THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
When WTKR-TV, Channel 3, ordered beloved weatherman Duane Harding to forecast storms and such from a rooftop last year, many viewers, sensing that his dignity was wounded, disapproved.
After the station fired Harding, in January, hundreds of letter writers and INFOLINE callers protested. In a grocery-store checkout line, a middle-aged woman was overheard lamenting, ``The weather will never be the same without Dr. Duane.''
Many Harding fans pledged to boycott the station's news programs and assumed the next ratings sweep would deal Channel 3 a hard blow to the kisser.
In fact, the latest Nielsens, based on February sweeps, show Channel 3's ratings for 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. - drum roll, please - IMPROVED! The station moved into a tie for first at the lucrative 6 p.m. spot, when almost half of Hampton Roads' 640,000 TV households are watching local news. For that half hour, the station led in a pair of age groups that advertisers love: 18 to 49 and 25 to 54.
Across the board, Channel 3's ratings were better than the previous November, when Dr. Duane was still the weatherman.
Why? How? Huh?
Many questions, like ``What is the capital of North Dakota?'' are simply unanswerable, wrote columnist Donald Kaul, years ago.
The Dr. Duane questions are even tougher.
TV columnist Larry Bonko offered some possible reasons for the ratings rise: ``a strong lead-in from `Home Improvement' reruns, the teaming of Tom Randles and LeAnne Rains at 6 p.m., the $10,000 cash giveaway, the upbeat look to `News Channel 3,' the satellite-truck refrigerator magnets sent free to viewers.''
We have three theories:
People have short memories. They forgot they'd pledged to punish Channel 3 by not watching it.
Anecdotal evidence - hundreds of calls and letters - was an unreliable gauge of overall sentiment, as usual.
Harding supporters called or wrote, because they were mad. Indifferent or pleased viewers didn't, because they weren't mad.
Still, Dr. Duane is missed by many. Did you notice how the winter cold hung on after he was dismissed? As a volunteer worker at Nauticus National Maritime Center, he remains a community asset. by CNB