Fox Chicago's plan of "distinction"

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: WFLD plan: distinction : GM Renda likes his team; now focusing on content, display : October 30, 2009 | Chicago Sun-Times : LEWIS LAZARE | Media & Marketing columnist : : Two months into his new job as general manager of WFLD-Channel 32, Michael Renda is pursuing a simple management philosophy. : "It's all about putting good people in the right places," Renda said. In that vein, earlier this week, Renda brought back Debbie Carpenter, who previously held general sales manager and general manager posts at WFLD, and reinstalled her as the station's general sales manager, a key post in these days of dwindling revenue in local television. : Carpenter had been out of the television business since she left her last post as WFLD's general manager in 2006. Renda said he considered internal candidates for the job, but Carpenter apparently had more of the expertise he sought. : "She's got great sales skills and knows the market well," Renda said. : WFLD's new leader last month replaced Pat Mullen, who couldn't find a way to significantly boost the station's puny ratings for its 9 p.m. newscast, an important revenue generator. Among the five local TV outlets with flagship newscasts at 9 or 10 p.m. each evening, WFLD usually winds up at or near the bottom of the ratings. The Fox station has never come close to contending for the No. 1 spot now held by WLS-Channel 7. : Early evening newscast? : Renda, who came to WFLD from Fox's Philadelphia station WTXF-Channel 29, did establish a track record there of creating newscasts that people want to watch. In 2007, he introduced a 90-minute early evening news package on WTXF that is now second only to the ABC station there in the ratings. What's his secret? Well, Renda believes newscast content and presentation are a large part of a winning newscast. "You've got to make yourself distinctive," Renda observed. : So, we wondered, how much of a shake-up is in store for Channel 32's news department as Renda begins the process of turning around the 9 p.m. news. Renda, at this point anyway, sounded fairly satisfied with his news staff. Renda said he's happy working with News Director Carol Fowler, whom Mullen brought in last winter to give WFLD's news product a face-lift. "Carol's got a great news sense, and she knows the market," Renda said. Renda also said he likes 9 p.m. anchors Robin Robinson and Jeff Goldblatt. : Though it isn't likely to happen until the economic recovery is further along, Renda very well could greenlight an early evening newscast for WFLD, just as he did in Philly. Archrival WGN-Channel 9 has just expanded its early news product to an hour. And Renda doesn't sound like the type who wants to let the competition get too far ahead. "We're on the march," he said.

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