‘NEWSHOUR’ HITS STRIDE AFTER ITS SHAKY START

A year ago, public TV’s “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” had problems. Many stations were dissatisfied with its hourlong format. Some even pressed for a return to the 30-minute length of the previous show, which began in 1976.

But fixes have been made, stations mollified, and the “NewsHour” is starting its fourth season this month, proving that, contrary to conventional wisdom, there is room on national TV for a nightly news program longer than the 22 minutes offered by CBS, NBC and ABC.

In fact, at a time CBS and ABC have trimmed their news staffs as part of company-wide layoffs they say are dictated by flat advertising income, the non-commercial “NewsHour” is experiencing audience growth and expanding its operations.

“We have hit our stride,” co-anchor Robert MacNeil said in a recent interview. “We have been building to a point where we think we have a very good product, and we also think people are beginning to realize that this is a show to be watched.”

He and his longtime partner Jim Lehrer are the architects of “NewsHour,” an extended version of the shorter “MacNeil/Lehrer Report” that retains the in-depth news analysis and discussion format that distinguishes it from networks newscasts.

“NewsHour” originates from New York’s WNET and Washington’s WETA, which co-produce it with MacNeil-Lehrer-Gannett Productions. It is broadcast from New York nightly at 6 p.m. (EDT). KCET Channel 28 airs it on tape in Los Angeles at 6:30 p.m. (PDT) and last week began airing it live from 3-4 p.m.

During the last year, the program’s national daily audience has risen 27% over the previous yearlong period, from 1.5 million to 2 million viewers. In some markets, such as New York and San Francisco, viewing is up by as much as 50% over the previous year, according to A.C. Nielsen ratings data.

Also, according to Nielsen, the number of viewers watching “NewsHour” at least once a week rose from 9 million to 11 million viewers. During this same yearlong period, 14 public television stations, including San Jose’s KTEH, were added to the national list of stations airing the program, bringing the total to 276 out of 319 public television stations.

The stations also have increased their contributions to the program’s $20-million annual budget, from $5.5 million to $5.75 million. The remaining funds come from AT&T;, the program’s only corporate underwriter, and from the Corp. for Public Broadcasting.

It’s a far cry from last year, when in addition to station dissatisfaction with the hourlong format, a block of public TV stations even attempted an unsuccessful coup, aimed at replacing the NewsHour with a new 30-minute news program.

Critical reviews of the “NewsHour,” noting gaps in the hour and lackluster fillers such as book reviews, helped fuel the fire. “It was like being on the Titanic,” recalled one staffer.

“We heard the stations, and they helped us concentrate our efforts,” MacNeil said, acknowledging that it has taken time to pull together “all the right elements” to make the hourlong format finally work.

“But we think we now have about the right mix,” he said. “The stations have calmed down, and they have even begun to sell the hourlong program to viewers as another reason they should support public television.”

He also expressed the view that “NewsHour” has benefited from the recent woes of the nightly news on the three commercial networks. “Our gain is minuscule compared to their loss,” he said, citing increased network competition from local news and Ted Turner’s 24-hour Cable News Network.

“But it’s just possible that in their desperate attempt (to attract audiences), they have turned off just enough viewers--with their gimmickry and glitz--who have started turning to us,” he said, referring to the three major commercial networks.

However, MacNeil said he believes that the improved image and status of “NewsHour” is largely due to its dramatically expanded resources and coverage of the news. During the last year, it has added four correspondents to the initial team of Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Judy Woodruff, Kwame Holman and Elizabeth Brackett. Also, he said, it increasingly has utilized public television stations around the country, including KCET in Los Angeles and San Francisco’s KQED, for regional news coverage.

According to MacNeil, all this has resulted in more in-depth feature reports and periodic special reports on South Africa and the Philippines; pressing domestic issues such as drugs, and last week, a special five-part report on education. MacNeil also said the added resources contributed to the program’s increasingly rapid coverage of breaking news stories, such as last winter’s Challenger space shuttle tragedy, the U.S. attack on Libya last spring, and last week’s hijacking of a Pan Am airliner in Pakistan.

He likened the work of “NewsHour” to that of a small newspaper, where reporters make contacts, establish sources and get to know their “beats.” “Only we let the viewers look over our shoulders,” he said.

Looking over the shoulders of the program’s New York 12-member news staff as they worked in their Spartan space at WNET Friday, a visitor could see how “the beat system” works to the advantage of the “NewsHour” discussion format when a crisis such as last week’s attempted airliner hijacking in Pakistan is unfolding.

“We thought it was going to be a slow news day,” said deputy executive producer Linda Winslow, substituting for executive producer Les Crystal on Friday.

During the staff’s regular morning meeting, the agenda for Friday’s broadcast was put on hold. Attention turned to the events in Pakistan and the efforts of the staff to obtain accurate, up-to-date reports from the scene and get guests representing various forms of expertise and points of view.

“We can gear up pretty quickly, because we know the cast of characters,” said Pat Ellis, the program’s Washington-based foreign affairs reporter whose job it was to get the guests for the broadcast. She referred to the program’s increasingly frequent in-depth reporting on the Middle East, terrorism and hijacking.

As events unfolded, the “NewsHour” staff hurriedly met or held telephone conferences in New York and Washington. They re-evaluated the story, shifted and substituted guests for the broadcast and shifted the focus of Friday’s program broadcast from the possible Libyan-connection to the hijacking to U.S. reaction to the still-unresolved crisis.

Then, in late afternoon in New York, the focus shifted again, this time to the successful, if bloody, resolution of the crisis. By air time, it was determined that the action resulting in the resolution of the crisis was of prime interest.

The mood also changed, from one of casual confidence to intense concentration. But everyone in the newsroom, as well as those on the phone from Washington, remained cool, amiable and astonishingly good humored. “If only I could burn off some calories doing this,” said producer Susan Mills, who characterized the day as “one of the top 10” in terms of stress.

“It’s been hectic, but we’re used to it,” co-anchor Lehrer said.

“What we have done today has been standard operating procedure in a crisis for MacNeil/Lehrer, under whatever name, for more than 10 years,” said MacNeil. “We try to get the best guest we can, with as close to a particular knowledge as possible, and then hope that the story stays relevant as the situation unfolds.

“It’s both systematic, in that we know the beats and who our contacts are, and haphazard, in that we never know who can come, what they’ll have to say, or how the story will change,” he continued.

“And there are frustrations . . . there is a lot of begging, borrowing, and stealing,” he said, referring to the dependence on other news sources, such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and the British Broadcasting Corp., for newsreel footage and reporters.

However, MacNeil added, even if “NewsHour” had the resources available to the networks, it still would apply them differently to its format: “You can’t beat what we do, if you want in-depth discussion.

“We think we have come around to about where we want to be . . . . We have reached a new plateau,” he said.