http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/sinclair-restructuring-cuts-at-seattles-komo/183737
The Investigative unit at KOMO is one of the divisions facing cuts.
The Investigative unit at KOMO is one of the divisions facing cuts.
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Sinclair to cut 8 staffers at KOMO4 News
- Thread starter Y2kTheNewOldies
- Start date
Then it must be true that the janitor will double as chief engineer AND
evening news anchor..............
evening news anchor..............
Puget Sound Media reports that Tracy Vedder, & Jon Humbert are among 10 being laid off. Michelle Esteban moves to general assignment reporting....
http://www.pugetsound.media/2017/01/05/komo-cuts-at-least-10-positions/
At the same time, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Frontier Communications are at a stalemate on renegotiation of their contract...so no KOMO for Frontier customers--
http://www.heraldnet.com/news/with-komo-out-of-frontiers-line-up-is-it-time-to-cut-the-cord/
Are these two events related?
http://www.pugetsound.media/2017/01/05/komo-cuts-at-least-10-positions/
At the same time, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Frontier Communications are at a stalemate on renegotiation of their contract...so no KOMO for Frontier customers--
http://www.heraldnet.com/news/with-komo-out-of-frontiers-line-up-is-it-time-to-cut-the-cord/
Are these two events related?
KIRO dumped most of their veteran staff under Bob Jordan's leadership, so there aren't many vets left to let go.
Sad to see the "Problem Solvers" eliminated. That's one of KOMO's longest running franchises. Also, wasn't Connie Thompson a problem solver? What is she doing at KOMO these days?
Finally, Michelle Esteban probably kept her position at KOMO because she is the weekend evening anchor. Tracy Vedder is a market veteran and a real good journalist, hopefully she can land on her feet somewhere (though probably not in market). Jon Humbert is a young guy with a lot of promise - he will probably land in another top-30 market - lots of potential.
Eric Johnson announced on Facebook that effective January 9th he will no longer co-anchor the 11 pm newscasts that will now be handled by Morgan Chesky who will join Mary Nam at 11 pm. Eric states wanting to focus on his heroes segments more and him doing the 11 pm show really didn't allow it. He will continue as 5 & 6 pm co-anchor. He will come in at 9:30am work on heroes stories as well as getting ready for the 5 & 6 pm shows and be done for the day at 7:30pm.
If Jon can't find work at 5, 7 or 13 my guess he would want to return to his home in Denver. Tho im surprised 4 didn't offer him or Tracy General Assignment reporter positions.
Sinclair is clearly trying to save money. So, someone had to go...
Clearly, Sinclair is going younger and cheaper. I'm sure the move was not initiated by Eric. Management told him that Morgan was moving to the 11pm news and Eric put the best spin on it.
Doubt it was a spin story as you claim. Otherwise they would have Morgan doing either 5 or 6 pm not just 11. Also if Eric wants to do more heroes stories then I don't blame him wanting to give up the 11.
Oh, c'mon! These spin stories happen all the time. Often, it's to "spend more time with the family". KING did the same thing by taking Mark Wright off the late night newscasts and giving him the earlier shift. Believe me, it wasn't Eric's choice to move off of one of the key newscasts. Somebody wants to see if a younger and definitely cheaper talent can make an impact at 11pm. If so, Morgan will eventually move into the early evening slots as well. If not, Eric will magically return to the 11pm newscast.
So you know Eric personally or know someone in management that can back your claim that this wasn't Eric's choice? And if its an age related move why didn't they give the 11 pm slot to Clark or Chester or whatever his name is that does 11 am with Molly.
I'm with formeraa here.
C'mon!
Some of us have been hanging around these parts for a long time and have read a lot of press releases where talent takes a reduced role. It is always spun as their choice. It rarely, actually is.
Morgan Chesky is 30 years old, looks like a CK Underwear model, and has a ton of personality at the anchor desk.
Eric Johnson was anointed as the heir apparent at the anchor desk behind Dan Lewis 15 years ago. In that time, I've never felt he distinguished himself as an anchor. His strength is feature reporting, not breaking news coverage, nor the mundane day in and day out of anchoring.
KOMO has to make a choice. Keep Chesky on weekends, where he will be snatched by a larger market within a year or two, or move him to the 11PM slot and see if he is someone who can really capture the audiences in Seattle. KING was the long time market leader at 11 - can they keep that position with Bounds and Renner gone? Time for KOMO to try and unseat them, and obviously Chesky is part of the strategy.
Prior to Chesky, KOMO has cycled through a couple of very good male anchors on weekend evenings. They had nowhere to go at KOMO - so they left. Casey Norton and Russ Bowen were lead anchor material. So is Chesky, and KOMO's making an attempt to keep him around.
This is an interesting debate, and I don't think anyone really has the strong answer. Eric came from sports, moved up from Spokane to Portland to Seattle. The way it was supposed to be, right? Well, not necessarily. It all comes down to audience research. Eric probably scores high here, but we have no idea about demographics. Younger? Yeah, that is part of the equation. Local news today needs to be relevant to those in the 25-49 demo, pure and simple. Yes, some like the experienced anchor with some grey hair, but some are looking for something else. Who the hell knows? Chesky may the the flavor of the month, but to expect him to stay in Seattle for the long-term is not probable, but possible. I believe local tv news is still a viable product, but there are major decisions being made about who will deliver it, and how they will deliver it. (I.E. alternate forms of media).
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Right. When you look at something like Chesky Vs. Johnson, you also have to consider the massive population growth in the Seattle region the last few years and the fact that none of these new residents have any loyalty to a station, or to the anchor teams.
I don't live in Seattle anymore ... I've been gone for three years but visit frequently. I recently moved to Los Angeles. As I flip through the stations, I have no loyalty to any of these anchors, or stations. Who do I want to watch? Who delivers the news the way I want it? It will take weeks of watching, trying different newscasts, different anchor teams, for me to settle in.
The stations in Seattle are fighting for viewers like me. Transplants in the 25-49 demo, and they want to make sure that they can make an imprint on the viewer.
Its really a balancing act. All three lead stations have had mostly stable anchor teams for decades (KIRO the least stable), and a definitive "feel" to the way the news was reported and newscasts were structured. They don't want to lose their existing viewership, but need to attract the new residents.
It should be no surprise that when KING shook up the anchor line-up a few months ago, rather than go with four anchors, on two teams, alternating newscasts, they shuffled the deck in such away that all possible combinations of 2 male anchors and 2 female anchors have a newscast together.
If Mark Wright (whose not that old) and Lori Matsukawa represent "old" and Amanda Grace and David Espinosa-Hall represent "young" KING will be able to gather viewership data on which pairings resonate the most.
The experiment is playing out in front of our eyes on KING, and now we're seeing it again on KOMO (and we haven't even discussed Molly Shen vs. Mary Nam).
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The bigger picture is that there is still a desire for news out there. If we've learned anything from the "fake news" scandals over the last couple of months, is that it is more important than ever for the country to have a robust news gathering infrastructure, with committed reporters, editors and producers selecting and crafting the content.
What is more disturbing is that so many real stories from real news organizations don't get the traction in the social media space that "fake" news stories from fake news websites do. Generally speaking, every news organization out there, from print, to TV, to radio, needs to do a better job getting their reports up on the web with either video or audio content, and make sure that they are getting the clicks.
This is easier for the TV stations to do, because they're already a visual medium, and many of the big communications schools are pumping out kids that are ready to go as multi-media journalists. Note that I'm not saying they should take focus off their primary, television product. That should still be their main channel. But these stations need to be a news organization in many places - pushing their content out in many different ways.
Dan Lewis retired. Tegna pink-slipped Dennis Bounds (well, a buyout). Ditto Jean Enersen. Steve Raible has been at KIRO since the late 1980s...and even with his Seahawks radio job, I don't think he's going anywhere. If I were to travel to Seattle on a weeknight, I would likely stick with KIRO 7 News. Lots of old, familiar faces are still there, especially the reporters (Essex Porter has been at 7, I believe close to 30 years). I really don't like being introduced to a 28-year-old anchor right out of Rapid City. They are still learning their anchoring, thus flubbing often. I see anchors at the Tri-Cities/Yakima stations do this all the time, especially the young weekend faces.
"Right. When you look at something like Chesky Vs. Johnson, you also have to consider the massive population growth in the Seattle region the last few years and the fact that none of these new residents have any loyalty to a station, or to the anchor teams."
This is absolutely correct. However, I don't know if these newbies are watching local tv news. Perhaps they are. If they are, they will quickly asscoiate with those they can identify with, and legendary anchors won't cut it. Perhaps a problem for a growing media market like Seattle is.
This is absolutely correct. However, I don't know if these newbies are watching local tv news. Perhaps they are. If they are, they will quickly asscoiate with those they can identify with, and legendary anchors won't cut it. Perhaps a problem for a growing media market like Seattle is.
Totally true. Any major market undergoes regular population churn. Those who care about heritage of TV anchors either die off (literally), retire, or in other ways leave the market and are displaced in numbers by those who move in for jobs with places like Amazon. In order to keep up, stations need to evolve accordingly. That includes now social media/digital aspects, a whole different and rapidly-changing animal.
In a way you are correct, but combine that with doing a better job at factual journalism, radio and TV news needs to take the opportunity to better promote itself as a credible source of reporting actual news, not fake stories or tessellation as is found through many click-bait on line sources. Problem is, many TV stations seeing research that younger audiences gravitate toward the tabloid-style news and headlines, find themselves then looking for ways to spin stories accordingly. I personally think that's a big mistake.
You would think that because TV has a head start being a visual medium, research shows that younger viewers don't want long or in-depth stories told by someone in a coat and tie. Research I've seen shows maximum attention span of someone clicking on a story on line is two minutes. Chock some of that to simple attention span, some to the device they're watching on (phone), and some to use of subscription-bandwidth. Again, it's an evolution of how viewers consume media now. Complex solution for traditional media, but a simple problem.
Yes, KIRO 7 has more familiar faces. Essex Porter has been there at least 36 years because he started right around the time Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980. (On a side note, I just happened to meet Essex's parents in Hawaii some years ago and they were very proud of him.)
Let me make an important note, as I recall some of the long-time and recently retired anchors. Jean Enersen must have been in her 20s when she became the main canchor at KING 5. Jeff Renner must have been in his 20s when he started at KING 5 as a science reporter. Essex Porter was probably in his 20s when he started at KIRO. Steve Pool joined KOMO right out of school in his 20s. Other longtime reporters like Angela King and Mark Coleman initally joined NWCN in their 20s. Joyce Taylor must have been in her late 20s when she started in Seattle.
So, my point is that we tolerated younger reporters back in the day. We should accept them now, as some of the familiar faces retire (willingly or unwillingly).
Excellent point, formeraa. I will add other young anchors and reporters from the 70's...KIRO's Sandy Hill, who went on to KNXT (now KCBS LA), and Good Morning Amercia. And then there was another KIRO anchor/reporter who went on to the big-time in LA, Ann Martin.
Just for fun, here is an enjoyable off-air commercial conversation between Ann and her co-anchor at KABC, Paul Moyer. Classic!
The first clip is the audio with the video doctored. The second clip is just the audio, but has the voiceover intro to the newscast just seconds after the argument.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib5zvlVc16A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06_Sez2tEOk
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