Ok, it's July, and I thought it would be a good time to check out the TV news ops in Seattle, even though is is SLOWWWW.
KING - they have lost their ND to a regional news VP position, so they have to fill that before fall, of course. Parella Lewis will be joining the weather team in early August, returning to Seattle. The bigger issue is that Tegna corporate posted this in an internal memo: WE WILL NOT MAKE NEWS ON TV. Hmmm. And the outgoing news boss posted NO JERKS NEED APPLY on linkedin, trying to hire her replacement. Huh??? Their reporrers are just so-so although I do like their newest additions. Castro and Copeland should be anchoring together more.
KIRO - struggling as usual, especially with a thin weather anchor team. Using part-timers and freelance and their own news reporters to fill in, they are apparently not looking to hire a full-timer, per job posts. That's a major weakness going into storm season in a few months. Has to be fixed. They look disheveled and disjointed and Cox/Apollo cuts or a sale are always looming. CBS primetime lead-ins saving their 11. Elle Thomas is a talent strength as are Nick Allard and Morgan Palmer. Monique seems like she has had enough of this company crap. One former insider had nothing good to say about the current ND. She hired a short-timer with a bad track record as her assistant and he lasted four months. Having no sports dept. is totally lame in this sized-market. When Hawks games are on CBS this year, will Eric Thomas host post-games??? A rolling mess.
Fox 13 Seattle- Their new LIVE DESK plan is akin to the Hindenburg, a total flame-out after a month. It's not even LIVE a lot and not cleanly executed and even the producers of it are perplexed. They are also replaying large sections of major evening newscasts on linear. Slowly killing their credibility. The ND is linked to the GM, who is now splitting duties with the Fox in LA. Doesn't auger well. Weather people anchoring news,too -- Erin and Abby, also crediility killers. Rose,Wixey and Kim are good anchors, but Smith, Rayford, Franque and Winkel need coaching. It's a potpourri. More schedule changes ahead.
KOMO - Sinclair-owned, so that speaks for itself. They just added a new reporter to replace Denise Whitaker but they are wasting time producing ARC Seattle every morning on the CW duopoly, taking resources away from the mother ship. Steve McCarron could be doing so much more for the station instead of co-anchoring that miasma. Shannon O'Donnell is a saving grace and I think the morning guy, George Waldenberger is very strong. They still emphasize crime and attacking the city, per the Sinclair mandate, and Chris Daniels spends far too much time posting and reporting sports, when Tamurian is the sports director.
Let me know what your thoughts are. Good conversations.
KING - The strongest station in town right now, but how long will that last with Tegna's new stance about not making news for TV? Their current crop of reporters are okay, but they do seem to get the job done (I do agree on Alex McLoon...easily the best reporting hire KING has made in a while), their sports department is easily the best in town, they continue to produce two daily local programs (New Day and Evening), and they continue to win a bunch of awards (as much of a racket as that is). They seem positioned to continue doing well if Tegna doesn't muck with them too much.
ReplyDeleteKIRO - Oh how far this once mighty station has fallen. The lack of staff in the weather department is a major disservice to the public and must be remedied by the time storm season begins. Not having a sports department in a market as large as Seattle and with as many professional and college sports teams as Seattle now has is downright humiliating, and it must be restored for the station to have credibility. Elle Thomas didn't impress me right out of the gate, but I am warming up to her as her time on the anchor desk has grown. Sitting alongside Monique from 4pm to 6:30pm each day, as has often been the case lately, has been helping. Speaking of Monique, she continues to be one of KIRO's strongest talents, but if they don't start turning the ship around, they could lose her, which would be a major blow. Morgan continues to do well. I liked him from day one, and still do. Clear, friendly, and calm. I do have to wonder what the former insider has to say about the current news director as that could reveal a lot about why KIRO is in the state is in. The other Cox stations, aside from WFXT in Boston, aren't doing the greatest either, but they don't seem to be in this bad of shape.
Fox 13 - The weekday morning show is the station's strongest show right now, but will that change next month when the 4:30am portion goes away and the 10am portion is added? I look forward to seeing how that plays out. Seattle News Tonight has been doing a few longer reports, which I like, but replaying most of the 4pm hour at 5pm, 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm is a huge disservice to viewers tuning in expecting the latest information. The banter between David and Hana can range from interesting to pointless in the span of a single newscast. The Washington News Wrap is a good concept that is being executed poorly. The Live Desk is not great either, though I do believe that it can be improved by giving Matthew Smith a co-host and adding more banter, interviews, and discussion. This is a better place for that sort of content.
KOMO - I'm looking forward to seeing their new reporter in action. Denise's shoes are going to be tough to fill. ARC Seattle's morning edition isn't great, though the evening edition at 10pm does provide an okay alternative to KING's traditional newscast on KONG, and the fourth repeat of Fox 13's 4pm hour. I agree that Steve McCarron's talents aren't being used as well as they could be, though he and Tyrah Majors have built up a rappore, and it would be tough to break that up at this point. The weather team remains strong with Shannon at the helm, George in the morning (KOMO did well in hiring a more expierenced meterologist for this shift), Theron on weekends (not the strongest talent, but a loyal utility player who can get the job done), and Stella on weekends, who is improving with time. Sports is still an issue for KOMO, but I haven't been as bothered by it since Niko came out and said that he was fine with the current arrangements. The crime coverage could be toned down a bit, and it would be nice to see them be a little more upbeat about Seattle.
Thank you IDC9. You have saved me a lot of time with your observations. I don’t watch a lot of local news, I just find it all that informative.
ReplyDeleteRich
Our local news programs do have their limitations, and they aren't as informative as they used to be. I find that KING is normally the most informative of the bunch, but they do have the largest TV reporting team in the market, the only staffed regional bureaus (Tacoma, Everett, and Olympia) in the market, and the only true investigative unit in the market (I do not count KIRO's current iteration of an investigative unit as a true investigative unit because they don't have anyone dedicated full time to it, but I must give some credit to any reports filed by Linzi Sheldon as they rival anything KING puts out), so they can deliver more information. As for who is the least informative of the bunch, thats a tough one to answer. For as many problems as the other stations have, their reporters mostly do a serviceable to decent job. There are some reporters who have been called out by Wayne on this blog for not doing so great (KIRO's Jason Sloss perhaps most notable among them).
DeleteI have never used this blog to specifically call out Jason Sloss as a reporter. I reviewed all of my posts with his name in it. I did previously note that his anchor work disappoints IMHO. Please don't accuse me of 'calling out' his reporting for 'not doing so great.' I beg to differ.
DeleteWayne,
DeleteI would like to sincerley apologize for my comment stating that you called out Jason Sloss for not doing so great as a reporter, and the offense that it has caused. As I was writing my comment, I remembered that you had been critical of Sloss before, but I should have went back and double checked why that was the case before posting my comment instead of simply relying on my memory, which is clearly faulty. No one deserves to be accused of saying something that they didn't actually say, especially when it involves making statements about another person. I deeply regret my comment, and will strive to be much more careful in making sure that anything I post going forward is as accurate as possible. You and your many wonderful readers deserve nothing less.
IDC9
Thanks for that, I understand how that can happen. I like your insights, so keep them comin.' Your opinions are solid.
DeleteThanks Wayne.
DeleteI think Linzi's stuff is more to make up for Jesse Jones' departure. KING's invesitgative pieces are much deeper, more impactful and require much more documentation. Just sayin, I wouldn't compare them.
DeleteEven before Jesse's departure, Linzi was doing some good investigative pieces. Her 2023 report on electric substation attacks is one that stands out to me. I admit that I haven't seen as much from her lately on the investigative reporting front, but that may be due to her being a nearly full time anchor and KIRO's current lack of a fully dedicated investigative unit to persue the kinds of stories that they were doing back then. I do agree that, here in 2025, KING's investigative pieces are far superior to what KIRO has been serving up in that arena. KING's investigative unit has always done excellent work, while KIRO has long been more up and down in terms of their investigative reporting. I'm just old enough to remember the waining days of KIRO's "Team 7" investigative unit, with Amy Clancy, Chris Halsne, and David Quinlan (there were likely other reporters involved, but those are the three that I remember seeing most often), which has always struck me as being the true peak of KIRO's investigative reporting.
DeleteDuly noted
DeleteI think Jeremy Harris at KOMO is about as fine of a modern day reporter as they come. Deftly delivers stories about touchy and often political topics without taking sides. Very quick on his feet. Speaking of, nobody is quicker to the draw with a witty comment than Theron Zahn.
ReplyDeleteI think Jeremy is very quick, skilled and talented. Unfortunately, most of his crime reporting is way over the top, which is part of the SInclair playbook. To call it 'deftly delivered' is not close to the breathless, hype that often accompany his work. Agree to disagree, but thanks, as always for the conversation.
ReplyDeleteHire Felt!
ReplyDeleteI like Jason Sloss! One of the better reporters and does better than many on the anchor desk! I know Wayne isn't fond of his hair! At least he has some!
ReplyDeleteNot crazy about the up-point but male hair has changed so much, I don't know what's god these days and you're right, at least he has some! I just wish he put more juice in his reading style, sell the copy more with inflection and force.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of one story any reporter in Seattle TV has broken daily? Not talking investigative, just daily. Maybe Daniels?
ReplyDelete