Decided to canvass the Seattle TV's when news was breaking about major flash flood threats because of the Green River levee break.
KING was on the air for the full hour extended with wall-to-wall coverage, anchored very strongly by Christine Pae on news and Ashley Ruiz on weather. Interestingly, KING did not simulcast on KONG at 1, when it usually repeats the KING noon. In fact, KONG ran back-to-back spots and promos until about 1:50 when it joined a 'Justice for The People' show in progress.
KOMO stayed with the General Hospital soap until 2 when anchor Molly Shen and George Waldenberger began breaking coverage.
KIRO, from what I observed, was live for about a half hour or thereabouts with Linzi Sheldon and Dee Dee Sun on the desk, when it eventualy joined a CBS soap in progress.
Fox 13 was simulcasting its Live Desk on both the mother ship and KJZO. Hana Kim and Erin Mayofsky anchored for a period of time.
By 2 pm all of the stations carried a major news briefing in King County.
Not making any value judgments here, just wanted to sample some coverage, thought it might be of some interest. I was doing a lot of channel changing!
I watched some of the coverage which proved to be a reflection of just what is wrong with local news. Send a reporter out, give them a mic plus a person with a camera and boom, what do you get? A regurgitated repetition of few facts to fill time giving a faux appearance of being on top of the situation.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is standard operating procedure but at least it was on linear and not just streaming.
DeleteSounds like KING had the best coverage overall, though it seems everyone stepped up to the plate today, to varying degrees.
ReplyDeleteI'm a broadcast engineer and volunteer with the management of state EAS. The National Weather Service triggered the initial EAS, King County Emergency Management put out more details via web and social media, and the broadcast media got it to the public quickly and accurately. That's a success in public warning. Thankfully, the situation wasn't worse, but it easily could have been very bad.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments and volunteer work. It's been a dire week for many. .
ReplyDeleteIn a day and age where local tv news is taking some major hits the coverage by all four stations, for the most part, has been an integral piece of public safety. Yes, there are promos running and a "look at us" feel to those promos, but getting the word out to evacuate, where the trouble spots are, etc is still an important part of tv news. I say win, win, win, and win for all the stations.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, and having linear break-ins and extended coverage are particularly important to older residents who still rely on their favorite stations. The ingredients are always there, anchors directing traffic, video and live reports from the affected areas, plenty of graphics and expert interviews for context. Thanks for weighing in.
ReplyDeleteKING also had the most online/FAST channel (KING5+) coverage then the other stations as well.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is lots of folks don't know what that is. They want to turn on the TV after getting an EAS alert
ReplyDeleteI generally agree with your assessment. However, I suspect that some younger viewers who are of a streaming-first mindset might think to go to KING5+ first instead of turning on the TV. This wouldn't be a large portion of KING's total audience by any means. But it is a segment that seems poised to grow in the coming years.
DeleteMy guess is that younger viewers mostly live in high rise apartments near Amazon, FB, Apple and Google and dont feel at risk.
ReplyDeleteThat is a distinct possibility.
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