King churned thru news directors since early 2017; a promoted and overwhelmed Assistant ND who left for DC, succeeded by a newspaper investigative ace who had never managed a TV newsroom but was already there and a handy replacement, then to an SFO #2 or #3 newsie outsider who didn't last, a Louisville Tegna ND who got installed and then promoted out to a BS and now an invisible VP job, and now recently to another great KING investigator, who has no major market newsroom management experience. Big market newsrooms are no picnic. She's a great person and journalist but was caught in the continuing Tegna-Nexstar mess. Everyone was waiting for the shoe to drop.
Meanwhile, during all of this, the hiring of reporters continued to deteriorate with a bunch of mixed choices, some of whom left after short stints. Amazon grabbed some people, too. I think that the ownership mess has accelerated life decisions over work decisions there for many over the past few years, including now. So much was in doubt over ownership that loyalty, a K5 organic tenet, was disabled. People wanted to primarily take care of their life happiness, not stress over a fading news linear platform that requires triple the work at times. Winning awards means little anymore when they are given away like chiclets with baker's dozens of categories.
The KING brand is called iconic by many of the new arrivals, but there is tarnish and I must attribute it to inconsistent management, corporate interference by a new CEO with no real TV knowledge waiting for the sale and his parachute, and some weak field reporter hires along the way. Their best reporters are Bureau Chiefs. The big buyouts killed many key sources and institutional memory. That's one reason why Daniels is beating KING at City Hall and cops, along with Harris at KOMO.
All of this is how I view it after 11 years of seeing KING at work from the cable floor above. I have been gone for 10 years, yes, but I study the local biz, possess a good memory, and have insights, eyes, ears and inside sources. Fox is out programming KING and KOMO is out reporting it. I would love to hear a different story from someone closer to it. I could be wrong.
A final post-script. In 2016 at a major Tegna meeting in DC, NWCN and I were personally and publicly promised that NWCN would go to HD to keep up with the Joneses. I was lied to by the CEO and subsequently by other officials in Tegna and KING (two local bosses) about NWCN getting a new shared studio with KING in 2016. It was baloney.
After I left in Sept 2015 to teach, the studio idea was, of course, killed, NWCN was not even given its own switcher/control room and the newscasts were put together on a timeline editor in chunks and anchored from a puny corner news desk in the new environ. I couldn't even watch. Tegna killed NWCN in Jan 2017.
Been a mess top to bottom and I still don't see much improvement for K5 either with Tegna or Nexstar. Both owners suck, IMHO.
Among the many departures over time are at least three Tacoma reporters, Tony Black, Lionel Donovan and Connor Board, weather wizards Rhonda Lee, Jordan Steele and Mike Everett, investigator Taylor Mirfendereski, anchors Steve Soliz and Steve Bunin, reporter Elisa Hahn, reporter/anchor Michelle Li, show hosts Amity Addrisi, Jim Dever and Kim Holcomb, all just off the top of my head. It never ends.
Have a good holiday weekend. You heard it here first.
Thanks, Wayne.
ReplyDeleteA quote from the late NBA player Michael Ray Richardson might sum up the situation at KING, "The ship be sinking".
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a69394679/michael-ray-richardson-death/
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights regarding the downfall of KING! It is both interesting and sad to see how far the station has fallen in the past decade. KING is still better than a lot of stations out there, but the days of KING being well regarded as one of America's best local stations may truly be behind it.
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you Wayne, I have ever since all of their vets took the buyouts 10 years ago have tried to avoid KING like the plague for their news coverage. I have always viewed them as a train wreck since they left but I didn't realize it was this bad. I feel sort of sorry too for Susannah Frame, she is probably in over her head as a ND and all of the turnover of staff is not helping. Hopefully all the attention you are giving this softball interview of the mayor by NDN yesterday is going to get local KING management to wake up, but who knows
ReplyDeleteFrame is top notch but got caught in the Nexstar/Tegna debacle, which miserably lingers on either way.
DeleteFair and you are right. That said, all that turnover is not helping her either
DeleteThis is a turnover tsunami! And then the first reinforcement makes a dumb first post.
DeleteYup
DeleteCutting NWCN was so short-sighted. In the decade since, everyone has tried to reinvent this 24 hour news wheel anyway as stations add newscasts to their secondary networks, plus YouTube products and streaming. However, if there’s an earthquake at 1:52 pm, viewers don’t know where to find the breaking news. Streaming? On air? Joe Tv? King? Kong? The CW? Ten years ago it would’ve been “turn on Channel 2!” King had all the resources at their fingertips with those 4 NW stations feeding into the regional network. What a loss for the community.
ReplyDeleteWe need to get to a place where people know where to turn to for breaking news outside of traditional newscast times. NWCN was that place for the Pacific Northwest for 22 years. We need something like it again.
DeleteWe had a great run. But we lost to smartphones and breaking news alerts with links to streaming. The only true 24-hour regionals are owned by Charter as cable news channels. Spectrum New York One is an example. When you turn on the TV, it's the first channel you see there because Charter owns the pipe. Instant recognition and sampling
DeleteThat was never provided by Comcast to NWCN. Would have cost big bucks.
Its a shame that Comcast never provided that to NWCN. It would have been a great public service.
DeleteWord around KING is that you may be bitter about not staying on for a few more months; you likely would have received a lucrative buyout — and that you were ticked to never have been in serious consideration for the KING ND role.
ReplyDeleteI did not want to stay on because I wanted to accelerate my teaching plans. I tendered my retirement in July 2015 to do that, and work more on suicide awareness and prevention. There was never going to a buyout by staying a few more months. It was to be a combined newsroom, which I could see would further minimize cable. The writing was on the wall. BTW, I never wanted to be the ND at King. I was given a perfunctory, courtesy interview in 2007 when everyone knew the job was going to a corporately-mandated Dallas guy. So let's see, I was bitter about that for 8 more years?? Really? We worked pretty well together that entire time. Nice try, son, but not even close.
ReplyDeleteI believe since losing Jeff to the retirement buyout, they also turned through the female Jordan (can’t recall last name), Craig Herrera, Rebecca Stevens & Mary Lee. Incredible revolving door within a decade. A sign that tv salaries do not keep up with the cost of living in Seattle. They either leave the business for tech or go to stations in markets where the salary is livable.
ReplyDeleteRebecca Stevenson went to KIRO well before the buyouts. You might be thinking of Jordan Steele (male) and Rhonda Lee. Craig Herrera went to Fox Weather National.
DeleteThere was Jordan Wilkerson that moved to Florida.
DeleteThanks for the Wilkerson update. Too many Jordans, Lol.
DeleteYes! Jordan Wilkerson was also weather. And Mary Lee was also a king meteorologist in the last decade. Rebecca also came back to king more recently after leaving for KIRO. Other than Rich, they’ve had a hard time keeping anyone.
DeleteI thought Rebecca went to Al. jazeera after leaving KIRO. I don't remember her coming back to K5 for a second time. After Al
ReplyDeleteJazeera she went to KCPQ, then KOMO?
Rebecca did go back to king between komo and Kcpq. Two years, maybe three.
DeleteI think the famous Mark Felt covered this awhile back, but Rebecca was really gunning for the chief met job at KING, but Renner wasn't going anywhere. KIRO had their chief Andy Wappler leaving for a comm job at PSE and Rebecca was given the job. If you want the six degrees of Jordan to keep going, Rebecca lost her job when ex-KING ND Bob Jordan came in and then Rebecca went AJA for a couple years before returning to Seattle when they closed up shop. Unfortunately, all were short runs being only as a fill-in at KING, a short run doing weekend mornings at FOX13 and completing her quinfecta doing weekend weather at KOMO. I miss Felt's expertise on this blog. Its surprising we never saw or heard them on the airwaves and hope you Wayne would do an interview with them.
DeleteGreat insight here. The demise of KING is sad to see. But at least it isn't KIRO!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe problem with KIRO is that they are the Titanic and those who are still there are trying to keep the ship afloat when they're not getting any help from their management or leadership. Their now-ex ND Laura was pretty much the iceberg. The only time the folks there seemed happy is when she finally left the building.
ReplyDeleteThree stations under clouds with the Tegna mess, Cox likely for sale and Sinclair sniffing around. Fox looks stable by comparison.
ReplyDelete