BEST LOCAL TV NEWS MARKETS

[Sammi Brie]

Yeah, right. But ABC has an o&o in Bakersfield and had o&os in Toledo and Flint, all of which, the last time I looked, were smaller than Hampton Roads.

Not all Belo stations have used the "Spirit" slogan; WHAS Louisville is one I know hasn't, and I don't recall it on WCNC Charlotte (I could be wrong about that one).

Two things:

1. ABC's O&O is in Fresno. Bakersfield's ABC affiliate is McGraw-Hill's KERO-23.

2. The reason WHAS does not use the Spirit slogan is because WAVE has intermittently used "The Spirit of WAVE Country". Prime example: this. KTVK has not used it, but that was a 1999 acquisition. KMSB neither.

 

[formeraa]

KING-TV in Seattle, also a latecomer to the Belo family, has not used "The Spirit" campaign (although I believe that KIRO in Seattle has had a "Spirit of the Northwest" campaign in the 80's and 90's).

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

And ABC is selling those O&Os in Toledo and Flint to SJL, the modern incarnation of the stations' previous owner.

They are only in those markets because they feared losing affiliate WXYZ/7 in Detroit to CBS in the big affiliation swaps of the mid-1990s. WTVG and WJRT were their backup plan, having grade B coverage of the southern and western parts of the Detroit market, respectively. (Presumably, they'd have been paired with a weaker in-market station in Detroit, much like WGPR/62 became CBS' WWJ-TV, though CBS upgraded 62 and didn't surround it.)

WXYZ owner Scripps ended up staying with ABC, so the plan was not needed, but the network already bought WTVG and WJRT.

Thanks to the KHOU YouTube link! Though I keep waiting to hear local talk radio instead of 1980s Texas TV news.

WNIR uses the open in that news theme now as their hour closing music, without the "Spirit of Akron" singers, and with a flourish at the end that leads into ABC News at top of the hour. Or near, since it's WNIR.

And the KHOU pre-newscast tease I recognized as WNIR's local news stinger.

 

[searadiofreak]

KING-TV in Seattle, also a latecomer to the Belo family, has not used "The Spirit" campaign (although I believe that KIRO in Seattle has had a "Spirit of the Northwest" campaign in the 80's and 90's).

formeraa, KIRO started and stopped the "The Spirit" campaign in the early 90's. I believe the end was the "out of the box" format that failed bigtime in apprx. '94. KING-TV used the "The Home Team" image throughout the 90's, but has since dropped it. Current themes in Seattle:

KOMO: "Working 4 You"
KING: It's right, it's real, it's on" (promo use, not sure has made it to air yet)
KIRO: KIRO 7 Eyewitness News (nothing new here, been used since '69)

Seattle is one of the few markets that still does not use the network affiliation as part of their name. Even the Fox affiliate uses Q13, as opposed to Fox 13. I have got to believe this is a good thing as local viewers still relate to the name of their local stations as opposed to net names.

 

[formeraa]

Seattle is one of the few markets that still does not use the network affiliation as part of their name. Even the Fox affiliate uses Q13, as opposed to Fox 13. I have got to believe this is a good thing as local viewers still relate to the name of their local stations as opposed to net names.

I must respectfully disagree. When I was last in Seattle, I specifically noticed that Q13 had changed their news to "Q13 Fox News". I consider this an instance of including the network in their branding. Even the website is now q13fox.com (check it out!). It appears that Q13 is prominently announcing that they are affiliated with FOX. And, yes, this represents a major shift for Seattle stations.

By the way, here is a 1990 example of KIRO's "The Spirit of the Northwest" campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQQdIGflydo&feature=related

 

[JeeperOne]

Yeah, right. But ABC has an o&o in Bakersfield and had o&os in Toledo and Flint, all of which, the last time I looked, were smaller than Hampton Roads.

ABC does not (Nor ever EVER has to my knowledge) own KERO 23. It's owned by McGaw Hill, who also owns KGTV 10 in San Diego as well as KMGH 7 here in Denver & WRTV 6 in Indy.

Cheers

 

[mleach]

Yeah, right. But ABC has an o&o in Bakersfield and had o&os in Toledo and Flint, all of which, the last time I looked, were smaller than Hampton Roads.

"Yeah Right" that would EXACTLY be the reaction had ABC or anybody else would consider buying a station in Hampton Roads. Memphis, Buffalo, Louisville, Oklahoma City, New Orleans ( pre-Katrina ) and Jacksonville are all smaller than Hampton Roads as wel but people would accpet a network O&O in those cities, perhaps even Casper but not with Hampton Roads. Even with CBS for years owning the old WYAH, WGNT channel 27 a lot of people there just wouldn't believe it. Usually a lot of metro areas want to appear to be bigger than they actually are..but Hampton Roads I guess is the reverse A lot of people there want people to "overlook them" by giving the image that it is all small town. Makes no sense to me but I gues it does to them anyway.

 

[recto101]

What About Philly, Pittsburgh and Green Bay are they Good TV Markets?

 

[bpatrick]

My mistake; KFSN is the ABC o&o in Fresno (switched from
CBS along with WTVD when CapCities acquired ABC); KERO
is in Bakersfield (McGraw-Hill). Slip of the brain. Sorry.

 

[Sammi Brie]

KING-TV in Seattle, also a latecomer to the Belo family, has not used "The Spirit" campaign (although I believe that KIRO in Seattle has had a "Spirit of the Northwest" campaign in the 80's and 90's).

formeraa, KIRO started and stopped the "The Spirit" campaign in the early 90's. I believe the end was the "out of the box" format that failed bigtime in apprx. '94. KING-TV used the "The Home Team" image throughout the 90's, but has since dropped it.

The KIRO "news out of the box" experiment (which was, oh, 15 to 17 years ahead of its time) occurred in 1993, not 1994.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

By the way, here is a 1990 example of KIRO's "The Spirit of the Northwest" campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQQdIGflydo&feature=related

This doesn't have the "Spirit" music featured on WFAA and KHOU (and WNIR ), but does have a younger Aaron Brown in his days at KIRO.

 

[easttxtv]

I haven't seen Dallas/Ft. Worth newscasts in years (never seen KTVT since it went to CBS), but (and I've probably said this more than once) no "front four" will ever, in my book, top Tracy Rowlett, Iola Johnson, Troy Dungan, and Verne Lundquist on WFAA.

Too bad WFAA is still so spiteful about Tracy to give that foursome whatever props they deserve. Tracy wasn't mentioned or shown during Ch.8's 50th Anniversary show, he wasn't shown in the clipfest at the end of Ch.8's analog era, and isn't included in the station's framed picture display on the lobby wall with other past/present anchors and reporters. Tracy worked for WFAA for 25 of their first 50 years. And Ch.8 acts like he doesn't even exist. Sure, there was an ugly split when he left to go to KTVT/11, but Ch.8 is being more than petty about it.

As for KTVT/11, it helped them to have the experience and momentum of the primetime/9pm newscasts in their last 5 indie years before flipping to CBS. They've done a slow climb news-wise but IMO are on-par with the other 3 major stations in news coverage and presentation.

 

[searadiofreak]

By the way, here is a 1990 example of KIRO's "The Spirit of the Northwest" campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQQdIGflydo&feature=related

This doesn't have the "Spirit" music featured on WFAA and KHOU (and WNIR ), but does have a younger Aaron Brown in his days at KIRO.

KIRO Seattle with Aaron Brown (circa early 90's). The station fell from grace bigtime during the rest of the decade and is still climbing out of that decline even today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLBYr7yUUKE&NR=1

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

And here's Aaron's farewell at KIRO, right before he started as anchor of ABC's "World News Now" (where I first encountered him):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXajF5yHHOQ&NR=1

 

[formeraa]

By the way, here is a 1990 example of KIRO's "The Spirit of the Northwest" campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQQdIGflydo&feature=related

This doesn't have the "Spirit" music featured on WFAA and KHOU (and WNIR ), but does have a younger Aaron Brown in his days at KIRO.

KIRO Seattle with Aaron Brown (circa early 90's). The station fell from grace bigtime during the rest of the decade and is still climbing out of that decline even today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLBYr7yUUKE&NR=1

Yeah, KIRO's "Happy Talk" format was extremely popular in the 80's. (i.e. "Mildred, the news isn't boring anymore" or, the real translation, "Mildred, I'm waiting to see a young, very good looking Susan Hutchison do her live report" )

But stodgy KING finally caught by emphasizing faster paced, but still serious hard news. Now, if we could just find an early 80's clip of Aaron Brown at KING... I think the closest is Aaron doing a live phone interview with then-Morning Anchor Don Madsen, but we don't actually see Aaron.

 

[kilamanjero]

In your opinion, which are the best, most competitive local tv news markets?

I personally like Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth best.

Also, any standout markets outside of the top 10?

Los Angeles is the worst unless you need up to the second news on where it might have rained a tenth of an inch or in depth summaries of celebrity drug binges.

Seriously, how Steve Edwards has gone this long without going on a killing spree starting with those two cackling cows to his left and his right is a study in mastering Zen-like Patience.

I find Jillian Barberie-Reynolds amusing personally. She is the first to openly admit that she is a trainwreck, which I can respect. At least is she has self-awareness unlike Dorothy Lucy, whom pretends like she has to together but is one mishap from coming unraveled.

 

[kilamanjero]

San Francisco is the best TV market because I live in the Bay Area. Look at KTVU the Local Fox affiliate here. Its less on Propaganda from Fox News and More on real news like what is happening in the City councils around the bay.

I'm also a Bay Area resident, and I can't say "best" because there are many markets I have not travelled to, so its hard to compare. But all of the Bay Area news stations provide a good solid product. In the 70s, KGO-TV (ABC) led in the ratings with sensationalist "happy-talk" news, but that started to change in the 80s. As Recto101 stated, KTVU set the stage with a very solid 10PM newscast (actually before it became the Fox affiliate). They purposely dropped the "happy talk" BS, and generally avoided sensationalistic stories for the more important stories of the day.

KTVU got positive reviews from critics, and it paid off in good ratings. The other stations gradually followed suit, and I'd say that they have all provided solid news programming since the early 90s.

Considering the number of residents with advanced degrees (Masters' and PhDs) in the Bay Area market, they better aim for the delivery of information in a coherent manner or they would be likely tune them out literally. That seems to also be the case with the 2 leading stations in the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market, where there is a higher than average number of advanced degrees as well...

 

[kilamanjero]

By the way how is Washington DC TV News are they a good TV and radio market?

There are two words to describe the state of Washington DC television and radio...OLD SCHOOL ! ! Old school meaning the rather large number of people on the air in that market who were on the air in DC say 20, 30 or even 40 years ago. Gordon Peterson, Jim Vance, Doug Hill, Topper Schutt, Bob Ryan, Doreen Gentzler, JC Hayward, Maureen Bunyan, Arch Campbell, Tim Brant..rather endless list eh? If George Michael were still alive today I would be willing to bet money that he would still get massive ratings even if George would be doing the sports live from his room at some old age home. You could say the same about the late Glenn Brenner as well.

Yeah there are some good looking babes on the air in DC and some "gen X" anchors who are popular such as WTTG's Brian Bolter for example..but DC media is still a place where the "oldsters" do much better than the younger ones. Likewise with radio too...listeners would rather hear 60+ year old Jack Diamond playing Lady Gaga than some 25 or 30 year old doing the same...check out DCRTV and all those "..please bring back WHFS" postings. There are those who really believe that Don & Mike, WHFS and The Greaseman can save radio. Myself..ah..doubt it.

Well, let's be honest, most of the time corporately-owned media operations haven't really trained the younger talent as much as they did in the past. Also I don't blame people at all. I still miss Donnie Simpson, whom was on WPGC-FM until last February, but was forced out by the 'changing directions of the format' on the station by CBS Radio suits. In the process, they have ruined the station and made it a "typical urban radio station" whereas it used to be a stand out. I would rather be in a serious news and information market like DC rather than persay a market where it's always about the entertainment and tabloids like Miami, LA, NYC.

 

[recto101]

San Francisco is the best TV market because I live in the Bay Area. Look at KTVU the Local Fox affiliate here. Its less on Propaganda from Fox News and More on real news like what is happening in the City councils around the bay.

I'm also a Bay Area resident, and I can't say "best" because there are many markets I have not travelled to, so its hard to compare. But all of the Bay Area news stations provide a good solid product. In the 70s, KGO-TV (ABC) led in the ratings with sensationalist "happy-talk" news, but that started to change in the 80s. As Recto101 stated, KTVU set the stage with a very solid 10PM newscast (actually before it became the Fox affiliate). They purposely dropped the "happy talk" BS, and generally avoided sensationalistic stories for the more important stories of the day.

KTVU got positive reviews from critics, and it paid off in good ratings. The other stations gradually followed suit, and I'd say that they have all provided solid news programming since the early 90s.

Considering the number of residents with advanced degrees (Masters' and PhDs) in the Bay Area market, they better aim for the delivery of information in a coherent manner or they would be likely tune them out literally. That seems to also be the case with the 2 leading stations in the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market, where there is a higher than average number of advanced degrees as well...

I heard that Seattle, Boston and Portland should be on that list matching with the Bay Area along with Raleigh. By the way if Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market, where there is a higher than average number of advanced degrees as well. Also I heard that Former KGO-TV reporter in 1989 Frank Kracher is now in Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville doing a newscast out there.

 

[mleach]

By the way how is Washington DC TV News are they a good TV and radio market?

There are two words to describe the state of Washington DC television and radio...OLD SCHOOL ! ! Old school meaning the rather large number of people on the air in that market who were on the air in DC say 20, 30 or even 40 years ago. Gordon Peterson, Jim Vance, Doug Hill, Topper Schutt, Bob Ryan, Doreen Gentzler, JC Hayward, Maureen Bunyan, Arch Campbell, Tim Brant..rather endless list eh? If George Michael were still alive today I would be willing to bet money that he would still get massive ratings even if George would be doing the sports live from his room at some old age home. You could say the same about the late Glenn Brenner as well.

Yeah there are some good looking babes on the air in DC and some "gen X" anchors who are popular such as WTTG's Brian Bolter for example..but DC media is still a place where the "oldsters" do much better than the younger ones. Likewise with radio too...listeners would rather hear 60+ year old Jack Diamond playing Lady Gaga than some 25 or 30 year old doing the same...check out DCRTV and all those "..please bring back WHFS" postings. There are those who really believe that Don & Mike, WHFS and The Greaseman can save radio. Myself..ah..doubt it.

Well, let's be honest, most of the time corporately-owned media operations haven't really trained the younger talent as much as they did in the past. Also I don't blame people at all. I still miss Donnie Simpson, whom was on WPGC-FM until last February, but was forced out by the 'changing directions of the format' on the station by CBS Radio suits. In the process, they have ruined the station and made it a "typical urban radio station" whereas it used to be a stand out. I would rather be in a serious news and information market like DC rather than persay a market where it's always about the entertainment and tabloids like Miami, LA, NYC.

I do agree with you however I have to admit that I do get a chuckle from reading DCRTV.com and dave Hughes who really believes that the "kids" will give up their Ipods or whatever ONLY if CBS Radio would bring back WHFS and pair up Don & Mike together again telling their "gay Bruce" jokes or perhaps bring back 60+ year old "hippie" Weasel saying "..yeah dig it man..dig it". GAWD lets bring back Kemp Mill Records and Zayre Discount Stores while we have it as well. UGH !!

Ah..NO Dave..ain't gonna happen.