I'm Not Kidding...

The End

This is possibly the last newsmcnabb post. I’m hanging it up. I say “possibly the last post.” Something may be so juicy or troublesome that I could feel compelled to write, but I think four years of periodic posts is possibly enough.

At the outset, I wanted the blog to be more than a recitation of comings and goings. That can be accomplished in much the same manner as “Transactions” in the sports pages of the Austin American-Statesman. Comings and goings seem to be more and more frequent nowadays for a variety of reasons.

I wanted to go deeper, digging into all media in the market, and I think I did.

This doesn’t mean that there is no longer anything to write about. Just look at the almost daily “corrections” on Page 2 of the American-Statesman. Some of them are glaring. The most common and possibly the most heinous are misidentifications. Misidentifications can sometimes result in lawsuits!

I thought about writing something about the new owners of KEYE TV, and Sinclair’s history in politics. I decided to take a “wait and see” approach. If you are curious, just Google Sinclair Media.

New owners and TV news consultants are also an interesting subject. Many think what worked in another television market will work in Austin. It probably won’t. Austin is not a “cookie-cutter” market. Yet, these managers who “ain’t from around here” will keep trying until the audience/the ratings prove it to them.

Consultants would be more useful in coaching new staff members some of whom seem to be working their first TV jobs. Somebody needs to tell them to stop yelling at the audience; just talk. Be conversational. Your voice in your live shot should match your delivery in the voice track. It would be mean and possibly hurtful to be specific, so I didn’t write about that.

I could have written more about the online, hyper-local media such as CultureMapAustin, Austin Post, the Austinist, and several others. I’ve wondered if folks glean their news from these sites as much or more than so-called “main stream media.”

Taking stock, my 272 posts over four years is probably plenty.

When I started writing newsmcnabb, I felt like I was filling a void. There is still a void, but it is smaller. Gary Dinges of the Statesman, whom I’ve never met, is doing a good job of covering local broadcast media now. No, he’s not going to criticize his own newspaper, and he’s not going to take a point of view, but he is doing good reporting. It’s his full time job.

Writing newsmcnabb is not my full-time job. Right now, I’m more interested and even obsessed with the coming semester at St. Edward’s University. For the next nine months, my energy, creativity, and priority will be focused on preparing solid content for my students. It must be said, it is so very, very satisfying when those students succeed!

So, “newsmcnabb” will remain in cyberspace for archival purposes for a while, but it’s time to turn the page. Turn the page without even so much as creasing the corner.

One final and important thing: To those who followed or subscribed to my missives, thank you!

Wage peace.

-30-

© Jim McNabb, 2012

She's Be Missed ...

ND Suzanne Black Leaving KEYE TV

There is one constant in broadcast journalism. This constant remains in place during the decades of this relatively young profession. That one constant? Change.

It was less than a month ago that I ran into a typically cheery KEYE-TV (CBS) News Director Suzanne Black while enjoying lunch with a former mutual colleague. We talked several minutes about the station’s success in the May “sweeps” and Sinclair Broadcasting, KEYE’s owners as of the first of this year.

Last week, Black announced she was leaving the station.

“I am leaving KEYE. It's a decision I've been weighing for a while,” Black says. “As much as I love it here, it's time devote some attention to my boys. They're only young once and I want to enjoy it.” Black and her husband have two children.

Black says she’s leaving while she’s on top.

“This has been a busy and successful year. We launched a new two-hour morning program, a 5pm newscast, and ended the May book with our 10 p.m. newscast moving into first place for the first time in KEYE history. It has been fun and very rewarding.”

Black came to KEYE seven years ago as assistant news director. Only a year later, she was promoted to the top job in the newsroom when then news director Tim Gardner moved on.

During her time at the station, KEYE had four management groups or owners: CBS, Cerberus Capital Management which eventually signed a local service agreement with the Nexstar Broadcasting Group. September 11, 2011, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced a deal to buy KEYE and its sister Cerberus stations. The station also converted to HDTV during her watch.

As one would expect, each change in ownership and management would result in uncertainty, but Black clung to her journalist values with a commitment to put a quality product on the air every day, changes notwithstanding. She was rewarded with loyalty by many producers, photographers, reporters, and anchors.

“I will miss the people of KEYE tremendously. They are hard-working, loving, passionate people,” Black says. Her last day in the station is this Thursday.

Sinclair posted Black’s job within days if not hours after her announcement.

© Jim McNabb, 2012

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

Subtle Changes for Sweeps

Subtle Changes for Summer Sweeps

Sharp-eye, savvy viewers already notice the changes at KXAN TV (NBC).

Just in time for the relatively unimportant July “sweeps”, KXAN trotted out a new look—new graphics for everything—from the weather, to the background on the set, to the front of the set, to the “supers” or identifiers on the screen, to the sports.

[“Supers” are the old-school term for the identifiers that viewers see over someone speaking during a story. The words were literally superimposed. Two pictures, one with the person talking, and another with the letters on a card, were mixed for a moment. A little TV trivia.]

Anyway, back to KXAN’s new graphics: It’s a clean, uncluttered look. It’s an attempt to repackage their news product.

And, oh, there is one other significant change in the KXAN identity. No longer do reporters say, “Live from wherever, Tina Great-Tan, for KXAN Austin News.” Now, they simply say, “…Tina Great-Tan, KXAN News.” Why is that significant? While KEYE TV (CBS) uses the phrase, “We are Austin”, KXAN wanted viewers to hear that KXAN New IS Austin news. It was the battle for the best slogans.

Personally, I always thought that it was silly saying, “In Georgetown, I’m Tina Great-Tan for KXAN AUSTIN News.” Or my all-time favorite: “In the studio, Tina Great-Tan for KXAN Austin News. It’s TV. Viewers can see where you are, especially if you were just talking to the anchors.

The theme music seems to be the same as it was before. It’s important to keep some things constant. Otherwise, viewers wonder what’s going on behind the scenes.

What’s going on behind the scenes is this: KVUE TV (ABC) remains the dominate station for news in the Austin market. KXAN had chipped into KVUE’s weekday morning ratings for a while, but KVUE won them back, even though KXAN got the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters’ award for best morning news team. Now, both stations are starting their day at 4:30 a.m., pushed back from 5 p.m.

Noteworthy too in the morning TV wars, KEYE-TV (CBS) pulled the plug on their radio-on-TV morning experiment. They’re back with a two person morning team promising to be “different from anything else” on the air in the mornings. KEYE hopes to pull itself out of last place. It’s going to be tough.

In the all-important May ratings, KVUE won almost every hour of the broadcast day.

There was one glimmer of glory, tinged with a bit of irony. KXAN News was #1 at 6 and 10 p.m. on Saturday nights. The irony is that those newscasts are anchored by David Scott. Scott was the weekday 6 and 10 anchor in the 1990s when KXAN News was “perennial number three” in the words of former Austin American-Statesman TV writer Diane Holloway.

We’ll see if the repackaging changes anything.

© Jim McNabb, 2011

You May Have Noticed ...

URL:http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/07-13-11-17-01-subtle-changes-for-summer-sweeps/

NewsMcNabb is now posting to CultureMap Austin.

Texas Sports Nation Ramps Up

KEYE TV Bucks Trend

The Horns aren’t going to the College World Series, but one Austin, Texas station is ramping-up its sports department, bucking the trends at that their local competitors and many other stations nationwide.

Yes, sports coverage has been front page and first segment material for the past week as we watch what may be the end of the Big 12 Conference. It's all about TV money, but that's for another post. The point is this: In Austin right now, sports is news.

So, KEYE TV (CBS) is adding another anchor/reporter to “Texas Sports Nation”. Adam Winkler, most recently from KWTX-TV (CBS) in Waco, is joining the sports department at KEYE June 19, 2010. Winkler is no stranger to the Austin area. He earned his Communications Studies degree at Southwestern University in Georgetown.

Winkler says he played baseball, but realized early on that TV sports was where he belonged. Although Southwestern didn’t offer a specific TV degree, he used internships to gain knowledge of the business.

Winkler seems to make KEYE’s sports department the largest in the market. Bob Ballou is sports director. UT grad Courtney Timmons is his side-kick. Anthony Geronimo is their sports producer. He also shoots video and writes. Further, there is a dedicated sports photographer with the rest of the photography staff pitching in when needed.

“We realized how important the Longhorns are to people in our viewing area,” says Suzanne Black, KEYE news director. “We’ve been ramping up, and last weekend we re-launched “Texas Sports Nation” with new graphics and a new set. Adding Adam to the team will allow them to cover more angles.”

This is not to say that other Austin television stations don’t have adequate staffs. KXAN-TV (NBC) for example has three sports anchors and their chief photographer is also the sports photographer. Looking at local web sites, staffing at the other stations is much the same, but KEYE may be putting a greater emphasis on sports.

Cranking up sports is counter to trends locally and across the nation. Many stations have been cutting back on sports staffing and coverage. Local stations will limit sports coverage to two and a half minutes during the local newscast.

“Literature suggests that many stations are eliminating or otherwise revising the sports segment in response to industry conditions,” says the Sports Journal. Why? Ratings. "Sports is extremely polarizing," said television news consultant Brent Magid. "The majority can either take it or leave it, or despise it" (Greppi, 2002).

“Local TV stations now give more priority to weathercasts,” said Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner in 2009. His recent study found weather news got almost three times the amount of time on local newscasts than sportscasts.

"Sports anchors are becoming dinosaurs," Williams said. The local TV news "stars" are now the weather people. Women, particularly those in the age 18-49 demographic, are the main viewers of newscasts and they want weather, features and consumer news. Sports? Not so important. —PressBox, Baltimore Sports, October, 2009.

So, while these surveys indicate that only one third of the audience cares about sports, 72-percent want to see the weather. What’s killing sports, according to the egg-heads? The Internet and ESPN, of course.

But this is Austin, Texas. Things are different here. At least, that’s what KEYE is betting. With the possible dissolution of the Big 12, plus all the other local sports, “Texas Sports Nation” should be able to fill its time slot. Now, will it draw an audience?

One other note: KEYE TV “We are Austin” News welcomed a new reporter this past week. Julie Musgrave joined the staff from their sister Nextar station in Lubbock.

© Jim McNabb, 2010

McHenry--The New KXAN TV Weekend Morning Anchor

Welcome Back

Catenya McHenry is now KXAN TV’s (NBC) new weekend morning anchor. She blurted out the announcement this past weekend on her Facebook page. “I’m so excited and thrilled to say I’m the new weekend morning anchor. I’m ecstatic about the opportunity!” She replaces Jenny Hoff who was awarded a fellowship to study in Germany.

For months, Ms. McHenry has been on the air at KTBC as a reporter. No one would say anything about her presence or future. Management described her status as “temporary”. Her picture and bio were not included on the staff page with all of the rest of newsroom, but McHenry is a familiar face. She reported on KXAN in the late 1990s.

Then, she stepped away from broadcast news for several years. Here, she worked for a while in the public information office of the Austin Independent School District. She was also a TV reporter in Universal Pictures “Miss Congeniality” starring Sandra Bullock. While dabbling in acting, she did freelance work.

Now, she’s back where she belongs: Austin TV news. When Catenya McHenry smiles, you know she’s happy, and she’s smiling most of the time.

There is another familiar face back on the air in Austin. Chris Coffey is reporting for KEYE TV (CBS). Coffey was the award-winning investigative reporter for “7 On Your Side” on KTBC TV (Fox) from 2004 through mid-summer 2009 when Fox failed to renew his contract. Coffey was laid-off with six other news employees in a cost-cutting move. Coffey went to work for KEYE in March. (I’m just catching up.)

KXAN wins the award for the most new reporters, in addition to Ms. McHenry.

Jerrod Wise started work May 12^th as a “multi-platform journalist” (AKA “one-man-band”). He’s in constant fear: He’s an University of Oklahoma Sooner and a native of Oklahoma.

Chris Sadeghi is a native Texan and a Longhorn. He joined KXAN in April, 2010.

Jacqueline Ingles is a native of Chicago covering “The Hill Country” for KXAN. She been on board since last November, but it’s worth noting that she graduated summa cum laude from Loyola before earning her master’s at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.

KXAN reporter Josh Hinkle also has a MA. His master’s is from Missouri. His undergraduate degree is from Oklahoma State.

It appears that the staffs at KVUE, KTBC, and News 8 have been rather stable—very little change lately. It comes in cycles, however once one gets to Austin, they often stay even if they leave the news business. If they do leave, they often come back. Funny how that works out.

© Jim McNabb, 2010

New Local News in Spanish Debuts October 1st

Fred Cantu Has a New Co-Anchor

Veteran Austin broadcaster Fred Cantu is now the confirmed co-anchor for the new local Spanish language newscast.Conteo Noticias, on KEYE TV’s Telemundo 42.2 at 5 and 10 p.m. weekdays beginning October 1, 2009. His co-anchor will be new to Austin. She is Karla Leal coming here from the Telemundo station in Bakersfield, California. Joining them will be reporter Erika Gonzalezjoins Conteo Noticias from the Rio Grande Valley where she was an anchor on XRIO-TV, Fox 2 News and reported for Univision 48.

“We are very excited that our new partnership with Telemundo allows us to serve Central Texas’ growing Hispanic viewer base,” said Amy Villarreal, KEYE TV president and general manager. “We are equally honored to have such reputable on-air talent as Fred, Karla and Erika onboard as the core of the Conteo Noticias Telemundo 42.2 news team. We are confident that their commitment and strong ties to the Hispanic community will be invaluable assets to KEYE and we look forward to having Conteo Noticias serve as the community’s source for local news, weather, sports and traffic.”

Fred Cantu, known as “Uncle Fred” and the resident “Gadget Guy,” has been an anchor in Austin for almost 20 years, beginning his career at TV KTBC-TV in 1990. Cantu was in radio news in Austin before that. He has anchored at KEYE since 2002 and has a large local following from radio to television among the Hispanic community. Until recently, he was co-anchor of KEYE TV’s morning news. When KEYE committed to making the morning team of “JB and Sandy” of Mix 94.7 radio the morning broadcast, it was widely speculated that Cantu would become the Telemundo anchor.

Karla Leal was lead anchor and reporter for KKEY-TV, Telemundo 11. She received Emmy nominations for the “El Arte de la Charreria” reporting series in 2008 and the “El Sueno Mexicano” series in 2007 and began her career with CAN-TV-TV in Chicago, IL in 2004. Ms. Leal earned her BA from Columbia College in Chicago with an emphasis in broadcast journalism in June, 2005. Leal also did TV weather earlier in her career.

Erika Gonzalez joins Conteo Noticias from the Rio Grande Valley where she was an anchor on XRIO-TV, Fox 2 News and reported on Univision 48. She began her career at XRIO-TV in McAllen, TX in 2007.

Telemundo, a U.S. Spanish-language television network, is a leading producer of high quality content for Hispanics in the United States and is recognized for its originally produced primetime novelas, news, and weekend primetime movie showcases. Beginning October 1, KEYE-TV 42.2 viewers will also be able to tune in to Telemundo Sports which includes in-depth soccer coverage including Futbol Liga Mexicana on Futbol Estelar and Futbol Telemundo, as well as the most Mexican League Soccer broadcasts including, the home matches of Atlas, Tigres, Monterrey, U.N.A.M., Atlante and defending champion Toluca.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

Too Much Crime Coverage by Austin TV?

Covering Cops

“Isn’t there more crime coverage in Austin now than before,” a friend asked me a few weeks ago. I too harbored the same suspicions. It seemed like the top of every TV newscast led with crime scene video, and mug shot, and more. The Austin American-Statesman’s page 2, B-section has a box filled with a digest of death and criminal deeds. I fear that we are desensitized by all the entertainment crime shows which come close to reality. Having covered cops, I watch few crime shows. I don’t need to watch when I’ve seen the real thing.

In this age of doing more with less, crime coverage is fast and easy, down and dirty. All of the available facts are fed to you. The video is often compelling. Fires also fit into this category. It is ironic; however, that the green reporters are given the cop shop/crime beat. “Covering crime should not be easy, rather it should be one of the most difficult stories we take on,” says Kevin Benz, News Director of News 8.

Covering cops and crime is fraught with danger. Yes, my life was threatened several times. Indeed, after an inmate in the Travis County Jail called me at home at 2 a.m. after I covered his murder arrest the previous day, I had my home address erased from the phone book. More, crime reporters need to know applicable laws and answers to numerous ethical questions.

It was this perceived increase in crime coverage that lead to my recent content analysis of Austin TV stations. Is it real or perceived? The snap-shot analysis was for the newscasts Friday, August 28th and Monday, August 31st looking only at the 6 and 10 O’clock newscasts. I cannot compare crime coverage to another bench mark. I can only draw conclusions from these two days newscasts. Of course, there isn’t major crime and/or catastrophe every day, thank goodness.

Crime or mayhem, such as an apartment fire led the newscasts seven times out of 17 newscasts viewed. Another story of that type was often the second story.

By far, the station with the most crime coverage was KXAN TV (NBC) with 23 stories, often with live shots or full stories with a reporter’s voice track along with sound and video, commonly called packages. Coming in second for crime coverage these days was KEYE (CBS) with 12. KVUE TV (ABC) had ten, and News 8 (Time-Warner) had only one. It is noteworthy that in Friday’s 6 O’clock KXAN’s David Scott covered a community meeting where residents were working to reduce crime. That did not count as a “crime” story per se.

So, if it seems to you that there is more crime coverage nowadays, you may be watching KXAN. They definitely had the most these two days. In the Friday, August 28th 10 O’clock, their first seven stories were about crime or fire—almost all of the first segment. There were only two short stories before the first break at 10:10 p.m. The first five stories were also about crime or catastrophe on KEYE. One KVUE the first three were about the three-alarm fire that evening or crime. All, of course, led with the three-alarmer. “Flamage” is always compelling video. Who will turn away from a raging fire?

Now, a little history:

When I came back to TV news in 1983, I wanted to cover politics, but Carole Kneeland was covering the Capitol for both WFAA and KVUE. So, I picked the copy shop, knowing one could always find a story there. In the mid-80s Austin had a record year for traffic fatalities and homicides. We decided not to air video of all of them, not wanting to have bodies on the air almost every night.

By 1989, I was at KXAN and Ms. Kneeland was now news director at KVUE and later vice president for news. She enacted a five-point policy on crime coverage that received national attention. KVUE news managers must measure coverage by the answers to five questions: Is the crime a threat to public safety? Is the crime a threat to children? Does the viewer need to take action? Will it have significant community impact? Does the story lend itself to a crime-fighting or prevention effort? Critics said that such a policy would filter the news. Kneeland, on the other hand, sought to move away from what she saw as gratuitous or sensational coverage that glorified the crooks instead of providing useful information to viewers.

Kneeland lost her battle with breast cancer at 50 in 1998. After Kneeland’s death, friends and husband Dave McNeely, created the Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Journalism to train news managers in ethics and leadership. News 8’s Kevin Benz is a trainer for the Carole Kneeland Project.

Benz broadened Kneeland’s crime questions to more than four pages of guidelines given to his staff. There is little wonder that News 8 had the least crime coverage in the content analysis. “Too often when it comes to crime coverage, newsrooms work on gut reaction. We tend to report first and discuss second,” Benz says. His guidelines require reporters to “dig deeper, ask more questions, and reflect on what we are saying to our viewers.

Current KVUE News Director Frank Volpicella also has a passion for the correct way to cover crime. “The Crime Project was a very noble initiative. It came about after careful consideration and concern that crime coverage was taking up too much of KVUE’s air time. I didn’t agree with the entire policy when I arrived at KVUE nine years ago. I still don’t,” Volpicella says. “While noble in creation, it also created a culture of laziness. If the story didn’t meet the guidelines, it likely was automatically dismissed. No one made a call. No one asked the tough questions. “

“The KVUE staff discusses crime coverage on a daily basis, like it does economic or education stories,” Volpicella continues. “If the crime is stranger-upon-stranger, or if it exposes a deep social ill, like domestic violence, then it will likely will get air time and reporter treatment. If it lacks those elements, it may be ignored completely, or reduced to a short word or video story of :15 seconds.

“KVUE is very sensitive to airing graphic images. We do not air video of covered or uncovered bodies. We don’t air body bags. We don’t show blood or gruesome images. While I don’t want to sanitize the news, I also don’t want to offend our viewers, or the victims of crime, either. Certainly there are exceptions to this rule. If the images are relevant to the story, we’ll take that into consideration. 9/11 for example.

Benz also has a list of disturbing things that will not be on News 8, but “if you feel a graphic image is critical to your story, it must be approved by a news manager.” News 8 was the only Austin TV news department that didn’t show the full, graphic police dash-cam video of the shooting of Nathaniel Sanders II. Benz says they decided to use it up to the second of the shooting and then they edited still frames to tell the story. He says he might have chosen different had the story been only for the late news, by News 8 airs in 24-hour cycles.

One time I covered the death of a toddler who drowned in a mop bucket while his mother was smoking crack on the front porch. As a part of my 10 O’clock package I used (with permission) a :19-second uncut clip of the medical examiner carrying something in a very small blanket to the truck. An appalled viewer called immediately after the story aired. “That was outrageous,” she screamed! “Yes, yes it was. That is precisely why I chose to use the video,” I answered. She understood.

This post cannot capture all of the elements of crime coverage. Books have been written on the subject. Further, I cannot include the comments from all news directors in town. I chose to talk with Volpicella and Benz because of their connections to Carole Kneeland and/or KVUE. Viewers can judge for themselves. Viewers have agency. They make decisions every day on whether they or their children should watch certain content.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

JB & Sandy Are the New KEYE TV Morning Show

Radio on TV

“As most of our viewers are aware, Austin has four great television news morning shows that are all essentially the same,” says Amy Villarreal, president and general manager of KEYE TV (CBS). So, KEYE is continuing to shake up its programming in rather innovative ways to attract an audience. Villarreal announced today (September 2, 2009) it has an agreement with Entercom Communications and KAMX-FM “Mix 94.7” to launch Austin’s first television broadcast of the “JB and Sandy in the Morning” radio show beginning October 5, 2009 at 6 a.m. on Channel 42. “Through KEYE’s unique partnership with Entercom, KAMX, and the JB and Sandy radio morning show, we will offer our early morning Central Texas viewers and advertisers an innovative, entertaining approach to morning television.”

JB & Sandy will be the same on TV as they are on the radio, according to a station publicist. “KEYE will be airing a format just like the current JB & Sandy show. We will air a repeat of the previous 6 a.m.-7 a.m. show from 5 a.m-6 a.m. with current traffic and weather and then live 6 a.m.-7 a.m. with current traffic and weather. Their show will continue to be streamed after we end on their website. We begin CBS’ Early Show at 7 a.m.” Expanding the show has been discussed.

“The great thing is that the team at KEYE told us, ‘We want your show, we want you to keep doing what you do,” says Sandy McIlree, the “Sandy” of “JB & Sandy” “What it does is allow us to do is do things that are more visual and that will let us be more creative. We will be striving for content that translates to both TV and Radio. I think everyone will be surprised how much really does translate to both.”

“We are very much looking forward to it,” McIIree continues. “It is a great opportunity to introduce a whole new audience to the radio show. It also will challenge us to think differently. It is very flattering that KEYE approached us to make this deal, they are excited that we are a local Austin show that talks about what is going on in Austin.”

So, say “Goodbye!” to the current morning broadcast. The KEYE TV morning show was already stripped of co-anchor Michelle Valles and reporter Bettie Cross to be on the fledgling 4 O’clock broadcast slated to debut later this month. That left veteran anchor Fred Cantu and meteorologist Kelly Sifka. When the new show with JB and Sandy starts, during the KEYE-TV television broadcasts, KEYE’s morning Slifka will provide live local weather and traffic updates from the KEYE-TV studios.

There is no mention of Fred Cantu in the KEYE release. Twitter and other live sources indicate that Cantu will continue at KEYE TV. “More great announcements will be released in the next week. Stay tuned,” said Villarreal when asked about Cantu’s future.” Speculation is that he may anchor the Spanish language news on KEYE TV 42.2 at 5 and 10 p.m. when it begins broadcasting Telemundo programming beginning next month. Cantu was working in Spanish language radio in Austin when he returned to The University of Texas at Austin to finish his degree. He did an internship at KVUE TV in the 1983 before landing a series of TV jobs. Cantu still maintains a comprehensive web site of Spanish language programming.

“JB and Sandy in the Morning” launched in January 1996. The show is built around morning team personalities JB and Sandy, sidekick Alex Franco (Digitz) and features Sara Osburn and Cassiday Proctor. JB and Sandy have a strong and loyal following in Austin with a blend of humor, reality, and listener involvement and interaction. It airs weekday mornings from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Mix 94.7 and worldwide at mix947.com.

“There are only a handful of radio personalities across the country that engage their listeners, serve their communities, and deliver superior advertiser results like JB and Sandy,” said Nancy Vaeth-DuBroff, vice-president and market manager for Entercom Austin. “Partnering with KEYE-TV and CBS will allow JB and Sandy to reach a larger audience, thus benefiting our valuable advertisers, listeners and viewers and the local Austin community.”

It won’t be quite like shock-Jock Don Imus, but it will be a first for Austin TV and Radio.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

New Program Shakes Up Staffing at KEYE TV--Updated 8-28-09

Valles and Wheeler

Take on Oprah

Plans for the new hour-long 4 p.m. live broadcast on KEYE TV (CBS) are beginning to take shape. Those plans are resulting in several staffing changes for the station.

The new broadcast will be anchored by Jason Wheeler and Michelle Valles. Valles moves from mornings to days, and Wheeler will move from the weekend anchor post to weekdays. Valles and Wheeler are both award-winning broadcast journalists. Both are native Texans.

“Jason Wheeler and I combined have 25 years of news experience and for me personally, I was ready to transition into entertainment news,” Valles said. “I found myself really enjoying and excelling in interviews with artists, musicians, and actors. It's come really natural to me, so why not just do it?”

“Their personalities are a perfect match for this community/lifestyle based program,” says Suzanne Black, KEYE TV news director. “The show will have some news and weather, but by and large, the focus is people, places and things of interest to Austin-area people,” Black says. The hour-long broadcast will debut Monday, September 14, 2009.

“Since day one KEYE has been very supportive of me and my personal goals,” Valles says. “I expressed early on that I would love to go down the ‘entertainment’ route, and Amy Villarreal [KEYE TV president and general manager] has found a way to meet my career objectives while at the same time providing Austin viewers with what we are really missing which is not another news program, but a lifestyle entertainment show that highlights the heartbeat of this town No one has been able to succeed in that area and we are committed with resources and staff to give it a shot.”

“Management has made it clear that isn't going to be the same format, feel or look like any of the other newscasts. We are even going to dress differently. Basically I'm going to really get to be myself and have a blast doing it,” Valles said.

Wheeler sees his move to a new 4 O’clock show as a transition. “I think leaving the weekend show is going to be excruciatingly difficult,” Wheeler said. “We have really built the show up in terms of content, and at times, ratings. I have been very involved in the producing, writing, and graphics elements of the show. If I don't write every script and tease, I usually re-write it. That's because I am a news guy through and through, which is part of the reason it's hard for me to make the move away from the weekends."

“I am ready to get in there and immediately start refining what we do with this show,” Wheeler continues. “No matter how heavily produced it is, I will do as I do with weekends and with every other project I undertake...I will make it mine, I will make it real and credible and respectable and worth watching. There's a lot of bad TV out there. I say it all the time as I scroll through the hundreds of mundane offerings listed on my TV guide. I don't intend for this show to be one of those that I would pass up as a viewer.”

“In addition to doing the 4pm, I have insisted that I want to continue doing in-depth and investigative reports for the 10pm. Expect to see me popping up there on days when there are major news stories as well...and I can't rule out a big fight with the bosses when there is a hurricane to be covered...old habits die hard,” Wheeler says. He will also be available as a fill-in anchor for the 6 and 10 O’clock news.

Longtime KEYE reporter Bettie Cross will also have a role in the new 4 p.m. broadcast. “Bettie is moving to the 4pm as a roving show and tell reporter,” Black says. Cross had been the KEYE morning reporter. She is also an award-winner and long-time Austin resident.

The broadcast will face tough competition against top rated “Oprah” on KVUE (ABC).

Judy Maggio and Ron Oliveira will continue anchoring the 6 and 10 p.m. news along with meteorologist Troy Kimmel and the sports tag team of Sports Director Bob Ballou and Chris Pelikan. No changes there. Maggio and Oliveira are now anchoring the soon-to-be-replaced 5 O’clock newscast. “That leaves Ron and Judy more time to focus on our 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts,” Black says. “[It] also provides them more of an outlet for some creative story-telling in those newscasts.”

With Jason Wheeler moving to the 4 O’clock, Austin native Katherine Stolp will move up to anchor on weekends. Stolp’s bio says that she knew that she was bound for broadcast journalism while a student in Austin High School.

For the time being Fred Cantu will be the only anchor for KEYE’s morning broadcast, and so far there is no morning reporter.

All KEYE profiles are posted on the station site. The URL of the site has also changed. It is www.weareaustin.com reflecting the branding of the station.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

Media News Round Up: News on the News

News News



Two quick items of interest from Austin media:

KEYE TV (CBS) announces without comment a new one-hour news broadcast beginning in September:

KEYE-TV Adds New, Local, One Hour Newscast

KEYE TV is pleased to announce a one hour, locally produced newscast to air weekdays at 4pm starting September 15, 2009. The show will focus on all things Central Texas, highlighting local events, places, news, weather and interesting people in and around Austin. “Ron Oliveira and Judy Maggio are Austin’s most
experienced journalists. They know Austin so well,” says President and General Manager Amy Villarreal, “and each show will highlight their great storytelling and love of Central Texans.”The show is still in development and further announcements will be made closer to the launch date.

KEYE TV Program schedule starting Sept 15th:

3:00pm Dr Phil

4:00pm KEYE 4pm News

5:00pm The Insider

5:30pm CBS Evening News

6:00pm KEYE News at 6pm

KXAN TV (NBC) experimented with a 4 O’clock broadcast for about one year before abandoning it.

And:

Cox Enterprises is in an agreement to sell three of its newspapers, including the Waco Tribune-Herald. Robinson Media Company will purchase the Tribune-Herald:

"The Waco Tribune-Herald and its employees have made significant contributions to our company," said Doug Franklin, executive vice president, Cox Newspapers.
"Under Robinson Media Company's ownership, the Tribune-Herald will continue to excel in journalism and serving advertisers, as well as remain an integral part of the community."

It is anticipated that virtually all employees will be retained under the new ownership. Belinda Gaudet, current publisher of
the Tribune-Herald, will be retiring, and Dan Savage will serve as the interim publisher. The Tribune-Herald, a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1994 for its investigative reporting, dates back to the 19th
century.



"I've spent my life in Waco and recognize the importance of the Waco Tribune-Herald," said Clifton Robinson, chairman and CEO of Robinson Media Company. "The paper is vital to this community, and I'm thrilled to be part of such an important organization. I look forward to meeting and working with the employees who make the paper the success it is today and will continue to be in the future."

Robinson is said to have close ties to Baylor University. NewsMcNabb recently reported that The Austin American-Statesman will be printing the Waco Tribune-Herald. There is no word about any deal to sell the Austin American-Statesman, also owned by Cox.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

The Second or Third Return of Troy Kimmel

Weather

Changes



I saw it coming. Six weeks ago when I wrote about veteran meteorologist Troy Kimmel returning to KEYE TV (CBS) to cover weekends and vacations, I sensed that he wasn’t leaving. I’ve known Troy for 35 years or so. With all of his notoriety in Austin working for KVUE TV (ABC), KTBC TV (CBS and then Fox), KEYE TV, and Clear Channel Radio, plus his teaching load at The University of Texas at Austin as an Aggie, I knew two years ago that he was drawn to return to TV. He was last on the air full time at KEYE TV six years ago.

As I said, I like to be ahead of the curve, but this announcement came by news release. All of it is true. The full KEYE-TV news release follows:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 10, 2009
For Immediate Release:


Troy Kimmel named Meteorologist at KEYE TV

Thirty-four years after starting his career in Central Texas, Troy Kimmel is back on television and back on KEYE-TV. “Troy’s style is comfortable and personable without being alarmist or preachy,” says President and General Manager Amy Villarreal. “His wealth of Central Texas weather knowledge and love for the weather is evident on-air.”

Mr. Kimmel’s impressive range of experience includes serving as Chief Meteorologist for Lower Colorado River Authority, he’s taught for over 21 years, including at UT and worked at several TV and radio stations in Austin (including KEYE from 1998-1999).

Twenty-six years ago Troy received his National Weather Association Television Seal of Approval and the American Meteorological Society Television Seal of Approval two years later in 1985. He was awarded the American Meteorological Society Certified Broadcast Meteorologist in May 2005. Troy has won numerous awards, published papers and even continues to take courses and workshops. "I've worked with Ron and Judy before and look forward to being a part of this team again, they are the best!" said Mr. Kimmel.

“Troy is the real deal. He knows Texas and the Austin-area, in particular, and we are proud to have him back at KEYE.” said News Director Suzanne Black.

Troy can be seen weeknights at 5, 6 and 10pm on CBS 42 KEYE starting July 13, 2009. And you can still hear Troy on KASE, KVET and KFMK Clear Channel radio stations in the morning.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Indeed, KVET-FM (Clear Channel) listeners will still hear him live on the air each morning. “I want to stick with Bucky and Bob,” Troy told me. He will continue. He doesn’t have to make the trek to the KVET studios in South Austin. Kimmel has a weather station, forecasting tools, and broadcast quality equipment at his home in north Austin. He’s not actually standing next to Bucky and Bob, but he doesn’t need to stand next to them.


Further, he will continue teaching at The University of Texas at Austin. Classes are already set at UT, and he will show up and teach. “I will ultimately cut back,” Kimmel said.


Kimmel did the weather at KEYE TV some six years ago and left. Why did he come back? It was a good opportunity, Kimmel says. He cited change over the years since he left. “I have the greatest respect for Amy (Amy Villarreal, general manager) and Suzanne (Suzanne Black, news director).”


Susan Vessell had been the chief meteorologist handling the evening newscasts since Byron Webre was sacked in 2008. She did high quality work in the past year, upgrading the station’s use of the weather graphics package. Her calm, precise presence has been an asset. Vessel is still shown on the KEYE TV web site. Kimmel was added tonight (July 10, 2009). Also shown is Kelly Sifka, the morning meteorologist for the past several months.


However, Vessell’s time at KEYE TV ends September 8th. She is gone. Vessell told me tonight, “It will all work out.” Just like a meteorologist to see a silver lining on the clouds.


It’s a tough business.


© Jim McNabb, 2009

KEYE to the Rescue

Texas Rangers

on

FREE TV

This morning I was getting over my Time Warner programming sports explosion when friend, fellow baseball fan, former mainstream journalist Larry BeSaw informed me that KEYE TV .2 is broadcasting some of the Texas Ranger games on KEYE TV .2—RTN TV, the station’s second, digital only channel.

KEYE TV .2 Normally airs programming from RTN, cool old shows like “Alfred Hitchcock”, “Airwolf”, “Dragnet”, “Ironside”, “Magnum P.I. and many more. You can find the program schedule on their web site, http://www.austinsrtn.com/.

Now, it is true: The station is adding live sports to the mix.

“FSN (Fox Sports Network) has the rights to the Rangers baseball games, and we thought the Rangers would have some local interest. So, we acquired all the games that did not have airing rights on other channels,” says Amy Villarreal, KEYE TV president and general manager and avid baseball fan.

So, here is the good news: You don’t need no stinkin’ digital cable box. If you have HDTV or a DTV hook-up, you are literally home free. You ask, how does one know when games are on the air. Good question. It is kind of a secret. The Austin American-Statesman sports page lists that the Rangers are playing, but the newspaper does not say the game is being broadcast. Check out today’s (Tuesday) listing. It says the Texas Rangers are playing at Toronto at 6 p.m., and it lists a radio station where you can hear play-by-play. Of course, the newspaper also said last night’s Astro’s game was on Fox SW, but I digress. The newspaper should be saying KEYE TV .2 or something. If you do have digital cable, by the way, you’ll find the game on Time Warner digital channel 1532.

The current season is listed on the KEYE TV .2 RTN web site shown above.

Will there be more sports on KEYE .2? Maybe. “At this time we have all the games that are available and are looking at other opportunities,” Villarreal says.


And you say there is never any good news. This is a breath of fresh air after yesterday. This is good news. Now, you say, Jim, you take this baseball thing too seriously. One more point of explanation about yesterday’s screed: I wrote after my TV, Internet, and phones (Yes, we bought the “bundle”) had been off for some four hours. I was already primed.

© Jim McNabb, 2009

The Same News Stories Everywhere?

Most If Not All Austin, Texas Stations Will Share Video

Austin, Texas stations KVUE TV (ABC), KTBC (Fox 7), KEYE (CBS), and KXAN (NBC) are now planning to share news video. Most, if not all of the stations in the nation’s 49th market, would send only one photographer to what might be considered “routine” stories—news conferences, photo ops and the like—and then, they will share the video.

“Yes it is true. This will enable our stations to achieve broader coverage while not wasting time and energy duplicating efforts when covering news conferences and similar events,” says Eric Lassberg, president and general manager of LIN Television, Austin. Lassberg was responding to whether KXAN TV’s news department and KTBC News were planning to share news video.

Representatives from five Austin Television stations met Wednesday, February 25, 2009. The details of the arrangement are yet to be worked out. Not all of the stations’ personnel have been informed, but apparently it is a done deal. Amy Villareal, KEYE TV general manager confirmed, “KEYE is participating.”

“Yes, KVUE will be a part of this video sharing agreement,” said Frank Volpicella, news director at KVUE TV. “All five stations have agreed in principal. We are hashing out the details.” Certainly, the deal will not deter stations from sending full crews if they deem the story of greater importance. Frankly, I hope that happens more often than not.

KTBC TV News Director Pam Vaught deferred comment to Mark Rodman, KTBC general manager. He has not responded yet.

It is said that Univision will also be invited to join in the loose consortium.

If any of the stations in the Austin market were to share video, it makes the most sense for KXAN and KTBC to be partners. Austin TV viewers/news consumers/news users are very fickle; they sample other stations a lot. But, research indicates that KTBC and KXAN share relatively few viewers. So, it is less likely that a viewer of KTBC’s 9 p.m. news will say, “I’ve seen that before” if they were to watch KXAN at 10 p.m. KXAN and KVUE share many viewers, however. Depending on the details, this arrangement, while economically doable, could be damaging to viewers.

It is unclear whether different reporters will also attend the news conferences and, therefore, present a different angle on a story. Also, the stations may choose totally different sound bites.

Critics might call it a homogenizing of news content. That’s a danger. Conspiracy theorists always maintain that the news is all the same dictated by some sinister force—the TV stations, the network, and even the government are all in cahoots. This could be fodder that fuels those flames. But on the day with The Rocky Mountain News announced that tomorrow (Friday, February, 2009) will be the final edition, it says a lot about the economy.

This is the first such partnership with competing stations in the Austin market, but it is not uncommon elsewhere. For instance in the Phoenix market, three stations are sharing one helicopter. "This was done as a response to this economy and for financial reasons," John Misner, president and general manager of 12 News told the Arizona Republic.

This Austin pool coverage agreement is happening at the same time that the only mass-production local newspaper is up for sale. Experienced reporters at the Austin American-Statesman are being offered buy-outs. As a journalist, it’s a scary, sullen time.

In kindergarten they taught us to share. It was a good thing. It was something we were supposed to do all of our lives, in fact. Nowadays, in TV news, it’s becoming a way of doing business. One could put it into the same pigeon-hole called “Doing More with Less”. Or, one might more rightly say, given these economic times as media stocks become penny stocks, it is a smart way of doing business.

Still, there is a danger to local democracy. If all the local media are reporting from the same stuff (“Stuff” is used intentionally.), I believe that the consumer/user/viewer of broadcast journalism may be losing something of great value. Personally, I’d seldom use content from a news conference, considering it “canned”. Instead, I’d pull the sources aside and ask questions others weren’t asking.

As noted above, the details of this apparent agreement are still being worked out. I do have faith in some of the “Big J” journalists in this market who will ensure that the important work of information to the audience is being done. Some, however, may be lazy. Some stations may simply take the rote sound bites of the day to fill the news hole. Geez, I hope not.

There are many philosophical, thorny issues inside of this issue. This could be a field day for politicians and publicists. I hope to explore these with the local news directors and news editors soon.

© Jim McNabb, 2009