SAUNDERS: Soicher gone from KWGN

By Dusty Saunders, Special to the Rocky

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Sportscaster Marc Soicher has been chopped from the KWGN-Channel 2 payroll by a sharp budget ax.

Station management recently told Soicher that his contract, expiring July 18, will not be renewed and that his position would not be filled.

Channel 2 is owned by the Tribune Co., now headed by billionaire real estate executive Sam Zell, whose policies have eliminated hundreds of employees in broadcast and print media companies in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities.

Zell, who took over the Tribune Co. operation in December, also is attempting to sell the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field.

"Channel 2 executives were almost apologetic about the decision," Soicher said.

Such a relationship differs from Soicher's previous sometimes-testy times with KCNC-Channel 4 and Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain.

"Channel 2 couldn't have treated me any better," Soicher added.

Station executives have been silent about the decision to drop Soicher or to respond to rumors about other major changes at the station.

News director Carl Bilek did not return several calls and e-mails regarding Soicher's departure.

The talented, often underrated Soicher arrived in Denver in 1999, joining Channel 4 as lead sports anchor, replacing Les Shapiro - a decision not popular with many in the sports community.

Soicher, who proved he had talent, was then replaced in 2002 by Steve Atkinson, who later lost the No. 1 job to Vic Lombardi in the ongoing Denver TV sports game of musical chairs.

Soicher then worked briefly for Fox Sports Net in Seattle before joining FSN Rocky Mountain in Denver. He left there in 2004 following a dispute with management.

Much has been written - and whispered - about the on- and off-air rivalry between the 45-year-old Soicher and his younger brother, Drew, 42, main sports anchor at top-rated KUSA-Channel 9.

"When I left FSN Rocky Mountain, Drew lobbied Channel 9 executives about me joining the station," Soicher recalled. "Things just didn't work out."

Soicher's future, obviously, is uncertain.

"The TV business is changing," he said. "Perhaps there's room for a hybrid broadcaster, someone who does both news and sports."

Soicher noted he has occasionally filled in as a news anchor on Channel 2 for Ernie Bjorkman and Tom Green.

Speaking of musical chairs, KMGH-Channel 7 is looking for a replacement for Phil Aldridge, who left for a TV sports anchor job in Minneapolis.

With lead anchor Lionel Bienvenu on vacation, the station has been using freelancer Tom Forester as the main sports guy.

News director Byron Grandy said a hiring decision would be made after the July Fourth holiday.

BASEBALL HISTORY: Who was the better player: Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams?

This is one of the topics featured in the opening installment of Baseball's Golden Age, a weekly historical series premiering at 8 p.m. Sunday on FSN Rocky Mountain.

The programs feature archival game film along with black-and- white and color footage shot by fans, the players' families and the players themselves.

FIVE IS A CROWD?: The score at the end of last season's NFL studio game: The NFL Today on CBS - 5; Fox NFL Sunday - 4.

The two teams will be tied when the 2008 season begins.

Fox has hired retired Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, who'll work with Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Jimmy Johnson and Howie Long in pregame and postgame coverage.

The CBS lineup remains the same: Jim Brown, Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher.

Which network will be the first to put an 11-man team into the broadcasting booth?

COLLEGE GRUDGES: HBO Sports, which produced a terrific documentary last fall about the Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry, will follow in March with a similar hour dealing with the testy basketball relationship between North Carolina and Duke.

A DANCING SAPP: Former All-Pro defensive tackle Warren Sapp made a living stomping NFL quarterbacks.

Sapp and an unnamed partner are scheduled to perform the "Sapp Samba" on the next installment of ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

Dusty Saunders writes periodically about sports broadcasting. Contact him at tvtime@comcast.net.

• June 30, 2008

  1:27 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  gkb2008 writes:

  The Soicher roundtable on Sunday evenings usually featuring Sandy Clough and Dave Krieger was one of the better segments on local Denver sports that was succinct and to the point given their short amount of airtime. With the departure of Soicher, one wonders if this superb feature will go along with him. That would be highly unfortunate given the lack of other alternatives already for viewers in the area of sports reporting on local Denver TV. The glory days of Zappolo, Shaparo, etal are really missed by many as the newcomers (Bienvenu, D Soicher, Lombardi, whoever is doing sports on Fox31 this month) are quite poor in comparison and are often nothing more than loudmouths and blowhards...

• June 30, 2008

  2:36 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  frosty writes:

  gkb, your dating yourself, but I too miss the days of Zappolo, Shaparo and Green.

• June 30, 2008

  11:40 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  CaptainObvious writes:

  It's too bad they fired the wrong Soicher! Marc was the good one! I had to stop watching 9News once egomaniac-Drew got on there. Suddenly, it wasn't about the sports--it became about Drew. "Win, Lose, Or Drew." "Drew's Clues." Who cares! Just tell me the scores and show me the highlights. I don't care about you, Drew. Get a talk show if you need that kind of ego-stroking; I'm trying to watch sports.

• June 30, 2008

  11:49 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  RockiesWin writes:

  Indeed the wrong Soicher was canned. Marc actually knows sports and is very pleasing to watch unlike his brother, who is an idiot!

  I too quit watch news as the sports, along with the rest of the team, have really gone downhill.

• July 1, 2008

  12:57 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Ofearghail writes:

  I also agree that Drew Soicher is unbearable. But then, so is Lombardi at 4. I quit watching 4 long ago, can't really stomach Soicher at 9, and don't care much for the guy at 7 either. That's OK, though, because I get all my scores and information from the Internet anyway.

  But... the guy who REALLY needs to be fired at Channel 2 is the weather guy with the speech impediment. (I haven't watched 2 in a LONG time, so maybe he is gone already.) I mean how in the world can a broadcast station in Colorado feature a guy who can't pronounce "storm" (he says "stoahm"), "warm" (he says "woahm"), or even "Denver" ("Denvah"). If that guy was on the air in Boston or Providence, then fine... but here he is just terribly irritating.