I took a pledge NOT to watch all the coverage by the local stations at the Super Bowl this week. I decided to avoid the pre-game hype, talk, and meaningless interviews at all costs. Just want to see the game. So, as a result, what are your thoughts on who's doing the best work this week on apps or on the newscasts?
Has KING won the week or Fox 13? Has Eric Thomas and Horcher been effective? How are Nike and Daniels faring. Any thoughts on KIRO radio? Please weigh in.
Fox 13 is the winner. Sort of. More sports people down there. And long AM newscasts. But too much fluff for this Seahawks fan to digest. A potential big injury was not covered well by anyone other than Niko. KIRO is a non-factor. KING is ok but no Egan hurts. There are some reporters down there who are being exposed when they do long, live standups without the benefit of a teleprompter. Also wondering why 13 is doing 5 hours of coverage Sunday on their alternate channel. Will anyone watch?
ReplyDeleteGood take. I agree that 13 has been the most aggressive all week, obviously showing KING they are in the ballgame for sure. Strong bench. You're right that Egan having to be at the Olympics has hurt KING because he brings humanity and sincere humor to stories. Obviously, that was unavoidable.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am surprised at the Fox duopoly Sunday 7-2 coverage, but they just don't want to cede any territory on the big day. It's a statement to emphasize they are Fox LOCAL.
I was also surprised when the plan to air coverage on Fox 13 Plus from 7am to 2pm on Sunday was announced. I figured they would at least bring in the weekday crew for the normal 7am to 10am airing of Good Day Seattle, but a full seven hours of pregame coverage was not on my bingo card. I suspect it won't rate as well as the national pregame coverage on NBC, but I reckon it will draw enough of an audience to make it worth it for the station. If nothing else, it demonstrates a commitment to sports coverage that no other station in town can currently match. Not even KING.
DeleteMaking a statement in the market. Very good strategy.
DeleteI have to agree with Fox 13 being the winner of this week's Super Bowl coverage. They are going all out to cover it, sparing no expense and covering every angle.
ReplyDeleteKING is definitley being hampered by having Egan at the Olympics, but the timing of the two events and KING, by virtue of being an NBC affiliate, is airing the games, meaning someone on the sports team needed to go to Italy to provide coverage. I am cutting KING a bit of slack here as they are trying to balance coverage of these major sporting events while also covering the rest of the local news, and there has been a lot to report on this week.
KOMO is doing well with Super Bowl coverage as well, despite having fewer people on the ground in the Bay Area. I agree with Anonymous that Niko did a good job covering that potential injury. I had hoped this would be a good week for him, and its shaping up to be just that.
KIRO's Super Bowl coverage has been okay at best. I wonder if they would have put more resources into it if the game were airing on CBS this year.
Good take.
DeleteMy grading:
ReplyDeleteFOX 13: A+
KING: A
KOMO: B+
KIRO: B-/C+
I largely agree with your grading.
DeleteFox 13 pulled out all the stops over the past couple of weeks, and really showed how committed they have become to sports coverage in this market. No expense was spared, and every resource that could be deployed was deployed. I can only imagine how far they'll for future Super Bowls that the Seahawks play in, especially if the game airs on Fox. Definitley deserving of the A+.
KING was the clear runner-up. If it weren't for the need to also cover the Olympics, they likely would have done more. But they still did a great job overall, and held their own against Fox 13. Getting Steve Raible for postgame coverage was an unexpected, but most welcome surprise. Solid A.
This was Niko's week to shine on KOMO, and shine he did! He should get an A all for himself. But for KOMO's coverage overall, the B+ grade is a worthy one. I don't think that Chris Daniels' presence brought KOMO's coverage down, but only having two reporters on the ground in the Bay Area did limit what KOMO was able to do. I hope that, when the Seahawks play in their next Super Bowl, KOMO will send more resources. It wouldn't take much to bring KOMO up to an A- or even a solid A.
As for KIRO, they really dropped the ball by not having Steve Raible contribute to their coverage. They should have been able to bring him on at least once, if not more, given his long history with both the Seahawks and KIRO. The fact that they didn't is stunning! Eric and Gary did a decent job on the ground, but with only the two of them, KIRO was limited in how much it could cover. Raible's presence would have made up for some of that. The B-/C+ grade seems fitting under the circumstances.
Good deal, why do you think KOMO did a B+?. To me this was King vs Fox 13 so I focused largely on their efforts. I agree with your grades on them for sure. Thanks for weighing in
ReplyDeleteIt should be mentioned that Raible had a deal with King to appear on The Fifth Quarter show all season long after SNF so it was not a surprise to see him but also perfectly timely again. As a result of that arrangement, KIRO TV, his old employer, was boxed out of using him. But who knows how that relationship ended. Doing a deal with King says it all as far as that goes. He is an an employee of the Hawks, not KIRO radio, so the appearances on King show probably were a part of the station and team partnership.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that Raible and KING had such an arranagement in place. Thank you for pointing it out. I take back what I said about KIRO dropping the ball by not bringing Raible on. They couldn't have even if they wanted to.
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