One year ago, Black Friday hit KOIN. Questions, two:
1) Where did everyone land--is anyone still on the beach?
2) What have we learned?
KOIN: One Year Later
If there was ever a textbook example of everything that is wrong with local television news, then SJL/ Montecito has written the defining chapter.
They have done everything possible to squeeze every last drop of profit out of that place.
Talented people? Don't need them. Cheaper and fewer is better.
Assignment desk? One is better than three or four, and hey, college students and part-timers can run the desk when that person is gone. After all, we can't work people 24/7. Can we?
Coverage? Three or four reporters on the street is enough to cover a city the size of Portland, and fill the newscasts. Just make them do the same story 3 times a day.
Live shots? One photog can shoot and edit those three versions of the same story, set up the remote and shoot the live shot. What are remote technicians anyway?
Producers? Heck, a kid could do it. What am I saying? Kids are doing it.
Contracts? Plead poverty to the troops. Pat yourself on the back for
screwing them, while sending mountains of money to California.
Management? Keep everyone off balance and in the dark. They'll figure it out when people mysteriously disappear, and younger, cheaper replacements from mini-markets just as mysteriously appear. Walk around like everything's just peachy. If you act that way, maybe they'll believe it.
Technology? Ignite rules! Don't fix anything else unless it absolutely needs fixing. Otherwise, patch it up and make do.
Ratings? Hey we don't care if we're in the basement. We're still making money. Lots of it.
Quality? Don't make me laugh! The news is still on the air, barely. Jeff, Kelley, Ken and Ed are still working. For now.
It looks like it's been a heck of a year. Can't wait to see how 2007 turns out!
Howdy from beautiful San Francisco... where work is a lot different than what I was going through at about this time last year at 222 SW Columbia.
If "ONE YEAR LATER" is correct, sounds like KOIN is even more exciting than a season with the Jail Blazers.
I have heard from an ex-KOINer that though he's been gone for nearly a year he got a new KOIN health insurance card this week. Not that it's worth much. ba-bing!
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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother
The station is increasingly irrelevant to the viewers of the Portland market. It's a niche station without a niche. I'd imagine CBS will be shopping around for a new affiliate when the agreement comes up for renewal. Also, if you're comforable being in fourth place, why spend so much on front line anchor talent like Gianola and Day?
As former Koiners, I think they're all pretty much spread across the map.
Their contracts came with the keys. I would give my eye teeth to be a fly on the wall during negotiations when THOSE two contracts come due.
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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother
...is the highest paid anchor in the market and they paid big bucks to get Day back from 12. Of course, 12, was happy to let her go - her girlfriend too.
ONE of them is about KOIN. The most popular thread ever was not KOIN-related--it was Drew Carney moving from 12 to 8. By outlet, KOIN is tied with the Oregonian for number of stories (94 apiece) with KGW a distant third with 80 stories. What could explain such interest? Oh, I dunno, the wholesale dismantling of a station before our eyes?
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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother
...people like talking about Koin ad-nauseum because they want to point out what a shell of a television station it has become; and want to make sure the shoddy management is exposed for what it is. Go ahead, throw at us the usual ridicuous comments on how profitable the station is and how SJL is making money hand over fist; that's not what this is about. It's about the chronicling of a broadcasting tragedy and exposing the people responsible for it - for who they are and what they don't stand for.
I'm not pointing out your typo, but it's rather appropriate all the attention the KOIN saga received. If you don't like reading or hearing about the destruction of a television station at the hands of greedy owners, then find another blog. The stuff that was going on at KOIN was better than just about any soap opera or reality TV show out there. In the end, the Portland area is left with a TV station that's on the level of market 125 not 25. If CBS decides not to renew its affiliation with KOIN, SJL/Montecito will really look like fools.
Anyone know where she is today? I thought she was working in South Carolina, but when I sent an email to her work email, it bounced back. What happened?
It's sad to see how far KOIN has fallen. I used to be a semi-regular KOIN viewer when I spent my summers and early fall on the Oregon coast.I was in the Portland area recently and caught a look at local news. I always enjoyed Mike Donahue and Shirley Hancock. They put out a good newscast and were a great team. I never cared for Jeff Gianola when he was at KATU and I see he has not gotten any better with time. My hope is that someone who really cares about Portland media will buy KOIN and save it from what looks like a slow fall into the death of a once great news outlet.
Let me preface this that tv news sets are probably a very small part of the equation, but when KOIN moved away from their newsroom set to a traditional background set, (wanna say 2-3 years ago...someone correct me if wrong), wasn't this about the time the station started to slide? I know, new owners, etc.etc., but viewers don't care about ownership, just the product. Something to ponder.
Those in the market for several years have witnessed two distinct KOIN slides since 2000.
The first was in 2000/2001. That's when Shirley Hancock & Jim Little were let go, Mike Donahue was demoted, and several other station staffers were canned. KOIN lossed its #1 position at 5pm and 6pm after that.
The second, of course, is the slide we're all aware of... 2005/2006.
The most recent ratings slide can be blamed on the SJL/Montecito ownership. And the 2000/2001 slide? Guess what -- that's when Lee sold the station to Emmis... another ownership change.
Of course, new ownership doesn't always mean that ratings take a tumble. Look at what has happened to KPTV since Meredith took over in 2002...
KOIN is at death's door.
Say, which one of you folks predicted that CBS was gonna pull their network affiliation within 12 months? Which one of you said that the FCC wasn't gonna renew their license?
Again, if any of you bright folks has about $150M burning a hole in your pocket, this is your golden opportunity to show the rest of us how to run a TV station?!
Come on now, don't be bashful!
Obviously the sales department is doing fine, and I'm sure when Montecito is done stripping the place it'll flip it for a nice profit within five years, probably much less. Not a problem for ownership, and for the foreseeable future not a problem for sales, especially if CBS keeps posting good national numbers. Problem for the newsroom and the community, though.
No one ever seriously suggested the FCC would yank KOIN's license; anyone who did here isn't in the business. That's just not going to happen.
As for CBS yanking affiliation--well, that's happened in other markets where the owners haven't taken their ownership too seriously, but I'd bet against it happening just from inertia. Though, one thought: Meredith (KPTV/KPDX) is an aggressive company and I'm sure it'd rather have a CBS affiliate on 49/13 than a MyNetworkTV affiliate or whatever it is currently. I'd bet it could make a persuasive bid for a CBS affiliation, and while it's a UHF frequency (normally a minus), that's going to become a non-issue in 2009. If Meredith could persuade CBS that it could put out a more compelling and aggressive local presence than KOIN, it might pull it off. Not that I have any knowledge of such an attempt, which I don't. I'm just sayin'.
I'm not betting on it happening. But if I were management at KOIN I might adjust my rear view mirror and realize that objects in it may be closer than they appear.
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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother
I noticed that KOIN has four job positions available. They are for a couple of assignment reporters, a general reporter, and a meterologist/reporter. Are these new positions or for existing positions? As far as the meteorologist position, I thought KOIN had all those filled (Baskin, Joyce, and Bagby). I've read that Jeff Baskin may be leaving when his contract is up and may be replaced by Bruce Susmann (just speculation based on the content of other OMI postings). Tim Joyce handles the morning and Sarah Bagby is the weekend weather person (with the occasional fill-in by Pete Parsons).
Moving from here from the midwest, you have the worst news casts I have ever seen. Koin 6. The only true person who seems to care about it is Tim Joyce. Jeff Baskin needs to take a boat back to N.O. The whole team is dry as toast.
Tim Joyce is as stiff as a board, especially when he is made to sit down in the chat set of Good Morning Northwest. That's when he brings you news of Brittany Spears latest breakdown, or pets some cat that needs adoption. This is when he truly looks like a fish out of water as if he wants to just read us some weather-related news. Him and that crooked chipmunk smile makes me turn the TV off in the morning when he does anything but tell us to carry our umbrellas today. What a waste that Sarah with her pleasant, natural charm couldn't have continued to share that spot.
If KOIN paid its main anchor team by the viewer, they'd all starve to death! I hope they're locked into long-term contracts. I can't imagine what the next negotiation will be like with these laughable ratings.
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We learned: that money rules, people do not matter, nor does the news or quality journalism. We also learned that Medford, Boise and Clackamas Town Center are great places to find cheap help and that a whole lot of duct tape and bobby pins can keep a station on the air. We learned that planning and thinking ahead are stupid concepts. We found out that news music can be just as bad as elevator music and that 16:9 is not a tv standard but the average age of a news producer in the news room. We learned not to go to a KOIN-TV Christmas party ever again and that a KOIN year end bonus can be spent in one quick trip to Fred Meyer.