If you were to happen across CinemaKC while channel-flipping pretty unlikely given when it airs, but whatever chances are youd stop on it, because it looks like nothing else on television.Its not just the arresting, screen-filling close-ups of actress Erin McGrane as she sits knee-to-knee with local filmmakers on a couch and interviews them about their projects. Its also the quality of the films that are screened on the show and the tightly edited, HD-showcase nature of the interviews.Put simply, CinemaKC is more polished than most shows about film that air on national cable channels.The fact that it airs on a weekend night on a local TV station KSMO, long known as Channel 62 and more recently, cable channel 10 does not sully its luster. Indeed, according to the man who put it on the air, CinemaKC has an important role to play in what might be one of the most intriguing broadcast experiments anywhere in the country.Were going back to making this a grassroots television station, Bobby Totsch said recently. And were doing it the old-fashioned way.Totsch, previously a top executive at the CBS affiliate in St. Louis, came to Kansas City in late 2009 after Meredith Corp. made him general manager of its CBS affiliate, KCTV5. He was also given the reins to KSMO, a low-rated station Meredith bought in 2005.Under Totsch, KSMO he likes to call it Smo has ramped up its local programming. More than 70 live sports telecasts will air on the station in the next year, more than any local broadcaster. That schedule includes a recently announced roster of Friday night high school football games beginning in September. KSMO also airs games from the Missouri Valley Conference and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the UMKC mens and womens teams, KU mens basketball preseason and Sporting KC.All of it is produced by Niles Media Group, started by three former principals at Time Warner Cables groundbreaking channel Metro Sports. The KSMO vision is to do a lot more local programming, and we are certainly behind that, said Neil Harwell of Niles Media Group. Were passionate about our community, and theres a lot of great things to cover.Besides sports, Totsch started Que Pasa, KC, the only English-language show aimed at the areas Hispanic community. Theres also a weekly show filmed at the Kansas City Zoo. And KSMO is one of only two stations in town still doing a weekly review-of-the-news show, Your Kansas City. What sets KSMO apart from every other commercial station in town is that of the almost 1,000 hours of content the station will air in the next 12 months, a large chunk of that wont be news. Started in the 1980s as an independent, KSMO fell on hard times as the competition from cable intensified. When Meredith submitted papers to buy the station, it included financials that claimed KSMO was failing and needed a savior like KCTV. But the government furrowed its brow. Regulators pay attention to how many voices serve a media market, and with KMBC already controlling KCWE and KSHB owning KMCI, the KCTV-KSMO merger would mean that Kansas City would have a reduced number of voices in local TV to choose from.To make Uncle Sam happy, Meredith agreed to add more voices to KSMO not just repurposed newscasts but informational shows that reflected the diversity of the community. Soon Your Kansas City and TeenStar (co-produced with The Kansas City Star) began appearing on KSMO.The way Totsch sees it, hes just taking that original pledge to the next level, and for the same reason Meredith bought KSMO in the first place to ensure its long-term health.I could just buy syndicated shows, but it would be the same station 10 years from now, Totsch said. The way our stations survive is with local content.Take Que Pasa, KC, now in its second season on KSMO. Local Spanish speakers have had their own weekly information show since 2005, Univision KCs La Revista. But according to show producer Sherie Small, Que Pasa, KC is a program for the whole community that happens to have two Latina hosts and a lot of Hispanic faces on every show.Its a chance to do a lot of fun features that the news doesnt do, she said. Of course, Latino culture is the main focus. But the idea is to bring cultures together.At a taping last week, KCTV reporter Sandra Olivas and weathercaster Iris Hermosillo bantered cheerfully through a brisk lineup that covered nine stories in 22 minutes, including an art exhibit at the Mattie Rhodes center, a profile of Roeland Parks mayor, Adrienne Foster, and a live, in-studio performance by musician Mauricio Salguero and a bevy of dancing children.Olivas said the show avoids hard news because we want families to be able to watch this show together.Ratings are respectable for Que Pasa, and probably a little better than what used to air at 9:30 p.m., a repeat of Inside Edition. Hermosillo said she gets great feedback from viewers. When Im out in the community, its not, Hey, youre on KCTV, its always, Hey Que Pasa !  Hermosillo said. One of the nine segments on the show was not like the others, because it was paid for by the fitness center featured in the segment. Totsch says that this kind of embedded marketing will allow KSMO to capture more revenue by associating sponsors with local programs instead of just placing their ads in the breaks.The local shows dont have the most favorable time periods, mostly on weekends when TV viewing levels are down and theres relatively little money to be made. But costs are kept low because the shows use existing KCTV talent and crew. KSMO occupies arguably as good a channel placement on cable as any station, and with some creative sponsor placements and the right promotion, Totsch figures he has a fighting chance of making these shows work.To that end, KSMO will rebrand itself over the summer to emphasize its community content.KSMOs fortunes will be closely watched by the industry, said Harry Jessell, editor of NetNewsCheck, which covers the TV business. He said increased local coverage is a mini-trend among broadcasters, but he hadnt heard of a station as diversified in its local menu as KSMO. If it works, he predicted other stations would be quick to copy it.Theyre all looking for plan B, Jessell said.<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/22621535?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><a href="http://vimeo.com/22621535">CinemaKC Show Package</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/claudiachagui">claudia chagui</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.KSMO SHOWS • Que Pasa KC airs at 9:30 p.m. Friday.• Kansas City Zoo Show airs at 10 a.m. Saturday.• Your Kansas City airs at 1 p.m. Sunday.• CinemaKC airs at midnight Sunday.</div>

KansasCity.com

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Would you like ’SMO local TV shows?

By AARON BARNHART

The Kansas City Star

More News

If you were to happen across “CinemaKC” while channel-flipping — pretty unlikely given when it airs, but whatever — chances are you’d stop on it, because it looks like nothing else on television.

It’s not just the arresting, screen-filling close-ups of actress Erin McGrane as she sits knee-to-knee with local filmmakers on a couch and interviews them about their projects. It’s also the quality of the films that are screened on the show and the tightly edited, HD-showcase nature of the interviews.

Put simply, “CinemaKC” is more polished than most shows about film that air on national cable channels.

The fact that it airs on a weekend night on a local TV station — KSMO, long known as Channel 62 and more recently, cable channel 10 — does not sully its luster. Indeed, according to the man who put it on the air, “CinemaKC” has an important role to play in what might be one of the most intriguing broadcast experiments anywhere in the country.

“We’re going back to making this a grassroots television station,” Bobby Totsch said recently. “And we’re doing it the old-fashioned way.”

Totsch, previously a top executive at the CBS affiliate in St. Louis, came to Kansas City in late 2009 after Meredith Corp. made him general manager of its CBS affiliate, KCTV5. He was also given the reins to KSMO, a low-rated station Meredith bought in 2005.

Under Totsch, KSMO — he likes to call it ’Smo — has ramped up its local programming. More than 70 live sports telecasts will air on the station in the next year, more than any local broadcaster. That schedule includes a recently announced roster of Friday night high school football games beginning in September. KSMO also airs games from the Missouri Valley Conference and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the UMKC men’s and women’s teams, KU men’s basketball preseason and Sporting KC.

All of it is produced by Niles Media Group, started by three former principals at Time Warner Cable’s groundbreaking channel Metro Sports.

“The KSMO vision is to do a lot more local programming, and we are certainly behind that,” said Neil Harwell of Niles Media Group. “We’re passionate about our community, and there’s a lot of great things to cover.”

Besides sports, Totsch started “Que Pasa, KC,” the only English-language show aimed at the area’s Hispanic community. There’s also a weekly show filmed at the Kansas City Zoo.

And KSMO is one of only two stations in town still doing a weekly review-of-the-news show, “Your Kansas City.”

What sets KSMO apart from every other commercial station in town is that of the almost 1,000 hours of content the station will air in the next 12 months, a large chunk of that won’t be news.

Started in the 1980s as an independent, KSMO fell on hard times as the competition from cable intensified. When Meredith submitted papers to buy the station, it included financials that claimed KSMO was “failing” and needed a savior like KCTV.

But the government furrowed its brow. Regulators pay attention to how many “voices” serve a media market, and with KMBC already controlling KCWE and KSHB owning KMCI, the KCTV-KSMO merger would mean that Kansas City would have a reduced number of voices in local TV to choose from.

To make Uncle Sam happy, Meredith agreed to add more voices to KSMO — not just repurposed newscasts but informational shows that reflected the diversity of the community. Soon “Your Kansas City” and “TeenStar” (co-produced with The Kansas City Star) began appearing on KSMO.

The way Totsch sees it, he’s just taking that original pledge to the next level, and for the same reason Meredith bought KSMO in the first place — to ensure its long-term health.

“I could just buy syndicated shows, but it would be the same station 10 years from now,” Totsch said. “The way our stations survive is with local content.”

Take “Que Pasa, KC,” now in its second season on KSMO. Local Spanish speakers have had their own weekly information show since 2005, Univision KC’s “La Revista.” But according to show producer Sherie Small, “Que Pasa, KC” is a program for the whole community that happens to have two Latina hosts and a lot of Hispanic faces on every show.

“It’s a chance to do a lot of fun features that the news doesn’t do,” she said. “Of course, Latino culture is the main focus. But the idea is to bring cultures together.”

At a taping last week, KCTV reporter Sandra Olivas and weathercaster Iris Hermosillo bantered cheerfully through a brisk lineup that covered nine stories in 22 minutes, including an art exhibit at the Mattie Rhodes center, a profile of Roeland Park’s mayor, Adrienne Foster, and a live, in-studio performance by musician Mauricio Salguero and a bevy of dancing children.

Olivas said the show avoids hard news because “we want families to be able to watch this show together.”

Ratings are respectable for “Que Pasa,” and probably a little better than what used to air at 9:30 p.m., a repeat of “Inside Edition.” Hermosillo said she gets great feedback from viewers.

“When I’m out in the community, it’s not, ‘Hey, you’re on KCTV,’ it’s always, ‘Hey — “Que Pasa” !’ ” Hermosillo said.

One of the nine segments on the show was not like the others, because it was paid for by the fitness center featured in the segment. Totsch says that this kind of “embedded marketing” will allow KSMO to capture more revenue by associating sponsors with local programs instead of just placing their ads in the breaks.

The local shows don’t have the most favorable time periods, mostly on weekends when TV viewing levels are down and there’s relatively little money to be made. But costs are kept low because the shows use existing KCTV talent and crew.

KSMO occupies arguably as good a channel placement on cable as any station, and with some creative sponsor placements and the right promotion, Totsch figures he has a fighting chance of making these shows work.

To that end, KSMO will rebrand itself over the summer to emphasize its community content.

KSMO’s fortunes “will be closely watched by the industry,” said Harry Jessell, editor of NetNewsCheck, which covers the TV business.

He said increased local coverage is a “mini-trend” among broadcasters, but he hadn’t heard of a station as diversified in its local menu as KSMO. If it works, he predicted other stations would be quick to copy it.

“They’re all looking for plan B,” Jessell said.