Last week ERS reported on what we thought was a major escalation in the never ending "babe wars" here in Los Angeles in local TV News. Turns out we may have got it only partly right, we may have missed a much bigger story unfolding right before our eyes. ERS is on guard, our faithful readers can rest assured!
KNBC-TV had recently hired Elita Loresca as a new weathercaster. Loresca was named "sexiest" weathercaster in America by men’s magazine FHM. Her arrival in LA from Miami in late October at LA’s Channel 4 signaled what Pentagon planners would affectionately call "escalating the conflict" in strategic terms.
Now comes word that Sharon Tay, another in a long line of LA iconic "babe-casters" is back. Tay’s past work in Los Angeles is somewhat legendary (I think you know what we’re getting at… not in the way say Edward R. Murrow or John Chancellor might appreciate!) ERS spotted Tay in the KCBS-TV anchor chair this past Sunday evening (12/9/07). ERS doesn’t know whether it was a tryout of sorts, or she was just filling in for someone. We will have to make some calls… oh on second thought, why bother! We enjoyed watching Ms. Tay, and I don’t think we’re off base by saying we’re fairly certain, that her good looks may have had something to do with her sitting there. We’re not sure if she has replaced recently departed and longtime "elder" anchorwoman Linda Alvarez or not. Only thing we know for sure is that Tay sure cannot be mistaken for Alvarez, even on a bad night!
Tay, who worked previously in LA for KTLA, has also done here own past spreads, touting her journalist "talents and assets". Posing for men’s magazine "Razer" in years past. She had disappeared from LA and headed east to "anchor" an MSNBC show on Hollywood, but that show was booted off the air and she returned early this year and began working for KCBS/KCAL as a reporter.
ERS turned up some amazing public statements from Tay when she was last in LA several years ago. In an article published on a local web site called "Goldsea: Asian American Profiles", Tay had this to say about how it really works in local TV news in LA. We give her credit for at least being honest with her viewers. ERS only wonders why she isn’t the GM or News Director of a local TV operation. This is Tay’s take on how the local TV news business works and how she fits into it: "My career depends on whether I’m covering the kind of story that will sell, and that is based on shock value." If you want more on Tay waxing eloquently about how broadcast journalism works in Los Angeles, we don’t want to ruin it for you, read the entire article, we here at ERS News can take only so much!
In honor of her recent return to the LA news scene, ERS wanted to give our readers the pleasure of seeing what they may be missing if they aren’t tuning into Tay’s work on KCBS/KCAL. Take a look at our picture gallery below and let us know what you think, or better yet let KCBS/KCAL know whether you think Sharon Tay should be sitting in the anchor chair, more often than not. At ERS, we just report it, you decide! (Oops.. that one is already taken!)
