KOMO Seattle

Sinclair Broadcast Group’s ABC affiliate KOMO Seattle has hired Tyrah Majors as the latest member of its morning news team. She starts Dec. 28 as traffic anchor/reporter. Majors will anchor morning traffic segments on air, online and on social in addition to reporting for KOMO News at 11 a.m. She joins KOMO News morning team […]

With Sinclair Broadcast Group’s blackout of two ABC affiliates on Frontier Communications in Seattle and Portland reaching the one-month mark, Frontier has begun offering free access to premium channels HBO, Showtime and Starz to affected customers.

The new 3:30 p.m. broadcast will also be available on Periscope, Facebook and the Sinclair Seattle ABC affiliate’s website.

KOMO Plaza, which hosts the local ABC-affiliated TV and radio stations in the shadow of Seattle’s Space Needle, has been sold for $276 million in one of Seattle’s biggest real-estate deals of the year. An entity linked to San Francisco-based investment firm GI Partners purchased the two-building campus from Hines Securities, which bought the property in 2011 from the former Fisher Communications.

In an FAQ on the websites of KOMO Seattle and KATU Portland, Ore., owner Sinclair Broadcast Group says the current retransmission agreement with Frontier Communications expires on Dec. 31 and “the station does not expect that the station will be able to reach agreements with Frontier Communications that allows for further carriage of these stations.”

With Sinclair’s new ownership of Seattle’s KOMO, there’s a big drive to dethrone Gannett’s KING from the No. 1 news spot. But the NBC affil KING isn’t resting on its laurels. And while KIRO’s news leadership is in flux, it’s also got a stake in the ratings race.

Federal investigators trying to determine the cause of Tuesday’s fatal crash of the KOMO news chopper said Thursday they will be examining the pilot’s recent history for factors that could contribute to fatigue. An NTSB leader said that officials want to understand how pilot Gary Pfitzner, who died in the Tuesday crash, balanced his two jobs — early mornings in the helicopter followed by work as a technical analyst at Boeing.

Federal investigators have returned to the scene of the KOMO news helicopter crash, examining a railing and trees for potential clues into what caused the fatal accident.

Federal investigators are reviewing a number of scenarios that could have caused the KOMO news chopper to crash Tuesday, killing the pilot and a photographer. “I’m confident we’re going to figure this out,” says the NTSB’s Dennis Hogenson.

The 38-year-old man who was injured on the ground when the KOMO News chopper crashed Tuesday in Seattle is continuing to improve. Harborview Medical Center reports Seattle resident Richard Newman was taken off a machine and is breathing on his own.

Is there bad blood brewing between The Seattle Times and the company that recently purchased the city’s ABC affiliate KOMO, the Sinclair Broadcast Group? Judging by a recent piece that aired on KOMO, it would certainly seem that way. Attributed to co-anchor Russ Bowen and “news services,” the Jan. 23 segment comes under the header “Is the newspaper industry dying?”

The Seattle Times editorializes: “Lax FCC enforcement makes a mockery of regulatory intent to preserve and promote competition, localism and diversity of viewpoints in local TV news. Case in point: Sinclair Broadcast Group’s ownership of KOMO Seattle.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group has handed down a round of layoffs at its newly-acquired KOMO Seattle and KATU Portland, Ore.

The public’s right to an inside seat on issues of possible police misconduct is now in the hands of the Washington Supreme Court. At issue is access to police dashcam videos and how long police departments can keep those videos from the public. After repeatedly refusing to release the public records, KOMO News sued the Seattle Police Department, and the case has now reached the state Supreme Court.

Tech-Savvy Seattle has given birth to dozens of hyperlocal news sites, and though a recent shakeout has seen some of the weaker sites fade away, those that remain, including several operated by TV stations, are in a good position to take advantage of a fertile local ad base.

Jim Clayton is stepping down at the end of August. Janene Drafs, VP-station manager will succeed him as SVP-GM of Fisher’s Seattle ABC affiliate and radio properties, effective Sept. 1.

After a long battle with brain tumors, KOMO Seattle anchor Kathi Goertzen died  on Monday, sparking a massive social outpouring in Seattle. A few hours after the news broke, a new wall post was appearing on her Facebook page every 10 seconds.

Longtime KOMO Seattle anchor/reporter Kathi Goertzen died Monday. Goertzen fought an ongoing battle against non-cancerous brain tumors since 1998. She was 54 years old. Goertzen joined KOMO in 1979 when she served as an intern from Washington State University. Upon her graduation in 1980, she became a full-time employee. In her 33 years with the station, […]