MediaMaven

'Let them eat cake' at KIRO 7 after News Director Laura Evans was walked out of the station a week ago. Ouch!  That's a lot.  Looks fake to me.  Cannot verify.  However, one of my insider sources and former KIRO employee put it this way:  "I worked for some bad managers and horrible people. Only one was both." Pic courtesy: ftvlive.com. (Somebody sent it to them)!   

Tegna's KING AND KGW are NBC NewsChannel affils.  KREM takes Newspath.   Cut rate news from the moribund News Nation. Nexstar has ended its deal with NBC to use NBC NewsChannel material, and plans to do the same with affiliate feeds from ABC and CBS.  This Reuters story  says Nexstar stations are being told to use material from Nexstar's NewsNation cable network. That would seem to be a big financial hit for NewsChannel, CBS's Newspath, and ABC's Newsone News Nation is a bungled effort, so don't expect much.  Not comparable resources. 

No commercials, no nothing but a 1:25 static shot of an empty arena after the Kraken game in KHN.  Symbolic somehow.  Hmmm. 

Went to watch The Masters at 11 am Saturday on KIRO only to see the station sit in black for three minutes before joining late?  Hmmmmm.   Wondering if it was a network problem switching from the Paramount Plus stream to full network. 

Connor Board has announced that she is leaving KING5, hearing reportedly for family reasons.   She arrived from the Tegna station in Austin in October of 2022, so not quite four years.   Bio said she was a native of Snohomish.    Her most recent assignment was covrring Tacoma and Pierce County.   No word on what's next.   Thanks to a a loyal reader who provided this information.

Ron Francis is stepping down as Kraken President with the team well out of the playoffs again, and simply not moving the needle for anyone but hardcore fans, IMO.  KHN hasn't exactly lit up the meters with its tepid, team-controlled coverage. The Kraken remain a minimally successful expansion team.  It is not working, and it's a coaching carousel already. So what will happen when and if the Sonics come back with a collection of castoffs, finish with the likes of the Wizards, Jazz and Nets, the needle doesn't move and the ticket prices skyrocket.   Look at the tanking already going on in the NBA.  Seattle now has a plethora of marginal teams in various leagues and the money pie is getting sliced ever thinner.    I know the return of the team will bring civic pride and fan mayhem.  But when they are 12 and 70?    Is the Kraken experience teaching us that mediocrity in our new sports teams is a warning sign after the next money grab, merch ...