Colorado Media Newsroom
May 12th, 2013, 06:19 PM
From The Denver Post:
158
The 7News " Morning Show" team gathers at the main stage desk as the program closes for the day.
You'd think, in the age of smart mobile devices, that the idea of watching television to check the weather would be outmoded.
Morning TV: Isn't there an app for that?
Yet despite shrinking audiences and plentiful media alternatives, the battle over local morning TV advertising revenue is fierce. In Denver, the No. 18 TV market, the wake-up shows are fighting for a share of an annual jackpot of $50 million-$52 million in morning TV ad revenue. Mornings are second only to evening news in terms of ad billings.
The result is a more competitive morning-TV race than ever, with new faces and strategies in place.
Chaos on the network level is reflected locally: Savannah Guthrie in for Ann Curry on "Today," Matt Lauer
159
KCNC morning anchor Britt Moreno talks with producer Raetta Holdman.
succession rumors rife, "Good Morning America" rising, Charlie Rose keeping faith with the harder-news crowd and, in Denver, 7News inching up on 9News, which used to be unimaginable.
7News managers assert the uptick in their numbers is not simply due to the rise of "GMA." They say audience researchers have been showing 7News tapes to news directors nationally as an example of a new style.
"We've dropped the morning TV conventions of coffee, chat and giggles," said 7News boss Jeff Harris. The emphasis is on what's happening "right now."
"If it weren't for the weather in February, we'd have been No. 1 in total audience," 7Harris claims. Snowstorms bring non-regular viewers to the TV, benefitting what Harris calls the "legacy" station, longtime market leader 9News.
"Last time I checked, we weren't losing," 9News boss Mark Cornetta said.
CBS4 can also cite positive momentum, helped along by the addition of a bright and shiny new anchor, Britt Moreno.
With all the changes, viewers may be up for grabs.
The Denver morning TV audience is "a real moving target right now," said Fox31 and CW2 chief Peter Marone. "There has been a lot of sampling going on for six months." Some of that is related to the "Today" implosion, he believes, some to changing content.
9News disputes that claim. "Most of the morning viewers have made their choices and that's where they stay," 9News boss Patti Dennis retorts. "We're back on a 2-to-1 margin" versus much of the competition.
The good news is that news staffs are growing following years of cuts.
Traffic and weather remain the building blocks of local TV morning shows, which are tightly scripted engines of roughly one-fifth of the station's overall advertising revenue, researched to within an inch of their over-caffeinated lives.
So, why do people turn to morning TV when an app or website would do? Viewers seek "validation from an expert and ease of consumption," 9News' Dennis says. She hears from viewers that they don't believe school-closing announcements until they hear it on 9News. "It's about authentication."
Studying viewer habits
Stations regularly pay consultants and coaches to analyze staffers' speaking style, along with the visual feel, musical segues and psychological impact of the arrows, dots or lines on a metro Denver map. Voluminous research proves morning TV is mostly listened to, like all-news radio but with hairdos.
The accelerated pace and the promise of instant information is emphasized more than ever. From there, it's a matter of style and tone.
160
New KDVR morning-show hosts Brooke Wagner and Kirk Yuhnke in the FOX 31 newsroom.
Do you prefer the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" style of video clips from accidents/weirdness around the world? Or is a Denver angle on every story appealing, no matter how strained the connection?
Harris, news director at 7News, says 10 seconds of visually exciting accident video that has nothing to do with Colorado may be OK, but 30 seconds' worth may veer into irrelevance. (Or titillation?)
One long-held theory says inertia keeps morning viewers on the same channel where they left off the night before with Kimmel, Letterman or Leno. Locally, the Leno-Fallon late-night NBC lineup wins easily.
7News' Harris doesn't buy the inertia angle. "We're not talking to dummies out there," he said.
The Denver station managers have studied your habits and think they know how to win you over. They're fighting for tenths of a rating point, sometimes one-hundredths of a point, with the winner able to charge a premium to advertisers.
And advertisers pay extra to reach the morning audience, because people are assumed to be watching live and not via DVR where they could fast-forward through commercials.
In this battle, every annoying tic, bad color combination, anxious graphic or blast of music counts.
KCNC
After disastrous morning ratings last year (ranking fifth out of five contenders), CBS4 awoke to the idea that it needed shaking up. A new, younger anchor might turn things around. The idea sounded silly until Britt Moreno showed up, still early in her career from Phoenix — great energy, great-looking, youthful, and she can read. Ratings suggest the viewers have noticed.
Point of pride: Moreno may be just the Botox the station needed.
KDVR
Fans of Brooke Wagner were vocal in their disapproval of CBS4 dumping her from the morning anchor gig, and cheered Fox31's hiring of the veteran. Wagner's now paired with Kirk Yuhnke, another refugee from the Phoenix TV market, and the two are a comfortable if unexciting presence. Ratings haven't sparked, to put it mildly. Bosses say they're in "rebuilding mode."
Point of pride: You miss Brooke? They've got her.
KMGH
7News demonstrated tremendous growth in the morning in the last ratings sweeps, overtaking 9News at 4:30-5:30 a.m. in November 2012, and now the station's format is being mimicked elsewhere. Co-anchors Ana Cabrera and Mitch Jelniker smoothly interact on the newsroom set. Two weather reporters, one focused on micro-forecasts by neighborhood, helped spark a trend. Reporters seem required to say "right now" at least a couple of times per live shot. Graphics, too, scream "right now!" Even when nothing much is occurring, it's occurring in real time.
Point of pride: Proficient. Immediate. Like, right now.
KUSA
How many meteorologists does it take to tell you whether it's going to be a wet day? 9News believes in piling on the talent. This month Danielle Grant joins KUSA, bringing the station's ranks of weathercasters to a total of six. Grant, previously at KREM in Spokane, Wash., will work mornings with Becky Ditchfield. A reporter, Colleen Ferreira, joins the staff from South Bend, Ind., soon. "We still have the largest ensemble cast of experts," Dennis said. The legacy station is friendly and familiar, still the go-to choice when the weather packs a punch.
Point of pride: a deep bench for weather, weather, weather.
KWGN
The anchor team of Tom Green and Natalie Tysdal has been a strong morning contender for years, but Tysdal will leave at the end of the month. Station manager Peter Marone says the station is still "auditioning internal and external candidates" to pair with Green. The regularly intelligent interviews, lack of inane patter and authentically Colorado feel have given this entry an edge. Now what?
Point of pride: Green is great but Tysdal will be missed.
161
more (http://www.denverpost.com/television/ci_23210819/britt-moreno-brooke-wagner-tom-green-and-denvers)
158
The 7News " Morning Show" team gathers at the main stage desk as the program closes for the day.
You'd think, in the age of smart mobile devices, that the idea of watching television to check the weather would be outmoded.
Morning TV: Isn't there an app for that?
Yet despite shrinking audiences and plentiful media alternatives, the battle over local morning TV advertising revenue is fierce. In Denver, the No. 18 TV market, the wake-up shows are fighting for a share of an annual jackpot of $50 million-$52 million in morning TV ad revenue. Mornings are second only to evening news in terms of ad billings.
The result is a more competitive morning-TV race than ever, with new faces and strategies in place.
Chaos on the network level is reflected locally: Savannah Guthrie in for Ann Curry on "Today," Matt Lauer
159
KCNC morning anchor Britt Moreno talks with producer Raetta Holdman.
succession rumors rife, "Good Morning America" rising, Charlie Rose keeping faith with the harder-news crowd and, in Denver, 7News inching up on 9News, which used to be unimaginable.
7News managers assert the uptick in their numbers is not simply due to the rise of "GMA." They say audience researchers have been showing 7News tapes to news directors nationally as an example of a new style.
"We've dropped the morning TV conventions of coffee, chat and giggles," said 7News boss Jeff Harris. The emphasis is on what's happening "right now."
"If it weren't for the weather in February, we'd have been No. 1 in total audience," 7Harris claims. Snowstorms bring non-regular viewers to the TV, benefitting what Harris calls the "legacy" station, longtime market leader 9News.
"Last time I checked, we weren't losing," 9News boss Mark Cornetta said.
CBS4 can also cite positive momentum, helped along by the addition of a bright and shiny new anchor, Britt Moreno.
With all the changes, viewers may be up for grabs.
The Denver morning TV audience is "a real moving target right now," said Fox31 and CW2 chief Peter Marone. "There has been a lot of sampling going on for six months." Some of that is related to the "Today" implosion, he believes, some to changing content.
9News disputes that claim. "Most of the morning viewers have made their choices and that's where they stay," 9News boss Patti Dennis retorts. "We're back on a 2-to-1 margin" versus much of the competition.
The good news is that news staffs are growing following years of cuts.
Traffic and weather remain the building blocks of local TV morning shows, which are tightly scripted engines of roughly one-fifth of the station's overall advertising revenue, researched to within an inch of their over-caffeinated lives.
So, why do people turn to morning TV when an app or website would do? Viewers seek "validation from an expert and ease of consumption," 9News' Dennis says. She hears from viewers that they don't believe school-closing announcements until they hear it on 9News. "It's about authentication."
Studying viewer habits
Stations regularly pay consultants and coaches to analyze staffers' speaking style, along with the visual feel, musical segues and psychological impact of the arrows, dots or lines on a metro Denver map. Voluminous research proves morning TV is mostly listened to, like all-news radio but with hairdos.
The accelerated pace and the promise of instant information is emphasized more than ever. From there, it's a matter of style and tone.
160
New KDVR morning-show hosts Brooke Wagner and Kirk Yuhnke in the FOX 31 newsroom.
Do you prefer the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" style of video clips from accidents/weirdness around the world? Or is a Denver angle on every story appealing, no matter how strained the connection?
Harris, news director at 7News, says 10 seconds of visually exciting accident video that has nothing to do with Colorado may be OK, but 30 seconds' worth may veer into irrelevance. (Or titillation?)
One long-held theory says inertia keeps morning viewers on the same channel where they left off the night before with Kimmel, Letterman or Leno. Locally, the Leno-Fallon late-night NBC lineup wins easily.
7News' Harris doesn't buy the inertia angle. "We're not talking to dummies out there," he said.
The Denver station managers have studied your habits and think they know how to win you over. They're fighting for tenths of a rating point, sometimes one-hundredths of a point, with the winner able to charge a premium to advertisers.
And advertisers pay extra to reach the morning audience, because people are assumed to be watching live and not via DVR where they could fast-forward through commercials.
In this battle, every annoying tic, bad color combination, anxious graphic or blast of music counts.
KCNC
After disastrous morning ratings last year (ranking fifth out of five contenders), CBS4 awoke to the idea that it needed shaking up. A new, younger anchor might turn things around. The idea sounded silly until Britt Moreno showed up, still early in her career from Phoenix — great energy, great-looking, youthful, and she can read. Ratings suggest the viewers have noticed.
Point of pride: Moreno may be just the Botox the station needed.
KDVR
Fans of Brooke Wagner were vocal in their disapproval of CBS4 dumping her from the morning anchor gig, and cheered Fox31's hiring of the veteran. Wagner's now paired with Kirk Yuhnke, another refugee from the Phoenix TV market, and the two are a comfortable if unexciting presence. Ratings haven't sparked, to put it mildly. Bosses say they're in "rebuilding mode."
Point of pride: You miss Brooke? They've got her.
KMGH
7News demonstrated tremendous growth in the morning in the last ratings sweeps, overtaking 9News at 4:30-5:30 a.m. in November 2012, and now the station's format is being mimicked elsewhere. Co-anchors Ana Cabrera and Mitch Jelniker smoothly interact on the newsroom set. Two weather reporters, one focused on micro-forecasts by neighborhood, helped spark a trend. Reporters seem required to say "right now" at least a couple of times per live shot. Graphics, too, scream "right now!" Even when nothing much is occurring, it's occurring in real time.
Point of pride: Proficient. Immediate. Like, right now.
KUSA
How many meteorologists does it take to tell you whether it's going to be a wet day? 9News believes in piling on the talent. This month Danielle Grant joins KUSA, bringing the station's ranks of weathercasters to a total of six. Grant, previously at KREM in Spokane, Wash., will work mornings with Becky Ditchfield. A reporter, Colleen Ferreira, joins the staff from South Bend, Ind., soon. "We still have the largest ensemble cast of experts," Dennis said. The legacy station is friendly and familiar, still the go-to choice when the weather packs a punch.
Point of pride: a deep bench for weather, weather, weather.
KWGN
The anchor team of Tom Green and Natalie Tysdal has been a strong morning contender for years, but Tysdal will leave at the end of the month. Station manager Peter Marone says the station is still "auditioning internal and external candidates" to pair with Green. The regularly intelligent interviews, lack of inane patter and authentically Colorado feel have given this entry an edge. Now what?
Point of pride: Green is great but Tysdal will be missed.
161
more (http://www.denverpost.com/television/ci_23210819/britt-moreno-brooke-wagner-tom-green-and-denvers)