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Behind the Mike: Dropping the anchor

At home, Eric Franke and Kim Sveum put the focus on their family, not on their roles at competing TV stations

Mike Lucas  —  8/22/2008 10:14 pm

Eric Franke and Kim Sveum rarely "talk shop" when they're together, even though it might seem tempting to compare notes as television news anchors in Madison. Especially since they co-anchor their household -- as husband and wife -- while working at competing stations: Franke at WISC/Ch. 3 and Sveum at WKOW/Ch. 27.

By and large, their free time is too precious and fleeting for anything but family time. Particularly given the challenge of juggling their respective schedules. In this context, raising their two sons -- Jordan, 3; and Hunter, 1 -- takes priority over raising questions about how a lead story might have been packaged differently by each news department.

Not that Franke and Sveum don't ever talk shop at home.

"I'd be lying if I said we didn't," conceded Sveum, who co-anchors the 5 p.m. newscast at WKOW while specializing in consumer reporting. "Every once in awhile, we'll talk about a story that both stations have covered. Why did you cover it this way? Or who made the decision to do it that way? There's certainly competition (in this market)."

That was acknowledged by the 35-year-old Franke, a former Ch. 3 sports director, who co-anchors the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts at WISC. "Like any two businesses in any city, our management will do some things differently," he pointed out. "First Weber and Stark Realty probably have different philosophies. And we're no different that way."

But there is a difference in his approach and make-up. "I was cut-throat competitive when I first met Kim," Franke said. "Since getting married (in 2004), she has softened me in that regard. It's not that I'm not competitive anymore. I still want to beat 27 and 15 (WMTV) every day of the week. But there are other things that matter more."

Like the boys, Jordan and Hunter. "I never imagined I would be pulling two kids in a wagon through the neighborhood on our way to the park," said Franke, who was raised with four older sisters in Fort Wayne, Ind. "My favorite time of the day is when I get to spend time with them. But it has been challenging and sometimes exhausting."

For both parents/anchors. Sveum leaves for Ch. 27 around 10 a.m. Franke oversees the boys until he leaves for Ch. 3 around 2 p.m. He works until 11 p.m. An in-house nanny has the next shift until Sveum returns home around 6:30 p.m. That's the routine Monday through Friday. "Eric and I maybe don't see as much of each other as we would like," Sveum said. "But it works out the best for the kids."

It was more taxing on their relationship before Sveum switched assignments. When she was anchoring at WMSN/Ch. 47, she was toiling similar hours to Franke. Both were working evenings. Sveum summarily made the move to Ch. 27 and the late afternoon news block. She credited WKOW news director Al Zobel for making it work and allowing her to put family first.

"Our kids get a lot of mom and dad time, and that's important to us," said Sveum, a native of Minot, N.D. and a graduate of the University of Minnesota. That's where she first learned how to budget her time, balancing academics and athletics. As a senior, Sveum was a gymnast on a Gophers team that won the 1998 Big Ten championship.

Franke gives her high marks as an industrious reporter/anchor/wife/mother. "Anyone who has ever met Kim will tell you the same thing: 'She's the nicest person and she's so down to earth,' " said Franke. "As a consumer reporter, she's very dedicated to making wrongs right for people. There's no doubt that she works harder than I do."

Truth is, Franke has worked very hard to gain credibility in news after spending his first eight years on the sports desk. And he has pulled it off. "It's not an easy transition," Sveum noted, "because you have to have such a broad knowledge of so many different things and topics. But he can talk with the best of them."

Especially when the subject is Notre Dame football. But you don't want to go there with Franke, who was a walk-on long snapper at Indiana but whose passion for the Irish is boundless. "I don't really miss being in sports," Franke said, "except when the Badgers are in a bowl game or in the NCAA basketball tournament."

Franke recalled co-hosting a televised debate between candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court while the Badgers were facing Davidson in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals in Detroit.

"People kept coming up to me and asked, 'Did you hear a score?' " he said.

If you're keeping score at home, neither Franke nor Sveum has any interest being co-anchors together. Currently, there's a husband-wife team -- Frank Vascellaro and Amelia Santaniello -- at WCCO-TV/Ch. 6 in Minneapolis. Sveum thought it would just seem "kind of weird" while Franke added that it would come off "too circus-like" for his tastes.

Maybe it's something they can discuss the next time they talk shop. Or not. "It's mostly good," Sveum said of their dual anchor careers. "You come home at the end of the day, and he understands what you've been through, and vice versa. You're competitive. But being married, you also know it's not worth fighting over."

Mike Lucas  —  8/22/2008 10:14 pm