Oregon Media Insiders

Finally the management over at KGW have figured it out. They can do another half hour of "local programming" at little additional cost. A 7PM News program eliminates the need to pay for trashy syndicated programming, saving precious dough. A 7PM News program wrings one more half hour of filler out of under-worked, under-performing producers, directors, writers, photogs and editors who by the 7PM tile slot are all sitting around the newsroom twiddling their thumbs and wondering where they can score that evening's analgesic. The plan makes perfect financial sense. Who cares if anyone is watching?

The point is, all the newsroom staffers are in the building anyway. Why not get something on the cheap and slap it on the air. Glitzy anchors can simply switch seats and the look is entirely new. The weather segment can be expanded to 12-minutes. You can never get too much weather. The Sports Report can grow to 9-minutes because there's always more one needs to know about the Trailblazers. Throw in a few station breaks filled with promos for the Morning News, the News at Noon, the Five, Six and Six-Thirty News and before you know it, your half-hour time slot is covered.