Tennessee tornado VJ coverage?

[Buck]

In case you haven't heard, the Nashville area was hit pretty hard by storms and tornadoes yesterday. I'm wondering how the stations covered this, especially WKRN with their vjs. Didn't Rosenblum always boast how well his system would work when spot news broke out? Well, let's hear how it went. Anyone?

[StoryTeller]

I can only judge based on the video I've seen on the feeds, the networks and on their website... but the first viedo I saw with their call letters on it, I thought it was home video.
The stuff on their website was a live wrapped pkg that just plain wasn't very good. Lots of unsteady medium, out of focus, poorly exposed shots.
Not knowing the market very well, and based purely on video quality....WTVF was far superior.

[Corporate Management]

Just checked it out; not good. One guy did a live wrap, and actually identified it as "video I shot". Wouldn't be bragging about that if I were you, dude.

Anyway, it's worth a look, even if it's just to see the promo that runs before every piece of video:

"We've got at *least* 20 VJ's out right now..."

[Joda]

Well, it's harder to judge in a weather emergency situation, I tend to be more forgiving, but that one guys stuff was pretty bad. Walking around all jumbly. Another report by a female was at least shot on sticks, so more watchable.
But I thought the promo said "2 VJ's" everywhere. Hmmm
You get what you pay for.

[Baltimore Shooter]

Wolnder what Young's stock is now, probably about 50 cents.

Warren

[bassetf5]

I was in a sports bar right outside Nashville that night, maybe five or six tvs were on... big screen in the main room was on WTVF, little tv in an alcove where nobody was sitting was on WKRN, bar tvs were on baseball.

WTVF put up some absolutely ass-kickin' aerials (way to go, Terry!) and the biggest bar tv went to 5 immediately, nobody seemed to be paying much attention to the ball games... or to WKRN, over in a corner with the sound off. don't know why they didn't have 4 or 17 on.

in my part of the room conversation pretty much stopped while everyone stared at WTVF's pictures... "holy ****, look at THAT!"

watched KRN last night and it was so bad even my wife noticed, she thought it was home video.

[nozoom4u]

I just checked out their coverage on the internet. It's pretty sorry compared to WTVF. I think the main thing is in a spot news situtation like that you need live coverage. Who cares if you have 20 packs, if they all run two or three hours after the event happens. I don't live in Nashville, but I can almost guarantee that TVF was live in 20 to 30 minutes showing the damage. If you watch TVF's newscast they had 5 lives off the top all in boxes. Now that's coverage. I don't know any better way to show your viewers that you rock. KRN's newscast was like watching something kids put together in high school.

[Baltimore Shooter]

KRN's newscast was like watching something kids put together in high school.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Warren

[svp]

KRN's newscast was like watching something kids put together in high school.

No need to insult high school kids like that. I'm sure their coverage would've been better, and probably was!

[verdantFOX]

Now that everyone has once again religated VJs to the trash heap of history. I thought I'd compare what viewers in Nashville thought of the VJ driven coverage on WKRN compared to WTVF and WSMV.



Storm coverage for 4-5 p.m. Friday 4/7. Increase from Friday 3/31 in parenthasis:

WKRN -- 12.3/20 (+8.2/11)
WTVF -- 17.0/27 (+10.8/13)
WSMV -- 15.8/25 (+6.2/4)

5-6 p.m:

WKRN -- 15.1/22 (+9.9/12)
WTVF -- 19.5/29 (+11.6/14)
WSMV -- 17.4/26 (+6.6/4)

6-7 p.m.

WKRN -- 13.8/19(+6.5/6)
WTVF -- 21.1/29 (+12.2/13)
WSMV -- 19.1/27(+9.2/9)

10-10:30 p.m.

WKRN -- 9.4/15(+4.5/6)
WTVF -- 17.2/28 (+8.0/11)
WSMV -- 15.8/25 (+6.3/9)

On a pure numbers basis it looks like the big winner was WTVF. On a pure percent of increase basis WKRN was the clear winner (more than a 100% increase at 10 from last week for example). WSMV seems to have done poorly in comparison to both.

WKRN as the weakest station in the market would be expected to have the smallest increases in pure audience, yet when the storm appeared to be at its strongest (during the afternoon news time periods) WKRN had increases from last week's audience that were 30-40% higher than WSMV and competitive with WTVF (which seems to be the hometown favorite on this board.)

The audience could have watched WKRN for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with the VJs. I don't know I wasn't there. But it clearly was not the disaster everyone is making this out to be.

But then, VJs suck and have already failed, so nothing good could have possibly happened to WKRN. BTW, feel free to see these numbers as the catastrophe for WRKN everyone claimed. If you do, you know little about ratings and audience behavior.

[KsPhotog]

WKRN has always rated high in weather coverage, but overall ratings suck. The "home video" was shot by a great reporter, but you are all right, it did look like home video. And as I tried to edit it for our news cast, I used the 3 or 4 great shots I had from WTVF and padded out with the KRN video, cringing the whole time, hoping it wouldn't make it on the air. I'm a former 'KRN'er and I'm glad I got out before all this happened.

[verdantFOX]

It's amazing how the facts tend to silence everyone. What happened to all the "VJ disaster" folks?

[pre-set]

Well, the "hard facts" I'm looking at STILL show them in 3rd place, getting beat in every hour. I guess you COULD look at it optimistically and say that "hey, they didn't SUCK as much as they COULD have"....... but they still suck.

So the VJ thing HAS failed to move the station out of 3rd place - the very reason it was implemented, I beleive.

There. Silence broken.

[cameragod]

Not silent just bored. The real question is, if the ratings haven’t been a complete disaster why have we not heard from Michael?
Cue tumbleweed over deserted newsroom.

[Tv Shooter]

The Weather Channel took live WKRN video and what I saw looked like hammered dog****.

[Chicago Dog]

It's amazing how the facts tend to silence everyone.

We're not sitting here in silence because you've "proven us wrong," (which you haven't). We're sitting here in stunned silence because you tried using those numbers to show they're doing well.

It's impossible to give a clever retort when someone's so intent about making him or herself look like an ass.

What happened to all the "VJ disaster" folks?

Uh, who predicted a "VJ disaster?" These stations were already disaster areas before the OMB/VJ system was implemented. The system was touted as a way for KRN and KRON to climb out of the hole.

You want a disaster? Apply the OMB/VJ system at a #1 station. That's a disaster.

I guess you COULD look at it optimistically and say that "hey, they didn't SUCK as much as they COULD have"....... but they still suck.

Yes, precisely. It's a very "glass is half full"/"silver lining to every cloud" way to look at it.

You can wrap a turd in a pretty box and put a pretty bow on top, but it's still a turd.

[SimonW]

Well, it would be a pretty turd at any rate ;)

[Baltimore Shooter]

It's impossible to give a clever retort when someone's so intent about making him or herself looking like an ass.


HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

McFly should learn from theis and be forced to write this 100 times on a chalkboard.

Warren

[verdantFOX]

As I said, anyone who understands viewer behavior and ratings could see that WKRN did very well. Check with anyone in research or does research in your sales department.

It's senseless to continue to apply our standards of "quality" if the audience who determines ratings does not share our standards. I agree with the subjective evaluation of the quality of WKRN's work compared to the other stations. To any professional it would appear amatuerish. Unfortunately, the ratings would indicate the audience doesn't care. They tuned to WKRN during the storm well out of proporation to what would be expected of a third place station. No one with any knowledge of ratings would dispute that.

We continue to congratulate ourselves, laugh at the obvious shortcomings of WKRN's VJs, and declare them a humiliating failure. Great! Break out the champagne.

But the more thoughtful people on this board, those less tied to their emotional attachment to their opinion, those who can look at the facts, see that during that particular storm WKRN's audience didn't share our point of view.

Please feel free to condemn the sunrise and call it a sunset. The sun will still rise.

[Chicago Dog]

As I said, anyone who understands viewer behavior and ratings could see that WKRN did very well. Check with anyone in research or does research in your sales department.

Hmm... nope. Still third place, still humiliating defeat.

You just keep beating your drum, though. That which is already painfully obvious has never stopped you before. Why should it start now?

We understand. It's too bad you don't.

[Jax]

My station would kill an AP a week for WKRN's numbers...

[McFly]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

McFly should learn from theis and be forced to write this 100 times on a chalkboard.

Warren

Learn from 'theis'?