendte and Leitner. Miller, who was designated as Leitner’s foil, seemed incapable of responding to his witticisms. Mendte and Roesgen were friends off camera, but on camera Roesgen refused to respond to Mendte’s wisecracks, often just staring at him. When Mendte pressed her for a response, it appeared he was picking on her.

But most glaring was the clear lack of chemistry between Miller and Roesgen. At times, they could barely contain their contempt for each other, and it showed on the air.

“People tackled me in shopping malls and asked if they got along,” Clement said. “Nobody wants to tune in and see people bickering.”

One night last summer during the 11 p.m. newscast, the duo had to kill time. The camera was on Roesgen, and she started to tell a story. Miller interrupted and, on the air, ordered the director to include him in the shot. Ignoring Roesgen, he told his own story, while she glared at him. When the show was over, she stomped off the set, calling Miller names as she left.

“Neither (Miller or Roesgen) worked hard enough to make it work, and that was a shame,” Holtzman said.

By last summer, Roesgen’s unhappiness had become a common topic of conversation in the newsroom, and she was widely reported to be looking for another job. Management had asked Roesgen to darken her hair, which made her the frequent target for radio personalities and newspaper columnists. Roesgen was a frequent recipient of Holtzman’s infamous memos.

Miller seemed more entrenched than Roesgen until election night last November. He was relegated to a minor role in the studio, while Clement took over the main anchor role at Election Central. Soon after, he was bumped from the 5 p.m. newscast to the 6:30 show, and he went public with his unhappiness.

“They’ve killed my morale,” Miller said at the time. “I think they’re clutching at straws.”

By then Holtzman had already decided on a new direction.

“I think the bottom line is that what was happening wasn’t working,” Clement said. “I think Jim realized this and there was no way to handle it well.”

With his contract due to expire this month, Mendte was asked in March to commit to a long-term deal and to do more of a serious weathercast with environmental reports. He decided to move on, and is currently looking for work. Roesgen and Hurst are now key players for WABC in New York and Miller is working in Minneapolis.

In Holtzman’s opinion, a situation similar to the salary fireworks of major league baseball developed in television news during the ‘80s. Around the country, the number of local television news programs increased dramatically--Channel 8 now has six news programs a day, for example. Anchors and agents became the main driving force of the industry, much like baseball stars, able to demand huge salaries.

“There was a great explosion of opportunity for anchors,” Holtzman said. “It was like the anchor factories couldn’t pump them out fast enough.”

Holtzman believes he hired some of the best news readers in the country in Roesgen, Hurst and Miller. All three moved on to bigger markets, which suggests he was correct in his assessment. But Holtzman now believes his mistake was “not factoring everything in,” not looking at the total package, including the mixture of personalities.

“They were not people who had a great deal of background in the business,” Holtzman said. “They were not versatile enough to do some of the things we wanted them to do.”

In fact, despite station promotions advertising the trio as professional news hounds committed to San Diego, all three rarely showed any ability to break away from written scripts or to conduct interviews or to do any analysis. Roesgen, Hurst and Miller were representative of a “breed of restless, itinerant anchors,” who wouldn’t follow suggestions because they were always looking to further their careers somewhere else, Holtzman says.

Hurst and Roesgen didn’t return numerous phone calls last week, and Miller was unavailable for comment. But all three have seemed willing to stay in San Diego. Miller met his wife here, and has often talked about spending the rest of his career in San Diego. Roesgen’s husband was a photographer for a North County newspaper.

Clearly, Holtzman’s reasons for the changes went beyond the simple ambitions of the talent. His comments suggest as much: “I wanted people around who, if I sat around with them, I would enjoy their company,” Holtzman said. “If I enjoy them, maybe there is a better chance the audience will like them.”

If nothing else, with his new lineup Holtzman has surrounded himself with people he likes. Except for Peters, who grew up in San Diego, all the main news personnel have worked with Holtzman many years. Nancarrow, the new weatherman/environmental reporter, worked for Channel 8 for several years before leaving to take a job in San Francisco.

“If I go out, at least I will go out with people I like and people I like having around me,” Holtzman said.

Holtzman, who four years ago subscribed to the industry-wide theory that good-looking news readers were the way to attract an audience, now believes consistency is the key to ratings in San Diego.

“I think Channel 10 benefitted from (consistency), and I think we helped them,” Holtzman said.

As usual, Holtzman is playing with the mix, trying a few things that go beyond the conventions of local television news. Holtzman will use his top team--Clement, Peters, Leitner and Nancarrow--at 5 and 6:30 p.m., but he will have a completely different lineup at 11 p.m. The late show will feature longtime weekend anchorman Mitch Duncan, Andrea Naversen, weatherman Larry Himmel and sportscaster Hank Bauer.

Clement didn’t want to do the 11 p.m. program, in order to spend time with his family, and Holtzman viewed it as a chance to do something completely different. Besides, the 5 and 6:30 shows have the “two highest viewing audiences,” he said.

In the past, Holtzman’s impatience and his willingness to try different things made for a difficult mix. Many of his ideas--and personalities--may have worked if they had been given more time to succeed.

“Sometimes I think he thinks too much,” Mendte said. “He won’t let you just go out and play, like a good baseball manager, and it can drive some people nuts.”

Holtzman pleads guilty as charged.

“I don’t want to lose my competitiveness, but I would like to lose my lack of patience,” he said.

Despite the problems of the past few years and a string of budget cuts that decimated station morale earlier this month, Holtzman believes the station is on roll. Not only does he have people around him that he likes, he has reshaped the focus of the newscast. Regular “F.Y.I.” informational segments, consumer and health reports, and the addition of former Padres Tim Flannery, are all things Holtzman views as pluses in the newscast, helping to position for a run at the No. 1 spot.

More than anything, though, Holtzman “wanted to get something on the air that he likes,” Clement said.

There is undoubtedly implicit pressure on the 43-year-old Holtzman. In a year, his four-year contract is up, and for the first time in a decade some industry observers wonder about his future, especially considering that the average news director lasts about two years.

Holtzman says such factors don’t enter into his thinking. If he was worried about such things, Holtzman points out, he would have gone for a quick fix.

Instead he has opted for a long-range plan. It will take time to change the viewing habits of people watching the other stations, and he knows it.

As for talk that this is his last news team, Holtzman said, “Certainly I would like Hal to be my last anchor.”

But he downplays any talk of extra pressure on him as he enters the last year of his contract.

“The only pressure I feel comes from inside of me,” Holtzman said, “only because I like to compete, and I hate to lose.”