KSTP: Eyewitness to Mediocrity

Entrance to the KSTP studios on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the past few weeks, ABC had been blanketing their airwaves (and sister Disney network ESPN's) with the news that "Jimmy Kimmel Live" was finally going up against the big boys of late night TV--NBC's Jay Leno and CBS' David Letterman--at 11:35 in the East, 10:35 in the Midwest.

But when the day of the time switch (January 8) came, viewers in Minneapolis and St. Paul got local news at 10:35 instead.  KSTP (Channel 5), the local ABC station, decided to use this opportunity to expand its 10 p.m. "5 Eyewitness News" to one hour, pushing Kimmel's show to 11 p.m. and "Nightline" to midnight.   We don't want to call it the old "bait-and-switch", but that's what it sounds like to Kimmel's fans.

Apparently, KSTP is not as excited about Kimmel's potential as late night TV's next big star as ABC seems to be.  In the past, the station has put syndicated sitcom reruns and an 11 p.m. newscast before bringing on "JKL", putting the show in competition not with Jay and Dave, but Jimmy Fallon and Craig Ferguson and infomercials.  Putting Kimmel on at 11 now means that he'll be competing with all four late night network talkers.  Which is probably why Kimmel will never be mentioned in the same breath as Jay and Dave.

By adding an extra half hour to its 10 p.m. newscast, KSTP is following the lead of other Midwestern ABC affiliates such as WISN in Milwaukee and KSAT in San Antonio, who have also expanded their late newscasts.  The difference is, WISN and KSAT are the top-rated news stations in their markets.  KSTP is not.  Far from it.

KSTP, in its 65th year on the air as the first TV station in Minnesota, has had a stellar history,  It's been over two decades since they were the Twin Cities' favorite news station, with Ron Magers, Stan Turner and Cyndy Brucato anchoring.  Today, "5 Eyewitness News" is a constant carousel of anchors and reporters who don't stick around long enough to make a dent in the ratings.  Currently, Bill Lunn and Leah McLean are holding down the main anchor chairs, at least until the carousel starts up again.

What also hurts viewership, besides ABC's spotty prime time lineup that depends mainly on "Dancing With The Stars" and "Modern Family", is KSTP's alleged favoritism towards the Republican party.  It's no secret that owner Stanley S. Hubbard has donated money to GOP candidates and causes, and that leads to the perception--fair or not--that the news coverage tends to lean to the right.

If they could, KSTP would ditch ABC and run "5 Eyewitness News" 24/7.  As it is, their local news output clocks to six and a half hours a day (not counting what they produce for independent KSTC), which is second only to Fox station KMSP's eight.  The top two news stations, WCCO (CBS) and KARE (NBC),  airs four and a half and five hours of local news, respectively.  Maybe there's a lesson here?  That less is more?

There's nothing wrong with serving your viewers with the best local news coverage possible, so long as it goes beyond chasing fire trucks and ambulances.  There's also nothing wrong with giving your viewers time to get used to your on-air news personalities, so long as the ratings hold up.  And there's also nothing wrong with being upfront with your viewers about why you're delaying (or even pre-empting) a certain heavily-promoted network program, without incurring their wrath when you screw up.  In its 66th year in business, KSTP has yet to learn these lessons.