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For San Diegans accustomed to male models and beauty queens delivering the nightly news, KUSI-TV's (Channel 51) new 10 p.m. newscast is quite a shock. It is almost like entering a time warp, returning to a simpler time when Tricky Dick and Barry Manilow were rising stars and television news people were all radio veterans who thought mousse was a ballplayer for the Pirates.
It is certainly no accident that Channel 51 has decided to entrust its first foray into news to two male anchors in their sixties. By definition, the 10 p.m. newscast is aimed at an older, early-to-bed crowd, the folks not quite willing or able to stay up until 11 p.m. to watch the news.
In Los Angeles, the most popular 10 p.m. newscast is easily the Channel 5 news veteran program led by Hal Fishman, who is definitely not a male model.
Channel 51 news director Peter Jacobus says the KUSI team of George Reading and Roger Grimsby is designed to appeal to a broad audience, but it certainly provides an interesting contrast to, say, Channel 8's young and perky combo of Stan Miller and Susan Roesgen.
Grimsby is the anthesis of perky. On the set, sans make-up, he looks pale and drawn, seemingly on the verge of falling asleep at any moment. He delivers the news in a slow, incredibly deliberate style, never moving his eyes or changing his expression. He comes across like a grouchy grandfather telling the audience what they missed at school that day.
However, close the eyes and listen to his words, and it becomes easier to understand why he was the most popular and controversial anchor in New York for 20 years. A clear product of the golden era of radio, Grimsby has a...