CNN, KCAL Broke Own Viewing Records

Cable News Network scored its highest ratings ever in a 24-hour period and KCAL Channel 9 also pulled in its largest audience since switching to prime-time news in 1989 as Americans sought information Tuesday about whether the United States was going to war.

But while news viewing in Los Angeles was higher than usual Tuesday night, it was not overwhelming, according to ratings released Wednesday. The possibility of World War III did not appear to interfere with many people’s love affair with Roseanne Barr, “Matlock” or any of the usual prime-time entertainment fare.

At 9 p.m. PST, when the U.N. deadline for an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait arrived, only KNBC Channel 4 among the three Los Angeles network owned-and-operated stations cut from its entertainment schedule to offer 18 minutes of Persian Gulf news, from 8:57 to 9:15 p.m.

But after the deadline, KNBC rejoined rivals KCBS Channel 2 and KABC Channel 7 with the usual fare--sitcoms, drama and movies. With the switch back to “In the Heat of the Night,” however, there was a plunge in viewership: from 789,000 homes for the news update to 447,000 for the series.

Cable News Network, meanwhile, posted its highest 24-hour rating from Monday midnight to Tuesday midnight: a 2.9 rating, or about 1,673,000 households.

CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Tuesday night scored a record 4.9 rating, as did “Crossfire” with a 3.9. The peak audience for the evening was a 5.7 at 7 p.m. PST. At 9 p.m., CNN’s ratings had declined to a 4. Each rating point represents 931,000 homes.

CNN’s previous high for a 24-hour period was in June, 1985, during the hijacking of a TWA airliner, when the network scored a 2.5 rating.

With the other major Los Angeles stations largely opting for entertainment over news in the early evening Tuesday, KCAL Channel 9 benefited greatly. The station scored an 8.9 rating at 8, with 12% of all households tuned in to watch the latest from the gulf. The figure climbed steeply at 9 p.m. to bring KCAL its highest news rating in its two-year history. The station recorded a 10.8 rating with 15% of all homes tuned in as it provided the only news on local television complete with live reports from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel. Each point locally represents 50,263 households.

Instead of news coverage at the deadline hour, KABC offered a 9 p.m. teaser to stay tuned following “Roseanne,” “Coach” and “thirtysomething” for gulf news at 11. According to the overnight Nielsen ratings, most viewers did not follow the advice. At 11, KNBC’s newscast finished first with an 8.5 rating and a 20% share of the audience. KABC was second with 19% and KCBS third with 12%.

From a ratings standpoint, KABC’s station management may have been justified in not putting on more news. Earlier in the evening, Channel 7 suffered a ratings dip at 7:30 when it preempted “Instant Recall” with a news special on the crisis. Viewers indicated that they preferred KNBC’s “Hard Copy” (9.5 rating) and KCBS’s “Jeopardy!” (13.9) to KABC’s special (8.1).

After the 11 p.m. news, the breakdown in viewer preference seemed to follow a typical ratings pattern: KABC’s “Nightline” pulled a 7 rating and a 21% share of the viewing audience; KNBC finished second with a Tom Brokaw-anchored special on the crisis, preempting “The Tonight Show” and garnering a 6.7 rating and 20%; and KCBS’ “America Tonight” finished third with a 3.1 rating and an 11% share.

The full extent of KCBS’s prime-time news programming Tuesday evening consisted of a 30-second news break at 9.

“It was an extended news break . . . longer than normal,” said a KCBS spokesperson. “Bree Walker came on and said that the deadline had passed, that there were no hostilities and that we would keep (our viewers) posted.”

At 10, KTLA Channel 5’s usually top-rated newscast took a major leap, nearly doubling its rating and market share over the previous week: a 9.4 rating with a 16% share.

KTTV Channel 11 extended its normal 10 p.m. news hour to 11:30, preempting “I Love Lucy,” but that didn’t help its ratings a great deal. The station finished with a 3.3 rating and a 6% share of the audience. KCOP’s “News 13,” also at 10, finished last among the independent stations with a 5% audience share and a 2.7 rating.