To that, Brown says, "We'll wait and see. But I think he's wrong and I'm right."
A similar debate about gadgetry, but on a larger scale, is taking place between Channel 9, the 10 p.m. news leader, and Channel 4, which is spending gobs of money attempting to climb into first place. Channel 4's biggest move to date was to make a two-year deal with the Denver Broncos to become the "official" Broncos station, a designation that brings with it the right to broadcast pre-season games and a coach's show. Channel 9 president and general manager Roger Ogden, whose outlet had enjoyed these privileges since the first half of the '90s, says one reason he didn't fight harder to hold the team was a conflict between pre-season games and Summer Olympics coverage. But the bottom line was also a factor. "Under the contractual agreement we had, we weren't losing a lot of money, but we weren't really making any," he concedes. "Since we obviously couldn't preempt the Olympics, we would have had to purchase time from another station to have the Games carried, which would have turned a financial situation that wasn't entirely satisfactory into one that was entirely unsatisfactory."
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When Channel 4 decided to up the ante, Channel 9 personnel had to readjust their verbiage. One January morning, sportscaster Drew Soicher referred to his outlet as the official Broncos station; then, an instant later, he grinned sheepishly and said, "Oh. Not anymore."
More recently, the stations have conducted a promo battle over whose Doppler radar system is better. Channel 4's pimping of its "Live Doppler 4000" system, with weathercaster Larry Green enthusing about the doodad like Mr. Wizard on nitrous, was followed quickly by Channel 9 response ads in which tornado dancer Mike Nelson declared that his station's "HD Doppler 9" was still on top. Given that neither foresaw a hefty January 25 snowstorm that came close to paralyzing a wholly unprepared metro area, the winners of this competition probably aren't viewers.
Channel 9 has also been waxing promotional about broadcasting December's Xcel Energy Parade of Lights in HDTV, or high-definition television -- and the focus on high-def that extends to the new name of its Doppler gear (it used to be "Super Doppler") will tighten in the coming months. The station's newscasts will soon be getting the HDTV treatment, and in the spring, Channel 9 will christen a new chopper that Ogden says will deliver "the first live high-definition pictures from a helicopter in the country."
To which Channel 4 will probably counter with a fleet of helicopters. Watch the skies!
In the meantime, Channel 9 is heading into the February sweeps ratings period, which looked to be the first with Bob Kendrick -- its new primary anchor -- front and center. But not so fast. Ogden says Kendrick has been well-received by the station's audience, and the anchor certainly has plenty of gravitas. Indeed, he's often downright grave, coming across at times like an understanding but somewhat foreboding funeral director. Yet Ogden notes that the retirement-bound Ed Sardella will remain at the 10 p.m. helm throughout the month.
That probably doesn't make Sardella happy, since he told Westword he hoped to fulfill his contractual obligations to Channel 9 by the end of last year ("The Old Guard," September 4, 2003). However, it gives viewers the chance to enjoy his old-school approach a little while longer. The January 22 broadcasts on Channel 31 and Channel 9 provided a telling contrast in values. Toward the end of Channel 31's newscast, the station followed an announcement that there was "more news to come" with a lengthy story about how to read body language -- and while the package may have been newsier than, say, preceding segments about American Idol that prompted anchor Ron Zappolo to joke about entering the contest, it wasn't exactly Harvest of Shame. As for Sardella, he mentioned during Channel 9's report that the evening's debate among Democratic presidential aspirants could be seen later that evening on Nightline, which just happens to air on a rival station, Channel 7.
Thank goodness Sardella is bowing out. A person who puts news judgment first is an awfully dangerous commodity.
