Hoffman: Koch returns to double duty on KTRK
The Chronicle's Ken Hoffman comments on a recent quiet reshuffling of KTRK-13's morning news broadcast:
A few years ago, I had lunch with the general manager of a station. We were talking about Channel 13's complete ratings domination of early morning news. Channel 13 hasn't lost a morning news race, literally, in decades.
I mentioned, "You know, in his own quiet way, with no silly shtick, (morning anchor) Tom Koch is a huge favorite in Houston. I'm surprised you guys haven't made a run at signing him away from Channel 13."
The general manager said, "You have to be careful about confusing the success of a newscast with the popularity of one person on that newscast. Tom Koch is a good example of that. You can't tell me that Koch is the reason that Channel 13 wins in the morning. He's just, you know, there."
Then we fought over who would pay the bill and left. I still thought the general manager was underestimating Koch's connection with viewers.
Then, incredibly, Channel 13, Koch's own station, made the same mistake.
Channel 13 quietly took Koch off the morning news last September and replaced him with Tom Abrahams. It wasn't announced or publicized. In fact, it looked like Abrahams was only filling in for Koch on a temporary basis.
Koch actually had asked off the 5-7 a.m. newscast. For several years, Koch had been working a split shift — doing 5-7 a.m., going home, then returning for the 4-5 p.m. news.
Slowly, Channel 13's morning ratings started slipping. The other stations started catching up. It wasn't due to Abraham's lack of effort or talent, but something was missing from Channel 13's morning news.
The only thing that was missing was Koch.
Last month, in the middle of a ratings sweeps month, Channel 13, again quietly, put Koch back on the 5-7 a.m. news.
A local TV station, without admitting it, admitted it made a mistake.
A source inside the station confessed they fell victim to underestimating Koch's appeal to viewers and importance to the newscast.
So now he's back to morning and early evening broadcasts. That's a tough, 12-hour split for a veteran anchor like Koch. Then again, surely KTRK is rewarding him handsomely for those long hours.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/03/06 08:54 PM | Print |
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