KAKE Sports: JV or maybe even the Freshman Team

Its been about a month since KAKE sports director Alan Shope left the station. It will certainly take some time for KAKE to find a replacement, but the last month really shows they have a weak bench of back-up sports people. It appears Chris Frye would be their main fill-in anchor. Then you have Terrell Benton and hockey player Jason Duda. I could use an overused cliche and call this a Motley Crew of sports types, but this would certainly be slamming the band and I'm not even a fan of the group.
This week I started seeing OT Live Producer Abby Lippold fill-in on the main sports desk on KAKE as well. She has appeared on the OT Live show and I might have even seen her fill-in on the weekend, once or twice. You can definitely tell she tries hard, but she is rough to watch doing sports. Not that Wichita is a huge Top 25 market, but she certainly shouldn't be on air in this market.... yet. That's what the small markets are for to develop her talent. However, I know there will be some reading this that are saying Wichita has dropped to a small market from a psychological standpoint. I disagree. I think overall there is a good product shown on the stations, especially for the economic and industry conditions occurring. Stealing a term from a comment of a previous post, she should appear on Wichita State's Studio B and get some experience. -Hal

KSN Bankruptcy Finalized

According to the Wichita Eagle, KSN is finished with an 80 day Bankruptcy restructuring process. I know nothing about bankruptcy, so I am curious if anyone does, especially as it is concerned with a TV station and might be able to shed some light. -Hal

Slain Deputy Coverage

The tragic news of a Sedgwick County Deputy losing his life while on duty is very difficult for a community. The three stations got the information out very quickly and it seemed with accuracy. KAKE was the quickest on live coverage of press conferences, however I thought KWCH and KSN had the best storytelling of the event. KAKE might have had more angles, but it wasn't put together as well as the other two. Your thoughts. -Hal

Is Alan Shope Gone From KAKE?

Comments in recent days to this blog talked about a "secret" meeting at KAKE. Still not sure what that was about, however a reader alerted me to the fact that Alan Shope no longer is on the KAKE website as part of the sports team. Hmmmm. It is certainly an interesting time to make a change with the start of football and that is usually the busiest part of the year for the local stations. -Hal

A HEAP of Radar Gun Stories

I'm baaaaaaaaaack, to a degree. I had a nice Summer break. Lets start with my first post back with one of my favorite, or not so favorite reporters in town.
For children, the start of the school year comes with it the unpleasant realities of early bedtimes and homework. However, for adults watching TV news in Wichita comes the reality one station will air useless stories of an obnoxious reporter with a radar gun showing people going fast in school zones. Don’t get me wrong, I think many people ignore school zones, go too fast and its an accident waiting to happen, however the obnoxious ways of Brian Heap do not make the stories easy to watch. Also, it was interesting the first time, maybe even the second time, but now they are old and have become the same thing each time with him pointing a radar gun at speeding cars, although the story this past week had him wearing a raincoat and catching a police car going too fast. - Hal

KWCH Reductions

Thanks to the readers for the link to this story on the KWCH website. Five full time positions eliminated and 3 others being reduced to part-time. All remaining employees must take a week of unpaid leave. WOW. It says the reductions are spread among all departments. I will be curious to hear how it effects the news side of things. On one hand you can say it is a surprise the #1 rated station in town is doing this, however, Sunflower Broadcasting, the station's owners are heavily invested in newspapers and that side of the media industry is under more attack than even the television side at this point. -Hal

The Tiller Death

Obviously the biggest story since the arrest of BTK happened, as longtime abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was fatally shot Today at his church. Not sure as to who exactly broke the news first. A commenter said KAKE broke it first. When I was watching both KAKE and KSN were on while KWCH had a crawl. I must say KSN's coverage early was good. I really like new KSN anchor John Snyder. He does a nice job in breaking news filling time, because it seems natural. It is clear he has some National experience doing it. Stephanie does a nice job with John on the set. I liked KSN's content especially at 5PM for such a quick turn. KAKE did OK, but Abby Barnett is not solid in live breaking news situations. By 10PM, the shows were all pretty even with the same information. It will be interesting to see how the stations handle this story in the days to come. -Hal

The End of a..... well..... The End of a 20 Year Anchor

To me that was what she was. I will not call her anything more than an anchor. I am referring to KSN anchor Anita Cochran who had been with the station for over 20 years and signed off for the final time Tonight. I could have titled the post, "The End of an Era," but to me that means success and overall accomplishment. I never really got that feeling watching over the years. I could have wrote, "The End of a Legend," but I do not feel that works either. I don't think you write "Era," and "Legend," just because someone has been at a station for over 20 years, unless they have earned it. I do not believe she has. They are, I think, in 3rd place in Wichita and I think her moving out of the main anchor chair is a great thing for KSN. Tonight's show was actually a little less cheesy than I would have expected for someone like her. Dave Freeman of course had to get all reflective and gave her a "Weather Geek", or something like that, kit. Overall I thought it could have been worse.
KSN Future: As to the future of KSN, Stephanie Bergman is moving to Anita's chair and I think that is a great move. Along with her on the desk is John Snyder who most recently worked in North Carolina. I do not know much more than that other than he has had some network stints over the years. I think it will be exciting to see this new pair and see if they can bring some positive reaction for the station. I think Stephanie has a very positive reputation so that should really help the main anchor desk and if her and John can interact well, they might have more people watching.
With Stephanie leaving the morning show, I am curious as to who will replace her. -Hal

Update: Thanks for the e-mails and comments who say the new KSN line-up will be as follows:
Morning and Noon: Anne Meyer and Mark Davidson
5PM -Stephanie Bergman and Anthony Powell
6PM - Stephanie Bergman and John Snyder
10PM - Stephanie Bergman and John Snyder
Weekends - Josh Witsman and Dana Hertneky

New Poll: Please vote in the new poll on whether you think the changes will help KSN's ratings.

Update 4-27-09 10:30PM: The new look KSN anchor duo completed a full slate of shows Today along with Yesterday's 10PM. I think there is some good chemistry between Snyder and Bergman. Tonight I also liked the moments between Snyder and Kobbe. I think there could be some fun moments. It will be interesting to see what happens in the ratings in the months to come. I think KWCH will remain #1, less for their reporting and more so because of Roger and Cindy. I will be curious, however, to see if the gap between KAKE and KSN diminishes and we'll see a competitive race develop for 2nd in Wichita. -Hal

The Show Must Go On

For the most part, watching KAKE's Sunday 5:30 newscast, you would have never known they had a major problem happen. Water came through the ceiling in the their main on-air control room this afternoon. It sounds like it was related to snow and ice melt. Larry Hatteberg on the newscast apologized to viewers and said it was just him, a camera, a tape machine, and many people making it happen. Once again, like we needed anymore proof, Larry shows why he is a legend and a professional in the highest form. He did a fine job in what had to be tough. For the most part the newscast went very smoothly. One little problem came out of the local story, when it went to black for awhile. Also coming out of video there would be a little video glitch, but overall I thought most people probably wouldn't notice the difference. They were missing graphics and cut-away shots, but outside of that it looked pretty decent.
Radio Station Tower Falls - More weather problems for local broadcasters, Wichita radio station, KYQQ, (106.5FM) part of the Journal Broadcast empire was off the air for a short period of time on Saturday after their tower collapsed due to what they believe was ice.
-Hal

Winter Weather Woody Coverage Notes

-Leading up to the storm it bugged me that KAKE didn't really have a clear forecast accumulation map like the other stations did. On Friday morning, I remember morning meteorologist Ben Pringle showed something that looked like one, but then for Wichita he said we would get a different amount then what showed on the map. It was too confusing. Once you get past his delivery, I thought KSN's Dave Freeman's map was easiest to see how much he thought everyone would get.
-Kudos for KWCH for expanding their Saturday morning show to 4 hours, but apparently they were so busy putting that together it interfered with them making beat calls and getting new info out. They had a live shot from Kim Hynes on Rock road and it was good because as it got light out, it showed me people were out and about and even had an interview with someone who got stuck. However, it appeared KWCH didn't do their homework on other counties' conditions compared to KAKE. KWCH clearly didn't make use of the resources they had. In the 4th hour of their show, they went to a phoner from Jim Grawae who was in Pratt! He got stranded overnight there and had to stay in a motel. Why wasn't he used earlier, because he gave firsthand information? I don't understand. Poor execution all the way around. More airtime sometimes isn't always better. They should have used him more often. It should work out well for KWCH as the day progesses.
-I generally am critical of KAKE's Abby Barnett, but her live shots the last couple of days have been better compared to her normal work. Not much her fault, but a live shot outside in the station's parking lot doesn't show me much, however Abby more than made up for that with information regarding people being trapped in cars in Pratt county for several hours and the Sheriff's department and Emergency management being immobile. Not that I am a huge fan of getting interviews from people basically saying its bad out but, KAKE didn't have any fresh sound, and KWCH did. In the grand scheme of things, I'd rather have information like KAKE did about Pratt County rather than an interview with a lady who lost her bumper on KWCH. -Hal

Winter Weather Woody

It's been a relatively quiet Winter. Someone will surely say in the next couple of days the overused cliche, "March is going out a lion." As we have done for past storms, it's definitely time for Wichita TV News to issue a Winter Weather Woody Warning for the local stations. All the meteorologists have been touting the storm for days. It was even sad to see KWCH do a storm preparations story on Wednesday in front of a sand truck, nearly 48 hours ahead of the snow in the Wichita area. That is hype. KWCHers will say that it was less than 24 hours for those people in Western Kansas. That's what your bureaus are for. Show video of plows out there and trucks out there getting fitted for the storm. Wait at least a day before doing that angle here. In all seriousness, somewhere in the large viewing area of the local stations, is bound to get dumped on and it will be a serious situation if the snow forecasted does fall. It will be interesting to see how the local stations do mobilizing their crews, especially if the heaviest snow falls in areas of Western Kansas. -Hal
Vote in the Poll - For some fun I added a poll, and based on what you see from the local stations and your meteorological expertise, or lack there of, how much snow will the Wichita area get by Tomorrow?

New KSN Anchor team announced

On Jan. 30, the KSN website announced that longtime KSN anchor Anita Cochran was to step down as anchor. Immediately the question rose as to who would replace her: (A)someone from within the station, (B)from another station, or (C)someone new entirely. Those who chose A and C are right. Two will replace Anita. Stephanie Bergman, the longtime KSN morning anchor will soon become a main anchor. Its actually a move I think was long overdue. Of the talent at KSN I always thought she would be someone viewers could relate with more than Anita. Kudos to KSN management for making the change. As to a male counterpart, a former cable news network anchor will soon be sharing the desk with Stephanie. According to a column in Today's Wichita Eagle, by Carrie Rengers, John Snyder will be moving from North Carolina to the Air Capital. Snyder most recently worked in North Carolina. He certainly has an impressive biography. Included in that are stints in sports broadcasting in Oklahoma City, the Big 10 network, MSNBC, CNBC and ABC. He anchored the early ABC morning news and also served as a backup news reader and reported on Good Morning America. He most recently worked for WCNC in Charlotte as a midday anchor. The article says that Anita's final day as anchor will be April 24, but did not say when the newest team will premiere.I am actually interested to see Stephanie and him paired up. I think its a good move for KSN, but now they must promote this idea they are a new KSN (as new as they can be while still having Dave Freeman). They need to actively promote this new anchor team and let people know there is some new blood on the main show.

With that I think they need to get John out in the community, meeting people and letting them know that they (hopefully) have a friendly anchor for people to watch each night. I think with Stephanie that persona comes across on the morning show and I have no doubt that it will with John. I like the fact he has a little sports background. I think that should work well with Jim Kobbe. Along with Stephanie, I think the two men should really create some fun moments for the three on camera. As for Freeman, I am not holding my breath. I must admit much of what I have read about John comes from his former station's website and I haven't seen him on set. I have never been a Freeman fan. If John comes across just a tad schmucky, and being along side a schmucky Freeman, might make it as uncomfortable to watch as the pairing now of Anita and Dave. I have hope though, John can put Dave in his place early and all four will be more watchable than it is now.
Thanks to an email for a link to some of John's past work. -Hal
UPDATE 3-22: I have been in and out of town the last week and have not been able to post. I also thought it was weird I didn't have any new comments. I tested it myself and couldn't get one of my own "test" comments to work so I don't know what is going on. Sorry about that. I am sure you all have some opinions. I will be occupied for most of this week too.
Weather Woody - All the stations are hyping the chances for a possible tornado or hail outbreak on Monday in the area. KAKE and KWCH both led off with that, (KSN always leads off with weather so no big deal). Lets see what happens. -Hal

Weather or Jayhawk Basketball?

So Kansas has this University based in Lawrence with a Jayhawk as a mascot. The University has educated many people over the years who have contributed to the world in countless ways. This University also fields men's and women's teams which compete successfully in many different sports.
Then there is men's Jayhawk basketball. And now as the people at KWCH know, you cannot separate the KU fan from watching his or her team. On Saturday as KU was playing Texas in a key Big-12 match up, nearby counties are placed in a tornado warning. (Eventually Sedgwick county would be placed in one as well.) The game was close at this point, but they do what a station must do and break in with the information. Unfortunately it was treated as if they were interrupting a nightly edition of Inside Edition, and viewers had no way to watch the game. Personally I think that weather is important and I admit I am not that heavily into basketball so it didn't bother me not to see basketball. But obviously it bothered many people and KWCH heard from them. KWCH addressed the topic during their Sunday newscast in a statement read on the air by anchor Denise Hyntka. It was the typical statement about how weather is important and lives could be at risk so they had to interrupt programming, about what you would expect.
Fortunately after a day of thinking the situation through, KWCH GM Joan Barrett responded with this statement online this afternoon.
I have never met her, but have a lot of respect for her now. Its not often that a GM admits they might have made a mistake. She did and discusses ways in which they could avoid the situation in the future. I must agree that I like her ideas including those getting KWCH on a now digital antenna, might be able to go to one of the digital channels like 12.2 for the weather data. She also writes about using sister station KSCW as a place to put either the special programming or weather information on. She admits they were trying to get a split screen on quickly of both the weather coverage and the basketball game, but had technical issues. I thought her statement came off heartfelt and showed they wish to improve the situation. I was also impressed they even came up with a separate e-mail address to address the complaints and concerns.
What do you think should have happened? Vote in the latest poll question to the right. -Hal

KAKE Premieres "New Weather Look" " . . . . "

While Merril Teller is "training on new equipment," Kake has a "new weather look." (FYI: all the quotes are from the stations' web propaganda.) I think the new weather look is a gimmick. Its not a surprise and really doesn't bother me, since a lot of TV news is a gimmick. It basically is in a sense a virtual weather center. As Jay or the weather guesser of the hour summons, a different piece of the background weather center pops up. I am curious what your opinions are of it. -Hal

Where is Merril?

I certainly have not asked that question, but I got a couple of comments to the blog wondering that and then I have seen it on the KWCH website. Then last night, Roger Cornish addressed it on the air, saying Merrill had taken time off and was training on some new HD weather equipment. Enough said. He'll probably be back just in time for the month delayed ratings period to start. Funny how that works. -Hal

The Switch is Here

In Wichita, KWCH and KAKE officially turned off their analog signals and now are broadcasting solely in digital, while KSN will wait until the June deadline. When I heard that Pres. Obama was moving the deadline to June, I thought it was a little ridiculous. I thought there was plenty of warning and stations did a fine job educating the public ,even having tests for people to make sure they had things working. According to a Wichita Eagle article, KWCH and KAKE, had people calling all day with issues. It really surprises me. Meanwhile in the article, it mentions KSN, who delayed the shutdown had a relatively quiet day with phone calls. I guess in one sense, when they do switch in June, they'll probably not have the volume of calls the other two had, because everyone by then will definitely have their home systems worked out. -Hal

Wichita TV Stations' DTV Changeover

If you watched, listened and read the majority of coverage on Pres. Obama pushing back the last day TV stations may broadcast an analog signal to June 12, it seemed like it was assumed all stations would abide by the new date. The original date was Feb. 17.

However in the days that followed, the FCC requested to hear from stations as to what they would do, because stations would not need to continue broadcasting in analog, even with the extension. However to do so, the FCC would still have final say for each individual station. They can mandate a station not shut down the analog signal on February 17th, if they felt the public in that market would not be adequately served.

In a Wednesday NY Times article, it was reported that nearly 500 stations would broadcast exclusively in digital on Tuesday Feb. 17th as originally scheduled. Nearly 200 are already doing so including Hawaii.

Before this issue came up, local stations, as required by law, were running crawls warning people of the original date. However, when news of the deadline extension was announced, stations updated their crawls as to whether they were going to shut down the analog signal on the original date or wait until June. When it was announced Obama was going to extend the deadline, many stories in the media made it seem as if all stations would follow the extension. Now that doesn't necessarily seem the case. In part, because continuing to broadcast two signals, (digital and analog) comes at a cost during a time when bottom lines are tight. I have read articles from around the country that say some stations spend several $1000 a day in electric and other utility costs for the transmitters in doing this. I was curious as to what would happen here, when the stations here not only have one transmitter but several to reach across the state.

On the FCC site, a complete list of all the stations in the country is listed. Looking at that list (Pages 47-48) and the four network affiliated stations in Wichita (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC), only KSNW will continue to broadcast the analog signal into June. To me its not a big deal one way or the other. Keeping the analog signal until June is I guess helping those viewers who haven't heeded the warnings, but it seems as if it does come at a financial cost. -Hal

Vote in Poll Question: So should stations abide by Pres. O'Bama's extension or turn off the analog signal on Feb. 17? Vote now in the Wichita TV News Poll.

Update 2-15-09 - 1:30 PM: The Washington Post has an interesting article this morning outlining the problems that have occurred during the digital TV transition. It touches at the very end of the article how several hundred stations are still turning off the analog signals February 17. -Hal

Economic Hardships = KAKE Promo

This weekend I nearly dropped a cup of coffee when I first heard it. Then I pretended I didn't hear it and that it was a joke. However later in the day, I saw a promo branded something to the effect that KAKE is your station for coping with the crisis. KAKE has always been the station of the 3 with the promos. I often think they are over the top, but if anything they get you to stop and watch or in my case nearly drop my coffee thinking about it. The promo talks about the rough economic times and how KAKE is your station to help the community through these times and make sure you watch KAKE daily for updates on coping with the crisis. Thankfully I am still employed, but if I wasn't and having economic problems I don't think I'd be depending on KAKE to help me cope with my crisis. Sure, when a disaster like a tornado or something hits, stations do promote their coverage, but in an economic one like this I think it may be a little inappropriate.

Abilene Fatal Fire - A tragedy in Abilene took place as a house fire killed three children on Saturday. On Monday the three stations covered the fire. I thought KSN did a nice job of putting a face with the story and talking to the children's grandmother who gave a little insight as to who the children were. I believe reporter Josh Haskell was the only one who talked to the grandparents on camera and gave us some insight. I don't normally see many stories from Haskell on a regular basis, but on the website he is listed as a Salina bureau reporter. He still has a ways to go in his career development, but a good get by Haskell for this story. KAKE, didn't do bad trying to personalize the story without a family member. They went to the family's church and I thought reporter Abby Barnett did a nice job taking what she had and making a decent story out of it. I haven't been a big fan of Abby's in past posts, but between KAKE and KWCH, I thought she did the best. KWCH's two stories on the topic had the church angle and even a next door neighbor, but I thought they really stuck to the basics, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. You definitely knew what happened from the stories, however, with the way it was presented, a viewer could have gotten just as much out of Roger and Cindy reading over some video and a quick interview from a fire official. -Hal

What the Skype is Going On?

I had seen it in recent days on coverage of the capital murder trial of Justin Thurber and wanted to write about it, but had not. Then Today Anon 3:02 of the previous topic wrote about KAKE and KWCH "'Skyping' live shots from Winfield." If you have seen any of the live coverage at 5 and 6, (I would also assume on the 11:30 or Noon shows) the live pictures from outside of the courthouse with the reporters on KWCH and KAKE have a "Skype" logo over them. Its not like the viewer wouldn't notice something is happening to their picture, if the logo wasn't on. The picture looks horrible. Its an absolute joke. I think the picture quality is terrible, however KWCH probably handles it best compared to KAKE. KSN's video with reporter Anthony Powell looked normal so it doesn't appear as if they use the Skype tool.
I think this really shows how the broadcast world is really in a world of hurt and danger when stations lower their broadcast quality in order to save money by using Skype.
From my research Skype was developed as a way for people to use the internet to talk to each other like a phone, however video images are transmitted as well. It wasn't long until TV stations soon saw the possibilities to be able to transmit a live picture as long as there is internet access. The alternative is more costly and often involves using a satellite truck. I am not sure the rates, but apparently stations must buy time to transmit from their trucks and the costs can quickly add up.
As I wrote before, I think using Skype shows how the TV news world is really in a world of hurt and danger when stations lower their broadcast quality in order to save money. Its as if they are willing to air any video quality if it saves money. I assume they are doing this for money saving reasons, because surely it isn't enhancing the on-air look.
Of the local stations using Skype, I must say KWCH has the best look of the two. They do not use the picture to its full size, thus the poor quality of the picture isn't as noticeable. However you can definitely tell its not a regular image, especially when a car passes by. On the other hand KAKE uses the Skype image to the full size of the TV and all the imperfections of the shot are definitely there. (The link online, doesn't show it as bad as it appears on TV). Its really bad when they show the Skype image and the anchors in the studio at the same time. The anchors look fine, while Cayle Thompson's picture looks rough.
Kansas 22 now KSN's and not KAKE's - I think the change over happened several weeks ago when the KSN radar was seen spinning around on Cox Cable's Channel 22. Then last week KSN personalities and stories appeared on the station. Before that KAKE did short versions of the newscasts with weather and sports for several years. KSN does it now. I like the look of the graphics and layout of the screen. I will especially be interested to see how KSN handles days when there is a lot of breaking news. Although I didn't watch KAKE's efforts with the channel very often, I didn't feel they took advantage of it on days when there was breaking news and enough information out there to update the content. I'll be interested to see how KSN handles these days and if they have updates and will they run events live like news conferences on big items and other big events. -Hal
Update 2-7-09 - 11AM: A comment mentioned it and I saw it as well. Like I mentioned above I was interested to see how KSN would handle live news as it happens on 22. I liked what I saw Yesterday when KSN ran the KC Chiefs press conference live on 22. It looked good with graphics and noon fill-in anchor Anne Meyer taking viewers in and and out of the press conference. If they can do similar things, for other situations, it will be a nice service. -Hal

KSN's Anita Cochran to Step Down as Main Anchor

It first came as a comment, but now I see it in a Wichita Eagle story: Anita Cochran to step down. It certainly was something that doesn't surprise me and something I would think if handled in the right way may improve things, ratings wise, at KSN. I always thought Anita was a great newsreader, she just for whatever reason didn't fit Wichita very well. Its unknown from the article whether she is still going to stay at the station and who possible replacements would be. It sounds like she would like to move on while KSN would like to fit her in a smaller role. So lets open it up. Who would you like to see anchor at KSN? Also, please vote in the new Poll question.
Also, here is an article which appeared on the station's website from the station's news director. -Hal

Cessna Layoffs and State Legislature Coverage

Although we still do not know the exact number in Wichita, Cessna confirmed they will cut 2000 jobs throughout the company. KWCH and KAKE (KSN led with Topeka) led with it at 10. Although KWCH did not lead with it at 6 (KAKE and KSN did), KWCH did at 10 and definitely had the best tease and angle on the cuts. I still think the story could have been better, however it could have just been that the wording of the tease really oversold me on the possibility of watching a different layoffs story, besides asking workers in their cars what they think (like KAKE and KSN at 10). Rebecca Gannon did not have those interviews and I was glad for that. The tease going into the KWCH 10PM newscast had county commissioner Gwen Welshimer on the screen as the voice talked about how the county and city had agreed months ago to give Cessna incentives to build a new pant. It talked about the layoffs and asked whether taxpayers would foot part of the bill of a new plant for a company laying off people. In the story Welshimer then says how those incentives haven't yet and wont be given to the company until they complete different phases of the facility. Of the three, I will give KWCH credit for advancing the story beyond asking the workers in their cars leaving the plant how they feel about the layoffs. I just felt I was going to get a little more on that story besides a sound bite from Welshimer about the county's incentive deal and then pretty much a summary of everything else that happened in the day regarding the upcoming layoffs. It may be no fault of Rebecca Gannon. I think she advanced the county and city incentive angle as much as she could, her story was simply upstaged by a well written tease. And in the TV business that should be considered a good night, when they sell themselves well and get people to watch.

State of the State - KAKE had Abby Barnett in Topeka at 5 and 6PM. They improved their coverage substantially at 10PM when I believe they had sister station, WIBW main anchor Melissa Brunner, cover the Governor's address. I didn't catch the name, but I believe it was her. I thought she was very good and do not understand why Abby and her don't switch and have Melissa head to Wichita and Abby stay in Topeka. Having the WIBW anchor do KAKE's report at ten improved their coverage from the earlier newscasts and evened things out among the three stations at 10PM. KWCH's Kim Wilhelm and KSN's Anne Meyer have covered the Legislature many times before and their experience shows in their reports from the Statehouse versus the always green Abby. -Hal

Missing Boy Coverage Continues

Throughout this week most of the newscasts led with the latest day's twists in the case of an El Dorado boy who went missing 10 years ago and how his adoptive parents never reported him missing. As I said in a previous post, KWCH certainly lead the coverage with gets of various relatives early on. The others followed in the days after. However, now I think its getting to be a little too much. All the relatives names are all running together to the point where you need a scorecard at home to not get confused as to who is being interviewed. Its almost like I will turn on to KWCH and hear big announcer voice guy say, "Tonight's long lost Adam Herrman relative interview is brought to you by ABC Grocery." (12 Troll, I know now, you are probably foaming at the mouth.) Let me just say there comes a point, even if there are not all the answers yet, to give the story a few days rest and come back when there is more and NEW information. Tonight at six, KWCH certainly could not resist giving it a rest as Rebecca Gannon talked to trainers of dogs used to pick up the scent of dried human blood and other things that might offer clues in the case. They will search an area on Saturday. I don't understand why she didn't interview the dog itself. It could've been their latest exclusive.

Fatal House Fire - A fatal house fire late Friday kept the stations busy and lead the 10PM shows. KWCH - Although I thought they won the battle on the Herrman coverage, they ranked last with the fire. (That doesn't bother me a bit, because you can win some and then lose some with breaking news. Sometimes the best its used for is promos after the fact. To me that isn't a loss, especially when you are already #1.) KWCH lead with Cindy Klose reading on camera that there had been a fire and then onto other news. Meanwhile KSN led with the fire and had reporter Justin Kraemer live from the scene. Although live, he didn't have the exact news or in his wrap-up say that it was a fatal fire in the midst of me switching channels. He mentioned that the victim was "Code Blue." I am not quite sure what that means, something like the victim isn't breathing or doesn't have a heartbeat. It would be helpful to have the reporter speak to his audience and say what the code means. Meanwhile KAKE was live with Natasha Trelfa and she did report and repeat that the fire was indeed fatal. Of the two live reports, her's came off a little smoother than Kraemer's, not to mention that she made it clear and repeated that it was a fatality. She certainly does well in these live breaking situations and is a nice change from past KAKE reporters who would make the viewer tired after the story because the reporters were so hyped up telling the news from the latest shooting or fire. -Hal

The Tale of 2 Newscasts: KWCH's 5PM and 6PM

I was caught up in the holidays, out of town and have not posted in awhile. I have a lot on my mind, but the media coverage of the missing boy in El Dorado has been interesting. For those of you who do not live in the area, an 11 year-old boy disappeared 10 years ago. His adoptive parents did not report him missing. Suddenly, last week, the Butler County Sheriff said he was working a missing person's case and couldn't release much info, not even a name, but would release more info at a Monday morning press conference. From last week to today the local media has worked the story and have found out more information. However, without a doubt, KWCH and reporter Michael Schwanke has been out in front of the story, since the beginning with interviews of family members before the other stations. (12 Troll, I complemented your station. You may not want to read the next paragraph.) Tonight at 5PM, KWCH leads with a great full story by Schwanke with an interview with the adoptive brother of the missing boy. The other stations do not have the interview. That 5PM newscast was well done. In a story that has lead for several days its good to get the freshest information. Although there was a press conference, there wasn't a whole lot of new information. While the other stations lead with the press conference and new interviews from people previously interviewed, KWCH had someone new and interesting. Then comes 6.

For a station who so overwhelmingly beat the other two at 5, KWCH failed miserably at 6. They had all the ingredients needed, but the producing failed. With better producing KAKE and KSN made it seem like they had just as much as KWCH at 6. KWCH led with Kim Hynes setting the scene from El Dorado and sound from the press conference. It drug on way to long. I know they were trying to set the scene of what happened today, but that could have easily been done from the desk in 30-45 seconds and then immediately to Schwanke's story with the adoptive brother like they did at 5PM. Instead, following Hynes' report, they have one sound bite from the adoptive brother. The story Schwanke did at 5PM would have been a much better fit at 6 and they could have touted the "exclusive" part of it more. Schwanke is anchoring and the 12 troll could argue that played into the decision making on why Schwanke didn't do a full story at 6 on the brother like he did at 5PM. To that, I say you must decide which is the more important newscast, 5 or 6. I would say the longer version runs at 6 instead of 5PM. Take the 6PM newscast out of the equation and KWCH has been out ahead of this story, but Tonight's 6PM newscast is an example of how a poor newscast structure can undermine a station's great coverage. -Hal