“YOU’RE FIRED!” THE END OF THE LINE AT KUSI TELEVISION

All good things must come to an end. “We’ve had our ups and downs”

Last week’s post generated a number of messages from former coworkers about their own experiences at KUSI. Invariably, the story of how it ended is much more interesting than how it began. Here’s mine.

I had a good ride at KUSI Television.  The station had not had a solid Creative Services Director in many years at the time I started in 2005, and I was able to create top-notch promotional materials for both on-air promotion and sales collateral, which were loved by senior management.  I was able to negotiate trade deals, bring in advertisers who had never been on TV before (a great number of nonprofits became advertisers as I supplemented their buys with a generous number of free public service announcements), and secure a large number of free items at no cost to give away via on-air contests, including trips to Hawaii, iPads, event tickets and trips to LA to see the live taping of shows including “Judge Judy” and “The Big Bang Theory.”  I secured hundreds of thousands of dollars of radio and cable advertising for our shows from the studios who owned those shows and knew it was important for us to generate big ratings in San Diego.

In addition to the great support I gave the Sales department and ratings success I was able to generate for KUSI, I was also of great service to the News department as well.  In addition to promoting the news, I produced dozens of packages that aired on the station, including multiple-part series about life on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the nuclear submarine USS Albuquerque, plus previews of opening night for 20 San Diego Opera productions.

I couldn’t have done it all alone. From my starting team including Jared Klein, Eric Santacroce and Tara Jelnicki through my most recent with Kyle Wilcox, I had (for the most part) great creative minds to assist.

But sometime in 2018, things began to unravel.  Mike McKinnon Jr., the station’s President, General Manager, and my boss, had become distant with me, often angry, triggered by the smallest things (many of which were unrelated to my work). He made comments that left me with the impression he felt I was not as dedicated to my job as I should have been. Part of that may have been my devotion to community theatre as an advocate and participant. I introduced and oversaw a weekly theatre review on “Good Morning San Diego” with regular guests Josh Carr and Joey Landwehr which Mike hated (thank you to News Director Steve Cohen for defending it every time Mike wanted to pull the plug).

“I think you care more about your theatre work than you do about the station,” he told me early that year.  Mike knew that when I was performing in a show, I’d sometimes have to head out of the office at 4:30pm to make 5:00 rehearsals (which I would always make good by returning to the office to work until 11pm, sometimes midnight.  He found that to be dubious, but all he’d need to do is look at my punch-outs on the time clock to see the truth of it or notice the time stamp on emails I would sometimes send him, just to prove my point).

Mike’s passive aggressive nature was certainly not inspiring, but KUSI was a family-owned business and there was no one up the chain to whom I could complain (his father, Mike Sr., was the owner and always a solid supporter when I’d see him, but criticizing his son would never have been a good idea).

The Sales Manager position at KUSI had been filled by a number of people who moved on to other stations or companies for various reasons during my tenure as Director of Creative Services.  I always worked closely with them, particularly the innovative Charlie Grisham, but never reported to them.  When the position became vacant over the summer of 2018, and ultimately filled, Mike Jr. came into my office to give me two pieces of news in one sentence.

“We’ve hired a new Sales Director,” he said, “and you’re going to be reporting to her.”

This was a colossal change for me.  I’d always reported directly to Mike, which allowed me a seat at the weekly department head meetings and access to much more strategic corporate information than some in my position at other stations. He was obviously trying to put some distance between us, and it wasn’t hard to figure out why. 

When in mid-August the new VP & Station Manager started atop the Sales department and became my boss, we enjoyed a cordial first meeting.

From my journal, August 13, 2018:

            Monday.  Back to work and my first day with a new boss at KUSI.  Denise McManus started as the new VP/Station Manager who I’ll report to, and I have a very positive first impression.  We spent 90 minutes talking alone in her office as I gave her some background on what my department and I have been doing, my immediate need for a promo writer/producer.  She’s very positive and we seem to agree on a lot philosophically about TV station marketing.

After that promising initial meeting with my new boss, we would not speak again for more than a few minutes over the next five weeks, four of which I had been out on a medical leave following surgery for prostate cancer, and a few days before I was to depart for a two-week vacation in Japan which I’d scheduled back in February.  To say our second meeting put an end to any optimism is an understatement.

September 19, 2028:

            Wednesday.  Today was Yom Kippur but I went to work because there is just too much to do before my upcoming trip to Japan.  A very difficult meeting with my new “boss” Denise, to whom I showed a reel of our best promos from the past six months.  After the 12^th and final spot she said, “well, that one is the first good spot I’ve seen.”  She’d previously berated me for running a Simpsons five-second promo that said “this fall” (the show started on KUSI last week) instead of “tonight,” telling me how sloppy and amateurish it was (“small market,” “no excuse for it”).  Forget the fact that the spot had been made, mislabeled, and scheduled while I was out on sick leave, but no matter…she unloaded on me before I could tell her that.

            On and on she went on about things she was expecting I should be doing (many of which I said I’d done but they’d been shot down by Mike), what was my daytime plan (for promoting our syndicated fare) other than just running topicals?  I had to say again, Mike has said not to waste time on that…focus only on news, which is our independent station’s bread & butter (unlike her affiliate station experience, which makes money with daytime).  It went on and on…I definitely got the feeling she would like to see me go. 

My guess is that Denise has a former coworker she’d like to bring out to take my place.  Her first two questions today were ‘how long have you worked here?” and “do you still like what you do?” before “would you be happier just doing the community service part of the job?”

It was a real downer of an afternoon, and I know now that once I get back from Japan I should start searching for another job.  “Small market…”  Harrumph!

I returned from a trip to Japan which was stellar except for side effects I was having from my prostate surgery and concerns about the job I’d be coming back to after my return.  I was having trouble sleeping because of both.

When I did get back, I managed to avoid lengthy interactions from my antagonistic new boss for a week or so.  When we did speak, it was usually about things like this.

October 23, 2018:

            Denise wants me to produce a promo about our weather coverage using the line “when it rains anywhere in the world, we’ll tell you how it affects you here.”  I’m not kidding…that was her verbatim idea.  It’s the opposite of our hyper-local weather messaging.  Everything she has suggested creatively since she’s been here has been horrendous!

By then I was calling colleagues and acquaintances who may have known about any open jobs for which I may be suited.  I knew the writing was on the wall.

October 24, 2018:

After 6pm I received a meeting request online from Denise for a 9:30am meeting tomorrow with her and HR Director Sally Luck.  I want to think it’s about expanding the search (and pay) for my department’s open writer/producer position; I can’t help but think I’m going to be reprimanded for some reason as a means of getting me to leave my job.  I wouldn’t put it past Denise, and certainly this would be the way Mike would do it (leave it to her).

I didn’t sleep well that night, understandably.  Fortunately, the meeting I was dreading took place early in the day.

October 25, 2018:

            My last day at KUSI.  I didn’t expect it when I clocked in this morning, but I wasn’t surprised by it either.  When I was getting in my car this morning, I put four packing crates in my trunk with the thought I might need them, and I did.  I wrote last night about this, and thought it would be a reprimand of some kind, but no.  In Sally’s office at 9:30, my recently hired new boss said “we don’t think you’re the person to bring this station to the next level.”  Okay…straight forward.  But instead of saying “take the next four or five weeks to search for something new while we transition to someone else in your role,” it was “here’s your final check.  How long do you need to pack up your things?”  Denise’s words verbatim.

            I told a few of my coworkers over the next few hours, but others were coming to me as word spread through the office.  Our Assistant News Director Tony Bernhardt, who turned out to be quite a jerk, accidentally texted me “You probably already know, but Doug was fired.”  I responded “Yeah, I was there.”  I did get hugs from some coworkers who’d become very good friends…Steve Cohen, Shelley Weiss, Kiat Tohsakul.  And just like that, it was over.  Oh yes…and perhaps feeling a little guilt (or fear of a lawsuit), an offer of two months’ severance pay from Mike Jr., whose parting words to me were “We’ve had our ups and downs. Good luck.”

My period of unemployment was not long.  Within a few months I was working as Director of Communications for the San Diego Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, which was much more important work on the world stage.  It was a job I held happily until my retirement in February 2023.

Over close to 14 years at KUSI, I made an impact and had some great, rewarding moments.  I spent a night on the navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, a day on the nuclear submarine USS Albuquerque, met dozens of celebrities who came to the station (among them were favorites Marvin Hamlisch, Keith Carradine and Brian Stokes Mitchell).  I’d spent one morning as a live reporter in the field, drove a news van into a fire zone, and helped dozens of nonprofits gain important television exposure on the station.  I wouldn’t have traded all those great moments for anything.

Postscript.  One week later Tony Bernhardt was texting me asking for help getting tickets to “Wicked.”  One month later, Denise’s former Creative Services Director had taken my place (as I predicted).  And one year later, Denise McManus made an ignominious retreat from KUSI, never to work in television again.  That’s a Substack story I’ll leave for someone else to write.

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Above, with Kerri Lane (outtake from promo shoot), cast of Avenue Q, Cub Scouts on tour, with my favorite guest, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and shooting a news package on the USS Albuquerque with Mike Smith and Allen Denton.