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 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.
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 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.
News today that Des Moines NBC affiliate WHO-TV will be making the switch to all programming in High Definition come April.
The article is posted in TVNewsCheck.com and can be read in full here.
Here’s a clip of the story.
Local TV’s WHO Des Moines, Iowa (DMA 72) claimed today that it will be “the first commercial television station in Iowa to broadcast in total high definition.” From news reports in the field and studio cameras to commercials and state-of-the-art HD weather technology, WHO will be able to broadcast it all in high def starting in April.
For the record, I have been an employee of WHO-TV. You can read more about my past here in my bio page if you are needing something to help fall asleep.
WHO-TV has been making a move to local HD news gathering for more than a year with segments that are all HD during their newscasts. I believe they try for 1 HD story a night at 10P. This is has been good for getting some HD tape in the library when they make the full switch so it won’t seem like all the past existed in standard def.
KCCI-TV has tried doing some local news stories in HD, but not on near the regular basis that WHO-TV has been doing.
KWWL-TV in Waterloo also made HD news back in December by announcing they too will be going to HD newscasts beginning in April, 2010.
Iowa Public Television has been doing local production in High Definition for years. We are partially funded by the State of Iowa and are a public TV station. The Iowa Journal has been in full HD since August of 2008. Prior to that, field pieces were shot in HD, but downconverted to standard-definition format for broadcast.
–UPDATE—
KWWL-TV will only be going HD in studio and not in-field production. So now we can see Ron Steele in HD. That’s Must See TV!
–Update 2—
WHO-TV needs to center and pan their audio on the HD packages. My system puts the voice track on the left channel and the SOTs on the right. Nats, your guess is as good as theirs.
IPTV Producer Chris Gourley sporting his Floppy t-shirt
Yesterday, the post was about growing up in the 319 area code, you knew about Eliot Keller.
If you grew up in the 515, you knew about Duane and Floppy. It was appointment television before anyone knew what that was.
The little dog who sat through countless bad jokes is getting a run on publicity this week thanks to the release of a movie
Marc Hansen of the Des Moines Register wrote a nice story about Duane and Floppy Film Festival.
The crowd was huge to see the show Tuesday at the State Historical Society. Even WHO-TV did a piece on their former programming pouch.
Jeff Stein was interviewed in the piece and is helping make much of this happen. He too, grew up watching Floppy. Stein is a Wartburg College professor communication arts, IBNA executive secretary and now runs the Archives of Iowa Broadcasting Archives based in Waverly. He also helped make the Film Fest Happen.
I did see the show, but only when we would visit my grandpa in Prairie City. But, I’ve come to know how much the show meant to people who grew up here. During my days at WHO-TV, it wasn’t uncommon to get a call every other week asking if certain Floppy shows were recorded or still around in the archives. Mind you, the show went off the air in 1987.
I’ve also gotten to know Duane’s son at our church, so that’s been a fun connection to make.
When TV13 posts the video, I’ll link it for you to see. If not, I’ve still got it on the TiVo and will have to ustream it so you can see the piece.
Our picture model is Iowa Public Television producer Chris Gourley. Chris now produces on Market to Market here at IPTV. He is another former WHO-TV employee. He said he used to direct the Floppy show when he was at TV13. Today, he’s sporting the Floppy t-shirt.
Today is one of those days that are kind of fun in a newsroom.
It is the day after a significant snowfall where snow plows and tow trucks were involved.
It is also the day before a significant snow fall is due to hit the area.
Both of these points are fun for the first big fall. Maybe the second one if you get a foot of snow its fun, but after that, its old hat and you want nothing to do with that.
However, the above clip is from a late winter storm in 2007 when I was running the desk at WHO-TV. Lee Rouse and Jon Cahill were out getting some video when they captured this huge explosion behind the Urbandale fire fighter’s head. Lee’s done lots of interviews about that day. I remember when Cahill called back to say what happened. Cahill said it was amazing video and it still undersold it.
Today you will see stories of people rushing the grocery store, hardware store and what public works crews are doing to prepare.
You’ll see graphics with phone numbers on who to call for road conditions, what site to check for road conditions and winter survival tips and how our news team will beat the other news team and have people everywhere for all shows as we bring you DeathWatch 2009 Storm to End All Storm Coverage.”
It will be all hands on deck to get out there so you don’t have to be out there.
I never minded sitting in a snow bank doing live shots to say, “yup, still snowing out here, back to you.” They were fun. I remember my first winter in Davenport at KWQC when that December set a record for snow fall for a month named December. I was on the Lincoln Street overpass 3 times with Bob Palmer and another 2 times along a turnaround spot along I74 and 23rd Ave. Good times.
But, when you are in the building and don’t leave, you have to answer the phone to respond to someone’s request to crawl their business or school closing. Most school closings are called into a computer now, but you still get Aunt Edina’s birthday party is cancelled, or the Boy Scouts Troop 128 acorn pie supper is PPD until Dec. 19. I don’t miss that part.
Also, I want you to be looking for the best storm hat. This would be a reporter who is wearing a good hat, like a parka with fur, or something trendy, or if you were me, a Jesup J-Hawks hat. Hat attire in a storm is also something to view.
Storms are good for the media business. TV and radio mostly. People are more tuned in to the details of the storm. There is a lot of repetitive information, but its vital to those who HAVE to be out in it.
Take your time, no need to rush, give yourself plenty of distance and don’t go out if you don’t have to.
It sounds like I’m ready for my life shot. Anne, where do you want me at noon?
Paul Yeager
