Interest in the Orange County TV submarket continues to grow: Atlanta’s Bert Ellis, who took over Anaheim-based rerun station KDOC-TV last year, has hired OC Register vet Jeff Rowe as news director and plans to roll out a two-hour-or-longer local morning show later this year. Ellis says he’s exploring other “OC-centric” programming and may share news vans with Huntington Beach-based public television station KOCE. Henry Samueli, whose Anaheim Ducks have a 30-game deal with KDOC this season, is a 10% partner in the station …
Last week’s episode of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Orange County” drew a record 1.3 million viewers and was the top cable program of the day among women. Creator Scott Dunlop says he’s developing other OC-based content …
Coin collector/Brea redeveloper/sports agent Dwight Manley was in Ghana last week with his buddy Rev. Jesse Jackson celebrating 50 years of independence for the African nation. He’s expected to be back in time to appear this week on “Inside OC,” along with the $2.3 million Honus Wagner baseball card and Assemblyman Todd Spitzer …
Mortgage companies may be tanking but Glenn Stearns says he’s “never had so much fun” coping with the challenge. Which seems reason enough for the rags-to-riches Stearns to receive an OCBJ Entrepreneurship Award last week (see story, page 13). Stearns says he’s only had to cut 30 of 180 staffers because he’s been able to move lending agents into “countercyclical” escrow, title, audit and data-entry work, where Santa Ana-based Stearns Cos. is HUD’s largest contractor. And while Stearns has made stated-income and other “Alt-A” loans, he says he has avoided riskier subprime lending …
Donald Bren, George Argyros, William Lyon and Univision billionaire Jerry Perenchio host a fund-raiser for John McCain tonight at the Hyatt Regency Irvine …
Something Curt Pringle and Arte Moreno agree on,Rudy Giuliani for president …
A cracked rib and a painful nerve disorder (neuralgia) have curbed octogenarian globe-trotter Sir Eldon Griffiths’ travel and speaking schedules, but they haven’t kept him down: “On with memoirs!” …
Former Swiss Dairy exec Steve James of San Clemente has taken over as executive director of the California Milk Processor Board. That makes OC the official home of the “Got Milk” campaign, even if the promotional work remains in San Francisco, L.A. and Long Beach. James replaces the Bay area’s Jeff Manning, now with the Michigan-based Cherry Marketing Institute. When the Insider contacted James recently, he was staring at the blank walls of his new office, preparing to hire a receptionist and bragging that milk sales were up eight straight months for the first time in 13 years …
Ralph Sabin, former Ernst & Young partner and managing director of healthcare-focused Pacific Venture Group in Irvine, was the only OCer to make Forbes’ list of the Top 100 Dealmakers,and just barely, placing at No. 100: “I guess it’s better than being 101!”
