Like the editorial team and Pete Callaghan at The News Tribune, I too am very, very curious about what KOMO charged CLICK! for carriage. KOMO and CLICK! were locked in a re-transmission fee battle recently and the paper, wisely, is fighting in court to use the public records laws to find out what KOMO charges […]
What a black eye for TV news
August 16, 2013 by
I was watching Conan last night, and was confronted with a “comedy” clip that, while sitting alone, made me uncomfortable to even watch. It’s a string of local news anchors (not “ours” thank goodness) reading the same lead in to the same story across about 20 different markets. What happened here is that one of […]
Sinclair, Gannett & Seattle’s Exceptionalism
July 31, 2013 by
Disclaimer: This blog is pure speculation on my part. I have no inside information or any real insight to the discussions happening “in the room” at the corporate entities of which I speak. I write this to stimulate discussion. I don’t think blogs are very good at telling readers that we’re sometimes just pulling a […]
TV Tornado Chasing Run Amok
June 3, 2013 by
I was sorry to learn three storm chasers were killed in Oklahoma. But let’s face it, we knew this was coming. What’s sad is that those who were killed were among the most scientifically legitimate of the pack of thrill seekers out doing this “job.” Not that we want anybody killed – but the three […]
May Day mayhem
May 2, 2013 by
The Seattle TV stations did a great job covering the May Day “protest.” Seattle has always been blessed with great TV stations. I don’t think the people here know or understand that because their view of the relative strength of TV news operations between markets is limited – of course. Only weirdos who watch three […]
Broadcasters on the air in Boston
April 15, 2013 by
Seems like something we should take for granted. Well, it isn’t. These are the times when infrastructure, a tradition of coming through in a pinch, and decades of investment count. In Boston, the cell phone providers are down, as they are apt to be when big disasters hit. But local TV and radio stations are […]
Sinclair & Aerial Newsgathering
April 11, 2013 by
One of my strengths is creating coherent headlines. So with SBG’s purchase of Fisher, there’s a chance news gathering tools like Air4 could be on the block. I hope not. Let me say it again: I hope not. But if you say that there is NO way to cover this large and geographically challenging market […]
BREAKING NEWS: Fisher Sells
April 11, 2013 by
Baltimore based Sinclair Broadcast Group has entered into an agreement to buy Seattle’s last locally owned major TV station – and the other stations in Fisher’s group. I worked for SBG for 12 years, and some big changes may well be coming to 4th Avenue North. Will dig into this in the not-too-distant future. Deal […]
The Media Monkey as mobile TV guinea pig
April 10, 2013 by
So last week, I promised to do a write up on KOMO’s mobile TV experiment. Better late than never. The first thing I had to do after picking up the Elgato MyDTV kit at KOMO a couple weeks ago was to charge the dongle and download the ap onto my iPhone. The ap is easy […]
Scanner duty and breaking news then and now
February 25, 2013 by
Back in my first TV job, I used to pull “scanner duty” once a week, and then about every fourth or fifth weekend. Scanner duty meant bringing home a station car loaded with gear, and keeping a police and fire scanner at your side overnight.scanner Scanner duty also brought a lot of pressure. Miss a […]
Tracy Vedder slams into the limits of journalism
February 22, 2013 by
I have a great deal of respect for Tracy Vedder. Without her work, we wouldn’t know about the problems with the 520 floating bridge replacement project. She is a proven, award-winning reporter who has done a lot of good – in no small part thanks to the high level of of KOMO’s commitment for living […]
So it will never happen again
October 16, 2012 by
“So it will never happen again.” If I hear that again, there’s a good chance I’ll be taking hostages. News Directors all have their pet annoyances when it comes to writing. Not that I should I ever be daft enough to sink to the level of news director, but if I were, one of my […]
Speculating about Paul Deanno’s departue
August 9, 2012 by
There’s no way to prove this, but just yesterday morning I was watching the KOMO AM news and thinking to myself about the strong talent they have on that show with Paul Deanno and Peggy Bunker – and how it would be hard to keep them happy in their jobs, but how great it would […]
Sorry HBO, there is very little news in a newsroom
July 6, 2012 by
I finally got a chance to see HBO’s The Newsroom. As is the case I’m sure with doctors and police officers who watch programs about their lines of work, I found much of the program laughable. But we’re grown ups here, so there has to be some recognition that the goal of this program isn’t […]
NY Judge: For now, stealing OKAY!
June 12, 2012 by
US District Judge Alison Nathan went to great lengths to protect a company whose entire business model is based on outright theft. It’s not even a gray area – it’s just stealing, and the wrongness of it is hard to believe. This is one of the things that drive me crazy: We are clearly seeing […]
Out of the Box Red(e)ux?
June 8, 2012 by
Subtitle: How one simple shot on a TV news broadcast got my clearly twisted mind thinking about how news is presented. Back in the early 90′s while I was working in Sacramento, KIRO’s “Out of the Box” newsroom experiment came and went in the Seattle market. It was a big deal back then – to […]
