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ALREADY THE HOME OF SEVERAL PROFESSIONAL SPORTS FRANCHISES, INCLUDING the National Football League's Chiefs, Major League Baseball's Royals and Major League Soccer's Wizards, Kansas City hopes to lure yet another pro sports team to a brand-new downtown arena. Construction of the $250 million Sprint Center is slated to begin next month and be completed by 2007. As yet, the center does not have a deal with any franchise to move to this Midwest sports mecca.
Last year politics rivaled sports in its impact on local media. The Kansas City television market, which ranks No. 31 in the nation with 894,580 TV households, received a huge overall boost from political ad spending. "Revenue for the whole market is going to be up 20 percent," says Craig Allison, station manager for Scripps Howard Broadcasting's K.C. duopoly of NBC affiliate KSHB-TV and Independent KMCI.
The market may get another duopoly in the coming months if the Federal Communications Commission approves Meredith Corp.'s plan to purchase the local WB affiliate, KSMO-TV, now owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group (Meredith already owns CBS affiliate KCTV). In another broadcast television station partnership here, Hearst-Argyle Television, which owns ABC affiliate KMBC, operates privately owned UPN affiliate KCWE under a local marketing agreement.
Kirk Black, vp and general manager of KCTV and KSMO, says Meredith purchased "everything but the license" of KSMO in November and will seek a waiver to purchase the license by claiming that KSMO is a "failing station." Meredith will have to prove that KSMO's status meets the FCC definition of "failing." KCTV is already selling advertising for KSMO and providing some input into programming decisions, says Black.
KCTV had been an also-ran in the market before undergoing a complete overhaul several years ago. "We were in bad shape," Black says of KCTV when he took over in 2001. "We've changed literally everything about our news and branding." That included all the main anchors. The newest anchor hire is Michael Scott, who co-anchors at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. Scott, who started last October, arrived from WBTV in...