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New hire who loves sports joins this Seattle TV. Oh, well.

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Robert Malkamaki joins KIRO as a news producer, coming from the barely-viewed News Nation in Chicago where he was a line producer and AP.  Also a Loyola of Chicago grad.   He appears to be a big Cubs and Bears fan, too.   KIRO has no sports dept.  

Robert, you're on your own.



Comments

  1. News Nation may not move the viewership needle but I do enjoy watching it occasionally as an alternative network.

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    Replies
    1. Not an alternative. Fox 1.5 run by ex acolytes.

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    2. So tell us how you really feel. lmao

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    3. Facts. Sean Compton, Bill Shine, etc.

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  2. Congrats to Robert on his new job at KIRO! I hope it works out well for him.

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  3. Better hope whoever the interim ND is doesn't know he's a huge sports fan. But yes, NN is barely moving the needle and they lean that way because they are trying like everyone else is to compete with Fox News which no one is having much success with these days

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  4. I know I'm in the minority, but I appreciate that KIRO gives more time to news, instead of sports. Then there's KING running what seems like 10 minutes about a cold case so they can mimic Dateline, when there's nothing new to report.

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    Replies
    1. As someone who isn't a big sports fan (despite how many comments I post here regarding sports related topics), KIRO's lack of sports coverage was actually something of a drawcard to the station for me nearly 20 years ago when I first began paying attention to the news. Today, I feel the lack of sports coverage is one of KIRO's biggest weaknesses. The reason is that Seattle's sports scene has grown and changed considerably in that timeframe with the successes of the Sounders, Storm, Seahawks, and Gonzaga, as well as the debut of the Kraken and the Torrent, and the recent resurgance of the Mariners. And there is more to come with the World Cup in less than two months and the possible return of the Sonics by the end of this decade. This region is driven by sports in a way that it hasn't been in decades, and our local news stations need to keep up with the times to remain relevant to the large audience that they serve in Western Washington. In this case, that means adding more sports coverage. Sports can be very newsworthy at times, and those instances are growing.

      Having said all that, all the added sports coverage does get to be a bit much for those who aren't big sports fans, and can be a turnoff. KIRO, in its current state, does fill a bit of a niche by not having as much sports coverage. But there are far more sports fans out there than non-sports fans, and KIRO knows this. Hence why they do continue to try and do some degree of sports coverage, no matter how limited or lacking.

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    2. Their World Cup coverage will be less sporty, more sidebars, but major protests look with Iran coming here to play. That will take planning.

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    3. No doubt it will! I hope they're working on it. Solid coverage of any protests that do occur will be just as important as covering the matches themselves.

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  5. Agree about those KING 5 cold case long form narratives. It’s like they run those just so they can enter them in as local Emmy nominations. I’m always disappointed when those pop up at 6:30pm or on weekends. It’d be fine if they gave it its own dedicated thirty minutes in an off hours time slot but to consider this “news” when there has literally been nothing new about it for decades is a stretch.

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps KING should launch a weekly cold case/true crime program to air these long form narratives. There is great demand for cold cases and true crime content out there. But it doesn't need to eat up as much time in the newscasts as it does. A 2-4 minute segment is fine. But not upwards of 10 minutes.

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