KABC Loses in Bid to Halt Publishing of May TV Ratings

An attempt by KABC Channel 7 to keep A. C. Nielsen Co. from publishing its May television ratings was brushed aside Tuesday by a Superior Court judge, and the Nielsen ratings “book” for May is expected to be released June 18 as scheduled.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jerry K. Fields denied the station’s motion for a temporary restraining order after dismissing KABC’s argument that Nielsen was planning to publish incomplete and, therefore, inaccurate viewer ratings for May.

For more than a week, Nielsen and KABC management have been wrangling over an eight-part series that Channel 7 ran on its 11 p.m. newscasts, beginning May 17. The series focused on Nielsen’s ratings system and the “families” whose viewing habits are measured.

Even while the KABC series was airing in mid-May, management at rival stations KNBC Channel 4 and KCBS Channel 2 were calling on Nielsen officials to discredit ratings for the entire eight days of KABC’s 11 p.m. newscasts.

Series About Themselves

They argued that Nielsen families would naturally tune in a series about themselves and, therefore, falsely skew the ratings. Preliminary results released by Nielsen last week indicated that KABC’s 11 p.m. ratings had nearly doubled during the airing of the series.

Nielsen officials decided last week that the disputed ratings would be scrapped, prompting the KABC suit.

KABC attorney Andrew White argued that Nielsen supplies a “unique and irreplaceable service” with its ratings. The impending publication of the May “sweeps” without the disputed KABC ratings numbers would not only cost Channel 7 advertising dollars but also a loss of its reputation as the top-rated station in Los Angeles, “which we won fair and square,” White said.

The month of May is especially important because, along with November and February, it is a so-called “sweeps” month.

Advertisers use the ratings results of sweeps months to set their spot television ad rates for the coming months. A single ratings share point in as competitive a television market as Los Angeles can mean a loss of as much as $1 million in annual advertising revenue, according to industry sources.

“I really think this is an issue where money is the primary object,” said Judge Fields, who would issue no restraining order on either breach of contract or First Amendment grounds. Fields set June 30 at 9 a.m. for further hearing.

Nielsen attorney Charles Vogel disputed White’s contention that KABC is the No. 1 rated station in Los Angeles.

“That’s something you have to compete for over a period of time,” he said. “Like the Celtics, they (KABC) don’t own it forever.”

Arbitron, another big ratings service, also will publish its May sweeps results next week, including the eight disputed KABC newscast results. Arbitron will be printing a disclaimer at the front of the book, however.

It reads, in part: “KABC-TV’s on-air promotion and advertising of this mini-documentary may have influenced meter panelists’ tuning behavior to a greater extent than that of the general population.”

Staff writer Paul Richter in New York contributed to this story.