Oregon Media Insiders

I agree with you.

KPTV is the marijuana dealer of TV news. They know there is a buyer (the audience) for their drug, so they supply it and consider themselves smart for figuring out how to be on the lucrative side of the supply and demand curve. Let the buyer's "health" (the viewers' education about "real" news) be damned. After all, money-making is the only goal. KPTV has it figured out. (But unlike the real pot dealers, KPTV does it legally :)

I have long applauded KPTV for their smart business decisions. And I'm OK with their (news) business model -- but only if they openly admit their motive. Sometimes they do; most of the time they don't. If they'd openly and proudly tout: "Hey, we've figured out how to win, and that matters much more than doing what is journalistically responsible". But they don't say that. Instead, they use their high ratings as an indicator of their superior journalistic judgment. In their mind, as long as the nightly ratings show that they're #1, they're making the right content decisions. The problem with that belief is that ratings and content have long been independent of each other -- because there are so many other overwhelming factors that influence & determine the nightly ratings. Yet the KPTV folks routinely argue that it's their CONTENT decisions that make them #1. I call bullshit. Loudly.

KPTV is #1 because:

1) they've created a buzz in the market,
2) they're on at 10pm in a market where the audience continues to show signs of going to bed earlier and earlier,
3) they've got great anchors,
4) their presentations style (graphics & pace) is fantastic,
5) they've got a great main weather guy, and
6) they've got some hot FOX lead-in shows.

All of the above factors absolutely dwarf the importance of newscast content -- especially since all 4 stations in town often report on the same set of local crime stories (which is an argument pro-KPTV posters routinely make here when defending against attacks upon their content).

I maintain that KPTV is a success DESPITE their content -- not because of it.

OK, have at me. But know this: there's no way to prove me right or wrong. It all comes down to opinion and judgment -- nothing more.