Dissing the Viewer

You have to smile when a TV station hires a new news anchor.  

They are quick to talk about how great the anchor is and how he/she will be such a big asset to the station.

The promos hit the air and everybody is excited for the anchor to become a part of the station.  

When the anchor leaves or is fired, the station doesn't say a word.  

If your spouse was never upfront with you, it's a good bet it won't take you long to leave them and file for divorce. In a relationship, you share the good and the bad and that's what makes the relationship work. 

TV stations want to have a relationship with the viewer. But, they don't want to share anything that is negative with the viewer.  

How often is a talent arrested and the station quickly says "we don't talk about personal matters"? 

An anchor can be at the station for years on end, but if they leave in a bad situation. the station says nothing. 

Is this really the way to treat the viewer? Do you think the viewer doesn't notice? 

You could not be more wrong and we'll prove it to you. 

Back in June FTVLive told you that longtime Phoenix Anchor Patti Kirkpatrick was missing from KTVK's air. The station said nothing at the time.

We covered the story again in July, again the station wasn't talking.  

KTVK seems to believe that viewers are so dumb, that they will forget about Kirkpatrick and move on.

But that isn't the case. 

Here is a screen capture from FTVLive's statistic site.  It shows what people that came to FTVLive.com were searching for and the terms they used. Check out just a few minutes at 7PM (EDT) or just as the 5PM newscast was hitting the air in Phoenix.  

Phoenix viewers turned to Google to find out what happened to Kirkpatrick? This is just a small snapshot from yesterday. And remember this is happening almost 3 months after Kirkpatrick was last seen on the station's air. 

The station will not tell viewers what happened and it is obvious they want to know. Thousands of people have come to FTVLive wondering what has happened to the veteran anchor and why isn't she on the air?

KTVK is not being upfront with their viewers and you can see the viewers really want to know what the deal is? 

Let's hope other stations remember this the next time they start to say "we do not comment on personal matters involving our employees." 

The viewer deserves to know. After all these are the people that let you keep your job.

Just saying....