Ratings for Channel 8 News Drop in November Sweeps

The next time the Channel 8 cameras pull back for a Happy Talk Interlude--the moment when the news stars chat about baking or the weather or anything Ted Leitner has on his mind--they might want to discuss this: Why isn’t anyone watching them?

According to the Arbitron ratings released Thursday for the all-important November sweeps period, viewers are avoiding Channel 8 in droves. For the umpteenth, KGTV (Channel 10) won the 5 p.m. slot with a 15 rating and 33 share, compared to an 8 rating and 19 share for KFMB-TV (Channel 8) and a 6 rating and 14 share for KNSD-TV (Channel 39). Channel 8’s 11 p.m. newscast posted a 4 rating and 16 share, trailing both Channel 39 (5 rating, 20 share) and Channel 10 (7 rating, 29 share).

Although the rating for Channel 8’s 11 p.m. newscast was similar to its one for the same period last year, the 5 p.m. newscast was a full two ratings points lower than last November. The Channel 8 6:30 p.m. news show took a similar nose dive.

Remember, the Channel 8 news team of a year ago was hardly “CBS News with Walter Cronkite.” Those were the last days of the Stan Miller-Susan Roesgen-Larry Mendte Era, which most observers thought would be a low point for the station.

Instead, the station has reached a new low, after going through a complete overhaul early in the year. And it can’t use the CBS schedule as an excuse. The CBS 10:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, lead-in to Channel 8’s 11 p.m. news earned a 9 rating, the same as ABC, and it was a point higher than Channel 39’s NBC lead-in. CBS won the prime-time ratings race in San Diego by a full two points over NBC and ABC.

In other words, San Diegans were watching CBS and then turning to other stations for the news. The Nielsen ratings, due out early this week, usually vary by a point or two, but it is clear that this was not the type of book Channel 8 management wanted from its new team.

For all the rhetoric about forming a news team for the long haul, one that will be around for a while, the sales department still needs ratings that it can sell. Although no one from Channel 8 upper management returned phone calls on the subject last week, certainly they must be wondering what’s gone wrong.

It is a good question, considering that the Channel 8 news is a much better product than it was six months ago. Buoyed by a snappy, state-of-the-art promotional campaign with trendy synthesized theme music, the news is clearly getting more support from the station than ever before. News coverage is still on the sappy side, top heavy with warm and fuzzy community stories and shallow news features. But it is definitely more well-rounded than a few months ago, and there seems to be more willingness to cover cops-and-robbers news, although hard news and politics still seem like foreign lands to Channel 8 reporters.

In other words, Channel 8 has its quirks, but so do all the local newscasts. The problem must lie somewhere else.

Leitner seems like a good place to start. The station opened the piggy bank for Leitner, gave him a big contract as they got rid of all the other key anchors. But, evidently, news director Jim Holtzman’s bet hasn’t paid off. Leitner’s name recognition is high, but people clearly don’t tune in to see his contrived, redundant rantings.

In addition, there still is no indication that the audience is ready to accept amiable Hal Clement as the main anchor, or giggly Susan Peters as his sidekick. Loren Nancarrow is settling into the role of likable weatherman quite nicely, but there is clearly something missing in the overall presentation.

Given the ratings, it will be interesting to see if Holtzman will make good on his promise to stick with this team.

Or maybe he will develop a really radical idea and drop the happy talk in favor of substance.

Other notable ratings:

* Channel 39’s “Ross-Hedgecock Report” managed only a 2 rating and a 7 share. That’s twice the rating gained by syndicated shows in the 4 p.m. time slot a year ago, but there is no indication that the show’s audience is growing.

* A flat line is also the best way to describe the growth curve for the audience for the KUSI-TV (Channel 51) 10 p.m. news. It posted a 2 rating and a 5 share, which is very similar to what it has done for the past year.

* Channel 10’s “Inside San Diego” didn’t lose much when it switched from 11 a.m. to 10 a.m., going from a 4 rating to a 3. The syndicated “Home Show” posted a 3 rating in the same time slot for Channel 10 last year.

Ken Kaufman, producer of “Til Murder Do us Part,” the CBS made-for-TV movie about Elisabeth Anne (Betty) Broderick, said the fact that the jury in her second trial found her guilty of second-degree murder wouldn’t affect the film in any way. The movie ends when Broderick shoots her ex-husband and his new wife, and the film only deals with the “confirmed facts” of the story, he said. And, apparently the producers were assuming there wouldn’t be any new “confirmed facts” brought forth in the second trial, since it was shot before the verdict. The show is tentatively scheduled to air during the February ratings sweeps period. . . .

With Battlin’ Betty on everyone’s minds, it seemed an appropriate time to check in on efforts to bring another fabled San Diego case to the small screen. Charles W. Fries of Fries Entertainment says a planned movie version of the Sagon Penn saga is now in “limbo” and is definitely “not on the front burner.” At one point, writers were assigned to develop a script, “but for a lot of reasons it just didn’t work out,” he said, declining to elaborate. . . .

In the cheesier-than-truth category, KSDO-AM (1130) ran a telephone poll during the Roger Hedgecock show last week asking listeners whether Hedgecock should run for mayor or remain as a talk show host. In something of a surprise, considering the audience, 56% of the respondents said Hedgecock shouldn’t run. . . .

This week’s radio casualty list starts at KPOP-AM (1360), which lost most of its on-air personnel, including Bob Chandler, Laurence Gross and Tom Blair, in addition to morning show producer Julie Tanner and public affairs director Gary Whipple. KPOP will be bringing in Bill Moffat, a victim of the KCBQ turnover, as a part-time fill in. . . .

Meanwhile, KPOP’s sister station, KGB-FM (101.5), has dropped music director Virgil Thompson. . . .

Nanci McGraw, who likes to count how many journalism awards she has won--101, according to her most recent press release--is out as news director at KYXY-FM (96.5). . . disc jockey Ken Copper is the latest victim of the never-ending KCBQ turnover game.

CRITIC’S CHOICE: ‘THIRD THURSDAY’ TACKLES RELIGION

Say what you want about Channel 39’s “Third Thursday,” the Town Hall-style program, but it’s undeniable that the producers think big. This month’s topic is “The Role of Religion in Our Changing Society.” According to a press release, it will touch on everything from the legality of crosses on public land to television evangelists. It’s a good thing that the show, which airs live at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, is 90 minutes long.