@maceknewsnation
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Don't forget, you can email me your questions at fmacek@wkyc.com
So let's get started with our first edition...
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Hey Frank - "How are the ratings? Can you post them for the public to see? - Joseph
Hey Joseph - The station remains very competitive in all our news time periods. We are giving long-time news leader WJW a run for its money in the morning time slots and during the evening. I can not post specific ratings numbers due to Nielsen rules and regulations. Plus, I do not see the daily numbers or put much stock into them. We would rather see trends that develop over a period of time.
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Hey Frank - "I noticed WKYC has changed the name of your newscast to '3News at 6' from 'What Matters Most." Are your other shows going to change their names too? - Don
Hey Don - The short answer is no. The station recently evolved our station branding to include the tag line of 'What Matters Most' to reflect our station's commitment to bringing our viewers the stories that matter most to them. W gave a new name to the 6 o'clock show to set it apart from that branding. All our other shows will keep their current names including GO!, What's New at 5p, Front Row at 7p and What's Next at 11p.
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Hey Frank - "What's it like when the Olympics are on WKYC. Does it make your life busier? - Josh
Hey Josh - Yes, the Olympics become a full station effort for two weeks. As you know, we do an additional Olympic Zone show at 7:30p Monday through Friday and 7p on Saturday leading into NBC's prime-time coverage. This show focuses on some of our local athletes and behind the scenes stories from Beijing from our partners at NBC. In addition, most of our 11p newscast get bumped to different time slots depending on that evening's scheduled coverage. This Olympics, we have started the late news anywhere from 10:30p until 12:30a. It's a very long two weeks, but we enjoy having the Olympics and get to do fun stuff at the station with employees including our own competitions to celebrate.
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Hey Frank - "Why so many job openings lately at WKYC? Are more people leaving the station?" - Jenny
Hey Jenny - Although some of our station folks have moved on to other stations which is a normal part of television, WKYC is actually in an expansion mode right now as we inch deeper into the streaming world. Many of the open positions are new positions that will be part of this new streaming venture. If you are looking for a new opportunity, WKYC is the place to be right now. Apply!
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Hey Frank - "Why does the station break from the TEGNA brand? - Jason
Hey Jason - In 2019, the station decided we wanted to experiment with a new feel that was different from what other TEGNA stations were doing. This included new graphics that were built in-house and a new design to the our "3" logo. At the same time, our content shifted away from just hard news stories and became more of a mix of hard news and those that fit the lifestyles of those in Northeast Ohio. This brand continues to evolve as more and more people tell us what interests them, or "what matters most" to them.
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Hey Frank - "You keep posting about your weather tower being called the Al Roker tower. Why did you name it after him? - Mary Lee
Hey Mary Lee - It's all about history! As you probably know, Al Roker was a beloved weather man at WKYC during the early 1980s and still holds Cleveland very dear to his heart, although he now resides in New York and is a staple of NBC's Today Show. When he was in town last year, we decided to honor him by naming our weather tower after him. Hopefully when the weather turns more pleasant, we'll do a little fresh paint job on the tower and put his name (or mug) on the tower.
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Hey Frank - "You've been doing your blog for many years. Does the station control what you say? - Dawn
Hey Dawn - No. The station has not kept me from posting stories when new talent are announced or other big station news breaks. However, I do not and will not post anything that is confidential to the station or keeps us from having an competitive advantage with other news outlets in town.
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Thanks for this first batch of questions. Please keep them coming - Frank
