Small Stations Reap Harvest of Emmys : Awards: Channel 39 took the most Emmys at the local awards but the show belonged to the small stations that seldom share the limelight.

KNSD-TV (Channel 39) swept the awards in the major news categories at the annual local Emmy Awards ceremony Saturday, but the night belonged to the underdogs.

In category after category, representatives of small stations earned awards over nominees from the local network affiliated stations or KPBS, the local public broadcasting station.

For example, in the Outstanding News Performer category, only Rita Cosby, from KERO-TV in Bakersfield, earned a statuette. J. Daniel Jones from little-watched KTTY-TV (Channel 69) and Joan Haaland Paddock of Southwestern Cable won Emmys in the performer (non-news) category.

Among entertainment programs, Beatriz Acevedo, Yuri Brena and Rene Castillo of Tijuana’s XEWT-TV (Channel 12) won two Emmys each for “En Exlusiva.” There were nine nominees in the promotional announcement category, but only Beth Accomando from XETV (Channel 6) joined Channel 39’s Deborah Shaw as a winner.

And the documentary category, which once was dominated by the big news operations of the network affiliates, featured nominees from KPBS and KGTV (Channel 10), but it was Eric Christiansen from Cox Cable in Santa Barbara who won an Emmy for a piece called “Faces in the Fire,” along with a team from Channel 39, which won for a segment entitled “Cuatro Vidas.”

The Emmys are awarded to nominees judged to have reached a level of outstanding achievement, which is why multiple winners in one category are common. It is not a competition, although the stations treat it as such, evidenced by the wave of promotional spots that appear after each year’s ceremony.

For sheer volume and prestige, Channel 39 was unarguably the big winner. The station annually submits twice as many entries as the other stations. This year it paid off with 95 nominations and 45 awards, including Outstanding News Station (which is only slightly tainted by the fact that Channel 8 annually refuses to enter the category).

Two different Channel 39 newscasts won in the Outstanding Newscast/Half Hour category, with the awards going to producers Susan Mach and Jerry Caldwell. Even though Channel 39 no longer produces a regular hourlong newscast, the station’s Tracy Record also took home the Emmy in the hourlong newscast category for a newscast produced in January, 1991.

Individually, Channel 39 photographer John DeTarsio received six Emmys for sound, editing and photography. Included in his haul was the Emmy for Journalistic Enterprise, an award usually earned by a reporter.

DeTarsio’s Channel 39 comrade Roel Robles, who was nominated in 11 categories, won five awards, while Channel 39’s John Avey won four in various production categories. Channel 39’s Paul Bloom, Michael Settonni, Paul Krueger and Bernard Gonzales also earned Emmys, as did Monica Gayle, who recently left Channel 39 to join CBS News.

Channel 10’s list of winners included Herb Cawthorne, who won an Emmy for his commentaries; the investigative team of of Marti Emerald and J.W. August; reporter Steve Forina in the news writer category; Ed Quinn and John Beatty for editorials; and “San Diego Yearbook,” which earned awards for 15 co-producers in the historical program category.

In one of the more ironic twists of the evening, reporter Marianne Kushi, who was laid off by KFMB-TV (Channel 8) last month, won an Emmy for a feature segment on a Japanese internment camp. Another laid-off employee, Eileen Brennan, was part of the Channel 8 team--which included George Pennacchio, Michael Scalise, Dean Elwood and William Lawrence--which won an Emmy for the station’s “Salute to the Troops” coverage (Daniel Noval and Jim Esterbrooks also won in the same special events category for Cox Cable).

Channel 8 had only three other winners: Graham Ledger in the writer category, Geary Buydos and Patricia Elwood for “Assignment San Diego” in the magazine show category, and Berry Helfand for editing a promotional spot.

In the commercial categories, Gary Bulkin and Chip Bruss of B & B Communications each earned two Emmys in the commercial announcement category, and Rich Underwood of Roni Hicks and Associates won Emmys in the public service announcement and director (spot) categories.

In all, 87 Emmys were distributed Saturday night.