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Biggest Story of the Year
By Michael Page | August 27, 2009
Early yesterday morning, news broke that long time Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy died. Within minutes, local stations mobilized to cover the story that will likely be the biggest story of the year in Boston.
WBZ: WBZ featured live coverage all day, beginning about 40 minutes after the news first broke. Normal CBS programming aired on WSBK. Their obit package was narrated by Lisa Hughes. They will resume coverage this afternoon when Kennedy is taken by motorcade to the JFK Library.
WCVB: Also aired coverage all day, with a somber look to its graphic’s color scheme. Their coverage began early, just after 1 AM when sources informed them of the death. During the day the station had gotten word of Kennedy’s failing health and kept staff late to be ready.
WHDH: Live coverage all day with one of their more seasoned reporters stationed at the Compound, Victoria Block. Andy Hiller was busy providing commentary all day.
WFXT: Live coverage began later, at about 3:30 AM when the morning crew arrived in. Before that, a breaking news crawl broke the news of Kennedy’s death. Live wall to wall coverage ended at 11 AM, but the station provided cut ins for the rest of the day.
So, since all of the stations took part in wall to wall coverage of this major story for at least a time on Wednesday, and will engage in more as the ceremonies for Kennedy continue, I want to know what you think. Which station did you watch? What did you like, not like? Was wall to wall necessary? Leave your comments…
I should also mention that if you are wondering how stations got the obit packages on air so fast, it is because the stations had them ready to go. Sadly, they knew this moment was coming so they have been updating them over the past several months to be ready for the news when it broke.
Topics: WBZ (Channel 4), WCVB (Channel 5), WFXT (Channel 25), WHDH (Channel 7), WSBK (Channel 38) | 60 Comments »
August 27th, 2009 at 10:54 am
I, myself, watched WHDH, just because I’ve always stayed with them. I also looked at the other stations. I think WCVB took it too far. I was excited for the prime time line-up on ABC, but WCVB just continued their coverage.
And on another note, I think this was the biggest “expected” news, but I still think Michael Jackson will be another big one, when all the investigating comes to a conclusion.
August 27th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Do you think that we are all stupid? Duh! I don’t think anyone was actually “wondering” how the stations got the obit pkgs on the air so quickly ….. most newsrooms have obits ready to go for many high profile people and celebrities – even those who are young and not sick.
Most viewers know that.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Even though this was a huge story, I do not think WCVB or WBZ 8-10, It was like the same information over and over again.
I did not think WHDH breaking in at 10 was a bad idea eventhough some people missed their show. but it was dateline?????
I Thought FOX did terrible compared to the other networks breaking in 4 5 minutes every hour
In the end i think
WHDH
WBZ
WCVB went a little to far
FOX
August 27th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I switched around between 4, 5, 7 & 25…everybody did well except 7.
Ann Allred had a absolutely stupid comment. There was a clip from Eunice Shrivers funeral where the Senator is in the passenger side of a gray van…we’ve all seen it a hundred times.
She threw in the comment like He looks like he was propped up in the van for us to see him for the last time.
I just shook my head and looked for the clicker.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Yeah, it’s not worth mentioning that NECN did 20 straight hours of live coverage or anything.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Well, Sally, I have had people ask me many times before. That is why I mentioned it. Excuse me if you feel it stupid to clear that up for those who don’t know. I appreciate your pleasant tone.
Robert: The reason I did not mention NECN is because I was not able to watch it (I was away from cable). I do have an e-mail into the station though for them to let me know how they handled their coverage.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I feel WCVB did rather well. The anchors were in black. The graphics conveyed the mood and the packages were well put together in my opinion.
I’m always disappointed in 7 and 25.. Too flashy and too much incorrect speculation for my taste.
Did anybody see any national coverage? CNN covered it all day.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I was going to mention the same thing about NECN… their coverage was exceptional IMO and definitely needs to be mentioned. Otherwise, I watched mainly WBZ and NECN, and enjoyed their coverage – no hype at all. I clicked around to the other stations at times.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
When I was watching, it was WBZ. Glad they aired the CBS special at 8pm; I watched it with my 12-year old and he really learned a lot about the Kennedy’s as a family. Enjoyed Jack’s memories, and I am a huge Jon Keller fan, so that was good, too. My only complaint is that with a hurricane approaching no station took 2 minutes to cover the weather from time to time.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Karen….I liked BZ also. They actually had Dick Flavin on to share some stories.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Marky,
That footage of him in the minvan is older than his sisters funeral. They showed it a lot but he didn’t attend any of the services for her.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Michael,
That’s understandable, I just wish it had been mentioned in the original post.
I think a good corollary for NECN’S coverage was WCVB. Both had a good rotation of anchors/reporters. I think NECN depended a bit more on canned packages (most from Alison King), which, I think, reduced some of the on-air repetition.
I will say for the record I thought the inexperience of WHDH’s staff shone through on air. Schulteis, Allred and Williams were overmatched by this story.
And it’s incredible and inexcusable that WFXT did not go up live on air until 3:30am. If all the stations (and I’m assuming they did) had the same info that Kennedy had taken a “turn for the worse” then why weren’t they prepared for his death overnight?
August 27th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
To the KEnnedy Family you havesuffers a great loss 2 weeks with his Sister leaving us He is with his Family now his Mother,Father and the brothers I was only 2 Years old when JFK was killed and 8 years old when Robert was also killed I hope your Family all the the Best and My Prayers are you with you all
Linda
August 27th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Sally,
Lighten up. No need for the stupid comment. It actually makes you look bad (I did not say stupid).
August 27th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I know BZFan…..Allred commented that “He looked proped up etc…”
August 27th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
For the most part I watched WBZ and WCVB’s coverage. Both stations did a nice job in covering the unfortunate passing of Senator Kennedy. I didn’t stop for very long on WHDH. For a story like this I’d rather see people who know just what Senator Kennedy meant to many of his constituents.
I found WFXT’s lack of coverage unsurprising. It seems that whenever there’s a big story every station is live except FOX25. Same old.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I just started watching the coverage now of Kennedy being driven from the Cape to Boston. Not the most exciting thing but I like the comments from Jack Williams and Jon Keller on WBZ. You can really tell how knowledgeable Jack is on occasions like this, he’s great.
On a kind of unrelated note I noticed that Fox and WBZ have the same helicopter shots, looks like their news sharing venture has started.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Forgot to add this to my previous post:
I agree that 7news’ young team does not work out at all when covering this story at all, I cannot watch them.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I was stuck on Channel 5 – it was nice to see Heather back in the morning – maybe they will rethink that decision and move her again. Also – I loved the graphics and the anchor desk – maybe they could keep that format as well
August 27th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I have to say that WCVB did an excellent Job they had a very Nice Tribute to Ted they had Mike Barnicle who knew Ted Personally tell some Nice stories about he and Ted i dont think this was overplayed Ted Kennedy Did a lot for the residents of Massachusetts and he did it for a long long Time i think it was Very respectful and i like the fact that in General though the Kenndys are Wealthy people they know how to mix well with everyone they treated everyone equal may Ted Kennedy Rest in Peace and Thankyou for all you have done for the residents of Massachusetts
August 27th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Ratings?
August 27th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Sorry, no ratings information yet.
August 27th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Just found my way to CNN, they’re doing a great job too. They have John King live at the JFK Library. They said he grew up in Boston and he knows a lot about the Boston area. They also have live shots from WCVB and WHDH. I have to say they are doing just as well as the locals.
August 27th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
It’s nice to see that the Boston TV stations are still right on top of this.
I’m about to go off topic, but this is exactly why Bristol County needs to be in the Boston DMA and NOT Providence. What Kennedy has done affects Bristol County. What Deval Patrick and John Kerry do affects my county. Living in Bristol County, I followed the Providence TV stations on this and they have done minimal coverage on Kennedy. Bristol County residents should NOT have to be concerned about what the Rhode Island government is doing. Sorry, I had to get this off my chest.
August 27th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
There are many people who feel that way. Strictly done on distance to the city as far as I know.
August 27th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
I think WCVB was excellent as usual. They really seperate the men from the boys.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
It was nice to see WBZ’s Peter Meade and Dick Flavin on to discuss the Kennedy legacy.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
I think that WBZ-TV and WCVB have been great jobs with the Ted Kennedy coverage.
In addition, Tim…I totally 100% agree with you.
I live in Dartmouth and HATE not having the Boston HD channels. I think that it should be our choice…and I don’t think that we should be forced to have Providence channels….When I called comcast about it, they told me it was the FCC’s choice and supposedly, they are “working on getting Boston HD channels back to Bristol County”…..
Michael, you are right about the distance. But, what I don’t get, is…Cape Cod is consider within Boston’s DMA! Aren’t we closer to Boston than the Cape?! I mean, I sure think we are….Plus, we aren’t that much further than Plymouth county….lol
August 27th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I live in Holden, just outside of Worcester, and we just recently received WLVI CW56 (and WSBK) in our HD lineup with Charter Communications. (Added to WBZ, WCVB, WFXT, WHDH). We also receive Providence’s NBC10 in standard definition, but that’s it.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:01 am
There are some bitter ironies to this: First of all, he died on my birthday which is quite a shame, I wish him well up there and his family well here. Second, I was in a van coming back from a roadtrip from Atlanta, and we got the story because we happened to turn on to 1010 WINS in New York.
I can’t say anything about coverage of the situation, sadly.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Who was the female reporter on yesterday around 4:00, I believe on WBZ, that ended every sentence with “fer sure”. What an amateur.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Don’t know…anyone?
August 28th, 2009 at 9:42 am
For Wednesday, I was only able to tune in during the morning from a bit after 5 to just after 8. My go to is always 5 and they were consistent as usual. Say what you’d like about deregulation and duopoli, but 4 and 38′s common ownership allowed us a valuable perspective because while 4 stayed local, 38 carried the CBS early show with Harry Smith in Hyanus port and I thought he and Katie’s coverage did the story well. By contrast,, the other pair of stations did not see it fit to replace the infomercials on 56 with the Today show. I saw Barnical briefly on MSNBC and CNN went into a break showing footage from JFK’s funeral. Regarding Fox, if 25′s late re-action is troublesome, the lack of coverage and tone of the Fox News Channel’s morning show between 7 and 8 was luticrous and border line disrespectful. I didn’t look at 7 until last night’s (thursday’s) 10oclock hour on 56, but Dan Hausley, Vicky Block, Michelle Rellafor, Jonathan Hall and Andy Hiller were professional in covering the motorcade and public viewing. Frances and Christa were on the anchor desk and did a steady job.
August 28th, 2009 at 11:17 am
I need to vent about WHDH. I noticed it during the coverage for Eunice, and it become even more glaringly apparent during this past week. Their anchors are too youg and inexperienced to cover such a story. I noticed error, after error, in commenting on family members as well as inappropriate comments and observations. They should be embarrased. They should spend 1/2 the time doing the research and perfecting their delivery as they do on their hair and make-up. Upper management should be embarrased. As usual, I turned to the polish and experience of ‘BZ and WCVB.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
…Also, outside of the Kennedy coverage, has anyone else noticed the obvious flirting between Anne and Adam in the morning? Are they seeing each other outside work? I only have WHDH on before the Today Show starts, and it’s too much.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
The most insane commentary came from Healther Unruh at Channel 5: As Mrs. Kennedy was watching the military honor guard place her husbands coffin in the hearse outside of their seaside home, heather said: “Vickie has a strange look on her face.” The woman is beyond exhaustion and grief and Heather makes this observation! Another gem from this WCVB star is when she opined that fidning Kennedy’s Senate replacement will be as big a challenge as when chaneel 5 had to find Natalie Jacobson’s replacement. When Heather is forced to speak without the teleprompter, she makes a big fool out of herself. Paula Eben, Randy Price and Jack Williams all get five stars for their onair class, gravitas and communications skills. The female duo during the 6 pm news on the day Kennedy died were dressed and looked like two cougars at the bar at Abe and Louie’s.
and the garish set behind these two was outlandish.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
On yesterday’s coverage of Ted Kennedy, I heard a comment during the six o’clock report. Although I am not sure who was reporting at that moment. “These are not the best or the brightest, the healthiest or the well healed” I still do not entirely know what to make of it, was it a depiction or an insult. This appeared while a video of some young,older, mixed white and black mourners were being presented by WBZ to the viewers at large. If someone reading this would like to help me sort this out for my own understanding, thanks.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Hi I am from New Bedford MA and I watched WHDH 7 News I think they had the best coverage all day and night I was very impressed with there coverage I watch WHDH 7 in the morning, afternoon, evening, at 11 PM. just my opinion
August 28th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Perhaps a tad off topic, however when I see the friendship (which is being depicted) of Ted Kennedy and Mr. Obama I worry that It is not nearly as it appears to be touted. If this was President Bush, How many times would he have visited the late Kennedy? Considering this would be the last time anyone would see him alive, wouldn’t the current President need to confer and simultaneously share in the families moments? Too bad Mr, Obama shunned the Otherwise welcoming nature of the cape. This subject is not reported by any media. I feel it should be a critical piece, since never before has a President has had such a precious opportunity.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I think that there is so much competition for anchor spots on ALL of the channels that they’re all looking for that one sound bite that makes them a star.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
John King grew up in Dorchester and was a perfect choice to cover this story for CNN. I felt at times as if they were a local station.
WHDH has always shown their downright ineptitude whenever a big story breaks. They’re all flashing lights and makeup.
I really appreciated BZ’s coverage, but stuck with WCVB for most time. Agreed Unruh can make off color remarks without prompter.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
About that Adam, Anne comment. I thought Adam Williams was gay? I’m not trying to be funny or anything, I seriously think he is.
August 28th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Do you honestly think Frances Rivera does any research? HAH! All she does is go in there, does the news, and goes home! AND… have you EVER seen her on the streets doing a report. Nope. She doesn’t do interviews… nothing! Think about it!!
August 28th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Matt, Frances has done interviews. I think she is one of the best on WHDH but the morning team is really bad except for dylan and i think she is a really good meteorologist
Now i have been watching BZ more now
August 29th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Natalie is back on 5 this morning! Very fitting.
August 29th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Just finishing up 3+ days of coverage on this and have to say it was all WBZ and WCVB. BZ’s experienced staff (especially Jon Keller) and panel made it seem effortless, though Jack looked increasingly tired as it wore into Day 2. WCVB would have gotten my nod were it not for the horrendous graphic used on the split screen and the tendancy of their staff to step on each other and tell completely different stories at the same time over each other. That graphic was maddening. Why have a huge HD tv screen if 2/3 of it are taken up with a static graphic? We were told what we were watching by the anchors, but couldn’t actually see it.
Lastly, where was WHDH at the funeral? I was surprised that they ran national MSNBC/NBC coverage with no local commentary or presence at all. Was Frances taping breaking recipe news at Todd English’s kitchen? Granted their coverage was shallow at best, but to not even show up was a huge gaffe.
Good job BZ, and even smarter to run national CBS coverage on WSBK.
August 29th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Heard Natalie earlier. GREAT! WCVB remains live throughout the day and they just had CNN’s Don Lemon check in from D.C.
August 29th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
It is a big story, but I don’t think the world stopped because of it. I would have liked to have seen what else was going on in the region.
August 29th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
A few things although already Mentioned here is that WCVB did a great job today(SAT) i thought it was very smart of them to have Natalie share a few minutes on her personal and prof dealings With Ted Kennedy on another Note that is driving me Nuts ( sorry maybe minor to the rest of you) but Senator Edward Kennedy was Buried in a Casket Not a Coffin there is a diffrence i know, i know Minor but irritating and did anyone Notice that the Hearse that was used from the begining until the Arrival at Hanscomb had NO license plate on the Vehicle !
August 29th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I think the coverage was over the top. No doubt the footage for this has been ready to go for some time. It seems as if the stations were tripping over themselves roll this from the minute they got word. Yes, the Kennedy’s have been around for a long time, but I think the story was made larger than what it should have. Some simple coverage of the funeral events at the time they occurred rather than a blow by blow of every little detail like hearse leaving the compound, family milling about the complex, etc would have worked just as well.
Unfortunately, Boston news came to a grinding halt and other more important stories like the officer killed in the line of duty in Weymouth and the abducted girl/lady in California only received short segment as if they were small news.
The media feeds into the belief that these politicians are such dogooders and larger than life, when many are in fact out if touch with the “common folk”, the Kennedy’s being a prime example.
The coverage should have been more balanced. I ran in to quite a few people of different ages and political beliefs that simply shut their TV’s off the past couple days because that was all that was on. Hopefully the stations don’t continue the love fest too long into next week. How many worthy stories did they ignore for this?
Frank
August 29th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
I’M GLAD WHDH AIRED THE NBC NATIONAL COVERAGE!
August 29th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Am I the only one that thinks WCVB is taking it too far? They’re always the last ones to sign off and just keep talkkinggg.
August 29th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Matt, You are not alone. I had to keep hearing about how they’ve been on the air non-stop since this morning. By eight o’clock Harding, Unruh, and Brunner started talking absolute nonsense. There was no need to remain live between the funeral and burial service. They could have easily re-run some Kennedy specials from years ago; or better yet, return to the network programming.
I admit to tuning into Channel 5 once ‘BZ would drop out of coverage but it would become unbearable after a few minutes and I would find something else to watch. It became embarrassing.
August 29th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Regardless of who stayed on the longest, why did WBZ drop out of the funeral coverage, run a ton of commercials, and switch coverage to WSBK so they could carry a meaningless pre-season football game? they then dumped out of coverage on Ch 38 to run the Revolution. At least that makes sense, if you are owned by the Patriots. Very sad what happened here tonight
August 29th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
I wonder how many people were watching at that point.
August 30th, 2009 at 10:21 am
JW – I know how rabid some football fans can be. No doubt they’d be screaming bloody murder if the Pats were pre-empted. No matter what the reason.
Fox-25, on the other hand, normally shows their baseball Game of the Week at 4PM on Saturdays. They did not show it, they continued with funeral coverage, even though it was long over and the casket was en route to DC. I wonder, though…if the Red Sox were the game of the Week, would they have showed it, or kept up with the funeral coverage?
I mostly watched the coverage on WBZ, and it was pretty good.
August 30th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I thought it was rather curious for any outlet to stay live in those several hours between the funeral mass and the time they had the ceremony on the capital steps sometime after 6:00. As much as I’m a CH5 guy, they were running out of things to say by the time the motorcade was headed for Hanscomb allthough I was impressed with having Gail Huff capture those people waiting on the side of 128. I thought there Sat morning coverage leading up to the funeral was superior, with Ed and Liz anchoring from the church, Randy and Bianca at the library, Jack Harper getting crowd reaction, Pam Cross at the end of the funeral procession, and others being well deployed. I watched CH4 for a bit leading up to the mass and I thought they relied a little too heavily on Jack, Lisa and John Keller in the studio. It was obvious to me that Jack was starting to try a little too hard after three plus days. I watched the entire Mass live on Ch5 and not a single on air reporter said a word from the time the hurst pulled up to the time the Senator’s body left the church. Late last night I saw the rebroadcast on NECN and RD Saul felt it necessary to provide transitional comments or context especially between the Kenedy Sons and the President’s eulogies.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
JW, I don’t see the parallel you’re trying to draw with the Patriots. They weren’t even playing last night. It was a national CBS game. I also don’t understand your problem with TV38 eventually dropping coverage for the Revolution. By that point in time there was nothing more to report anyway.
I wasn’t saddened that I had to switch to TV38 to continue watching. The effort expended to do so was negligible.
August 31st, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I have to say channels 4 and 5 had the best coverage. Channel 7 had one good part and that being Victoria Block as a seasoned reporter at the Kennedy Compound. I liked when Channel 7 aired NBC coverage on Saturday especially Tom Brokaw at JFK Library.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Kennedy ratings…
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/09/kennedys_funera.html#comments