MEDIA MAVEN - Publishing media news & opinion (often with a critical eye) in the Pacific Northwest, covering Seattle, Spokane, Portland, Tri-Cities/Yakima and even a litte beyond. At times, even some sports. Posts occasionally @tvmavenseattle.bsky.social. I'm a retired, longtime broadcast journalist and manager in multiple markets, ex-writing prof at UW and PLU in WA state, author of Season of the 76ers, Kent St. and American U alums, Pittsburgh native. Hit search/menu and follow!
KIRO TV reporter Madeline Ottilie back on weekend weather duty, joining Brandon Thompson and Ranji Sinha as newsies pushed into presenting the forecast. KIRO keeps limping along with short staffing. I wonder if they will actually hire a third weather person when they can keep playing mix and match to cover shifts. So they have, by my count, five people filling in on weekends, adding in Scott Haveson and Ed Muir, who be back for a stint in July.
Why doesn't KIRO hire this "Mark Felt" guy who comes here often? Their insight is pretty much on par with a veteran journalist.
ReplyDeleteThey really need a third Meteorologist/reporter to back Nick and Morgan and cover news 3 weekdays. Frankie K was a major loss.for them.
ReplyDeleteThey really do need a third meterologist to provide basic weather coverage. Nick and Morgan are both strong talent, but they can't cover all of the shifts that need to be covered. I would have expected a permanent replacement for Frankie to be named long before now. Do we know if they are getting anywhere close to making a permanent hire?
DeleteFirst of all, I like to thank the anonymous individual who suggested that KIRO hire me. I know the ND at KIRO, and even though I do look good in a suit and have what would be a TV-friendly voice, I don't think I would be cut out for on-camera. Either way, KIRO really needs to stop drawing lots as to which reporter is going to do weather and what not. It may work in the interim, but then again, KIRO doesn't have the manpower on the weekends as most, but not all, of their material that they air on weekends consists of stories done from the past week and maybe an update read by the anchor. Next thing you know, they could be doing the same thing KOMO has been doing on their weekend morning newscast by having one of their weather people do a "pre-taped" weather segment recorded the day before and have it as an insert on the following day's newscast. KIRO is perhaps in a tailspin as they got to get their act together. That DQ at the Emmys about the "investigative" story that was post-edited didn't look too good and says many things about the authenticity and accuracy in their news presentation and operation. Good luck if they decide to hop on and expand their newscasts like KOMO, KING and FOX 13 have done as they're going to need all the help they can get.
DeleteI would hate to see KIRO start pre-taping their weekend weather reports. Assuming they would be taped right after Friday night's 11pm newscast, they would be 16.5-18 hours old by the time they aired at 4pm or 5pm on Saturday, and 40.5-42 hours old by the time they aired at 4pm or 5pm on Sunday. The weather segments would be so out of date it wouldn't even be funny. At least by having the reporters doing the weather, the segments are at least somewhat up to date at the times they are aired.
DeleteIts's a matter of money at Cox/Apollo which has been cutting left and right. No telling what might happen. KIRO could easily hobble along with the reporters they are using and occasional freelance. If there will be someone added it may wait until fall...with the next sweeps in November.
ReplyDeleteI think the turning point will be in the fall considering the arrival of storm season. I know ed Muir is picking up a shift in August, so, again, they are hobbling thru the summer. New budgets are usually submitted in Oct. for Jan., so they many be able to maneuver that to hire a third person. Stephen Kilbreath is still out there, now that Claire Anderson is back at Fox 13.
ReplyDeleteHas Kilbreath been on Fox 13 since Claire returned? He briefly had a bio up on Fox 13's "meet the team" webpage, but it has since been taken down.
DeleteAlso, if KIRO does submit its budget in October, that would mean potentially not filling the vacany created by Frankie's departure until after storm season begins. Storm season often gets going in October, and really picks up steam in November. If I were KIRO, I would really want my weather team at full staff by September, to allow time to train the new person, and to give Nick and Morgan a chance to squeeze in a little bit of vacation time before the weather turns.
DeleteThe submission in October paves the way for new money available in January, but they could move some dollars around so that by the big November sweeps, someone new is on board for weather.
ReplyDeleteHave not seen Stephen Kilbreath back on Fox, so he could be available to KIRO. He might also be back on during holiday fill-ins on Fox 13. I find it interesting that weather people are anchoring news on Fox 13 (Mayofsky and Acone), while at KIRO, news reporters (Sinha, Thompsob and Ottille) are anchoring weather. Upside down. And we still don't know who might be coming to KING to replace Everett.
ReplyDeleteAny news on the Cox/Apollo sale reported in March?
ReplyDeleteI think everything is on hold pending the deregulaton of ownership rules that is likely to happen at the FCC now that there is a 2-1 GOP majority. The big companies especially want to see what shakes out with the TOP 4 provision, would be most important, allowing a company to own two of the top four stations in any market.
ReplyDeleteWhile I never managed to secure myself a TV news position after graduating college (except for an internship at a local station) and its been that way now for a better part of a dozen years, I will say that one of the things I learned (or should I say self-taught myself since no one ever taught or mentored me during college or at my internship), is that when you're just starting out in this field, be prepared to be "drafted" to do anything when the situation arises. News is a 24/7/365 cycle and you don't have a lot of seniority to pick and choose the story you want to cover, the shift you want to work or even the salary for that matter. Then again, why else did you go into journalism in the first place? Agreed that folks who are in this market and those more experienced may have a bit of leverage, if you're going to anchor weather, just say "YES" and do it. For all you may know, it could be something you're good at. There are many of those in my age group who did get lucky to get such position, but have since left TV news because of any or all of those factors. As for KIRO's situation involving their reporters doing weather, management perhaps throws them a small incentive, like a one-time bonus or something. Given that they are cutting corners, you make do with what you have -- even if it wasn't something you weren't originally hired for. I have already said this before that TV news viewership is down and while weather is important on any newscast, you don't need someone standing in front of a green screen telling you "this system is going to bring..." when all it takes is less than a minute to pull out your phone and see what the weather is going to be. Call me out on this, but KIRO may never hire a third weather person and the person anchoring weekends may just do a brief mention of tomorrow's forecast at the close -- that is, of course if we have another "bomb cyclone"-related or related severe weather event. If KIRO needs have a third weather person, my money is on Kilbreath as all the other stations are pretty much staffed weather-wise. He may not be an AMS-certified Met like Palmer or Allard, but at least he can deliver a decent-enough presentation and am sure it doesn't interfere with his auctioneering business. That's my two cents, but you can take it or leave it.
ReplyDeleteYou may be onto something with the idea of KIRO only doing a brief mention of the next day's weather forecast at the close of the newscast. That is how its typically done on Australia and Britian's national newscasts. They are nearly always at the very end of the newscasts, they are largley presented by people who aren't meterologists (there are even presenters who aren't meterologists who only present the weather and don't do news reporting), and the segments are often shorter than the segments we get here. They are not nearly as obessed about the weather like stations here in the states are. That isn't to say that they ignore the weather. When it gets bad, they'll certainly step up to the plate. But if its not bad, they won't prioritize it.
DeleteMy source for this info: I make a habit of trying to watch parts of newscasts from overseas to get their take on events happening here in the states as it can differ from ours, and it can be interesting to see what the rest of the world thinks about things that are happening here. I don't always click off right away when they move onto other news.
DeleteIt is also interesting to see hear about news happening in other parts of the world. I have found over the years that American news organizations don't cover a lot of world news unless there is an American angle or connection to the story, its a foreign war (particularly if we are involved in it), its a major disaster or tragedy, or it involves Britian's royal family.
DeleteIt works well with radio of delivering the weather. 60 seconds, boom and back to the music.
ReplyDeleteWeather is worth 90 seconds unless there is a serious threat. Today, tonight and tomorrow, highs and lows and quick radar. It doesnt need to be War and Peace. Use AI and hire a weather producer who can step in when required. Just like sports. Matter of time. Weather used to be the most important thing on local news....not anymore.
ReplyDeleteStephen Kilbreath on KIRO at 5pm doing the forecast, FYI.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that he is back on our screens again.
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