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LIKE THE REST OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, PORTLAND HAS BEEN STRUGGLING through a lingering economic downturn that enveloped the region four years ago. Although national advertising is still trying to regain its footing in the City of Roses, one bright spot in the media business is that local advertising remains robust, say area broadcast TV executives.
BeIo Corp.'s NBC affiliate KGW-TV is the No. 1 station overall in the market, which ranks 24th in die country with 1.09 million TV homes. In die November sweeps, KGW won the 5 p.m. news race handily over second-place finisher KOIN-TV, Emmis Communications' CBS affiliate (see Nielsen chart on page 16), but the late-news competition was closer, with KGW earning an 8.2 rating/ 19sharetoKOIN's7.7/18.
With the recent promotion of general sales manager Ann Sobil to director of sales for sister BeIo station KING-TV in Seattle, KGW is now searching for a successor, says Paul Fry, KGW vp and general manager.
Recent original-programming efforts at KGW included the launch last fall of a weekly public affairs show called Viewpoint; a live town hall-style forum featuring the area's two senatorial candidates; and a one-hour telethon for tsunami-relief efforts.
KGW also produces a live half-hour 10 p.m. newscast on Paxson Communications' Pax TV affiliate KPXG. "We have challenges with getting signal coverage throughout the DMA," says Fry. KPXG is located in Salem, which is about 50 miles from Portland. KGW is the broadcast TV home of die National Basketball Association's Portland Trail Blazers; a few of the games appear on KPXG.
Last August, Seattle-based Fisher Communications' ABC affiliate KATU lost its veteran lead male anchor of 35 years when Paul Lirmman retired. Linnman continues his morning radio talk show on Clear Channel Communications' News/Talk KEX-AM. KATU expanded its 11 a.m. news a year ago to a full hour. At the start of this year, KATU replaced struggling The Jane Pauky Show at 3 p.m. with The Insider. KATU's 27-year-old live local talk/information show AM Northwest airs at 9 a.m. weekdays.
At KOIN, which typically ranks second or third in evening news, second in late news and fourth in morning news, vp/gm David Lippoff has been making changes...