When the ax falls on KOHD tomorrow, the once booming city of Bend will be reduced to having only one full-time TV news station. Employees at the ABC affiliate were informed this morning that the station will become a Bend bureau for KEZI, Chambers Communications' sister station in Eugene. Bend employees will then create local packages for KEZI-produced Bend cut-ins.

Executives at KOHD and KEZI aren't yet talking, but information that we've learned, some from sources who were specifically instructed not to talk to blogs about this news, is that there will be three "one-man bands" in Bend and an anchor/producer hosting KOHD cut-ins from Eugene. We hope to have more information after laid-off employees cash their severance checks tomorrow.

KOHD launched as the United States' first HD television station to be built from the ground up in September 2007. Chambers paid an ambitious $8.5 million at auction for the station's FCC license in 2006. Their 11,000 square foot facility will now be used as KEZI's Bend bureau a facility for filing Bend stories off to Eugene for production, if not also a shrine to media industry and Bend industry hopes during the city's population boom and before the advertising recession.

KOHD cut its weekend newscasts in a major reshuffling last summer and rearranged its evening news lineup as recently as a month ago. At the station's last Christmas party, employees were told that Chambers was committed to maintaining KOHD's news operations without cuts through 2010. KOHD equipment will now be moved to Eugene, which may enable KEZI to become that market's first station to produce newscasts in HD.

The Bend TV news market is also served by NBC affiliate KTVZ, which airs morning, evening and late newscasts each weekday, as well as half-hour shows at 6 and 11 pm on weekends. The station also produces a weekday half-hour at 10 pm on Fox affiliate and sister station KFXO. CBS affiliate KBNZ simulcasts Portland sister station KOIN's newscasts with one-minute local cut-ins.

In addition to KOHD and KEZI, Eugene-based Chambers Communications also owns KDRV in Medford and its semi-satellite KDKF in Klamath Falls, as well as Chambers Productions in Eugene and Chambers Cable in Sunriver.

KOHD's last locally produced newscast will air tomorrow at 11 pm.

UPDATE (3/6, 7:03 am): In the absence of further communication from Chambers Communications, we're unsure to handle KOHD News Director Jerry Upham's email opposing the term "bureau." Since we haven't received an alternative to this word used by employees for the new relationship between KOHD and KEZI, we'll simply say that, to our understanding, KOHD will operate as a facility that three people will file stories out of. Those stories will then be sent to Eugene for production and anchoring, and will appear on KOHD as news updates. If anyone would like to help us fill in the details, please contact oregonmediagmail [dot] com. Thank you.

Compared to January, KGW didn't get as big a bump as one might expect from the Olympics, with most shows gaining just two tenths of a ratings point or less among viewers aged 25-54. There were two big exceptions, though: the 6:30 pm newscast, which was up more than 25 percent over January, and Live @ 7, which nearly doubled its ratings. Olympics coverage began at 7:30. KGW's late news isn't listed because of its irregular air time following the games.

UPDATE (8:17 pm): We've added KGW's locally produced "Olympic Zone" at 7:30 pm to the chart. The special aired for 13 days.

  = Morning and midday news
  = Evening news
  = Late news

And I scrapped the asterisks for shows that include weekend ratings in their averages. The difference it makes isn't as significant as I first thought.

Tyra's ditching daytime, Martha's moving to cable, and Bonnie got the boot.

With three daytime TV shows leaving the fall lineup, local stations are searching for new syndicated programming to replace them. OMC asked the general managers of KATU, KOIN, KGW, KPTV, KRCW and KPDX what changes are coming to Portland's TV schedules.

Martha Stewart left KATU for KPTV last year, but now that she's moving to the Hallmark Channel, the local Fox affiliate has poached Rachael Ray from KGW. KGW, in turn, has cleared a new program hosted by Nate Berkus, Oprah's interior designer, for 11 am.

KPTV GM Patrick McCreery says the station has yet to decide on a replacement for the canceled Bonnie Hunt show at 2 pm.

Meanwhile, KRCW, Portland's CW affiliate, is dealing with Tyra Banks' decision to end her daytime show. The station currently carries two hours of Tyra: first-run shows at 4 pm, preceded by reruns at 3. KRCW plans to keep "best of" shows at 3, and will most likely air sitcoms at 4. The station picked up a new Nancy Grace vehicle called "Swift Justice," a sort of court show minus the courtroom set, which is likely to air earlier in the day. KRCW also cleared "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Entourage," but those shows are set to run in late night.

Among other new shows yet to find a Portland home is "Don't Forget the Lyrics," a remake of the karaoke-based game show that first ran on Fox from 2007 to 2009.

KATU and KOIN currently have no plans to change their schedules this fall, while no major new first-run shows are slated for KPDX.

The Oregonian reports that Dick Bogle, remembered as a pioneer in Portland television news and city politics, has passed away at the age of 79.

Richard Bogle spent eight years on the Portland Police force before shifting to television, working as a reporter and anchor, at Channel KATU-Channel 2 for 15 years. After a career in television news, Bogle was elected to city council in 1984, where he served as a commissioner for eight years.

No funeral has been planned, but a memorial to celebrate Bogle's life is tentatively set for March.

In a blog post on KVAL's site, News Director Jenny Kuglin discusses negative feedback and an increase in the number of angry emails and online comments the station has received recently.

"People are being mean in greater numbers than I’ve ever experienced before," she says. "I’ve also been personally screamed at, called names, and hung up on countless times. So have other members of my staff. I’ve talked to other people in the news business, and they are reporting the same trend."

She goes on to cite specific examples from recent emails and voicemails, including:

• "I hate the media, and you are the reason women shouldn’t be in charge!"
• "(anchor name deleted) is an anorexic, incompetent, unprofessional, moron and should be fired. period," and
• "(anchor name deleted) is probably an illegal immigrant. Did you even check her papers? No- because you are the liberal media."
Are you also seeing an increase in negative comments like these? If so, do you think it's due to the economy? Could it be the current political climate? Or are we just being too sensitive?

Former KRON San Francisco anchor Chris Murphy has left KPTV for KGW, where he'll be a morning reporter and fill-in anchor. He replaces Teresa Yuan, who's moving to KING in Seattle.

"I left 12 for 8 because of KGW's continued commitment to quality," Murphy says. "I really feel like they are investing in experienced journalists/broadcasters. Case in point: my old friend Rod Hill with whom I co-anchored way back when at KPTV when we were across the river right next to OMSI."

Murphy was a weekend anchor/reporter at KPTV from 2000 to 2002.

"It is nice to join the number one news team in Portland and I will work hard to help in their continued success," he adds.

KPTV is currently undergoing layoffs, outsourcing and a transition to automated newscasts. Still, the station has the top morning and late news programs as of Nielsen's January book. KGW leads in the evenings, at 11 pm and at noon.

Before rejoining KPTV last year, Murphy co-anchored the evening and late news at KRON. He worked there from 2002 to 2009. Prior to his first stint at KPTV, he worked at KTVN Reno (1997-2000, anchor), KCPM Chico (1996, anchor) KIEM Eureka (1995, anchor/reporter/photog) and KGET Bakersfield (1994, assignment desk manager). He got his start in broadcasting as an intern for CBS News in 1994.

Murphy begins work at KGW in early March.

Workers at KPTV were told today who's getting laid off as the station joins KATU and KOIN in automating its newscasts.

12 of 20 production workers will be let go, General Manager Patrick McCreery tells OMC. Workers were warned last year of the layoffs, which will take effect in mid- to late April.

The 8 staffers who remain will have new jobs pre-programming each newscast's technical operations, including cameras, audio, graphics and video switching. Those operations will then be executed at the stroke a key during each show.

Like KATU and KOIN, KPTV will be using the Ignite automation system. A key benefit of the system for stations is the cost savings from a smaller workforce, or what Ignite's manufacturer calls "enabling reallocation of headcount from content moving to creating."

Viewers may also notice significant technical errors early on, if KOIN and KATU's experiences are any guide.

KGW, the one Portland news station not using Ignite, does use so-called "robocams," cameras that are operated by master control rather than floor personnel. But directors switch video and run graphics, while audio is handled separately.

Today's announcement is unrelated to parent company Meredith's outsourcing of master control, where network and syndication feeds are received. Those operations will be moved to Phoenix in early April. Concurrent with that change will be a switch to broadcasting national programming in high definition, though KPTV will still produce local programming in standard def.

"It’s a sad day, even though we’ve known it was coming," one KPTV employee tells us about today's news. "It’s hard to know some of our friends will be leaving us in a few short months."

• The Oregon Court of Appeals has upheld former "AM Northwest" host Ken Ackerman's $1.4 million damage award for what Ackerman says has been constant pain and nerve damage after his spinal cord was accidentally punctured by an OHSU surgeon. OHSU plans to appeal to the state supreme court. Ackerman left KATU in 2005, two years after his surgery, and had been an original member of KPTV's "Good Day Oregon" until 2002. He's now selling real estate.
• Eric Taylor has replaced Art Edwards as co-host of "KOIN Local 6 Early." This round of musical chairs follows Kacey Montoya replacing Jenny Hansson and precedes Matt Brode's arrival to the green screen after Christine Ferreira's exit. Meteorologist Tim Joyce is delivering morning forecasts in the interim. Carly Kennelly, to David Letterman's delight, remains on traffic. See a promo.
• The Brew (105.9 KFBW) has added new Clear Channel syndicated host Nikki Sixx, the guitarist for Mötley Crüe, to its lineup, airing weekday evenings. The station recently cut Scott Lander from afternoons and now airs recordings of Program Director Chris Sargent from 6 am to noon and DJ Daniel Bozyk from noon to 7 pm.
• And I'm realizing that, with having a separate job, traveling around town, performing additional work related to this site and attempting more enterprise stories, day-to-day reporting for this site is slowing. So I could use some help. If you think you could have written any of the short items above, and you'd like to help out, contact me. There's no commitment in terms of story counts or word counts, I can give you leads or you can find items on your own, and then you, too, can foolishly blog for free about people who are paid to be in the media. For more info, reach me at oregonmediagmail [dot] com.

While KPTV's 10 pm news remains the top local newscast overall, KOIN has managed to take the lead at 11. That #1 position is remarkable, as the station is last in every other time slot. KOIN is helped by a dominant CBS primetime, and also by the weakness of longtime leader KGW's poor lead in: at 10:45, Leno delivered the lowest ratings among Portland's four local news stations.

And new this year, I'm adding an asterisk to shows that include weekend episodes in their monthly averages, which would normally bring down total ratings.

  = Morning and midday news
  = Evening news
  = Late news

This chart is based on data copyright Nielsen Media Research. In cases of ratings ties, programs are ranked by share.

*Ratings averages include weekend episodes.

As always, if you have access to television or radio ratings in Portland, Eugene, Medford or Bend, please contact me. I always need new sources. Thank you!

UPDATE (9:25 pm): I've removed a reference to weekend ad sales from the explanation of 7-day averages.

In eight days, over half a million Oregon and Southwest Washington residents will be subscribers to something they've never heard of before: Xfinity. Comcast's residential television, internet and voice products will bear that new name in eleven markets, including Portland and the entire stretch of service from Longview, Washington to Eugene. The rest of the country will make the switch over the coming year.

Portland was the first market where Comcast converted to digital service, and the Xfinity name is intended to communicate that difference and more, said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts on yesterday's earnings call. "I think we are giving a better and better service experience," he said.

The renaming also introduces a new brand between consumers and Comcast, with Comcast remaining the name at the top of customers' bills. Comcast's beleaguered brand placed second in Consumerist's Worst Company in America surveys in 2008 and 2009, surpassed only by economic disasters AIG and Countrywide Financial, which have also rebranded. Comcast didn't mention any negative associations with its brand in its earnings call.

The Xfinity name will also be added to Fancast, the company's online video service. Comcast customers will retain their existing comcast.net email addresses.