Kcpq-TV set to start morning broadcast

The format's hammered out. The faces are in place. Now, the question is whether KCPQ-TV can break through the cloudiness of Seattle's mornings.

We'll see on Monday, when the Fox affiliate unveils its weekday a.m. broadcast, set to air between 6 and 9. Local TV reporter Christine Chen and Sam Shane, who comes to Seattle from Bay-area ABC affiliate KGO-TV, co-anchor the program.

They'll be joined by traffic reporter Stacie Kern, Debbie Wiedemer on the lifestyle beat, and meteorologist Walter Kelley. News director Todd Mokhtari indicated another breaking-news reporter, Kristi Paulus, will likely join the broadcast during week two. And featured contributor Frank Catalano will regularly present technology reports.

"The biggest focus of our show is that we're featuring local live info," Mokhtari said. "Everyone else is there between 6 and 7, but from 7 to 9 we're mostly up against old East Coast shows."

That gives the "Q" an advantage with Seattle viewers looking for more extensive traffic, weather and breaking TV news with their pre-drive coffee, a strategy that's already a proven success in Oakland and Los Angeles. But the goal is to keep things light.

"We want to keep it like a forward-looking show instead of `Here's who died yesterday,' " Mokhtari said.