KCCI-TV morning moves

Thanks to the good folks at the Des Moines Register for confirming a couple of stories in today’s Buzz in the Business section.

The first involves former morning meteorologist Bryan Karrick. This post has got lots of hits as people are looking for him. I also see KCCI.com has changed his profile page to say he used to work at KCCI. They’ve done that with a few former personalities and it makes sense when viewers want to know what ever happened to….

The other news including the promotion of Katie Ward, formerly Katie Piper, to the morning anchor position vacated by Caitlin Coyner. Caitlin left for North Carolina and WTVD-TV in Raleigh.

The official story from the Register is here.

The departure of Karrick does provide a little insight to just how big of a player KCCI is in this market and how dominant they are on people’s minds. I’ve never had a post pop so much and for so long in the search terms as much as this one did. A lot of people watch TV8 and care about the people on their air.

I haven’t seen the same jump from the WHO-TV folks of Patrick Dix, Brooke Bouma or Jeriann Ritter. But, they also were still on the air and still on people’s minds. TV13 did make some movement back to the front of the ratings, so we’ll see how the Ward moves plays into the November book. I did hear a story earlier this spring that Ward was looking for an anchor job while on maternity leave and her name was popping up in talk of an opening at a Quad Cities TV station. So, I guess that answers that question for now.

End of an Era?

Did KCCI-TV turn on the cameras today?
Did WHO-TV say 13 is lucky?

Yes and probably.

May ratings are back for the Des Moines television market. And, it shows again TV13 is making gains on KCCI. Gains happened in February, but you can attribute some of that to the Olympics. Or could you?

But this book was being watched to see if it was more of a pattern of viewer habits changing.

WHO-TV sent out this release Tuesday.

Ratings chart from WHOTV.com

This graphic was in the release.

WHO wants you to look at percentages, that’s why they are in yellow. That is the % change from May ’09 to May ’10. A 75% change sound dramatic, but we’re talking a .8 rating to a 1.4 rating, not a lot of new TVs coming on to watch Jeriann and Pat and Brooke, but you could argue some of that gain came from Caitlyn and Marcus who dropped from a 2.2 to a 1.2 rating.

The May book is vital because it will be used by the sales department until December when the November book is complete and published.

WHO is back on top in the 5-7 AM slot. This was the long newscast WHO was winning in the M-F for a long time. But recently KCCI was leading the way.

Caitlyn Coyner has left KCCI-TV for Raleigh, NC. (Image from DesMoinesRegister.com)

KCCI is having changes already on their morning show as Caitlyn Coyner is already gone, she announced during May book she was leaving to take a job in North Carolina at WTVD-TV the ABC affiliate in Raleigh.

That may not be the only change at TV8 as meteorologist Bryan Karrick is likely leaving by the end of the summer.

Mornings are one thing, the evening newscasts are where the big eyeballs are at.

KCCI reminded us in this news release.

The Des Moines Register posted this story Wednesday about the ratings.

Is this beginning of the end of the death grip TV8 had on central Iowa TV? Or are ratings books falling in one or two different hands?

A key demo is the 25-54 where WHO is making gains, evening winning that demographic on a couple of shows.

I’ve worked at the ratings leader before. KWQC doubled the competition combined as well. They too, are seeing dents in their ratings dominance.

KWQC’s change could be part of bankruptcy issues surrounding parent company Young Broadcasting and gains by WQAD-TV.

• WHO-TV did debut all-HD newscasts during this time period.
• WHO-TV would like you to believe KCCI”s viewers are dying off.
• KCCI would like to remind you they are still number one in the main newscasts.

For the record, I have worked at WHO-TV in the past and maintain friendships in both newsrooms.