WLKY-TV has signed a long-term deal to lease a fancy new helicopter and is re-asserting its claim as the only local station flying in the mornings giving traffic reports and covering news.
The station sent a news release this week touting the new digital NewsChopper 32.1, which if fully HD and carries an onboard 16 x 9 reporter camera. In other words, it’s got all the bells and whistles. The station has its own dedicated pilot, and its copter is housed at its Mellwood Avenue HQ.
The station just began using the new helicopter, which has new graphics and will be flying every morning.
“It’s a big advantage for us because if you look at what everybody else it’s graphics and maps,” said G.M. Glenn Haygood. “Then if you’re a commuter and you see a picture of traffic in your commute, it means more to the viewers.”
Both WAVE and WHAS operate their leased helicopters from Bowman Field.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Steve Coomes // May 6, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I’m all for WLKY spending to get an advantage in the marketplace, but that sure seems a huge investment in a part of the newscast I find less than crucial (full and fair disclosure: I work from home).
Seems spending at least a portion of that dough on more quality reporting would help ratings more, but then again, they know their business better than I.
2 Mark H // May 6, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Unfortunately, there is a reason that USA Today is the top-selling newspaper by 25%. It certainly isn’t the great reporting. The mass public loves pictures, graphics and videos. USA Toady made its name through color photos (at the time uncommon) and detailed graphics utilized to help convey events and time lines.
I can’t imagine that WLKY would make that capital investment in this economy, if the market research didn’t justify it. My guess is that most of the general people would rather watch a high-speed chase on HD, than watch a great investigative story by Mark Heibert.
3 David Harpe // May 6, 2009 at 2:13 pm
The helicopter is not “housed” at the WLKY studios. They have a landing pad outside the studio. Sometime during the day they fly the helicopter from the airport and park it at the pad. After the news they fly back to the airport and park it in a hangar just like everyone else.
4 Carter Burger // May 6, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Thank you David. I cringe every time I hear one of their station “based” promos. More often than not, I don’t see the chopper at the station the times I drive by. It’s usually only there in the late afternoon before the newscasts start.
And the new super dino-whopping HD chopper does me no good after I’m on the road. Guess it’s easier to spend money on pretty decorations than spending money on decent on-air talent.
5 Marko // May 6, 2009 at 3:19 pm
WLKY could extend its reach and its brand, and do a big public service for commuters like CB, by partnering with a radio station like WHAS that no longer has a traffic helicopter. Of course, maybe the WAVE-3 weather contract has WHAS-AM all wrapped up for the time being.
6 Henry Watterson // May 6, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Mark H:
Your criticism of USA Today seems oddly placed, especially considering that this item is about a local TV station’s helicopter. Why does it bother you that a newspaper was successful when it gave its readers what they wanted?
7 KYGuy // May 6, 2009 at 8:47 pm
No local HD from 32.
8 Crutnacker // May 6, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Marko, I’m with you. WHAS traffic has gone to crap since they retired the copter. The reports are so vague and old that they might as well say, “there’s some accidents out there” and be done with it.
9 Carter Burger // May 7, 2009 at 9:01 am
kyguy, no WLKY does not originate any programming in HD. Unlike WAVE who does. Perhaps getting a chopper outfitted for HD means they are about to. Or it could just be a marketing ploy. I think it would be ironic if WHAS-TV were the last station to originate HD programming since they are the alleged market leader.
WHAS radio now gets their traffic information from http://www.trimarc.org. They days of Dick Gilbert are long gone.
10 Dan Chesser // May 8, 2009 at 11:42 am
Content is more important than hype. Watch for all the mind numbing promos touting the “Super Chopper in the Sky”. Saw them shooting air to air video last week. Bottom line is if they fail to provide the content that viewers want and expect, the ratings will not spike enough to justify the resource. It looks like a “balls to the wall” effort to attempt to take ratings points from WHAS and GMK. Serious amount of eggs in one basket if it doesn’t happen.
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