By Linda McCune

Recent snowstorm challenged local TV new teams

Applause is due our local television news teams for their expanded coverage of the recent snow/ice/wind storm the wreaked havoc across the Pacific Northwest for more than a week.

There’s something about being snowbound at home during an above-average accumulation of snow that makes one want to hunker down and watch news coverage about the weather and how it is affecting not only oneself but also all the Northwest residents.

Fortunately for most, Mother Nature brought her wintery snow gift early on a Saturday when most were at home, sparing us a repeat of the December 2008 nightmare commute. Although expected, the snow came earlier than first forecast and stayed much later than invited.

A self-pronounced snow-driving chicken, I found myself parked at home for seven days affording me more time than usual to scan our three TV network-affiliate channels for storm details.  All put in a Herculean effort by broadcasting virtually around the clock for seven days.

KOMO and KING weren’t able to give input by my deadline, but KIRO TV answered my question of approximately how many extra employee hours were added during the expanded weather coverage?

According to Todd Mokhtari, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Director, “We’re still adding it up, for all of last week because we started adding newscasts and coverage on Saturday during the first storm. What we did was put people on 12-hour shifts to make sure we were covered all day, night and overnight. People who were normally scheduled off came into work and some people changed their vacation plans to work extra days. I would say it would be hundreds of hours. At least 100 hours for just photographers alone. “

Even with the new coastal radar installed last Fall, it provided only about two hours of approaching data. The unexpected ice storm caused more trouble than the snow and KING5’s Jeff Renner was the first suggest late Wednesday evening that we might get some areas of freezing rain overnight. Most were caught off-guard, including the National Weather Service, located in Seattle.

The most creative segment, I think, was broadcast live by KIRO-TV’s Jeff DuBois who thought to ask Sea-Tac officials for access to the airport’s rooftop on Thursday. From there, he gave detailed stories about many aspects of  the  impacts on air travel because of the ice storm. Photographer Bruce Groves was able to zoom in on planes in the distance being de-iced and back out with every live comment that Jeff made with such smooth transitions. A close-up showed Jeff trying to chip off a thick layer of ice on the rooftop railing, a vivid example of the task faced in de-icing airplanes. In the distance on the edge of the runway was what looked like a toy truck until Bruce zoomed and Jeff told that it took many dump trucks to remove the plowed snow from the runways.

My favorite new text word sent last week? snOMG!

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Black

Meeghan Black, host of Evening Magazine on KING 5, will be honored by the Department of Political Science at the UW with the Distinguished Alumni Award for 2012. The award recognizes an alumnus who’s made remarkable career accomplishments and who serves as a role model for UW students.

“We’re very proud Meeghan’s been chosen to receive the award from the UW,” said Pat Costello, V/P and station manager for KING, KONG, and NWCN. “From her work on Evening Magazine to her award-winning career as a news reporter, Meeghan has been a great ambassador for KING TV and the UW.”

The award acknowledges Black’s accomplishments in the broadcast profession and in community service.   She will receive the award in June at the UW’s spring convocation – an event during commencement weekend celebrating the department’s graduating students.

Black joined KING 5 in 2000 as a weekend weather anchor, moving to weekday mornings as the traffic anchor in 2006. A frequent Evening Magazine guest host, she became the full-time host in December 2009 after an extensive national search. Prior broadcast jobs include reporting, anchoring and weather forecasting at stations in Spokane, WA and Wichita, KS.

In addition to Evening Magazine, Black teams up with gardening expert Ciscoe Morris on KING 5 News gardening segments and on the weekly “Gardening with Ciscoe” show. She is the recipient of two Emmys from the Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences – first, for the KING 5 special “Echoes of the Eruption” and most recently in the program host category for her work on Evening Magazine.

A Seattle native, Black graduated from Mercer Island High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Washington. She lives in the Seattle area with her husband and seven-year-old daughter.

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Goode

Bunker

Veteran Seattle broadcaster Brad Goode will join KOMO 4 News to anchor the morning newscast beginning January 2, 5-7a.m. Goode, who anchored the morning news at KING-TV for six years, left in June for the Los Angeles bureau of CNBC. His 26-year career in broadcasting includes work as a national anchor for CNBC.

Goode will co-anchor with Peggy Bunker, a Seattle native who currently anchors the newscast several days each week and also reports for KOMO.

Shen

Molly Shen, who currently anchors the morning newscast for KOMO, has been promoted to the station’s 5pm newscast, where she will join current anchor Eric Johnson.

“I’m thrilled about the new anchor teams at KOMO 4,” said news director Holly Gauntt. “It’s exciting to have such incredibly strong and experienced anchor teams with deep roots in the Seattle market.”

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It seems KVI-AM 570 has come full circle. Back when this reporter was old enough to listen to talk radio in 1960, KVI was a leader. Now KVI brings back a fresh approach to Seattle talk radio with its new format: Smart Talk for a Sound Life.

Less than a year ago, KVI abruptly went from conservative talk to an oldies format and oldies guru Mark Christopher found a new home there. The station was gaining Arbitron ratings, albeit starting near the bottom, when this new format was announced.

Beginning January 3, Smart Talk will be a mix of the most respected, local and national names in lifestyle and consumer programming. Planned are engaging stories from people who will inspire while providing the listeners with the tools to control their budget, make savvy consumer decisions, and details on the best ways to enjoy a uniquely Puget Sound way of living.  

Jaffe

Christopher

“We are thrilled to announce the pairing of popular KOMO 4 personality Elisa Jaffe with longtime Seattle radio talent Mark Christopher for the locally produced morning show called Sunrise Seattle,” said PD, Travis Box. “Both Elisa and Mark’s professional experience and community connections, make them the perfect team to host a morning show that will invigorate, energize, inform and entertain!”

Sunrise Seattle with Elisa Jaffe and Mark Christopher airs weekday mornings 6-10a.m.

Clark Howard brings his nationally syndicated consumer advice to the Seattle airwaves 10a.m.-1p.m. followed by Scott Carty 1-3p.m. with local entertainment, activities and restaurant news in his show called The Buzz.  The Clark Howard Show is reprised 6-9p.m. and the best of The Buzz again 9-10p.m.

The Daily Wrap hosted by Michael Castner 3-6p.m. covers breaking news, politics, tech, sports and more. Rounding out the programming schedule is the irreverent but never boring Phil Hendrie Show, 10p.m.-3a.m. and the legendary broadcaster Don Imus with his frank and honest take on the world with Imus in the Morning live weekdays 3-6a.m.

Jim Clayton, SVP/GM for Fisher Radio said about the new station, “We are really excited about this new and innovative concept in talk radio. It is the perfect blend of news you can use and entertainment.”

Watch this new KVI format climb the Arbitron ladder in the New Year.

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Speaking of Arbitron ratings, November’s book showed KIRO-FM 97.3 still on the top with 5.7 share but down from October’s 5.9.  November top ten stations PPM 6am-12midnight:

1.   KIRO-FM       5.7

2.   KRWM-FM   5.3

3.   KOMO-AM   4.7

4.   KISW-FM     4.6

5.   KUOW-FM   4.5

6.   KBKS-FM     4.3

6.   KKWF-FM    4.3

7.   KUBE-FM     4.2

8.   KJR-FM        4.1

9.   KMPS.FM     3.9

9.   KPLZ-FM      3.9

10. KPLU-FM     3.7

10. KZOK-FM     3.7

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On December 4, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News expanded its Sunday 11 p.m. newscast to one hour.  Monique Ming Laven will anchor the new 60-minute newscast joined by meteorologist Morgan Palmer and sports anchor Chris Francis.

“Adding another 30 minutes on Sunday nights gives us the opportunity to provide expanded coverage of breaking news, sports, and severe weather,” said news director Todd Mokhtari. “As our viewers prepare for the upcoming week we will be able to provide them with essential news and information that will impact their daily lives.”

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News 11 at 11 was ranked number one among adults ages 25-54 in the November 2011 ratings period according to Nielsen research.

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In mid November, KPLU-FM debuted a new weekly series, I Wonder Why, which explores questions about the Northwest. Is there a song, a person, a place, a thing, a word, a phrase, a type of music or an idea that is unique to the Pacific Northwest?  What do people find odd, endearing or irritating when they move here or visit the area?  KPLU News will explore the quirks, unique attributes, and icons of our corner of the world.  I Wonder Why airs Fridays at 6:30a.m. and 8:30 a.m. during KPLU’s Morning Edition.

Stories will run the gamut from funny and sad, to thought-provoking and controversial.  They’ll be generated by KPLU news reporters and from ideas submitted by listeners.  Go to www.kplu.org to enter an idea.

KPLU Law and Justice reporter, Paula Wissel is the lead reporter. She kicked off the series by delving into why Seattle has the loudest football fans (they invented “The Wave” and once caused an earthquake at a Seahawks game).  Subsequent episodes will look at why pedestrians here don’t cross against the lights, why we buy so many sunglasses and why we talk the way we do.

“We hope the series will get people to think about things they see every day with fresh eyes,” Wissel said.  “We also want to reflect back what makes this region special.”

This reporter is remembers Al Wallace hosting a similar production on KING-TV called How Come?

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In mid-December, Jim Trapp was named PD of KJAQ-FM replacing Carey Curelop, who continues as PD of KZOK-FM and KPTK-AM.   Trapp successfully launched JACK Seattle in 2005 and was most recently PD at KXTE-FM Las Vegas.

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Bonaduce

You used to know him as Danny Partridge, or as a reality TV star, and now you  know him as the new Morning Show host on 102.5 KZOK.  In mid November, KZOK debuted the Danny Bonaduce Show.

Why Seattle? Danny answered, ”Seattle is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Plus, I’ve never been arrested here, so that’s good. The first time I saw Seattle, I thought someone put a major metropolitan city in the middle of Yosemite National Park. I can’t believe I get to live and work here. I’m about coming to Seattle because I met my wife at Starbucks. I couldn’t wait to go to the very first Starbucks. It’s like the holy grail.”

He added, “You know that Seattle is a great music town. Did you know that Seattle was the first city to play the Beatles on the radio? This is the place for me. It’s going to be an amazing show.

Contact Linda McCune at linda@marketingnw.com