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Word that the evil empire Sinclair has shut down KIMA with news to be provided in the future by its owned station in Pasco, KEPR. KIMA has a 70-year legacy, I'm told. This is a developing story, per FTVLIVE behind a paywall, so stay tuned. This has happened in Tulsa as well and it all started there with the news director predecessor at KOMO who perhaps set the stage for the eventual demise of KTUL there and was maybe rewarded with the job at KOMO. This stuff creeps slowly toward Channel 4 here. Tick, tick, tick.
It’s true—this was reported by the Yakima Herald-Republic. Unfortunately, it continues a long trend of Yakima stations losing locally focused newscasts to the Tri-Cities, and in recent years, even some of that production has shifted further to Spokane.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that, growing up, they were owned by a company known as Cascade, they being KEPR, KIMA and KLEW, all aptly with names reflecting the locations.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 1980s KIMA was the big dog of Yakima news, with KAPP and KNDO always being in catchup mode. Things leveled out a bit when CBS ran the Alar scare apple story on 60 Minutes, which did KIMA no favors, but KIMA still had a lot of fans. Sorry to see it go. The community deserves better than hubbed in news.
ReplyDeleteSad but not surprising, TBH Wayne I'm more surprised Sinclair doesn't just shut both those stations down and hub the whole thing from KOMO
ReplyDeleteThe worst is probably yet to come with that company.
DeleteThis would be a perfect opening for an FCC license challenge at renewal time. Unfortunately, that isn't until 2030.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Sinclair sold the stations to Rincon earlier this year, February-ish. Then Rincon sold its stations to a company controlled by Standard General (which had previously tried to purchase Tegna in 2022).
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/business/article314592261.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20260326101820/https://thedesk.net/2026/03/ex-bally-sports-executive-cancels-plan-to-acquire-tv-stations/
https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/views/public/assignmentDraftCopy?displayType=html&appKey=25076f919d0df069019d1878e7273acd&id=25076f919d0df069019d1878e7273acd&goBack=N
Television news in Central and Eastern Washington is an increasingly sad state of affairs, and this may be the biggest blow yet. The loss of KIMA's dedicated local newscasts covering the Yakima Valley, which were the last such offerings there, is nothing short of a tragedy. Yakima and its surrounding communities are going to be less informed and worse off as a result of this move.
ReplyDeleteThe Tri-Cities will also suffer from this move as they will lose their last local newscasts that weren't having to allow time for Yakima stories, with KIMA and KEPR now airing the same newscasts weeknights at 5 and 6, trying to cover both areas. Nobody is coming out of this a winner.
And if that wasn't enough, these horriffic changes come on the heels of KNDU/KNDO no longer producing the 10pm newscast for the local Fox affiliates. KIMA/KEPR are now doung that. But they were doing their own 10pm newscast for their CW affiliated subchannel. So the market is now down to just one newscast at 10pm as the two shows are now just one with "Fox News First at Ten" branding.
Also, the bios for both morning anchors at Apple Valley News Now seem to have been pulled off the Apple Valley News Now website. I'm not sure whats going on there. I hope their morning show hasn't been axed. It still shows up in the TV listings.
And all of this follows KHQ Spokane's recent move to stop airing live news at 11pm in favor of a replay of a streaming 9pm newscast from earlier in the night. I can't confirm it, but I've heard that KNDO/KNDU might have axed their Tri-Cities/Yakima focused 11pm newscast in favor of a replay of the streaming newscast from Spokane. I hope I'm wrong.
I know Liias in the state Senate has started pushing for a bill to support local journalism, especially in underserved areas like the Tri-Cities. Didn't go much of anywhere this past session, but it was a new bill. If it passes, it would unfortunately be too late, not yet sure if it would be too little.
DeleteIt might be too late for KIMA and the region's other TV stations. But perhaps it could help the region's newspapers and radio stations hold on. Maybe it could even help spur the launch of hyperlocal news websites similar to Gig Harbor Now or the Salish Current, both of which are excellent!
DeleteIDC that is a great snapshot report you provided. You are a student of the media hither and yon and historically! Erosion keeps coming and I think Sinclair has only just begun. What's next?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment, Wayne! I only wish this report hadn't been so depressing. Local television news is very different east of the Cascades compared to Seattle, and not in good ways.
DeleteAs for whats next, I almost hate to think about that given how bad things already are. However, if I had to make a guess, I would say a near complete merger of the Spokane and Tri-Cities/Yakima television markets could be on the table at some point in the nearish future. Common ownership would allow KAPP and KVEW (the Apple Valley News Now stations) to fully merge with KXLY, and for KNDO and KNDU to fully merge with KHQ. The Tri-Cities and Yakima would likely only retain small bureaus under this scenario, and have to compete for airtime with Spokane and North Idaho stories. As KREM does not have the same owner as KEPR and KIMA, it would be difficult to merge them. This could help ensure at least one station remains fully dedicated to Spokane and North Idaho, and one station remains fully dedicated to the Tri-Cities and Yakima. Its a far cry from the days when Spokane, the Tri-Cities, and Yakima all had three seperate television news departments each. But it does feel like the direction things could be heading in, eapecially if the Tri-Cities and Yakima really are now getting a replay of a Spokane streaming newscast for the late news on KNDO and KNDU.
Jade Elliott who was the morning anchor on KAPP/KVEW posted on her Facebook page that she resigned effective immediately.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that. It seems that her co-anchor, Jessica Jalal, also announced her resignation on social media. An abrupt and sad end for Apple Valley's morning duo.
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