After doing some digging, I can report that this is a six-month trial run and will be done from a virtual set, with the primary emphasis being streaming weekday mornings on KING5+.
KING5 Sports Director Paul Silvi and Chris Egan will debut the weekday Ultimate Seattle Sports Show starting next Monday the 20th at 10-11 am on KONG and streaming on K5+. They are promising big name guests, too, on promos.
Strange time slot for a linear sports show on KONG, of course, and interesting timing as the May sweeps start on Thursday April 23rd, but that gives advertisers a linear play as well as streaming, which I'm told is strong in the mid-morning. Management says no one is watching sports on the late news anyway, so a.m. streaming is the play. With the Nexstar deal still in judicial limbo, you would have to figure this entire experiment was pre-approved.
It positions KING for the new Storm WNBA season, the World Cup in June, OTAs and training camp for the Hawks, all the NBA and MLB games on NBC and the Ms. So lots of material to work with.
https://x.com/i/status/2044511505199337911
Also happening in Tegna Dallas:
Is their Weather Out West show that was streamed on KING5+ and the other Tegna stations dead? That was live at 10am.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was cancelled, possibly ahead of the anticipated Nexstar deal. Kong is showing an Elizabeth Vargas show at 10 am based on the cable grid.
DeleteInteresting move on KING's part. I wonder how this will affect Silvi and Egan's shifts on the evening and weekend newscasts. Given the 10am timeslot, I would imagine that KING will need to beef up their sports team to accomodate this new show.
ReplyDeleteWhile no longer needing the Kraken show, it opens up an opportunity to shift some work to this new deal, but the sports guys have got to be stretched to the limit, regardless. Would love to know more about the strategy.
ReplyDeleteI would love to know more about the strategy as well. Competing with Fox 13 has to be part of it, but there must be more to it. In any case, I hope it proves to be successful.
DeleteAs for the Kraken show, since KING's deal with the Kraken continues next season, won't the Kraken show be coming back when the new NHL season gets underway?
Anything could happen by next season, but for now, this. I am seeking more info.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they will tape this show in the between the evening newscasts and that Paul & Chris will co-anchor a couple days of the week and than solo a couple for days off since Chris handles the weekends etc.
ReplyDeleteThis "Ultimate" thing is happening at WFAA in Dallas as well. And, yes, some taping between shows with hosts rotating. No travel at this time of year, so they can focus on local interviews and stories. Would like to get the full rationale for this at Tegna/KING/WFAA.
DeleteIts interesting that WFAA will be doing this too. I reckon it will be popular down there, especially once football season rolls around as Texas loves football far more than we do (not to say that we don't love football here in the Northwest, but Texas loves ot on a whole different level).
DeleteWill other Tegna and/or Nexstar markets (assuming Nexstar finally gets to own Tegna free and clear) be doing their own versions, or could this be shaping to be a regional project with KING doing a Pacific Northwest regional edition and WFAA doing a Texas regional edition?
I think KONG may pick up KING 5+’s 6pm newscast once Jessica returns, especially since stations like KUSA and KREM are already airing their streaming shows on sister stations during national news
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking the same thing since learning that KREM was doing that. Interesting to hear that KUSA is too. Could this be the start of a new trend across Tegna/Nexstar?
DeleteOn a related note, I've seen that, on a few occasions, KING has run extended morning news from 9am to 9:20am or so on KING 5 Plus. With this new sports show launching at 10am, could KING be looking at adding 9am news on KONG during the week to pair with it?
DeleteUpdated post to check out
DeleteA big thank you for digging into this! I appreciate your efforts to get to the bottom of KING's strategy with this new show.
DeleteI find it interesting that management admits that no one is watching sports on the late news. If this new show is sucessful, could KING potentially drop sports coverage from the late news?
Hard to say. The program/streaming trial lasts until the fall, so by then KING could be a different place with Nexstar. If the show can't draw streamers and tanks in the odd morning time slot, it may just go away. I will watch for a couple of days to take the temperature and post comments.
DeleteNo let up. Everything, everywhere, all at once.
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice idea but they need to be doing this show in the evenings. 10am? They're not going to get ratings for it because everyone who would be ideally watching it is at work at that time.
ReplyDeleteApparently their research indicates streaming is high in the a.m. The linear play helps advertisers get extra value.
DeleteJust so the promo on the 4:00 news
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating. Fox does a daily show at night, but in a strange time slot as well. A sports show that competes with live Mariners and Kraken games along with prime time football. Now KING is doing the same in the morning? No live sports competition but trying to compete with ESPN talk shows or sports radio which streams via both stations in the market. There MUST be an audience for sports. At least live sports. Is there an audience for this is the question?
ReplyDeleteThere are so many sports clips/highlights already posted by morning, I don't see why this would be a draw except for localism. But will people watch coach-speak and player-speak interviews during their streaming day? And will it draw money on either platform? Throw something at the wall and hope it sticks?
ReplyDelete