NBC News Wants to Transfer ‘I Witness Video’ : Television: The show, which received its best ratings ever last week, will likely be moved to the entertainment division as network seeks to rebuild its news credibility.

It’s been a source of controversy for the beleaguered NBC news division since it first went on the air last year. Last week, with its best ratings ever, it was a source of celebration for a network that has had little to cheer about.

But “I Witness Video’s” big showing last Sunday at 8 p.m. won’t be enough to keep the show under the jurisdiction of a news division looking to reclaim some legitimacy and respect in the wake of the “Dateline NBC”-General Motors debacle that prompted the resignation of NBC News President Michael Gartner.

The network is currently looking for a way to transfer the show--which airs exciting, sometimes gruesome home-video footage of spectacular events and then interviews the people involved about their experiences--from the news division to the entertainment division.

Though NBC does not know exactly when the switch will occur, Jeff Gaspin, vice president of prime-time programming and development for NBC News, said that it is almost certain to be transferred as a kind of “olive branch” to whomever is chosen to run the news department and to the many critics of the show, both inside and outside NBC’s news department.

“It’s been a lightning rod of criticism and, given what has happened recently, the thinking is let’s give whoever might be hired as president (of the division) a clean slate,” Gaspin said.

From its inception, the series has been ridiculed by TV critics and former broadcast journalists as tabloid and sensationalistic--something that does not belong in a serious network news division. Even the NBC news department has been split, Gaspin said, with its detractors arguing that the program simply isn’t news.

“Most of the video that airs has been shown on local newscasts, some even on the network newscasts many times before,” said one NBC News employee who did not want to be identified. “But the way it was packaged and promoted in such a sensationalistic manner made a lot of people uncomfortable.”

Gartner, the source said, was the principal defender of the program within the news department.

Gaspin conceded that the first few episodes of the show were weighted too heavily on what he calls “breathless” video segments. One of the most attacked segments featured a pregnant woman jumping out of a burning building--and the footage was played several times in slow motion. Another story included footage of a police officer who taped his own murder.

Gaspin said that the producers have made a deliberate effort to balance these segments with more newsworthy or uplifting ones. One subsequent piece included video shot by a couple on a cruise ship showing the ship’s crew illegally dumping garbage into the ocean. Another told the story of a virtually blind woman who taped herself sky-diving for the first time and then woke up the next morning with her sight restored.

“Sure the criticism bothers me,” Gaspin said. “But my biggest concern is that it is all because of those first shows and doesn’t really apply to what we’re doing now. The show presents a whole array of interesting stories, and we’re very sensitive to the time slot. Most of the time this is family viewing.”

Last Sunday, “I Witness Video” scored its best ratings ever, finishing a strong second in the time period to CBS’ “Murder, She Wrote” with 20% of the available TV audience. It did even better in key demographic groups, ranking as the No. 1 show for the week with men 25-54 and No. 6 in the adult 18-49 category. With adults 18-49, a group prized by many advertisers, “I Witness Video” scored a 25% share of the audience compared to “Murder, She Wrote’s” 15%.

NBC researchers attributed the dramatic success last week to ABC’s introduction of the newsmagazine “Day One” in a time period formerly occupied by the well-rated “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” Gaspin explained that newsmagazine shows generally attract an older audience, while “Home Videos” and “I Witness Video” appeal to younger viewers. When ABC switched to “Day One,” many of the younger viewers turned instead to “I Witness Video.”

Gaspin said he is somewhat troubled that “I Witness Video” will no longer be a part of the news division, primarily because of the limitations such a gesture might place on other shows that might be developed in the future.