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Local News in E. WA is in a sad state

I called KHQ, said Master Control would look into it. 15 minutes later and audio is still not back. One of my boxes doesn't even show a signal on KNDO. The converter box has the signal at 80 or 90% (like normal) but 'no signal.' Once KNDU goes to Lester Holt, I'll give them a call too. I cannot find an engineer listed for either station. I'm sure there's a LOT of us that are annoyed. Ellen had no audio earlier, like I said...a popular syndi. show.
Seatown, is 25 working on your end?

Edit - I called KNDU, said the engineers were 'working on it.' They've gotten complaints from other viewers as well, not just me. Another reason why I miss living on the coast ;-)
 
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crainbebo said:
I called KHQ, said Master Control would look into it. 15 minutes later and audio is still not back. One of my boxes doesn't even show a signal on KNDO. The converter box has the signal at 80 or 90% (like normal) but 'no signal.' Once KNDU goes to Lester Holt, I'll give them a call too. I cannot find an engineer listed for either station. I'm sure there's a LOT of us that are annoyed. Ellen had no audio earlier, like I said...a popular syndi. show.
Seatown, is 25 working on your end?

Edit - I called KNDU, said the engineers were 'working on it.' They've gotten complaints from other viewers as well, not just me. Another reason why I miss living on the coast ;-)
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Trying to contact anyone locally about problems is futile. They don't have any control over anything involved technically, as has been described on this thread before. They ARE able to connect you with an ad rep if you want to buy advertising!

What we see in the Tri and Yakima is a filtered down version of local news that presents an attempt at "breaking news", but seriously are not staffed in any way for this coverage. They give it the old college try, but end up looking like amateurs trying to cover a breaking story. I see it over and over. There is no good answer. There is little investment put into these smaller markets and I would rather watch Seattle or Spokane stations than some of this elementary try at news coverage. Yes, a good training ground for young reporters, but why should viewers in Yak/Tri be forced to watch an amateur newscast? Afterall, this market is made up of college educated, smart, intelligent people. Too bad the TV stations can't live up to any sort of professional standard.
 
KNDO is still out, 9:30AM Sept 4th. No sound on one TV and another has absolutely no signal. The Facebook page states 'our engineers are actively trying to resolve the problem' - well what were they doing last night?! Are they just trying to make excuses for their pi$$-poor problems? NBC Right Now should be ashamed of themselves, and someone should be reprimanded big time for this.

They (channel 25) are the 'best' news in the market, but not by much. KIMA might tweak the set and look 'better' to a viewer, but it's still the same ole' 5-6 minutes of local news followed by Kristine Frazao's political reports and a bunch of non-news. I can't stand watching KAPP because of that god-awful green screen 'set' they use. While the little Hometown Proud & Fun gimmick was nice by KNDU's part, the reporters (especially the Yakima bureau ones, sorry to say) flubbed their lines and looked like fools most of the time they were live in the towns they picked...
No wonder people read the newspaper here!
 
Well, NBC is back on with the audio as of today's Ellen premiere. Yakima engineers don't really care about their job, don't they? If this was KING 5 we were talking about, it wouldn't take long for the issue to be fixed! But I guess NBC 'Right Now' (yeah right) thinks we're all stupid and pay $200+ for Spectrum cable TV anyways.
 
crainbebo said:
Well, NBC is back on with the audio as of today's Ellen premiere. Yakima engineers don't really care about their job, don't they? If this was KING 5 we were talking about, it wouldn't take long for the issue to be fixed! But I guess NBC 'Right Now' (yeah right) thinks we're all stupid and pay $200+ for Spectrum cable TV anyways.
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Yakima engineers? Do you really still believe they exist?

My frustration stems from living in much larger markets. I grew up in Seattle and lived there the first 30 years of my life. Also lived with the LA market and the Chicago market. I suppose one gets used to very professional local tv with this upbringing, so it may be an unfair comparison. I know the employees are doing the best they can and my frustration is not directed at them, especially the younger employees who are just trying to learn and get started in the biz. However, the corporate folks need to get a clue. To dismiss their smaller markets as not important is purely a bad business decision. You see this with all three major companies operating in the Tri and Yakima. Their bottom-line cuts are probably good for the profit margin, (and it is indeed a business), but it is not good for viewers in these areas. And that is not good business. I hope some upper management folks at Cowles, Sinclair, and Morgan Murphy start to re-evaluate these properties. I don't expect much improvement, however.
 
New graphics and bumpers tonight on KNDU's 11pm news. Didn't catch the opening but I'm not sure about a music change yet.
And I'm not sure if it's happening to Tri-Cities viewers, but commercials on KAPP are irritating to listen to lately. A local ad or local news promo will have normal volume, but when a commercial for L'Oreal or Clorox airs during a syndicated show, the volume is at least TWICE as loud if not more. I have to race for the remote! It doesn't happen when commercials air over the ABC feed, just during local syndicated breaks where viewers see Mariano Morales, car dealers, and what not.
 
crainbebo said:
New graphics and bumpers tonight on KNDU's 11pm news. Didn't catch the opening but I'm not sure about a music change yet.
And I'm not sure if it's happening to Tri-Cities viewers, but commercials on KAPP are irritating to listen to lately. A local ad or local news promo will have normal volume, but when a commercial for L'Oreal or Clorox airs during a syndicated show, the volume is at least TWICE as loud if not more. I have to race for the remote! It doesn't happen when commercials air over the ABC feed, just during local syndicated breaks where viewers see Mariano Morales, car dealers, and what not.
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Yeah, some minor cosmetic changes at KNDU/KNDO. New open, bolder graphics. But yet, still single anchor with Tracci Dial. I rarely watch KVEW/KAPP, (that is part of their problem, if I'm not alone)...but that kind of audio problem speaks to lack of technical expertise at the local or supervisory level.
 
And what is the deal with so much time off for Tracci Dial and Tim Adams? I mean, seriously, it seems they are both gone half the time, and isn't this an important ratings period? Perhaps they have some valid reasons for not being on the air, or they have some great contracts. Don't know, but even in major markets this kind of time off would be rare.
 
Monty Webb finally back from surgery. Yay! The lady filling in mornings, her name is not listed on KNDU's website, but unbelievably, she's named Majestic Storm. No joke. Either that's her real name or KNDU is starting to use DJ names for their staff. What's next: KIMA Action News with 'Nebraska' Jake Taylor and Sports Dude Sillence? Lol.
At least Karly Tinsley's getting a lot of air time for experience. But Tracci being gone so much, I don't get. Hope she's not the next one to leave the station.
 
So today, there were two major stories that involved traffic accidents. One was a hit and run motorcycle accident last night, the other was a major rollover on Gage this afternoon. KEPR had video and info on both, KNDU had nothing on either. Situational awareness is completely missing here from KNDU. But their "shredding event" was surely front and center! My gawd. Why not just call it it what it is...KEPR covers local news, KNDU covers advertiser events. Pretty bad at this point for the Cowles station on Kennewick Avenue. They should be embarrassed.
 
Oh, I just love 'C.I. Shred Day.' Not. They spend a large portion of the news on Friday to the Shred Day, as if there wasn't anything that was more important. Usually the main anchors are based down at the Kennewick site, and the one or two Yakima bureau reporters originate from Neighborhood Health off Yakima Ave.
Majestic Storm was seen last weekend on the Fox newscast that originates from KAYU. Apparently she works at Q6 doing freelance WX work. Otherwise I haven't seen any big changes, except Tori Youngblood left KVEW a few weeks ago and now Carissa Lehmkuhl does the whole 6:00 hour. I rarely watch their poor attempt at news anyways.
 
crainbebo said:
Oh, I just love 'C.I. Shred Day.' Not. They spend a large portion of the news on Friday to the Shred Day, as if there wasn't anything that was more important. Usually the main anchors are based down at the Kennewick site, and the one or two Yakima bureau reporters originate from Neighborhood Health off Yakima Ave.
Majestic Storm was seen last weekend on the Fox newscast that originates from KAYU. Apparently she works at Q6 doing freelance WX work. Otherwise I haven't seen any big changes, except Tori Youngblood left KVEW a few weeks ago and now Carissa Lehmkuhl does the whole 6:00 hour. I rarely watch their poor attempt at news anyways.
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Shredding documents is indeed more important than actual news stories according to KNDU. Oh my gawd. Get a grip, KNDU. And if I can get just one serious story out of this newscast, I will be happy. When I moved backed to the market in early '15, their newscast was legit. Today, it is a total joke. Someone needs to gain some operational control.
 
KNDO is running the Wheel episode from LAST NIGHT! Right now! Were they that busy with 'shredding', to place the wrong program in the 7pm timeslot? Guess I get to spoil myself with the BuyAVowel Boards...
And I hate when the Spa Sale comes to the Tri. Almost every commercial break, their annoying commercials. If you look up the 888-SPA-SALE folks, their spas are cheap and break down often.
 
crainbebo said:
KNDO is running the Wheel episode from LAST NIGHT! Right now! Were they that busy with 'shredding', to place the wrong program in the 7pm timeslot? Guess I get to spoil myself with the BuyAVowel Boards...
And I hate when the Spa Sale comes to the Tri. Almost every commercial break, their annoying commercials. If you look up the 888-SPA-SALE folks, their spas are cheap and break down often.
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Oh, don't get me going with the "Spa Sale" spots. Just totally an embarrassment for any station that airs them. First, they mispronounce Pasco as "Pas-Cow". Second, they say a "once in a lifetime opportunity", but have been saying that twice a year for the past three years on Tri-Cities media. Thirdly, the spots are totally annoying with irritating "alert" SFX. How stupid do they think TC/Yak viewers are?

So why do TC/Yak stations keep airing them? I think most know the answer...big media buys! Perhaps TC media could come together and turn down the ads until they clean up their act. But that ain't going to happen.
 
seatownmedia said:
So why do TC/Yak stations keep airing them? I think most know the answer...big media buys! Perhaps TC media could come together and turn down the ads until they clean up their act. But that ain't going to happen.
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I believe that any such "unified front" would actually be collusion and quite illegal. And refusing to run one client's spots while running others in the same line of business is also illegal.
 
So what is up with the Fox11 Tri-Cities and their 10:00 news? It is hit or miss as to whether you get the Tri-Cities newscast, or the Spokane newscast. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to what they air. Monday and Tuesday we get the Tri newscast, today (Wednesday) it is back to the Spokane newscast. Tomorrow? Let's place our bets! Ridiculous.
 
I guess whenever Tracci Dial is 'busy', they throw it to KAYU's crew. Not the way to do early-evening news at all. I'm just waiting for the night where the A-block comes from Tri-Cities, and the B-block comes from Spokane. They really need an experienced news director who knows what they are doing. I'd love for Fox 11 to have their own news department but I know it will never happen. One thing to improve on is saying sayonara to the Spokane morning show and putting Morgan & Monty on from 7-9. Local news, local weather, local updates.
 
For the 2nd Friday in a row, KNDO is running the wrong Wheel episode. The same one, from last night, being reran in a slot where three new contestants should be at the podium. Looks like an email to NBC 'Right Now' is on my to-do list for next week......
 
crainbebo said:
For the 2nd Friday in a row, KNDO is running the wrong Wheel episode. The same one, from last night, being reran in a slot where three new contestants should be at the podium. Looks like an email to NBC 'Right Now' is on my to-do list for next week......
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It likely won't be answered.

IMO, (and I have no facts about this), something is going on at KNDU/KNDO. Tonight the backup team was in place again, with no mention of "filling in" for Tracci and Tim Adams. The new open also does not show Tracci or Tim either, as they did in the past. I am beginning to wonder if the remaining main anchors are being eased out. If someone from Cowles knows differently, then please correct me. This operation seems a bit lost here in a prime ratings period. Perhaps a good opportunity for KEPR/KIMA to swoop in and make some strong gains with a strong 2-anchor team and new set.
 
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With Sunday Night Football, Tracci & Tim do the Sunday night primetime news now, not Friday. But with a different open, who knows what's brewing in the corporate office.
 


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