With New Ownership, Ktzz Hopes It'll Soar

Up in the UHF reaches of the TV dial, changes are afoot.

Channel 22's new owners have finally taken control, after about a year where the station hung in limbo while the deal's details were ironed out and before the Federal Communications Commission approved the sale.

During that time, KTZZ's old owners kept expenses to a minimum. Employees who left were not replaced. Syndicated programs that lapsed were not renewed for another run. Instead, KTZZ more likely filled the gaps with paid programs, things such as Pat Robertson's ``700 Club'' or one-shot shows on getting rich with real estate. The shows pay the station for air time.

``It was like we were on hold. My hands were tied for a while,'' said KTZZ general manager Dan Lutgen, who assumed the position two years ago and will keep his job under the new owners, Richard and Robert Dudley.

The Dudleys, who formally announced the purchase of KTZZ last week, enter the Seattle market with a background in broadcasting and a portfolio that includes one other independent UHF station, WXMI-TV in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Richard Dudley said immediate changes at KTZZ would focus on ``getting the type of personnel we want at the station,'' first in the sales department. Dudley added that program changes would begin in earnest after ``a transition period of about six months.''

``We're going to be getting away from (paid programming) in the near future,'' Lutgen said. ``We're going to get back more into `classic TV.' We're looking at the new `Newhart,' and some evergreens like `Perry Mason.' ''

The first noticeable change will come next month, when Channel 22 begins airing a movie from 3 to 5 p.m. weekdays. ``The African Queen'' is one of the first on the schedule.

The station also plans a new promotion where Channel 22 will be treated as an airplane, capable of whisking viewers to fabulous destinations, Lutgen said.

The promotion will include vacation giveaways, and on-air references to the station as ``Flight 22.''

ANOTHER KING DEPARTURE

Last week's dismissal of Channel 5 news director Don Varyu wasn't the only notable managerial shake-up at King Broadcasting of late. General manager of KING AM/FM Radio, Bob Gallucci, also received the heave-ho two weeks ago.

``Bob's departure does not have any impact on KING-AM or KING-FM's strategy,'' said Stan Mak,

senior vice president/radio at King Broadcasting.

``Both (Seattle) stations are progressing along. We have no intention of changing formats.''

Gallucci joined the KING combo in 1984 as general manager of the classical FM station; in 1987 he also took over as GM of the talk-format AM station. From fall 1988 to fall '89, combined ratings for the stations grew from 5.8 percent of the target audience (adults 25-54 years old) to 6.4 percent.

The shake-up came as a ``total surprise'' to staff members, according to one station employee. A staff meeting last Thursday, the employee said, shed little light on Gallucci's departure.

In a brief phone interview, Mak would not say why he asked for Gallucci's resignation. Gallucci was also tight-lipped about the decision.

Mak ``felt he needed to make a change,'' Gallucci said. ``I didn't want to move on. But that's certainly his decision to make.''

EXTENDING HER ANCHOR

Jean Enersen has become virtually ubiquitous.

On Monday she joined Don Porter behind the anchor desk on Channel 5's 11 p.m. news, where she'll read the news Monday through Friday, while continuing to anchor or co-anchor KING's weekday newscasts at 5 and 6 p.m.

All that anchoring could drag a person down. To keep Enersen afloat, some of her previous reporting opportunities will be jettisoned.

Under the new arrangement, the chance for Enersen ``to do anything meaningful in day-to-day reporting . . . is very limited,'' said Don Varyu, who was KING-TV news director when Enersen's new role was announced, but was fired later in the week.

Enersen will continue to report and host regular specials - such as Tuesday night's hour of interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and Ken Behring.

The decision to tether Enersen more tightly to her anchor chair agrees with what is now the accepted wisdom in the local news business. Namely, anchors are paid to be Great Communicators, nothing more.

``I just don't know if in big markets like Seattle or Chicago that it's entirely compatible for a top anchor to be a real serious reporter,'' said Bruce Northcott, president of Frank N. Magid Associates, which consults more than 100 TV news operations around the world, including KIRO-TV in Seattle.

``It's a bit of an unrealistic expectation,'' said Northcott, ``given all that goes into a news broadcast in this day and age, to say a person can read two or three newscasts a day and also be out on the street gathering news in an effective manner. It's probably more important for the anchor to be a re-write person than a street reporter.''

Enersen said she still plans to find time for field reporting. ``If there are pieces I really want to do, of course I'll do them.''

According to KIRO-TV news chief John Lippman, ``all the anchors in town do about the same amount of reporting. They all know how to do it. There's not an airhead among them.'' But their obligation to reading the news means that most of the reporting focuses on ``occasional documentaries or special reports.''

That has not always been the case. In the 1970s, Northcott said, news directors shoved their anchors out from under the studio lights and into the sunlight of the sidewalks en masse to imbue them with credibility. Several stations across the country aired ads that showed their star anchors breaking shackles that held them to their desk, then bounding out into the streets to chase the news.

Things changed.

``Stations do a lot of research these days,'' said Northcott. ``I think it's shown . . . (viewers) are much more likely to be influenced by how that anchor communicates on the desk. If you're a big-time anchor, you've got to be a reader, first and foremost.''

TRUE `FRONT RUNNER'

In the kudos korner, congratulations are due KOMO-TV for its ``Front Runners'' program. The show recently won a gold medal at the prestigious New York International Film Festival, in the entertainment magazine category.

``Front Runners'' profiles individuals worldwide who excel at various pursuits. Hosted by KOMO weatherman Steve Pool, it airs Saturdays from 7:30 to 8 p.m. The program, now in its fourth season, has won local Emmys for best magazine show each of its first three years.

Producer Ken Morrison picked up the latest award last Friday at ceremonies in New York.

Media Watch by Kit Boss appears Thursday in the Scene section of The Times.