Clear Channel, the new owner of KTVX-Ch. 4, has cleared the deck for some changes at the television station it acquired earlier this month — the station manager and news director have been replaced.
It's not unusual for new owners to make such changes. And the decision to replace general manager Steven Cohen and news director Adam Bradshaw was made easier by Ch. 4's flagging news ratings.
Clear Channel has turned to Minnesota to help its new Salt Lake station — interim general manager Steve Spendlove and news director John Fisher both came from WFTC in Minneapolis, the station that the company traded to Fox in exchange for KTVX and a station in San Antonio.
The company is also bringing in a second director of engineering, David Bird, from Minneapolis, as well as a new director of sales, Randa Minkarah. (Her most recent job was in Seattle, but she's also a veteran of WFTC.)
Local viewers will not, of course, notice any immediate changes when they tune in to Ch. 4. But such changes — in on-air news personnel, format or both — may be coming as Clear Channel settles on a management team, which will try to shore up the station's ratings.
(Staffers at KTVX are understandably nervous about their futures — and, reportedly, they may have reason for concern.)
Clear Channel finalized its purchase of KTVX four weeks ago after a series of business deals. Ch. 4's parent company, Chris Craft, was sold to Fox and, under FCC regulations, Fox could not own both KSTU-Ch. 13 and KTVX-Ch. 4 in the Salt Lake television market — so the Utah station and one in San Antonio were traded by Fox for the Minneapolis station owned by Clear Channel.
In Salt Lake, Clear Channel now owns KTVX and seven radio stations — KNRS, KWLW, KZHT, KURR, KISN, KKAT and KODJ. It manages three other radio stations.
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