Winning, Waiting, and Watching

* Bottom Line Communications has the winners of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Awards by clicking this link. Among the biggest winners was KMBC, the ABC affiliate in Kansas City.


* Most of the national news media is anxiously waiting to see what happens with Hurricane Ike. It is likely that Hurricane Ike will be the big story of the week. Where will it hit? That is what the networks are waiting on.


* And just a reminder for those of you who have been watching KSPR News @ 5:30. Starting Monday night, ABC World News w/ Charles Gibson moves back to the 5:30 slot. KSPR News will follow after at 6.

Does KMBC Know Something The Rest of Us Do Not?

KMBC is reporting that bumper sticker company Gill Studios has been ordered to make Obama/Bayh products, leading some to wonder if Evan Bayh could be Obama's VP choice. I really think it is unlikely and I personally believe that the leak of the information could be a decoy. If the news turns out to be correct, however, KMBC will have some great bragging rights!

KSHB Debuts New Set

KSHB, the NBC affiliate in Kansas City, debuted their new high definition friendly news set last night. Miss the broadcast? Don't live in the Kansas City market? Check out the link here to see the station's video on the new set.

Bottom Line Communications: KMBC Wins July Sweeps

Kansas City's ABC affiliate KMBC-TV has won the July sweeps, with critical wins in the 6 and 10 p.m. timeslots, according to Bottom Line Communications. To get a full rundown of the ratings for the non-sweeps month of July, check out the report by clicking here.

Chris Nagus Heading East

Bottom Line Communications is reporting that KMBC 9 reporter Chris Nagus is heading from Kansas City across the state to KMOV 4 in St. Louis. He will be joining several Kansas City TV alumni in the process. Nagus' last day in KC will be August 7th. He joined the station in 2005.

Katie's In The Kitchen

A recent edition of the Kansas City Star featured KCTV 5 Chief Meteorologist Katie Horner in a location few rarely see her -- at her home. The article also goes on to discuss her lack of cooking skills (which she leaves to her husband) but apparently she does make one mean strawberry pie. For a look at the article and Katie's strawberry pie recipe, be sure to click here.

Getting to Know... WDAF's Loren Halifax

The local morning newscast has become a staple for many residents across Missouri and the US in recent years. No station has more local news in the morning than Kansas City Fox affiliate WDAF. Recently I had a chance to talk with morning co-anchor Loren Halifax about Fox Mornings, plus a few more personal details...

2K: What is life like behind the scenes at WDAF?

LH: It's fun. We have lots of great, down-to-earth people on staff, who work hard and have a great sense of humor. Most of them are KC natives, or Missouri or Kansas natives, so they know a lot about the area and are here to stay, committed to the community.

2K: Do you feel that having an expanded morning show (5-9) provides FOX 4 with an opportunity to cover things that the other KC stations can't?

LH: Yes, since we are in local news in the later hours, when other channels go to national shows, we are able to get breaking news on the air immediately. We have a special area set up with phones, computers and a camera and microphone, (we call it the Fox 4 News Update Desk) and our staff monitors everything from local news to international news. We can cut to that immediately in order to provide new information right away.

2K: In your years of reporting, what has been your favorite interview/story?

LH: It's hard to choose one. I got the most response - from thousands of people - when I drove a car into a river, and demonstrated how hard it is to get out, how fast flash flooding can sweep the car away, how the car can roll, how fast it sinks (61 seconds), the fastest way to break the window (down in the corner, where the glass is thinnest) what to do if you have children with you (push them out ahead of you, or have them in your arms as you go out the window). Before the story, I had not realized it was such a fear for so many people.

2K: What are some of your interests outside of your job?

LH: My family, pets, working in my garden, working on my house in the Brookside area. I love home repair and remodeling projects. I watch way too much HGTV and DIY.

2K: Any movies you would recommend readers of the blog check out?

LH: My favorite movie so far this summer has been Ironman.

***

My thanks again to Loren for her time. You can watch Loren weekday mornings from 5-7:30 on FOX 4 News alongside co-anchor Mark Alford.

Watch KSHB Build Their New Set -- LIVE

Kansas City's NBC Action News has torn down their old set and will be putting up a new one which should debut the opening night of the Olympics, August 8th. What makes the whole process much more interesting is that KSHB is letting you watch the process unfold live on the web. The new studio will be high-definition friendly.

Click here to watch over the coming days as the set is put together.

KMBC Weather Go Round...

Pete Grigsby, veteran weekend meteorologist at KMBC, has left the station to take a position in the Blue Springs (MO) school district, according to Bottom Line Communications. Now the site is reporting that former KMBC meteorologist Erin Little is heading back to take the weekend job. Erin is a Kansas City metro native... recently she has been working in Denver. Anyone else dizzy yet?

New KCTV Weekend Meteorologist Named

Bottom Line Communications is reporting that Tom Wachs is the new weekend morning meteorologist for KCTV 5. Wachs has quite an interesting story and appears to be very qualified. You can check out more information on him by clicking here.

Which Kansas City Station Has The Best Newscast?

Those of you who voted have chosen KCTV, barely beating out KSHB by one vote. Next was KMBC, followed up by WDAF (Fox 4). Thank you for participating in the most recent poll. I will have a new poll up later today hopefully.

Which Kansas City TV Station Has The Best Newscast?

Sweeps results are out for the month of May in Kansas City and it was a good month for KCTV. They won the noon and 10 pm newcasts. Perennial sweeps winner KMBC 9 was right behind them, winning the 5 and 6 pm newcasts and just falling short at 10. KSHB had a better than expected showing, according to most. Their weakest area continues to be mornings. WDAF's ratings were best in the morning (where they are first). The station is last in every other newcast time. You can find the complete numbers by clicking here.

That leads me to this week's poll question. We've seen May's ratings. Now it is your turn to speak out. Which Kansas City TV station has the best newscast?

Headless Body Found

KCTV is reporting this evening that a headless and handless body (that had been burned as well) has been found in Lafayette County, near Concordia. The complete story can be found by clicking here. KMBC's version can be found here.

Update: FOX 4 is running this as Breaking News on their website. Click here for their more detailed version of the story.

I am not able to find mention of this story on KSHB.

Goodbye To A News 9 Met?

Rumors are swirling that KMBC's weekend meteorologist Peter Grisgby will soon no longer be with the station. Bottom Line Communications and KC Tripod are both covering this story. It would be an interesting move if it isn't his own choice. He has been with the station since 1999. More on this story as more becomes known.

FOX 4 Chief Meteorologist Ties Global Warming To... Hitler?

Wow!

Well, this isn't something you read about every day. Apparently FOX 4 Chief Meterologist Mike Thompson recently went on a rampage concerning global warming. He even went so far as to invoke the name of Adolf Hitler within his recent blog post.

What in the world is going on? I am not even going to wade into this deep water, but Bottom Line Communications has already done so. Here is their story on it.

Who is Kansas City's Funniest Meteorologist?

I informed you last week about a comedy show and contest going on in Kansas City trying to find out the funniest meteorologist in the metro. 4 meteorologists competed: Katie Horner, Carli Ritter, Bryan Busby, and Brett Anthony. So who is Kansas City's funniest meteorologist? You can listen and vote yourself.

Go here to listen and vote. I was pleasantly surprised at the ability of all 4.

Weather Is A Laughing Matter

This weekend Meteorologists Katie Horner, Karli Ritter, Brett Anthony, and Bryan Bussby are guests in a Right Between The Ears comedy show down at the Off Center Theatre in Kansas City. So what will they be doing? Here is the breakdown according to the Kansas City Star:

“ 'They’ll all do the same sketch, but we work up until the last minute on these shows, and that sketch is still evolving,” Brogdon said Monday. “It will involve all the cast members. Right now, we’re playing around with a radio serial thing where the weather person is the focal point. The (weathercaster) would be playing the hero.'

All four sketches will be on the comedy group’s Web site at rightbetweentheears.org by Tuesday. Visitors will vote on which one is the best, and that show will be sent to fill RBTE’s slot on Sirius Satellite Radio and Kansas Public Radio April 12 and 13.”

I will definitely try to upload these later in the week. This should be good!

Movin' On Up...

Former KMBC anchor Jeremy Hubbard is now the new anchor of ABC's overnight news program, World News Now. He began his position on Monday. He has been at a couple of stations since his time at the Kansas City ABC affiliate.

KSHB Reporter Gone

Bottom Line Communications is reporting that KSHB reporter Jennifer Kolbusz violated a station's policy regarding computer usage and was let go. Something tells me that there is more to this story than that...

My $.02: Ozarks FOX in the Morning

This week gave me some time off to watch some local news (imagine that!). One of my first choices was to see what the first attempt from KSFX in the morning had to offer. I have to honestly say that I was somewhat underwhelmed.

First of all, I have to say that there were some things I was anticipating that weren't there. In order to keep a loyal viewership, it must be somewhat entertaining and pleasant to watch. Now, I know what some of you are saying... local news isn't supposed to be entertaining. To some extent, I agree. I am a proponent of hard news. I feel that in-depth investigations and breaking news make or break a newscast, along with reliable weather. In the morning, however, to compete with the Today Show, Good Morning America, and *cough* The Early Show, there has to be some personality.

Rob Evans has that ability, but being a single anchor with limited time with Meteorologist Tom Trtan doesn't provide a viewer a reason to watch Ozarks Fox versus a national program. The news was recycled from KOLR 10 This Morning for the most part and the most compelling reason to watch (the ice storm) was relegated to about :08 into the program. If you are live off the top of the program out in the storm (or at least covering the story while showing Springfield city cameras) then people will stay with you.

If a local news at 7 a.m. is going to work, it MUST heavily emphasize live local information immediately. Otherwise, viewers will just wait for the local news update at 7:25 on the other network shows.

The highlight of the newscast was the live local interview that occurred about :18 or so into the show, but by then I am afraid those who were expecting more of this kind of activity had already turned the channel. The interview that morning was with Barry Hinson and was fascinating to watch. Rob's sports background helped the interview proceed smoothly, but he, as an anchor, is much more comfortable talking with people than reading the news.

I am very excited that the station has decided to have a 7 a.m. newscast. Spending some time in the Kansas City viewing area, I always enjoyed WDAF's 5-9 a.m. news block. They were able to cover traffic in real-time and gave their viewers immediate information that they couldn't get while watching Meredith, Matt, Ann, and Al. Hopefully these changes will come over the coming weeks as the station tweeks the program and finds what works and what doesn't.

Otherwise, Ozarks FOX in the Morning will become an hour of KOLR 10 This Morning repeated on FOX 27.