Personality is important for KSTP hire

In replacing sports anchor Rod Simons, the TV station is considering nontraditional ideas.

By JUDD ZULGAD, Star Tribune

Last update: May 1, 2008 - 7:42 PM

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Considering KSTP television allots only 2 1/2 minutes for its sports segment during the 10 p.m. news, it seemed reasonable that last week's decision to part with sports anchor Rod Simons might mean the station will ditch sports altogether.

But news director Lindsay Radford said, "We haven't had any discussions of cutting sports."

Once Simons leaves -- his contract runs until October -- KSTP probably won't keep things as they are, however.

"When we look at hiring our next main sportscaster we have to find someone who can make sports relevant to the average news viewer," Radford said. "That has to go beyond just giving highlights and scores, because those can come from anywhere.

"The challenge is to make sports not only creative but interesting to the regular viewer, and that means adding personality to sports and personal stories without turning it into a feature segment. That balance is something we are debating right now. We are not there yet."

Radford already has started looking at tapes. While sports reporters Anne Hutchinson and Ryan Kibbe are in the mix, there are a couple of people in other markets that intrigue station management. An outside-the-box type of hire -- think something along the line of KARE's Eric Perkins and his off-the-wall "Perk at Play" bits -- wouldn't be surprising. Radford also didn't slam the door on considering a former athlete.

Ex-Ch. 5 sports guys Joe Schmit and Eric Gislason don't appear to be candidates. "We have not been contacted by Eric, and he hasn't expressed interest," Radford said. "Joe hasn't expressed interest. ... I would say we will most likely be going in a new direction."

Schmit, who spent 21 years at KSTP and is president of Minnetonka-based Petters Media and Marking Group, said he doesn't expect to hear from his former employer. "I'm perfectly happy with the way my new career is going," he said. Gislason, vice president of Wall to Wall media in Edina and co-host of "Kent Hrbek Outdoors," echoed those comments. "At this time of my life I'm very happy with what I've got going," he said.

Radford said there are ongoing discussions about the future of KSTP's "Sports Wrap" program that runs during Vikings season. One thing that won't change is the station's focus on high schools. "We are going to hang onto that and develop it," she said.

Fine-tuning

• The long-running "Canterbury Report" will move to the Internet. Unable to work out a suitable time slot with WUCW (Ch. 23), the post-race show will be on the track's website, www.canterburypark.com. A new edition will debut an hour after the last race each day during the season and then be available on demand.

• It's interesting that Northern Lights Broadcasting, which like the Twins is owned by the Pohlad family, bought an AM station out of St. Peter, Minn., with the baseball-friendly call letters of KRBI. An owner of such call letters can request through the FCC to change them to a different frequency on the same band. For the record, the Twins' agreement with KSTP (1500 AM) runs through 2010. Northern Lights also owns Twin Cities-based B96.

• The decision to shorten the time between picks on the first day of the NFL draft and start the event later did not pay off in the ratings. ESPN's figures for Saturday were down 15 percent from a year ago. Locally, ESPN finished with a 2.7 rating for its two days of coverage, up from a 2.5 in 2007.

• Look for Brett Favre to make an appearance on ESPN's telecast of the Packers' season opener against the Vikings on Sept. 8. Green Bay will retire Favre's No. 4 that night. That might be the only time Favre appears in a TV booth next season. Word is that if Favre is going to try his hand at TV it probably won't be until 2009.

• Those who want to watch the men's World Hockey Championships can sign up for a one-month pass ($4.95) at www.WCSN.com. The tournament starts today, and all games will be streamed live.

• ESPN Regional Television has added another college bowl game to the landscape. The St. Petersburg Bowl, which will be played at Tropicana Field, will be aired by ESPN in December.

Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com

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