Friday, October 01, 1999
Vester moves to Fox News
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
There's a good reason you don't see Milford native Linda Vester anchoring on MSNBC or filling in on NBC's Sunrise. She quit.
The 1983 Ursuline Academy graduate left NBC after 10 years for Fox News Channel, where she anchors Fox News Live 1-3 p.m.
“I believe you've got to take some calculated risks in life,” she says.
So when her NBC contract expired, she moved two blocks on Sept. 13 from NBC's Rockefeller Center offices to Fox News headquarters at 1211 Avenue of the Americas. The corporate climate at Fox News, started three years ago by Roger Ailes, is light years apart.
“Fox is a totally different environment. It thinks young. It's less political,” she says.
“Fox News is populated with young people. It's a newer organization that doesn't have as much baggage. There aren't any turf wars here. I've never seen such esprit de corps.”
NBC News and MSNBC, the 1996 partnership between NBC and Microsoft, are in a state of “tremendous upheaval,” she says.
To bolster low daytime ratings, MSNBC on Monday will air same-day repeats of NBC's top-rated Today 1-3 p.m. Lori Stokes will do live news inserts, replacing Ann Curry's morning reports.
Today reruns replace Time & Again, the nostalgia show anchored by former Today co-host Jane Pauley. Time & Again will be banished to weekends.
Ms. Vester, 34, says she's been impressed with Mr. Ailes, the former Nixon media consultant.
“He was very up front with me. What he wants is the top news network. He wants to hire good journalists, and he doesn't meddle with them,” she says.
Earlier this year, Mr. Ailes hired CBS' Paula Zahn to join Managing Editor Brit Hume (from ABC), Neal Cavuto (from CNBC), Bill O'Reilly (from Inside Edition), the Beltway Boys (Morton Kondracke and Fred Barnes) and Internet gossip columnist Matt Drudge.
Fox News Live, she says, “has more of an edge. It's unconventional.” For example: She co-anchors with midday anchor Dave Asman 1-1:30, then solos for an hour, before co-anchoring with successor Shepard Smith 2:30-3 p.m.
“It's going to evolve. We'll add stuff and drop stuff. No one's being pretentious about it,” she says.
Fox News, which reaches fewer homes than its competitors, saw its audience increase in the third quarter by 44 percent. For the same period, CNN was down 18 percent, CNBC was off 22 percent and MSNBC was up 4 percent, says Robert Zimmerman, Fox News media relations director.
CNN is seen in 76 million homes, followed by CNBC (70.6 million), MSNBC (51 million) and Fox News (42 million), he said.
AUDIO ALERT: Reds fans should have their tape recorders ready at 1 p.m. Sunday, when WLW-AM (700) replays the 1999 Reds greatest hits. The flagship station will air 21/2 hours of Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall's favorite calls until 3:35 p.m., when the pregame show starts for the final regular season game, the Reds at Milwaukee (4:05 p.m.).
MORE SPECIAL: WCPO-TV blows off 20/20 Monday for Run for the Pennant (8 p.m. Monday, Channel 9), a Reds special hosted by John Popovich.
LOTTO LUCK: Low-power WBQC-TV (Channel 25), the UPN station too weak to reach most Northern Kentucky homes, has become the official Kentucky Lottery station. It will air drawings at 10:57 p.m. starting today.
Elliott Block, Channel 25 general manager, says he hopes the lotto numbers, his UPN and Pax network programming, and his agreement to air any ESPN telecasts of Reds' postseason games will convince Northern Kentucky's InterMedia cable (and other cable systems) to pick up his station.
“I hope they do the right thing,” says Mr. Block, whose station celebrated its ninth birthday Thursday.
The federal government requires cable systems to carry all full-power stations, but not low-power stations in each market.
WGUC DRIVE: The annual WGUC-FM (90.9) fall fund drive is off to a good start, with new members accounting for 46 percent off all pledges Wednesday and Thursday.
“Usually they account for about one-third of the total,” says Chris Phelps, marketing director for the classical music station.
The goal is recruiting 750 new members and raising $220,000 by Wednesday or Thursday. You can make a pledge by the Internet (www.wguc.org) or by phone (241-5757).
Premiums include three compact discs (WGUC-FM's Classics for Kids; the WGUC-FM Holiday Collection; The Most Relaxing Classical Music Ever); WGUC-FM T-shirts; and Car Talk mouse pads and T-shirts. Everyone who pledges is eligible for two prizes: dinner for 10 at Palomino, or a Pentium 450 mHz computer system.
RADIO HIGHLIGHTS: Mark Fleming, president of Blue Chip Construction Co., is back on the air with his Ultimate Home Improvement Show. The home fix-it and remodeling show, which had aired on WVXU-FM, can be heard at 10 a.m. Saturday on WNOP-AM (740). It's followed by Technology Today (11 a.m.), a computer show.
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