Oregon Media Insiders

I could not agree with you more! Mike is the one amazing thing KOIN has at the moment! He is a trusted voice in news and is respected by everyone! Make him the Lead before he too jumps ship!

I can't agree more with the people who say Move Mike Up!.

I've always been fond of Mike Donahue's delivery. I practically grew up with him. He is the trusted face and the heart and soul of KOIN 6 (I still remember him delivering the Mt St Helens news with that disco haircut of his). Seriously, though, without Donahue, KOIN's just another chump.

Despite this, I don't dislike Gianola. Make Jeff AM anchor.

Put meat back into the newscast. Give the newsroom what they need to dig into important stories. Develop a serious, slick newsmagazine show (like Lars had on 12 back when he was still a human being) and put Mike in front of that too. Carbon copy the original 60 Minutes if you have to...I don't care about gloss, I want hard hard news.

Spend whatever it takes to get KOIN back to the place it was in the late 70s and 80s–the place you tuned to if you wanted your news delivered by adults (remember Newsroom 6? Thats what I'm talking about).

Samuel John Klein, a/k/a ZehnKatzen
graphically involved at http://zehnkatzen.blogspot.com

I've said it before on this board and it's worth repeating. When viewers are surveyed about TV news, without fail they indicate they want news that affects them, they want longer in-depth stories, they want more time spent on things like schools, government issues and regional issues and they are less interested in crime reporting.

But guess what?! When the remote control is in hand, viewers behave very differently than the surveys would indicate. Why do you think KPTV does so well?

Frequently, what viewers *say* they want to watch... and what they actually *do* watch... is frustratingly different. It's a big problem with research.

The way I see it, there are three general types of TV viewers:
1) Appointment viewers
2) Channel surfers
3) Lazy viewers

Appointment (news) viewers are there because they want news & information. They are more tolerant of "journalism", and tend to be older.

Channel surfers stop at captivating images. These viewers have short attention spans and will only watch news if a story hooks them & the following stories are similarly fast-paced and eye-pleasing.

Lazy viewers tend to be your lead-in hold-overs. They'll watch out of laziness... but if they get bored, they'll overcome their laziness & switch the channel.

I believe that KPTV does well at 10pm because they've figured out how to get all three types of viewers. The appointment viewers watch because of the early hour (10pm). The channel surfers watch because KPTV tends to include more "sensational" stories than the other stations. And KPTV gets the lazy viewers from the strong FOX lead-ins.

Bringing this back to the KOIN discussion... if I were the new GM, I'd spend a lot of time watching KPTV...

[eom]

I agree with a previous post that said to bring back Mike Donahue as primary evening anchor, boot Jeff Gianola. I'd love to see KOIN bring back Shirley Hancock. In my opinion Shirley and Mike were the best anchor team KOIN ever had. If not Shirley, Elaine Murphy. I watched Elaine in Spokane when she anchored at KXLY and I followed her to PDX. Mike, Shirley and Elaine, all excellent anchors.

Maybe KOIN should back up the brinks truck and try to lure Joe Donlan, Laurel Porter, Nancy Francis or Stephanie Stricklen from KGW. Any of these anchors would make a solid team and give KGW a run for their money.

...for someone to make a play for Steph. I don't know what her contract situation is, but I'll be very interested to see what happens at the end of it.

-----
Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother

When I said this before, somebody said something accusing me that "I'm hot for Stephanie" or some such - not true.

Her delivery and content on her health segments are superb! KGW needs to keep her at all costs and elevate her role! Come on, that's obvious!

Viewer Rick

She's hoping for bigger things at KGW and it will probably happen soon enough.

First.. KOIN won't "back up the brinks truck" for anybody. They will not spend the kind of money required to steal a top anchor from KGW and no one from 8 would make that move anyway. Why would they? KOIN only got Sussman because he was stuck on weekends at KGW and had no hope of moving into Zaffino's spot. He'll be gone in 3 years to a bigger market as the main meteorologist. BTW, Steph says she's locked up and isn't going anywhere. I predict she'll be anchoring their morning show in a couple of years. KGW is just trying her out at 4:30AM. She's passing the test.

Second.. about Mike Donahue. Everyone seems to think he's the answer for KOIN's main anchor chair. I realize he's a great person and respected as a journalist but what has he done for their morning and noon news? Are ratings up a lot since he took over? I don't think they are. KOIN needs new blood but I don't think they're going to steal it from KGW. Maybe someone at KATU would make the jump.

Steph's great. But with her new morning anchor gig, she's locked up with a new contract.

Sussman won't go anywhere else if he doesn't stop shouting. Calm down Bruce. We can hear you. Those microphones are really pretty good. You drank KGW's Magid "URGENCY! VIGILANCE!" kool aid once too many times. You're smart and capable, but sheesh, tone it down.

Second the motion.

Are you serious? You must have been one of those with your nose up his ass. Marty cared about nothing but the bonus he received after the sale.

I second an "Oregon Considered" for television. Also, points for the word "schmaltz."

...how?

-----
Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother

Your website has worn out it's welcome. I no longer find your OMI amusing, informative or insightful in regards to the TV stations in Portland. In fact this blog has put many people in jeopardy of losing their jobs and caused undue stress in their positions. What is your motivation? More importantly what is it that you or anyone else has to gain from the misinformation that is on this blog each and every day? In my opinion OMI is just hurtful and harmful, and I wish it would just quietly go away. Believe me, it would not be missed one bit. I don't wish you any bad luck Lynn, I just wish you'd turn off the lights as you leave.

I promise to run right over, loosen those handcuffs and let you click over to another website, as soon as your staffers stop sending me your memos. I've got a lot of reading still to do.

If you find it negative and unhelpful, don't come here. I hear the opposite EVERY DAY from readers, and I've been asked just in the last week to speak at two different professional conferences. (Why, I dunno.) But everybody's different.

If you're looking for fluff, try here. Guaranteed kicker material. Love it. Love it!

-----
Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother

The First Amendment. I'm going to paraphrase Howard Stern here: if you don't like the website then don't visit it. Why should Lynn go away just because you don't like her. Get a hobby and a life.

Do you KNOW every single person in the KOIN building? Those who are left ARE the ones who give a shit about the product. If you want to rip on someone for the mess that KOIN has become, rip on Montecito for stripping away every available resource to improve the bottom line. If you were one of the dozens that Montecito canned, sorry for your luck. Maybe you should have worked harder.

In fairness, not everyone who was canned was canned because they didn't work harder. Quite a few were caught in the numbers game, i.e, the goals that Montecito had in terms of cutting costs. KOIN lost some talented people, who worked just as hard as anybody. The greater issue was versatility. This is not a business where you can do just one (or two) things anymore, and keep a job. If you mean they should have expanded their skill sets, then there's some truth to what you say. But, to suggest that former KOINers lost their jobs because they didn't work hard enough is just not true.