The planned Lafayette news launch coincides with recent moves by ComCorp station WGMB Channel 44, Baton Rouge's Fox affiliate, and sister company White Knight Broadcasting's WVLA Channel 33, Baton Rouge's NBC affiliate. The entities are closely related and intricately connected through operational and ownership arrangements in 23 stations between Tom Galloway, his son Sheldon and ComCorp executive Wayne Elmore. According to bankruptcy records, their companies have almost $400 million in debt.
On March 12 WGMB launched a 9 p.m. newscast, and earlier this year White Knight's WVLA began airing 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.
WVLA is offered in Lafayette on Cox Channel 3, and former KLFY TV10 anchor Val Wilson is anchoring and reporting there. Meteorologist Nelson Robinson of Lafayette, who does the weather for both Baton Rouge stations, will provide weather coverage here as well. Robinson left KATC 17 years ago to start Lafayette-based Alert Weather Services Inc., which serves the offshore oil and gas industry, and has been commuting to Baton Rouge for his new gig.
The Baton Rouge Fox station's 30-minute news program features a single male anchor. Neither Baton Rouge newscast appears to be placing a premium on in-depth reporting, choosing instead to employ short news items. KADN officials did not return calls seeking comment.
KATC TV3 General Manager Andrew Shenkan says viewers may not be so quick to embrace a 9 p.m. newscast. "This is a non-traditional news broadcast window for Acadiana viewers. I applaud another company wanting to establish a news product in Acadiana. I just think they have big shoes to fill," adds Shenkan. "Is there room for a third? The viewer will decide that."
From April 26 to May 23, Nielsen Media Research will survey this market for its May ratings book, which will be released at the end of June or early July ' providing the first glimpse into KADN's news ratings at 9 p.m. If they reveal any significant viewership, upcoming election advertising could offset the news operation's start-up costs.
Lester Langley, who owns Fox affiliate KVHP in Lake Charles, shuttered his start-up newscast in 2004 because NBC affiliate KPLC is so entrenched in the market. He cites KPLC's dominance as a primary factor in his newscast's demise, as well as the trend that had many viewers turning to network news after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"We had it about five years and found it was difficult to change viewing habits," says Langley, stressing the outcome may be different here with two local affiliates, KATC and KLFY, already vying for viewers. Langley says the startup costs combined with more than $1 million in annual expenses to operate the newscast had him in the red year after year ' the very reason so many are wondering how a company in the throes of bankruptcy reorganization can justify such expenditures.
Though he is not familiar with KADN's plans here, Langley believes the Galloway group may realize some savings by sharing resources and talent with the Baton Rouge stations. While the Galloways do not have news experience, Langley says they may have adequate management in place. "They've got some real good management talent. I'm sure they've looked at this very carefully and aren't doing this as a knee-jerk reaction," he says.
When Fox corporate chief Rupert Murdoch began strong-arming local affiliates to offer news programs in recent years (and supported them with financial incentives), "ComCorp did not blink, and they never did a newscast," says KPLC General Manager Jim Serra. "So the general consensus is that [this news launch] is a little odd."
What might work for ComCorp is the Lafayette/Baton Rouge connection, Serra says, because both markets' economies are growing at a rapid pace. "I'm just speculating that what you'll see is a regional newscast that covers Baton Rouge and Lafayette."
Speculation in media circles is that the Galloways are using the news operation to try and build value in the stations for a potential post-bankruptcy sale. The stations were on the sale block for months before the June 2006 bankruptcy filing but did not fetch any suitable offers.
White Knight and ComCorp, which also owns Lafayette's My Network TV affiliate KLAF TV 17 (Channel 13 on Cox cable), last week filed a reorganization plan they hope will pull them out of bankruptcy and allow them to continue owning and operating their stations. In order to do that, they are putting up $10 million of their own money to recapitalize the company. The bankruptcy filing revealed that the financing was structured so that none of the owners are personally liable for the debt. The companies claimed they were forced into bankruptcy after failing to reach a workable restructuring agreement with senior and junior lenders. In essence, the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors was a strategic business move that may help the group dodge a large portion of its debt.
The local group's New Orleans attorney, William Patrick III, says if the plan is accepted by creditors and confirmed by the court, two or three stations (neither Lafayette nor Baton Rouge stations are in the proposed sale) will be sold to generate about $75 million to pay down senior debt owed to creditors represented by GE Capital Corp. The remaining balance owed to the GE creditors, $131 million, would be paid out over five years.
All of the trade creditors the stations do business with would be paid in full, $3.5 million, within 120 days, but the unsecured creditors would only get $5 million of the $170 million they are owed.
The court will decide at an April 13 hearing whether the plan has been thoroughly explained and is ready to be voted on by creditors. It's anybody's guess whether the creditors, in particular unsecured creditors like Bank of Montreal and investment firm Apollo Capital Management, will go for it. According to tvnewsday.com, a broadcast industry news source, Apollo and Tom Galloway are equal partners in 10 Comcorp stations.
"Under other, alternate scenarios, they may not get anything," Patrick says.
JUNE 16 This story in the Advocate tells us that the state Department of Education is taking a look at the Course Choice program. They're doing that because the legislature (probably responding to reporting by Tom Aswell, who does not work for the Advocate) ordered them to make sure that these private companies aren't signing six-year-olds up for high school Latin classes without their parents' knowledge or consent.
JUNE 17 Columnist James Gill writes about the recent complaint of death row inmates at Angola: it's hot as you-know-what in their cells, with the heat index topping 120 for months. Since we're not executing people anymore (Gill opines) then we should probably officially end the practice of putting people on death row. The prisoners, by the way, are not asking for cool breezes: they only ask for clean water and a temp that doesn't top 88.
JUNE 17 Here's blogger Ian McGibboney's take on the Baton Rouge plan to give bus tickets to homeless people who have a home with family who live far away. Taken from one point of view, it could be a good solution for some people. But McGibboney raises some good points here, including this one: Why not improve opportunities for everybody in Baton Rouge so these people can find the jobs they came to BR for?
JUNE 17 Picayune columnist Jarvis DeBerry talks here about the Zimmerman trial, but the real topic is the concept of a black man being more dangerous, somehow, than a white man in a fight. It is an interesting discussion, and one that may enlighten people who think that racism doesn't exist because nobody's keeping black folks from eating at the Woolworth lunch counter.
JUNE 17 Here's an interesting column from Baton Rouge Business Report's publisher, Rolfe McCollister, about anger against the government. It's brewing because of recent revelations about the IRS and the GSA, he says. It's readable, not just for the subject, but because of McCollister's collection of sources: Huffington Post, National Review and Wikipedia. That's a combo you don't see every day.
JUNE 17 In this American Press post, Jim Beam talks about the high school diploma track that lets kids who aren't interested in university get what they want and need out of high school. The diplomas get kids ready for technical school, Beam explains, and then he goes on to give some of the numbers. Some of these numbers might really surprise people who think technical school is second best. And, Beam adds, a college diploma does not guarantee anybody a job.
JUNE 17 The Washington Post reports here that OSHA is going to investigate the explosion that occurred last week in Donaldsonville, shortly after the other fatal accident in Geismar. As soon as the site is safe, State Police will be pulling out of the Donaldsonville plant to make way for OSHA investigators, the story reports. (Hey, here's an idea: why don't they go a couple miles down the road and figure out what happened when that massive sinkhole started sucking up land.)
JUNE 17 Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board of Supervisors in this post, taking a look at the many ways board members have served Gov. Jindal and not their university or their students. The board members are esteemed members of their fields, but can't seem to do anything but say "yes" to Jindal, regardless of the cost to LSU, Mann opines.
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