HappyNewYearHaveABeerHappyNewYearSeeYouNextYear


2006 was a heck of a year for changes in both the old and new media.



Locally TV news junkies were doing double takes when about this time one of their favorites, WBIR anchor Ted Hall talked of crying children and sadness at dinner when he announced to his family he was leaving North Knoxville for Atlanta. Later we found the announcement was much happier around the dinner table when we read Ted's quotes on his new station's website in Atlanta. The real facts were simple; half of the highest rated local TV news anchor team was headed to Georgia and after earlier loosing their news director to local government the suits at WBIR had a decision to make. Granted WATE, the then number two station in the market was of little threat to 10 but still local TV news in Knoxville has been known to change quickly when talent leaves as proven by Margie Ison jumping a few decades earlier. The big guys took Bill Williams to lunch, hit him up with the idea of returning and after he pondered the deal for a day he came back to the anchor desk. Bill not only held the fort for WBIR he increased the numbers and the station continued to enjoy being the WIVK of the local TV news in the market.

In 2006 the dreaded Nielson over night ratings became a friend and a nightmare to our local TV news stations. Rather than hanging out for a quarter to see if those astronomical local news advertising prices were justified the clients could check out this column weekly to see who was winning who was coming close and who was dieing on the vine. At first those who took it on the chin said the numbers were not valid but that talk evaporated as more homes joined the sample. By the end of 2006 the over nights were showing WBIR still doing fine with Bill in the chair, WVLT winning at noon and more often than not at 11 and WATE slowly leaving the building in local TV news.

2006 will be known also as the year they began to prove to both the market and more importantly the advertisers that WVLT was on the fast track to become the new number two local news station. Big news considering WATE has been a solid number two for decades and WVLT has been a distant third. 2007 could be a new ballgame for all three of the local news stations (I know about FOX but their local is WATE produced) with WBIR now replacing Bill with a new face both 6 and 8 will be trying to capitalize on what could be a crack in the 10 shield.

In 2006 radio also had subtle changes. Two more all music stations blessed our airwaves and more small local stations gave upthe ghost. Jack (the offering at South Central) and Earl (Citadel Broadcasting) tried to be your I Pod stations. The big problem is the two stations are nothing more than last gasp tries at luring a lost audience. You kids with your MP3 players already have your Jacks and Earls and they are customized for your taste by YOU. Brothers and sisters there is a whole new world out there of media lovers who have left radio faster than we all turned to FM when James A. Dick past out those free converters in the parking lot on Kingston Pike a few decades back. 2006 was the year local radio really stopped being local, Jack and Earl are about as local as a lost family of Yankees trying to find Dolly Wood. Back in 2005 only TWO PERCENT of the cars in the Knoxville radio market had satellite radio. Also less than half of the GM cars offered the new pay radio, but this year GM has over 150 different models with satellite radio and one of the hottest sellers in the world of electronics this holiday season was XM radio. Why hear 4 in a row locally when you can hear unlimited in a row on satellite, with few if any commercial breaks? Local radio will never out music satellite, just a fact Jack. Someday you will tell your children, not grandchildren but your children, that one time there was free radio, it had people talking on it you saw in Kroger and everyone actually got excited and drove across town to get a T Shirt with the name of the station on the front. Granted they will give you that deer in the headlights look and then continue with their downloading, but most of you will feel a twinge of sadness in knowing they will miss out hearing their local team play ball on the air on a Friday night or just having their name mentioned after they called in a request.

So is 2007 going to just suck or will it be better? As far as media goes, all I am sure is 2006 was a new beginning and this time next year all of us will be shocked at the advances or in some cases the regressions we will have seen. Stay Tuned!