In a recent thread lamenting that the only subject on the board seemed to be KOVR, Stich wrote:
> Well, here's something slightly different...
>
> Anyone know the story behind KVIQ-TV in Eureka? I've noticed
> they've cancelled the rebroadcast of local news from
> KFTY/Santa Rosa, leaving KIEM-TV as the only source of local
> news in the market (minus the KTVU simulcast on KBVU and
> weather updates on KAEF).
>
TedL did some poking around and replied:
A little Googling for "KVIQ, Eureka" turned up a number of links, the most informative being the North Coast Journal, which has been tracking the demise of television news in Eureka for years.
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/052605/cover0526.html
outlines how Chester Smith's Modesto-based Sainte Partners II now controls KVIQ and the Fox station on Ch. 29, along with the WB, UPN and Univision channels that for now, appear only on local cable, according to the Journal.
Sainte was adding over-the-air transmissions of UPN and Univision via low-power televsion facilities it was testing when the above linked article was written in late May, 2005.
The story lists a bunch of related stories at the bottom...(worth reading through) which chronicle the massive changes that have occurred in the 186th ranked Neilsen DMA in the last decade.
The most recent involve bringing in a friendly third-party to hold the license ("own" the station) while Smith's growing company controls the programming and sells the ads.
Journal publisher Judy Hodgson lamented the changes in a column, April 27, this year:
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/040705/pub0407.html
The good, the ugly
by JUDY HODGSON
Last week we learned that the sale of KVIQ Channel 6 won the blessing of the Federal Communications Commission. (The sale itself is not yet complete. See "In the news"http://www.northcoastjournal.com/040705/news0407.html#wrap )
I look forward to the day there is competition in TV news again on the North Coast. After all, we certainly have an abundance of competition these days in the print news business.
It was five years ago that KVIQ and KIEM were all over the county with 15 to 20 staff each in their news departments. KVIQ was producing 22 hours of news shows per week and no story was too small to make it on air.
When the station pulled the plug on local news coverage, instead of "More news, more often" (the title of our cover story, June 29, 2000
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/062900/cover0629.html),
one year later, with one station remaining, it was "less news, sometimes originating from somewhere else."
A search for "KVIQ" within the Journal website turned up a a number of links.
In it's 10/11/2001 edition, the Journal reported:
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/101101/news1011.html#anchor468530
"KVIQ-TV sale announced
The Ackerley Group, a media and entertainment conglomerate that purchased KVIQ-TV Channel 6 in 1999, has itself been sold.
In an agreement announced Monday, Clear Channel Communications Inc. will acquire Ackerley in an all-stock transaction valued at $800 million at the close of business Oct. 5. The figure includes the assumption of approximately $294 million of debt.
What that means for KVIQ's local news department is unclear. In a cover story June 29, 2000 ("More news, more often"), then-General Manager Jeanne Buheit told the Journal that the Ackerley Group had invested more than $1 million in the news department. The number of shows grew from five hours per week to 22, including a live morning show. The news department employed 20 reporters and technicians at the time.
Today, the entire KVIQ staff consists of one on-air reporter, Dave Silverbrand. Weather and other reports are fed to the station from its sister station in Santa Rosa.
Since the Journal report last year, KAEF-TV Channel 7, with north state news coverage originating from Redding, has dropped all reporting from Humboldt County. KIEM-TV in Eureka, the industry leader according to Nielsen Reports, reports that its staffing level is unchanged.
"We have 15 in the news department, same as last year," said Bob Browning, KIEM station manager. "It's our intention to maintain our news coverage at its current level."
Humboldt County is one of the smallest television markets in the United States, ranking 189 out of 210 Nielsen markets nationwide."
A previous Journal story about the then-pending purchase by Ackerly said the station was paying Miller Broadcasting around $5.5 million for the Eureka CBS affiliate.
The demise of the KVIQ news operation was also reported via:
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/011702/news0117.html#anchor433137
"And then there was one
What a difference a year and a half makes.
In the summer of 2000 the North Coast was being served by three television stations, each generating hours of daily news programing. The fierce battle for ratings and ad revenue between KIEM, KVIQ and KAEF was reported in the Journal cover story, "More news, more often," June 29.
At the time KVIQ, No. 2 in the ratings with a staff of 20 gathering and preparing news shows, had increased its programming to 22 hours a week -- up from five. By comparison, the No. 1 rated news team, KIEM, had a staff of 15 and KAEF, three.
As of last week only KIEM remains.
KAEF was the first to drop local newscasts, in February of last year. In May KVIQ owners the Ackerley Group furloughed 12 employees and severely curtailed news coverage. Ackerley, in the process of selling KVIQ to Clear Channel Communications, pulled the plug on its Eureka-based newscast last week.
For the time being KVIQ will retain its Eureka-based sales staff and commercial production crew as well as veteran reporter Dave Silverbrand.
Silverbrand will contribute to the 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. regional newscasts that originate from KTFY. The Santa Rosa station broadcasts 6-9 a.m. daily and has a popular 7 p.m. newscast for its North Coast viewers."
From what Stich posted, that Santa Rosa connection's apparently been severed.
Hope this answers some of your questions, Stich.
In addition to Duluth and Eureka, wonder how many other small television markets have or are going through this kind of change.
What do viewers think?
Ted
> Well, here's something slightly different...
>
> Anyone know the story behind KVIQ-TV in Eureka? I've noticed
> they've cancelled the rebroadcast of local news from
> KFTY/Santa Rosa, leaving KIEM-TV as the only source of local
> news in the market (minus the KTVU simulcast on KBVU and
> weather updates on KAEF).
>
TedL did some poking around and replied:
A little Googling for "KVIQ, Eureka" turned up a number of links, the most informative being the North Coast Journal, which has been tracking the demise of television news in Eureka for years.
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/052605/cover0526.html
outlines how Chester Smith's Modesto-based Sainte Partners II now controls KVIQ and the Fox station on Ch. 29, along with the WB, UPN and Univision channels that for now, appear only on local cable, according to the Journal.
Sainte was adding over-the-air transmissions of UPN and Univision via low-power televsion facilities it was testing when the above linked article was written in late May, 2005.
The story lists a bunch of related stories at the bottom...(worth reading through) which chronicle the massive changes that have occurred in the 186th ranked Neilsen DMA in the last decade.
The most recent involve bringing in a friendly third-party to hold the license ("own" the station) while Smith's growing company controls the programming and sells the ads.
Journal publisher Judy Hodgson lamented the changes in a column, April 27, this year:
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/040705/pub0407.html
The good, the ugly
by JUDY HODGSON
Last week we learned that the sale of KVIQ Channel 6 won the blessing of the Federal Communications Commission. (The sale itself is not yet complete. See "In the news"http://www.northcoastjournal.com/040705/news0407.html#wrap )
I look forward to the day there is competition in TV news again on the North Coast. After all, we certainly have an abundance of competition these days in the print news business.
It was five years ago that KVIQ and KIEM were all over the county with 15 to 20 staff each in their news departments. KVIQ was producing 22 hours of news shows per week and no story was too small to make it on air.
When the station pulled the plug on local news coverage, instead of "More news, more often" (the title of our cover story, June 29, 2000
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/062900/cover0629.html),
one year later, with one station remaining, it was "less news, sometimes originating from somewhere else."
A search for "KVIQ" within the Journal website turned up a a number of links.
In it's 10/11/2001 edition, the Journal reported:
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/101101/news1011.html#anchor468530
"KVIQ-TV sale announced
The Ackerley Group, a media and entertainment conglomerate that purchased KVIQ-TV Channel 6 in 1999, has itself been sold.
In an agreement announced Monday, Clear Channel Communications Inc. will acquire Ackerley in an all-stock transaction valued at $800 million at the close of business Oct. 5. The figure includes the assumption of approximately $294 million of debt.
What that means for KVIQ's local news department is unclear. In a cover story June 29, 2000 ("More news, more often"), then-General Manager Jeanne Buheit told the Journal that the Ackerley Group had invested more than $1 million in the news department. The number of shows grew from five hours per week to 22, including a live morning show. The news department employed 20 reporters and technicians at the time.
Today, the entire KVIQ staff consists of one on-air reporter, Dave Silverbrand. Weather and other reports are fed to the station from its sister station in Santa Rosa.
Since the Journal report last year, KAEF-TV Channel 7, with north state news coverage originating from Redding, has dropped all reporting from Humboldt County. KIEM-TV in Eureka, the industry leader according to Nielsen Reports, reports that its staffing level is unchanged.
"We have 15 in the news department, same as last year," said Bob Browning, KIEM station manager. "It's our intention to maintain our news coverage at its current level."
Humboldt County is one of the smallest television markets in the United States, ranking 189 out of 210 Nielsen markets nationwide."
A previous Journal story about the then-pending purchase by Ackerly said the station was paying Miller Broadcasting around $5.5 million for the Eureka CBS affiliate.
The demise of the KVIQ news operation was also reported via:
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/011702/news0117.html#anchor433137
"And then there was one
What a difference a year and a half makes.
In the summer of 2000 the North Coast was being served by three television stations, each generating hours of daily news programing. The fierce battle for ratings and ad revenue between KIEM, KVIQ and KAEF was reported in the Journal cover story, "More news, more often," June 29.
At the time KVIQ, No. 2 in the ratings with a staff of 20 gathering and preparing news shows, had increased its programming to 22 hours a week -- up from five. By comparison, the No. 1 rated news team, KIEM, had a staff of 15 and KAEF, three.
As of last week only KIEM remains.
KAEF was the first to drop local newscasts, in February of last year. In May KVIQ owners the Ackerley Group furloughed 12 employees and severely curtailed news coverage. Ackerley, in the process of selling KVIQ to Clear Channel Communications, pulled the plug on its Eureka-based newscast last week.
For the time being KVIQ will retain its Eureka-based sales staff and commercial production crew as well as veteran reporter Dave Silverbrand.
Silverbrand will contribute to the 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. regional newscasts that originate from KTFY. The Santa Rosa station broadcasts 6-9 a.m. daily and has a popular 7 p.m. newscast for its North Coast viewers."
From what Stich posted, that Santa Rosa connection's apparently been severed.
Hope this answers some of your questions, Stich.
In addition to Duluth and Eureka, wonder how many other small television markets have or are going through this kind of change.
What do viewers think?
Ted