Channel Surfing
By Laura Nachman
[email protected]
Bucks County Courier Times
June 5, 2001

Real People: Real News: Real Gone…On the heels of a dismal May sweeps performance, KYW-3’s news director, Melissa Klinzing resigned to pursue those popular “other opportunities.”  Until a replacement is named, managing editor Rich Edwards is the acting news director. Some in-house names being mentioned for the job include Barbara Grant, Mike Archer, and Pete Fall.

Relive the Sixers victory over the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA Championship in 1983 on Comcast Sportsnet’s June Classics show June 5 at 8 PM and June 14 at 8 PM.

The prize Koi fish of Philadelphia parking executive Joe Zuritsky will be featured on   “Animal Planet” June 20 at 3 PM on the Discovery Channel. The fish, named Four-Step Rose for its four large red patterns on its back, was at one time valued at 75-thousand dollars. Zuritsky, who started collecting the Japanese tropical fish 35 years ago, has Koi ponds built outside his home in Penn Valley and in the lobby of his Parkway Corporation center city office, where he is the president and CEO.  Also the owner of Quality Koi store in center city, Zuritsky founded the Mid-Atlantic Koi club, which has 1400 members.  Meanwhile, Zuritsky’s daughter Elisa, 31, is dealing with “wildlife” of another type, as a writer for HBO’s “Sex and the City.”

Blaine Applegate, Class of 1982 from Pennsbury High is working as a part-time sports reporter for WB17.  Applegate, who lives in Yardley, previously was the sports director for the Fox affiliate in Albany, NY.

The First Union USPRO Championship bike race will air on 6ABC Sunday, June 10 beginning at 9 AM anchored by Gary Papa.

TV12 will help parents monitor their children’s Internet use in “Raising Mediawise Kids:  Safety in the Cyberhood” June 24 at 3 PM.  Tracey Matisak hosts.  

CN8, which has added over 200,000 homes this year, is hoping to become “CN great” with new show opens, promos, and more for its original programming.  The year-old 7 PM and 10 PM news with Arthur Fennell and Connie Colla, had a 0.3 rating in the May sweeps, putting it far behind competitors Fox-Philadelphia and WB17, but comparable with many of the cable news outlets such as MSNBC and CNN headline news (watch out Andrea Thompson). Besides the news, the prime time lineup includes  “CN8 presents: Comcast in Concert” at 8 PM, “It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle” at 9 PM, and “Lou Tilley’s Sports Connection” at 11 PM. 

Former Phillies pitcher Tug McGraw handled the introductions for “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” when his son, country music superstar Tim McGraw appeared on the show recently.  Tim sang “Grown Men Don’t Cry” from his new top selling CD “Set This Circus Down.”  Tug, who played for the Phillies from 1973-1983, and worked for WPVI-6 from 1983-1986, lives with his wife Diane and son Matthew, 5, in Media, PA where he owns a sports and entertainment company.  Tim is Tug’s son from a relationship he had with a woman while playing minor league ball in the late 1960s.  Tug has two other grown children: daughter Carrie, 30, married and the mother of a one-year-old daughter, and Mark, 28, a paramedic. Both live in Oregon where Tug’s first wife, Phyliss resides.  Tim is scheduled to perform at the Tweeter Center this summer.