Denver’s longest-running TV news anchor team, KDVR's Libby Weaver and Ron Zappolo ends its run

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From The Denver Post:


http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/files/2012/12/libbyron2-270x99.jpg (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2012/12/13/adieu-denvers-longestrunning-tv-anchor-team/12068/libbyron2/)

Libby Weaver and Ron Zappolo, Denver’s longest-running current anchor team, ends its run Dec. 13, 2012, when Weaver departs.

Half of Denver’s longest-lasting TV anchor team signs off today as Libby Weaver ends her tenure at KDVR and, most likely, in broadcasting. Her co-anchor Ron Zappolo is preparing to exit the anchor chair in March, although he’ll remain at the station, shifting his attention to sports.

Weaver and Zappolo, an on-air team since the station’s news department launched in 2000, clicked from the beginning and have been trading easy ad libs ever since. (When they’ve verged on too-cute, there’s always been BBC World News on Channel 6 for balance.) Weaver has said she’s not retiring, (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2012/09/06/libby-weaver-reflects/10738/) just seeking a change. Would the station have extended her contract? It never got that far.

“It was her decision,” Fox31 news director Ed Kosowski said. “She made it clear that while she loved her job, this was a personal choice, she wanted to be a full-time mom.” The plan for her farewell is cake and champagne in the newsroom this afternoon, an on-air tribute at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., and an in-studio appearance by her husband and kids at 9 p.m.

No decision yet on a replacement, but Deborah Takahara will be “at least” the interim co-anchor with Zappolo. She’s the obvious candidate to get the job permanently, while Jeremy Hubbard has long been the station’s pick to succeed Zappolo.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dp-entertainment-tv-blogs-ostrow/~4/QzPQQlxKvNo

More... (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2012/12/13/adieu-denvers-longestrunning-tv-anchor-team/12068/)

[Rob]

From KDVR:

http://kdvr.com/2012/12/13/fox31-denver-says-goodbye-to-libby-weaver-today/

http://localtvkdvr.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/libbyweaver4.jpg?w=627
Libby Weaver and Ron Zappolo are FOX31 Denver's first late-night anchor team.

DENVER – Long-time Denver newscaster Libby Weaver signed off for the last time as anchor of FOX31 Denver News Thursday night.

There are great things in her future, most importantly, spending time with her children and the rest of her family.
Weaver and her co-anchor Ron Zappolo, she calls him her “TV husband,” have been at the anchor desk from the time the station began airing local newscasts in July 2000.

They were the longest-serving late news anchor team in Denver.

“We will certainly miss her presence — both on the air and in our newscasts and in the newsroom,” news director Ed Kosowski said.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock declared today Libby Weaver Appreciation Day to commemorate her many years in the market.
Follow this link to leave a comment for Libby on Facebook.

She joined FOX31 Denver in July 2000 after moving to Denver from Los Angeles where she was the host of EXTRA. She’s also worked at WMAQ in Chicago and KSTU in Salt Lake City. Weaver got her start in television news working at KDRV in Medford, Oregon.

“I was a fan of Libby since she got here,” anchor and reporter Kim Posey said. “I used to watch her on EXTRA and I thought she was so good.”

Weaver has covered some major news events in Colorado – both the good and the bad.

She anchored from Sports Authority Field at Mile High when then Senator Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination to be the first African American to run for president. She covered the first World Series in Denver and the state capitol shooting.
Weaver has braved the elements and reported on Colorado’s wild weather from countless blizzards to wildfires and the Windsor tornado.

“She came here with experience,” reporter Shaul Turner said. “She has an uncanny amount of style and grace.”
Weaver has won several Emmys and awards for her reporting. The list includes an Emmy in 2002 for her series on 16-year-old Missy Martin’s recovery after her car was hit by a train in Castle Rock. The accident left Martin in a coma for two months.
Critics also praised Weaver’s 2007 series on Berthoud teenagers Tyler Carron and Nikko Landeros, who both lost their legs when a car slammed into them as they were trying to change a tire. Weaver showed the 17-year-olds’ struggle to move on with life.
Weaver has also covered some of the lighter side of life. She once swapped jobs with Scott Higgins, then the percussionist with the Colorado Opera.

It’s that depth that has made Weaver’s longtime co-anchor one of her biggest fans.

“One of the things that I have always liked about Libby the most is that she doesn’t take herself seriously,” Zappolo said. “She takes her job seriously, but she doesn’t take herself seriously.”

While she is leaving a 22-year career in television news, Weaver says she is not retiring. That said, she’s not yet sure what her next step will be.

Her reasoning for leaving the anchor desk, however, is very clear.

Weaver says she’s determined to spend more time with her three children, ages 13, 10 and 8.

After all the passion and commitment she has shown in helping our station grow from its inception, we can only say that Libby’s decision is a perfect reflection of the woman we know her to be.

In many ways, a newsroom is like a family. With that being the case, there won’t be many dry eyes when one of our own signs off for the final time tonight.

So one last time, let us say thank you, Libby. But in lieu of goodbye, we’ll opt for see you later.

Like the thousands who looked forward to watching you every night, we look forward to watching your next act.


Click here for a video of her last time on KDVR and a tribute by the station. (http://kdvr.com/2012/12/13/fox31-denver-says-goodbye-to-libby-weaver-today/#ooid=RycmhtNzoy1VgDsrgK5LHloBcRczAZ5G)

[Rob]

From Westword:

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/12/libby_weaver_leaves_fox31_jump_pushed.php

Libby Weaver says goodbye to Fox31: Did she jump or was she pushed?

Last night, longtime Fox31 anchor Libby Weaver bid the station adieu surrounded by her three kids -- her stated reason for stepping away from the outlet. But even as good wishes stack up on the station's Facebook page, media observers are speculating about whether her decision to leave has to do with the shrinking resources and tight budget constraints affecting broadcast TV these days.
No denying that Weaver, who worked as a host of Extra in addition to stints at stations in Salt Lake City and Chicago before landing at Fox31, brought a new level of unabashed glamor to Denver TV news. Who can forget the 2009 Denver magazine "Men's Issue" cover that we described at the time like so:

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/libby%20and%20natalie%20on%20denver%20mag.jpg


The two women on the cover are literally busting out of their flirtatious attire, with the girliest of the two wearing a breast-boosting garment that turns her wiggle rack into an awesome blossom. Meanwhile, her more masculine partner is clad in an open shirt from which one mam threatens to escape as she perches spread-legged on a chair and holds a cigar that, with apologies to Sigmund Freud, isn't just a cigar in this case. As a bonus, the sitting woman has her arm looped suggestively through the crooked leg of her gal pal, whose crotch is at mouth height.
Scissor sisters relaxing on the set of their latest Skinemax sextravaganza, The Goodies: Live Hard, Get Hard? No, they're Libby Weaver and Natalie Tysdal, anchors for programs on Channel 31.

The magazine also included a complete behind-the-scenes slide show of images from the shoot, featuring images like this one:

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/natalie%20and%20libby%20slideshow%20shot.jpg


Was Weaver's career was hurt by questions about the wisdom of a news anchor engaging in such male fantasy schtick? Hardly -- and her sense of balance was a big reason why. For the most part, she managed to offset her show-biz side with a down-to-earth persona epitomized by a goofy sense of humor and canny playing of the mom card. Add her obvious chemistry with co-anchor Ron Zappolo and you'll understand why she was able to last a dozen years-plus in the market.
Throughout that time, she and Zappolo were paid handsomely for their efforts. But in recent years, the rise of the Internet and new technology has reduced the audience for traditional TV news, and profits along with it.

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/assets_c/2012/01/libby%20weaver%20ron%20zappolo-thumb-565x356.jpg


As such, even successful stations like 9News began trying to get salaries under control. Note that in 2008, anchor Bob Kendrick's contract wasn't renewed -- and while he subsequently refuted reports that the move was largely dictated by cost (he was said to have been paid $400,000 per year), his replacement was station veteran Mark Koebrich, who cost considerably less.

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/ron%20and%20libby.png


No replacement for Weaver has been named at this point, but speculation suggests the gig will go to Deborah Takahara, another internal candidate who won't break Fox31's bank. Moreover, the station will likely save additional moolah when Zappolo moves from news back to sports, reportedly when his current contract expires this next March.
Did Weaver decide to step away now, on her own terms, knowing that she might be shown the door no matter how flexible she was during her next contract negotiation? No one's saying that, and no one will. But one thing's clear: The age of enormous paydays for mid-market TV anchors is a thing of the past.

[Dr Jam]

So now that Zappolo/Weaver is no longer the longest running news team, who is?

[Rob]

So now that Zappolo/Weaver is no longer the longest running news team, who is?

My guess would be KMGH's Anne Trujillo and Mike Landess but not totally sure... I think they have been doing it for about 10 years now.

[PC Bigboy]

My guess would be KMGH's Anne Trujillo and Mike Landess but not totally sure... I think they have been doing it for about 10 years now.I think Mark Channel 9's Mark Koebrich & Adele Arakawa might have some say about that

Cheers & 73 :D

[Rob]

I think Mark Channel 9's Mark Koebrich & Adele Arakawa might have some say about that

Cheers & 73 :D

Mark and Adele have only been anchoring together since December 2009. Before that on KUSA, it was Adele with Bob Kendrick.

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From the Denver Post:

128
Ron Zappolo will be retiring soon from his anchor job at Fox31 to "reinvent myself one more time."

After nearly four decades, Denver broadcasting veteran Ron Zappolo, acknowledged dean of local sports journalism, respected anchor and self-described "old-school" news guy, will retire from Fox31 on April 5. He's walking away from the job in order to "reinvent myself one more time."

For years, Zappolo has ranked at the top of the Denver market's "Q scores," those measurements of personality used in contract and salary negotiations that usually pit him against 9News' Adele Arakawa as the town's most positively recognized anchor.

129
Ron Zappolo, left, broadcasting a 1978 Denver Nuggets game with then play-by-play announcer Al Albert. Al's brother is longtime sportscaster Marv Albert. (Fox31)

He got there by sheer force of will and a knack for performing. His distinctive cadence — partly a holdover from his native Boston — makes him easy to listen to; his passion translates as down-to-earth; his engagement with the camera marks him as a guy who belongs on the tube.
"You have to perform the material. You have to sell it," he said.

If Ed Sardella is remembered as the capital-J journalist of Denver TV anchors, and Bob Palmer was the folksy Denver native who was a comfortable anchor choice for decades, Zappolo is the king of sports who mastered the game at channels 4 and 9 before (nervously) leaping into Fox31's news anchor chair.

On the way out, he sounds more resolved than thrilled. "I've been charging hard, and I'm in my 60s. I'm the old guy. It's the passing of the torch."

"He never did anything halfway," said 9News anchor Arakawa, an admirer. "Viewers never knew that everything he did on air (as a sports anchor at KUSA) was without a TelePrompter. I was amazed at his ability to put together a cohesive sportscast without a script in front of him." She chalks it up to "his steel-trap mind."

130
Ron Zappolo, standing, with his Washintgon, D.C., mentor, Maury Povich, and colleague Deborah Mathis. Of his stint in Washington, he said, "Connie Chung and I started on the same day... I made $80 a week and thought I was rich.

Zappolo's commitment was tested — and proven — last summer, when he spent 11 consecutive hours on the air after the Aurora theater shootings.
"That's what they pay you for, not to read the TelePrompter," he says.

KDVR news boss Ed Kosowski said Zappolo gained the trust of the audience over the years because "they look to him to be the voice of reason."

Old-school opinions

Like many old-school broadcasters, Zappolo laments the too-fast, too-streamlined nature of today's TV news. "Everything is headline news, 1 minute, 20 seconds," he said. "I enjoy the interview show ("Zappolo's People"), a half-hour of uninterrupted conversation."

Now that reporters shoot and edit their own stories, "it's great financially, but how can you possibly be as informed a public" when fewer journalists cover local government and everything is quicker, lighter?

A technophobe who scoffs at management's push to market via Twitter, Facebook and the rest, he decries the executives' emphasis on appealing to a younger audience. He knows younger people aren't watching TV news. Older folks have discretionary income, he notes, why not go after them?

But he recognizes it's a new media world, "with 300 stinking options, whatever ... TV news used to be a dependence."

"Ron is a solid storyteller," said 7News anchor Mike Landess. "It doesn't seem to matter what the subject is... He always did an excellent job while doing sports and then used the same skills as anchor and interviewer on his 'Zappolo's People' show. That's a great gift. I'd say Ron could handle Mitt Romney and the local Lego Competition champ with equal aplomb."

"You can't be an East Coast guy without being opinionated and that translated into a passion for what he does on the air. He's just a damn good communicator," said CBS4's Jim Benemann. "And the gray hair makes him seem distinguished and trustworthy. Personally, I'll stick with the dark hair as long as I can."

Sports to news

Zappolo brought a certain snap to Denver's sleepy TV scene when he arrived in 1977 for a job at Channel 4.

"It would be good for me and the station if you were to become very, very good," Channel 4 honcho Roger Ogden told him. Ogden, the industry icon who drove both Channel 4 and Channel 9 to success, was his boss twice. Dave Lougee, a former boss at Channel 9 who now runs Gannett Broadcasting, encouraged Zappolo to deliver commentary beyond sports reporting. "He was right," Zappolo said.

If he hadn't landed the TV news gig, he would've been an actor.

In fact, Zappolo played King Lear in a high school production. He took a lot of abuse from his baseball teammates but "my mother thought I should be an actor. I can still remember some of the lines."

His parents rolled their eyes when he told them in high school that he wanted to be a broadcaster. Now they watch him on the computer via livestream at their home in Dallas.

He earned his street cred as a reporter at WTTG in Washington, D.C., under the tough-love tutelage of Maury Povich. "Connie Chung and I started on the same day... I made $80 a week and thought I was rich."

From there he climbed to Channel 4 in Denver, when it was KOA, and on to Channel 9. He wasn't granted his wish of an interview show at 9News. The station let him walk when his contract ended five years ago, just as Fox31 was looking for a known quantity to head its upstart news operation. He led that newscast to ratings comparable to competitors' 10 p.m. numbers.

Zappolo holds the distinction of being the only Denver broadcaster to have worked for three general managers and at four stations. (Also the only one to merit an animated cameo on "South Park.") And now, at 61, he swears there's no secret negotiation. It's just time to go.

Fear of failure

Even now, Zappolo is motivated by fear of failure. He still gets butterflies before doing the interviews for "Zappolo's People" — a sign, he figures, that he still cares. His most memorable guest on that series was Christopher Reeve, 10 years ago. Reeve's candor about his disability stayed with him.

He survived the rough patch at Fox31, when management foundered and Zappolo endured an acknowledged rift with co-anchor Libby Weaver. He went on to lead the 9 p.m. newscast to new stability.

He speaks in sports metaphors: As the main anchor, he says, "You're the quarterback. You've gotta give everybody the ball. You've got to know your team. I've got to know how the person next to me works, how Heidi Hemat works, know whether you've got a weather guy that's quiet or one you have to rein in, know the strengths of your team and play to them."

Zappolo teaches youngsters in the business the importance of showing up, working hard and, not least, starting the newscast on time (an ongoing challenge for stations versus network overruns).

He credits several news directors and general managers for enabling him to expand and stretch in his career: Ogden, his boss at both KCNC and KUSA; Lougee, a colleague at KCNC and boss at KUSA; and Ed Turner, one of his first news directors, who went on to lead CNN. And the trust of a long list of sports names, Doug Moe to Dan Reeves to John Elway, helped him tell the stories over the years.

Routine guy

While he's been a top earner among Denver TV personalities for years (those in the know estimate he pulls down well over half a million bucks a year), he's "a routine guy," who prides himself on his simple tastes.

"Tonight we're going to a $10 all-you-can-eat dinner with family," he said Sunday afternoon, relaxed in flannel shirt and jeans in his Hilltop home.

He doesn't have expensive toys, his wife notes. They drive older cars, don't belong to a fancy country club, have no second home. With six kids and a grandchild on the way, their blended family has been the focus.

His main indulgence is clothes. He owns upward of 75 suits, 40 of which he wears semi-regularly. In April, "I'm going to send all my suits to the cleaners." He loves Donald Pliner shoes, good wine, a fine cigar. Now and then he travels to Boston to take in a Red Sox game.

"I'm not that deep," he says.

The new team, Jeremy Hubbard and Deborah Takahara, will be just fine as the lead Fox31 anchors, he says, although he won't watch them immediately. And he doesn't want them to be too good too soon.

"You don't want them to make it look like I was the problem."

KDVR will do the usual career retrospective tribute on-air, and Zappolo hopes not to cry.

"I've had a really fortunate run. I've been able to see the world, provoke a little thought, have fun and get paid for it. How many people can say they got to do exactly what they wanted to do?"

About his retirement, Arakawa says, "I'm very jealous. He's earned it."

National and local media have expressed interest since he put out word that he'd rather return to his first love, sports play-by-play and commentary. All the local talk radio stations have called. "I'm flattered," he said. "I'll probably wait until spring or summer. I haven't ruled anything out." Maybe he'll do college football or basketball, maybe more "Zappolo's People" after a hiatus.

"Ron is a passionate guy who loves news and loves sports and loves Colorado," KDVR's Kosowski said. "I can't imagine he will stay on the sidelines very long. We want to leave the door open to Ron doing some occasional specials and other work for us in the future."

Perhaps Zappolo will make good on his plan to take six months off. Or maybe, as his wife Nastassja predicts, he'll get antsy in "10 minutes."

Meanwhile, he'd like to get his golf handicap of 7 down to 5. And maybe learn to cook.



More... (http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_22894770/longtime-denver-tv-anchor-ron-zappolo-signing-off)