Interesting that Chris Nguyen has been missing this week from KOMO's evening newscasts during the critical Feb ratings sweeps. A couple of thoughts:
1. He did work a lot of holidays after arriving, so maybe he is getting comp days? Or sick?
2. But, comp days for a new anchor during sweeps??? I would think the new news boss might want to approve that for March, not now.
3. Doesn't the station want to showcase the new guy and assess his short immediate mpact with some key ratings data? I mean he is ostensibly Eric Johnson's replacement at 6 and 11p, right? Maybe January numbers weren't too kind, so KOMO takes a brief step back with Chris? Remember, he was hired befor the new news boss arrived. Hmm.
4. Or since he is so new, do they want the more established Preston Phillips on the newscasts to maximize viewer familiarity, taking the pressure off Nguyen? Honestly, I don't view him as a command anchor.
5. The Feb book is critical because there are no sweeps again until May so the Feb numbers are the ones advertisers use until June.
6. Anyway, FWIW, and I could be way off here, the situation seems very unusual.
There were several things that come to mind after reading this. Wasn't Preston Phillips actually hired to become Eric's successor in the first place? Since Eric was no longer anchoring the 11PM newscast, my guess is the management was testing out Phillips in doing a full-length newscast as he was only doing the LIVE desk on the 3:30p newscast and subbing for Eric. This was done with Phillips doing a solo newscast, paired with Molly Shen on the 5pm and Mary Nam on the 6:30pm to establish chemistry and rapport, etc.). Even before Dan Lewis retired in 2014, everyone knew that Johnson was going to become Lewis' successor when Johnson started doing a duality of news and sports in 2006-07 before Mike (Ferrari) came in, allowing Johnson to focus on news and his feature reporting ("Eric's Heroes") and documentaries ("Seattle is Dying"). Now that we are in 2025 and with new management, it would seem that Phillips is pretty much a sideline substitute if Nguyen, Shen or Nam are not available. The problem is that we are already midway through the February sweep book, and we have yet to see KOMO fully utilize Nguyen other than the anchor desk. This is a guy who came from the "big leagues" of TV News and CNN after all. Nguyen is still a diamond in the rough, but time will tell. Perhaps KOMO can have him go out on the field or do something to establish his "brand" before the February book closes in a couple weeks. Nguyen has an advantage over Phillips that he is a local guy (Renton) which could help, but whatever he brings to KOMO, we have yet to this. (Sorry for the long analysis, Wayne).
ReplyDelete10:53pm UPDATE: Chris Nguyen's bio no longer appears on the station's website.
Nice pickup on Chris. I appreciate you letting me know. Pretty sure Preston came in 2018 and worked Live Desk and other slots while Eric J was still there. He didn;t leave until last June, if I remember correctly.
DeleteNow that’s interesting
ReplyDeleteIf it is true, it is quite strange for a station in a top 10 TV market to boot their evening news guy in a couple months as Nguyen started at KOMO a couple of weeks before Christmas. To use the cliche: "Stay tuned".
ReplyDeleteNot to mention during February, which many industry veterans would refer to as the "dark horse" of the sweeps period as this is the time when most are watching.
ReplyDeleteMike "Ferreri".
ReplyDeleteRyan Simms isn't on their website anymore either.
ReplyDeleteSimms was never on their website. I think he came over to KOMO as a pinch-hitter from KIRO, but he is kind of the "sideline" guy instead of the usual primary folks you usually see on nightside (Joel Moreno, Karina Vargas, Jackie Kent). Simms will occasionally anchor weekend evenings when Michelle Esteban isn't available or co-anchor, but more than not, its really Michelle anchoring solo. However, back to the main topic of discussion: Where is the station's primary male lead when you're in the middle of the biggest TV sweeps period?
DeleteI couldn't understand the hiring of Chris when Preston had already established himself as the anchor when Eric left and was doing the live desk and did anchor when Eric was on vacations and such. Molly has been missing this week, and could someone please send Stella Sun (as nice as she is) somewhere sunny? Thank you. I honestly don't know why they didn't just let Molly and Mary anchor both the 5pm and 6pm news slots....they've been KOMO anchors longer than any of these men since the dream team of Dan, Kathi, Steve, Bruce & Eric.
DeleteI want Preston Phillips to be the Lead News Anchor on KOMO— too much sharing with Mary & Molly— he’s been relegated to a side kick!
ReplyDelete