Archives 11/00-10/01

Items go from new to old.
10-20-01: Lots of updates!
The debut of the UPN station to serve the Cedar Rapids-Waterloo market has been delayed. A shortage of guy wires, which are used to support the tower, has caused the latest delay. As a result of the softening advertising market, the tower will be 1,500 feet instead of 2,000 feet as originally planned. Owner Bill Smith told the Waterloo Courier that he hopes to get the station on the air by late December.
KCCI reigns supreme once again in the Des Moines TV news Nielsen ratings. In the July Nielsen's KCCI had a 39 percent share of all people watching television in the Des Moines market at 6 p.m. while WHO was second with a 29. At 10 p.m., KCCI had a 43 share vs. WHO's 23 share. WOI was a distant third. In the 9 p.m. battle, KDSM's "Fox 17 News at Nine" got a 4 share while "WHO-TV 13 News Primetime at Nine" which airs of Pax station KFPX didn't have enough viewers to earn a rating.
Citadel Communications, owners of WOI-TV Des Moines and KCAU-TV Sioux City, cancelled the ABC late night talk show "Politically Incorrect" indefinitely after the show's host Bill Maher made comments that some viewers took as being anti-American and insensitive towards the military. Maher said that the U.S. military were cowards for firing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away and that flying a plane into a building was not cowardly. Sears and FedEx have stopped advertising on the show. WOI and KCAU are the only ABC stations serving Iowa that have dropped the show.
KGAN-TV Cedar Rapids has added a 5 pm newscast. The station had dropped news at that timeslot a few years ago. The 10 pm newscast is repeated at 5 am.
Former KWWL-TV Waterloo General Manager Jim Waterbury has been named Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Allen Memorial Hospital in Waterloo.
WOI-TV Des Moines plans to add a 6 pm newscast in the near future while the newscast get a new look. Stephanie Heft has left as morning and midday anchor."Politically Incorrect" returned to WOI-TV October 3 after host Bill Maher apologized to viewer that may have been offended by comment he made about the U.S. military.
Gary Shore has joined KCAU/9 (Sioux City) as chief meteorologist.(Iowa Media Resource Page)
8-26-01:KDIN-DT/50 is now on the air.
8-18-01:A new television station that would serve the Quad Cities has been blocked from going on the air due to a petition a rival company filed with the Federal Communications Commission. The station is scheduled to sign on September 1 but Grant Broadcasting, the owners of Quad Cities Fox station KLJB and WB station KGWB, filed a petition against Northwest Broadcasting, the owner of Channel 53 and Second Generation of Iowa, which will manage the UPN affiliate. The petition says that there is enough competiton in the Quad Cities market. As a result, the first two University of Iowa football games will air on KWQC instead of Channel 53.
KIMT Mason City meteorologist Ryan Burchett has left to go to KGAN in Cedar Rapids.
Ed Heiland joins WHBF Quad Cities as co-anchor.
Facing a budget reduction of $652,000 as a result of the state budget crunch, Iowa Public Television is making cuts in its schedule. IPTV has been forced to go off the air overnight, a time when it aired college credit telecourses and educational programs that tape and use in their classrooms. Some of these shows will run during daytime hours but other shows will have to be bumped. The Des Moines Register reports that according to IPTV an estimated seventy percent of Iowa teachers use these shows. In addition, two local productions, "Iowa This Weekend" and "Student Voices" have been cancelled. IPTV plans to save utility costs by reducing its broadcast time by 1,200 per year.
KWWL-TV in Waterloo has hired former Iowa quarterback Paul Burmeister as a sports reporter. Burmeister formerly worked at KCRG-TV Cedar Rapids.(All of this from the Iowa Media Resource Page. Thanks!)
7-30-01:The big news at KWKB is that they've acquired Big 12 Conference Football, and five to seven cyclone basketball games. KWKB has also acquired the dating shows Fifth Wheel and Elimidate.(Brian Nugent)
KYOU/15 (Ottumwa) has been granted a construction permit for its digital facility on channel 14.(Upper Midwest Broadcasting)
7-23-01:Ron Oelke is out as co-anchor at WHBF-TV Quad Cities. His contract did not get picked up after it ran out at the end of June. Jason Koma moves from KFXB-TV Dubuque where he was Sports Director to become weekend sports anchor at WHOI-TV Peoria, IL. (Iowa Media Resource Page)
7-10-01:Reporter Ali Dramov is moving from Sioux City's KMEG/14 to Omaha's KPTM/42.(Upper Midwest Broadcasting)
KWWL-TV Waterloo has extended its weekday morning newscast another half hour. It now begins at 5 am which is also when KGAN starts theirs.(Iowa Media Resource Page)
In other happenings at KWWL, sports reporter Jeff Mickey has given his notice of resignation to take a job outside of the television broadcasting industry which will make Rick Coleman a one man sports department for the time being.(Iowa Media Resource Page)
Three applicants for a television broadcast license in the Quad Cities may be close to a deal pending FCC approval. The Quad City Times reports that WQPT, a public TV station owned by Black Hawk College would receive $950,000 from Jack Gartner to drop its application for channel 30. Iowa Public Television would drop its application and would instead pay WQPT $200,000 for WQPT's channel 36 which serves as a low-power repeater station. The station no longer needs channel 36 since moving channel 24 to a taller tower. Gartner's plans for the license are not known.(Iowa Media Resource Page)
Second Generation of Iowa which owns Eastern Iowa Fox stations KFXA and KFXB is building a new station in the Quad Cities that will be affiliated with the UPN. The station will be on channel 53 and plans to be on the air in September. In addition to UPN, the new station has picked up the rights to ESPN Plus Big Ten syndicated package including Iowa and Illinois football and basketball. Channel 53 will be the second station to sign on in the Quad Cities in 2001 along with KGWB. KGWB, based in Burlington, is only available on cable in the Quad Cities but plans to increase its power and move it's antenna closer to the Quad Cities before the end of the year.
6-29-01: Bryan Lessly has left KWWL to "pursue other opportunities".
6-28-01:KWWL-TV Waterloo has dropped it's Sunday morning newscast.
Bill Smith, the owner of the new Eastern Iowa UPN station,KWWF,told the Waterloo Courier that he hopes construction will begin on a tower in the next two weeks. The station will feature UPN programs like "WWF SmackDown", the new "Star Trek: Enterprise", and "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" which is moving from The WB. The station has also picked up "Judge Judy" which moves from KCRG. KWWF will broadcast on channel 22 on non-cable TV's. The station, which will have its offices in Waterloo, plans to be on the air in October or November. Smith's company, B&C Communications also has plans for a television station in Des Moines.(Iowa Media Resource Page)
6-22-01:Jay Kidwell has joined the Quad Cities' WHBF/4 as sports director.(Upper Midwest Broadcasting)
6-21-01: Happy Summer!
Chris Miller has left KGAN-TV Cedar Rapids where he was Sports Director to become the weekend sports anchor at WEWS the ABC affiliate in Cleveland.Former KWWL-TV news producer and feature reporter Gary Sarnoff has been hired as a news producer for KNXV the ABC affiliate in Phoenix, AZ. (Iowa Media Resource Page)
6-8-01:Rumor out of Waterloo is that Bryan Lesley will not have his contract renewed by KWWL. Sources say the long-time Sports Director is just the latest casualty of cost-cutting measures, joining Gary Sarnoff and Dale Hansen. Who's next on the chopping block? (Iowa Media Message Board)
6-5-01:A construction permit has been issued for KGAN-DT/51 (Upper Midwest Broadcasting)
4-9-01:
Des Moines is about to get a second prime time newscast. PAX affiliate KFPX will debut a 9 pm newscast on April 2.
KDSM debuted "Fox 17 News at Nine" on March 4. The newscast is produced at Sinclair owned sister station KGAN in Cedar Rapids and uses KGAN's anchors. It is transmitted to Des Moines by fiber optic cables that can also allow reports from Des Moines.
AT&T Broadband has reached a deal with Mediacom Communications Corp. to sell cable systems in Iowa and three other states. The sale pending approval from federal regulators is worth about $2.215 billion in cash. AT&T Broadband says the sale is fitting with their strategy to concentrate on major metropolitan areas
Citing a need to downsize due to a softening ad market, KWWL-TV Waterloo released two longtime news personalities. Dale Hansen, Farm Director and Gary Sarnoff, news producer and feature reporter were both let go after over 20 years each of service to the station. There may be something to that as they have on at least one occasion pre-empted Wheel of Fortune to air an infomercial about leprocy!
Meteorologist Josh Linker has left KGAN-TV Cedar Rapids for Bay News 9 in Tampa.
Thanks to the outsider for this info!
4-8-01: Well I have converted this webapge to cover all markets in Iowa!
1-29-01: KWWL's manager Jim Waterbury has left the station. Burlington's KJMH has switched calls to KGWB.
1-9-01:I have added an archive page and Oelwein Cable. KWWF-22 (UPN) will not be on the air til fall. I have e-mailed the owner and if you would like to get an email transcript email me.
1-4-01:I have added the Waterloo Cable Page
1-3-01: I have added a cable page for Cedar Rapids. Go to my links to utilize this. I also updated 2 errors in television staions.
1-1-01: It looks like KJMH 26 will break off from KLJB to become a WB affiliate for the Quad Cities. This does not come as a total shock as the Quad Cities had no WB affiliate and KLJB and KJMH started picking up WB programming. I would also like help with Cedar Rapids cable if anyone could help.
12-23-00: I soon hope to have a cable channel page up fo some of the larger cities.
12-20-00: KPWB the new Central Iowa WB affiliate on channel 23 plans to be on January 1.
12-18-00: Amy Johnson has left KGAN for a job at Coe College. KGAN seems to be losing personnel at all levels. Some new info on the UPN station out of Waterloo, the call letters may be KUPW. K for west of the Mississippi, UP from UPN, and W from Waterloo. this is not official though.
11-26-00:Mike Beecher is returning to KWWL to be the news director.