Sinclair gives another local executive the quick heave-ho

Two years ago the managers of KSMO, Channel 62, begged Gloria Rudd, the station's widely respected local sales manager and a longtime employee, to come back from personal leave. They even offered her the job of general sales manager - the top sales position at the station. On Wednesday a new set of managers told Rudd she was through and then - as one friend of Rudd's later put it - "she was unceremoniously ushered out the door like toxic waste." Such a graceless exit used to be unheard of in a TV market known for its clubbiness and cordiality. But Sinclair Broadcast Group, the Baltimore company that owns WB affiliate KSMO, is not known for its attention to local mores. On the same day that Rudd (the mother of actor Paul Rudd) was being ousted, the station's general manager Missy Gaines was announcing her departure after little more than a year. Supposedly that was for personal reasons, but sources familiar with Channel 62's situation speculate that Gaines jumped before she could be pushed as Rudd was. Mike Granados, the regional manager overseeing several stations for Sinclair including KSMO, did not return telephone calls for comment. (Granados replaced former Channel 41 executive Stu Powell, who also was recently bounced by Sinclair.) Since buying Channel 62 four years ago, Sinclair has churned through three general managers. Rich Deutsch, now at KMBZ-AM (980), was fired in early 1999; he replaced Jim MacDonald (see related item below). Sinclair currently owns or operates 61 TV stations in 40 markets. Its four Kansas City radio stations will be sold to Entercom once Entercom unloads three stations to bring its holdings under the federal limit. NBC on PAX Sometime in the coming weeks, you may channel surf past the PAX affiliate KPXE, Channel 50, and swear you just saw Tom Brokaw. You won't be the only one: The station better known for "Supermarket Sweep" and reruns of "Diagnosis Murder" will air the "NBC Nightly News" each weeknight at 6:30 p.m., one hour after it first airs on NBC affiliate KSHB, Channel 41, starting May 1. It's a one-month test, but both networks say it will likely will be permanent. There's more. On June 3 PAX stations will begin expanded coverage of the U.S. Olympic team trials that also are being carried by NBC. Channel 50 will air the highlights at 8 p.m. Saturdays through the summer. The moves follow NBC's experiment of rebroadcasting its game show "Twenty One" on PAX. The network bought a 32 percent stake last year in PAX, which is owned by Home Shopping Network founder Lowell Paxson, and NBC has the option of buying the whole enchilada in two years. PAX owns most of its affiliates, including Channel 50, and controls all programming from its West Palm Beach, Fla., facility. The deal has NBC affiliates around the country cursing bitterly, while industry analysts are chattering about the "new business model." Viewers may soon be saying, "Didn't I just watch this an hour ago?" But Mark St. Clair, Channel 50's general manager, called the NBC deal exciting and said, "It's a way for people who would like to watch 'NBC Nightly News' but can't get home until 6:30." MacDonald aligns with 41 Almost from the moment he got out of the television business, Jim MacDonald wanted back in. This week the former general manager of KSMO, Channel 62, did just that. MacDonald struck a deal with KSHB to take over sponsorship of his 3-year-old sports monthly newspaper. Ending a two-year affiliation with radio station KMBZ-AM (980), MacDonald will rename his publication KSHB NBC 41's Kansas City Sports and Fitness beginning with the May issue. As he sees it, the deal is a win-win: The monthly will get "dozens and dozens" of on-air mentions every month on 41. And new KSHB sports director Todd Romero, who arrived from Denver in February, will write for the paper, giving him access to local fans who don't know him from Adam (or worse, still think Paul Rudy is Channel 41's sports anchor). For MacDonald, the deal signals a bright future for his sports monthly, which has been through numerous name changes and burned up all of his original seed money. The tabloid-size paper finally started turning a profit last year, and with the KSHB tie-in, advertisers and readers should grow. "This newspaper, without question, is the hardest thing I've ever done," MacDonald said. "They say if you can make it to year three, you're golden. We've made it to year four." In other news KCPT, Channel 19, interrupts this program and that program and many other programs as it launches its 28th annual spring on-air auction at 7 p.m. Friday. The bidding will start at 6 p.m. weekdays, 3 p.m. weekends, and will run until midnight through May 6. "Charlie Rose" will air at midnight, but other regularly scheduled shows will be aired at later dates. Congratulations to Kansas City's two cable operators for picking up Beacon Awards at the Cable TV Public Affairs Association meeting earlier this month. Time Warner Cable's local Road Runner marketing campaign was honored, as was Comcast's new newsletter for employees at its Independence office. Minnesota Public Radio, best known as the broadcast home of "A Prairie Home Companion," announced this week it is acquiring "Marketplace," the nightly business show based at the University of Southern California. The program, which airs at 6:30 weeknights on KCUR-FM (89.3), reaches 2.5 million listeners a week. The new owner won out over several other bidders and has no plans to change the show other than to make some much-needed capital improvements. Irony of ironies, public radio's capitalist tool was short on cash. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com >>>