The Following Article Appeared In The July 16, 2007 Issue of BROADCASTING & CABLE MAGAZINE
Twin City Turnabout
Huge sweeps for CBS station narrows the gap
By Michael Malone
Like the Minnesota Twins in the 1991 World Series, a scrappy challenger is poised to grab the crown in the Twin Cities news battle. With increases in share of revenue each year since 2002, CBS-owned WCCO is nipping at the heels of longtime leader KARE.
KARE grabbed the most revenue in 2006, but WCCO had a blockbuster May sweeps, easily winning total-day and primetime ratings and snaring the evening- and late-news titles, too.
Key to WCCO's emergence are interactive news segments, such as Good Question and Reality Check; a 6 p.m. anchor team that recently celebrated its one-year anniversary (and eight-year wedding anniversary); and a renovated downtown facility that invites viewer interaction. “We enlarged the windows to make the studios and newsrooms more open to the community,” says VP/General Manager Susan Adams Loyd.
The market took in $295.8 million in 2006, according to BIA, which forecasts $289.8 million for 2007. Gannett's NBC affiliate KARE won with $82.6 million last year, ahead of WCCO ($75 million), Hubbard ABC outlet KSTP ($54.5 million) and Fox-owned KMSP ($45.8 million). Fox also owns the MyNetworkTV outlet, WFTC, and Sinclair has The CW station WUCW.
WCCO, meanwhile, is considering spinning off news segments into standalone shows. Good Question, featuring viewer questions answered both by people on the street and by experts, will jump from a feature within a newscast to a half-hour special later this month and perhaps to a regular program. Says Loyd, “We're absolutely focused on developing local content beyond local news.”
The anchors on WCCO's 6 p.m. news have rapport in spades.
That's because Amelia Santaniello and Frank Vascellaro have been married for eight years. They started dating when he was anchoring at KARE, and have shared the WCCO desk for the past year.
Santaniello says the on-air partnership has made their marriage stronger, but she admits it has been an adjustment: “I had to make sure I wasn't bringing my work home and bringing my home to work.”
Vascellaro says they've learned to resolve things quickly: “We're forced to communicate more, like, 'Let's resolve this before 5:59 so 500,000 people don't see us fight.'”
Viewers love lovers: Their newscast topped all others in May 2007 with an 8.8 rating/20 share.
The News You Want;
The News You Need;
Reported By People
You Trust
The following article appeared in the July 28, 2006 edition of the Minneapolis-Star Tribune:
"KARE, Channel 11, saw its 10 p.m. news ratings sink into the single digits during the Julie Nielsen household ratings period for the first time in recent memory.
KARE fell to a 9.5 rating and an 18 percent audience share. It was clobbered by WCCO, Channel 4, which posted a 12.6 rating -- the percentage of all households with TV sets -- and a 24 percent share of the audience actually viewing at that hour.
WCCO's 6 p.m. news, featuring the new husband-and-wife team of Amelia Santaniello and former KARE anchor Frank Vascellaro, also got a nice boost. In May that newscast had an 8.9 rating and a 20 share, which improved to 9.2 and 22 in July.
KMSP, Channel 9, saw its 9 p.m. news ratings rise 13 percent over last July, to 7.9 and a 15 percent audience share. KSTP, Channel 5, suffered a drop at 10 p.m., with a 5.6 rating and 11 percent share.
WCCO is now rated No. 1 in all its local newscasts, with the exception of the morning news, where KARE still edges out a victory."
Told 'ya !! And to think I never started watching WCCO TV until June 29th. Must be allot of other people out there just like me !
The News YOU Want, The News YOU Need; Reported By People YOU Trust !
When You Refinance Your Home With An Unscrupulous Mortgage Originator And The
MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, TheMINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, TheFEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, TheFLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, TheMINNESOTA BETTER BUSINESS BUREAUAnd All Those Other State & Federal Agencies Designed To Protect The Consumer
BANKS 'MANIPULATE THE PROCESS' CAUSING CONSUMERS TO PAY MORE OVERDRAFT FEES THAN NECESSARY WITHOUT WARNING!
According to a report just released by the Center For Responsible Lending, overdraft fee practices banks use are so abusive that they"Now must be counted among the insidious predatory lending practices that take money from American Families."
According to an article in the May 27, 2007 edition of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, two
Minneapolis City Council members and a state senator were sitting outside in downtown
Minneapolis recently when a man walked up and asked for a dollar. All three politely
declined. The panhandler turned to one of the City Council members, Roy Remington
and went into a profanity tirade.
"Man, I wanted to rip his head off," recalled Remington.
Is this REALLY how a City Council member should react in
a such a situation? I think not. It sends a very, make that
a VERY poor example for, and sends the wrong message
to, the young kids and teenagers that are growing up
in 'troubled' Minneapolis. Trying to conquer violence with
more violence is wrong and simply doesn't work.
What would have been the more appropriate thing for the three politicians to do would be to (any of them) have made a phone call (just about everyone carries a cell phone nowadays) to 9-1-1, identify themselves, give their location, describe what is taking place and request that a Police car respond to their location.
Can you possibly imagine the chaos that our society would experience if everybody felt, and responded, as Remington did? THAT is frightful !!
Toward the 'end' of his tenure as Minneapolis' Police Chief, Bill McManus suggested that a way to deal with the 'panhandler situation' would be to license them. But nobody ever gave his 'concept' any serious consideration.
Now, according to the Star-Tribune headline, 'Minneapolis wants to get tough with panhandlers'. They should have listened to former Chief McManus when he was in charge of dealing with crime in Minneapolis.
Not that there's anything wrong with how current Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan is doing his job. But how would YOU like to work for someone who has Remington's attitude (and mentality)??
This Website Is
NOT
You CAN'T Have It Your Way. You'll Have It MY Way Or You WON'T
Have It At All !!
"Man, I wanted to rip his head off."
Minneapolis
10th Ward Councilmember
Ralph Remington
I called WASTE MANAGEMENT on May 7, 2007 and ordered their garbage service for our new home. They stated they would drop off the trash & recycling containers the next day. They never did. When I called two days later to inquire where they were, I was told that they had been delivered. They had not.
The person that I spoke with didn't seem to care one bit what happened to them. They finally showed up ONE WEEK LATER. But, our first garbage pickup wasn't done because we didn't have any of their containers.
Also, when I ordered our new phone service from EMBARQ, they gave us an old telephone number (952) 467-2999 that was formerly used by WASTE MANAGEMENT. Judging from the number of calls I received from customers calling their old number, I'm not the only person who's NOT IMPRESSED with their 'Customer Service' !
Needless to say, it was quite 'the experience' driving up and down the streets and alleys of our new town seeing our new, private, unlisted telephone number plastered on every garbage can in town !!
