Sneak Peek At KIAH's Anchor-Less News

Those looking for a truly different spin on local TV news will apparently not be disappointed by Tribune Broadcasting's experiment in KIAH Houston later this year.

According to people who have seen the pilot of the NewsFix format produced at Tribune's WPIX New York under the directon of Chief Innovation Officer Lee Abrams, it casts off the familiar anchor-reporter paradigm and replaces it with a lot of animated graphics and man-on-the-street sound bites.

In one story, the narrator refers to terrorists as "bozos."  In another, a clip of fictional boxer Ivan Drago from Rocky IV is mixed into a story about the West getting tough with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. There are even clips from cartoon shows like Ren and Stimpy and animations from the JibJab website.

The pilot starts with a map of the Houston area with scattered icons representing the news stories to come. As the narrator introduces a story, an icon animates to reveal a series of clips with natural sound and sound bites to tell it. The video then squeezes back to a graphic screen, the narrator introduces the next clip and another icon comes to life.

Weather is handled with a split screen. One half shows dripping water; the other displays text, while a soothing voice delivers the forecast. Sports receive a similar split-screen treatment, with scores side-by-side with game highlights.

"It will be a fast-paced news product and we will be breaking with local news conventions," KIAH General Manager Roger Bare explained in a memo to employees. Bare, who briefly outlined the format for TVNewsCheck last week, could not be reached for further comment. Abrams has declined to be interviewed.

Even though Houston is the nation's 10th-largest TV market, Tribune appears to have little to lose by going with this radical approach. The CW affiliate's newscasts are buried in last place.

Still, a station employee calls the new format edict from headquarters "a punch in the gut," noting that both ratings and morale have been improving lately.

The timing of the launch of a no-anchor news show is also proving to be a curiosity.  According to employees, KIAH has just invested in a news set, HD cameras and switcher, and a video server system. The station now has three live trucks for a show that may not have any live reports. 

Its main female anchor, Mia Gradney, has been the focus of a high-profile billboard advertising campaign along Houston freeways with the tagline "Watch me at 9." There has been no official announcement about whether Gradney will be the voice of the narrator for NewsFix, but she is reportedly under contract with the station for at least another year.

The employees say Tribune initially planned to launch the experiment at its Dallas station, KDAF, but was rebuffed by management there. KIAH was a likely alternative since it is currently without a news director. KyAnn Lewis left last May for a job on Acme Communications' Daily Buzz.

The station recently launched a search for a "imaginator" to spearhead the effort. The job listing itself has generated a lot of buzz in Houston media circles.

It seeks a person who "knows that most local TV news sucks," "has well honed B.S. radar," and "can survive and prosper in a modern high brilliance standards rock n roll culture." It also explains, "Experience in running a TV newsroom is not necessary and might actually be detrimental."

Tribune is far from the only station shaking up its newsrooms in search of ratings in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. But unlike those at many other stations, the KIAH shakeup may not involve any layoffs.

In session with staffers this past Friday, according to people in the room, Bare explained that the new method of delivering news means the station will need more writers than it has now, and that no firings are planned.

But anchors and reporters are being invited to "reinvent themselves" and take part in producing regular feature packages, since the day-to-day news will be handled largely by one-man-band photojournalists, the employees said.

Some in the audience had misgivings about the execution of the show. "The anchors are often the safety net when something goes wrong," said one employee. If a piece of equipment fails, it is the anchor -- the public face of most TV stations -- who tosses to a commercial break with a reassuring, "We'll be right back after this," said one source.

Moreover, there are concerns about covering breaking news in a market where a TV newsroom's public reputation can be made or destroyed by its performance during hurricanes and other emergencies.

Based on the pilot shown to KIAH staff, some technical employees believe the station may give up the whole concept of live news and produce the news ahead of its 9 p.m. air time, the employee said.