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KEYE’s Fred Cantu signs on for five more years
CBS-owned KEYE announced Tuesday that the station has signed a five-year contract extension with anchor Fred Cantú.
“We are thrilled to know that we will have the benefit of Fred’s extensive knowledge and expertise for another five years,” said KEYE General Manager Mike Reed in an e-mail. “Fred will continue to be a key part of our commitment to provide our viewers with coverage they can count on.”
Stations don’t normally announce contract renewals. Nor do they announce firings, contract cancellations or anything else of a negative nature.
So why announce a new agreement with Cantú? Because Ron Oliveira, formerly of KVUE Channel 24, was added to the station in the spring. Due to a noncompete clause in his KVUE contract, Oliveira will not be on the air until next spring, even though he is already working in KEYE’s newsroom.
When Oliveira was hired, questions arose about Cantú’s place in the co-anchor team with Judy Maggio. Neither KEYE nor Cantú, who joined the station in 2002 with 30 years in the Austin news business to his credit, will clarify the situation.
Some insiders insist the duties have not been sorted out yet, but KEYE must have had something in mind when the station hired Oliveira.
Will there be a new troika at 5, 6 and 10? Will Fred anchor just the 5 p.m. and turn over the 6 and 10 p.m. news to Ron and Judy, who co-anchored for years at KVUE? We might not know until Ron’s noncompete clause expires in March — but we’ll keep asking. And speculating.
‘Real World’ debates war … sort of
Last night’s “Real World: Austin” featured a blow-up about the Iraq War between Nehemiah, who said he doesn’t believe in war, and Rachel, who served in Iraq as an Army nurse.
They yelled and huffed — and then kissed and made up. Nehemiah apologized with a note left on Rachel’s pillow. Rachel accepted the apology, and the two hugged.
How come the rest of us can’t just get along? Who’d a thunk there’d be life lessons on “The Real World”?
Brats on parade
Joining the seemingly endless parade of summer reality shows tonight is ABC’s “Brat Camp”.
Nine out-of-control kids — none from Austin or even Texas — are shipped off to a remote Oregon disciplinary camp to get slapped into shape.
Not surprisingly, the kids are not happy when they discover that their wits-end parents have turned them over to “counselors” that make Marine drill sergeants look sweet.
Presumably during the show’s seven-week run some or all of the bratty nine will see the light and reform. In the meantime, viewers are expected to view this anguish as entertainment. Seems like an exploitation of the worst kind to me.
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