A critical look at the Wichita TV news

Friday, April 4, 2008

Media General article link

A recap for those who didn't sift through the comments of the last post: a commenter wrote that things at KWCH and their owners must be well since they took over the CW, launched a high school sports internet site, and are even adding employees. That was followed by a comment from someone saying that KWCH staffers should be happy their former owners, Media General, sold them a few years ago. A link to an article was then posted, but the whole address didn't come across in the comments section. Thanks to the commenter for e-mailing me it. I now have it and here is the link to the article. The article explains how a "hedge fund," that holds a stake in Media General is attempting to kick off 3 members of the Board of Directors and replace them with its own people. The commenter went on to write that employees of KSN should know what happens when an investment company takes over a TV station and isn't interested in television but merely interested in increasing profit margins by laying off staff and reducing other expenses only to then sell off the station a short time later with a nice profit to show for their maneuvers. Obviously Media General has problems due to much debt accumulated by its newspaper holdings, but another sad example of the state of the industry. -Hal

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

did anyone see the exclusive story by Dana Hertnecky last night about the Andover chiropractor? Excellent journalism. And if KWCH is doing so well in the ratings its sure not because they are covering stories. I can count at least 10 times in the last three weeks they missed the boat on a big story.

Anonymous said...

Big stories...not quite. KSN gets lucky on occassion but everyone does. I still havent seen KSN apologize for putting a cop and his family's lives in danger but hey, I guess you don't have to when you're number 3, and yes you are number 3 overall.

Example....
The fact that you don't send your sports director to the biggest sporting event of the year in the state proves you people have no clue.

Anonymous said...

I think Alan Shope is KAKE's sports director, last I checked and he was in the studio Tonight. He lets weekend guy Ben Arnet handle things down in San Antonio. Meanwhile KSN lets weekend guy Mark Davidson handle the Jayhawks in Texas too. I wont Casey Walkup for KSN, nor Davie Phillips for KAKE. Davidson or Arnet? I easily chose Davidson, because Arnet get to cutsey and does a bad Sportscenter anchor impersonation everytime he is on camera.

Anonymous said...

By the previous post and what I've seen, it seems only 12 sent part of their main anchor team, Cindy and Bruce, to Texas. Any other anchors go?

Anonymous said...

Something tells me Susan or Jeff will be in a plane Sunday for KAKE as they try to play catch up KU coverage. Looks like they got played, no pun intended.

Anonymous said...

All posters here are like morons bickering over life boats on the Titanic. This post was essentially about corporate journalism, not who sent who to San Antonio. My gosh, the viewers don't give a rat's a** about where the sports director is, as long as you're covering the story. If this is the kind of discussion we choose to have, then we might as well cue the band and let the ship sink.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the last commenter about bickering on here. All this blog has become as of late is a bunch of management suck ups, or managers trying to make their station sound almighty.

Got news for all of you.... all three of your stations suck!

I would rather watch "The Flavor of Love" (And everyone knows how painful that show is to watch) than sit thru five seconds of the garbage that is Wichita local news.

And FYI sweater monkeys I am not in TV I am a viewer.... YOUR audience....and I think it is pathetic and selfish that you speak about your viewing audience on here like they are a bunch of lab rats and you are trying to figure out which cheese lures them in the trap the best.

I don't care which station gets there first, I don't care which anchor or reporter goes where, I don't consider a car wreck on west street worthy of breaking news. And I got news for ya neither do most other viewers!

Get a clue, get a life, and get over yourself!

Anonymous said...

Why is Bruce & Sindy at the game? DUH...it's on CBS. Well, that, and it's easy to jump on the bandwagon.

Anonymous said...

Anon #5 - You think KAKE is going to fly Susan & Jeff to San Antonio? That requires something called "money" which KAKE refuses to spend. They can't even afford to leave the lights on in the bathroom none the less two plane tickets to San Antonio!

Anonymous said...

No comments on the Final Four coverage? Come on people, what are your thoughts? You K-State fans don't want to acknowledge what is going on? What are Hal's thoughts?

I think KWCH has owned this tournament, and no that's not just because its on CBS. They've had more than just one sports guy at each stop along the way. They've also had an online blog during the games. I also think think they were smart to send Cindy Klose down there when no one else sent any of their anchors.

KSN gets a nod for 2nd. They've had some interesting stories and like KWCH sent a decent amount of people to San Antonio (not sure about Omaha or Detroit though).

KAKE is dead last. Their video (I think someone said they sent it over the computer) looked horrible from Omaha and Detroit. It doesn't look like they sent anyone except a sports guy to the Final Four. And the keep doing the same stories about KU fans in bars. Who cares?

Anonymous said...

Anon 6:57....

What bandwagon? If anything they are leading this wagon train since it left Allen Fieldhouse.

You act as if KWCH hasn't been at every game in this entire tournament? They have. You act as if they didn't go to most if not all of the home games this season. They did.

Oh and 6:38...

Tell the truth. No viewer would care or post on this site. You are one of us but just trying to hide it.