THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994 TAG: 9406140067
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
DATELINE: 940615 LENGTH: Medium
That Channel 13 newscast finished first in the most recent Nielsens, which were determined in the May sweeps.
{REST} The other local newscasts that have been on the air at that hour for months - one produced by WAVY, the other by WTKR - finished tied for third at 5 p.m.
They were beaten out by - surprise! - Ricki Lake and her talk show on WGNT.
The WVEC numbers at 5 in the afternoon: 9 rating, 22 share. Ricki: 8 rating, 19 share: WAVY and WTKR: 7 rating, 17 share.
Lake, a novice at hosting a talk show, has been grabbing good ratings nationally as well as locally with a show that appeals to young viewers.
Typical topic: ``I haven't had a date in nine months. What's wrong with me?''
At the WTKR studios in Norfolk, they are probably asking, ``What's wrong with us?''
Channel 3's newscast at 5 finished tied for third in a time period it once owned. Its 6 p.m. newscast came in third. Its 11 p.m. newscast came in third.
The margins are narrow, but. . . third. . . third. . . THIRD!
WVEC finished first at 5 p.m. and 6, as well as on the weekends at 6 and 11. It's champagne all around at the WVEC studios.
And it's back to the drawing board at WTKR, where Barbara L. Hamm, the recently appointed news director, presided over her first May sweeps.
She toned down Channel 3's newscasts from the tabloid style preferred by the man who preceded her, John Woodin. (Woodin carried his shiny resume to Atlanta.) He got the ratings up. Now they're down again.
Will Hamm change gears and bring back stories about hookers in East Ocean View? Crooked small-appliance repairmen? Will she shake up the all-male anchor team led by Tom Randles and Ed Hughes at 6 p.m.?
She has to do something, doesn't she?
WAVY's bosses moved quickly after looking at the latest ratings that show their 6 p.m. newscast 1 rating point and 3 share points behind No. 1 WVEC. Channel 10 is returning an audience grabber, reruns of ``Cheers,'' in the 5:30 p.m. time slot.
The understatement of the year comes from WVEC news director Dave Cassidy.
``Our May book was better than I expected. A lot of things clicked.''
Cassidy couldn't be happier today if he won the state lottery.
Over at WAVY, they have been saying it's no big deal to lose Zahn to WVEC because he never brought that many viewers to the newscasts anyway. The latest ratings show that Zahn does, indeed, charm viewers.
Teamed with Barbara Ciara - lose your new way-too-short 'do, Barbara - at 5 p.m., Zahn brought that newscast in first. He's on at 11 p.m., too, and that WVEC newscast is up 1 rating point and 4 share points from a year ago.
It's OK if Zahn now uses the line Sally Field trotted out when she won her first Oscar: ``You like me!''
Cassidy believes his news department is on a roll because management sprung to put and keep heavy hitters on the payroll - Zahn, Ciara, Jim Kincaid, Mike Lewis, Regina Mobley.
``We have depth,'' said Cassidy, sounding like the manager of a baseball team with a solid five-man pitching rotation.
In the duel of morning newscasts, WAVY is the big winner. WTKR is way ahead at noon. And at those hours, too, WVEC's numbers went up from a year ago.
The 6 p.m. ratings, with May 1994 figures first compared with 1993 ratings, were:
WVEC, 13 rating and 26 share, up from 12 rating and 24 share; WAVY, 12 rating, 23 share, up from 11 rating, 21 share; WTKR, 11 rating, 23 share, down from 12 rating, 22 share.
The 11 p.m. ratings, with 1994 ratings first, were: WAVY, 9 rating, 23 share, up from 12 rating, 31 share; WVEC, 8 rating, 22 share, up from 7 rating, 18 share; WTKR, 8 rating, 20 share, down from 8 rating, 22 share.
by CNB