Channel 9 gives special treatment to paid health show

When an area health care provider and KMBC, Channel 9, collaborated earlier this month on a half-hour special, what viewers saw looked like it had come from Channel 9's news or public affairs departments. In fact, it was essentially an infomercial from the station's sales department. The special, titled "Rehabilitation," aired Nov. 3 after KMBC's 6 p.m. news. The show was copyrighted by Channel 9 but featured none of the station's news staff. Instead, the host was Sean Hogan, a salesperson with KMBC, and the special focused on several patients undergoing rehabilitation at a single care-provider: the St. Luke's-Shawnee Mission Health System. Only health professionals working with the St. Luke's system were interviewed on camera, and the hospital chain was plugged casually throughout the special (e.g., "There are definite advantages to using the St. Luke's-Shawnee Mission program"). At one point a doctor urged viewers to get prescriptions for physical therapy at a St. Luke's-affiliated hospital. Hogan signed off the special this way: "Good night and remember: St. Luke's-Shawnee Mission Health System rehabilitation services can put you on the road home again." To some viewers there may have been enough telltale signs that this special probably didn't come from the news department. Still, no one actually said it was a paid program. Infomercials are typically preceded by a disclaimer, but Channel 9 billed this as a "special" presentation. The closing credits listed KMBC as sole producer of the special - yet sources at Channel 9 confirmed that it was the medical center, not the station, that chose the topics, the doctors and the patients it wanted on the program. Health news is a crucial element of any TV news department. Nearly all of Channel 9's local programming is made up of newscasts and public-affairs shows. Given that, why not clear up any potential confusion with a disclaimer and be more up-front about St. Luke's role in funding the program? KMBC general manager C. Wayne Godsey said the difference was clear enough for him. "It wasn't produced by the news department and we never said it was," he said. "We have a pretty well-known group of newscasters. They're probably the best known in the city. None of them was on it." Godsey also pointed out that the special pre-empted "The Hollywood Squares" and aired in a time period when viewers aren't expecting to see a newscast. KPXE weather goes local Speaking of infomercials, KPXE, Channel 50, which airs the Pax TV network in the afternoons and evenings and paid programs the rest of the day, is trying something completely different - a local weathercast. The 5-minute segments, airing at 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, are produced in Atlanta by AccuWeather Inc., a well-known brand name in radio weather, for each of the 60-plus TV stations owned by Paxson Communications. KPXE is fed the forecast via satellite an hour ahead of time and inserts it during a national station break. Channel 50 began airing the forecasts in September on a trial basis, according to station manager Mark St. Clair, but now is using them permanently - or at least until NBC decides to try something else at 10 p.m. NBC recently bought a 32 percent stake in Paxson and will have a significant role in shaping future Pax schedules. Laurie Roberts signs on KSRC-FM (102.1) has hired former KSHB anchor Laurie Roberts as DJ Denis Prior's morning news anchor and as director of news and public affairs for "Star 102. " Roberts, best known for her Emmy- and Gracie-award-winning "Today's Women" segments on Channel 41, was released by the NBC affiliate in August. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com