The Movers and the Shaker: The Shows Go On . . . Mostly : KNBC Ratings Take the High Grounds as Anchors Dive for Cover

While some observers criticized what they considered to be the rattled deliveries and occasional misinformation of KNBC-TV Channel 4’s earthquake anchors, Nielsen ratings for Thursday’s coverage showed that most viewers weren’t bothered enough to switch to other channels.

“Everyone from ‘Entertainment Tonight’ to David Letterman used the bit of Kent (Shocknek) and Chris (Nance) going under the desk, but I tell you, I don’t blame them,” KNBC general manager John Rohrbeck said Friday.

During the first 45 minutes following the quake, which hit at 7:42 a.m., the two KNBC newscasters ducked more than once on the Burbank set of KNBC’s early-morning news program, openly announcing their fear for their personal safety. Large overhead lighting fixtures and banks of TV monitors, all of which shook and swayed during the 6.1 temblor and its aftershocks, could have collapsed and shattered on the pair, Rohrbeck pointed out in an interview.

“If it had been me, I probably would have run out of the studios,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to write a note to the staff yet, but I was very proud of them.”

During those first few moments, viewers’ sympathies and attention were also apparently with the two KNBC anchors. According to the Nielsen overnights, KNBC garnered a 23.9 rating and a 61 share of the audience from 8 to 8:30 a.m., compared to a 3.8 rating and a 10 share for KCBS-TV Channel 2 and a 7.3 rating, 19 share for KABC-TV Channel 7. Each rating point represents 46,527 homes.

The pattern remained the same throughout the morning for the three network-owned and operated stations when they were delivering live quake coverage. From 7:45 a.m. to noon, KNBC chalked up an 18.6 rating and 47 share; from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., KCBS showed a 7.8 rating and a 20 share, and from 10:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., KABC had an 11.8 rating and a 30 share.

KCBS did no beneath-the-desk reporting, but the CBS affiliate did have continuous coverage following the quake while KABC did not break from its network format until later in the morning. As a result, while Shocknek and Nance were shaking beneath their desk and KCBS’ Valerie Coleman and Kevin O’Connell were providing a calmer--if not as dramatic--brand of coverage, KABC was still broadcasting “Good Morning America.”

During the first hour following the quake, NBC pre-empted “The Today Show” by switching to the KNBC coverage throughout its Pacific-states network. As a result, NBC affiliates from Seattle to Phoenix to Salt Lake City were broadcasting the same live coverage that Los Angeles residents were seeing on their sets.

When KNBC’s Associated Press wire machine broke down because of a power loss, Shocknek told the entire audience. He wished aloud for someone to show up in the newsroom so that he would have some facts to read over the air. Kirstie Wilde and Linda Alvarez, the first reporters who got to the Burbank studios to relieve Shocknek and Nance, were able to relate on camera what they had seen on the way to work and a minicam aimed at an unscathed crystal shop became the first live shot on the air.

By 9 a.m., when collapsed buildings and the first deaths were being reported, KNBC had found an old John Marshall tape on earthquake preparedness, and the news wire machines were again functioning. Though the station had hit its stride, misinformation continued to get out. Viewers were no longer being warned to abandon high-rise office buildings, but the anchors were still suggesting that homeowners turn off their gas--a suggestion that the Southern California Gas Co. warns against unless customers actually smell leaking gas.

Despite the glitches, panic and misinformation, Rohrbeck said KNBC’s initial viewer feedback had been positive.

“I would say probably the ratings are the best feedback you could find,” he said. “The audience stayed with us.”