Oregon Media Insiders

Saving the station a little money on increasingly expensive, but underperforming syndicated programming. If I can produce my own programming that puts me in the ballpark with a syndicated show ratings wise, it's a win for me. Lower cost, larger return. Oprah is the exception. Sure she gets good ratings, but she is expensive to carry. Millionaire for example, does not get even good ratings, yet costs KATU a lot of cash to run. Plus, KATU can only sell a portion of the inventory. Locally produced news can get the same or better ratings, costs much less to produce, and you get to sell the entire inventory. It's a formula that works as long as you invest in the people to run it. If all you do is add shows, but not people... well then all your shows suffer. KATU is hiring about 5-6 fresh bodies just for this.