In mid-July, Flashlight broke the news that KTBY channel 4, Anchorage’s Fox affiliate, would be ending it’s deal with KTVA channel 11, which for years had produced KTBY’s local news broadcast—the only local 9 p.m. television news program. Flashlight had learned that KTBY would be launching its own prime time news broadcast, and on September 22, this was confirmed in a press release from Kirsten Bolton, General Manager of KTBY, announcing an October 1 launch of its own weeknight 9 p.m. news show.

The new KTBY broadcast is anchored by Trill Gates, a former morning show co-host on country radio station KBEAR 104.1, and has a slate of topical correspondents for weekly segments, including Jeanie Greene of Heartbeat Alaska, business correspondent Tom Myers, who’s deputy director of the Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Dr. Ty Vincent of Mat-Su Integrative Medicine, and entertainment gadflies Eddie P. and Big Mitch.

The broadcast is quite obviously a startup, with no reporters other than Gates, who still needs to find her voice as an anchor and move away from the eager kindergarten-teacher tone. Also, on a recent Monday night, there was coverage—but no actual footage—of both the Palin and Obama rallies in Anchorage. Gates’s recital of figures about the Obama rally sounded like she’d read the campaign’s press release verbatim. The broadcast culled national and worldwide footage from other sources, but outside of Myers’ business report, there appeared to be no original video except of Gates inside the studio. “A baby has been born, and now we’ve got to grow it,” Bolton tells Flashlight, explaining that KTBY will be developing a staff of reporters and photojournalists. “The first couple of months is just mastering the mechanics.”

It always seemed odd that KTBY ran a 9 p.m. broadcast that KTVA, which broadcasts its local news at 10 p.m., produced. Bolton agrees, saying that the new KTBY newscast is for “the sheer independence of it. There’s an inherent conflict when your competitor produces your news; they’ll never make it better than their own.”

KTBY’s entrance into local broadcast news comes at a time when the Anchorage market has seen some flux, with long-dominant KTUU channel 2 being sold to an Outside company and long-time news director John Tracy and popular reporter Megan Baldino leaving the station. KTVA has also grown its operation, with two new anchors, Matt Felling and Dianne Baker, and several new reporters on its team.

“I think our timing is excellent,” Bolton says, and adds that she’s heard a lot of positive feedback.

Flashlight’s opinion of the broadcast isn’t exactly what you’d term “positive,” but the broadcast has only been on the air slightly over a week, so judgment is being withheld for the time being. In the news business, like other businesses, competition breeds excellence, so Flashlight hopes that a new outlet entering the local broadcast news market will further push the news teams to competitive new heights.

bjk@anchoragepress.com