Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Vice dream job for Unherd host

Local TV producer laments Alex Zaragoza’s move to New York

Alex Zaragoza hosted the Unherd local music television show for over two years before accepting a job in New York for Vice Media.
Alex Zaragoza hosted the Unherd local music television show for over two years before accepting a job in New York for Vice Media.

The on-air hosts producer Scott Richison selects for his locally produced TV shows move on bigger and better things. He tapped music writer and TV novice Troy Johnson to host Fox Rox (2002-2007). The weekly half-hour music show won two local Emmys and helped propel Johnson to the Food Network were he has appeared on The Best Thing I Ever Ate and Iron Chef America.

Now Richison’s latest hand-picked TV host has also moved on to the big time. For two-and-a-half years local writer/columnist Alex Zaragoza has hosted Richison’s Unherd new music show, which airs Saturdays at 11:45 p.m. on KGTV/ABC-10. Zaragoza, a UCSD theater major grad, was just plucked from Unheard (her first TV gig) to be senior culture editor at Vice Media, which creates digital content and produces HBO’s Vice News show.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Zaragoza’s move to New York to work at Vice caused Richison to pull the plug on Unherd instead of finding a replacement for Zaragoza. “I did a lot of soul searching about doing this with someone else, but it just wouldn’t feel right,” Richison says. “I wouldn’t want to risk tainting something awesome that we’ve been able to pull off for over 100 episodes by putting something inauthentic on air.”

The last Unherd will air Saturday, October 27. “At the moment, we are trying to put together a fully animated Halloween special for that last show. Alex will be voicing it from New York.”

“Alex got her dream job,” says Richison, who is also a professor of film, television and media arts for Southwestern College. “I am ecstatic for her, but I always knew this day was coming right from the start. We got about a month into Unherd and I said to myself ‘We’re not going to have her too long.’ It’s not easy being fearless on TV and she never had a problem with that.”

Unherd had a different approach from SoundDiego, which airs at 1 am Saturday night/Sunday morning on NBC-7. Unherd featured Zaragoza and co-hosts Jeff Terich (Blood Ponies) and Mike Halloran, who wrote their own observations and critiques interspersed with existing music video clips. SoundDiego is driven by locally shot footage of live shows and artist interviews.

Richison oversaw 230 Fox Rox and 109 Unherd episodes. “Unherd was doing really well. We were averaging between 9500 to 10,500 households [viewers] per show. Everyone was happy. ABC-10 offered us renewal.” But, he adds, “We did everything on our terms, including how we ended it.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Change is constant in our fisheries

Yellowfin still biting well
Alex Zaragoza hosted the Unherd local music television show for over two years before accepting a job in New York for Vice Media.
Alex Zaragoza hosted the Unherd local music television show for over two years before accepting a job in New York for Vice Media.

The on-air hosts producer Scott Richison selects for his locally produced TV shows move on bigger and better things. He tapped music writer and TV novice Troy Johnson to host Fox Rox (2002-2007). The weekly half-hour music show won two local Emmys and helped propel Johnson to the Food Network were he has appeared on The Best Thing I Ever Ate and Iron Chef America.

Now Richison’s latest hand-picked TV host has also moved on to the big time. For two-and-a-half years local writer/columnist Alex Zaragoza has hosted Richison’s Unherd new music show, which airs Saturdays at 11:45 p.m. on KGTV/ABC-10. Zaragoza, a UCSD theater major grad, was just plucked from Unheard (her first TV gig) to be senior culture editor at Vice Media, which creates digital content and produces HBO’s Vice News show.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Zaragoza’s move to New York to work at Vice caused Richison to pull the plug on Unherd instead of finding a replacement for Zaragoza. “I did a lot of soul searching about doing this with someone else, but it just wouldn’t feel right,” Richison says. “I wouldn’t want to risk tainting something awesome that we’ve been able to pull off for over 100 episodes by putting something inauthentic on air.”

The last Unherd will air Saturday, October 27. “At the moment, we are trying to put together a fully animated Halloween special for that last show. Alex will be voicing it from New York.”

“Alex got her dream job,” says Richison, who is also a professor of film, television and media arts for Southwestern College. “I am ecstatic for her, but I always knew this day was coming right from the start. We got about a month into Unherd and I said to myself ‘We’re not going to have her too long.’ It’s not easy being fearless on TV and she never had a problem with that.”

Unherd had a different approach from SoundDiego, which airs at 1 am Saturday night/Sunday morning on NBC-7. Unherd featured Zaragoza and co-hosts Jeff Terich (Blood Ponies) and Mike Halloran, who wrote their own observations and critiques interspersed with existing music video clips. SoundDiego is driven by locally shot footage of live shows and artist interviews.

Richison oversaw 230 Fox Rox and 109 Unherd episodes. “Unherd was doing really well. We were averaging between 9500 to 10,500 households [viewers] per show. Everyone was happy. ABC-10 offered us renewal.” But, he adds, “We did everything on our terms, including how we ended it.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Domestic disturbance at the home of Mayor Gloria and partner

Home Sweet Homeless?
Next Article

Todd Gloria gets cash from McDonald's franchise owners

Phil's BBQ owner for Larry Turner
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader