Look! Up in the sky! It’s another sign of the economic downturn and its effects on local TV broadcasters.
KMGH-Channel 7 and KUSA-Channel 9 on Tuesday confirmed a plan to share a helicopter for their newsgathering.
“9News and 7News will share one helicopter and videographers in a shared arrangement, while continuing to maintain strict separation of each station’s editorial decisions and reporter assignments,” the stations said in a release.
The deal is akin to sharing pool coverage of a political event. Managers of both stations stressed that the newsrooms remain strictly independent.
The stations have the right to paint their logos on the chopper, whose pilot is not affiliated with either station.
Most often, a camera will be aboard without reporters. The stations would work out the matter of dispatching reporters aloft on a case-by-case basis.
“We’ve been discussing this idea for a year,” said KMGH general manager Byron Grandy. In the future, he said, such arrangements will be more common around the country. “It’s rare now, but over the next 12 months you’ll see it happening in markets large and small.”
KUSA and KOA radio already were sharing a chopper, and KOA remains part of the deal with the vendor, Helicopters Inc. The agreement is a one-year commitment, and “we will evaluate it as we go,” according to Mark Cornetta, general manager of KUSA.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
