The Sweeps: Race Preparations Are a Deep Secret

Though the results of selecting and producing sweeps mini-docs are very public, the process itself is stamped “Top Secret” at KNBC-TV Channel 4 and KABC-TV Channel 7.

Regina Miyamoto, spokeswoman for Channel 4, acknowledges that mini-docs are the “bread and butter” of the local network-owned stations during sweeps--the one component of their newscasts that is special and, management hopes, attractive enough to draw additional viewers.

But KNBC management will say nothing more about the process that goes into choosing, producing and promoting them.

“How we come up with our ideas for sweeps is confidential,” agrees John Severino, KABC-TV’s general manager. “We’re No. 1 and our competition would love to know how we do it.”

“There’s a real paranoia about sweeps ideas getting stolen by the other stations,” says a former KABC-TV news producer. “And, if (our management) found out what another station was planning to do, they’d pull somebody off whatever they were doing and get it on the air first. They’d pull file footage and make it happen.”

Just this week, both KABC and KNBC ran mini-docs on members of England’s royal family. Channel 4 sent reporter Bill Lagattuta to London last month to compile his seven-part series and took out large ads for it in TV Guide and newspapers. Channel 7 edited together some file footage on Prince Andrew and wife “Fergie” and had anchor Tawny Little report on the couple’s visit to Los Angeles this weekend.

KABC did not advertise the series in the weekly TV magazines (which generally require a lead time of several weeks for ads), but the station did get it on the air two days before Channel 4’s.

“Is it a coincidence?” asks a KNBC insider. “Sometimes what happens is they take a look at what’s coming up (in the print ads), and if it’s a good idea, they do it too.”

During last year’s February sweeps, both stations during the same week aired mini-docs on sex between therapists and their clients, and KABC ran a multi-part special report on gridlock two weeks after KNBC broadcast its own series on L.A.’s traffic problems.

This month, both Channel 2 and Channel 7 ran competing news series on fighting headaches.

“It’s called spoiling the story,” says Andi Sporkin, spokeswoman at KCBS-TV. “(Channel 7) thinks that if they can get the same story on first, then viewers won’t be as inclined to tune in to the other station’s series. I don’t really think it hurts us. It’s just another example of their do-anything-to-win attitude during sweeps.”

With the February sweeps due to end Wednesday, A.C. Nielsen ratings through Thursday show that KABC is beating its two rivals in all news time slots, with KNBC second and KCBS third.

Buoyed by a strong audience lead-in from ABC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics, Channel 7’s 11 p.m. news has soared this month to an average 10.3 rating (each rating point represents 46,527 households), while Channel 4 is averaging an 8.2 and Channel 2 is averaging a 6.

Rick Sherwood also contributed to this article.