Ch. 17 brings veteran news director on board
And, Gardner, Rosenfield to step off Philly market stage
A childhood obsession with Channel 6’s “Action News,” and encouragement from its thenanchor, Larry Kane, made it clear which field Lansdowne native Bill Shull would choose for a career.
Shull has been in broadcast journalism for almost 40 years, most of it in the Philadelphia area.
For the last several years, he’s been the news director for WRDE, the NBC station in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Today, he begins his next phase, as the news director for Channel 17 where he says his initial task will be to meet the talent and staff at “PHL17 Morning News,” shape what is there, and prepare to grow the news presence at the Nexstar station.
Shull’s predecessor, Matt Toal, now beginning his next career phase at Penn Medicine, gave him, and Channel 17, a good head start.
Shull cites this and mentions the Delco duo on the “Morning News”: meteorologist Monica Cryan and traffic reporter Jenna Meissner. They, along with anchors Kelsey Fabian and Jennifer Lewis-Hall, have been presiding over their show’s news desk since Nick Foley’s October departure and Amanda Van Allen’s maternity leave.
“Hiring a new male anchor will be a priority,” Shull said by telephone from his Delaware home. “Channel 17 and Nexstar are committed to building a news profile, so there’s a lot of commitment and support for growth.
“As the No. 5 television station in the Philadelphia market, we can do things a bit differently and create a niche that sets up apart. Some of that has begun with Monica and Jenna discussing issues, trading restaurant tips, and talking about matters from their everyday lives.
“We can start as the outlier that has some features other stations don’t and grow from there.”
Shull knows something about growing shows. Even at established stations, he needed to be innovative to attract more audience for newscasts.
Shull thought he would be spending his life and career in Atlanta.
He is from Lansdowne, and was in the final graduating class of Lansdowne-Aldan High School in 1982 before it merged with Darby and Yeadon to become Penn Wood, and earned his broadcast journalism degrees from Penn State.
“After graduating and working for some time in radio at WQIQ in Aston, I got a job at CNN Headline News in Atlanta,” Shull said. “It was a good job, I was happy in it, and after six years, it looked as if CNN and Atlanta were going to be home.
“Then Jill Chernikoff visited Atlanta and told me they were looking for producers at Channel 29. I am from Delco. My wife is from Phoenixville. The chance to be near our hometowns and families motivated me to call Channel 29. It took a year from that to Roger LaMay hiring me, and I was there for a while.
“I spent a short time working in D.C. with ‘The McLaughlin Group.’ I enjoyed meeting the various commentators, but I soon realized the format of the show was not right for me. I didn’t know the inside basketball of Washington politics, but more than that, I was a news guy. It was news and stories that interested me. ‘Action News’ and that news truck that was everywhere was what I liked the best. So I looked again, got a tip from a friend that Channel 10 was hiring and returned to Philadelphia at Channel 10.”
Shull was the 11 p.m. producer during two of the times a rival station challenged “Action News” for ratings supremacy at 11.
Shull was living in Rehoboth Beach when new management at WRDE wanted to upgrade the station’s newscast and hired him as a consultant. When NBC bought the station, he became news director.
“WRDE took on some importance, not only because it was network-tied but because,” Shull said. “Comcast removed all the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington newscasts from its offerings in Southern Delaware. People could still stream, but we were the lone local newscast.”
Shull has been streaming “PHL17 Morning News” since he began the different phases of going from an applicant to becoming the news director at Channel 17.
“Viewing the show allows me to pick on the things we’re doing right and where we need to pay some attention,” Shull says.
“It’s up to me to figure out the next steps. The station has been looking at male anchors. We have a small staff, so I like the idea of having different people talk about their expertise. Health and consumer information are topics on which we can build. I also want to get stories from everyday Philadelphia and to keep abreast of what’s happening in the neighborhoods and townships.
“Social media has changed news forever. You once had to send a photographer to cover a story. You still do, but you also have people with their phones and telling you what’s going on. It reminds me of the old newstip lines at radio stations.
“Except now, people aren’t just telling you what they see. They’re sending video of it. That isn’t going to change.”
Shull knows a lot about changes in television news over time. He is the author of several books, two of which deal with the history of television in Philadelphia.
One, “Philadelphia Television,” deals with the origin and history of the local stations.
The other chronicles the history of “Action News” and was released in conjunction with the format’s 50th anniversary.
“The best part of doing the first book was talking to the various people involved in Philadelphia television over the years and hearing their stories. (Former Channel 10 reporter) Bill Baldini had some hilarious tales. It was interesting to learn he lives in the house once owned by John Facenda.”
” ’50 Years of Action News’ was, of course, a labor of love. Shull pitched the book to Channel 6 brass, and the idea was embraced immediately.
Of course, Shull had a lot of background.
“I was so infatuated with ‘Action News’ as a kid, I knew everything about it. I even saw some newscasts from the studio. My love for the show motivated me to write a letter to Larry Kane. I told him I admired the show and that it made me want to be a television reporter.
“I didn’t think Larry would read the letter, but he did and sent one back inviting me to watch a newscast. It was a great experience. I met Larry, Jim O’Brien, Don Tollefson, and a new guy named Jim Gardner. Larry told me he’d soon be leaving ‘Action News’ to go to WABC in New York. I asked if I can see a newscast there, and he said ‘yes.’ So I did. You can see where all of this led.”
Anchors away
December is a time for coming and goings in television.
One Los Angeles station is saying goodbye to three of its longtime anchors.
Philadelphia is just as volatile.
Wednesday, Dec. 21,
marks the last time Jim Gardner will preside over any Channel 6 newscast.
After 45 years as the “Action News” primary anchor, he is relinquishing his 6 p.m. anchor berth.
He stopped doing the 11 p.m. reports in December 2021.
Inheriting the 6 p.m. show is Brian Taff, who has shown his mettle as anchor of the “Action News” 4 p.m. edition and,
until recently, at the helm at Channel 6’s 10 p.m. newscast on Channel 17.
The “Action News” format is 50 years old, yet
Taff will be only its third full-time anchor after
Kane and Gardner.
Rick Williams stepped in after Gardner on the 11 p.m. show.
Channel 6 will be the first station in the market to have different anchors at 6 and 11.
It is also the only station in the market to field solo anchors in what is considered its primetime newscasts.
Soon after Gardner signs off for the last time, Jim Rosenfield will end his nine-year tenure at Channel 10.
Like Gardner, Rosenfield brought class and authority to the market. His commitment to journalism was obvious.
Rosenfield is not retiring. He says he wants to go home to New York and
look at possibilities from there.
Times have changed, so anchor comings and goings aren’t as critical as they once were. Still, it makes a difference who a station puts at the anchor desk, especially since, with Gardner and Rosenfield gone, Channel 3’s Ukee Washington is even stronger
in the “dean” position among Philadelphia news personalities.
Rosenfield’s departure will necessitate Channel 10 making a choice about who sits with Jacqueline London on the 6, 7 and 11 p.m. shows she shared with him. London is also on Channel 10’s 4 and 5 p.m. newscasts with Tracy Davidson.
Will Davidson take on more anchor responsibilities? Will Channel 10 promote from within as Channel 6 did with Williams and Taff? How about Keith Jones? Will he be
taken from the morning shows to return to some evening work?
The change at Channel 10 strikes me as more of an upheaval than the transition at Channel 6. “Action News” is formatdriven, and Taff has been an outstanding cog in the format for a while. I don’t think he’ll have much a problem getting 6 p.m. viewers to adjust to his style. Most will know from his 4 p.m. shows, anyhow.
Introducing someone new is riskier. Over this year, Channel 10 has greatly upgraded the tone of its newscasts. The bragging and begging for attention that once marred the Channel 10 newscast has disappeared, and the show has become more news-oriented.
Channel 10 has developed a personality, but it doesn’t have the established format Channel 6 does. Meanwhile, Channel 3 is strong on consistency, and Channel 29 goes in more directions and often has more depth than its rivals.
Channel 10 had to know Rosenfield was leaving. It will be interesting to see what the station does to replace him.