Something for Everyone and Something New

MAY TV SWEEPS RESULTS –Updated*

Something for Everyone and Something New

KEYE TV (CBS) came close in February. In the May TV sweeps, the 10 p.m. news went to the top. KEYE is the new #1, followed by KVUE TV (ABC), and KXAN TV coming in third.

It appears that KEYE benefitted from CBS prime time programming, providing a strong lead-in audience. That’s not always the case. A television station’s worse enemy is always the remote, but appears that all three stations pretty much kept their viewers and there wasn’t much station-switching.

KEYE climbing to the top at 10 p.m. may be the biggest news, the biggest change in the ratings.

“I am very proud of our staff, who works so hard. We've put together a great team and Austin viewers have noticed,” said Suzanne Black, KEYE news director.

“Having the most-watched 10 pm news is Austin is a big responsibility, and we take our jobs seriously,” Black continued. “The goal at KEYE TV News is to bring Central Texas viewers the best news possible, every day, even outside the key ratings periods. If you have not watched our news lately, you are missing some great coverage.”

Black attributes some of their audience growth to a new effort on the part of KEYE news. “The dedication to our Waste Watch Investigations has made an impact. Since we started Waste Watch in April we have seen a tremendous response from viewers, both to our investigations and with tips on our hotline,” Black said.

KXAN again dominated the ratings at 5 and 6 p.m. followed by KVUE. KEYE has been running a game show at 5 p.m., but that’s about to change. More on that later.

“KXAN News is extremely excited with having the two highest rated newscasts in the market,” said Eric Lassberg, KXAN president and general manager. “We are encouraged that our viewers are responding positively from our in-depth and investigative efforts with Chris Willis as our lead investigator.”

KXAN says that its 5 O’clock newscast has seen a 55% increase in growth when measured year to year. Part of that growth might be attributable to preceding programming as mentioned above.

“Jeopardy” at 4 and 4:30 p.m. on KXAN has killed the competition for years, providing a nice lead-in for the station’s 5 O’clock news. NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” continued to build on that lead, handing off to the local news at 6 p.m. The audience kept on building with a slight drop-off at six, but not enough to drop KXAN down to #2.

KVUE was #2 at 6 p.m., and KEYE was #3.

KVUE rocks during the mid-day hours with big numbers for “The View” at 10 a.m. followed by KVUE Midday at 11 a.m. There is direct competition between KTBC TV (FOX) and KXAN at noon. KXAN won handily.

“KVUE Daybreak” battled it out with Fox 7 for the biggest chunks of the morning audience. Fox 7 won at 4:30 and 5 a.m. Then KVUE took #1 at 6 a.m. Fox 7 was #2. KXAN’S “News Today” was third. “KTBC was the only station to show growth year-to-year,” according Fox. This was the last rating period for KVUE’s Melissa Gale, and after 14 years, she’s going out a winner in a key time period.

Fox7 News “Good Day Austin” was also #1 in the 9-10 a.m. time slot, beating out “Live with Kelly” on KVUE and the “Today” show on NBC.

So, there is a little something for each newsroom to smile about for a little while, but the biggest smiles may be at KEYE.

Speaking of KEYE, Facebook posts recently left a clear impression that the station’s “We Are Austin Live” at 4 p.m. was reaching the end of the line. “We did some great stuff...with our hands tied behind our backs many times...and we are the better for it,” said co-host Jason Wheeler in a May 18^th post.

“We Are Austin Live” failed to gain traction since its debut in September, 2009. It was all up-hill against “Jeopardy” and “Ellen” in that time slot, and the ratings were dismal. It’s going away.

What’s next for KEYE?

KEYE announced this afternoon it will re-launch a 5 p.m. newscast anchored by Judy Maggio and Ron Oliveira and Wheeler beginning June 18, 2012. KEYE says Wheeler’s role as senior reporter will be to staff the Breaking News Desk and field-anchor stories and special reports, bringing viewers more in-depth coverage. News Director Suzanne Black said, “The new 5pm newscast will be a hard news product, bringing Central Texas viewers what they have asked for.”

Let the head-to-head games begin again.

*My apologies to Fox 7. I overlooked their powerhouse morning ratings.

© Jim McNabb, 2012

Telling Thursday's Story

Pro Photographers Needed

Images of the horrifying and disturbing scene of last Thursday’s apparent suicide by airplane into a building in North Austin reaffirms why we need a full staff of professionals and especially professional photographers in newsrooms. For hours on end, television news photographers documented the scene. The pictures were page one above the fold in the Austin American-Statesman three days in a row.

Yes, reporters could have shot some pictures. They probably did, but reporters have another job. Yes, the first pictures on television or the Internet may have been from folks with flip-cameras or cell phones—passersby. Those pictures are of marginal quality, but for first pictures, they’re OK. After a while, they began to all look the same, however.

One local TV station tried to show what was happening using broadband early on, but about all you could see was the dashboard of the news unit. Another local TV station stayed on sorry-looking broadband images far too long late Thursday morning. Perhaps they were just showing off. Perhaps they didn’t have a live shot set up. Whatever. Broadband live shots are great if they are the first live images from a scene before the professional photographers and live truck operators show up, but they cheat the audience after the fact.

Another scary detail reported in a newspaper story regarding the use of so-called social media in news quoted a KTBC-TV (Fox) assignment editor saying that he heard emergency radio scanner traffic regarding the incident and passed it along on Twitter. That is doubly dangerous. Emergency communications picked on a scanner are nothing more that the first indication, not verification, that something happened. Scanner traffic should never be reported as fact, even on Twitter. It’s totally unprofessional.

During a fluid “spot news” story, there is no substitute for a professional.

At the scene, there is no substitute for pro photogs. Ralph Barrera, Jay Janner, Rodolfo Gonzalez, and colleagues at the Austin American-Statesman shot hundreds of frames. They are in a “slide show” on the American-Statesman’s web site, www.statesman.com. Their wide angle photos of the scene were on the front page day after day.

Thursday was Thomas Costley’s birthday. Costley is a photographer and live truck/satellite truck operator for KXAN-TV (NBC). Costley was on the job, working his tail off all day. I’m betting that Thomas would have been fishing otherwise. Costley, however, is a pro.

Another multifaceted pro, mentioned here before, is KEYE-TV’s (CBS) chief photographer John Salazar. Once again, Salazar, gathering in all of the information and images in his mind, several times delivered the most complete, concise, and cogent descriptions of the events ON CAMERA. No telling what he was doing with his camera when he wasn’t live. Salazar’s live reports were better than any reporter. Once, the station pitched to him just as a news conference was beginning. KEYE did not have a live camera at that location, but, Salazar pushed his cell phone into the news conference as the TV station used other images. His day was long as well.

Sometimes, you are in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, you are not. KXAN was out of position for at least two news conferences. Probably, it was through no fault of their own. TV stations set up their live shots where they can get the best shot, but the news conferences may not be happening there.

All broadcast stations and News 8 did fairly well covering the story. KVUE and KEYE had something of an advantage because of their locations in north Austin, but it’s all about execution.

My philosophy was to be the first on the scene and the last to leave the scene. All stations resumed programming shortly after the noon hour, no one really wanting to be last.

The bottom line in TV spot news is pictures. It’s not reporters. It’s not anchors (There was entirely too much speculation from the anchor desks.) It’s not graphics. The bottom line is video—pictures. The best pictures come from professional news photographers.

When and if Austin has chiefly reporters shooting pictures and video—one-man-bands—we will have taken a giant step backwards.

© Jim McNabb, 2010

KVUE-TV and Dell

Mobile Television Tested in Austin

KVUE-TV (ABC and Belo) and Dell are now testing mobile television in the Austin area. Dell and several other manufacturers including Samsung are developing diminutive digital televisions that can get TV reception almost wherever you wish, and local televisions are installing the technology to transmit programming to them.

KVUE-TV president and general manager Patti Smith says tests are going on right now in Austin. “We are currently transmitting mobile TV in a test with Dell,” Smith confirmed. “Through its membership in the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) and working with other likeminded broadcasters, our parent company BELO is invested in making mobile television a reality in all 15 markets in which it operates. In Austin, we are testing equipment with Dell so that we will be better prepared once we are ready to launch nationwide.”

If you set up your DTV converter with “rabbit ears” before the DTV conversion last June, you know that the signal can be iffy. A picture can freeze in pixels and go to black if the signal strength is too weak, or you don’t have your antenna pointed properly. So, how can a mobile TV capture such a signal?

It takes new, recently approved technology for both the transmitter and the receiver. TV stations in major markets are spending $75,000-$150,000 for new equipment for their towers that will transmit the digital signal within their assigned bandwidth.

On the other end Dell and other manufacturers will be offering new receivers. The new Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook, Samsung Moment Mobile Phone from Sprint, LG Mobile Digital Television, and Tivit for Current Wi-Fi Phones are among current consumer devices. Manufacturers are promising high quality video from the tiny screens. Most agree a lap top computer will be the optimal portable TV device.

Research indicates, however, that younger viewers may prefer the smaller screens on their cellular phones. Further, they may be inclined to watch news and weather from that kind of receiver, rather than the same thing on a big screen in the den or living room. An Open Mobile Video Coalition survey in December, 2009 indicated that 65-percent of potential users are in the 18-29 years age group. They are “early adopters” and smart phone owners.

To be clear, this is not subscription or pay TV. This is live, free, over-the-air local television programming.

"The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 with built in Mobile DTV technology will be the perfect solution for watching local TV broadcasts on the go, like catching the morning news and weather while riding a commuter train," said John Thode, vice president, small screen devices, Dell. "Devices like the Inspiron Mini 10 are the multi-tool of personal technology for digital nomads who want to be connected and productive, but also want instant access to a great entertainment experience." (From Business Wire)

The first mobile television devices are expected to be on the market in April, 2010.

Austin is among only a handful of TV markets participating at this point, and only KVUE-TV is the only known station here. As of last month only 30 stations nationwide were on the air with mobile TV technology. Other Austin stations contacted by email did not respond immediately.

© Jim McNabb, 2010

Staff Changes at Austin TV Stations

Goodbye and Hello

Austin television reporters will be getting younger again. Two experienced and knowledgeable broadcast journalists will be leaving their respective stations in the coming days. Clara Tuma and Jenny Hoff are leaving Austin’s airways. That means new, probably younger replacements.

Friday, February 12, 2010 will be the last day at KVUE-TV (ABC) for award-winning reporter and fill-in anchor Clara Tuma. After eight and a half years at Austin’s #1 station, Tuma is leaving broadcasting to work for the Lower Colorado River Authority as a senior communications specialist handling media inquiries among other things, meaning that she may end up on the air, but not holding the microphone.

Tuma’s reporting will be missed and hard to replace. Before coming to KVUE, she worked for what was cable channel “Court TV”. She also worked at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Lawyer and Court TV before moving to KVUE. Tuma used those legal experiences to great advantage in finding and covering legal stories at the local level. Landing in Austin was easy since she is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, and she also has family members here.

Leaving day-to-day journalism won’t be as easy. “I think I'll have constant news withdrawal for a while! The only job I've ever had is being a journalist, and I'm sad to be leaving it,” Tuma says. “At the same time, I'm tremendously excited about trying something new and entering the next phase of my life. Imagine a job where your next deadline isn't rightthisveryminute!

That longing for reporting will be easily assuaged. “In all these years, I've never had a job where I had nights, weekends and holidays off. I've never had Thanksgiving AND the day after Thanksgiving off (they're holidays, but I've always ended up working one of them), Tuma says. “I don't know what I'll do election night, but I'm really looking forward to the summer and not being out in this heat all the time.”

Hmmm. Did the LCRA tell Tuma about responding to the media during floods?

Jenny Hoff won’t be leaving KXAN-TV (NBC) until the end of April. Hoff learned recently that she has been awarded a Robert Bosch Fellowship landing her in Germany. Hoff has been KXAN’s political reporter and weekend anchor over the past five years.

“The Robert Bosch Fellowship aims to foster stronger transatlantic relationships between emerging American and German leaders in various fields. They selected 20 professionals from across the country who work in the areas of journalism, business, policy, and law to spend one year in Germany,” Hoff says.

The fellowship is a step toward a longtime goal. “Recently, I went home for my 10 year high school reunion and saw a poster on the wall that we had all written on while we were seniors,” Hoff says. “The question was, ‘What do you want to be doing in ten years?’ Well, I found my name and saw what I had written – ‘be an international correspondent for CNN.’ Ok, so it isn’t CNN, but it’s certainly a step closer to international reporting!”

“In addition to studying the language, I will work with a ministry in the German government to observe policy making as it relates to the rest of Europe and the United States,” Hoff says. “For the second phase I will work with Deutsche Welle Television which reports on European news in English. I might also get a chance to work with CNN Berlin. The fellowship will also bring us to various seminars in other countries to learn about the issues facing European businesses and governments.”

Leaving Austin is bitter sweet. “I have a great life here with a job I love as well as fantastic friends. Needless to say, I will miss the city the minute I leave it. However, it is because I started getting so comfortable that I decided it was time to try something new and I plan to come back often!!”

Hoff’s job is not yet posted on the KXAN web site.

KVUE-TV, a Belo-owned station, has been under a hiring freeze. Frank Volpicella, news director, says that he will be able to hire a replacement for Tuma. Further, another new reporter will be arriving next month. “I did hire a reporter from Waco, Jade Mingus, to fill an open position I had for about a year,” Volpicella says. Jade begins next month. She works at KCEN-TV (NBC) right now.

Prior to moving to Waco, Mingus was a reporter and anchor at KOMU-TV, the NBC affiliate in Columbia, MO. “There I covered everything from statewide political issues to the rebuilding of New Orleans,” she says on the KCEN web site. In Missouri she also worked in radio for KMOX in St. Louis and KBIA, the NPR affiliate in Columbia.
She is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in political science.

One other post script: Former KXAN sports director Michael Coleman is now in New York. Earlier this month he was honored as a “Black Media Legend” sponsored by McDonald's, along with James Brown of CBS sports. Congratulations to Coleman who to New Yorkers is known as “Mike”.

© Jim McNabb, 2010