News operation
Newscasts on KOLN/KGIN-TV hewed to the same format for most of the time from the 1950s to the mid-1980s. Under A. James Ebel, KOLN's general manager from 1954 to 1985, 10/11 newscasts began with an in-depth weather report as a service to the station's large rural audience. In a 1977 interview, Ebel stated, "The first thing I learned when I arrived here in 1954 is that the weather is the No. 1 story in Nebraska." After the weather came the state and local news, read on weeknights by Mel Mains, who joined the staff in 1961 and spent nearly 34 years at 10/11.[59]This was followed by the national news. For many years, the national news was read by Bob Taylor—an original station employee who served at the station until his death in 1981, the last 20 of those years as news director; he also doubled as weathercaster.[60] The news presentation was no-frills and straight and remained so even as flashier news formats began to make their mark nationally in the 1970s and made 10/11's newscasts begin to appear dated, even stodgy. A 1982 story on Mains in the Lincoln Sunday Journal and Star noted that his "facial expressions contain more granite than Mount Rushmore".[61] Some Lincoln viewers believed KOLN's news was too regional in focus. While Lincoln was by far the largest city in 10/11's coverage area, it only represented 20 percent of its viewership. In spite of its market-wide dominance, KOLN had lower ratings in Lincoln itself, where the Omaha stations provided competition and more dynamic, up-to-date news presentations. In response, staiton manager Paul Jensen said in 1983 that 10/11 did not consider itself merely a Lincoln station but a regional station for all of southeastern and central Nebraska. In a 1994 retrospective, Tom Johnson of the Lincoln Journal described 10/11's news of the era as "rigidly compartmentalized and dull, dull, dull", chastising the format for its lack of flexibility to put lead news stories in their proper place in the program. For example, KOLN did not announce the news of the death of Pope Paul VI until 15 minutes into a 1978 newscast.[62] Under Fetzer's stewardship, 10/11's dominance was so absolute that there was little incentive to change; as a Journal Star editorial on Ebel's death in 1998 put it, "there was no competition" from other stations.
The Gillett purchase in 1985 portended major changes as the new management instituted a more contemporary news format. The weather forecast was moved to the middle of the newscast in June 1986, and the newscast lost the serious tone that had characterized it. These changes climaxed in 1987 with the introduction of a modern news set and a co-anchor for Mains: Deb Collins of Chattanooga, Tennessee. 10/11's news began to resemble newscasts in other markets.[63] This did not hurt its ratings performance in either half of the market. It led KETV of Omaha in the Lincoln portion of the market[64] and the Nebraska Television Network (NTV) in the Tri-Cities (Kearney, Hastings, Grand Island) portion.[65]
The arrival of KLKN to the Lincoln market in 1996 brought changes as 10/11 sought to head off competition. Newscasts featured more live reports, and KGIN-TV began airing a local news insert for the Tri-Cities and central Nebraska, allowing KOLN to present more Lincoln news. Despite this, some viewers continued to remember 10/11 for its more conservative newscasts that began with the weather.[66] The station debuted a 5 p.m. weeknight newscast in 2000.[67]
At a time when cutbacks due to the Great Recession were the norm, Gray invested in expanding the KOLN/KGIN-TV news department. Between 2009 and 2011, the news department expanded by 13 employees, some hired from markets much larger than Lincoln, and the station started a 9 p.m. newscast targeted to the Tri-Cities portion of the market.[68] In 2010, a 4 p.m. newscast debuted, anchored by the husband-and-wife anchor team of Jon and Taryn Vanderford.[69] As of 2025, 10/11 produced 24 1/2 hours a week of local news programming as well as the lifestyle show Pure Nebraska, which airs six days a week.[70]
- Vinita Nair – anchor/reporter, 2002–2003[71]
