Oregon Media Insiders

Did it ever occur to you that they just posted the job listings about 2 weeks ago and that they may not even have any of the positions filled? February is a pretty busy month for news directors. Who said the positions may not even be filled until after the show has already started in early March?

There is a fine anchor here in Spokane Washington that might be interested in work. His name is Richard Brown and until last October he was main anchor and managing editor at KXLY ABC 4. He resigned for personal reasons and as far as I know has not yet found employment. He is a terrific anchor and Spokane is nuts to let him go. But at least if he joined KATU I could still watch Mr. Brown on the net.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local/story.asp?ID=222163

Hey Shawn...

Good call. Richard Brown was an excellent anchor that exuded a trait not too many on air personalities possess...integrity.

I e-mailed a friend at KXLY inquiring about what had happened to Brown, she was pretty tight lipped about the whole story, thanks for the link to the article in the Spokesman which explained the truth behind his leaving.

http://themcguffin.spaces.live.com

Once again: It's not about ratings, it's about available ad time. I should make up a t-shirt or something...

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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother

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.

MORNINGS -- KGW is ahead of KPTV from 4:30-7am (which hasn't happened in more than a year)... hmmm. KATU & KOIN aren't a factor.

NOON -- anyone care?

5PM -- Same old, same old (KGW 1st, KATU 2nd, KOIN 3rd). All stations' numbers are actually up from a year ago.

6PM -- KGW handily in 1st (with a very solid number); KATU in 2nd (which is interesting, since the show is brand new); KOIN in 3rd, but up about 1 point from last year. A good time slot for all 3 stations this book.

630PM -- KGW 1st, KATU 2nd... nothing interesting.

10PM -- KPTV is about even with last February. So is KRCW/KGW (with abysmally-low numbers & no sign of growth).

11PM -- Same old, same old (KGW 1st, KOIN 2nd, KATU 3rd, KPTV 4th). The trend of 11pm ratings declines seems to have leveled off... the numbers are very close to what they were last February.

Now if only I could get a source inside a local newsroom or someone at AC Nielsen to get me Spokane's ratings?

With the new ownership and a new news director at KOIN, any big changes ahead? I've never cared for the anchor team of Gianola and Day. I was a big fan of Donahue and Hancock. Anybody know if Mr. Donahue likes the morning and noon gig? I'd love to see Mike return to evenings to round out his career, not that he should retire anytime soon.

KGW's HD newscasts look great. I cant wait for our BELO station (KREM) to go HD. I'm hoping for May sweeps, but I doubt I'm that lucky.

Have a great weekend everyone!

I haven't heard anything from Belo about KREM yet...at least not at NWCN.

One week later, no change in the mornings.
KGW still holding what now appears to be a comfortable lead over KPTV.
In fact, the KGWers haven't lost a single time period between 4:30a - 7a in the last two weeks.
Idol Factor = non-existent
GDO momentum = non-existent
AND they're moving Kim Maus off the 5a-7a hours with the launch of their 4PM show next week.
This was KPTV's last book with the full morning "A" team, and it will go down as a clean sweep loss from 4:30a - 7a to their favorite folks at KGW.

How did KATU do in the morning now that they've made changes? How are the changes working out?

it didn't make a difference and now they are losing at noon

Do you have the ratings numbers that indicate that?

Year-to-year

Katu is up 1.5 share points at 5AM - 3rd place

Up 1 share point at 6AM - 3rd place

Up 1 share point at Noon - 3rd place

Not much movement morning or noon.

Katu IS showing some momentum in the early evening news.

I'm sure KATU was hoping for a bigger increase with Natali anchoring the morning show. I guess any improvement is good but KGW is up more than KATU and the big 8 didn't change a thing.

do you have any numbers that are more recent?

when the poster says year to year... that means last year at this time, compared to right now this year.

Those are numbers come from the February book -- as of last Friday.

I'm not in the industry and would have no way knowing that till you all told me.