The home base for Amazon and Microsoft, Seattle has close to 300,000 tech workers. It boasts the highest proportion of advanced tech employees in the nation, according to a study from Burning Glass Institute. As a result, stations in DMA No. 12 work hard to reach users on the move.
Besides local news, KING 5 Plus, KING’s streaming app, has lighter fare such as its ’80s-’90s comedy show Almost Live! and “Gardening With Ciscoe” segments, among other local content. KCPQ-KZJO has a camera in the newsroom and can go live on Fox Local Seattle in minutes.
“We treat that as our third channel,” said Amber Eikel, senior VP and general manager, KCPQ-KZJO.
Seattle-Tacoma is a highly competitive TV market, with the traditional Big Four affiliates all in the hunt in key races. Tegna has KING-KONG, an NBC-independent pair. Fox owns KCPQ-KZJO, known as Fox 13 and Fox 13 Plus. Sinclair holds KOMO-KUNS, an ABC-CW duopoly. Cox Media Group owns CBS affiliate KIRO and CBS has independent station KSTW.
Comcast is Seattle-Tacoma’s primary pay-TV operator.
KSTW was affiliated with The CW but went independent last year. KOMO slotted The CW on digital channel 4.2 in September, then put it on KUNS, which had been the local Univision affiliate, as 2024 began. Weigel Broadcasting grabbed the free-agent Univision affiliation and put it on KVOS, with Heroes & Icons moving to the station’s subchannel.
“We saw it as an opportunity to serve a broader community in Washington State,” said Steve Farber, Weigel senior VP of operations, who is based in Chicago. “We’re glad to have the opportunity to work with Univision and we’re proud to provide Spanish-language broadcasting.”
KVOS does not have local news, but Farber said Weigel is “exploring options” in terms of local content. Weigel also has MeTV station KFFV in Seattle.
Chad Conklin, KOMO-KUNS VP/general manager, said he was pleased to see Univision find a new home. KUNS has launched newscast ARC Seattle (Authentic, Relevant, Community) from 8-10 a.m. and 10-11 p.m. “We’re really happy with the programming and how it looks,” Conklin said.
In December, KOMO won the tight 6 a.m. household race, according to Nielsen numbers from Seattle, and KCPQ took the viewers 25-54 battle, also a close race. At 5 p.m., KOMO easily won households and KIRO took the demo. At 6 p.m., KOMO was tops in local news households (KING airs NBC Nightly News at 6), while KIRO took the demo.
On to 11 p.m., where KOMO won the household weekday race with 28,719 impressions, followed by KIRO at 23,116, KING at 22,172 and KCPQ at 8,932 (and 15,419 at 10 p.m.). In the demo derby at 11, it was KIRO at 6,392 impressions, then KING at 4,662, KOMO at 3,469 and KCPQ at 2,602 (and 4,509 at 10).
“It’s a very competitive market with really strong competitors,” said Christy Moreno, president and general manager, KING-KONG. “Every day, everybody gives their best.”
Happy Anniversary
KOMO uses “So Northwest” branding. The station marked 70 years on the air in December. Conklin described the event as “a big class reunion for KOMO legends.”
KING celebrated 75 years on the air in November. “We were able to bring back a lot of people from our history,” Moreno said. “It was super cool to get them all together and hear all the interesting stories.”
Moreno and KING news director Julie Wolfe first worked together at WHAS Louisville. “She’s an incredible journalist, very thoughtful in what she does and how she does it,” Moreno said.
The KING newsroom works hard to provide context to news stories, said the GM, and “go a little deeper” on them.
KONG, for its part, has morning and evening news, including a 7-9 a.m. newscast, and Seattle Kraken preseason hockey.
Like Moreno and Wolfe, Eikel and KCPQ VP, news director Jake Wiederrich also worked together previously, both at KIRO and at KTVU San Francisco. “It’s so nice to walk into the station and have the news director completely understand me and where I’m coming from,” said Eikel, who became general manager in August 2023, when Sheila Oliver departed Seattle to be general manager of WFLD-WPWR Chicago.
Morning Makeover
Fox 13 has focused on its morning show, which got a rebrand in 2022, relaunching as Good Day Seattle instead of Fox 13 Morning Show. Erin Mayovsky shifted from covering weather to an anchor role. Wiederrich called her “a Swiss army knife utility player.”
Mayovsky and Bill Wixey anchor 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Both have 25 years in the market. KCPQ takes considerable pride in anchors who have roots in the Pacific Northwest, including the morning pair.
New to the market is Sabirah Rayford, who came from KPRC Houston in the fall and is evening co-anchor on Fox 13.
David Rose anchors at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. on Fox 13 and hosts weekly crime show The Spotlight. “He knows every detective and attorney and police officer and police chief,” said Weiderrich. “His sources deliver.”
Pat Nevin was named KIRO VP/general manager in 2020. Morgan Palmer is KIRO chief meteorologist and Jesse Jones is the consumer advocate.
While it’s the middle of winter, the Seattle stations are looking forward to the Summer Olympics. A large number of local athletes are heading to Paris, including Nevin Harrison, who competes in sprint canoe, and basketball star Jewel Lloyd. NBC of course has the Games, and KING sports anchor Chris Egan will head to Paris to report.
Besides Amazon and Microsoft, corporations that call Seattle home include Costco and Alaska Airlines, the latter getting lots of play in the news after a door blew off one of its airplanes in January. The local economy is on solid footing, thanks to a diverse array of industries, including tourism — evident in the many cruise ships pulling into and out of the market. There are challenges, such as a persistent homeless population and substantial layoffs at Microsoft in January.
Station chiefs said Seattle’s picturesque setting, including Mount Rainier and the Space Needle, lively business portfolio and progressive residents mean a ton of applicants for a job listing. The region’s natural beauty still strikes Eikel after years in Seattle. “I can’t describe it any other way other than to call it magical,” she said. “There’s a beauty to this place that I don’t think you get anywhere else. Yes, it rains occasionally, but it’s green and gorgeous.”
