TV market consolidates further with Tribune deal

Less than three weeks after Gannett announced a $2.2 billion acquisition of Belo, the Tribune Co. this morning agreed to buy 19 stations for about $2.7 billion, making it one of the nation’s biggest owners of commercial local TV outlets amid a groundswell of consolidation in the industry.

The stations are in 16 regions, including Denver, Cleveland and St. Louis, and many of their local news broadcasts are ranked first or second in their markets, according to The New York Times. They will complement Tribune’s 23 existing stations and its WGN America cable channel. Tribune is buying the stations from Local TV Holdings, a company owned by the investment firm Oak Hill Capital Partners.

The deal ratchets up the competition with GCI, because four of the stations are in markets where GCI also owns stations: Denver; Cleveland; Greensboro, S.C., and St. Louis. In a fifth market, Des Moines, GCI owns a newspaper.

GCI's Belo deal covers 20 stations, five of which are being spun off to a new third company; GCI will provide advertising sales and other services to those five under a contract. Including all 20, GCI would nearly double its station ownership to 43. The $2.2 billion price includes assumption of $700 million in debt.

Here's Tribune's press release describing the deal. And here's a list of the stations Tribune is buying.

KARE, KUSA and WTSP win Murrow awards

The three stations collected a combined five national Edward R. Murrow awards, Corporate said today. The awards, named after the groundbreaking TV journalist, honor outstanding achievements in electronic journalism since 1971 and are sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association.

Fort Collins | Talk about real-time tweeting . . .

I'm free! twitter.com/robertallenCO/…
— Robert Allen (@robertallenCO) May 7, 2013

Robert Allen, breaking news reporter for the Fort Collins Coloradoan, not only tweeted for help after being trapped in a courthouse elevator for 20 minutes yesterday -- he also captured a photo of his rescuers as they arrived.

Gannett's KUSA-TV in Denver later interviewed a somewhat amused Allen about the experience. "I wasn't worried," he told the station. "That's why I got on Twitter, because I had a feeling that somewhere, somebody out there cared that Robert Allen was stuck."

Allen was at the courthouse to cover a story about a Loveland man accused of conspiring with his girlfriend to rob a pedophile and kidnap his daughter.

The Coloradoan's Monday-Saturday circulation is 19,912, and Sunday is 25,119, according to the March 31 AAM report.

USAT | In battle for readers, will a national news audience buy Gannett's 'hometown advantage'?

Let me first quote two key paragraphs from Alan Mutter's excellent new analysis of the challenges USA Today still confronts after redesigning its website and print edition:

"As USA Today commences its fourth decade, there is reason to wonder if its business model will be viable for another 30 years, given that it has lost its utility to its primary targets: business travelers and the advertisers seeking to reach them. Further, nearly two-thirds of its coast-to-coast circulation is built on free copies distributed by hotels and other businesses, meaning that barely more than a third of its readers actually think enough of the paper to pay for it."

And:

"Coinciding with its birthday, USAT put its web and mobile offerings in new and appealing Zite-lite packages. The actual content contained in those new packages, however, consists of a thin mix of aggregated and featherweight articles that seem to have been chosen more for their pageview-generating potential than for their journalistic significance. The result is that the aggregation is less complete than you get at The Huffington Post, less illuminating than you get at Real Clear Politics, less stimulating than you get at Drudge Report and less newzy, breezy and sleazy than you can get at TMZ."

Getting what they pay for
Piggybacking on Mutter's argument, I've tried to focus more discussion on the paper's competitively weak editorial content over its shiny new look. One measure of that weakness: USAT is (I believe) the only Gannett daily (other than Detroit) that's not erecting a paywall. Why?

The answer appears to be management doesn't think readers are willing to pay for the content USAT so far is delivering. Publisher Larry Kramer has promised some editorial improvements, but none of them sound like the sort of sweeping changes that will make USAT really stand out in a very crowded market.

Callaway

Its exclusive niche is of dubious value: news and video from Gannett's 81 U.S. community dailies, 23 TV stations, and specialty publications like Army Times. In his column introducing USAT's redesign, new top editor David Callaway wrote about the value of Gannett's companywide "5,000" journalists -- a figure I still find of curious origin.

"That's a reporting army, Callaway says, "almost twice the size of what is now Thomson Reuters, which has traditionally billed itself as the world's largest news organization."

The national news desk
Then Callaway inserts an important caveat: "Numbers aren't enough: The trick is to make them work together."

This is where the still developing national news desk comes into play. Callaway calls it "a hub-and-spoke news desk where the senior editors from news departments such as video, graphics, breaking news, and enterprise will work together and across platforms to deliver national news, charts and visuals to every local Gannett paper and TV station across the country."

In other words, it's back to the future: Gannett News Service, which became ContentOne, which then became Gannett News Network after founder Tara Connell's retirement in May 2011.

The national desk may benefit the community dailies and TV stations, but how will it strengthen USAT's hand? Callaway writes: "We'll use the best of what is coming from Gannett papers such as the Detroit Free Press, the Louisville Courier-Journal, and KUSA-TV in Denver, the top-rated TV station in the country, to leverage their scoops and unique reporting across all of our media."

Look: I love the dailies and stations. And the larger ones, including my alma mater in Kentucky's Louisville, do incredible good work -- with community news. Collectively, they are Gannett's "hometown advantage," as CEO Gracia Martore reminded Wall Street media stock analysts at a conference in June.

Dateline: Lafayette, La.
But do USAT's readers really want local-local news from Fort Myers, Fla.; Portland, Maine; Great Falls, Mont., or Lafayette, La.? Is that really the sort of aggregation that will power USAT's much-needed competitive edge for its next 30 years?

We're now going to find out. I'll close with Mutter: "Even though there’s still a bit of time for Kramer to determine how to leverage the waning power of the print brand in the digital world, there can be no doubt that my esteemed friend knows there is little time to waste."

Related: Newspaper design blogger Charles Apple's super-detailed critique of a super-big Page One graphic.

3 stations are tops in Olympics in key adult demo

They are KUSA in Denver, KARE in Minneapolis and WXIA in Atlanta -- the top-rated NBC affiliates for the Olympics now underway among the key advertising demographic of adults 25-54 during prime time, according to a just-issued Corporate statement. What's more, KUSA is the No. 1 rated NBC station and is averaging a 51 share in prime time.

KUSA | Witness: 'Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming'

That's an Associated Press story quote attributed to KUSA in Denver, where one of Gannett's biggest stations has been thrown into a major news development: 14 dead and dozens wounded in a movie theater shooting early this morning in nearby Aurora.

[Updated at 7:53 a.m. ET.] The New York Times is now the first national daily to publish a staff-written story. USA Today is still carrying the AP, with a link to KUSA's coverage. But it's providing updates on its breaking news blog. The Wall Street Journal also is using AP. It, too, is publishing updates on a stream.

A recent screenshot from the NBC affiliate's homepage:

This story will be a major test for USAT under Publisher Larry Kramer, who has called for even speedier news coverage and more collaboration with other GCI properties. His just-named editor, David Callaway, will be watching closely -- if not actively involved.

GCI's other Colorado media site is the Fort Collins Coloradoan, 70 miles north of Denver.

Related: Columbine, Colo., scene of the 1999 high school massacre of 12 students and one teacher, is 15 miles southwest of Denver.

KUSA | Fake Olympics logo shown spells 'sh-t'

It happened during a broadcast yesterday morning at the NBC affiliate in Denver.

Earlier: Here's the famous "f-ck" photo in The Cincinnati Enquirier.

Freep, two stations win four Murrow awards

Two TV stations and the Detroit Free Press won a combined four prestigious Edward R. Murrow awards in the 2012 national competition sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association.

The winners, according to a Corporate news release:

• Detroit Free Press – Online News Operation for the category of local/video news documentary ("Living With Murder")
• KARE in Minneapolis-St. Paul for the category large market/video reporting: hard news ("Dramatic Rise in Homeless Teens"), and large market/writing (Boyd Huppert)
• KUSA in Denver for large market/video feature reporting ("Adde’s Lesson")

KUSA | On the bright side, we have this rhyme

"Now her hip and her lip are much better, and she'll return to the show Monday morning."

-- Denver's KUSA, in a story today announcing anchor Kyle Dyer is returning to work after receiving 70 stitches to her upper lip, lower lip and nose, following a severe dog bite received during a live on-air segment. Dyer also had "previously scheduled surgery on her hip."

KUSA | 'Learning' by reading the competition?

[Updated at 9:33 p.m. ET.] I found this video on USA Today's sports page. Was it produced by Denver's KUSA? Shouldn't there be an on-screen credit to advance the Gannett tie-in?



Earlier: The Denver NBC affiliate, one of Gannett's most highly-rated stations, is now carrying a story on its website that says:

Manning

"9NEWS has learned Peyton Manning is negotiating with the Denver Broncos. Citing anonymous sources, ESPN said that the four-time MVP has instructed agent Tom Condon to negotiate the details of a deal with Denver. Manning became a free agent when the Indianapolis Colts released him March 7 after the quarterback missed all of last season because of multiple neck surgeries."

Unless I'm missing something, wouldn't this be like USA Today telling readers that it had learned something by reading The New York Times?

Meanwhile, ESPN is already reporting that "Manning will become the next quarterback of the Denver Broncos, barring a snag during intensified contract negotiations." 

KUSA | After dog bite, a war of words in Denver

"The other stations are wimps. They caved in to pressure from KUSA." 

-- Ed Kosowski, news director of rival station KDVR in Denver, on the Fox affiliate's decision to air footage of a KUSA anchor getting severely bit by a dog during a live newscast, according to a TVSpy report today. The anchor, Kyle Dyer, is recovering from reconstructive surgery. KUSA had urged local media to not air the footage, to avoid further traumatizing the Gannett station's staff.

KUSA | Anchor recovering from on-air dog bite

[Screenshot of YouTube video viewed more than 4 million times]

KUSA anchor Kyle Dyer is recovering from reconstructive surgery after a dog bit her severely on the face during a live broadcast last week -- one prompting the Denver station to ask all other local media to keep video of the incident off the air and the Web.

Dyer

Dyer received 70 stitches to her upper lip, lower lip and nose, according to an account she posted to her Facebook page over the weekend. She's expected to undergo more treatment in the weeks ahead, TVSpy said yesterday.

The dog, an 85-pound Argentine Mastiff, had been saved after falling through ice on a pond, a dramatic rescue captured by KUSA's news helicopter. He bit Dyer Wednesday on the set during an on-air appearance at the NBC affiliate that morning.

News director Patti Dennis contacted every other Denver station, TVSpy says, "imploring them not to air footage of the bite." She said its airing would be traumatic to the station's staff. However, at least one, Fox affiliate KDVR, carried the video despite Dennis's request.

In an interview with KDVR, the dog's owner complained that a local shelter has been keeping the animal quarantined for rabies signs longer than necessary because of the high-profile nature of the case.

"Wheels are turning in the background that we don`t see,'' Michael Robinson told the station in a segment posted online today.

Related: Here's a YouTube version of dog-bite video.

Earlier: In Cleveland, WKYC news director limits use of 9/11 Twin Towers video.

Report: Gannett shutters Metromix in 7 markets

[Updated at 7:55 p.m. ET with a revised Denver Post story clarifying that Metromix is closing in seven markets, not nationwide, as the paper originally reported.] This is from the Post's revised account:

Gannett pulled the plug on Metromix in seven markets including Denver Thursday.

"The decision was made because the business model did not prove to be effective in broadcast," the company said in a statement. "We are appreciative of the employees who worked on the Broadcasting Metromix sites and have been able to offer eight employees positions within Broadcasting's operations."

The three fulltime staffers at the Denver entertainment site Metromix were informed of the decision by KUSA President and General Manager Mark Cornetta.

The original post: Gannett pulled the plug on its national entertainment websites Metromix today. The three fulltime staffers at the Denver Metromix were informed of the decision by KUSA President and General Manager Mark Cornetta.

Media giants Gannett and Tribune Co. announced a partnership in October 2007 to create a cluster of entertainment websites called Metromix, aimed at 21-to-34 year-olds and designed to carry national and local advertising. The sites were essentially listings of local bars and restaurants, originated by the Chicago Tribune. The goal was to launch in the nation's top 30 markets, starting in those where Gannett publishes papers or owns TV stations.

Today's closing comes as GCI moves to focus on more promising digital ventures. Two months ago, the company shut down its once-popular Moms Like Me network aimed at women consumers.

Only yesterday, Chief Digital Officer David Payne told a Wall Street analyst conference that GCI was now triaging digital projects, focusing on those that are worthy of additional investment.

Here's my ulitimate marketing solutions gift guide

Merry Amexmas, everyone!

There's no better time for advertisers to flex their collective muscle in the news media marketing solutions industry than the Christmas holiday shopping lollapalooza known as Black Friday, Super Saturday, Cyber Monday and all the other merchandising buzzworthy days.

This year is no exception, with much credit presumably due to Maryam Banikarim, Gannett's editor in chief chief marketing officer and newly minted mindful messenger.

Today and throughout this weekend, for example, newspapers and TV stations have become product placement whor warehouses for American Express, the credit card giant co-sponsoring Small Business Saturday. That's an event aimed at driving consumers toward small retailers generally and American Express merchants in particular.

Under a company-wide plan orchestrated by a department assigned to Banikarim, GCI sites in 15 markets are expected this month to showcase a combined 150 retailers that all accept Amex cards. And readers aren't being told about the Amex tie-in.

Here's a small sample of what I found today across the company's network:

Greenville, S.C., is publishing an "Ulitimate Gift Guide" on its homepage, a rotating carousel featuring 31 things to buy, each paid for "brought to you" by the very merchants selling the very products and services. (Example.) Editorial or advertising? You decide!

Denver offers a video interview with two retailers that prominently mentions American Express. We wouldn't be surprised if those two merchants accept Amex cards. 

Des Moines has a marketing solutions two-fer on its homepage: links to its Shopping Main Street page and the Cold & Flu page paid for by "sponsored by" Swiss over-the-counter medicinal maker Similisan. (Screenshot, left.)

Everyone seems to have that same Shopping Main Street page. (Here's Cincinnati's.) The journalism-lite page incorporates local versions of the Amex merchant profiles, plus maps locating those merchants; an embedded shop local Twitter feed; and a promotion disguised as a story for Amex' Small Business Saturday special rebate deal solely for credit card holders.

Marketing | By the numbers: Who likes who

Gannett Blog has just joined these media outlets with a fan page, at facebook.com/gannettblog. I sure would appreciate your "likes."

1. The New York Times: 1,512,015 total likes
2. The Wall Street Journal: 338,856
3. The Washington Post: 204,695
4. USA Today: 68,555
5. azcentral.com: 33,241
6. KUSA-TV: 24,878
7. Detroit Free Press: 13,483
8. PointRoll: 902
9. Gannett Digital: 275
10. Gannett Blog: 100

Note: Current Gannett employees concerned about being outed as one of my fans will want to proceed cautiously.

Three TV stations win total five Murrow awards

WGRZ in Buffalo, N.Y., won the overall excellence award in the small market category of the national Edward R. Murrow awards, sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association.

The Buffalo station also won for video continuing coverage, and for video reporting: hard news.

KUSA in Denver won for video sports reporting, according to a statement from Corporate. And KARE in Minneapolis-St. Paul won for writing.

Broadcasting, Phoenix lead top employee awards

Corporate just announced that Mark Cornetta, president and general manager of KUSA/KTVD-TV in Denver, has been named Manager of the Year for 2010.

Finalists for that No. 1 honor in the annual employee awards program were Darren Bruce, Newsquest Magazine publisher; and John Misner, president and general manager of KPNX-TV, Phoenix, and John Zidich, president of the U.S. Community Publishing's West Group and president and publisher of The Arizona Republic.

In another top award, USA Today's iPad Launch Team won the Innovator of the Year award. USAT's win comes a day after a member of that team disclosed that he's leaving for a software developer job at Twitter.

The winners were honored at a ceremony today at Gannett headquarters in McLean, Va., along with the recipients of the previously announced Unsung Heros.

Earlier: Zidich "warning labels" now on stories.

WCSH | Denver's Carter named Portland's GM

The marketing chief at KUSA and KTVD in Denver, Steve Carter, has been named general manager of WCSH, the NBC affiliate in Portland, Maine, Corporate said today in a statement. Carter replaces Steve Thaxton, who quit early this month to become GM of E.W. Scripps' station in Cincinnati.

Carter

Carter has been with KUSA for 19 years, and with KTVD after Gannett acquired it in 2006, Corporate's statement says. He has held his recent position of vice president of marketing and promotion since 2007. Earlier he served as director of marketing and promotion from 1999-2007; executive producer of promotion from 1997-1999; and as a promotion writer/producer from 1992-1997.

He joined KUSA from KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls, S.D., where he was promotion manager.

Carter graduated from Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn., with a degree in speech communication/Broadcasting.

KUSA | Corporate now visiting Denver, too

Add KUSA-TV of Denver and staff from the Fort Collins Coloradoan to the growing list of sites scheduled for a visit by a platoon of Corporate executives, a reader tells me, adding that this look-see will be in Denver: "On Sept. 10, in the a.m., there will be a closed-door, bosses-only meeting. At 3 p.m., there will be a big meeting in the secondary studio." (Spreadsheet lists all site visits.)

KUSA rated No. 1 in 25-54 demos for Olympics

From a company statement issued earlier today: "KUSA-TV in Denver was the No. 1-rated local NBC station with the key advertising demographic of adults 25-54 for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. KUSA also out-performed the national average rating by 75% with adults 25-54."