Scripps Fires GM During Sweeps

You know you're really in trouble if you get fired AND it's the middle of sweeps.

That's what happened this AM at KMTV in Omaha.  A quick meeting was called with less than 40 minutes notice, to announce that Chis Sehring is out the door. Sources in the station say Sehring is a nice guy, but not very effective.

Bets are being placed on how long ND Joe Spadea lasts, but rumor has it his life support will be pulled very soon.

Interestingly, Sehring musn't have had much notice, because here's the memo he sent out last week:

Dear KMTV Colleagues:

First, thanks to everyone for your hard work during this important May rating period. Our News has featured a number of terrifically compelling stories, our on-air Promotion and Social Media outreach have helped us recruit new fans, our small (for now) yet mighty Sales team is hustling for every ad dollar, and our top-notch Engineering and Production staffs are keeping the "juice" and programming flowing.

The "proof is in the pudding." For the first few days of this sweep (according to ComScore/Rentrak):

*   KMTV's 430p News Viewer Share is up 21% from April.
*   KMTV's 5p News Viewer Share is up 19%.
*   KMTV's 6p News Viewer Share is up 16%.
*   KMTV's 10p News Viewer Share is up 6%.

Yes, it's early in the rating period. But these first reports are tremendously encouraging -- and all of you deserve congratulations!

The May sweep ends next Wednesday, so please give this final week everything you've got. We'll then plan to get together next Friday for an all-staff meeting to review our success and celebrate your wonderful, well-earned achievements.

Keep up the great work, team!

Thank you!

Chris

Christopher Sehring | VP & General Manager
KMTV-TV | 10714 Mockingbird Drive | Omaha | NE68127
(402) 593-2705 | cell:(402) 321-5054 | chris.sehring@scripps.com