The Ratings Game: How L.A. Is Different

Exactly how popular is “Smallville,” the WB network series that began its second season last week? Like so many things pertaining to TV ratings and research, it depends on where you happen to look.

Around the country, the show about Superman as a teenager is a modest success relative to the major networks, clocking in at just 49th on the prime-time charts. Around Los Angeles, however, the series takes off like you-know-who, last week roughly doubling its national average.

Television ratings have been in the news more than usual this past week, as the networks launch new programs and bring back old ones, heralding the start of the new TV season. These results are analyzed as if they contained nuclear secrets, as opposed to clues as to whether “Good Morning, Miami” will live to see Thanksgiving.

Still, the figures generally reported are Nielsen Media Research estimates gauging the viewing habits of 272 million U.S. residents, spread across 106.7 million homes--a tale of the tape that often tells a quite different story than data for the Los Angeles-Orange County viewing area, which by itself accounts for 5% of the nation’s TV households. And while you doubtless harbor certain preconceptions about L.A.--or New York or Cincinnati--and what each city’s inhabitants are apt to watch, some of the findings may surprise you.

These next few paragraphs, by the way, will be received enthusiastically by the Tribune Co., owner of both the Los Angeles Times and KTLA. Although this can’t be helped, rest assured that given my penchant for biting the hand that feeds me, I don’t plan to make a habit of it.Still, the truth is that WB network programs perform vastly better on KTLA than they do in the U.S. as a whole--a pattern that has long held true, since the L.A. area features seven VHF stations (that is, channels 2 through 13), allowing upstart networks to compete on a more even footing.

By contrast, in much of the country WB, UPN and even Fox programs run on weaker UHF affiliates positioned in TV’s nosebleed section, on channels from the 20s to the 60s. As a result, those networks’ series tend to be far more competitive in Los Angeles and certain other big markets than they are nationally.

As a case in point, KTLA’s telecasts of “Smallville” and “Gilmore Girls” together ranked No. 1 in the L.A.-area last Tuesday, averaging an 8.5 rating--doubling the average number of homes they attracted nationwide, where the WB finished fourth for those two hours. (Each rating point, whether in L.A. or nationally, represents 1% of available households.)

Granted, some of the local-versus-national discrepancies would seem predictable. The Emmy Awards, for example, drew 18% of homes in KNBC-TV’s viewing area, a third more than watched the event on a national basis--not a surprise, given that such showcases represent a prime opportunity to root for friends and against enemies.

Still, not all the stereotypes apply. Take “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and “Late Show With David Letterman.” Many doubtless assume that the hipper Letterman shines in big cities, while Leno’s act plays better in the corn-fed heartland.

Sounds logical, only that’s not the case. Due in part to the long-standing weakness of CBS’ New York and L.A. stations relative to their network-owned rivals, Leno has consistently eclipsed Letterman in the country’s two largest media markets--the towns all those stars, news personalities and their publicists call home.

Take last week, when “The Tonight Show” averaged a 4.9 rating in the L.A. area--or about 260,000 homes--to a 2 rating (a little over 100,000) viewing “Late Show.” The disparity was smaller in Letterman’s home base of New York City, but Leno still beat him there by a solid 4.4 to 3.1 rating margin.

If independent TV stations frequently outperform their national averages in L.A.--a case station officials are eager to make, since they get to sell a few local commercials during network programs--none are more overlooked than the Spanish-language outlets, which have long complained that their share of ad dollars isn’t commensurate with their audience.

So while we in the media breathlessly focused on last week’s network premieres, the Univision telenovela “El Privilegio de Amar” (The Privilege of Love) actually drew a higher rating locally on KMEX than “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “That ‘70s Show,” “60 Minutes II” or “WWE Smackdown.”

On Thursday, in fact, with KNBC-TV and KCBS-TV sucking most of the air out of the market, KMEX ranked third for the night.

In some respects, the local standings can provide a source of civic pride. More of your neighbors watched “NYPD Blue,” percentage-wise, than did so in the rest of the country, while significantly fewer viewed the “Big Brother 3” finale. Fox’s critically lauded “The Bernie Mac Show” posted a 9.3 rating in L.A. versus a 4.9 nationally, reducing the time-slot victory by ABC’s more conventional Damon Wayans vehicle “My Wife and Kids” from a nationwide runaway to a local photo-finish.

Other statistics are interesting, if hard to categorize. Compared to national ratings, “Friends” fared better in L.A. but “Will & Grace” and “ER” did worse. Witty, urbane “Frasier” was seen in more homes nationwide, though a higher percentage of L.A.-area viewers stuck around for “Hidden Hills”--a new sitcom that derives its name from a small community located just off the Ventura Freeway.

“Survivor: Thailand” rang up an 11.9 rating in L.A., just a hair below the national average. In the asphalt jungle of New York, the show clocked in at a mere 9.6.

As for “Survivor’s” highest rating? Look no farther than the aforementioned Cincinnati, where the show notched a whopping 24.6 rating--meaning nearly a quarter of that city’s homes tuned in, over twice the national average. My best guess is that with the Bengals opening the football season 0-4 and the Reds finishing 19 games out of first place, Ohioans are either desperate for entertainment or fuzzy on whether the whole “Outwit. Outlast. Outplay” thing constitutes a legitimate sport.

Pundits have long noted that all politics is local--really just a fancy way of saying that people care most about that which is closest to them. From that perspective, consider this little exercise a reminder that most TV viewing begins at home, and when it comes to taste, your friends and neighbors aren’t necessarily as smart--or stupid--as a cursory glance at the weekly Nielsens might lead you to believe.

Brian Lowry’s column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at brian.lowry@latimes.com.