KABC-TV PROBES ITSELF OVER RATINGS

KABC-TV Channel 7 may be TV’s wicked witch of the West when it comes to ratings manipulation. But credit the station with enough spine to air a mildly self-critical report Friday addressing charges that it improperly tampered with May ratings.

That segment, by reporter Wayne Satz, came during the 6 p.m. edition of Channel 7’s “Eyewitness News” and took a balanced look at Channel 7’s airing of an eight-part series on Nielsen ratings during the May ratings sweeps. The series, run on the 11 p.m. news, led to the A.C. Nielsen Co.’s unprecedented deletion of some of its May ratings on grounds that Channel 7’s soaring totals for that time period were unfairly inflated by its blatant come-on to selected families whose viewing determines Los Angeles-area Nielsen ratings.

Channel 7 general manager John Severino “definitely always plays to win,” said Satz on the air. “Whether he always stays within the rules is in dispute.”

Satz wondered if Nielsen families “weren’t blatantly manipulated into watching stories about themselves.” That led to the following dialogue.

Satz: “More Nielsen families by far are terribly interested in your late news when a heavily promoted Nielsen minidoc is on the air. Is there any other way to interpret that?”

Severino: “Probably not.”

Satz: “You accept that.”

Severino: “Yeah.”

Satz: “That’s a moment of extreme candor. . . . The Nielsen families are watching because they are interested in themselves.”

Severino: “I think that probably happened.”

Satz: “Well, dammit, that’s what you’re being accused of . . . of making a blatant manipulation of Nielsen families.”

Severino insisted that the manipulation did not violate Nielsen policy--a matter of dispute--and that Nielsen chairman and chief executive officer Jack Holt, who was interviewed in the series, would not have consented to do so were it not on the “up and up.”

“He could have screwed up, Sev,” Satz argued. “Oh, I doubt that very much,” Severino replied. “The man’s the chairman of the board. I’m sure he’s aware of what his policies are. . . . “

Perhaps not, for as Satz noted, Nielsen did later admitted that Holt shouldn’t have participated in the series.

The Satz report was one of many “Second Look” stories by him in his capacity as special projects reporter. Satz said earlier that station management did not pre-screen his report. “There was no interference,” he said.

The wicked witch takes a day off.