Ed Asner reprises TV newsman role

ST. PAUL, Minn., March 3 (UPI) -- A St. Paul, Minn., TV station has hired actor Ed Asner to burnish its image, resurrecting his role as gruff Lou Grant of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

"It's not about how pretty we look or how many fancy awards we've won," Asner says in one commercial for KSTP-TV. "It's about how much news we can fit in 30 minutes."

The Asner ad campaign is aimed at boosting ratings and revenue for KSTP, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday.

The station, owned by St. Paul-based Hubbard Broadcasting, has been mired in third place in local news ratings over the years, the newspaper said.

Asner doesn't do many commercials and said he was happy to get the gig.

"I rarely get requested, so I enjoy the activity. And let's face it, the money's good," he said. "If it were hemorrhoid grease, I'd have had to think about it."