Olympics Were a Huge Boost for Channel 39

During certain evenings last month, more than half of the TV sets turned on in San Diego were tuned to KNSD-TV (Channel 39), according to the Arbitron ratings report for July released last week.

No, the attraction wasn’t a news report exploring the potential life-threatening dangers of breakfast cereals. Nor a Paul Bloom “Crime Watch” segment exposing the vile underbelly of San Diego society.

The lure was, of course, the Olympics. And Channel 39 benefited as much as any NBC affiliate in the country, posting big numbers for the nights dominated by Olympic coverage.

The Nielsen numbers due out this week may be slightly different, but the story will almost certainly be the same. The Olympics played well for Channel 39, although perhaps not as spectacularly as some executives may have hoped.

The numbers were comparable to the ratings Channel 8 received during the Winter Olympics in February. Thanks to the Olympics, Channel 39, which has fared poorly recently with NBC’s schedule, won the prime time battle for the month with an overall 13 rating and 26 share, followed by Channel 8 with a 6 rating and 13 share.

Bolstered by the Winter Olympics, which fell smack in the middle of the ratings period, Channel 8 won the February prime time with a 19 rating and 34 share. But the CBS line-up is naturally stronger, and more people watch TV in February. On individual nights, the Winter Olympics received ratings in the 20s and shares in the 40s, which is very similar to what Channel 39 received for the supposedly more popular summer games. (Ratings measure the percentage of total television sets tuned to the show; shares represent the percentage of sets actually turned on during the time period.)

On the other hand, some of the July Olympic numbers were amazing. On some nights the Olympics on Channel 39 received a 52 share. The 12:30--2 a.m. Olympic program drew as much as a 60 share.

It is absolutely meaningless, because it won’t be repeated, but Arbitron showed Channel 39’s post-Olympic newscasts at midnight drew an incredible 48 share on some nights, which meant almost half the people watching TV at that time were watching the Channel 39 news.

For the most part, though, the Olympics did little to help the ratings of Channel 39’s newscasts, in part due to the long hours of the Olympics coverage and the fact that the Olympics came at the end of the ratings book, not the beginning.

Overall, the book showed Channel 10 as maintaining first place in all the major newscast time slots, although Channel 39 continued to inch into the competition. At 11 p.m. in the three weeks before the Olympics, Channel 39 earned a 5 rating and 20 share, just one share behind Channel 10.

Channel 39’s 5 p.m. rating was virtually unchanged from the previous July, but it wasn’t helped much by the syndicated “Cristina” in the 4-5 p.m. lead-in slot. The new talk fest had an almost nonexistent audience, according to Arbitron, showing a 1 rating and 3 share, contrasted with the 2 rating and 6 share posted last year by the “Ross/Hedgecock Report.”

Beyond the dramatic impact of the Olympics, there were few startling revelations in the Arbitron report. The July book is the runt of the quarterly ratings, considered the least important of the four books due to the low summer viewership, lack of first-run shows and the special events that can skew the numbers.

Nevertheless, the ratings were still full of interesting tidbits, particularly for station employees who live and die by the numbers.

For example, July may be a measly little ratings book, but folks at KFMB-TV (Channel 8) certainly were not thrilled to see that Arbitron continues to show noticeably mediocre numbers for their newscasts. In terms of growth, the station’s ratings are basically a flat line, remaining steady at 11 p.m. and showing slight drops at 5 and 6:30 p.m.

Inexplicably, Channel 8’s 4:30 p.m. newscast took a nose dive, posting only a 4 rating and 14 share contrasted with a 7 rating and 25 share last July. The weak lead-in from “M*A*S*H” at 4 p.m. certainly didn’t help; neither did the early Padres games televised from the East Coast.

But maybe replacing Hal Clement with the tandem of Mitch Duncan and Sandra Maas also hurt what was once one of Channel 8’s strongest performers.

In September, Channel 8 will insert Bill Cosby’s new syndicated show, a modern version of “You Bet Your Life,” into the 4 p.m. slot in the hope that it will bolster the 4:30 p.m. show’s ratings.

This particular July book has one more distinction, a footnote in history: It is the last ratings book before Nielsen installs monitors that will electronically record viewership. Most industry observers believe the meters will eliminate many of the fluctuations and inaccuracies of the current diary system, as well as providing overnight numbers.

By November, when the meter ratings begin, industry observers will be looking back at these July ratings as the steam-engine era of ratings. Of course, those that see their ratings slide under the new system may look back at this July book as the good ol’ days.

KFMB-TV (Channel 8) comedian-turned-weather-guy Larry Himmel, who writes a light and entertaining weekly column for the Times Advocate, recently focused his pen on his own industry. Billed as a glossary to help readers understand television news, it probably didn’t endear him to his co-workers.

Among his definitions:

Investigative reporter: Someone who reads the newspaper.

Exclusive: A story the other stations didn’t think was important enough to cover.

Anchorman: 1) A well-respected, seasoned journalist who reads the news, 2) Newsreader, 3) A guy with a lot of mousse.

Anchorwoman: 1) A well-respected, seasoned journalist who reads the nightly news, 2) Newsreader, 3) Former fairest of the fair.

Environment: Something our consultants told us would be the sizzle topic of the ‘90s.

Restaurant reviewer: 1) Designated freeloader, 2) America’s guest, 3) Mr. Freebee.

In-depth: A story that lasts more than a minute.

Ratings: 1) Sex, 2) Mo’ sex, 3) Mo’ sex.

Sportscaster: 1) An ex-jock, 2) A guy in a plaid sports coat, 3) Someone who gets paid an outrageous amount of money for complaining about how much money professional athletes make.

All the definitions may land a little close to home for the folks at Channel 8. But Himmel saved his best line for his own valiant profession:

Weatherman: 1) Meteorologist, 2) Someone who is one bad career move away from the Home Shopping Network, 3) A geek.

Channel 39’s willingness to send reporter Gene Cubbison to the Republican Convention, repeating Gene’s Excellent Adventure with the Democrats, paid dividends.

Besides the usual convention-life features, Cubbison, the only local television reporter on the scene, was granted a one-on-one interview with President George Bush. And, instead of the usual softball, “Tell us why we should vote for you”-type questions, Cubbison even managed to lead the vote-hungry candidate to topics of some local interest, such as the Tailhook scandal and free trade. . . .

KFMB-AM (760) Program Director Mark Larson reportedly suspended Ted Leitner for two days with pay Friday after Leitner’s on-air railing against the Republican convention. Leitner is expected to return to his morning radio shift Wednesday. . . .

“The Cabinet of Dr. Marconi,” humor segments by locals John Erik Villesvik and Dan Epstein, have been accepted for airing on NPR’s “The Iowa Radio Project.” The pieces are scheduled to begin airing in October. . . .

Puff Piece of the Week Award goes to Channel 8’s Liz Pursell, who did a feature on how well a certain type of car is selling. She featured the wonderful, non-pressure approach of the dealership, quoting the dealership’s sales “consultant” and noting the pictures of satisfied customers on the wall. She even showed the sales “consultant” kicking a fender. . . .

Local reporter Colin Flaherty, who was credited last week with getting an innocent man out of prison through his investigations, has gone international. He recently sold a story to a Russian periodical. The subject: Industrial espionage, featuring the Spy Factory, a store that sells various forms of spying equipment. . . .

Former Channel 39 News Director Don Shafer has landed as news director at WLUK-TV, the NBC affiliate in Green Bay, Wis. . . .

Channel 10 is developing a point-counterpoint segment for its 11:30 a.m. weekday newscast using KFI radio commentators Joe Crummey and Jane Norris. Although nothing is definite, it may premier this week. Given the “Saturday Night Live” parodies of the format, Crummey’s major goal probably will be to resist starting segments with, “Jane, you ignorant slut. . . .”

CRITIC’S CHOICE: Double Bill of Clancy

Not surprisingly, Tom Clancy’s peculiar brand of right-wing action adventure novels have become blockbuster films. It is far more surprising that writing books about the Red Menace and quoting the serial numbers of different sub-machine guns has somehow made Clancy qualified to be a political commentator for cable news shows, but that has more to do with the media than the film industry.

From a cinematic perspective, Clancy’s work is made for the big screen. Besides the omnipresent military toys, which Hollywood loves, there is always the clearly identified good guys and the bad guys.

Neither “Hunt for Red October” or “Patriot Games” is a great film--note Sean Connery’s accent slide from Russian to Scottish and back to Russian again in “Red October”--but they have a certain verve, a mindless energy that can sweep up action-adventure-oriented audiences looking for something a little more intellectually stimulating than “Three Ninjas.” Not since the days of John Wayne have films been so unabashedly conservative, as Clancy hero Jack Ryan fights the weak-kneed, brainless politicians as much as the Enemy.

On Wednesday night, the Ken Cinema will double-bill the two Clancy films, which are much like modern Westerns. It should be a night of fun for movie fans who like Clint Eastwood more than Woody Allen.