Channel 4's Duncan Loved It Here

Channel 4 wanted to keep reporter-anchor Jericka Duncan so badly that the station’s news director even thought of playing matchmaker.

“I joked with (news director Joe Schlaerth) that if I had gotten married maybe I’d stay in Buffalo,” laughed Duncan in a telephone interview.

“He tried,” she added with a laugh. “He had a couple of (dating) suggestions. But it was not like he had a list of people.”

Love didn’t happen here so she is off to the City of Brotherly Love – Philadelphia – in mid-August. She confirmed she will be a general assignment reporter at KYW-TV, the CBS affiliate in the No.4 market in the country.

She leaves after her three-year deal with Channel 4 was completed.

“I am young (26) and single and this is the time for me explore other opportunities,” said Duncan.

She has been impressive in her stay here. Until she leaves, Duncan said she will continue to anchor “Weekend Wake Up” and work as a night reporter the other three days of her work week.

“I had a great experience at Channel 4,” she added. She noted that she was able to report, anchor and even do some sports anchoring. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity. I am fortunate and blessed to have landed a job here.”

She is excited about the Philadelphia opportunity and said both Schlaerth and General Manager Chris Musial wished her the best.

Duncan is the daughter of a TV sports anchor and sports director who has worked in many markets so she knew she had chosen a field that required several moves. Still, she said it won’t be easy leaving since she has established strong friendships in the community and with her church in Buffalo.

“It is a community you don’t forget,” said Duncan. “I’m leaving but I will definitely be back to visit.”

* I’m no fan of Channel 7 General Manager Bill Ransom and he’s certainly no fan of mine. But there was a reason I chose not to run a recent website survey that placed him No. 1 in the list of the 10 worst people in TV news days before it landed in a blog in the Buffalo News.

I am only mentioning it now because The News blog needs some perspective. One should always consider the source before running an unfair list or at least explain and fully understand the background of who is behind the list.

Scott Jones, who is in charge of the Top 10 list, is a former executive news producer at Channel 7 who at one time was in the running to be the station’s news director. He also was the co-founder of the website RealAmherst.com.

According to sources who worked at Channel 7 at the time, Jones and Ransom had a falling out about a decade ago before Jones left the station.

The same sources said Jones also didn’t get along with the eventual news director, Staci Feger. Feger, who now is a news director in Alaska, was No. 10 on Jones’ Top 10 list.

Asked if the list should be considered fair and credible, one former Channel 7 staffer laughed and said: “No way is it fair.”

Full disclosure here: I also was a frequent target of Jones.

The News should either take down the discredited survey or at the very least insert some perspective about Jones.

* One of my spies tells me that Channel 2 reporter Aaron Saykin will soon work a part-time schedule to attend the University at Buffalo Law School. Considering the state of TV news, it is a very smart move.

* Finally, Spain's 1-0 victory over Netherlands Sunday for the World Cup had a 4.3 local rating on Channel 7. That was lower than the 5.0 rating that the United States' elimination loss to Ghana had here.

Of course, several of ABC's announcers candidly said the title game was a dog. "Lipstick on a pig," said ABC's Alexi Lalas. "This was a pig of a game."

pergament@msn.com

Channel 4's Duncan Leaving for No.4 Market

It looks like Channel 4 is going to have to play another round of musical chairs shortly.

According to sources, reporter-anchor Jericka Duncan is leaving the CBS affiliate to take a job at KYW-TV in Philadelphia, a CBS owned-and-operated station in the No.4 market in the country. Her last day at Channel 4 is scheduled to be in mid-August.

In recent station moves, Duncan was named to replace Michele McClintick as the anchor of Weekend Wake Up after McClintick moved to nights. At most, Duncan’s move to the weekends will last about a month before she leaves for the City of Brotherly Love.

Duncan has been impressive in reporting, anchor and even sports roles since joining Channel 4 three years ago from WETM in Elmira.

* Mylous Hairston, the Channel 4 anchor who is president of the local chapter of the union that represents anchors and reporters at the station, said last week it’s a surprise that local stations are hiring 20something reporters straight out of college.

He notes that Buffalo used to be a market that required on-air personnel to work three-to-five years in a small market (like Duncan did) in Elmira or Erie, Pa.

“Buffalo has become a starting market as opposed to a mid-market,” said Hairston. “It’s a sign of the times. The company is looking to hire the least experienced.”

It wouldn’t be so bad if veteran reporters and anchors could mentor the new hires. But that’s become increasingly difficult to do since the veterans have so much more to do now that they don’t have the time to mentor.

The young reporters at Channel 4 get a respectable salary when hired. The minimum reporting salary at the station is $34,000, said Hairston.

* This morning, Steve Carell told Meredith Vieira on “Today” that he wants his departure from NBC’s “The Office” next May to be “a little subdued” and “not an enormous send-off.”

Not likely. NBC undoubtedly will milk it for everything it can. Carell’s departure from one of the network's few popular series after one more season puts more pressure on one of its new fall shows to become a hit.

Can the show survive the loss of paper company boss Michael Scott, the lead character played by Carell?

That’s a tough question. A big name star would help, but what big star would want to deal with the comparisons to Carell? The reaction to Carell's replacment surely won’t be subdued.

pergament@msn.com