KOMO carried Erika Kirk's first comments LIVE on Seattle TV reacting to her husband's murder. All four local affiliates were in news programming at the time. None of the other stations aired it.
The feed came via Turning Point, Charlie Kirk's organization, not from any of the parent networks.
It caused KOMO to join ABC World News Tonight in progress at 540 pm after taking the feed about 10 minutes earlier.
I don't know it for a fact, but this feels like some sort of directive from KOMO's parent company, Sinclair, to air Erika Kirk's comments. Why else would they air them while the other local stations didn't?
ReplyDeleteCertainly possible though in the eastern and central time zones it would have interrupted regular programming and unlikely, while in Seattle, KOMO was in a local newscast. Probably same in Boise, since it would have been 6:20 there. I wonder if KATU in Portland took it.
ReplyDeleteYou make a very good point about the Central and Eastern time zones. Would Sinclair have wanted to interrupt regular programing in those places for Erika Kirk's comments? I suppose they could have been seen as significant enough to warrant the interruption. But if that were the case, wouldn't all of the networks have interrupted programming themselves with special reports to cover the comments? Since that doesn't seem to have happened, and knowing that Sinclair has issued directives for its stations to air, for lack of a better term, conservative friendly commentaries and programs in the past, the idea of KOMO's move being a Sinclair directive makes sense. However, Boise actually adds another wrinkle to things, as KBOI, the Sinclair station there, would have been interrupting Wheel or Jepoardy at that time (their local evening news is 4-5pm and 5:30-6pm). I don't know if they took the comments or not, but i would have to think that interrupting TV's two most popular game shows with their large and passionate audiences is not something you would do lightly. Do Erika Kirk's comments rise to the level of warranting an interruption to those two programs? Its a tough call. I would think not, but Sinclair may have felt differently. As for KATU in Portland, I don't know if they took the comments or not, but it would make sense if they did, since it would only have to led to ABC World News being interrupted, just like KOMO.
DeleteI surmise that the major networks did not want to carry this live across the country and interrupt affiilate news or regularly scheduled programming with a special report, especially when the feed was coming from a outside source. If SInclair ordered this unilaterally, it would not be a surprise, however, they could have pitched it to KUNS for carriage and stayed with ABC. Getting viewers to turn to its duopoly would have been an opportunity for awareness of the channel. They also could have said they would carry her remarks in full at 6, when they go local again. In fact, by doing what they did, they lost a money making terminal break at 5:27, but elected not to be concerned about that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
ReplyDeleteAlways happy to share my thoughts on this and all things Seattle media and TV! You're right that KOMO could have punted Erika Kirk's comments over to KUNS, which would have been very logical, or aired them in full during the 6pm newscast, which, while perfectly doable, would have eaten up about a quarter of the newscast's run time (excluding ads). Perhaps KOMO felt that losing the money making terminal at 5:27 was better than eating up the 6pm newscast. Interesting programming move regardless.
DeleteThat terminal before David Muir coming out the KOMO 5 pm show is valuable territory. He is number 1 in the country and likely KOMO as well. WIth Holt gone at NBC, I wonder if KOMO has picked up some viewers with the first national newscast in the market at 530. And here's another idea. Run her first 10 minutes at 6 and the other 10 at 630. No spots lost. A few stories moved around. And then of course, post in full on the web site.
ReplyDeleteYou raise an excellent question regarding whether or not KOMO has picked up more viewers after Holt left NBC Nightly News. It seems quite possible, since NBC's new anchor isn't everyone's cup of tea. At the same time, some viewers may have switched to KIRO and the CBS Evening News, or to FOX 13 for the statewide news show and the sports wrap. I would be very interested in seeing recent ratings data for the Seattle market to see how all of the changes, both local and national, in recent months have affected viewership.
DeleteAs for your idea about splitting Erika Kirk's remarks to avoid losing spots, that would have been an interesting way of retaining viewers who wanted to see those remarks across more of the 6pm newscast, while also not losing money. It would have meant a very national-content heavy newscast though. Is that something KOMO wants to present at 6pm? I frankly doubt it. Despite KOMO's faults, they still cover a decent number of important local stories each day, and the 6pm show is arguably the station's flagship newscast.
No local TVs publish ratings any longer. They all claim to win one or another news cast either thru households or demos. It's a mish mash, I think. As far as Kirk goes, the story was still huge, so not much local news would be cut. Features can hold and be used on weekends or mornings. It was a highly unusual situation.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the Kirk story still being huge on Friday. It likely would have eaten up a fair portion of KOMO's 6pm news even if Erika Kirk hadn't given remarks that day.
DeleteAs for the ratings not being published, that is sad to hear, but not surprising. It would be nice to see these powerful institutions be held accountable for their performance, just like they claim to hold elected and community leaders to account for the decisions they make.