MEDIA : Channel 10 Retains Hold on Top News Show Ratings

For better or worse, ratings and awards are the accepted methods within the television industry for gauging the success of a news operation. A news show may expose deceit and corruption, and discover a way to feed the starving children of the world, but it won’t mean much to a station executive unless it gets a 30 share and an Emmy.

Given these parameters, a pecking order of sorts has developed in San Diego.

KGTV (Channel 10) is the ratings leader, able to boast that it is the number one news operation in town. Although the Nielsen ratings released last week show the race to be much closer than did the previously announced Arbitron ratings, Channel 10 is clearly in front at both 5 and 11 p.m., a position it has held for the past few years.

Ratings certainly are only a vague reflection of audiences’ tastes. They are overvalued, overused and overemphasized, just as critics of the ratings system claim. Yet ratings are the driving force in television news. And, in this case, ratings may accurately reflect the current state of San Diego television news.

Channel 10 acts like a number one news station, producing regular documentaries and emphasizing its news coverage at every opportunity. Aided by the money that comes from getting top ratings, it has expanded its news product in the last few years, adding morning news programs and updates on cable’s Headline News. Although it may be a cheesy practice in the eyes of media critics, Channel 10 incessantly uses “Inside San Diego” and the updates to promote its other news shows, which only makes it a stronger ratings force.

Channel 10 also has established itself as an aggressive news operation. Michael Tuck’s “Perspective” pieces and General Manager Ed Quinn’s editorials are the hardest hitting commentaries on local television. Marti Emerald’s “Trouble-shooter” pieces are the most aggressive (and entertaining, in a voyeuristic way) consumer reports in the market. And, although it still does more warm and fuzzy animal stories than any station on earth, it presents the most balanced newscast on the air.

More than anything, though, Channel 10 benefits from its consistency, featuring the same faces for several years. It doesn’t matter that some of them are geeky types who might have problems finding jobs in other markets. Consistency is the key.

In a ratings sense, KNSD-TV (Channel 39) also is benefitting from consistency. It has moved into second place at 11 p.m. (according to Arbitron), thanks in part to the familiar faces of its anchor team. (The Nielsen ratings, however, show each Channel 39 newscast in third place, with little improvement over the past year.)

Marty Levin, Denise Yamada, weatherman Bob Dale and sports guy Jim Laslavic have all been in the market for several years. Channel 39 has taken on a noticeably small market look, focusing on cops and robbers news and hiring reporters who clearly can’t command very large salaries.

But in terms of putting together individual news reports, Channel 39 has always been top-notch, which, to a degree, is reflected in the Emmy nominations announced last week. Channel 39 received 71 Emmy nominations, more than the other San Diego stations combined. It also submitted more entries than any other station--and four of its nominations were for an hour-long newscast it no longer has--but it is still a stunning number of nominations.

Of course, journalism awards are completely subjective and meaningless, having nothing to do with accuracy, timeliness or other factors relevant to a quality news operation. However, they tend to suggest a level of quality and skills.

KFMB-TV’s (Channel 8) newscast shines in neither awards or ratings.

Once the dominant ratings force in local news, the station can no longer claim that it is in a transition period. It’s been a year since Allison Ross left, and the ratings have shown nothing even close to upward mobility (although the Nielsens, unlike the Arbitrons, at least show the station to be competitive).

In a memo to employees, news director Jim Holtzman admitted that he was thinking of making dramatic changes after the Arbitron ratings were released. However, he wrote that he is going to stick with the current team.

As a news operation, Channel 8 does the basics, but rarely stands out. It has the personnel to do well-photographed feature reports, as the Emmy nominations reflect. Most of its nominations were for technical skills and feature reporting. None of its newscasts were nominated.

Channel 8 rarely breaks news stories (even fewer than the other television news operations) and displays little commitment to covering nuts-and-bolts news.

For example, Channel 8’s recent election night coverage was noticeably weaker than the other stations’. Of the three news operations, only Channel 8 didn’t send reporters to the campaign headquarters of the candidates for governor. Channel 8 offered little analysis of the evening’s events, beyond anchorman Stan Miller saying some of the races sure looked closer than expected.

With Miller and Susan Roesgen as the lead anchors, Channel 8’s newscasts are distinctly lightweight. Giving sports guy Ted Leitner a regular news commentary slot only served to emphasize the station’s lightweight image.

Maybe, for once, ratings and awards actually do give viewers a clear indication of what is happening on the local television news scene.

“I’ve always had heavy eye lids,” Channel 10’s Michael Tuck said last Thursday. Earlier this month he decided a little minor surgery would take care of the problem.

Channel 10 viewers quickly noticed the difference last week, when he returned from vacation looking like a poster child for radiation poisoning. By Wednesday, though, the swelling had gone down.

“I probably came back a little too soon,” he said.

Tuck decided to get the lid-lift in preparation for his big move to Los Angeles, which is now scheduled for Aug. 1. Channel 10 has agreed to let Tuck out of his contract a month early so he can join KCBS-TV (Channel 2). Tuck said he still is not sure when he’s leaving.

SHORT TAKES:

If Channel 10 was fined $10 every time one of its on-air talent mentioned Kimberly Hunt’s wedding it could buy enough hot dogs to feed San Diego’s homeless for a week. . . .

The latest chapter in the XHRM-FM (92.5) soap opera finds Lee Mirabal the leading candidate to take over the station. “Nothing definite,” she says. She served a short stint as the station’s general manager a few months ago. . . .

Former KKLQ (Q106) morning guy Jack Murphy reportedly has landed at KHYI-FM in Dallas, after being fired in Atlanta. . . .

Southwestern Cable will preempt C-Span II at 6 a.m. Thursday to air Nelson Mandela’s first speech on American soil, live from New York.