Local T.V. Analysis: KMOV

Local TV Analysis: KMOV-4

The first thing that I noticed about the newscast was that they opened with a live shot of the fire in Cahokia and they did not introduce the newscast at all. Also, they went straight to weather because of the tornadoes around the viewing area. I thought this was a little different, but I also thought it was a great idea because that is what most viewers would be turning on the news to watch at that moment.
Vicki Newton was the anchor the night I watched and she was wearing a white dress-like shirt with black buttons. It kind of looked like a pea coat. The meteorologist was Steve Templeton and he was wearing a black jacket with a white button up undershirt and a blue tie.
There were many reporters in the first ten minutes because all of KMOV’s stories were about the I-64/40 closure. The first reporter was Russell Kinsaul reporting in Town and Country. His report was on the I-64 closure but it had extremely poor audio quality. The second reporter was Matt Sczesny who was also reporting on the I-64 closure but he was in Olivette. Julian Grace was next and she was on 270. John Mills was on 44; he had on a leather jacket and he looked like the Fanz. Lastly, Paul Harris reported live from KMOX talking about the closure also.
One of the stories that I can think of off the top of my head was the fire in Cahokia. They started off the newscast with an overhead live shot of this and Vicki did the VO; it was really short. Another story that I remember was, of course, the I-64 closure. Every reporter was at a different highway discussing how the traffic is because of the closure. And lastly, the meteorologist Steve Templeton did a story about the tornadoes around the viewing area. He also informed viewers about other bad weather some cities should watch out for.
My overall impression of the newscast was that everyone did a great job, but I think they focused way too much on the I-64 closure. Every reporter was on the scene at a different highway reporting the traffic. Also, there was another meteorologist whose name was Kristen; she looked very unprofessional. She was wearing a quarter-length, pink, fuzzy sweatshirt and she wasn’t wearing any jewelry. Her hair was in a pony-tail and she looked like she just got finished cleaning her house.
The team seemed very credible. Even though I thought it was a little over kill, all of the reporters seemed to know what they were talking about when they were talking about the I-64 closure. The meteorologist was very thorough with his broadcast. I will probably watch this station again only to see if they have any more information than any of the rest of the stations, but I do not think I would ever turn it on first to get my information.