KOCO Goes All-Female at 5pm

[drumsncode]

Starting the week of November sweeps, KOCO has now gone with Jessica Schambach and Maggie Carlo as 5pm co-anchors, with Tyler Suiters anchoring at 6pm and 10pm with Maggie and Jessica, respectively.

This is a nice change, and possibly a bold, daring move. I look forward to seeing if it has a positive effect on the ratings. I can guarantee Maggie Carlo fans are thrilled about it, getting twice the Maggie they were used to.

The KOCO anchors now get two shows per night each, and anchor in every combination with each other.

It's interesting to see the KOCO strategy versus the KWTV strategy unfold, where KWTV still seems to have the "We must have a male anchor" mentality.

[jbkrems]

KOCO is not the first TV station to do this. KSDK in St. Louis has had all-female news anchors at 5pm for many years. I think the strategy is that at that hour, many women are home preparing dinner, and so they want to attract more female viewers. This is the same reason why KSDK airs "Oprah" at 4pm, right before the all-female newscast at 5pm.

[bandnerd]

The 5pm broadcasts are also usually more "family friendly" and less likely to include news about wars, people dying, and whatnot.

At least, that's what they told me at Mizzou this summer when I watched their local all-female cast deliver the 5pm news.

[El Gato Pollo Loco!!!]

two words...candy...eye....

[Big C]

The CBS Station in Little Rock, Arkansas also does all female anchor teams for their evening newscasts

[Jimmy's Big Toe]

The 5pm broadcasts are also usually more "family friendly"

This makes perfect sense since the lead in to the 5pm newscasts is Oprah.

I happen to think that KOCO has the better newscast in the metro. They need a chopper though to truly compete at the level of 4 and 9.

[soonerliberal]

KOCO did this with Jennifer Eve and I forgot who else for a couple years a while ago...

[HOT ROD]

Doesn't KOCO have a chopper?

I think another move that would definitely improve raitings is for them to move their studios downtown. If they could have a street presence, people might watch - not only from the desire if you will to see what's going on downtown but also when people are downtown they could 'connect' with the studio.

I know News 9 has a studio in bricktown but that really doesnt 'connect' with the community - I dont even know where it is. ...

But if KOCO or another station moved their production studios to downtown, that would be a HUGE boon not only for downtown but should also help a station 'connect', assuming the design is OPEN (unlike News 9).

I remember as a kid, all of the tv stations were downtown and they were part of the community. You'd always here, in downtown OKC the temp is or live from downtown Oklahoma City. .... Now days, with everything up north in the fields where their transmission towers are, they might as well be in rural OK - guessing what is going on in the city.

Moving Downtown is essential; It really helps the centre of the city be the CENTER of the city!!!

[jbrown84]

No, KOCO does not have a chopper.

Most of the stations have made major investments in their current facilities, so don't expect any of them to move downtown anytime soon.