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Local News in E. WA is in a sad state

KNDO and KYVE still completely unwatchable on Ellensburg Spectrum cable. Awful signal. Audio cuts out and the video is weak and pixelizing every 1/2 second. Just embarrassing.
 
FWIT, KNDU seems to be better. I will never understand if this was a KNDU problem or a Spectrum problem. But it doesn't matter at the end of the day. Spectrum should give a credit for KNDU and KFFX being unwatchable for the past few months. Like that would ever happen...
 
seatownmedia said:
FWIT, KNDU seems to be better. I will never understand if this was a KNDU problem or a Spectrum problem. But it doesn't matter at the end of the day. Spectrum should give a credit for KNDU and KFFX being unwatchable for the past few months. Like that would ever happen...
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Call them, complain.. say your favorite local channels were unwatchable... if you approach them withotu an attitude and ask nicely, they will often give you something
 
That's difficult because here at CWU, even though Spectrum is the cable provider, 'problems' go through CWU Housing and THEN they contact Spectrum. The channel lineup is also different than Spectrum's regular lineup (QAM cable, i.e. KNDO is 8.1, KYVE is 8.3, cable networks are clustered up in 3 or 4 subchannels) and they give free Showtime to all students. It still looks awful and pixelized tonight, so I will not only email Housing again re: if they contacted Spectrum, but I might head over to the Spectrum office down the road tomorrow and ask when this will be resolved. I had to go back to antenna to watch KNDO. The channel 32 translator is picture perfect. Not cable!
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
Call them, complain.. say your favorite local channels were unwatchable... if you approach them withotu an attitude and ask nicely, they will often give you something
Click to expand...

Yeah, thanks for that. My experience with Spectrum is they won't bend with their prices, but I have not tried to offer the lack of "watchable programming" argument. My guess is, even without an "attitude", they won't bend. But perhaps I will attempt.
 
KNDO finally fixed on Ellensburg Spectrum cable as of tonight. YAY! About time. However, KOMO (channel 11, and here it's QAM channel 9.1) has been stuck on the blackout bumper for days now. Even during local news. Another thing I need to let the Spectrum office know about.
 
Tim Adams back on the weather desk this week on KNDU/KNDO Tri-Cities/Yakima. Frankly, the whole team preforms better when he is present. Though they are "welcoming him back", there is no word on how often this will occur. Just during sweeps? That isn't the long term answer, IMO. I predict they will soon be back to "The mystery weather person of the week". (alternating several weather anchors, both local and Spokane on tape).
 
Just when I thought KNDU/KFFX had solved their pixilation problem, tonight it is back right in time for SNF. Multiple events every 5-7 minutes. It is just ridiculous how they can't seem to solve this problem. Especially on the highest rated night of the week for NBC, Sunday Night Football.

As usual, no response from KNDU, no apologies.
 
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Tonight, KNDU announces Tim Adams will be around for another year, but the countdown to retirement has begun. What? A year out, and a countdown? I think they are desperate at this point to maintain a popular weather man who only wants to work part-time. I certainly am not in the building on Kenn. Ave, but this seems a bit odd. Perhaps Adams had a change of heart, or perhaps he will just be on certain weeks. The station is very unclear. In the meantime, KEPR seems sure and steady. KVEW is an outlier, always has been in recent years.
 
Has KNDU put up a help wanted notice for an experienced meteorologist? Gives them time to find a new meteorologist, preferably AMS-certified, fresh from school or from another smaller market.
Watched about 10 minutes of KIMA news tonight. Same ole tired newscast, with Jake Taylor all alone on set and Mike on tape. A Tri-Cities story about a cougar sighting mixed in. Sinclair-fed stories all over the place including 'Spotlight on America.' Seriously aren't you a YAKIMA station? They keep doing 'pat on their back' promos highlighting why they are the only Yakima news station. Give it a few years and it will all be fed from KEPR.
After 10 minutes I gave up and went to KING 5. I've talked to a few locals that recently (last few years) moved from the westside, and they rarely watch the Yakima news product. In fact when I was picking up a discounted high-def TV at a local estate sale last month, I told the proprietor that I was happy to be able to watch Seattle news again on cable. He told me they moved from the Grays Harbor area and kept their old address on file with their satellite company so they wouldn't be forced to watch Yakima programming. Somehow they are still able to get Seattle locals from the middle of Kittitas County.
 
A rare AWESOME KIMA bulletin to share!
On Saturday, their CW9 subchannel will be showing live coverage of the Sunnyside Lighted Farm Implement Parade, from 7-8pm. Jake Taylor and Mike McCabe will be hosting, and maybe Alan Sillence too (can't remember from the promo). It's been a very, very long time since KIMA did any local parade coverage - probably since the early '90s. They used to air the Sunfair parade every year. Way to go KIMA, especially for those who aren't in the lower valley (like I am).
 
KNDU/KNDO announced on air tonight they have been hit by a cyber attack. It apparently has caused a loss of ability to go to field reports and other tasks that were handled by their IT department. I believe this started yesterday. They are handling it on the air pretty well, even having fun with it with Tim Adams claiming it is fine for him as this is the way they did it in the old days.
 
In observations, I saw Tim Adams doing the weather tonight on KNDU/O. Last week it was a fill in woman (Emma Childs maybe?). Didn't they say they were only going to have Tim on occasionally until his full retirement? At least their news is relatively watchable for a small market.

Meanwhile, I started at KIMA's 5:00 where they had a couple or three minutes of local stories, a Mike McCabe pre-taped teaser blurb for WX and right into NON-YAKIMA news with the Sinclair Spotlight on America. Most of the rest of the news was non-Yakima too, including political reports right from their owners. Then turned it over to KNDO.
Action News? More like 'waste of time outside the first couple minutes.' Start the countdown clock to KIMA ceasing local operations and simulcasting KEPR. I give it 9-12 months. What was once a reputable station under the helm of the greats, like the late T.J. Close and Jimmy Nolan, and Ken Crockett and Stu Seibel...a shell of its own self.

Thank god I get KING-TV on cable here. Normally if I want local (i.e. Kittitas and Yakima) news I'll just either lurk around the Facebook Yakima Scan page for accident/crime information back home, or just read the Ellensburg Daily Record.
 
Their news might be OK, but KNDO is once again (for the first time in several months) airing the WRONG Wheel episode. The episode being shown is the 12/30/19 episode!! We should be seeing a Vanna White-hosted episode tonight. Not being broadcast. Nice, another goof-up in this awful market.
 
crainbebo said:
In observations, I saw Tim Adams doing the weather tonight on KNDU/O. Last week it was a fill in woman (Emma Childs maybe?). Didn't they say they were only going to have Tim on occasionally until his full retirement? At least their news is relatively watchable for a small market.

Meanwhile, I started at KIMA's 5:00 where they had a couple or three minutes of local stories, a Mike McCabe pre-taped teaser blurb for WX and right into NON-YAKIMA news with the Sinclair Spotlight on America. Most of the rest of the news was non-Yakima too, including political reports right from their owners. Then turned it over to KNDO.
Action News? More like 'waste of time outside the first couple minutes.' Start the countdown clock to KIMA ceasing local operations and simulcasting KEPR. I give it 9-12 months. What was once a reputable station under the helm of the greats, like the late T.J. Close and Jimmy Nolan, and Ken Crockett and Stu Seibel...a shell of its own self.

Thank god I get KING-TV on cable here. Normally if I want local (i.e. Kittitas and Yakima) news I'll just either lurk around the Facebook Yakima Scan page for accident/crime information back home, or just read the Ellensburg Daily Record.
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I tend to agree the Sinclair properties news operations will eventually merge. The Tri/Yak market really doesn't care that KEPR is local to Tri, and KIMA is local to Yak. Most people watch for weather and perhaps a local story or two. But KNDU and KVEW seems to cover the local for both markets without major issues.
 
Constant audio/video freezes on KCYU Yakima this afternoon during the SEA/GB game. Going out every minute or so for 3-5 seconds at a time. RIDICULOUS. Where is the engineer...oh wait, there's no one at the studio. :(
 
crainbebo said:
Constant audio/video freezes on KCYU Yakima this afternoon during the SEA/GB game. Going out every minute or so for 3-5 seconds at a time. RIDICULOUS. Where is the engineer...oh wait, there's no one at the studio. :(
Click to expand...

I noticed it too on kffx but I am tired of complaining. Fortunately it went away in the 2nd half.
 
Do they REALLY need to be in that HAPO Center every couple of months selling overpriced spas?

"BE ADVISED! Proudly (they are proud to keep scamming customers) renamed the Hapo Center..." This morning! On KIMA!

I wonder if their radio ads are still screwing up the name "Pasco." They run constantly on out-of-market Yakima FMs the whole week before the sale, I'm surprised they haven't taken over every commercial break on KXLE. (Pssst...they'll start doing it!)
 


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