New Faces

Austin TV Turnover

[For a while this post was deleted from Austin Culture Map, apparently because I made a correction (I referred to Leslie Rhode as Leslie Cook, her name when we worked together years ago.) It is back on Culture Map: http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/04-08-12-22-44-tv-turnover/]

While KXAN TV (NBC) is winning in the ratings, the newsroom staff is getting smaller and smaller.

It’s beginning to show on the air.

Friday, evening (April 6, 2012) Sports anchor Brian Sanders co-anchored the news with Leslie Rhode and returned to handle the sports. Saturday, (April 7, 2012) found “hard news” reporter Chris Sadeghi anchoring sports. Why? Sanders was anchoring the weekend morning news. Associated Press Broadcaster’s “Best Reporter” award Josh Hinkle anchored Sunday (April 8, 2012) instead of David Scott. Sadeghi came in as a reporter. He usually works weekdays.

It may have been a holiday schedule, but staffing options are fewer and fewer.

For months, weekend meteorologist Natalie Stoll has been working the morning broadcast after the station let go 16-year KXAN morning fixture Shawn Rutherford. I’m told that she’s dying to return to her previous shift.

Further, where are the reporters, the heart of the newsroom, providing the day-to-day content? Go on the staff page of www.kxan.com and see that there are several faces missing.

Newsroom morale began to slip with the sudden disappearance of weekend morning anchor and gifted reporter Catenya McHenry. True, McHenry was making personal plans, but she wasn’t planning to leave so soon.

Then, Rutherford was shown the door. The mood of the room dipped again.

Reagan Hacklemann and Dustin Blanchard are no longer on the personnel page. Recently, high-profile reporter Doug Shupe went on vacation and never came back after accepting reportedly accepting a public relations position. A little over a week ago, Jarrod Wise submitted his resignation. He’s still on the site, but will be leaving “the business,” sources say.

Reporter Jacqueline Ingles is the latest pending departure. She handed in her resignation Friday, April 13.

The sports department is down one since Leila Rahimi landed a new job with Fox Sports in San Diego. Word is that Brian Sanders wants to move from sports to news. He’s made a bid to be the weekend morning show, and it was Sanders reporting from the recent rash of tornados in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Others on and off-the-air are said to be looking.

True, the station still has some strong staff members, including political reporter Hinkle. Sadeghi is solid as are anchors Shannon Wolfson and David Scott. Erin Cargile continues growing having started as the Hill Country reporter, an apparent opening now as Jacqueline Ingles is needed in town. Of course, veteran Jim Swift can cover any story if needed; he’s not just for features.

The KXAN web site lists only two newsroom positions, but depending on how and whether management chooses to fill the holes, there may be as many as eight. Also, there may have been some hires, but the station seldom comments on personnel matters.

Until now, the personnel shortage has been covered up well by resourceful producers and photographers behind the scenes, but when shifts are covered by staff not normally seen, it becomes obvious that something is going on in the newsroom.

In all fairness there are many new people reporting at all of the Austin stations.

KVUE TV (ABC ) lists three news openings on its site with five or six rather recent new reporters on the air. KEYE TV (CBS) just hired staff for its new morning show, and they’re looking for a couple more, plus a weekend meteorologist. Fred Cantu is now listed as a reporter. He and Lisa Leigh Kelly are the most recognizable names on the staff. KTBC TV (Fox) is looking for three or four news staffers too. Noelle Newton made a move KTBC from KVUE earlier this year. Except for a few anchors, there seems to be constant turnover at YNN (formerly News 8).

It wasn’t very long ago that Austin, the 47^th ranked market was what I called a “destination market”, a place where broadcast journalists came and stayed for years. Austin, you know, is a magnet. Now, it seems the stations are just stepping stones.

© Jim McNabb, 2012

LA LA Land

Michelle Valles hits the "Big Time"

Find my story posted to Austin Culture Map: http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/04-04-12-17-28-michelle-valles-in-la-tv/

KEYE Comes to Play

Morning Show Wars

The battle for Austin eye balls in the AM is getting hotter as KEYE-TV (CBS) rolls out much more than a token morning show with a full staff.

New owner Sinclair Broadcasting Group seems serious in this attempt to compete in the morning time slot.

KEYE TV Morning News expanded to six on air staff: Anchors Hunter Ellis and Mileka Lincoln, Meteorologist Allison Miller, Traffic Reporter Erica Harpold, and Field Reporter Adam Bennett. Former Morning anchor Fred Cantu will appear as a feature reporter. Allison Miller had been the weekend meteorologist.

KEYE had been getting by with solo anchor Fred Cantu for several months. Cantu had been cut during an odd and short-lived attempt to attract an audience by ditching morning news and mounting cameras around the “JB and Sandy Show on Mix 94.7” in late 2009 and 2010. Meteorologist Kelly Sifka handled weather cut-ins.

Sifka remained when the station pulled the plug on radio-on-TV, and Cantu returned, working part time at KEYE in the mornings and at Home Depot the rest of the day. Finally, the station put Cantu back on the payroll full time. Cantu has a loyal and loving audience, but he never attracted the numbers that would make him a player against powerhouses KXAN TV (NBC) and KVUE TV (ABC).

The February ratings had KVUE winning at 4:30 and 5 a.m. KXAN won at 6 a.m.

Now, Cantu is out of the anchor chair, and reportedly Sifka has left the station. No, Cantu is not going back to Home Depot.

“Fred will have more time now to do what he does best, telling Austin’s stories,” says Suzanne Black, KEYE TV News Director. The station is adding a new segment “Friday’s With Uncle Fred,” in addition to reinstating his weekly “Gadget Guy” reports.

“Viewers always ask us, ‘What’s going to happen to Fred?’ We are so glad we have him as a part of our team,” commented Amy Villarreal, Vice-President and General Manager of KEYE TV.

So, where did this new KEYE new morning crew come from?

Hunter Ellis, a former fighter pilot and a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy, was most recently the roving reporter for KEYE TV’s 4p.m. show We Are Austin Live. His broadcast experience includes the History Channel, KCBS and KCAL TV in Los Angeles.

A native of Hawaii, Mileka Lincoln comes from KEYE’s sister station, KABB in San Antonio where she was the weekend anchor. Prior to that, she was a morning anchor in Laredo.

Erica Harpold is a long-time Austinite, having graduated from Austin High School and Texas State University. Erica was an anchor and reporter for KCEN in Waco and KAUZ in Wichita Falls.

Adam Bennett was weekend anchor in Amarillo at KAMR/KCIT before coming to KEYE last month. Adam is a native Texan and a proud graduate of The University of Texas.

Some KEYE views objected to the changes on Cantu’s Facebook page saying, “I am sad about the morning news change. I really enjoyed waking up and watching/listening to you and Kelly each day. I went to a different station the last time they took you off and I will be doing the same thing this time. You will be missed.”

“Give it a chance. I'm grateful to still be a part,” Cantu countered with class.

All of this is happening in a cauldron of change in the morning shows. First, former KVUE sports anchor/reporter Brian Mays moved to the news department to co-anchor KVUE News Daybreak and Midday with Melissa Gale.

Next, while sharing the morning ratings with KVUE, KXAN let go 16-year veteran weatherman Shawn Rutherford and eventually replaced anchor Chris Willis with Robert Maxwell to co-anchor with Sally Hernandez. Willis is now heading the station’s investigative team.

Even with all of those changes, KXAN eked out a win at 6 a.m. Now, KEYE is poised to make a serious run for the ratings.

KEYE came close to claiming #1 at 10 p.m. from KVUE in February. Many believe that the station that wins at 10 p.m. has a leg-up on the competition for morning ratings, because viewers may not change the channel. They simply turn the TV off.

Although stations are rated daily, the next Neilson “sweep” month runs from April 26 to May 23, 2012.

© Jim McNabb, 2012

The Home Team

Rangers or Astros on TV, But Where?

Are you at home with the Texas Rangers, or are you at home with the Houston Astros. According to Fox Sports or Major League Baseball, in Austin and Central Texas we are at home with the Astros.

But, you say, the Round Rock Express is the AAA club for last year’s American League champions, the Texas Rangers. Doesn’t that make a difference?

Further, we know the Texas Rangers stars—Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, and Michael Young to name three. Can you name three Astros “stars”? Who knows? By the time they play 162 games these Astros may indeed be legitimate stars. Stranger things have happened in baseball.

We also know names of several of the Round Rock Express. Some of them have been up to the “show” with the big club, particularly at the end of the season. I particularly like yeoman player Matt Kata; he’s capable of being spectacular. Also, center fielder Julio Borbon started last year in the Major League.

These are familiar names, but they aren’t part of the “home market” team. The home market team for Austin and Central Texas is the Houston Astros.

Therefore, when you tune in Fox Southwest during baseball season within the next few days, more than likely you’ll see the Houston Astros, even though we know only a few of their names (Carlos Lee, Wandy Rodriguez, and Chris Johnson). You’ll have to look elsewhere for the Rangers.

“The Austin area is considered a home market for the Astros but when those games are on Fox SW and the Rangers are playing at the same time, then the Rangers game will be on Channel 77 there in Austin,” says Melissa Sorola, regional communications director for Time Warner Cable.

One notable problem is that Channel 77 is digital, meaning a viewer must have a cable box to view it. Secondly, it is not a High Definition (HD) telecast. It is available, however.

Now, there is a third option for 25 of the Ranger’s regular season games. KBVO, another digital channel, will broadcast 25 Texas Rangers baseball games live in HD beginning Friday night, April 13th through September 28th. “Every Friday night KBVO will bring the excitement and tradition of the reigning American League Champs into the homes of Central Texas,” their news release says.

LIN Media is trying to position KBVO as a regional sports channel. “KBVO brings Austin viewers local and regional sports such as San Antonio Spurs, Houston Texans pre-season football, Big 12 college basketball including the University of Texas Longhorns and live broadcasts of local high school football and basketball,” according to the news release. Other than these Friday night Rangers games, the sports programming on KBVO is rather sporadic however.

A complete listing of all Texas Rangers games airing on KBVO is available at www.kbvotv.com.

[To clear up possible confusion: KBVO used to be the call letters for what is now KEYE TV when it was an independent, non-network station. When the station became a CBS affiliate, the call letters were changed to KEYE, and KBVO was dropped, making them available to some other station. The current KBVO used to be full-power hill country station broadcasting from a tower in Llano called KXAM TV, it repeated the programming of KXAN TV to a wider audience in the Hill Country, referred to in the Neilson Ratings as KXAN +. When LIN management decided to reprogram the station, the changed the call letters to KBVO. Clear?]

© Jim McNabb, 2012

New Magazine

American-Statesman Gets REAL

Hidden between the folds of the Austin American-Statesman Friday, March 30, 2012 you may have noticed something new, not seen before.

“REAL” is the newspaper’s newest magazine, subtitled “Authentic Austin Living”. “Each issue will bring readers the city’s spin on fashion, home design, health, neighborhoods, family, pets, events and more. This month’s issue will focus on Austin’s culinary scene. Next month’s issue will concentrate on Austin neighborhoods,” according to the news release announcing its publication.

“REAL magazine is a natural extension of what the Austin American-Statesman staff does every day in our features pages,” said Kathy Blackwell, Statesman Senior Editor for Features and REAL magazine. “It’s a new outlet for the staff’s creativity, passion and commitment to covering the city and the amazing people who make it what it is.”

Blackwell put the magazine more into perspective in her first column. “To me, what it means to be ‘Real Austin’ has changed in the more than 12 years I’ve lived here,” Blackwell writes. “To put it another way, as my life has changed, the city has changed with it. When I moved here as a single woman, I relished in the late nights of live music… I still love all of that, but as a mother, wife, and professional, I’m more appreciative of the outdoor spaces, the amazing restaurants and the sense of community I encounter daily.”

REAL replaces “Glossy”. Remember Glossy? Did you read it? I remember having lunch with a close friend whose background is in print media. “What’s up with this ‘Glossy’ thing?” I asked shortly after it debuted. The title itself said that it wasn’t for me. “REAL” has more reach. “We didn’t research a target audience per se. The goal in launching REAL was to be able to offer broader content and reach a larger portion of the Austin American-Statesman audience. REAL: Authentic Austin Living allows us to accomplish this,” says Shannon Cockrell, Sr. Segment Marketing Manager/Audience.

But let’s get real: REAL is an advertising vehicle. Thumbing through the pages, you’ll see that there are an almost mind-numbing number of ads. I didn’t even try to count them. The announcement release says the magazine will reach more than 74,000 residents. (The magazine says 76,000 households.)

While the most noticeable content may be ads, REAL is reader-friendly. “A format like this gives our talented reporters and photographers a chance to explore Austin in different ways…” I always say “Content is king.” If you don’t have strong content, nobody is going to care. Nobody is going to read it.

Sifting through the advertisements and the “stories” with a commercial tilt, there is content starting on about the 41^st page focusing on food and the people who prepare it. It’s the featured story of the first issue with the headline on the cover, “How we rose to the top of the food chain/behind Austin’s emergency as the hottest culinary city.”

The photos are superb. My favorite is a stop-action, mid-air shot of a lady flying from a mechanical bull. Did you know that bull riding is good for the abs? There are bull riding classes. It appears that every Statesman photographer contributed to the issue.

REAL also has an online component. “Complementing the print product is the REAL website at statesman.com/real. It features an expanded product guide, the Keeping it Real blog, neighborhood photo galleries and interactives,” the release says.

© Jim McNabb, 2012

Two Suggestions

UT Journalism Embraces Change

You must love words. You must love words and the power of well-chosen and carefully-crafted words, if you aspire to be a professional journalist. So, it was pleasing to see a heavy emphasis on story-telling and words in the new University of Texas Journalism curriculum to be launched this fall. (http://journalism.utexas.edu/undergraduate)

It will be “a new digital-based, state-of-the-art curriculum for undergraduates,” but it doesn’t seem to neglect the basics. The curriculum assumes, I suppose, that students will have mastered grammar and usage before moving into major subjects. I’m sad to say that when I taught a beginning journalism course, I actually taught English for the first six weeks.

“We’re eliminating the old walls between print, magazine, photojournalism, multimedia and broadcast, and we’ll be emphasizing good writing and critical thinking from Day One,” the introductory paragraphs say. I say, it’s about time! One wall is still standing apparently.

I see no collaboration or coordination between Journalism and Radio-Television-Film, even though RTF majors and broadcast journalism majors are using many of the same tools. The “Guiding Principles” say, “We want to break down the barriers between disciplines and institutions and create partnerships of learning and knowledge.” Therefore, there may be hope. It is still true that RTF majors can take some Journalism courses, but there is no mutual respect for the disciplines. The chasm remains.

I think some sort of relationship between the majors would result in a richer experience for some students. After all, they are both under the umbrella of the College of Communications, and some of the sharpest facets of the cutting edges of communications are coming from innovative RTF studies.

That said, it is good that UT Journalism is adhering to basics in the industry’ whirlwind of change. “The primary mission of the School of Journalism remains the same: to educate students to think critically and skeptically; gather a wide range of information accurately, honestly and fairly; hold institutions, individuals and themselves accountable for their promises and their deeds; and produce stories in various media platforms that communicate clearly, concisely and powerfully to the general public. The goal of our new curriculum is to further this mission.”

So, this fall students will take a course entitled, “Reporting: Words.” I love it. They will also take a course entitled, “Reporting: Images.” I do hope that there is relationship between these courses. In TV news, one writes to the video or images that tell the story. In fact, a well-produced story may well have very few words leaving it to the pictures to tell the story.

One final and important fault found in the new curriculum is this: A student must be at the Fourth level out of Five before taking “Ethics in Journalism” and “Media Law”. Media Law might wait, but Ethics should come early on. This is important—very important in this digital world.

There is a “rising tide of student plagiarism” attributed to blurred lines of the digital world. Denver Post writer Kevin Simpson told the story of a Colorado State University professor in a February 7, 2012 story.

“She saw it all: blatant cut-and-paste copying from the Internet; only a word changed here and there” in spite of the fact the CSU’s web site cautions against plagiarism at least five times.

The story cited a recent study by the Pew Research Center: 55 percent of university presidents surveyed thought that plagiarism has increased over the past ten years, almost all (86%) blamed it on technology.

I also teach at the university level, and I’ve seen it too, but this kind of thievery of intellectual property isn’t confined to college.

All of the time we read of prize-winning journalist working in the real world—The Washington Post and the New York Times—being caught red-handed having stolen someone else’s intellectual property.

Small wonder that the Pew Center and the Gallup Poll continues to give journalists poor marks for ethics. Gallup reported March 25^th that Journalists continue to rank near the bottom of the public opinion poll. Nurses got the highest rating. Journalist did manage to beat out bankers, lobbyists, members of Congress and car salesman. If you need a lot of love in your life, don’t be a journalist.

The University of Texas should seriously consider moving its Ethics course to a basic tier. At the very least, it should be addressed early on in some syllabus.

On the whole, the new UT Journalism curriculum looks promising and challenging with a required “capstone” course and paper during the senior year.

© Jim McNabb, 2012

What Are They Thinking?

Shawn Rutherford Gone From KXAN TV

“Shawn Rutherford is a team member of the 2010 Winner for Best Morning Newscast as voted by the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters”—The headline on his KXAN-TV page.

Further, Shawn Rutherford’s team tied for #1 for the 6 a.m. hour during the important November Nielsen sweeps.

Now, Shawn Rutherford is gone from KXAN-TV.

In a newsroom meeting Friday (January 6, 2012), management informed the staff that Rutherford was no longer with the TV station because of “business reasons.”

Business reasons: That could mean a lot of things. Rutherford’s contract was up for renewal at the station in a couple of months. So, “business reasons” could mean that Rutherford and the station could not agree on a new contract, if one was offered.

Business reasons could also be derived from research. KXAN retains Magid Consultants. If Rutherford didn’t score high enough in their research perhaps that is the reason he is gone. In years past Magid research was considered, but since “they ain’t from around here,” decision were not always made on what they said. After all, Rutherford had been on the air in Austin for close to 15 years. Austin is not a cookie-cutter market conforming to research norms.

Business reasons could mean that Rutherford, knowing his contract was ending, was ready to leave.

Shawn joined the KXAN News First Warning Weather Team in November, 1998 as weekend weather, but soon moved up to the morning broadcast.

Rutherford is also an innovator. He created for KXAN the one-of-a-kind, real-time lightning visual called “Live Strike”. Live Strike went away a few years ago because of conflicts with completion technology.

Even so, Rutherford is gone for business reasons.

His departure is the fourth prominent departure from KXAN News/Weather in recent months. Expert investigative reporter Nancy Wilson left of her own volition. Weekend morning anchor Catenya McHenry’s departure was sudden. Management offered to explain why to inquiring staff members one-on-one today. City reporter Reagan Hackleman recently decided to depart after taking time to breathe on vacation.

Now, Rutherford is gone. The morning show is in disarray. Traffic reporter, Debra Wynn, the wife of news director Michael Fabac, is off the air. Co-anchor Chris Willis is now their chief investigative reporter. Willis is an excellent investigative reporter, but is this his choosing? Co-anchor Sally Hernandez is back from maternity leave. She’s the stabilizer for now.

So, the station is down a permanent weekend anchor, weekend meteorologist, city hall reporter, and weekday morning reporter.

Other changes may be in the works. Why? Search me.

The station took back a piece of #1 in the mornings. They are #1 at 5 and 6 p.m. going into the February sweeps. The old saw, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it” comes to mind. Then, I’m reminded that KXAN-TV News has a long tradition of shooting itself in the foot.

I have to wonder if either the bean-counters or the consultants are in control. Whatever is the case, it is a worst-case scenario for KXAN.

Of course, all of these are “personnel matters”, and there could be no comment, but one has to wonder: What are they thinking?

© Jim McNabb, 2012