I didn't see this posted anywhere....I went to high school at Dobie with this guy and I thought he was pretty cool....what a crappy way to go. AMERICAN-STATESMAN Tuesday, August 24, 2004 An expletive, muttered under his breath in a taped segment that mistakenly got on the air, has ended Robert Flores' career as KEYE-TV's sports anchor. The brief blunder was broadcast before sunrise Thursday, and Flores, who was not in the station at the time, was fired that day. Flores learned that the wrong tape aired as he was driving to a University of Texas football practice. "I'm embarrassed that it made air," Flores said. "I take full responsibility, but obviously it wasn't meant to air. I've got two young children. That's not the kind of language I want them to hear. I want to apologize to anyone who may have been offended." The circumstances surrounding the telecast are still unclear. Flores tapes sports segments for KEYE's 5 to 7 a.m. news the night before. He says what aired about 5:45 Thursday morning was a mistake made during taping Monday night. He doesn't know what happened to the Thursday morning segment he taped Wednesday night or how the Monday tape got on the air Thursday. "Ideally there are checks and balances to keep something like that from happening," Flores said. "I don't see how that happened, but I don't think there was any malicious intent by anyone." KEYE News Director Tim Gardner declined to comment on the incident and referred questions about the firing to the station's corporate owners, CBS and Viacom. "It's our policy not to comment on personnel matters," said Jeremy Murphy, spokesman for Viacom Television Stations Group in New York. "I can confirm that the employee is no longer with the station. Viacom stations are known to have a zero tolerance for these kinds of incidents, whether they are intentional or not." In light of Janet Jackson's breast-baring Super Bowl appearance and an expletive delivered by rocker Bono on an awards show last year, the Federal Communications Commission has been cracking down on such incidents. But according to the FCC's Web site, 5 to 6 a.m. is considered a "safe harbor," meaning it's not scrutinized as closely as later morning, afternoon or evening hours, and therefore KEYE is not likely to face a fine. The Viacom spokesman also confirmed that one other KEYE employee has resigned over the incident, but neither Viacom nor KEYE's news director would name the person. On the offending tape, Flores is seen introducing a piece on the Houston Astros when a loud noise is heard in the background, possibly something being dropped. Flores mumbles the f-word and then the tape goes black. Flores says he does not know how a "bad take" from three days earlier got on the air. He says bad takes usually are taped over and thus disappear. The production staff, including a tape operator, would have handled the tape. Flores, 34, came to Austin in August 2000 from KWTX in Waco. The Houston native hopes to stay in Austin. "I'd love to stay here," he said. "I love covering UT athletics and the surrounding teams in the area." Until a replacement for Flores is found, weekend sports anchor Kevin West is filling in.
That's bull man. I went to college in Austin from 2000-03 and this guy is a great sportscaster. Hope he can get on somewhere in Houston now. The person that should have been fired is the guy that put in the wrong tape. Obviously they had the thing labelled...sounds like somebody had it in for Flores.
the guy who was responsible for putting the tape on the air, resigned. I don't live in Austin anymore, but anybody that does, what's the reaction been like? If any.
This sounds like a real-life version of the dirty trick played on Ron Burgundy....Think this is something that goes on in the TV news biz? Get it in for a guy and then torpedo his career with one tape? Guess that guy who wrote the Queen Mother of All Swear Words on the teleprompter in Indy got the axe.
Robert Flores was probably one of the best sportscasters in town. I had a nice conversation with him two years ago on the West End during Texas-OU weekend. I was really wasted, and gave him a hug, and didn't seem to mind, and actually appreciated the recognition. Anyways, I guess I'll be watching John Hygh on News 8 Austin from now on.
Thanks for the compliment LonghornFan, but I only wish I was Flores. I'm not the most knowledgable about Rockets stuff - more an Astros/Texans guy than Rockets but I enjoy reading the boards. Saw this thread and figured I had to get off my butt and weigh in.
I had the pleasure of interning last semester for Robert, and he is a great guy and very good at his craft. I, personally, don't think he should have gotten the ax but KEYE has had image issues in the past and they probably don't want that to start up again. Ultimately the tape was a sports tape and he was the Sports Director at KEYE. That gave Gardner all the justification he needed. I hope he lands on his feet soon because KEYE's loss is another station's gain. I understand why they did it though, no doubt.
I bet if you asked Joe Regular on the street what he thought about it, he'd respond, "Accidents happen." Maybe they coulda fined the guy or suspended him for a week or something, but firing him is a little bit of an overreaction. Unless, or course, there's more to his relationship w/ the station than the article lets on. Or maybe they wanted to trim some payroll???
i can understand taking a liking to certain sportscasters...i like mark berman on fox 26... but, drunk or not, i dont think i'll ever hug the guy if i ever meet him. theres something strange about doing that.....
