Related: KNDU (NBC right now), Tri-Cities, has been running the eastern feed of NBC at 5pm Pacific on Saturdays for several weeks in a row...until someone catches it and corrects it and substitutes other programming in mid-show. Just awful mistakes, gotta wonder who is running the show there on Kennewick Avenue.
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Local News in E. WA is in a sad state
- Thread starter seatownmedia
- Start date
No one. I think master control moved to KHQ years ago.
Looking forward to peeking in on KVEW and Jason Valentine at Wildhorse tonight. I'm hoping there will be a local PT countdown, either side-by-side with Ryan Seacrest or blotting out the tape delay altogether. We'll have to see what happens.
Looking forward to peeking in on KVEW and Jason Valentine at Wildhorse tonight. I'm hoping there will be a local PT countdown, either side-by-side with Ryan Seacrest or blotting out the tape delay altogether. We'll have to see what happens.
Booooo, 35/42! At 11:59 they aired the whole NY ball drop without cutting into Pendleton. In fact the only segments were in local breaks and some of them seemed...'prerecorded' I'd say. A local countdown would have been nice even on side-screen, a live band was going to play Auld Lang Syne and drop 1,200 balloons in the Wildhorse ballroom at midnight, but not a soul outside of Pendleton saw it. Shows you how disappointing Central Washington is for television, they don't care about serving the community outside of newscasts and that NW Food & Brew show. So glad I had the KING/5 stream running so we could watch the Space Needle light up - and it sure did.
Hoping for all the best in 2018. Maybe we'll see more changes to the CBS stations here, with that odd music running last week. A new refresh for 'Action News' would be nice to see and it would compete better with the other Tri-Cities stations.
Hoping for all the best in 2018. Maybe we'll see more changes to the CBS stations here, with that odd music running last week. A new refresh for 'Action News' would be nice to see and it would compete better with the other Tri-Cities stations.
The Spokane TV market is pretty good for its market size, #73 at last check. Keep in mind that Spokane is the "go-to" U.S. market for most of Alberta, Canada including the big metros of Calgary and Edmonton. (I remember a time when the Spokane stations sometimes gave the weather conditions for those cities, but that seems to have gone away).
Here are my thoughts:
KREM (CBS) Channel 2 (owned by Tegna): Good principle anchors, Mark Harahan (previously in Portland), and Jane McCartney (previously in Seattle), make a good team. Graphics/Music are the standard Tegna format with the "upcoming crawl". Set is good, news style is similar to KING in Seattle.
KXLY (ABC) Channel 4 (owned by Morgan Murphy Media, same as KVEW/KAPP TriCities/Yakima): Nadine Woodward the principle solo anchor (I've always thought she is good, but would be even better with a good co-anchor). Graphics/Music/Set standard but a bit dated. Very middle of the road news style.
KHQ (NBC) Channel 6 (owned by Cowles Company, same as NBCRightNow Yakima/TriCities): Principle anchors are Dan Kleckner and Stephanie Vigil, both very solid. Kleckner has been with KHQ for decades. Graphics/Music same as NBC Yak/Tri. News style like its competition, very middle of the road.
KAYU (Fox) Channel 28 (owned by Northwest Broadcasting): News operations produced by KHQ.
All in all, a decent tv market IMO. Everyone seems to be doing quality newscasts, though nobody is hitting it out of the park. (I do not have access to ratings, but KHQ has been near the top over the years).
Ryan Overton (morning/weekend WX on KHQ) does the weekend weather segments for KNDU down here. Nadine Woodward used to be on KREM with Charles Rowe in the '90s. I've posted plenty of Ice Storm '96 footage on my YouTube channel the past several weeks, mainly from KREM. KREM also does a 10pm newscast for CW affiliate KSKN/22, and a 7-9am morning newscast to compete with KAYU. I still don't understand why Fox 41/11 here runs a SPOKANE morning newscast...too cheap to put Monty Webb & Morgan Ashley on for two more hours?
Thank you for your excellent summary!
Lately the big news around here is the crack on Rattlesnake Ridge near Thorp Rd and I-82. Very little (if any) live reports from nearby areas, but a lot of news stories lately on all three stations. But what happens on a nice downpour and that 4 million cubic feet of rock come crashing down? 'Experts' say it will mostly dump into the Columbia Asphalt quarry and some on Thorp Rd, avoiding I-82. But a lot of us are worried about the Yakima River being right below the ridge. All that water combined with the landslide could back up the river into Union Gap - and cause severe flooding. Not to mention cutting off I-82 and US-97 access.
Will KIMA fiddle-fart around until 5PM if this type of disaster happens? If KIMA wants to prove they can 'take action for you,' they should cut into programming for continuous emergency info. We saw the disaster in Oso a few years ago.
In current news, flipping around channels I notice KUNW's Spanish news is using Sinclair graphics (similar to KOMO) and the same unusual music cues as 29, although KIMA's news is still using Fisher graphics that are years old. I see some graphic changes coming to KIMA/KEPR probably before the spring. Although, I've seen KUNW running KUNS' newscast on a couple of occasions flipping by. They were still using KOMO's old studio that they've had since the millennium.
Will KIMA fiddle-fart around until 5PM if this type of disaster happens? If KIMA wants to prove they can 'take action for you,' they should cut into programming for continuous emergency info. We saw the disaster in Oso a few years ago.
In current news, flipping around channels I notice KUNW's Spanish news is using Sinclair graphics (similar to KOMO) and the same unusual music cues as 29, although KIMA's news is still using Fisher graphics that are years old. I see some graphic changes coming to KIMA/KEPR probably before the spring. Although, I've seen KUNW running KUNS' newscast on a couple of occasions flipping by. They were still using KOMO's old studio that they've had since the millennium.
The Rattlesnake Ridge story is somewhat difficult to cover since the outcome is not known. If something bad happens there I would expect Seattle stations to have better coverage than the Yak/Tri stations. Only because they can get there faster with aerial coverage. That said, if the locals are not all over this from the ground, then they are doing their viewers a disservice. (Tonight there was some sporadic coverage of getting animals out of the area, but not much more on the river or freeway.)
I need to correct my above post. The Rattlesnake Ridge is likely to slide, but what the damage will be is unknown.
As for Sinclair's Yak Tri stations, yes the theme music has indeed changed. Will be interesting to see if they move beyond that minor change and if they revamp the graphics and sets. (Usually these changes are done all at once, but Yak/Tri is not usual)...
As for Sinclair's Yak Tri stations, yes the theme music has indeed changed. Will be interesting to see if they move beyond that minor change and if they revamp the graphics and sets. (Usually these changes are done all at once, but Yak/Tri is not usual)...
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Lots of complaints tonight about KIMA's 6pm news being interrupted by commercials during the A-block of the news. There you go, that's what happens when they use not just automation, but throw that automation to a server in Seattle.
A nice plus tonight on NBC Right Now's news - Tracci Dial live from the Rattlesnake Ridge site at both 5 and 6. They also covered a press conference last week instead of Millionaire. I think they will be the ones to alert us first when the ridge comes down, if we don't hear a big roar miles away!
Moving at a rate of 1.7 feet a week at last report. Most people here (and my family members) think it will come down, block the river and devastate Union Gap. I heard the city wanted to use the fairgrounds as an emergency medical center if and when this happens.
Another problem that I don't see the news reporting: will there be enough time to evacuate the 6,100+ Union Gap residents (and then some) to higher ground or safety? If the ridge falls and blocks the river, I would expect the NWS to issue a flash flood warning immediately for Yakima County. We'll just have to see what will happen when this occurs.
A nice plus tonight on NBC Right Now's news - Tracci Dial live from the Rattlesnake Ridge site at both 5 and 6. They also covered a press conference last week instead of Millionaire. I think they will be the ones to alert us first when the ridge comes down, if we don't hear a big roar miles away!
Moving at a rate of 1.7 feet a week at last report. Most people here (and my family members) think it will come down, block the river and devastate Union Gap. I heard the city wanted to use the fairgrounds as an emergency medical center if and when this happens.
Another problem that I don't see the news reporting: will there be enough time to evacuate the 6,100+ Union Gap residents (and then some) to higher ground or safety? If the ridge falls and blocks the river, I would expect the NWS to issue a flash flood warning immediately for Yakima County. We'll just have to see what will happen when this occurs.
The Telemundo news is produced by KNDU, and at least one of the reporters does work for the NBC station as well.
Notice they never talk about Rattlesnake Ridge anymore...now there's geologists who say it could take years to go down. No one really knows and we haven't had any big downpours of rain yet. Things could still change come Spring. Not much else in the way of change to our sub-par TV news here. The new music KIMA uses on their newscasts *is* the Sinclair News Package used by 90% of their stations, at least.
Notice they never talk about Rattlesnake Ridge anymore...now there's geologists who say it could take years to go down. No one really knows and we haven't had any big downpours of rain yet. Things could still change come Spring. Not much else in the way of change to our sub-par TV news here. The new music KIMA uses on their newscasts *is* the Sinclair News Package used by 90% of their stations, at least.
I ended up watching KNDO for my 5PM news today...not just because of the Sinclair scandal, but because KIMA was in dead air at 4:59. Then I switched back a few minutes later - still dead air. Was the director asleep or something? Is there even a director or producer for the newscast? Thank goodness NBC Right Now has a better-quality news product!
More technical issues tonight. A few minutes ago, KIMA/CBS is running The Big Bang Theory, CBS airs their commercials and promos, cuts to black for the station break - and KIMA was in dead air. For about a full minute! Then the ads ran, the station ID, and Big Bang came back in the middle of the episode. Then I guess CBS screwed up and interrupted Big Bang with a few national commercials - and KIMA aired the same local ads for Dairy Queen and Spectrum.
More technical issues tonight. A few minutes ago, KIMA/CBS is running The Big Bang Theory, CBS airs their commercials and promos, cuts to black for the station break - and KIMA was in dead air. For about a full minute! Then the ads ran, the station ID, and Big Bang came back in the middle of the episode. Then I guess CBS screwed up and interrupted Big Bang with a few national commercials - and KIMA aired the same local ads for Dairy Queen and Spectrum.
Why in my opinion regional master control hubs are a bad idea. KIMA's master control is run out of KOMO Plaza, along with other Sinclair-owned stations. Someone in master control there was probably too distracted with all those other stations operated out of the hub there to notice a problem.
Looks like Cody Proctor is back on the anchor desk, co-anchoring with Scott Stovall on KEPR Tri-Cities. A sure effort to compete with co-anchors on KNDU and KVEW.
But not at KIMA where Jake Taylor is still all alone. What a joke they are! If I was the ND, a co-anchor and a set change would be high on the list of priorities along with kicking Mike McCabe 'on tape' to the can and replacing him with a real, live, local Yakima meteorologist ala Stu Seibel. In fact I'm starting to see KEPR stories creeping into what should be 5 and 6pm Yakima news.
I spend way more time watching KNDU because they have a better-quality product. Albeit they still have their faults, like using a Spokane guy on weekends, having *reporters* fill in for Monty or Tim for WX (you don't learn how to do weather in journalism school, amirite?) and the rather laughable 'Hometown Proud & Fun.' Last year one of the towns they picked was Mesa, a little town on 395 north of Pasco...and no one ever showed up to the local park the reporters were set up in. Talk about embarrassing. But compared to KIMA and KAPP, their news is watchable.
I spend way more time watching KNDU because they have a better-quality product. Albeit they still have their faults, like using a Spokane guy on weekends, having *reporters* fill in for Monty or Tim for WX (you don't learn how to do weather in journalism school, amirite?) and the rather laughable 'Hometown Proud & Fun.' Last year one of the towns they picked was Mesa, a little town on 395 north of Pasco...and no one ever showed up to the local park the reporters were set up in. Talk about embarrassing. But compared to KIMA and KAPP, their news is watchable.
Tonight, KNDU spent about 10 minutes total on hydroplane "testing" on the Columbia. OK, I get it, they sponsor this stuff so it is to their advantage to highlight it. In the meantime, there was a a major accident on the 240 bypass today that screwed up traffic for hours. Yet, no mention. While KNDU is probably the best in the market(s), they have no situational awareness of breaking news. I swear, somebody should come into the market and cover the market on an hour to hour basis. Just isn't happening with current media outlets. They should be embarrassed.