TV beefs up Super Tuesday coverage

Maybe it's the too-close-to-call atmosphere. Maybe it's the writers' strike, which has left viewers hungry for juicy drama. Maybe it's Anderson Cooper's hair. Whatever the reason, the presidential race has been getting unprecedented, boffo ratings, a trend that's likely to continue Super Tuesday, in which 24 states, including Minnesota, will hold primaries or caucuses.

"We're staffing it like it's election night," said Tom Lindner, KARE's news director.

The four major affiliates in the Twin Cities will rely heavily on big-picture coverage from the networks, but each will put its own spin on the contest throughout the evening. While considering which channel will get your support, consider what each will be offering:

KARE (NBC): Six reporters will be out in the field while John Croman and Scott Goldberg will provide national perspective. Dave Schultz of Hamline University and Steve Smith, who teaches at Washington University in St. Louis but lives here, will offer in-house expertise.

"We've opted to go the political-science route rather than have representation from both parties, because the story needs a lot of sorting out this year," Lindner said.

NBC is providing local affiliates a three-minute window during the 9 p.m. hour. Of course, Lindner will be prepared to interrupt the national feed at any time it seems necessary.

"If Walter Mondale wins the caucus, we'll probably do a cut-in," he said.

WCCO (CBS): Pat Kessler, the station's 3,000-pound political gorilla, will be front and center both in the studio and on his blog. He'll be joined by University of Minnesota political analyst Larry Jacobs. Four reporters will be checking in from across the Twin Cities, but news director Scott Libin said that, for the most part, the heavy lifting will be done by the network.

"You've got to be careful to stay out of the way of the national story," said Libin, who suspects that WCCO will cut into prime-time coverage two or three times during the evening. "We're not, in my opinion, one of the big, critical swing states. We want to focus on what's uniquely Minnesotan, like our Senate race, but we can't presume to have more important things to say than what they've got at CBS News."

KSTP (ABC): News director Lindsay Radford said a whopping nine reporters will be assigned to candidates and caucus precincts throughout the evening while Carleton College's Steve Schier provides his thoughts in the studio. Look for cut-ins at the top and bottom of every half-hour.

"Our focus will be on being aggressive and getting the numbers in fast," Radford said.

KMSP (Fox): Unlike the competition, KMSP doesn't have a national-news show to air. What they do have is a daily 9 p.m. news hour, which will be mostly dedicated to primary and caucus results. Six reporters will be out in the field, while former Gov. Arne Carlson provides his thoughts in the studio.

What's unique this year, according to news director Bill Dallman, is an 8 p.m. news program, hosted by Jeff Passolt, Robyne Robinson and Marni Hughes, that will air exclusively on its website. The Internet will also be home base for Tom DiBacco, a former ABC News reporter, who will blog throughout the evening.

Dallman said the station's coverage won't include a lot of talking heads.

"I'm a big believer that people want the numbers," he said. "That's our focus."

North High School gets graded in "Lessons From Little Rock: A National Report Card," a new documentary airing 9 p.m. Sunday on TV One. The show, which looks at the status of black students since the 1957 "Little Rock Nine" made the news, devotes much of its time to the Minneapolis school, which boasts a number of top black students who don't have the resources to reach their full potential.

Minneapolis native Genevieve Gorder, one of the original designers for TLC's "Trading Spaces," will be returning to decorating duty. She'll host "Dear Genevieve," which is expected to premiere on HGTV in 2009.

Minnpost.com was a winner last week in more ways than one. The three-month-old news website added another big-name journalist to its roster by naming Susan Albright as its co-managing editor. Albright, who served as the Star Tribune's editorial page editor for 15 years, will work alongside Roger Buoen, another former Stribber. In addition, a three-person team from MinnPost, which included media critic David Brauer, managed to win the fourth annual Media Bowl competition, squeaking by a very determined WCCO squad. The Star Tribune team has requested an investigation into steroid use and is awaiting those results.

njustin@startribune.com • 612-673-7431