New Year's Resolutions and Where is Prater

I somehow deleted all of your New Year's Resolutions you passed along the way. Strange thing though is that the post had nearly as many comments wondering what happened to Prater. I managed to get those posted as comments. Some recently have posted they cannot find any info on Prater. I have heard many different stories generally pointing to KAKE not resigning him and a part where his job was posted on the internet possibly before he was even officially notified. However as of Saturday night his picture and bio are still on the KAKE site. It gave me a chance to read his bio. Very impressive with the three Murrow Awards, various Emmy nominations and of course the big regional Emmy win with the design of the "KAKEland WeatherPlex "set for '06. The awards that impressed me most, was that he is the current defending and two time champ of the State Fair Grape Stomp. -Hal
http://www.kake.com/station/bios/weather/822037.html

New Year's Resolutions

Let me know what you think the Resolutions for the TV stations should be for the upcoming year. I'll tally them all up and post them for the new year. You can be serious, but also be sure to have fun. -Hal

The nonWinter Weather Woody Update

With the 10PM newscasts over and the fact I can still see the pavement in my driveway, I am starting to have doubts with the 5-7+ inch snow forecasts for Wichita. Obviously 2 of the 3 TV forecasts didn't or couldn't come to grips with admitting defeat at least in the Wichita area. Let me get this out in the open, yes, somewhere will get 10 inches, but I will not lose sleep tonight saying I will be right in writing that "most" of the weathermen missed the snow forecast for the Wichita area. Also let me get it out that I am sure some meteorologist will say, "Hal, forecasting isn't easy, if its so easy why aren't you doing it?" Hey, I do not have an AMS seal nor meteorology degree and don't pretend to have one, but lately as a whole the forecasting on the supposed "big" storms in Wichita has been lousy. I say majority because a different station the last 2 storms has been decent enough to back up at the last minute and admit that things looked a little differently then they originally thought. With the ice storm earlier this week, KWCH's Ross Janssen started to compare and contrast and alluded to the fact that the ice may not be so severe in Wichita because of a number of factors. With Friday's storm, KAKE's Jay Prater gets the accolades for saying that although he still had the map saying 5 in. for Wichita he thought the longer time went it was looking more like 3 in. for Wichita. One station not named in backing off its predictions of doom with neither of these storms, KSN. Can't a meteorologist admit defeat once in awhile? Congrats to Prater for saying that he may be wrong on Friday. To me, I think that resonates with viewers more than a meteorologist who will not back up on his forecasts and say, "Things don't look like I thought they were so I have to change and lower my predictions." -Hal

Weekend Weather Woody Warning

We just cannot get enough of the Weather Woodys lately with all the weathermen last night calling for snow accumulations of 4 inches and up for the area Tonight into Tomorrow. Once again I have to say I continue to be impressed with Ross Janssen at KWCH. He isn't overly flashy and he tells you the facts and what to expect and lets the viewers decide if they want to get excited or not. He doesn't force the viewer into excitement or panic.
The Attack at KWCH - It was interesting to hear the thuds in the background of the newscasts on KWCH Yesterday. A few times they informed viewers that the noise was chunks of ice falling from their tower. -Hal

Winter Weather Woody - Review

It was a storm that missed Wichita, for the most part, but did target areas of the local TV stations' viewing area. There was plenty of warning on this storm and the ice it could bring over the weekend. As we moved in on Monday, the ice accumulation predictions were set up for central Kansas including Wichita. A comment to a previous post mentioned KWCH's Ross Janssen and KSN's Andrew Kozak and their overall calm demeanor in their forecasts. I must ditto that and also say I thought Janssen did a nice job this week filling in for Merril Teller on the main casts. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think he was the first to bring the possibility out that this storm may not be as bad as 2005 for the Wichita area on Monday Night. He had a compare/contrast graphic explaining there was less wind and the temperatures were going to be higher than in 2005 and that might change things for the area.
As for news coverage I thought KWCH was most consistent of the 3. In the past I mentioned at times, although dominant, I feel KWCH can be somewhat safe and conservative as the long time #1 station. I must say this storm showed a slightly different side. They threw everything at this storm and I thought definitely dominated coverage for the most part. KAKE didn't do all that bad and normally would have given KWCH a run, but 12 was so dominant this time around, it wasn't that close. There has been some interesting comments regarding KSN's decision to lead with the Morrison story on Sunday and not the upcoming weather. I defended the decision at the time, but maybe that was a preview of things to come. I thought KSN was a little slow to react on the snow early on as it came in on Monday and Tuesday. Maybe that is a good thing with KSN, because Dave Freeman's weather segments can normally add enough hysteria for the 3 stations combined without the news staff going overboard. I thought the other 2 had more stories and more reporters on the storm. Quantity doesn't necessarily mean quality, but for the most part the many stories were decent for this storm. -Hal

Winter Weather Woody Warning Day 5

First, Let me say that from all indications and forecasts this certainly will not be a storm to mess with it. If you want a time where strong coverage is needed, now and into tomorrow is certainly the time for it. Not Sunday night when KAKE's lead story was a couple who feed Geese in the cold and snowy weather. Hey, I am the first one to admit I like feature stories, yes straight feature stories, not feature stories made into news stories so you can have your token weather story to meet the need to seem like you are on top of the weather. For Sunday night I thought KWCH had the best weather hyped story in giving a good overall wrap up of the storm from a few years ago. Yes, other did have that angle in other stories but I thought KWCH had it tailored best. However the best coverage on Sunday went to KSN, for NOT leading with weather and instead with the Morrison story.
Tonight at 6 KWCH was strong going into 2 segments with weather related stories. Some were a little bit of a stretch like the driving school instructor, but they didn't repeat each other and were for the most part good. It was good having Jim Grawae in Ark City showing the heavy rain and also a story from Salina. A good snapshot from around the area. At 10, they focused a little more in Wichita, with Grawae doing a story from Wichita with video from throughout the day. The most useful information came from backup meteorologist Ross Janssen who compared the conditions from this storm to that of 2005 and the temps being slightly warmer and the wind lighter compared to the last major ice storm. All the stations have brought up the 2005 storm, but I think this was the first time so far, that anyone as showed how it might be a little different and maybe a little less worse than 2005. It made for a good overall complete product on the storm to come.
Over on KAKE I thought, especially at 10PM that had two stories with similar angles and not all that different. It shows they definitely are going big with weather, but for a station who was over hyping the little stuff from last week and weekend, you would think they could have a little stronger story selection at 10PM. Maybe they already wasted those stories the previous few days.
KSN leads with weather now everyday, even if it is sunny and 70. Well it is strange to me that when now you might want additional info right off the top newscast, the weather intro is 20 seconds at most and onto the weather news stories. Now, they did go back to the weather and what is to come later in the segment, but by then I think many who are watching are switching over to another station so they get that immediate answer to the question of how much and what will it be like in the morning. As for stories they had two at 10 with different angles with an interesting angle on how the overflow shelter can't handle the demand for the homeless. -Hal

Its Winter Weather Woody Warning Time!!!

I'll call the "Winter Weather Season" as the time generally between November through March where we have a chance for crazy alarmist forecasts, constant reminders to slow down, instructions on how to drive on ice and numerous measurements with rulers and occasionally yardsticks, otherwise known as a Winter Weather Woody Warning. After watching KAKE at 6, I think we are in our first Winter Weather Woody Warning of the season. I know there was ice this morning and sure some accidents and fatalities, but is it worth leading a whole newscast with a story showing minor fender benders and the interview with police and troopers telling people to slow down. No. Its a waste of a couple of minutes. Today it is worth an anchor reading over maybe 15 seconds of video, max. The storm isn't even to hit until tomorrow and I am sure then we will hear even more fun stuff and shots of stores unpacking shovels. My question, annually after seeing every "first season snowfall shovel story:" Where do everyones shovels go from April-December? Is there that many people moving into Kansas in that time frame, to sell that many shovels? Surely everyone just can't lose a shovel in a few months. Maybe they are disposable. Who knows? -Hal

Fun Link

Thanks to the reader for the link. It is very funny especially after Tuesday night.

http://hdnews.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0041/t.4648.html

If you want to comment please post it under the "Gremlins" post. -Hal

"The Gremlins" at KSN

A commentor wanted to know what went down on KSN Tonight. I tuned in about the time that new reporter Jennifer Pruitt is staring in the camera as her story doesn't play, then the uncomfortable pause between her and Anita as they and everyone else must figure out what is going on around them. This is far from the first time a technical glitch or as meteorologist Leon Smitherman referred to it later as a "gremlin" has struck KSN since they switched to a computerised system awhile back. I'll assume they still have the system that messed them up many months ago and set up the infamous "F**K Off Buzz" incident and numerous other system flare ups, since then. I think the station does good product, it is just a shame that it is marred by technical glitches that appear to be allowed to continue and rear its ugly head. I'm not quite a traditional viewer since I watch 3 stations at a time and might have a more critical eye, but even someone like me is growing tired of the messes. In my case it just provides more material to blog about, but if I was at home just wanting to see the news, at what point do I just give up on KSN and watch one of the others, if I haven't made the switch already? -Hal

A Day Full of News

A lot of news the past few days. With the missing El Dorado girl, and now today with the resignation of City Administrator George Kolb. I'll first open it up to your comments and your feelings of the coverage and then I'll respond later. -Hal.

The Weekend Morning Show Question

I could have called this post dumb and dumber, but that would probably be giving some involved the benefit of the doubt while being too harsh with others. I watched the weekend morning shows as the excitement was building about the upcoming KU-MU game. I must say KAKE was smart going live from Kansas City this morning. On the outside one may ask what benefit is there going live for most of the hour show, 10 hours before game time, but ESPN's Gameday has turned the otherwise nervous hours before a game into an event itself outside of the stadium. Thus the live shots on the KAKE morning show with KAKE's newest and best reporter Natasha Trelfa were good and had some fun excitement. Meanwhile back in Wichita their weekend morning anchor pair is a contrast of styles. Cayle Thompson actually shows some promise as an anchor and should be given more opportunities when Larry wants a weekend evening off. Good genuine interest and personality on camera. On the other hand his female co-anchor, Rachel Phillips reminds me of a gal who would be the first to finish off a case of beer with you and then belch the alphabet. Maybe the main topics of the morning with football caused her to act dumber than normal (not so sure if this isn't a common thing), but I am curious if she dumbs things down on a typical weekend. Meanwhile if you watched KWCH, the life was being sucked out of you. If anyone needs a co-anchor to rescue her on the set, its Kim Hynes. Flipping between KWCH and KAKE's morning cast was definitely a contrast in styles. If you get up first thing on Saturday, flip on that KWCH show, and are contemplating whether to wake up, one look at that show and you'll be back to sleep in no time. -Hal

1/2 way through Sweeps: Finally an OK day

I think we are about 1/2 through Sweeps and I must say Thursday finally served up offerings a little better than a normal day's effort. KWCH's piece on a cold case was interesting and the production was good, but at the same time didn't get in the way of the piece. KAKE's piece on "stretching Gas," was pretty decent for a KAKE series. Not too over-the-top and actually set up an interesting experiment about whether shifting a car into neutral and other stuff while driving would save gas. Apparently it does. There were some tricks in it but it wasn't overly technically produced, and was good. Meanwhile KSN sent a crew down to Louisiana to follow some Derby citizens who went down there right after a hurricane and documented their trip back to Louisiana. Today's pieces weren't too bad as the Louisiana town was genuinely touched by the help from Derby. They teased there will be more stories Tomorrow. I wonder how they'll be able to squeeze more out of this topic tomorrow. I am curious what you all think about the Sweeps so far. I'll be the first one to say the period is always over done, but I must say this month so far has been a disappointment and it hasn't been that the stories have been over hyped. Often times I think all the ads are silly and oversell the stories. When they run I often feel disappointed. This month so far, I haven't felt like they have been oversold, but there really hasn't been many that kept my interest. At this point, the KAKE gas story probably held my interest more than anything yet in November. It might have less to do with the overall execution and more with the fact of doing a different kind of gas story for once. So many times it seems when local stations do gas stories, it is when gas prices go up and then they shove cameras into customers and ask them how does it feel. Then of course the same answers we heard a month ago when the previous story came up are said. So congrats to KAKE for getting a different angle with the gas stories. It should be noted, I saw a couple of stories this week about a place in town which is redoing SUVs and other cars of celebrities to make them more fuel efficient and that to some degree was a different gas story. We can only hope the remaining days left in Sweeps can produce some more interesting pieces. -Hal

A Softer KAKE??

I couldn't help but wonder when watching the "Breaking News" on the 7 year old shot on Wednesday Night, how nice it was to NOT feel like I was hanging on the edge of a cliff while watching KAKE. Why? New reporter Natasha Trelfa handled the news very calm. That is real refreshing coming from KAKE where reporters (mostly former but still a few current) yell and get so ramped up over the smallest matters that when something a little more tragic like a 7 year old is shot occurs, it just blends in with a normal KAKE over hyped night. Wednesday was a little different. It caused me to realize that KAKE has lost a few reporters in recent months who had a more alarming delivery and style and now with them gone it brings a more calm sense and welcoming one at that. I think Natasha will quickly become one of KAKE's top reporters, merely for her calm matter-of-fact on camera style. Don't get me wrong. Although she has a calm manner to her delivery she still delivers urgency. That can be a tough thing to balance. We'll have to see how she reports through the next few weeks. Hopefully she is the beginning of what I hope might be a softer, yet still urgent when needed, KAKE.
As for Sweeps: the two pieces I saw were typical and over hyped. I thought KAKE's story was an interesting idea in theory that license plates are not available for family members of loved ones who lost their lives in military service. But not surprisingly, it came off a little too dramatic and overdone. KWCH's smoke detector story seemed like an idea probably done elsewhere in another market and used to spawn a story here. If anything the story showed that smoke detectors do work and people should have them. Did we need an over 2 minute piece to tell us that. No, but there are dumb people out there. (One interesting thing learned from the story was that the detector used in most homes works just as well as the other types shown). As for KSN's offering, I didn't see anything hyped or built as a sweeps piece and I stopped watching the 10PM after 10 minutes so maybe I missed something. -Hal

The Writers' Strike Helps KWCH

Its been awhile since I have posted and normally I do everything I can to not miss a newscast during the ratings period of November. (Yeah promo and sales people, some people do fall for all the antics of Sweeps.) However, my viewing time has been limited quite a bit so I haven't been up to speed on much as normal. I will say nothing has really knocked the wind out of me as far as stories go. KAKE hit weather pretty hard at the end of last week analyzing radar images from the Greensburg tornado for a whole story and a piece that ran on the weekend updating individuals' stories we heard immediately after the storm. (I know the KWCH e-mails will come along right about......now, saying they have been on the story continuing to update it since it happened. They have, but I liked the presentation with the KAKE storm survivor update piece. This isn't a dig at the bureau reporter doing the majority of the pieces out there for KWCH, but lets be honest some of them are less memorable, because when the other 2 do stories out there they do them up big, send Wichita reporters and probably other people, produce and edit them up bigger than their normal car wreck and shooting stories. That can make them a little more eye catching and memorable when they run, like it or not. Curious of your thoughts on this one. I am sure a few are mad about my thoughts on this one. I could have made a separate post on this one.)
Someone e-mailed me and wanted me to go back to doing more periodic critiques of the daily newscasts. OK. Lets do tonight. It happens probably to every station at some point, and tonight it happened to KWCH. A 7 year old is shot. KAKE and KSN is there live with the details. I have said numerous times I am not a huge fan of constant crime stories, but it is a 7 year old. KAKE and KSN's lead must have been news to KWCH. Luckily for them the writers are on strike. What does this have to do with news in Wichita? Letterman was a rerun, even more reason (like they needed one anyway) why they could suddenly expand the newscast from 35 minutes to 38 and squeeze in the "Breaking news" on the shooting that happened a couple of hours earlier in the added extra minutes. -Hal

Cheever Death Verdict and Sweeps Woody Warning

It was interesting to evaluate how the 3 stations advanced or maybe tried to advance the decision of a jury for the death penalty against Scott Cheever at 10PM. I know when I heard that the jury decided death for Cheever, the first question in my head was will he ever see the death chamber? KAKE headed in that direction and had a decent story on the chances of the death penalty ever being carried out. Good effort. KSN had a respectable effort with an interview from a member of the jury. By 10PM, I think many knew the news so it was smart to advance the death verdict slightly instead of just doing a recap of the day's events. I thought KAKE did this best while KSN probably finished a close second. Meanwhile KWCH -I bet this will throw anon #8 from the last post for a loop. Wink, Wink;)- just went for a recap of the day's events. Since this story had been the lead for the last week on most of the stations, I am used to hearing the same stuff over and over (even if Cheever testified today). A different angle, like KAKE's using Today's death verdict, brought to light a different (not necessarily new) angle.
-Sweeps Woody Warning - I forgot all about it until this morning when I kept hearing and seeing commercials promoting stories like the one on KWCH Tonight: it's once again ratings time. Lets start with KWCH's story tonight on a supplement which can lower one's blood alcohol level and not feel the effects of drinking. Maybe I had such high hopes for the product, that when they said it failed, my view of the story was tainted because I didn't like that the product failed. The topic of the story wasn't all that bad and probably did what it intended to do in getting people to watch, but it was a tad gimmicky. But isn't that what Sweeps is all about? KAKE opened Sweeps with a piece from meteorologist Jay Prater. He talked to a meteorologist who had studied radar images from the Greensburg tornado. I know my summary may make this sound like a boring story, but actually it was pretty good and KAKE, once again, gets my thumbs up for a decent Sweeps piece. Note to KAKE, it wasn't done in the otherwise in-your-face KAKE style. Maybe Jay should do more stories for them. I like his style, although I wasn't a fan of shooting excerpts of Prater from the night of storm, from a TV set. I know its about station self promotion, but I think it comes off as lame when you mix promotions into a news story. As for KSN, I don't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary for them or sweeps pieces. Maybe they haven't gotten the memo yet that it has started. -Hal

The Escapees: Caught

First off KWCH definitely had the cards in their hands when the 2 escapees and prison guard from El Dorado were caught in New Mexico this morning. When the news was breaking the brother and mother of the guard were doing an interview live at KWCH so anchor Felicia Rolfe delivered the news to them live. Definitely an emotional moment. KWCH certainly was in a spot at that point to throw whatever they were going to do out the window, because you had the story live on the set. Since the trio was caught in New Mexico, KWCH had the interview for the moment. Rolfe was put in a interesting spot. Obviously producers didn't want her to let them go since they have the get live on TV, so Rolfe kept the interview going as they were hoping to get additional info. Rolfe did a good job of recapping things every few minutes and she wasn't over the top when it came to breaking the news. She was very calm and not alarming and let the brother and mother react. However a little urgency would have been good on Rolfe's part, but for something developing, not bad. And as the interview progressed Rolfe got better. I would rather have her calm and relaxed as opposed to if it happened on another station on the West side of town, it probably would have been frantic and alarming. -Hal

http://kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=7289873

Prison Break Update

So day 2 of the Prison break and we saw the stations all try to develop angles on the Prison escape story. As a total complete package of coverage, I thought KWCH did a decent job. They owned the story at 5 and 6PM and continued it through 10PM. The interview with the mother was a great get and I believe they were the only ones with it, and they also called it, "Exclusive." There must have been some sort of a "friendly" understanding to only do the interview with them, because I would assume everyone would have followed to get her Today. KSN had a decent effort at 10PM with an interview of the brother of the prison guard who aided in the escape. On a pure emotional scale, the interview with the brother was better than the mother. From an overall viewpoint of things, I thought KWCH gave a solid perspective of things with all angles covered. KAKE'e personal angle at 10PM was a former inmate who knew one of the escapees. In comparison to the family member interviews I don't think it was as solid. On most other stories, the interview would probably have been viewed as a great get. -Hal

Jail Break and Weekend Happenings

I thought I would create a separate post here for reactions on the El Dorado prison break coverage. I thought KWCH did it best, although if I was actually making the decisions I don't know how I would have reacted to the news. I might have backed off of it at first. Two people breaking out is big news. If 2 break out you have to wonder, how and if someone else is involved. Now it looks like a former employee of the prison is involved and that makes it an even bigger story. Thinking more about this no matter if they were assisted or not, a prison escape is news and especially on a sleepy Sunday. Although there was probably more news this weekend than most others, that shouldn't be looked as an excuse for not covering this appropriately. Was going back to the story in the newscast necessary? Well, the station would say it is for the public's good to spread the word prisoners have escaped out to the public. TV news people amongst each other would say its about making sure they stay out in front of the story and maintaining a message to the public that they are covering the story. I definitely think it was necessary to recap the story at the end of the cast. I didn't get to see this morning's early casts and am curious if stations brought reporters in for the morning shows about the prison escape.
Also I am curious no one has commented on KSN anchor/reporter Paul Petite's future departure to Wesley hospital as VP for marketing and public relations. It kind of caught me by surprise when I read it in Carrie Renger's column in the Wichita Eagle this weekend.
http://kansas.com/business/rengers/story/212035.html
According to the column, it is interesting he said he would have probably stayed at KSN if he had remained as a full-time anchor. The column says he now is a reporter, when he isn't anchoring the 5PM show. I probably could have created two separate posts for these topics. -Hal

Weekend Discussion: The Future of TV as we know it

-First, thanks for the rather interesting discussion on KWCH's move to broadcast the name of a convicted sex offender who was convicted 9 years ago. Quick recap: A bus stop was placed across the street from a registered sex offender's house in Haysville. The poll question as well as the dialog definitely show how this is a contentious issue for folks. The poll ended up with 8 in agreement, 8 against, and 7 split down the middle of KWCH's decision to broadcast the name of the offender. That's one of those topics you could have a debate and discussion well into the night and early evening or well beyond a journalism class period. Good discussion though.

-Its ONLY a Drill - By the way some of the stations are treating it, you would think that a disaster drill going on this week in Wichita was the real thing. KAKE had 2 reporters on the story at 6PM, for a drill. The others all had reporters on it. I think I saw a number of stories on it this past week on the stations. Is it worth a story today? Sure, 1, but ease up on it from here on out. I would say once you know what it is and why traffic is messed up, I think the story is done and move on. However, I am sure Saturday will be filled with more disaster drill stuff.


Discussion: TV's Future
I have done it before, but once again I would like to thank the guys over at lostremote.com. They had an interesting article posted about how some newspapers and TV stations have stopped their daily internet webcasts.
http://www.lostremote.com/2007/10/18/roanokecom-ends-timescast-do-news-webcasts-work/

As described in the article, many TV stations and newspapers are realizing people on the internet do not go to it for traditional newscasts like these webcasts to a degree. A number of newspapers and TV stations who started daily webcasts have stopped them due to a lack of viewership. Frankly it seems many people like the internet to be able to pick what stories you want to see and then read or view them at your own pace. I think that might speak to the future of TV as we know it. On the otherhand it might also point to those who say TV news will survive because folks don't necessarily want their dose of TV given to them off of the internet. What do you think? -Hal

Poll Question and Friendly debate

We have a nice debate going at the end of the previous post. Here's a recap. KWCH did a story about a bus stop in Haysville placed across the street from the house where a convicted sex offender resides. You can view the story with the link down below. (Video has now been added).

http://kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=7222967&nav=menu486_2_2

In it they mentioned the name of the convicted sex offender. I watched the story and didn't really think much about it, until I received this comment Today on the blog:



Anonymous said...
What do you think about KWCH's decision to show the sex offender's name, picture, and home. I know legally it's fine, and the information's out there if someone wants it, but it seemed a little unnecessary. It didn't add anything to the story.
October 17, 2007 2:03 PM



I then responded that I could see it a number of ways. One, the offender was convicted in 1998 and since he is convicted it is readily available public record as well as on the Kansas Sex offender Registry. From that perspective you could argue that you could broadcast his name. Two, on the other hand one could argue he is trying to move on with his life and if he hasn't re offended since, then he is indeed moving on. Now one could counter that argument by saying the victim in the case didn't have a choice in the matter and probably still suffers mentally from the incident. I received a number of comments on this and here they are:



Anonymous said...
When someone is charged and convicted of a crime it is public record. This is not an accusation that hasn't worked its way through the courts.
October 17, 2007 6:08 PM



Anonymous said...
No one is suggesting KWCH didn't legally have the right to do what it did.The question is what is gained from putting this guy's name, home, and picture out there for this particular story?I personally don't see why it was necessary. The guy's identity was irrelevant to the issue.
October 17, 2007 7:38 PM



Anonymous said...
I think at some point in time you have to let sleeping dogs lie. Has he re-offended since 1998? Did he choose to live in front of a school bus stop that wasn't there until this year? I feel we should have mentioned where he lived, and his crime, but not his name or shown his picture. Just a personal opinion, but I think this guy's had 9 years to make a life for himself. It's unfair a news station can ruin that for him in 1:30.
October 17, 2007 7:40 PM

Anonymous said...
He assaulted a child. You have no right to privacy or anonimity after that.
October 17, 2007 9:52 PM

I'd like the dialog on this topic to continue on this entry. I also posted a poll question on this, probably against my better judgement. I am afraid it will turn it into a battle between those from KWCH VS the rest of the stations. If you are in the business, I want everyone to try to distance yourself from your station and think of it neutrally, if only for a few minutes. I would like to continue the dialog right below this entry where the last comment left off from the last post. -Hal

Hal's Back With Nothing But Praise....sort of

As I said in a reply to a previous post I have been out of town a lot over the last few weeks and haven't had a chance to really turn the TV on and watch all the stations. Its sad but, the internet makes it increasingly easy to keep up with the latest news from the stations. But it often doesn't provide the subject matter that watching it on TV, with the other stations going at the same time, does. My first post will actually usher in praise, well with 3 of the 4 subjects.
KWCH had 2 interesting stories in its newscasts tonight. The story of a school bus stop in Haysville near the house of a sex offender and a story about a kid at a Catholic school who was asked to leave because his family would not sign a form saying their child would speak English at all times of the day in school including recess were new and interesting. It doesn't matter what you think of the later issue, it does pose some interesting issues to be resolved possibly by the Supreme Court in the future.
Meanwhile KSN was on the right side of things with a well done piece by Jason Kravarik on the lack of Pediatric psychiatrists. The story says Kansas has the lowest numbers of such doctors in the country. After watching the story, it shows KSN's Achilles: Promotions. This was a story which should have been promoted a couple of days earlier rather than their constant banter of weather, weather, weather and more weather. Finally a negative comment: Tonight on KSN you would have thought the Shockers were in the Sweet 16 again with a news story about the Shocker madness or whatever the preseason scrimmage was called. This wasn't necessarily a fault of reporter Paul Petite, but his story on the event probably came off bad because he had to be careful not to touch on subject matter the sports guys were (and rightly so) going to handle in their sportscasts which was placed I think only a commercial break apart. Note to KSN management, let the sports guys do their jobs, unless a Shocker team gets to an NCAA tournament. And even at that point tread carefully. If another station did something similar let me know and I'll rib them too. Where is KAKE in all of this? Today is characteristic of the other 2 stations the last few weeks. KAKE basically did the day's news, stuff you saw on the other stations, and didn't really wow nor offend in anyway. Some may take this as bashing. Actually if you don't offend an audience on a given day, then it should be considered a win.
Also, if you have a good poll question to ask the readers, let me know. -Hal

Covering the News or Creating Hysteria

A shooting on Saturday night at a QT I think shows two ways to cover a story, one explains what happened, while another version could create hysteria. I am referring to KWCH and KAKE. KSN must have arrived later and they didn't have any witnesses or anything. Not that it was necessarily bad nor good, but it was safe and didn't really offer much of anything to discuss.
Lets start with KWCH. Their story explained what happened, had some neighbors nearby who explained what they saw and everything. I believe of what I saw that is as far as they went. They gave the facts as what people near there knew and that was it. They might have said the store had been closed a few times in the past dealing with various criminal matters, but that is as far as they went. It told me what I needed to know and didn't make people come to assumptions on camera. Good for a day turn story.
Over at KAKE, they were off to a fine start, talking to authorities and then witnesses similar to KWCH. KAKE reporter Abby Barnett should have stopped while she was ahead. Unfortunately she had to go the cliche route of sticking microphones into people's cars and other people with no ties to this actual scene other than that they live in the area. Of course she gets the token bites of how people now are scared to go to the gas station and how this really worries them. Maybe there is something gained out of this, I think all it does is creates the hysteria, rather than solely sticking to the facts and reporting on the news. If the people went up to her and said that this is happening all the time and they are afraid at night to walk out, its still a little cliche, but would be a little more acceptable. It looked from the interviews of people in cars, these people didn't know exactly what happened, until a reporter briefed them and then the reaction creating the hysteria. When local news sometimes think too hard to manufacture angles on daily turn stories this can happen. -Hal

KWCH Version :http://www.kwch.com/global/story.asp?s=7147078
KAKE Version:http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/10130706.html

The QT Shooting Trial

The last post and comments following has opened up discussion on 3 topics. I want to limit that post to discussion on the questions someone wanted to know about the business in the Wichita TV market and then the discussion which opened up on weather. A 3rd topic developed regarding the QT shooting trial. I'd like the comments on this post to be solely on the later.

There hasn't been a lot, but certainly a few posts regarding Wednesday's events at the trial of a man accused of shooting a clerk at a QT over a year ago. On Wednesday, the Prosecution showed surveillance video from the store which show the accused walking into the store and shooting the clerk. I think it is very interesting to see how the 3 stations dealt with the issue. I only saw KWCH's version at 6PM and was surprised at how they showed the arm of the defendant going up to the counter than froze just moments before the gun was fired. When I first saw this I remembered thinking it was a little crazy, but that was as far as I thought about it. Tonight reading a couple of the comments I then began to search to see what the others did with the story. KAKE has a story posted which shows the victim before the shooting in the store behind the counter and even shows the defendant walking into the counter and then cuts to a shot of a stretcher moving the victim. As a previous poster said, you can see a dark spot on the floor, probably blood. Meanwhile, according to an earlier commentor, KSN does not show any of the tape. A previous comment wanted to know if they were even there or if it was a decision on their part not to run it. I haven't seen their coverage yet and am curious to know how they handled it. Thanks to the link from a commenter, for a response by Jason Kravarik saying it was KSN's decision not to show the tape.
http://www.ksn.com/news/local/7258401.html

So lets hear it on the post. If you were news director what would you have run. Would you have shown everything leading up to the moment before the gun is fired (KWCH), or show the scene before of the clerk behind the counter and then the defendant walking in and stopping before he reaches for gun, but show the stretcher leaving what appears to be a dark spot of blood on the carpet (KAKE) or show none of the scene video (KSN) . As of now KWCH nor KSN has links to their stories on the trial. Here is the link to KAKE story if you haven't seen it. I am curious to hear your comments on the matter. -Hal
http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/10057211.html

Wichita TV News 101

I have received a similar comment like this one a couple of times over the last month:



Anonymous said...
What size market is Wichita?Now, I'm curious what Wichita intern reporters make. Is Wichita a stepping stone for most professions? Engineering, business or medical? Seems like the big bucks are elsewhere.



So I thought I'd open this up to comments from you who are in the business in Wichita or those from other markets who read this blog. First my comments:



I have said this many times and some view this as a shot at stations here and the reporters here. Although Wichita has always seen itself as a stepping stone for some, many made and still do make their careers here in Wichita. I think increasingly Wichita is becoming or at least seems as a first stop, rather than 2nd or 3rd stop, for some reporters. A few years ago, a good reporter could probably make it here after 1-2 years maybe even 3-4 before landing here. Today and especially more so in the future, the move of Wichita to a starter's market will have a lot to do with the economics and business pressures of local TV. You ask about the market size of Wichita. Wichita actually drops two places for the 2008 classifications as done by Nielsen to #69. A real quick overview. NY is #1, LA #2, Chicago #3, Dallas #5, Denver #18, Kansas City #31, Oklahoma City #45, Tulsa #60, Topeka #139, Joplin #145 and St. Joe #201. To be honest your best bet may be markets like St. Joe, Joplin and Topeka or even a bureau of a Wichita station to start. It might be rough, but you may learn more there than you did in college. As for salaries I don't know, so I would open it up to comments. Obviously the more experience and the higher the market, means more money, but its important to say the higher the market, may not mean that the job experience can be better. I think some here in a middle market like Wichita might argue that about jumping up. They have families, (some don't) and like their communities they live in and are perfectly happy at where they are at. As far as the term, "intern reporter," I am a little confused. Maybe that's a common term. I would assume that means basically a rookie reporter. If you are referring to interns, most in any aspect of the media business, large or small market, aren't paid. Like I said I don't know much about salaries, but I have heard stories in small markets of reporters commonly being out earned by waitresses.
As for you readers who are in the business, since you are in the field, what should this person know about the basics of the business? Any help on a rough guide to salaries in a market this size? I tried to stay off my soap box, somewhat. Please comment on anything I left out or you think I am wrong with. -Hal

The Online World: The Universe Untapped

A commenter wanted my view on the online offerings by the TV stations. I thought I might have posted awhile back on this, but think I have a few new things to say.
I really don't know the answer to this, so if you know, please reply back. Of the 3 stations, how many of them have staff dedicated only to the web full time? I think it is pivotal at this point as the medium develops and changes for stations to make strong commitments to the web and development. They should have staffs of at least one full time person, if not two, developing content exclusive to the web sites.
Looking at the stations I think they have a long ways to go. Thinking about what I was going to write, I think the local sites haven't developed to where they could be. I think they need to adapt with the philosophy of "Thinking Outside the Box." Blogs, viewing documents, seeing full length press conferences, and seeing stories aired on TV should be considered the standard of online sites and not something to get excited about as web extras or exclusives. If one of the stations put some resources into the web and had some unique offerings I think they really could run away from the competition and really set themselves apart as people become increasingly dependent on the web.
It seems like the stations have an idea of where they could and need to go, but still need to be devoted to it. The idea for fans and stringers to post videos is smart and great for high school sports, but still is a long ways off. As of 10:30 Saturday morning only 1 of the 3 stations had video of Friday's games posted. KWCH's site (Catchitkansas.com) had the most updated content from what appeared to be videos shot by KWCH staff. The video submitted by viewers needs some work as a homecoming game from North-Southeast game from '98 keeps popping up if you click on that. To be honest, none of the stations viewer submitted sites work that well yet.
Lets take KAKE as an example of something they could do as a web offering. With KAKE's vast archive stories you see on their cable show, "The Video Vault," I think they should have a time machine area where you can view big stories from the past. This might be a lame idea, but I do what I can on a Saturday morning. KAKers, use this idea if you want, I wont charge you. They have the video as seen on their cable show, and I would find it hard to believe that the others would have it as readily available as they do. Its about playing to the strengths you already have and repackaging them for the internet.
For KSN, the online offerings need work, but at least they have the BOGO channel. (That was said tongue in cheek.) Often viewed as the 3rd channel in town, I think they have the most to be gained from the internet. All bottom stations in any market could really gain a lot if they were able to win over the online audience. -Hal

No News = Crimestoppers?

I guess as far as news goes, Wednesday must have been a slow news day. KAKE leads with a story about Crimestoppers and how they are catching bad guys. I guess they have had some luck lately on some high profile cases, but I still am wondering, what the news is on that. Isn't the purpose of Crimestoppers to catch bad guys? In the actual story, the details of cases getting solved and guys arrested was buried. If those facts were at the top of the story than this non-story could have been more of a story. Even for those who argue it is news, is it worth leading the newscast? #2 it appears it was more of a PR stint for KAKE. I am generally not a fan of showing clips of your own newscast in a story. There will be exceptions, but this was a case of the story being less about news and more about PR. Although KAKE loves to push crime stories I seem to remember they hadn't always done Crimestoppers. I seem to remember we used to get to see those fine looking mug shots on KSN of the Most Wanted or as I liked to call them "Thug of the Day." Come to think of it, I don't see those anymore on KSN so maybe KAKE has picked up Crimestoppers now and are trying to let people know they are responsible for catching bad guys by airing Crimestoppers. I think that should be more a job of their promotions machine and rather than a lead news story. -Hal

The Arena Bids (BID): The Tale of 2 Stories

I watched the 3 stations last night and went to bed thinking the construction for the new arena might cost a couple of million dollars less than what the county planned on spending. I believe all 3 stations emphasized this fact. I then rolled out of bed this morning, grabbed the morning paper and was confused by the headline that the arena will cost $60 Million dollars more than expected. Confused? I was. I guess if you really read and watch the stories, I think the TV stations and newspaper are both right, but its a tad confusing. The TV stations were looking purely at facts given to them Yesterday at the bid process. Based on estimates made by the county board before the bids (I should say bid) was opened, the chair said the bid for the building construction was $3 million less than they expected RECENTLY. That's the key. The Wichita Eagle did a bit more digging to see that the bid for the building construction (not including parking operations, etc.) is actually $60 million more than the figure given to voters when they approved it nearly 3 years ago. Here are the links to the newspaper and 2 of the TV stations' stories on the internet (KSN's isn't posted). Judge for yourself, did the TV stations miss a story or did the newspaper make too much of the $60 million? I am curious to hear your opinions on this one.-Hal

Wichita Eagle - http://kansas.com/news/story/175697.html
KAKE - http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/9791667.html
KWCH - http://kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=7075683

The Race out of Wichita

The last post spawned some interesting comments based on a couple of reporters leaving KAKE for jobs in Nashville and Kansas City. I said in a comment that although I am not a fan of the KAKE style it does seem if you look at larger market stations, there are more in your face scanner chasing formats which needs reporters. KAKE has done this so it creates a nice tape for its reporters filled with live shots of shootings, car wrecks and other such, "breaking news." I am not saying that the reporters are bad and cannot tell other stories, I am just saying it does provide plenty of material for resume tapes. I then wrote that the question comes down to whether reporters can stay at these stations and do the high pressured breaking news (and not good stories you'll remember months later) every minute of the day or be driven or burned out. Another commenter questioned the statement about not being able to do good stories you remember months later, writing:

High pressured breaking news is what these reporters live for. Stories that won't be remembered??? BTK and Greensburg were huge national stories.

That I think right there sums up the problems with the art of television. To many, good television is merely the subject or topic matter: BTK and Greensburg. I will be the first to admit there were well executed stories which came out of both situations, however the subjects that bring good storytelling are often shoved aside for the easy elements of a big story like BTK and Greensburg. Many let a good story rest solely on the topic and not on the craftsmanship of the story. Do people need to know the news of the day, of course, but for some reason the audience or the people who think they know what the audience wants, think they like the in-your-face breaking news format. Ratings wise, I think this format can definitely improve them hence make sales people and GMs happy. Just because they are happy and the industry may say "every body's doing it," doesn't necessarily make it right. -Hal

KSN: A Houston TV Station?? and "Searching for..." on KAKE

If you didn't know better you would have thought KSN was the NBC affiliate in Houston on Wednesday. Based solely on Dave, you would have thought this tropical storm (NOT a hurricane) was baring down on his town and not Houston for the time he spent on it. Previous comments have discussed KSN now leading off with weather and that being a bad thing on a slow day. It now seems Dave will treat any weather event as if it is a coming down on his own town. I think, I have no choice, but to now issue for KSN a permanent, Severe Weather Woody. No matter a sunny day in Wichita, or a passing storm in Uganda, don't be shocked to see KSN treating it as if a tornado or blizzard was blowing through Wichita.
Also KAKE must have turned its scanners on again on Wednesday after missing breaking news the other day. They led off with a chase that injured a Deputy. It was the end of the cast that proved humorous when they go to show the suspect involved and suddenly a black screen with a corner graphic of the Chiefs pops up. Susan Peters talks about authorities, "searching for. . . . . . . not the chiefs." It can happen anytime to anyone in TV, especially in breaking situations and that one was funny. -Hal

Leading off WITHOUT the News

With Football, KWCH was late because of a late afternoon game and KSN late with the prime time game, KAKE was the first with the 10PM news, without it. They lead off with a story of how the hunter population is dwindling. They must of had their scanners off. Meanwhile KWCH starts about 15 minutes late and leads with a body found and KSN follows about 15 minutes later with the same story. Now hold on, I am the first to admit I don't get overly excited about the latest shooting or stabbing or other crime and I have chastised stations who go overboard. But as a station who meticulously promotes they are the station for breaking news, KAKE certainly was not it Tonight. -Hal

Reader Request

Anon #7 from the previous post wanted my thoughts on KSN going to a full hour of news at Noon, NBC adding a fourth hour of the Today show, and moving "Regis and Kelly" to 11AM. Lets go to the later first. I could really care less when Regis and Kelly runs because I never see them and not a real fan of the show. But if the Noon show ratings go up, I hope they give Regis some credit. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the lead-in now to the Noon show are paid infomercials.

As for NBC adding a 4th hour of today, I seem to remember when the idea was first hatched a year or more ago, some affiliates were upset because it would interfere with local ad time. Is this correct? I guess if KSN is running infomercials now at 11, you would think that would cut off that revenue, although its much better for the station not to run paid stuff before a newscast, even if it is Noon.

As for the soon to be hour long Noon show. I wasn't aware it was happening, although I think a commenter said something about it awhile back. I checked on the TV Guide web site listings and sure enough starting next week it will be a full hour. Maybe it has something to do with salvaging some of the local ad time and revenue lost (if indeed some is lost) from the 4th hour of Today. For my dollar, as much as I am pro Stephanie (she is my favorite anchor on KSN, male or female) I still will watch Kim Setty on KWCH. Thinking more about this topic, I think KSN had an hour long show a number of years ago and that was a time when they had more staff. Many days they are barely able to get the day's news on. Take example, Wednesday at 6PM, when the NAACP announced they are asking the FBI and the Department of Justice to investigate the Wichita Police Department. KAKE and KWCH were live, while KSN barely had mention. Now I will say the other two's coverage might have been slightly over doing it, but does KSN have staff to devote to a Noon audience which has to be less than their evening newscasts, even for KSN, and still cover all of the day's events? Curious to hear your views and answers to some of the questions I asked in the post. -Hal

The Future of Local TV News

I must confess I got the link to this article from the kids at lostremote.com. (Steve, thanks for the comment a few days ago.) Now as always, some will discount this because even though the article wasn't written by the Lost Remote staff, some view anything on their site as anti-conventional TV news. I disagree with that notion and think the following article brings up an interesting topic. Actually the article comes from across the ocean and the Guardian. Although the subject looked at TV as a whole, and not just TV news, it mentioned how 85% of content is currently on tape so it makes it easier for it to be eventually downloaded to MP3 live formats for video IPod devices. And it says the TV industry could be going down a path similar to the music industry. However, a VP of Google says you will still need live TV for sporting events and news. I am curious how you think local TV news will change or not change years from now? The latest Poll question is on this topic. -Hal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/27/news.google

Hutch Bomb Threats: Day 2

Hutch finds themselves in the middle of the attention as "copycats" Today called in hoaxes, after the threats from Tuesday. The three stations got a tour of the Hutch Dillons' stores as the day unfolded from hoax to hoax. The question news directors must deal with as this continues, is how much coverage do you give to these, and the more you give especially to the hoaxes, do you just encourage more idiots to call? That's one question I'd like to open up for discussion.
As for coverage, pretty average and starting to grow old and warn together. I must say I liked Jim Grawe's story on the guy who was a customer at Dillon's Tuesday and Wednesday and while there both days he was evacuated. For me to get excited for a topic like that, I think means I am even growing tired of it all, but once again when do you let up? At 10PM, KWCH and KAKE all lead with the arrests and had video from the scene of the arrests of people described as simply wanted for questioning in connection with the hoaxes. KSN had a slight mention of this, but pretty much stuck to a wrap up of the events earlier in the day. -Hal

Hutch Bomb Threats Coverage Notes

The news stations found themselves breaking into regular programming throughout the afternoon as the situation broke out in Hutchinson. Early on KWCH definitely showed an aggressiveness in being on the air. Anchor Kim Setty did a decent job, with little information, staying on at for times beyond the commercial breaks they were preempting. KAKE broke in with similar information all anchored from the station. KSN lived up to their channel number, as they so often do, by starting off in 3rd. They basically continued with using only a crawl for coverage, while the others were breaking in with anchors in the studio. The early use of pictures from cell phones was good by KWCH (not sure if KAKE or KSN had them). Although they didn’t provide much in the grand scheme of things, at least it was something to look at early on. I wasn’t able to watch everything from start to finish, but I think KAKE was the first to report all the people inside were released. That was probably one of their only wins for the day. As for the newscasts, I think we need to divide my comments into two sides of thinking: stations covering overall situation and the station with the information of longstanding significance. If you are wanting to know who covered the basics of the situation best, I would say KWCH and to a smaller degree KAKE did so. I think KAKE could argue that as the day played out and we found out that there wasn't necessarily a captor inside (and basing it on that info only) then one could argue that it was OK to back off a little bit more at 6.
Meanwhile, KSN would have been a distant third if it wasn't for the information reported by Chanda Brown on the link of the Hutch event to others around the country. This was definitely the story of longstanding significance. I wonder if they knew they were the only ones with this info. If so I wondered why they would break this information on the 5PM show. I thought this was somewhat gutsy. Turns out at 6PM the others really couldn't get enough further info to corroborate it. One comment said that KSN wasn't the first to break it. I'd be curious if this is true who did? If someone else did break it, KSN had more of a presentation with maps and made it more of a part of their coverage as a key part of their story. This information probably made up for what seemed to be a slow start and pretty average information as a whole for KSN. By 10PM this fact lead all the stations, except it ironically I thought was somewhat played down on KSN, compared to 6PM.
I do want to take up the matter of information coming out from the scene. I'd be curious to hear from anyone there. I couldn't believe for something that started before Noon, it took so long for officials to release whether there were hostages. I realize that it was a little more complicated and took some time to understand it all, but a little information regarding this would have helped. A couple of times on KAKE, an anchor asked when an official press conference would be held, as they were over 2 hours into the situation and it was unknown if hostages were being held. I think a little more info would have prevented speculation (overall the stations did well in refraining from that) and having to solely rely on people from around the scene for the information. They provided much more usable information, than a mouthpiece would, but a little more information would have helped. I also must say since the FBI was involved that could have slowed down the information release.
As mentioned earlier, predictably the exclusives KSN had at 6PM, were all covered by the other 2 at 10PM. KAKE pretty much had what was said at 6PM on KSN by 10PM. KWCH actually found out more information of additional cities involved than what KSN had at 5, 6 and 10. I thought KSN definitely competed well at 6, but by 10, KWCH overtook them on information. By 10, KSN's story on the connection to other states had all the same facts at 5 and 6 plus it was buried. It appeared as if they did little to advance that angle of the story for 10. Since that is what made them competitive at 6, they should have tried to stay out on the lead of that angle for 10. They didn't. -Hal

Also:
-It was good to see KWCH reporter Alana Rocha speaking about her recovery and thanking everyone for the support. She is set to start reporting again Wednesday.
-If you have a an idea for a poll question, let me know.
-I forgot all about the weather. Posters have started to comment about KSN starting off with weather, no matter the news for the day. I agree, even if it is only "15 seconds." It can still be too long on a breaking news day. I must say I think KSN has moved up the start and begins at the same time now if not sooner, at least thats what happened Tusday night.-Hal

Potpourri

Blog Poll - I know the poll on the blog is far from being scientific, but I think it does deserve a little conversation. Since there are changes going on at KSN, the poll asked what 1 on-air cosmetic change at KSN would you make? The choices were dumping Dave, Anita, Paul or nothing. This was posted after Paul was moved from anchor at 10PM to a reporter role. The results favored dumping Dave (46%), Anita (34%), Paul (13%) and then nothing (4%). You faithful readers will know I have never been a fan of Paul's. Once again, I don't think this poll is necessarily the Gospel truth, but it is what it is. I think it collaborates what some may be thinking, KSN had other issues on the anchor desk it needed to deal with before Paul. As for the blip in the Carrie Renger's column in the Eagle about the staffing change.

http://www.kansas.com/business/rengers/story/155485.html

I think the quote from the news director could be put into a yet unwritten book called, "Putting the Spin on Anchor Changes in TV News." He said as quoted in the article, "In any business, you should always play to your strength," he says. "Paul's a terrific reporter."

I have liked Paul's on-air presence doing live stories, but once again that is nice spin instead of saying, "We don't want him to anchor our 10PM show." He is still doing the 5PM. Although it was sent as a comment, a faithful reader e-mailed me to ask the question, "How many chances with co-anchors will Anita get? When do they realize she could be a problem?" As the Eagle article pointed out, Paul was the 3rd male anchor to join Anita on the desk in a little less than a decade and that doesn't include the various stints she went solo.

Mapping Software - Also I have enjoyed looking at the Map Clusters software I added to the site. Like the poll, you can't get real excited over it, but I enjoy it. Although they probably will never come back to the site, I would like to say, "Guten Tag," to the one hit I got from somewhere in Europe, possibly Germany?

What Not to Blog About - I guess I learned at least one thing this weekend. Viewers to this blog don't share my enjoyment of academic studies about the business. I thought the study from 1998 would illicit some interesting dialog about the industry. This was the smallest reaction I had gotten from a post, since I started.

New Nielsen Market Rankings Unveiled - Nielsen tweaks its market sizes from time to time. Although Wichita added over 600 TV homes, the market dropped 2 sizes and now clocks in at #69. Tucson and Roanoke-Lynchburg overtook Wichita in the latest chart. Here's a link to the updated version. (Sorry to the reader who doesn't like the Lost Remote blog.) -Hal
http://www.lostremote.com/2007/08/23/new-nielsen-dma-rankings-released/

An old news Case Study

As some of you may have figured out, Hal enjoys reading scholarly journals. I stumbled onto a study from 1998 that was particularly interesting, especially here in Wichita. The study by Tom Rosenstiel, Carl Gottlieb and Lee Ann Brady of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, ranked the quality of over 60 stations in 20 cities. It says it found audiences will not punish stations in ratings for producing quality local news as defined by a group of professionals. However it also says the lowest scoring stations as defined by its professionals are just as likely to succeed as the best stations. One of its 4 stations that it describes as being, "model" is KAKE. For KAKE it was all about doing in-depth pieces and less crime in 1998 as described by the authors. Hmmmm. And today they lead off with a murder trial. Now those reading this who were in this town back then and remember their newscasts in the late 90's, will not find this all that surprising. However, those who didn't, will find this as a reminder that just as a station may rave about their formula, they can change it and not even be near where they once were. So lets open up the time vault to 1998. Here's a link to the study in full. I encourage you to read it.
http://journalism.org/node/377

I will now post an excerpt from the study that offers an interesting glimpse into KAKE in 1998.

"A few stations prove there is an alternative to this processed news product - and it can still attract viewers. Over the past three years, each of the four stations profiled here has been trending up in ratings while most of the industry is down. What's going on at WEHT in Evansville, WLKY in Louisville, KARE in Minneapolis and KAKE in Wichita is thoughtful, old fashioned, and emphatically local. The formula is a straight-forward approach to writing and reporting. None of these stations is dumbing-down its news, or hyping it up. Crime is not blown out of proportion, and technology is merely a tool, not an end in itself. Most important, viewers are treated like citizens rather than consumers. It's back-to-basics newscasting, and it's working."

Here is the excerpt about KAKE as a model station.

"Not surprisingly, weather is often big news at KAKE, the ABC affiliate in Wichita, in the heart of the tornado belt. In the springtime, when storms can turn deadly, a meteorologist leads the show each night, followed by stories on various aspects of approaching fronts. The comprehensive coverage lasts all night with updates every half-hour until morning. "Weather is the number one thing that we do," says KAKE News Director Jim Turpin. "If it's really severe weather, we just take over the station." KAKE's coverage of fast-changing local weather and its impact on the community is one of the reasons a station in the 63rd market is ranked number two in quality in the study. Its busy consumer unit is another. Consumer reporter Deb Farris isn't doing formula pieces from consultants. Viewers call her with problems and she does her best to solve them. One day it's plumbers falsely claiming to be available 24-hours a day. The next it's helping a family get a refund for a vacation gone awry. She even vacation gone awry. She even tackles local examples of national problems, informing people that those with car insurance can end up paying more for broken windshields than those without it. "If we feel like it's a valid concern or if it affects a lot of people, we'll do it," says Farris. And like other stations profiled here, KAKE tries to find stories that are unique as well as local. To help them, the entire staff is invited to participate in the daily editorial meetings. KAKE reports the local angle on national stories frequently and leads the market in using multiple sources. It also focuses less on everyday crime. "Over the years we've just stopped covering crime," says reporter Farris. We are much more interested in stories that "help more people in their day-to-day lives."

Farris's quote in the study from 1998 is very interesting, "Over the years we've stopped covering crime," and that they are interested in stories that help people. Once again they led with a murder trial today. However, I must say their murder trial story on Thursday was interesting. A lot happened in the court room that was interesting to watch, but to me that's an exception rather than the norm. So in 9 years (eternity in the TV world) KAKE has clearly adapted a new philosophy. Someone in the know, please help me out, I think their ratings or rank has improved since then. So I ask you (TV professionals and those who aren't), although KAKE has changed, have what people want in local news changed in those 9 years? Is KAKE a "model station" today? Is there a "model station" in the market? -Hal

KSN Changes

Thanks again to the comment about noticing Paul Petite live out at a shooting last night and not behind the desk. I kind of noticed it, but in someways I didn't. I guess it proves that I was growing tired of the act on KSN. I still wonder if the change is permanent. I went to the KSN website and if you click on his name he is listed now as a "Reporter/Anchor" where Anita is listed solely as an "Anchor." Maybe for Paul this always was the case, because if you read in his bio, it still lists him as a 10PM anchor. On the other hand, maybe they haven't updated the bio, yet. I must admit I have made my comments known in the past that I don't care for Paul behind the desk. After the fact last night, and the more I thought about how it, I like Paul reporting in the field with breaking news such as the shooting. I must say I thought he did a real fine job. Then Tonight at 10PM, he was reporting and I was reminded why I don't like his on air presence. It wasn't a breaking news story and his reporting live tonight was more of the song and dance you see at 5PM and not as authentic. Maybe he needs to head to KAKE and do nothing but breaking news. He'd do good live on the scene stories and probably be one of their best (and that isn't a slam to KAKE's current reporters). Next question would be is KSN now looking for a new co-anchor to join Anita or would they go back to Anita being solo? I seemed to remember they have done this before only to go back to adding an anchor after a period of time. If they are or ever do add a co-anchor with Anita, whoever takes the job might want to be leery because those who have joined her the past few trials haven't lasted long term next to her.

But the move of Paul off of the 10PM anchor desk, must have been only the beginning of the changes for KSN. I noticed things a little different at the beginning of the newscast with the introduction and all last night, but thought it might just be do to the weather watches and warnings. Another comment Today suggested I go to the KSN website and look at a blog by Jason Kravarik. (It has since been taken down.) I'll take the phrasing as a commenter quoted it from earlier in the day, "you'll get a new segment called, 'Weather First,' right off the top even before the news starts." The blog continued "it's because people constantly tell us that weather is the most important reason you turn into our newscast." With this in mind watching the newscast at 10PM you can definitely see a philosophy of Dave, Dave, and more Dave. I am curious if people (what people) told them they like weather as a whole or if they specifically said KSN weather. Then in the middle of the newscast Tonight after a story about damage from last night storms, Dave and Anita suddenly started what seemed like a version of "Coffee Talk," (lets call it "Latte Talk" because of it being 10PM at night) talking about the severity of last night's weather. Just when you thought he was going to show tonight's weather again (he had just lead the show with a quick forecast of tomorrow) the bit ended and they went on with the show. He was merely brought in to talk about the weather with Anita, without maps. Will that continue every night? Maybe they needed to move Paul off to make room for more Dave on the desk? I don't think it is just irony that Paul's move to a 10PM reporting position and a new increased weather emphasis happens at the same time. It must be KSN's latest, in a long line of efforts to improve ratings. I'd be curious what sort of odds this would get of working at a Vegas casino.

That now leads me to the poll question. If you were in charge at KSN what on-air cosmetic change would you make. I know they already have made a change with Paul, but lets say that hadn't happened yet. I'm leaving Jim out of the equation because since I started this blog I have only had a few times where his name has been brought up. Please vote, only once. -Hal

Ants in your Food, Ants on Your TV?

At least it wasn't the lead. Yes, the reporter tried to have fun with the topic. Still, I thought it was still a little bit of a stretch to do a full story on the allegation of ants at a local fast food restaurant. KAKE's Cayle Thompson got to (literally) the bottom of the bag to get to the story. Apparently a posting on Myspace said there allegedly were ants at a Burger King on the east side of town. So Cayle went to investigate even pulled a part his burger as part of his "picnic" and couldn't find any ants. So he had to resort to talking to clueless people outside of the Burger King to ask them what they would think if they found ants. It was a dumb story, but I give Cayle credit, it couldn't have been far worse. He did what he could out of a lame topic. At least he didn't use a cheesy line about extra protein or anything like that.
http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/9250061.html

OK KWCHers, mark this down Hal is praising you. Well, sort of. I think you need to use the Fact Finder12 more often as you did on Sunday with info of the last Pizza robberies. You'll say you use the FactFinder often, but I say usually it doesn't come across as useful as it did on Sunday. It fit well with the main story and had information that one might want to know after watching the lead. -Hal

Moving On: The Sad Future of Local TV news

Once again, I apologize to everyone offended by the comment that made it through, following a previous post. There have been a few comments critical of me and suggestions of other TV personalities who I have criticized in the past that I now have to apologize to. This is the last time I will address this topic. A reader very adequately wrote, "actually the Rebecca comments were just his opinion... the Megan stuff was just plain mean." Once again I didn't write the Megan comments and they were not my opinion, but nonetheless I let them through and I have apologized for that. Comments about others are my opinions of the business about people who, after all are in the public eye. Are they like elected officials and voted in by the people? No not in that official sense. One could argue, though, voting occurs with the ratings' books. But the reporters profit (not with much money) by being in the public eye, so as long as they are not ruthless personal assaults, I think they are game to be praised and criticized in a careful manner. Enough on that. As I was reading the comments, one stuck out. The comment was why I should stop the blog and that my comments are petty. Here is an excerpt:

Some of your criticism's are petty and contrary to what you may believe, the reporters you criticize are still fairly fresh, still learning, and no, they do not make a ton of money. Last thing they need is someone like you criticizing their every mistake.

Those comments tell the tale of the future of local TV news. It tells of a not so bright future for local TV news as we know it, not just here but all over the country. The reader writes, "..the reporters you criticize are still fairly fresh, still learning.." I agree and that is the problem with TV news, not just here in Wichita, but all over. Even just a decade ago if you were graduating from college and wanted to get into the business, it was understood you would have to start in a small market like Corpus Christi, TX; Amarillo, TX; Joplin, MO; Topeka, or even a bureau in Kansas. You would do your time, learn the business and then move here and some would stay here for some time, while others would move on up more quickly. Over a decade ago the stations in Wichita, like much of the country, had a number of reporters, not including anchors who were at their stations for 5+ or more years. They were career journalists in Wichita at their stations. Now do to the economics of TV stations and a psychology in the reporters, being at a single station for a number of years can be looked down upon. Many young reporters out of school today see the glamor of the business in bigger markets and think they can make it to the national level, in part because pay and the quality of life can be tough in smaller markets. Often times when they are looking to move up, being at one station for an extended time can be looked upon as negative, unfortunately. Looking at the stations here in Wichita, I can think of only a couple of reporters who have been here a number of years, know, live and have rooted families in the communities and because of this they do solid work consistently. Kudos to them. I am not criticizing those who use this as a step to a better job, because the nature and economics of the business today have caused this. It has always happened here to some point, but now if you don't leave town, move up or get out of the business after some years, you are the rare exception. To me, many of these young and inexperienced reporters (some I have mentioned before and some I haven't....yet) will only add to a spiraling snow ball that will leave to an unwatchable product and one that I think will eventually kill most of the local TV news in the next decade. Outside of the friendly talk with the anchors and weather guy, why would I want to sit through a clueless inexperienced reporter tell me something, that they clearly know nothing about, when I can just read it now at my own pace on the internet? Its a harsh prediction of the industry's future. And in some cases it is well underway. Thanks to the reader who pointed me to this story off of the Lost Remote blog:

http://www.lostremote.com/2007/08/13/internet-news-audience-critical-of-traditional-news-media/

The premise of the story is those who are increasingly turning to the internet for news are doing so because they do not like TV news. As corporate bottom lines become tougher and tougher to meet, cheap inexperienced and unwatchable talent will be the norm and the audience will tune out to the point it will make more sense for the stations to run an infomercial or a Judge Judy rerun. -Hal

Sorry for letting the bad comments slip through

I must admit I didn't look all that closely at the comments and that is the one reason why I moderate the comments and up until this last week, I could only count about 2-3 where I had to moderate the post. There certainly must be something in the air, water, heat or something that is turning the comments into more of a negative vibe lately. I am the punk, coward or whatever you want to call me for letting that comment slip by. I do apologize and will have my eyes open wider in the future. -Hal

Election Coverage winners

On the Eve of the election on the Casino issue, who are the winners covering the issues? Unlike maybe the election, I don't think this is really even a close race. KWCHers mark this in your books, Hal is nice to you. I know you all will find a way to say I am being unfair during this post. You might want to let the person know, who said a few weeks ago they would never read the blog again, that I'm praising you guys so the person's fair weatherness may pass enough to read this post.



KWCH - I think leading up to the election they certainly have distinguished themselves on providing the most coverage. I found their polls most useful. A poll a few weeks ago showed how the Pro Casino folks' once large lead, was now suddenly very close. On Tuesday of last week they had polls breaking the vote down between male/female and other demographics. Say what you want with polls, but it gave KWCH another angle to cover. Plus they had another story to go along with it. As I have said previously I liked the icon on the website that brought you to a page with links to stories the station had previously done. The debate was OK. Something should be said they were the only ones to do it, but just because it wasn't on live TV and streamed on the Internet, doesn't mean you should of given up on the production value.



KAKE - They did keep up with the issue, but lacked the execution that KWCH had and overall plan. I don't think they covered as many diverse issues with the casino issue as KWCH did, but they kept on the story on a daily basis with stories from reporters. For example KWCH did a few stories about communities in other states and if crime rates were effected. It was a closer (wont say in-depth) look at a topic out there that many opponents bring up, something you might see less on KAKE. Like KWCH I liked the icon that takes you to all of their stories about the casino vote.






KSN - I thought they largely stayed away from the issues and covered it largely from afar. There were a few stories, such as one by Jason Kravarik a week ago that dealt with it in-depth. I will say if you don't have a story idea beyond going over the same arguments over and over, then it might be a good idea to withdraw. Maybe that's what they did. No folks, this isn't an excuse for them. I still think they placed 3rd in coverage of the election. They weren't out in front of anything on the issue. The only exception was the decision by the GM to do a commentary on the issue. I still question the legitimacy of him being able to do this like he did. I thought this was a bad move and something the station shouldn't have gotten involved in, even if the opinion was only his. I wonder if many any viewers at home, who saw this were upset. -Hal

KSN's GM Takes a Position on Casino Issue

Once again readers, thanks again for waking me up. At Noon Today, I was half watching and flipping newscasts, when I suddenly hear this anti-casino speech. I knew it wasn't a normal commerical that had been running, because the voice wasn't familiar. I watched more closely and realized it was a commentary from the GM on KSN. I thought it was odd, but disregarded it. Then someone comments on it at the end of the previous post. I then think about it some more and decided to write the following and open it up for discussion.

I honestly do not know the answer to this question so I will pose it here. Are their equal time rules regarding TV stations during elections? You hear about this at times during the Presidential elections. The question comes up after seeing the General Manager of KSN doing a commentary explaining why he is against expanded gambling in the upcoming election. I am sure he and the station would argue these are solely the opinions of him and not the station. I'll accept that, but besides the fact he is GM of the station, couldn't one argue someone from the "Yes" camp should be given an opportunity to have the time to do the same thing.

Another argument could be newspapers do this all the time with editorials. However the newspaper is printed on a median (paper) from a private entity. Although TV stations are owned by private entities, they are broadcasting on the Public's airwaves, regulated by the FCC. So in this example the public airwaves are being used to give time for one opinion, whether or not its just the GM's opinion and not the station's. So my question once again is, does KSN owe the opposing side the same amount of air time for their rebuttal? Honestly I may be totally wrong here, but I'd like your opinions of what you make of this spot and secondly do they violate an FCC or equal time rule, if anything like that even exists?

A commenter mentioned that the station could have credibility issues covering the story now. That is an interesting point, even if their staff hasn't made up their minds, do viewers who see this, think "anti-casino" now when they see Anita, Paul or noon anchor Stephanie Bergman? Also if the GM takes this stance now and if the casinos pass, will he refuse the casinos' money when they want to advertise on his station. I think I know the answer to that one. -Hal

KWCH-KFDI Casino debate

So not to be outdone by the baseball story, KWCH sponsored a debate along side KFDI radio on the upcoming casino vote. It was done from the studios of KFDI radio. I kind of question the reasoning behind this. I think it would have looked better if they could have done it in the TV studio rather than a radio studio. You could tell the studio was tight on space and the wide shot of everything wasn't good because often times you saw more of the back of Michael Schwanke's head than you did of him and the rest of those involved. I think radio has less technical things to worry about, so you would think it would have been easier to have it at the TV station. With that said, there definitely was good information discussed by all in the debate and I'd encourage those who are still up in there air or maybe even if you made your mind up, to check out the debate now on the KWCH web site. -Hal

Baseball Fever and Catastrophe for Wichita TV Stations

So Anon #4's comment from the last post mentioned how they saw on KSN's website that a new baseball team had been chosen for Wichita, but now needed the city council's approval. I must admit I heard something about this at 5PM, but wasn't paying very close attention. I forgot all about it when 6PM came around and was out and not near a TV. Doing this stupid blog has now forced me to get a DVR so I can record one station of my choosing if I am away or whatever. For some dumb reason I chose to DVR 12 at 6PM. When I saw the response about a new team I checked on the DVR and saw nothing on 12. I went to the web and saw two stories on KSN and then went to KAKE.com and saw something new I liked. They stream the first segment of their newscasts. I should say most of their main newscasts. A commenter wanted to know if I saw "the meltdown Saturday at 10 on KAKE." I didn't and was hoping they were dumb enough to stream that and they weren't. Darn.
Anyway I must say KSN did a nice job on breaking the news of the new team. Was this worth having Casey Walkup and Lauragail Locke to lead on the story about an independent team at 6PM? That's your call for the comments. I will say I think they had good reason to believe they were the only ones with the news so they definitely wanted to have full coverage on it at 6PM and own the story. Someone had previously mentioned how KSN missed a fuel leak into a Salina stream Yesterday and was this enough to make up for it. I will say the Salina story probably wouldn't have been as big of a thing if it wasn't for recent catastrophes in Valley Center and Coffeyville. Even with this said, KSN did dodge a bullet that this didn't become a bigger deal and for them they were lucky it didn't pollute the town's water system. And by 10, you quickly realized the news of the day was baseball. What gains they might have made at 5 and 6 for breaking the baseball story, were quickly overshadowed by the 10. They once again looked like the way behind third and sometimes 4th ranked station in town. They owned the story at 5 and 6 yet they waste 3 minutes on non-weather to lead the 10? This could have been technically related. Then they get to the story and Paul's mic isn't working. Then the camera wouldn't switch over as Dana's microphone was slow to get going. As for the story, it was good, too bad everything else around it didn't deserve to be in the starting line-up.
KAKE did a bad job of acting like they were on top of the baseball story at 6PM with their new sports guy thrown literally into the fire to savage the story. I am becoming impressed with this guy and his delivery, but don't get me confused. I thought KAKE had a poor effort of faking it. Although they might have tricked a few people at 6PM they were on top of things, at 10PM, they interviewed the Thunder owner and then a bunch of fans who obviously knew nothing. Not a very strong effort, but as you read on they did OK if comparing to the others overall.
KWCH had nothing on the topic at 6PM, or at least with a quick scan of the DVR. They were in a tough spot tonight, because they had a debate on the casino they simulcasted on the Internet. Their problem, they didn't make a clear decision on whether to go all out with the casino or all out on baseball for 10. You cannot have both and maybe they learned that. At 9PM on the Fox newscast Linda Marez did a remarkably solid job on the baseball story. Actually a real complete package with sound from the possible new owner (which everyone had) and then reaction from a councilman. Not bad for her and a solid job. So at 10PM they lead with the baseball rather than the casino, but instead of a solid story like Linda did on Fox an hour earlier, she just read a script over video and sound from one person. I don't think they came out looking as well as an hour earlier on Fox. Then they followed up with the casino debate. I think if that's all they were going to do with baseball they should have held that for the 2nd story. Despite KAKE's story being the weakest, they probably came out about as good as the other two, just because of some bad technical blunders or bad decisions made behind the scenes by the other two. -Hal

Sunday Potpourri

OK, I know I used this title once before, but what the heck. The last few weeks we saw the battle of what station could bring us the best story on checking up on the Casino Ads Commercials. Of course this blog was filled with commenters fighting for their stations being first with it and better, all good fodder. I am sure the upcoming election will be the subject of more stories this week. I'll be curious what the next angle will be.

In the last week KAKE premiered a new sports guy to replace James Sido who went to a bigger market. As I have made it clear in the past, I never was a fan of Sido. Even though someone must like him to give him a shot in a bigger market, I just don't like these bad Sportscenter anchor impersonators. KAKE's newest sports guy made his debut over a week ago. Not sure of the spelling, but KAKE's newest sports guy Ben Arnet, isn't bad. He has had a couple of witty lines and should be good overall. While I am on the KAKE bandwagon, it was good timing having Alan Shope in Wisconsin for the arrival of Priest Holmes. Although I'm doubtful Holmes will see much playing time this year, I thought it worked well for them to be up there for that as the only Wichita station, up until this point. KWCH folks, I know, I'm sure you'll have a crew in a few days, but face it you missed an interesting day today.

Tomorrow, its not the YouTube debate, but the closest thing for Wichita. KWCH will simulcast on the Internet a casino debate Monday night. I'll be curious to hear your comments about it when its over. -Hal

Who Has the Winning Hand in Casino Vote Coverage?

With the vote less than 2 weeks away, this might be a good time to evaluate the coverage to this point for the upcoming casino vote in Sedgwick County. Thanks to the commenter who mentioned this as a possible topic. I had been thinking about the topic a little and actually if someone wanted my honest opinion who had the best coverage, I probably would say KWCH before giving it much thought. Their poll was good over a week ago showing that the margin of a lead for the "Yes" folks was shrinking. Although it appears as if it was done after KAKE's, their "Fact Finder 12" investigation on the Pro and Anti Casino spots was better. I thought Kim Wilhelm presented it in a little more of a conversational manner and still with a little more urgency. It also looked like it had a little more post production work done to it and looked better .

I had to check the web to see exactly when the two did their pieces, but I think KAKE might have done theres at least a half week earlier than KWCH's. (Update 12:33AM: Check the comments following this entry and you make your own judgement). That's about the only area in which they trumped KWCH. Once again KAKE's post-production work on the piece isn't anything near KWCH. Reporter Deb Farris had the facts (and were the first ones to report it) but they were not as easy to follow as KWCH's. They both found similar things in their stories.

Following up the rear, not surprisingly at least in timing, was KSN as they ran their promoted Casino piece Tonight. I think my head is still spinning similar to the reels on the slots. The piece by Jason Kravarik certainly was the most in-depth piece on the issue yet, done by any of the stations. The interviews worked well, mixed in with the various ads. You don't often hear, yet alone see Phil Ruffin so that proved interesting. It proves that this is a complicated topic that had been under reported by KSN up until this point. I think it also shows that with a smaller staff, KSN might do best focusing on longer in-depth pieces like this and less breaking news stories. If it only had the right on-air talent, it might be able to find a niche in Wichita and gain some ratings. It might not make them #1, but this format might improve their current spot. They currently are #3 so what do they have to lose in trying this route and promoting it.

Since apparently the web is the future for the business, I think I need to mention a few things I found when researching the story. First off, I really am not familiar with the equal time rule when it comes to campaigns. I don't know if it really even exists at the local level or not, but KWCH just may want to even things out for their sakes. This is a hot button topic and I think many will be going to websites to read and WATCH the various stories the stations did on the topic. I wanted to catch a 2nd look at the KWCH Fact Finder investigation of the commercials so I went to their web site and found that although the text of both sides are on the web, the video of only the anti-casino ad story is on the site and not the video on the pro-casino ad story. (Update 12:35AM: Since this post, the problem on the KWCH site has been corrected according to the time stamp at 12:02AM on 7-27-07. I'll admit it I might have been partially wrong on this one, but at the same time I was right too. See the comments.)

Since people we'll be checking out the web for Casino coverage prior to the polls, KSN needs to take a hint from KAKE and KWCH's sites. KAKE and KWCH have separate icons listing all their stories to this point on the vote. Its nice and makes the stories in one spot and easy to see and watch (when posted, KWCH). Maybe KSN can put a link up above their "KSN Throws a Wedding," ad. (Boy the wedding sounds like a fun gimmick, on an unrelated note. I am sure the wedding will be fodder for Hal at a later time. I will be interested to see how the newscasts will somehow get involved in this obvious sales stunt. Hey, maybe Paul could be the wedding singer. He has the hair and schmucky style for it.) A link taking the person to a list of stories KSN has done on the casino would be helpful.

I also see KWCH plans a debate on the topic. They will not broadcast it live over the air, but rather live through the web. I'll be interested to know how many hits that gets. I like this person, but I was interested in seeing that Michael Schwanke will co-host this with an announcer from KFDI radio, rather than KWCH using one of their main anchors solo or with someone with KFDI.
Also I am curious who all of you think has covered the casino issue best. Try not to let your views on the casino get in the way with who you think has the best coverage of it. -Hal

The Sale of KSN

Thanks to frequent poster, "Jon" for pointing me to the news on kansas.com that KSN had been sold. I don't know much about the new owners. I am solely basing this off of the Eagle article saying it was announced in LA.
http://kansas.com/news/updates/story/130589.html

After I read the Eagle article, I looked at the comments from readers. Yikes. There wasn't a lot of love for KSN, that's for sure. People on their site certainly are reacting, so I'll open it up for discussion tonight on this blog. Here are a few of my reactions.
First will be a question. Will KSN remain, for the most part, a #3 ranked station, or will new ownership see the possibility of dollar signs if they can improve the on-air product and the ratings? In previous posts' comments people have talked about a smaller work force KSN has compared to the others. Will new ownership shrink or expand the staff?
Hopefully a new ownership group may bring serious on-air cosmetic changes the station needs in its personalities. We have talked about their inadequacies before in previous posts. New ownership might need to clean house with management to get a fresh view of what viewers must want to watch, since the current has added an anchor that to me is hard to watch and kept one who hasn't delivered in the years she has been on the desk. The comments on the Eagle's site are getting a little harsh and maybe are just from the non-television industry-angry-disgruntled folks, so I'd be curious what you all think will or will not happen in this sale. -Hal