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The Fresno Bee, Calif., Rick Bentley column: KSEE upgrades news set
Aug 25, 2010 (The Fresno Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Matt Rosenfeld has been planning a major upgrade of the KSEE (Channel 24.1) newscast since he took over as general manager just more than year ago. That planning gave way to construction three months ago and the result is a revamped look to be revealed Friday.
Rosenfeld won't say the exact cost of the upgrades, but it was more than six figures. The biggest chunk was the purchase of three new studio cameras.
Rosenfeld and news director Chris Manson say good planning and a lot of staff support meant the changes could be made within a tight budget.
Management, anchors, reporters and other staff members were at the station on weekends swinging hammers and wielding paintbrushes. Rosenfeld is particularly proud of the green screen wall used to report weather because he painted it himself.
The news set has been rebuilt for more of a cable news program look. It's in the same studio as before but the space appears to be bigger.
Art director Mark Aro created two wall-size photos: one that looks like office space to the right of the anchor desk, and the other of an outdoor scene behind an interview area.
Changes go beyond the set. On-air graphics now feature a blue and silver color scheme, a more subtle palette than the stark red that had been used.
There's even a new wide- screen format--a big switch from the one that has been the TV norm for decades.
And there still are more changes to come. "We are only about 75% done," Rosenfeld told me this week during an early morning rehearsal.
Additional changes will include an upgrade to the station's weather package, set for October.
This is the fifth set redesign for KSEE anchor Faith Sidlow. She is more excited about philosophical changes at the station, including more "stories that matter," the station's slogan. Manson brought in a philosophy of looking for more in-depth stories rather than just covering the standard crime and government beats. To do this, he has doubled the station's news team on some days.
Now everyone has to wait to see whether the changes build ratings.
Winning steps
The Clovis brother and sister dance team of Jacob Johnson, 16, and Nicole Marie Johnson, 11, picked up the $10,000 prize in Friday's episode of the CMT series "Your Chance To Dance." He attends Clovis West and she goes to Liberty Elementary.
Contestants must re-create famous dance numbers from TV, film or music videos. The Johnsons dressed as a football player and cheerleader to dance to Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now."
Other news
Off the air: Modesto radio station KMPH (AM 840) will go off the air starting 9 a.m. Aug. 31. Jim P. Pappas, vice president and general manager Pappas Radio of Modesto, blamed "an insufficient growth in revenue" as the reason to end operations of the talk radio station.
KMPH signed on July 2006 as a replacement for sister station KTRB (AM 860). KTRB signed off in June 2006, after 73 years in Modesto, to move to San Francisco.
Debate televised: Local Fox TV affiliate KMPH (Channel 26.1) will broadcast the Barbara Boxer-Carly Fiorina U.S. Senate race debate live at 7 p.m. Sept. 1. The debate will take place at Saint Mary's College in Moraga. It will be followed by an episode of the station's political series "California Vote 2010" anchored by Monty Torres.
TV and movie critic Rick Bentley can be reached at rbentley@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6355. Read his blog at fresnobeehive.com.
To see more of The Fresno Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
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