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Flagstaff, Ariz.'s only local TV station to cease broadcasts
(Arizona Daily Sun, The (Flagstaff) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 8--The only local television news station will broadcast its final live newscasts next week -- a victim of falling advertising revenue and increased costs.
John Misner, president and general manager of both Channel 2 and its sister station, Channel 12 in Phoenix, said Thursday that KNAZ could no longer afford to continue its live news broadcasts.
"As a free, over-the-air broadcaster that depends on advertising revenue for income, and over the decade we've owned the station, we've not had the level of support we had projected. And as expenses increase, advertising revenues had to increase commensurately," he said.
About 20 people who work for the local NBC affiliate news station will be affected, according to Misner. But it was not immediately clear whether those employees would be out of a job or just leaving Flagstaff for new broadcast assignments.
Misner said he was working with KNAZ station manager Jerome Parra to help find jobs for most of the employees at either different Gannett affiliates or other media outlets. He also said all employees would be offered severance packages.
At least three employees are not going anywhere. Two of KNAZ's broadcasters and the station's chief engineer are expected to remain in Flagstaff, as part of a new northern Arizona Channel 12 bureau, Misner said.
Starting Aug. 16, the station will be broadcasting Channel 12 newscasts in Flagstaff, and Misner expects those broadcasts will frequently include local stories submitted by reporters from the new bureau.
"The new northern Arizona bureau for 12 News will have two multimedia journalists. And what I mean by multimedia journalists are folks who report, write, shoot and edit video, post their videos online and they are live on Channel 12," he said.
Misner said the new bureau would put a strong concentration on Web updates.
Giving the example of a breaking news story in Phoenix that happened on Thursday, he said some stories don't necessarily get used as part of a broadcast piece but will be posted online.
"Stories that (northern Arizona bureau) report on may be posted online only," Misner said.
Which employees will stay in Flagstaff has not been decided.
"We are in conversation with current 2 News employees about these opportunities, and we should probably know in a week or so," Misner said.
The station's financial trouble first became widely known in late 2005 when Gannett announced it was looking to sell the station. In September 2006, KNAZ stopped its weekend news broadcasts in an effort to cut costs.
Misner said the decision to close the station was made recently.
"We held out hope until fairly recently that we would be able to accomplish one of two things: Either to get greater support from the Flagstaff business community for advertising revenue or find a prospective buyer," he said.
He said a sharp downturn in the Arizona economy in late 2007 exacerbated the financial problems facing the station and eventually prompted the decision to close KNAZ.
Misner said the station itself remains for sale.
KNAZ started broadcasting in Flagstaff in May 1970 from offices in downtown Flagstaff, according to its Web site.
The station has struggled to increase its market share and was unable to get into homes with satellite TV service.
Misner said the Flagstaff area is part of the Phoenix television market area and programmers prefer to have only one NBC affiliate per market area.
"Satellite companies have opted not to carry Channel 2," Misner said.
After the announcement was made during Wednesday's broadcast, Misner said phone calls of support started streaming in.
"We had some calls this morning from our long-standing advertising clients expressing their sadness about the station's changing status," he said. "One in particular mentioned how grateful they were to advertise with our station because it was good for business."
To see more of The Arizona Daily Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.azdailysun.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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