There might not be anything more important than the chemistry on the morning team on local TV. Early on viewers seem to detect whether the media talent “clicks” and whether they will follow them—almost religiously—every morning. Or not…
In Kansas City most viewers now turn to KMBC or WDAF-Fox 4 when they wake up in the morning. KMBC’s “FirstNews,” anchored by veteran Kris Ketz along with Donna Pitman, Joel Nichols, Johnny Rowlands and Diane Cho seems to have found the secret to providing news while also making viewers feel comfortable watching them.
Fox 4, which used to be the morning ratings leader and is now a close second to KMBC, seems to have found success with a looser format where the morning team genuinely seems to like each other.
Fox 4 anchors Mark Alford and Loren Halifax play off each other and often toss in Nick Vasos and Al Wallace to add to the fun. The suicide of beloved meteorologist Don Harman last November was a devastating blow to the team, but viewers seem to have pretty much remained loyal. In fact, KMBC and Fox 4 are in a torrid battle at the 6 a.m. hour with just a few days left in the sweeps period to determine the winner.
The morning team at KSHB seems to be trying to find its niche. Morning anchor Christa Dubill landed the prestigious 10 p.m. co-anchor slot a few months ago at the NBC affiliate, and Curtis Jay and JiaoJiao Shen and meteorologist Brett Anthony are trying to develop an audience.
But the real story in morning TV in Kansas City involves the dramatic fall of KCTV to the bottom of the ratings heap. How bad is it?
On Wednesday (5/16) at 6:45 .m.-considered the most important quarter hour of the morning-here were the ratings/share in Kansas City: KMBC 5.5/19; WDAF 4.1/14; KSHB 2.8/10; KCTV 0.6/2. KCTV had a rating less than 1%.
Keep in mind, this is the all-important May TV sweeps period where ratings determine the advertising rates for the station.
Soon after the arrival of a new general manager at KCTV in 2010 it was announced that the popular morning team of Chris Pisano and Dana Wright was being eliminated. Pisano was unceremoniously let go and let it be known he was not pleased, He did mornings in Indianapolis for a period and now is reportedly living in Atlanta.
Wright became an investigative reporter at KCTV and won numerous awards. However, she left the CBS affiliate to do an afternoon radio talk show on KMBZ (980AM/98.1FM). She is part of the Dana and Parks “Radioactive” show weekdays from 2 -6 p.m.
Kelly Jones was brought in from San Diego to replace Wright while Pisano was replaced by KCTV reporter Greg Adaline. The pairing did not seem to work with viewers, and in a matter of months, Adaline was shown the door and replaced by Matt Stewart.
KCTV recently announced that Jones was going to be given her own lifestyle show starting in the fall. She will be replaced by Alexis Del Cid, who has been a morning anchor at Portland’s KOIN the past eight years. Del Cid will come on board at KCTV in August.
Only time will tell if KCTV will be able to right the ship in the morning. It will be a challenge to get viewers to change their habits.
Stay tuned…