If I'm Bryan McGruder, I'm feeling a little nervous this morning. With the announcement yesterday by KSHB that it had hired Peggy Phillip to be its news director, replacing the short-lived Rick Iler, Fox 4's McGruder becomes the only male ND left in town.
And that's not the only reason to be nervous. A newser friend of TVB who's seen Phillip up close wrote in to say, "She's aggressive and plays to win. This is gonna be interesting."
On the jump, KSHB's press release announcing Phillip's hiring and KMBC's press release declaring victory in the May sweeps. I'll wait till the book arrives in mid-June to write more about ratings.
KSHB-TV NAMES PEGGY PHILLIP AS NEWS DIRECTOR
(Kansas City, Missouri)- Peggy Phillip has been named News Director for KSHB-TV, Kansas City’s NBC Action News station, it was announced today by Vice President and General Manager Craig Allison. Phillip joins NBC Action News from WMAR-TV in Baltimore, where she served as News Director for the Scripps-owned ABC affiliate.
“Peggy has a special passion for winning breaking news coverage and a track record of improving news content. She is a very energetic and competitive person,” said Allison.
Throughout her career, Ms. Phillip has worked in newsrooms as an Assignment Manager, Managing Editor, Producer and Special Projects Manager in Reno, Miami, Chicago and Boston. Prior to joining WMAR-TV, the veteran news manager served as News Director in Syracuse, Memphis and Tulsa. While News Director at WMC-TV in Memphis, the station consistently ranked as one of the highest rated local newscasts in the country among all NBC affiliates.
Phillip, a South Dakota native, begins work at KSHB-TV on June 8.
KMBC REMAINS KANSAS CITY’S #1 CHOICE FOR LOCAL TV NEWS
KANSAS CITY, MO (May 21, 2009) – KMBC is once again Kansas City’s first choice for local television news, winning the May 2009 rating period. KMBC 9 News was number one at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. with significant advantages over the competition. This comes on the heels of a strong March ratings win.
“We are grateful for the support and loyalty of our viewers,” said Wayne Godsey, President and General Manager of KMBC/KCWE. “We continue to dedicate valuable resources to insure that we consistently deliver the most timely and comprehensive news coverage on KMBC, KMBC.com and our mobile news products.”
“We introduced new technology in May which gave our reporters a big advantage,” said Sherrie Brown, KMBC 9 News Director. “Our crews in the field have new tools to get information and pictures on the air and on the web instantaneously. We used that cutting edge technology to bring viewers big stories as they unfolded, like the Cameron, Missouri tumor investigation. During severe weather coverage, we were able to provide viewers with more information, from more crews, than anyone else.”
KMBC 9 News at 5:00 p.m. secured a strong first place finish with a 7.9 rating/18 share. This is 52% higher than its closest competitor. KMBC was also the only station to increase its audience during this time period.
KMBC 9 News at 6:00 p.m. outperformed its closest competitor by 59%, ending the ratings period with an 8.6/18.
KMBC 9 News at 10:00 p.m. won its time period with a 10.6/19. KMBC audience shares were up 46% compared to its 9:45 p.m. lead-in.
KMBC 9 FirstNews showed a strong improvement with year-to-year gains all morning long.
- 5 a.m. finished with a 2.5/14. Up 25% from last year.
- 5:30 a.m. averaged a 3.8/18. Up 19% from last year.
- 6:00-7:00 a.m. delivered a 6.5/22. A 10% increase from last year.
This is the most competitive hour of morning news. (Source: The Nielsen Company, Live M-F Average 04/23/09 – 5/20/09)
In the March rating period, KMBC was the #1 ABC affiliate in primetime viewing.
ABOUT KMBC-TV
KMBC is the first Kansas City station to broadcast news in high definition. KMBC 9 News contributes local news and weather content to the number one television news website www.kmbc.com. KMBC is owned by Hearst-Argyle Television. Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. owns 26 television stations, and manages an additional three television and two radio stations, in geographically diverse U.S. markets. The Company’s television stations reach approximately 18% of U.S. TV households, making it one of America’s largest television station groups. Hearst-Argyle owns 12 ABC-affiliated stations, and manages an additional ABC station owned by Hearst Corporation, and is the largest ABC affiliate group. The Company’s Web address is www.hearstargyle.com.
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