KSTW Layoffs

News from the world of Television

Postby radiofan » Fri Nov 10, 2006 5:49 pm

Friday, November 10, 2006

Longtime Seattle station KSTW's reorganization means layoffs

By MELANIE McFARLAND
P-I TELEVISION CRITIC


KSTW/11's modest share of the ratings pie may make it the fifth station in our area, but it is one of the region's oldest, founded in 1953.

More than half a century and several affiliation switches later, the storied Puget Sound station will have a portion of its operations assumed by CBS Corp.'s duopoly in San Francisco, pink-slipping an unknown portion of KSTW's staff.

"All we're simply doing is reorganizing the station to help give it a better chance down the road," KSTW Vice President and General Manager Trey Fabacher said this week. "This is something a lot of stations have done around the country. It's nothing new in our industry right now."

Fabacher confirmed there would be layoffs but declined specifics, saying the station doesn't discuss personnel issues.

In KSTW's reorganization, some on-air operations will be assumed by staff at San Francisco CW affiliate KBCW-TV and CBS affiliate KPIX-TV by the end of the year. Fabacher stressed the lineup around KSTW's prime-time programming will remain the same.

"There will be no difference at all in the on-air product at our station. That's one of the things through this whole production that we made sure of," he said.

Fabacher calls this practice "hosting." To those familiar with the state of local television these days, his term sounds like a friendlier version of a new trend called hubbing, in which the general operations from smaller television stations -- master control, production, media relations, etc. -- become centralized in a larger affiliate.

The staffs in those outlying offices are then gutted, leaving them essentially with a transmitter and a sales department. NBC affiliates elsewhere have experienced the effects of hubbing.

But the KSTW general manager said there's a difference between that and CBS Corp.'s hosting model. KSTW won't operate with the kind of skeleton crew that hubbing requires. Instead, he said, Seattle's CW station will retain people in its business department, programming, engineering, creative services, sales and the rest. But with their duties being shared by the duopoly, the staff will be scaled back.



"At any moment in time, if we so choose, we can flip a switch and everything can be done out of here," he said.

Oddly, Fabacher reports the station has been meeting or exceeding the goal it set at the CW launch. It successfully reconfigured its syndicated programming schedule. Additionally, Monday night's Seahawks-Oakland Raiders game helped KSTW score a 24 share (i.e. 24 percent of Seattle viewers using TVs were tuned in).

Nationally, The CW isn't wowing the industry. Mediaweek reports double-digit ratings decreases for most of its series. Viewership among its 18-34 target demographic, according to the trade, is up 6 percent from The WB and up 12 from UPN's numbers last season.

"America's Next Top Model" and "Veronica Mars" are the only series that have increased ratings; former WB powerhouse "7th Heaven" is off by 33 percent, and "Gilmore Girls" is down by 22 percent, Mediaweek said.

Another concerning piece of fallout from this hosting business is that it leaves the idea of localism up in the air. About a year ago, under different management, KSTW had plans to return local television to its airwaves, even employing Chris Cashman as the station's talent and giving him the latitude to develop a show, hopefully starting something of a trend. He did that with "Free Time," which airs at 4 p.m. on Sundays with minimal promotion.

Fabacher said the series is still in production but no decision has been made about its future. Cashman replied to interview requests by saying he is unable to comment.

However, Fabacher hinted KSTW has a more ambitious project in the works that will offer more in the way of localism, set to premiere in 2007. "We are going to have the same intent as we had from the beginning of still being a local TV station," he said. "It just may come in some different forms as we go through this process."

The latest chapter in KSTW's 53-year existence probably won't seem like that much of a surprise to people familiar with the trials of local TV. Throughout the industry, newsrooms are cutting back budgets and staffs and network owned-and-operated stations in particular are consolidating operations to stay afloat.

P-I TV critic Melanie McFarland can be reached at 206-448-8015 or tvgal@seattlepi.com.


Seattle TV News from Melanie McFarland in the Seattle P-I
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
User avatar
radiofan
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 13724
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 2:24 pm
Location: Keremeos, BC

Return to On the small screen

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 41 guests