THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 11, 1996 TAG: 9606110068
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 101 lines
WHEN THE results of the local May ratings sweeps were announced in the WVEC newsroom, news director Dave Cassidy told his staff: ``Your hard work paid off. We had the best ratings in two years.''
Channel 13 is again No. 1 at 6 p.m.
Cassidy, who will soon move to a new job in Washington, D.C., added a comment about WVEC's rival stations in this, America's 38th largest TV market: ``WAVY had a pretty good May, but WTKR hit the wall.''
Here is why Cassidy said what he did about the May sweeps, which were determined by what 801 families in greater Hampton Roads logged in diaries sent to them by the A.C. Nielsen company:
WVEC pulled away from WAVY and WTKR at 6 p.m. to lead at that hour, gathering in 12 percent of this area's 632,020 TV households. WVEC also won at 5 p.m. In February, when Nielsen last conducted sweeps in this market, WTKR and WAVY tied for first with WVEC just one share point behind at the dinner hour. The advantage of a strong lead-in at 5:30 (``Home Improvement'' with a 9 rating and 24 share) did not boost WTKR to first at 6 as was the case in February.
Although WVEC regained the lead at 6, its ratings are not as high as in May 1995, when the ABC affiliate had 13 percent of the viewership. At 11 p.m., WAVY leads but with fewer viewers than last May, when ``News 10 at 11'' had an 11 rating and 28 share.
After surging late last year under new ownership (The New York Times Co.), which introduced watch-and-win giveaways during the sweeps, WTKR fell back in the May rating period. Channel 3, which dropped four rating points at 6 to finish third in a three-horse race, also came in third at 11 p.m. and tied with WAVY for second at 5 p.m. Compared to the February sweeps, WTKR's ratings are down across the board, from its early-morning and noon newscasts to the News Channel 3 reports at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. WTKR's lead at noon is still considerable - four rating points better than second-place WAVY.
But I doubt if anyone will be popping champagne corks at the Channel 3 studios in downtown Norfolk this week.
WAVY, helped by NBC's killer lineup in primetime, won the local ratings race at 11 p.m. and, as usual, was No. 1 in the morning. However, ratings for ``News 10 Today'' are off by 2 rating points and 6 shares since anchor Carol Hoffman resigned.
What has general manager Ed Munson and his staff at WAVY beaming are the 6 p.m. numbers, which show Channel 10 is No. 1 at that hour among women 25 to 54. Advertisers love that group.
NBC helped WAVY finish first in primetime with a 12 rating and 20 share followed by WTKR (10/17) and WVEC (9/16). The most watched show in this market is ``ER,'' with 24 percent of the households tuned in at 10 p.m. Thursday. ``Seinfeld'' is No. 2 (23/33).
As he analyzed the May ratings book, Cassidy said: ``My guess is that viewers' negative reaction to WTKR's letting Duane Harding go finally showed up, because Channel 3 lost big compared to February. I'm proud to say we won at 6 against our competition's contests and giveaways.''
Meteorologist Harding was replaced last January, prompting a large outpouring of protests from viewers.
Cassidy in the next few months will move to Washington, where he will head up a news bureau for the A.H. Belo Corp., which owns WVEC as well as six other TV stations and a newspaper in Dallas.
Cassidy will be around long enough to welcome Hoffman, who will join Channel 13's ``Good Morning'' telecast later this summer.
Munson at WAVY did a bit of analyzing of his own when he looked at the 6 p.m. ratings, which show WVEC on top in households. ``You have to wonder how much of that originated from Jim Kincaid's farewell,'' Munson said. Kincaid last month retired after 17 1/2 years as WVEC's anchorman at 6.
Munson, who has worked in five television markets, said he finds the Hampton Roads market ``interesting and fascinating'' because the three local news operations are so competitive. ``I've learned that consistency counts for a lot here,'' he said.
In the final analysis, it was people in just 801 of this area's 632,020 households who determined these ratings by which the stations set their advertising rates from now clear up to the Christmas buying season. Nielsen sent out 2,305 ratings diaries, but only 801 were turned in.
``It's a bit scary to have your fate determined by so few people,'' said one local broadcasting executive. Broadcasters prefer meters by which the ratings are determined swiftly and automatically. Only 33 TV markets are metered.
Not long ago, WTKR general manager Elden Hale was quoted in a trade magazine about building ratings with the help of giving away money: ``You have to have a good product first. If the viewers sample and like it, they'll stay. If not, they won't. Contests are a marketing tool.''
During the May sweeps, thousands of viewers sampled WTKR's new-look local news. Many stayed - thousands more than watched in May 1995. But not as many as last February.
So the Channel 3 brass must ponder these questions: ``Are the May sweeps the beginning of a downward trend? Or just a ratings glitch that will right itself in the next sweeps period?'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
After the sweeps: Local TV news ratings for May
Each rating point equals 6,320 Hampton Roads Households
Graphic\The Virginian-Pilot
Local TV News Ratings
Source: Nielsen
For copy of graphic, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: LOCAL TELEVISION RATINGS RANKING by CNB