.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} When word came down in January that The New York Times Co. had entered into an agreement to sell Des Moines’ WHO-TV to another company, many in the community wondered what would become of the station under new ownership.

But in the newsroom, it was business as usual.

“No one was running for the door,” said Rod Peterson, news director at WHO. “Everyone just kept doing their jobs. In all honesty, it wasn’t a distraction at all.”

So as the station enters what Peterson calls a “critical time,” including both the 2008 presidential campaign and the 2008 Olympic Games, he believes it is in prime position to take over the market.

“We have ownership now that are entirely focused on broadcasting,” he said. “Their whole careers were in radio and television. That means a lot. In the next 12 months, people of Central Iowa will be focusing on the caucus. We have proven we are very committed to dependable coverage of the presidential race. That’s the tradition of WHO. And we are the only channel where everyone can watch Shawn Johnson compete against the world at the Olympics. This is a critical time for us.”

Despite the optimism, there have been some big changes under the new owners, a group of investors who call themselves Local TV LLC. Jim Boyer, who was running the station, was transferred to run WHO’s sister stations in Oklahoma City. Dale Woods, who was running WQAD in Moline, Ill., is the new WHO general manager. Sports reporter Andy Fales left for KMBC in Kansas City, Mo., reporter Kerry Kavanaugh left for WFTS in Tampa, Fla., Trisha Shepherd left to work at WRTV in Indianapolis, Sonya Heitshusen replaced John Bachman as co-anchor of the 5 p.m. news broadcast and former morning host Brooke Bouma has returned to the station to co-host “Today in Iowa.”

(KCCI’s) domination is over. We’ve made significant gains recently. They are still No. 1, but it’s finally a race.
– Dale Woods general manager, WHO-TV

“In our business, a lot of people come and go to other markets,” said Woods, who took over the job of general manager July 3. “And we’re glad to be a part of anyone’s career. But the core of our newsroom has been here for a long time.”

And it is that core, Woods said, that will finally shift a market long dominated by WHO’s rival, KCCI, in the NBC affiliate’s favor.

“Their domination is over,” he said. “We’ve made significant gains recently. They are still No. 1, but it’s finally a race.”

According to the most recent research, the gulf between KCCI and WHO is narrowing, but only slightly. WHO’s ratings have risen in every time period, according to July 2007 Nielsen Media Research, and the station now holds the No. 1 position for the morning newscast.

But it still trails KCCI in every other time slot, and by more than five ratings points for the 10 p.m. newscast. In the May ratings period, which is considered in the industry as the most important ratings period of the year, WHO was behind at every time slot, and in a virtual tie for morning news supremacy.

However, Woods is quick to point out the July ratings were still one of the best periods for WHO in many years.

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“I’m here to win,” Woods said. “I didn’t come here to play for second. We’ve seen steady growth in the last two years, and we will continue what we’re doing and eventually win this market.”

Woods said under the new ownership, WHO will improve its technological capabilities across the board, starting by adding digital channels in February 2009.

The first addition will be a 24-hour weather channel, similar to the one KCCI began last summer. A second channel will quickly follow, but the format of that channel has not yet been decided, Woods said.

“It could be any number of things,” he said. “Twenty-four hour news, shopping, we just don’t know yet.”

Woods said there has been a lot of energy in the building since his arrival, something he says comes from the fact that the staff knows the new owners are committed to broadcasting, committed to winning and committed to giving the viewers the best product possible.

“There are so many exciting things going on right now,” Peterson said. “It’s a really great time to be a journalist in this community.”