Gonna be interesting to see KING's next move for its long-running Evening program with the departure of Jim Dever. Dever's follows Kim Holcomb, who left last summer for a position with Amazon. Maybe they will rotate folks in like Leah Pezzetti (weekend weather) or Shante Sumpter (a.m. traffic) or Madison Wade (weekend anchor), With Tegna making cuts, it is hard to say if the program will continue or be replaced by a syndicated show. Evening has a long-standing tradition (remember John Curley was the main host for years) and is key local commnity programming for K5. We will keep an eye on it.
I think Brady Wakayama could be a good fit if they are trying to go with a younger crew. He gives off some goofy big guy vibes like Jim.
ReplyDeleteDepending on the direction KING decides to take and TEGNA trying to cut here and save there, I have three ideas. The first idea is to go "lean". With Jim Dever's departure, Saint Bryan is now pretty much the senior most "Evening" reporter and host of whoever is left on the staff. Aside from an EP, a producer/editor and a photographer or two, Bryan has been there since 1999 and solo hosting could be a great money-saving option. After all, this was a formula that worked well during Curley's tenure. The second idea is that KING and TEGNA doesn't want to go with the whole "kill two birds with one stone" route, so unless they decide to go for a younger crew, they would rather employ 1099 independent contractors than those on staff. After all, everyone is on their phones these days, shooting their own video for their vlogs, writing their own stories, etc. I can maybe see one or two names that Wayne listed as potential, but they're more fill-in than permanent. Unless KING would want to cancel the program all together, the third idea would be to make "Evening" a weekend offering. KING is perhaps the only station left in the country still producing their own local version of "Evening" and with the rising production costs, decrease in television viewership and not to mention the saturation in streaming and syndication markets, airing on weekends and in the same time slot can be a sign that the company still cares although one or two of their segments from my point-of-view are rehashed or updates of things they have done before, i.e. the Georgetown Morgue. Either way, those are my thoughts and analysis. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteIt might make sense for KING to go ahead and end "Evening" at this point. While it is reported to still be profitable and a ratings drawcard, those are not guarrented to last if the show continues to lose key personalities as it has been. A lot of what "Evening" does could be moved to "New Day Northwest", which just hasn't been the same since the studio audience was eliminated. Adding in segments that are currently saved for "Evening" could help breathe some new life into "New Day". As for what to do with the 7:30pm timeslot that "Evening" currently has, a local version of KUSA's (KING's sister station in Denver) 6pm program "Next", or a local version of KGW's (KING's sister station in Portland) 6:30pm "The Story" would be great.
DeleteThey might just want to make it thru May sweeps by rotating some of their folks who can write and produce fresh packages. Kelly Hanson could help too. She knows the feature drill. I see someone on the "Meet the Team" page named Jose Cedeno for Evening but have never seen him. Perhaps he will have an increased role for now. They could also freelance hire some 'influencers' from Seattle to draw younger folks to traditional program. But it takes more work to create content for non-TV types. It is going to be Jay Yovanovich's call as programming/marketing boss. He has about six weeks to figure it out before sweeps. Me? I would showcase rotators one week at a time and make Friday a "best of the week."
ReplyDeleteWell, with all the great hosts having left or leaving Evening, so goes this formerly loyal viewer. Not going to support Tegna's cheap-as* management and lack of support for local talent. Goodbye.
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