Reporter Orko Manna Announces Departure From KCRA-TV

Reporter Orko Manna Announces Departure From KCRA-TV

Orko Manna started at KCRA-TV in Sacramento as a general assignment reporter in November 2021.

Manna started as an evening reporter and made the transition to a dayside role and fill-in weekend anchor.

Now, after a three-year run, he’s decided to move on to his next adventure.

It’s believed Manna may now be heading to the Houston market.

According to his bio on the station’s website, before moving to Sacramento, Orko worked in Las Vegas, Nevada. He led his station’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election, where he interviewed all the major contenders — including three interviews with now-President Joe Biden. Also during his time in Las Vegas, Orko won an Emmy Award for his work covering anti-Asian hate amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He was sent to Ridgecrest, California in 2019 to cover the devastating earthquakes there and did live reports for stations across the West Coast. He also filled in on the anchor desk during the weekends.

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Kathryn Crosby, Bing Crosby’s Second Wife and Hostess of KPIX Morning Talk Show in the 1970s, Dies at 90

Kathryn Crosby, Bing Crosby’s Second Wife and Hostess of KPIX Morning Talk Show in the 1970s, Dies at 90

Kathryn Crosby, a big-screen actress in the 1950s who became the second wife of Hollywood legend Bing Crosby and who also hosted a popular morning talk show on KPIX in San Francisco in the 1970s, has died. She was 90. 

Crosby died Sept. 20 in the Bay Area, surrounded by her family at her home in Hillsborough. 

In the mid-1970s, staying close to her family’s Peninsula home, she hosted “The Kathryn Crosby Show”, a morning talk show on KPIX. Popular for its time, Crosby’s show preceded the station’s long-running “People Are Talking”. 

In the 1950s, she starred in such films as “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” and “Anatomy of a Murder” before curtailing her acting career to marry Bing Crosby. She and Crosby wed in a Las Vegas church in 1957. She was 23, he was 54.

Kathryn Crosby appeared often with her husband and their three children on Christmas TV specials and on various variety shows, and in the 1970s, they appeared regularly in Minute Maid orange juice commercials. 

Bing Crosby was 74 when he died in Spain in 1977 from a heart attack after playing golf.

Kathryn Crosby is survived by her three children, including actress Mary Crosby, who starred on TV’s “Dallas” during the “Who Shot JR?” storyline in the early 1980s. 

The San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences wishes to extend its heartfelt condolences to the Crosby family for their loss.

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After Six Year Run KCRA-TV Anchor Ty Steele Announces Departure

After Six Year Run KCRA-TV Anchor Ty Steele Announces Departure

KCRA Anchor Ty Steele announces his departure after six years at the Sacramento station

After a six years at KCRA-TV anchor Ty Steele has announced he’ll be leaving on September 19th. 

Steele posted on his social media account that he, his wife, and four daughters will be moving out of California for another opportunity. 

Steels says he’ll share more details when he can. 

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Veteran Bay Area Television News Photographer Dave Serrano Passes Away

Veteran Bay Area Television News Photographer Dave Serrano Passes Away

Dave Serrano's career spanned more than four decades in the Bay Area

Veteran Bay Area television news photographer Dave Serrano has passed away. He died Sunday morning at the Mission House hospice facility in Redwood City.

Dave’s career spanned more than four decades in the Bay Area. A longtime photographer for KICU in San Jose throughout the 1980s, he eventually joined KTVU in Oakland, where he had worked since the 1990s. He was also a concert cameraman for numerous big music tours.

“He leaves an impressive legacy as a beloved friend and professional achievements as a news photographer at KICU and KTVU”, said KNTV reporter Robert Handa, a longtime friend and colleague who worked with Dave at KTVU.

“We will miss that smile and gentle, towering presence,” he added.

A Celebration of Life is planned and details will be provided at a later date.

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Noe Ortega Newest Addition to Univision Fresno

Noe Ortega Newest Addition to Univision Fresno

Noe Ortega is a bilingual Multimedia Journalist from East Los Angeles, California.

He worked for CBS7 and Telemundo 20 in Odessa, TX from 2022-24.

In those two years, Noe was awarded a Texas Broadcast News Award for Multimedia Journalist of the Year in 2024.

He is now the newest Multimedia Journalist for Univision 21 in Fresno.

Noe is a Sports enthusiast with a love for telling feature stories

You can follow him on Instagram @NoeOrtegaTV.

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San Francisco Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Shares Revenue Picture

San Francisco Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Shares Revenue Picture

By Alison Gibson, Finance Committee Chair 

The San Francisco Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) operates as a non-profit 501(c)(6) organization dedicated to serving the television industry through a balanced and transparent financial approach. As a trade organization, we are committed to thorough financial oversight and accountability, ensuring that our budget is managed with the utmost care and transparency. Every month, our committee presents to the Board of Governors a detailed financial report that meticulously outlines each line item in our budget. These reports not only display actual expenses and revenues but also highlight any shortfalls, providing a clear picture of our financial health.

These documents detail the financial performance of individual programs, including their allocated budgets, actual expenditures, and variances. They also provide insights into various funds, assets, dividend income, and historical data, helping us understand how each component of our budget contributes to our overall financial standing.

For the 2023-2024 fiscal year that ends on August 31, our expenses as of 7/31/24 are exceeding our income by $35,448. This shortfall was primarily due to unexpected costs associated with the Awards Gala and Gold & Silver Circle luncheon, a decline in sponsorships, and storage expenses for our Archive and Museum artifacts. While we have sufficient assets in our account to cover this shortfall, the Board is actively exploring strategies to reduce costs and enhance revenue streams to ensure future financial stability.

It’s important to clarify that, contrary to some perceptions, our organization is not accumulating excessive funds. Membership dues, entry fees, and gala tickets are set based on historical data and a zero-sum financial model. Looking ahead to the 2025 gala, set to take place in Sacramento for the first time, will be a crucial test of our operating budget. We are committed to ensuring that this event breaks even and remains financially viable. 

In addition, San Francisco/Northern California NATAS holds separate accounts for our scholarship monies held under a 501c3 (the TV Academy Fund). Donations to this fund are tax deductible to the extent of IRS rules. 

What follows is a summary of our financial standing as of 8/7/24. We welcome any questions and encourage members to reach out as transparency remains a cornerstone of our operations. Our door is always open for inquiries and feedback.

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Former KTVU Director of Publicity and Public Relations Passes Away

Former KTVU Director of Publicity and Public Relations Passes Away

Kenny Wardell, Sr., former Director of Publicity and Public Relations at KTVU (Photo credits: Kenny Wardell, Jr. Professional Headshot courtesy of KTVU)

By Kevin Wing

A major Bay Area television and radio publicity and promotions executive has died.

Kenny Wardell, Sr., former Director of Publicity and Public Relations at KTVU in Oakland, has died according to a Facebook post by his son, Kenny Wardell, Jr.

Wardell was 76. He died Sunday.

Wardell worked at KTVU for 10 years. In addition to his Bay Area television career, he also had an illustrious career in Bay Area radio, serving as former assistant program director and public relations director at KFOG. He was also a former air personality and promotion director at KMEL.

Wardell also worked at one time as marketing director at KCBS radio.

In recent years, he was senior managing director at BAM: Bay Area Music Magazine, which he resurrected an online San Francisco-centric music magazine in 2011.

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KTVU Live Truck Set on Fire at San Francisco’s Hall of Justice

KTVU Live Truck Set on Fire at San Francisco’s Hall of Justice

A KTVU live truck was set on fire Saturday August 3rd in San Francisco outside the Hall of Justice. 

Longtime KTVU photographer Martin Holeton was not injured. He was not in the vehicle at the time of the incident. 

“Somebody set my live van on fire at the Hall of Justice today,” Holeton said on Facebook. “Very upset. Sad to see it go up in flames.”

There have been no arrests. 

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KHON2 Wake Up 2day Team Welcomes Back Former Reporter as Newest Morning Anchor

KHON2 Wake Up 2day Team Welcomes Back Former Reporter as Newest Morning Anchor

Sara Mattison/(Courtesy KHON2)

By Pamela Young

The KHON2 Wake Up 2day team welcomes back Sara Mattison, who left television 4 years ago to start a family.

The former reporter now joins Sam Spangler on the morning anchor desk. A graduate of Hawaii Pacific University, Sara started her news career as the weekend assignment editor at KITV4 before taking a (cold) leap into the snows of Bemidji, Minnesota, where she reported for Lakeland Public Television.

Two years later she joined the KPIC team in Roseburg, Oregon and the KVAL newsroom in
Eugene as anchor and multi-media journalist.

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Television Station Control Rooms See Blue During Crowdstrike Outage

Television Station Control Rooms See Blue During Crowdstrike Outage

The KCRA control room in Sacramento on July 18th when a Crowdstrike tech glitch took systems offline, and left monitors frozen in blue

A global technology outage impacted television newsrooms across the NATAS/SF Norcal region, preventing some stations from airing newscasts Thursday night July 18th.

KITV in Hawaii was not able to air newscasts at 9 and 10pm because the outage impacted all video servers, ENPS and other systems around 7pm. A recorded version of their 6pm newscast was aired instead.

In Reno, KOLO-TV had to cancel the 11pm newscast and had to switch over to Gray Programming. Friday morning newscasts aired in their normal time slots.

NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48 were not able to air newscasts at all Thursday night. However, they hit the ground running Friday morning. 

In Fresno, KMPH was in their 10pm newscast when systems became non-responsive. Most of the newscast aired as normal until about 10:45pm when video services, graphics, and the teleprompter went down. The impact was felt into the next morning until about 8:30am when the morning news began airing with limited computer systems working.

KRCR in Redding posted about the technical difficulties impacting operations. “Our engineers are aware and are actively working to resolve the issue,” the station wrote on their website.

KCRA News Director Derek Schnell wrote on LinkedIn, “Very proud of all the journalists who persevered the last 24 hours to serve our communities despite a major worldwide tech outage.”

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