THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130043
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
HARDLY A DAY goes by that I don't hear from a reader who is upset about what the bosses at Channel 3 have done to Ann Keffer, whose ratings were dynamite when she co-hosted WTKR's noon newscast.
Keffer recently left the Norfolk studios behind when she was named Peninsula anchor. Now there has been less of Keffer more often.
Let me explain.
You used to get a great big dose of Keffer and all that blond hair of hers at noon. Now she pops up on the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts but only to introduce stories that have been worked on by Channel 3's two other Peninsula reporters.
Bring her back to the noon newscasts, asks Angela Iles, a reader in Virginia Beach.
``Ann Keffer is being wasted as the Peninsula anchor,'' says Cynthia White of Chesapeake. ``Three minutes of her at a time is not enough.''
Louise Brantley in Virginia Beach doesn't pull any punches either.
``Bring Ann back to the noon newscast. Now!''
(These readers' comments came to me on my Infoline number, which is 640-5555, press 2486 or 3333 if you want to hear the TV tidbit of the day.)
Blanche Daughtry in Norfolk and her daughter, Marilyn Grimes, also in Norfolk, both called to complain about Keffer's leaving the noon newscast.
``A really bad move,'' said Grimes.
``I'm unhappy to see her stuck over on the Peninsula,'' said Daughtry.
With Keffer and Glenn Corey co-anchoring the noon newscast on WTKR, the ratings (11 rating, 37 share) were double that of No. 2 WAVY in the latest survey of readers. Last July, the Keffer-Corey ratings were three times greater than the opposition.
Keffer was rewarded by being sent to the Peninsula and told to read the news over there in front of the same dreadful background colors painted on the Norfolk news set.
At first, the look was too orangy. Now it's a sickening green.
``Has everyone at WTKR gone mad?'' asked another Infoline caller.
In a previous column about the changes at Channel 3, and Keffer's move to the Peninsula, I published readers' comments about Keffer's on-camera persona.
Some viewers said her look was too 1970s.
What about the Keffer hair, I asked an expert?
Anne Spann, the head instructor at the Rudy & Kelly School of Hair Design in Virginia Beach, told me that Keffer's long blond bob look does indeed go back to the '80s.
Does Spann like what she sees?
``Ann is almost there.''
What will take her the rest of the way?
``She needs to have a lighter look - feathery, layered, softer. A color that is not as vibrant.''
Viewers pay a lot of attention to the hair they see on local TV anchors.
I even heard from a guy who doesn't care for the way Channel 3's Kurt Williams wears his hair. I wonder. . . do viewers ever notice Keffer's and Williams' work as journalists?
Other input from the ol' Infoline:
Dorothy Reed in Virginia Beach asks about Yvonne Simons, who covered the education beat and appeared on Channel 3's early-morning newscasts. Simons is now working for a station in Raleigh.
And Virginia Story in Portsmouth wants to know what's become of Brian Hill now that WVEC has hired a permanent meteorologist to replace Chris Castleman. Hill will continue to work part time for Channel 13.
One more thought about WTKR. Seen the ``I Am'' promotions which strive to make Keffer and the others on the news team as warm and cuddly as teddy bears?
My Infoline calls are running 5 to 1 against this campaign.
From Susan Bryant in Virginia Beach: ``I am being driven crazy by `I am.' '' by CNB