Paducah, KY?

[FrontierMan]

Can anyone tell me about the place, the different stations, and whether it's a good place to live and work?

[Pennywise]

I hear they have a stoplight and a Dairy Queen.

[KYOneManBand]

Here's the lowdown as I know it. This is a VERY hyphenated market, covering three states. WPSD (NBC) is the only station in Paducah, and owned by Paxton Media. Paxton is largely a newspaper chain, as PSD is its only TV station. From what I understand, it's a so-so company. KFVS (CBS) is in Cape Girardeau, MO--about an hour from Paducah. It's a Raycom station. WSIL is in southern Illinois, and is a bottom feeder with the exception of its immediate vicinity. I've heard overall KFVS has a slight ratings advantage over WPSD, but PSD wins in KY, and KFVS in MO. PSD has a southern Illinois bureau that it uses pretty heavily.

WPSD has a mix of good reporters and terrible ones. If it stood alone, it'd be a really small market; however, since it is lumped with SE MO and So. IL, I think it's right around #80. It doesn't always look like an 80 market station, but it isn't terrible. With a new set, a few live trucks, a full set of photographers, some long-time anchors and a few fresh faces, it does okay. A lot of crazy news comes out of the area, and PSD is pretty aggressive at covering it. Unfortunately, it misses the mark a lot of times on what is "breaking news" and what is "hype." The weather anchors are pretty good, as are the sports anchors (there are only two sports guys. Two years ago there were four.). Your posting doesn't say whether you're looking for news, weather, sports, etc., so I offer a little on all.

I don't work at PSD, but I know a few people who do, as well as their competition. The news folks are pretty frustrated there--low pay, high turnover, some pretty crazy management, long hours. But I guess that's the story at most places.

As far as Paducah--New York City it ain't. HOWEVER, it's a surprisingly fun little city. It has a commercial airport, all the standard retail offerings, LOTS of great locally-owned restaurants, and a few unique features you'll find hard to beat. There's a program that provides for nationally-known artists to relocate to Paducah where they turn old, dilapidated houses into art galleries, which double as their studio/residence. It's 1/2 way between Nashville and St. Louis, and a fairly easy drive to Louisville. My impression is that city leaders have a progressive outlook, and Paducah continues to offer its residents more and more. Just this week, Paducah enacted a city-wide indoor smoking ban that includes bars. I consider myself a city person, but I have always enjoyed Paducah. You'll find a lot of young professionals who enjoy the area--many of whom moved there from bigger cities. The prices there are cheap (you can buy an okay house for $50,000--fixer uppers can be found for $20k), the people are nice (mostly conservative), but at times the place is backwards. Its major claim is being the quilt capital of the world. SO, if you're looking for a good place to build a resume tape and get some good experience, I'd say Paducah is a great place to do it. Hope that helps!

[Fargin Icehole]

Loved the area. Would like to return some day.

[The Invisible Swordsman]

Every thing has a list. Paducah could be on the best small market towns to live in. It would have to be one of the tops in the mid-west.

[Mr T]

I grew up there, worked in the market for a while.

It's a beautiful place to live, but the pay was terrible. I had to work two jobs just to stay afloat there. The management at PSD is terrible. A lot of the people who work there that are not in management are the best people you'd ever work with though.

[Signature on File]

You will have to learn to pronounce words that end in "ay" differently. "Day" will have to sound like "daaaaay"! :D

[Backup QB]

Man, I should try to get a job in Paducah. My market only has a stop sign and a bump. When I started here, we didn't even have the stop sign.

[Stack It]

I knew a weather guy who worked in Paducah, he absolutely raved about it. Weather-wise, there was always something to talk about. It gets its share of severe storms. It's also one of the quirkiest markets around. It covers 4 states: Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas. There's a station in each of the 3 "major" cities in the market. Location wise, it's fantastic. You're really at the Crossroads of America. You have several major cities just a few hours away from you. So making your next move is easy you could go to St. Louis, Nashville, Louisville, or Indianapolis. I don't have much knowledge about the stations, but from what I gather, it's not a bad place to live at all.

[ April 06, 2007, 10:35 AM: Message edited by: Stack It ]

[toddcountylegend]

Don't forget the Metropolis, IL casinos are only a very short drive away... oh wait, it's a TV job so you won't have any money to gamble smile.gif

[Fargin Icehole]

Originally posted by toddcountylegend:
Don't forget the Metropolis, IL casinos are only a very short drive away...There's always the guy in the red cape that can give you a lift (Superman Musem in town). FWIW..the market doesn't cover Arkansas (although it comes close).

One thing to keep in mind, the weather is AWFUL in the summer. High heat and WAY high humidity. It's like living in an armpit. Don't forget the nearby New Madrid fault. EARTHQUAKE!!!!!

[phil413]

my inlaws built a log home on lakefront property at kentucky lake so when our kids were growing up our vacation stops were in the paducah market. i always thought the product was solid---very good main anchors---excellent weather coverage---the chief meteorologist is tremendous --- i'm a sports guy and felt it had to be a pretty daunting task trying please sports fans in such huge area---pretty sure it's illinois/kentucky/missouri and even parts of tenn and indiana..

i stopped in at the station once on my way thru with some tape of one of their locals on the pga who had a good week at our tourney--got the nickel tour---good stuff--

there are those on staff just stopping by for some experience, but a good number have been there awhile.

being a hyphenated market is a downfall. i worked in one a long time ago.. healthy competition with the other guys kind of goes away.---

paducah is a small town--i believe the national quilting museum is there.. smile.gif

hope it works out for you.