Tuesday, June 2, 2009
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
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42 comments:
It looks like they are being smart and proactive. The cuts shouldn't really effect news & coverage at all. Sunflower isn't heavily invested in newspapers, Schurz is. Check your facts Hal!!!
The reductions should start with Rebecca Gannon. That ego needs a serious reality check.
Dish the dirt - who was cut and who got the bump?
Hal,
Get it right. You really are stupid. You'd think for someone who claims to be "up" with the business, you'd at least get the facts right.
KWCH is owned by Shurz Communications. Not Sunflower. You aren't any better with facts than the TV stations.
According to the Eagle report, KWCH had 148 employees before the cuts. Seriously?
I doubt KWCH will lay off anyone you've ever heard of.
I love this spin.
Smart and Proactive.
I know the real story.
Anon 8:02pm -
KWCH's coverage on Sunday was horribly behind KAKE & KSNW with the breaking news of the Tiller murder. And that was before the cuts.
Granted, they won't get beat by River City FAX & KCTU, but then again, I wouldn't be surprised.
The cutbacks seem to be effecting their weather coverage as well. KAKE and their chasers seem to be kicking the almighty 12 all season, especially yesterday.
Can Ayna be reduced after Gannon...please
haha...do you really think the other station haven't made cuts? I know for a fact that all media outlets have made cuts. It's a shame that people can pass judge on others when it happens in their own house. be careful on who you judge can you're the one being judged...good luck
I like the transparency though. KAKE and parent company Gray have had numerous layoffs and you don't hear anything except at the corporate level.
Good point about transparency. It sux having layoffs, but at KAKE they go to work and its "hey--how come that guy isn't around anymore?" or "hey, how come they turned off the lights in that part of the building".
Ratings have nothing to do with layoffs. A station can have triple the ratings of the competition and if the parent company is struggling, they will struggle also.
The cuts haven't affected weather coverage. That's a ridiculous statement.
The chasers have nothing to do with the cuts. Get your facts straight.
Everyone has made cuts. It is nice to see that some folks own up to it, instead of denying it and trying to pretend that everything is peachy.
It's a trying time for every industry, it makes sense that media outlets would have problems too.
Look at the car industry troubles. Notice less commercials on tv? Yeah, that means less money for tv stations.
What a hypocritical spin.
If 10 or 3 cuts folks -- you'll jump up and down, trumpeting their downfall, how they suck... 12 is great... yawn.
But, when 12 lays off 5 and bumps 3 full-timers to PT, it's "smart" thing to do ... and you're so glad 12 is "transparent".
Joan's statement really amounted to a big CYA.
Shows like Oprah are expensive to air... and let's not forget how much $$$ is wrapped up in the 4 front line talent's collectively salaries.
Lay-offs are lay-offs.
Hypocrite.
KWCH has double the personnel of any station in town. KAKE has laid off half the people at their station by some estimates in the past few years. They are a shell of their former selves. KSN has never recovered after being cutted an automated.
Anon 6:20: Yes, KWCH has more personnel than 3 or 10. And you still got your a$$ handed to you on Tiller coverage. I expected more.
Of course,
I would expect a response like this.
You deflect, instead of admitting the truth. Cutting people means that you are trying to conserve cash.
But hey, better them that you, huh?
Your new building cost WAY more that originally estimated ... and the HD graphic system and the HD project certainly ran up the old capital bill, didn't it?
And having HD certainly did NOT help your ratings back in November did it? Sure you can deflect on this one too... I'm ready.
True, capital isn't the same expense as people ... but all these high dollar hits will add up in the long run.
Fact is, double the staff means that at some point ... some owmer ... maybe not Schurz, will look at the bodies working there and will make more cuts. Heaven help you then -- you smug arrogant jerk.
Yes...KWCH has the largest staff (for now).
The vast majority of staff reductions at KAKE were via attrition, over a few years. When someone left for another job, the position was eliminated. That's quite a bit different from passing out pink slips.
You can be smug when you smash the other guys in the ratings :)
It's amazing how big of a grudge KAKE and KSNW employees hold for KWCH.
Seems to me, most of the people out in the field get along rather well.
As usual, it's probably a bunch of producers causing problems.
BIG SURPRISE!!!
An obvious 12'er posted earlier that they "doubt KWCH will lay off anyone you've ever heard of." Oops. Wrong again. I think everyone kinda figured that anyway, but go ahead and deflect some more so we can continue to laugh at your arrogance.
Speaking of layoffs, KSN is a much happier shop without Anita. Even though she quit and was not laid off.
Media cuts are hitting everyone, an update on a former Wichita reporter here...
http://www.bottomlinecom.com/kcnews/leonlieblleaveskshb.html
Layoffs & cutbacks are happening everywhere. Stations with large staffs can have reductions and still produce a quality product.
Stations like KAKE, KSNW and all of their respective satellite stations are already down to limited staff. KWCH's satellite stations haven't been immune to this either.
If you work at a station with limited staff & they are still talking about cutting back, you should probably get your resume ready.
This is a funky time for tv, radio & newspapers. I would suspect that some media outlets will shut- down & others will merge together.
For people in the business that laugh about anyone from any station getting laid-off, nobody is immuned from this.
I'd like to see what three or four experienced, hardworking reporters who can write could do with a blog in a town the size of Wichita. I'll bet they'd run circles around all local media. People don't so much care these days about 50 column inches of flowery prose or video of some diva standing in front of a building where nothing has happened for hours. They want short, sharp news as it happens. Tweet, tweet, baby! The economics of scale make sense, too. For the love of God, why does it take 148 people to run a TV station in Wichita, Kansas? Such an arrangement will eventually implode as technology improves and the economy doesn't.
Please tell me what station in Wichita employs 148 people? I am just curious.
There are no guidelines in a blog. No one checking for accuracy. No one held accountable. You need structure and blogs don't have it.
You cannot get a story across in 140 characters. You can't do it so people give a damn. It's great for headlines and breaking news but that's about it. Oh yeah, sports scores too. But there's no depth. It's more superficial crap.
Twitter is already yesterday's news btw. You knew people would tire of it and they have.
Agreed about Twitter. This is a stupid fad that will be dead within a year.
Hal - Have you seen the latest Naked City magazine available free at various stores in town. Anita writes articles in and one this month is something. Its about her basically sticking something up her butt to rid her of stuff.
With New Vision filing for bankruptcy, look for KSN's news department to be gone within 6 months to save money. Mark my words.
Here's a good one... KSN parent company to file for bankruptcy
http://www.kansas.com/news/breaking/story/890931.html
Wow, KSN's ownership NVT just filed for bankruptcy.
Did anyone see where KSN's parent company filed for Chapter 11??? Seems like an interesting deal, their PR folks have put quite a spin on things!!!
Don't forget, not all of those 148 employees are based at the mother ship at 37th and Hillside.
to the poster who predicts ksn news will be gone in six months to save money...
your ignorance concerning business is astounding.
the news department makes money. its not going anywhere. neither is ksn.
Here's the deal...It amazes me that some people are just giddy that KSN's parent company filed for Chapter 11. Is it the best thing? I'm not sure. However, I am glad that we have not seen layoffs or furloughs.
For those of you who are sitting there smiling and predicting the end of KSN, be smart enough to realize what newsroom shutdowns mean to your job. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know less newsrooms equal less jobs.
In fact, there are so many cutbacks right now...if you were to get downsized, you would be really lucky to ever work in TV again. Think about it. Once the economy turns around, do you think TV stations will start hiring more people? No. They will realize that they can keep their staffing, and still turn a profit.
Instead of bashing each other, shouldn't we care about how this economy is chaging TV?
Point blank, grow up and take a look at the big picture.
In Duluth, the NBC affiliate (KBJR) took over news production for the CBS affiliate (KDLH) about a decade ago. Almost all of KDLH's news staff was laid off.
Sometimes it's not that a news department is profitable or not, but *how* profitable it is. Sometimes 3rd place stations (as KDLH was) find it cheaper to pursue avenues other than local news.
I think the Wichita market is large enough to support 3 newscasts, but it isn't foolish to suggest that that sustainability will automatically continue.
Hal must be too busy assigning parking spots and courtroom seats for Tuesday's Roeder hearing to post another blog. Poor guy.
Hal---Did you get downsized, reduced or laid off? It has been two months since your last topic about KWCH reductions. Did you run out of things to criticize about Wichita tv news?
Quoting Anon 4:13: "Sometimes it's not that a news department is profitable or not, but *how* profitable it is. Sometimes 3rd place stations (as KDLH was) find it cheaper to pursue avenues other than local news."
This is a very intelligent point. Sometimes being #3, is more profitable, since you aren't "buying" viewers.
I very very prominent man in the Wichita market once told me that programming was really secondary----if you have a top notch sales staff, they can make it work and make money. Hard to argue, as he was very successful--IE: $'s
I just hope the newspaper nurds don't ruin the broadcast media.
Anybody been reading about how many affiliates across the country have done away with news completely?
How can Wichita realistically go on supporting three affiliates?
Come on Hal...how about some new topics? These ones are getting old.
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