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Oh, the irony as the two giddy KIRO morning news anchors wear Sonics apparel waiting for the NBA presser. And a pentabox with Horcher (far right) wearing some, too, not to mention Chapman (lower left). Brandon Thompson (lower right) apparently didn't get the memo. Of course KIRO sent no one to cover the New York event. But boosterism overkill prevails. Credibility takes another hit.
Kudos to KING for playing it straight on set with Two, count em TWO sports anchors.
Fox 13 did not break in for the presser, staying with a game show on the flagship, while shifting coverage to its duopoly station
Meanwhile the competition got to see KOMO reporter Chris Daniels introduce himself and ask a question of the Commish.
KOMO is airing the coverage live but KIRO management, what are they thinking. Full stop. A sale of that station can not come soon enough
ReplyDeleteI did see KIRO take at least some of the Adam Silver live presser when I switched around. They broke in with the studio coverage at 11:30, interrupting a soap.
ReplyDeleteThompson may not have gotten the memo on wearing Sonics attire, but at least he maintained his journalistic credibility, and lessened the hit to KIRO's journalistic credibility, today by missing the memo, so good on him for that.
ReplyDeleteKING's studio looks really good with that green, gold, and blue backdrop. I hope that, when the time comes for Sonics games to air on local TV, KING puts in a bid for them.
Nexstar would make that call. Hmm
DeleteIn full agreement with IDC9. The lengths KIRO seemed to go to yesterday to try to make themselves credible were off the charts. They stayed with the presser until it ended and on the other side was Horcher with a bunch of Sonics legends including Kemp. As for KING, that was a real good use of the sports talent there with Pae. Egan probably gave both she and Arielle an education on the set during their coverage about this subject
DeleteI reckon KING had Arielle on set for exactly that reason. This is the sort of sports department team building that will serve KING long into the future.
DeleteKIRO barely has a news department anymore, so no surprise its sports effort is so pathetic. Are Apollo/Cox still looking to sell? I’ve lost track but the cost cutting would seem to indicate someone, somewhere is looking to goose the financial performance by squeezing out every last buck.
ReplyDeleteLast I knew, they very much were. FTVLive has been suggesting this week that Nexstar now wants a station in Pittsburgh, which could open a door for Apollo/Cox to finally sell as they just so happen to own WPXI in Pittsburgh.
DeleteYup. Saw the FTVLive story. Appears the driver in Pittsburgh is that the Nexstar boss, Mr. Sook, is a diehard Steelers fan and wants to own a station in that market presumably to get better access to their games or something. But you are right this does open a door for Apollo to sell except would Nexstar actually be able to buy KIRO when they already with the Tegna purchase own KING and KONG?
DeleteHow much more debt can Nexstar take?
DeleteI wouldn't have thought that they would have been able to take on all of Tegna's debt. But they've done just that. So it may depend on how much debt Sook feels comfortable taking on.
DeleteAs for Nexstar being able to buy KIRO right after buying KING and KONG, considering what Nexstar has been given the green light to own after their purchase of Tegna, I would assume that they could potentially buy KIRO without needing to divest it later on. It is not a scenario that I would advocate for by any means. But it does seem entirely plausable at this point.
I don't think they want to buy KIRO when they already have KING, which will have so much more live sports and the Olympics for years.
DeleteI reckon it depends on how desperate Sook really is to have a station in Pittsburgh.
DeleteThe good news is that, according to FTVLive, he really wants the CBS O&O in the market, which is KDKA. The question is whether or not CBS wants to sell KDKA. It is a crown jewel in their station group. However, it is also in a market that is not growing very much. And unlike Sook, CBS doesn't necessarily have personal reasons for wanting to be in Pittsburgh. If CBS is willing to sell KDKA (like Nexstar, CBS has a lot of debt...the proceeds from selling KDKA could put a nice dent in that). But if CBS isn't willing to sell KDKA, that is where KIRO could come into play.
To get WPXI, Sook may have to buy all of the Apollo/Cox stations. It has been suggested that Apollo/Cox wants to sell all the stations to a single owner, similar to how Albritton wanted to sell all of its stations, including WJLA in Washington DC back in 2013 (which is how WJLA ultimately ended up with Sinclair...Hearst and Disney were both said to be interested in WJLA, but not in any of Albritton's other stations). And while Sook might not be interested in KIRO, Apollo/Cox does own some other stations that might be attractive enough to Sook to make owning KIRO worth it. WSB in Atlanta and WFXT in Boston both come to mind. WSB for its ratings domiance, and WFXT for entering what is now the largest television market in the country where Nexstar does not own or operate a station.