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MORRIS: Fox 59 is serious about local news

Greg Morris
September 8, 2012
Keywords
Commentary, Opinion, WXIN
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MorrisThe announcement was made back in May and IBJ reported on it again in last week’s paper. However, I want to highlight WXIN-TV Channel 59’s expanded news coverage in the 6 p.m. hour, Monday-Friday, which starts airing this week. It’s the latest expansion of news at Fox 59 and the move is significant.

Fox 59, owned by Tribune Broadcasting, is IBJ’s television news-gathering partner. I couldn’t be more pleased with how that relationship has developed over the past five years. IBJ and Fox 59 officially started working collaboratively in May 2007. Jerry Martin was the general manager at the time and I found him to be serious about the desire to expand Fox 59’s news coverage. He was also receptive to new ideas for collaboration.

Our partnership was progressing nicely when Lee Rosenthal arrived on the scene as news director in January 2009. Things really started to take off under his leadership. Lee is a bright and energetic young “thirty something.” (He was recognized as an IBJ 40 Under 40 honoree earlier this year.) He came to Indy from CBS affiliate WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio, where he was an executive producer.

Then, picking up the ball and running hard with it, Larry Delia, current vice president/general manager, replaced the departing Jerry Martin in April 2011. Larry came from similar positions at Tribune stations in Harrisburg, Pa., and New Orleans. He certainly was no stranger to building news departments before he arrived at Fox 59. At WPMT-TV in Harrisburg, Larry oversaw the expansion of local news offerings from 17 hours a week to 32 hours.

The team of Delia, Rosenthal and News Operations Manager Rob Gordon, and of course the entire on-air and behind-the-scenes news staff, has put some impressive numbers on the board. Numbers in the form of ratings, and ratings translate to revenue.

In the last May sweeps period, over the course of the three-book season average by Nielsen Co., WXIN was No. 1 in the coveted 25-to-54-year-old demographic for morning and late news. Fox 59 Morning News was No. 1 in this demo at 4:30 a.m., 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. It pulled within 0.3 of a point of WTHR Channel 13 at 6 a.m. And Fox 59 finished No. 1 in the 7-9 a.m. and 9-10 a.m. periods in the age 25-54 demographic. Fox News at 10 p.m. was No. 1 in the late-news period for that demo. Impressive local news ratings for a non-traditional network affiliate.

So, what’s significant about adding an extra hour of news, Monday-Friday, at 6 p.m.? What’s the big deal? Well, this will be Fox 59’s 10th hour of news each weekday. That’s 50 hours of weekday news, and it’s just shy of half their weekday broadcast schedule. That’s about double any other television station’s weekday news programming in the market. Since 2009, Fox 59 has increased its locally produced news coverage from 27 hours a week to 60 hours. Those 60 hours make Fox 59 the fifth-largest news producer in the country.

It’s interesting that WTHR, WISH-TV Channel 8 and WRTV-TV Channel 6 haven’t had another competitor in the 6-6:30 p.m. local news half-hour. We’ll have to see how the ratings shake out over time with four stations competing in that half hour versus three. Additionally, there’s currently no local TV news broadcast from 6:30-7 p.m. How will Fox 59 fare with its local news up against the network national news programs? I don’t know, but it should be fun to watch.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that WXIN is adding several full-time employees on camera and off to produce its newest newscast. This comes at a time many TV news organizations around the country are cutting back staff. Where bad news has become the norm as far as employment goes, Fox 59 is participating in its own on-air promotional campaign that encourages local businesses to “Add One Job.”

It should be obvious that Fox 59 takes its news seriously. So does IBJ. Our combined news-gathering partnership offers the best coverage available to Indy viewers and readers. Thanks for watching Fox 59 and thanks for reading IBJ.•

__________

Morris is publisher of IBJ. His column appears every other week. To comment on this column, send e-mail to gmorris@ibj.com.

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  1. liek the rest of America

  2. These quaint,obsessed musings by the stalkers are certainly entertaining, but I'm trying to figure out what, if anything, all the yelping below has to do with Zak Brown.

  3. It's evident that Moffett was pushing the right buttons and corporate America is now trying to squash him. He just wanted to withdraw the free pilot services provided to the company by the pilots to try and put some pressure on a company that has not been interested in negotiating a contract in over 5 years. The company does not provide a contract because not having one has saved them a bundle of money. Shame on any Republic pilots not standing behind their union leader just because things are getting tough, can you not see such strategic moves by the company as putting the last union president in a corporate position and into THEIR pocket. Do you really believe the last union president is so appalled at the attempts by Moffett, do you not remember his oppositions to the company? We stood behind him. It has been proven over and over again for thousands of years without fail, a man cannot serve two masters. Anyone that believes people vote contrary to their paycheck and livelihood deserve to be taken advantage of, the recent statements by the former union president are laughable as he denounces the current union president from his new corporate position. Have you ever seen a drafted sports player score points for his previous team, it cannot be done, he is not on the pilots side anymore, he gets his money a different way now than you and I do, and he should not be allowed to remain on the seniority list. A drafted player brings strength, credibility, tactical knowledge, and a strategic advantage to his NEW team, he would not be drafted or paid were it otherwise. We are all forced to choose only one side to play for and support, not doing so has many references in life such as insider trading and shaving points, all illegal for good reason. This basic fact is why corporate moguls, scientist, and engineers all sign non-discloser agreements and non-compete clauses, as protection in case they are lured into switching sides as our former union president has done. No NFL coach ever drafted a player so that both teams could benefit and better understand each other, they are recruited to win the game against that former team, period. Likewise the company does not recruit the former union president by accident or mutual understanding, its strategy. Don't confuse playing the game with good sportsman-like conduct in support of common business and prosperity goals, with the requirement to only play for one side. Good men we all love and favor fall subject to this manipulation, often without their knowledge, and it is not a betrayal of their friendship to oppose them when they switch sides. If we did not love and trust them, they would not have been chosen and lured to the other side in the first place. The deception by the drafted player is not made at a conscious level, it's just human nature and it's all about money and power which corrupts our ability to be objective and loyal to two masters. This is why our court system created the defense attorney, and why our military created counter intelligence. Its strategy and its propaganda, and it works, and that's why the "powers to be" manipulate the chess pieces by sometimes changing their colors. Some players know they are being manipulated when their color is changed, but it brings them more money and power so they do not care. The rest have good intentions but do not even realize they are being manipulated. This tactic is also known by another name, Divide and Conquer. In battle sending an imperfect message with an imperfect team is obviously not ideal, but it's still being sent by YOUR team, your union leader, a leader that has common goals and common rewards with you, they are the best, because we have elected them to do a job for us. If you are not backing Moffett but believing the spin by those that have recently switched sides, you are taking food out of your own mouth. Showing unity and backing an imperfect situation still results in taking just as much ground, it's about unity and bargaining power. It's not necessary to wait around for that perfect attack because it will never come, the company will spin and attempt to destroy anyone that gets in their way. Ultimately it's not about any specific attack anyway, ASAP or whatever it makes no difference, it is and always has been only about power. If this company cared about safety it would not build pairings with 8 hour overnights, come on, are you that naive? Besides, do you really think Hoffa cares, no, he got a call from corporate America and was squeezed into denouncing Moffett. If he didn't they would spin the safety card against him and the Teamsters National with implication for truckers, future contracts, insurance rates etc...saying something like the Teamsters use safety as a bargaining chip, blah blah blah... Do you really think any pilot is going to do something unsafe for the contract, absolutely not, the only ones threatening safety here is the company with reduced rest, fatigue, and poverty. Do you not find it odd that Hoffa and the Teamsters are opposing a Teamster president publicly? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and work with one of their own? Why did they not sit down and help him strategize, correct any mistakes, and charge ahead? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and leverage a contract for all those pilots that have been paying Teamster dues, isn't that why we have all been paying Teamster dues in the first place? I sure haven't been paying dues so that the Teamsters National could come along and write this kind of an article undercutting our union leader and our unity. Whose side is the Teamsters National really on, it's obviously not the Republic pilots side.

  4. No matter what Moffatt does the company is going to spin it like he is the terrorist and brainwash people like you into believing it, wake up, back your players that are trying to change things for you and your livelihood. Where has Hoffa been for the last 6 years, except collecting our dues. Seriously, do you really think an FO going for upgrade, signed off by a checkairman ready for the upgrade, who then fails, is not even capable of returning as a First Officer.

  5. whoa!

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