> If there is one uniting factor of all Portland newscasts,
> they are all sloooooooooow. If anyone knew what they were
> doing at WMTW they would re-jigger their approach and go
> with a fast-paced, "more stories," grab you by the throat
> style broadcast more often seen in bigger markets. Maybe
> that would get them out of ratings purgatory!
It's always fun to play arm-chair quarterback and try to hypothetically coach a station to better ratings. But do you think the viewers are better served by a higher story count or a newscast with fewer but more in-depth stories? There's no right answer and both styles have their fans. And the Portland market could certainly use a faster paced show for the sake of variety if nothing else. Personally, I'm a small town guy. Big city news always strikes me as a bit too tabloid and obnoxious. As a state, I think Maine is more in line with my preference. Even in it's urban centers, Maine seems to have a more rural sensibility. And Maine also has one of the oldest populations of any state in the country. For those reasons, I think a fast "action news" style broadcast probably wouldn't work. But WMTW nothing else has worked for WMTW, so maybe it's worth a try...
