Pandering to the Audience? Must Be Sweeps Month

A quick scan of the local news stations last week found ABC affiliate KGTV (Channel 10) doing an interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters, asking her every tough question except, “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?”

Across the dial, CBS affiliate Channel 8, after an interview with anchorman Hal Clement’s mother (who worked on “My Three Sons” with the recently deceased Fred MacMurray), moved into a feature on an upcoming CBS movie on Betty Broderick, which was similar to KUSI’s (Channel 51) earlier interview with Geraldo Rivera, who can be seen three times daily on Channel 51. Meanwhile, KNSD-TV (Channel 39) was taking valuable air time to show photos of anchorwoman Denise Yamada’s new baby for “all of you who called.”

Just a typical evening of unbiased, “Straight to You,” nothing-but-the-facts television news during a sweeps ratings period.

Sophisticated viewers don’t have to be told that November is a sweeps ratings period. They can see the orgy of heavily promoted, self-congratulatory, sensational news features and guess that the stations are partaking in the four-times-a-year ratings ritual.

In the realm of local television, November is a particularly important ratings book. The May book is key because stations sell advertising based on those numbers; for most of the summer, the July book is usually discounted because fewer people are watching TV during the summer.

In November, though, people are back glued to their television sets, more so than in any of the other ratings period. The November book sets the tone for the new season and the winter ad rates. Good numbers in November mean the stations’ hard-charging ad executives can pitch huge audiences to their clients, while bad numbers will send them scrambling for excuses.

“The intensity level rises during November,” said Channel 39 General Manager Neil Derrough.

Hence the wave of titillation and sensationalism, the crashing chorus of television news features pandering to the audience’s interests. Or at least the stations are trying to pander. They really, really want to pander.

Though they avoid the bikini features prevalent in other markets, the local stations seek only to please, based on their questionable audience research. In the process, the stations reveal quite a bit about their editorial focus. Channel 10 is wading in with health and fitness features. Channel 8 is doing community-oriented stories; next week the station lands a news crew in the coastal North County area for a series of reports on what’s going on there, forgetting for a moment that this is an area the station supposedly covers daily. Channel 39 is doing features on drunk drivers and organ transplants.

All the news departments, jobs and reputations are on the line, as well as millions of dollars in advertising revenue. However, this November book carries extra importance for many in town, including:

The Channel 8 news: It’s been six months since they opted for the Brady Bunch of news teams. Incessantly perky anchorwoman Susan Peters is no longer a new face. Station news executives say they’re looking for long-term success, but station brass certainly will be looking for some clue that San Diego is accepting the new team.

The normally frugal station has broken open the piggy bank for an unusually extensive promotional campaign. Most of the ads were produced outside the promotions department, as the news department finally felt it was time for a new, slick campaign, something other than man-on-the-street interviews. And the news team has even been doing more hard news, as Channel 8 presents itself as a much more well-rounded newscast then six months ago.

The Ross/Hedgecock Report: It’s an hour now, instead of a half-hour, and it’s fair to say that doubles the pressure on the weekday afternoon show to produce some sort of ratings results. It also has a live studio audience now, which increases the energy level of the program, but also increases the headaches for the show’s producers. The program won’t live or die by the November book, but it is running out of opportunities to prove itself. Because it serves as a lead-in to the important 5 p.m. newscast, the program’s ratings will be watched very closely by station executives.

The Channel 51 News: Legendary acerbic anchorman Roger Grimbsy is back in New York. He helped launch the newscast a year ago, only to depart a few months later. Also departed are many of the embarrassing glitches and foul-ups that marked the early days of the newscast.

Like Channel 8, Channel 51 will be looking for signs that San Diego is accepting the 10 p.m. program, making it part of their lives. It’s not like Channel 51 is going to cancel the newscast, but it will be hoping to generate a little revenue from it. And maybe, if the newscast can generate a little money, the station owners will pay for better camera equipment and a few more reporters.

The results of the November sweeps will be available in mid-December, and that will go a long way toward deciding a wardrobe budget for ad executives.

A CBS movie in production on Betty Broderick stars Meredith Baxter, which is akin to casting Cheryl Ladd to play Roseanne Arnold. . . .

Channel 10 sent a reporter to Los Angeles to cover the Magic Johnson story Thursday, as if having him to do a live report from in front of the Forum would localize it. Channel 39 had a Los Angeles reporter file reports. But Channel 8 managed to do the only real interesting local take on the story by getting Lakers announcer Stu Lantz, who has a local business, to sit down for a lengthy interview with Ted Leitner. . . .

Don’t fear, Lakers fans, Channel 51 will eventually air the team’s road games again this season. In a rather lame move, the station has simply decided not to acknowledge the start of the season. . . .

Entering its sixth season, “Seniors Speak Out,” KPBS’ Phil Donahue-style show for the geriatric set, has gone prime time. It is airing Thursdays at 8 p.m., doing ratings battle with “The Cosby Show” and “The Simpsons.” Seniors is now carried by more than 100 PBS affiliates. . . .

Anaheim Broadcasting is set to take over KRMX-FM (94.9) Fridya. Anaheim is going to set up its corporate headquarters in San Diego. . . .

It’s a tough call, but Channel 8 still wins the TV news banal banter contest. “Did you bake last night?” Leitner asked anchorwoman Susan Peters last week.