ANALYSIS : ‘Elvis’ Elevates KABC-TV to Ratings Win

Score a big sweeps win for KABC-TV Channel 7 and assists to programming savvy, Pat Robertson and Iowa.

The conclusion of the ABC miniseries “Elvis and Me,” combined with some eleventh-hour programming changes pegged to the Iowa caucuses, gave the local station a runaway ratings victory Monday not only in prime time but with its late news as well.

KABC’s 11 p.m. “Eyewitness News,” benefiting from strong “Elvis and Me” ratings, a heavily promoted interview with Priscilla Presley and interest in the Iowa political results, scored a phenomenal 20 rating--nearly double its normal showing.

KCBS-TV Channel 2’s 11 p.m. newscast scored a 4.2 in the ratings from A.C. Nielsen Co. KNBC-TV Channel 4, which normally runs neck-and-neck with KABC in that time slot, opted out of the race Monday by scheduling its local news at 10:30. It put on a caucus wrap-up at 11 and registered a 5.3 rating. (Each local rating point represents 46,527 households).

Nationally, Monday’s final installment of the two-part “Elvis and Me” averaged a 24.9 Nielsen rating. NBC’s “Moving Target,” starring teen heart throb Jason Bateman, pulled in a 17.2, and CBS, with its regular series lineup, averaged 12.8.

Locally, however, ABC’s dramatization of Priscilla Presley’s account of her marriage to the king of rock ‘n’ roll fared even better, whipping the competition with a 30 rating and a 46 share--meaning 46% of all the Los Angeles-area homes watching TV during that time were tuned to KABC. KNBC’s showing of “Moving Target” averaged a 16.9 rating and CBS’ programming got a 9.2.

It was no wonder KABC did so well. “Elvis” was an excellent piece of television, not in story but in style. Steamy sex, religious conflict, pretty faces, superb use of newsreel and home-movie footage and lots of music: What more could a TV audience have asked (except, perhaps, a story that didn’t paint Priscilla quite so saintly)?

The Monday ratings victory was good news for KABC’s parent ABC network too. It came on the heels of another win Sunday, when the first part of “Elvis and Me” defeated the first installment of CBS’ “Windmills of the Gods” (which concluded Tuesday night). That ratings triumph helped ABC move up to second in the weekly figures released Tuesday and brought it to within one-tenth of a point of CBS for the 20-week season-to-date averages for prime time (NBC remains the leader).

A large part of KABC’s success Monday was the result of its last-minute schedule changes. KABC decided to air the network analysis of the Iowa caucus live at 7:30 p.m. (as did KNBC) instead of at 10:30 p.m., as originally scheduled. Channel 7 moved “Eye on L.A.” and a special installment of “Growing Pains” each back a half hour. Since “Eye on L.A.” was about “Men of the World,” that gave the station a prime time filled with heart throbs and additionally insured that “Elvis and Me,” which started at 9 instead of 8:30 p.m., would lead into the late news.

That programming ploy worked perfectly. KABC’s 11 p.m. news garnered a 48 share, meaning that nearly half of the people watching televison in L.A. at the time were watching “Eyewitness News.”

Rather than realigning its schedule, KNBC began “Moving Target” at 8:30 p.m. as planned, put its local news on at 10:30 p.m. and then inserted a locally produced caucus roundup at 11 p.m. That programming decision, a station spokesman said Tuesday, was based on the desire to air “NBC Decision ‘88” live at 7:30 p.m. and because “we had committed significant resources” for expanded local coverage of the election. Channel 4 had sent reporter Linda Douglass and a camera crew to Iowa

Some KNBC competitors thought KNBC might have had something else in mind.

“They put on news at 10:30, knowing ‘Elvis’ would do well, so their news rating wouldn’t count in this month’s average (of the 11 p.m. time slot),” KCBS spokeswoman Andi Sporkin said Tuesday. “Our feeling is that people expect news at 11 so we put news on at 11.”

KNBC’s newscast at 10:30 p.m. registered a 7.5 rating.