Boise-area TV stations vie for shrinking audience

Boise-area television stations that broadcast local news battle for share of a market that hasn't exactly grown in the past decade. Population gains in the Treasure Valley haven't been matched by increases in the local TV news audience. Doug Armstrong, general manger of KTVB Channel 7, estimates that the market has shrunk 20 percent in the past decade in terms of collective viewing of broadcast TV stations' local news. The lost viewers moved to alternatives including satellite and cable TV, and Internet news sites, he said. KTVB leads the market-share race among local TV news organizations in many categories, and actually gained share in a decade. Most local TV news stations haven't gained share in the increasingly fragmented media market of the past 10 years, Armstrong said. He's pleased that KTVB gained share, even though the gain wasn't much - a 25 share in November 2006 compared to a 24 in November 1996, according to Nielsen Media Research data that KTVB supplied. "I think that's a vote of confidence from the general public," Armstrong said. Over the same period, the station's closest competitor saw its share drop from 16 to 12. Managers with other Boise-area stations report that their local news offerings are doing well even as KTVB remains a major force. Retaining good staff, including a lineup of well-known veterans, is a key reason for KTVB's success, Armstrong said. "And, we do have more resources - more people and more newsgathering vehicles, more assets available to cover the news," he said. "No doubt that is a piece of the puzzle. "I think all of the competitors to some degree are better than they were two to three years ago," Armstrong said. "We welcome that. We think it makes the market more vibrant, and we think it makes us better because we are always striving to improve." Not all of KTVB's eggs go into the traditional local-news basket. The organization has seen increased use of its ktvb.com Internet site and its "24-7" station at digital channel 7.2 and UHF channel 49, Armstrong said. The 24-7 offering re-broadcasts local news. Cultivating these outlets partly reflects a growing appetite for on- demand news, particularly among younger people, he said. Younger viewers are important to KTRV Fox 12, which broadcasts a single daily newscast (9 p.m.) that runs an hour on weeknights and half an hour on weekends. "One of the things we have been targeting is a younger viewer," said Bob Jaundalderis, co-news-director at KTRV with Kelly Cross. He believes the station is targeting a younger viewer than are its competitors. Few observers gave KTRV much chance to succeed when the station launched local news in mid-1999, jumping into a market with three established competitors, Cross said. "We're still here, and we feel pretty comfortable with the growth we've seen and the stability we enjoy," he said. "Our newscast is profitable to our station," Jaundalderis said. That's not always the case for local newscasts around the country, he said. Staff stability at key positions has helped KTRV's newscast grow, Cross said. It's considered a late-night newscast even though it doesn't air at 10 p.m. with KTVB, KBCI Channel 2 and KIVI Channel 6, Jaundalderis said. Cross said that KTRV's audience has stayed strong even though it can be tough competing with popular Prime Time shows in the 9 p.m. slot. KTRV plans to get into a market that KTVB and KIVI occupy now but that KBCI left in October. Cross said KTRV's 6 to 8 a.m. show is expected to debut April 2. He sees demand, especially in the 7 a.m. hour when other stations go to network news, he said. KTRV's fox12Idaho.com Internet site, redesigned and enhanced recently, has seen strong growth, Jaundalderis said. At KBCI Channel 2, salespeople are succeeding in marketing ad time on the local news, General Sales Manager Larry Polowski said. "There is certainly a lot of local news product in this market, no doubt about it," he said. "Nielsen is just something we live with day-to- day. We can't let it dictate how we go out and sell our product." National advertisers pay close attention to Nielsen numbers, but from a local sales standpoint, KBCI sales staff don't live and die by them, Polowski said. "We don't get that wound up about Nielsen numbers from a sales standpoint," he said. "We have to go out and sell our product and provide a return on investment for our company no matter what Nielsen says." KBCI is selling its local news effectively, Polowski said. "Local advertisers see a lot of value in local news because it's different every day and you can only get it in your local market," he said. Fragmentation is a reality for all types of media, Polowski said. "Our challenge as broadcasters is to find how to capitalize on those new technologies out there."