THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9605020046
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
WHY IS Lisette Jasper smiling? Because she won $2,700 in the WGNT Catch the Gold Sweepstakes.
Why is Ralph Tjaden smiling? Because he's $500 richer after playing WTKR's watch-and-win game on the 6 p.m. newscast.
Remember when people tuned in for the fun of it? Or to learn a thing or two? Nowadays, you also watch to see how much money the local stations will give you just for paying attention.
During the May sweeps, WTKR, WAVY, WGNT, WTVZ and WPEN are conducting giveaways or promising getaways with the hope of fattening the ratings. WTKR has so many stunts going, I have a hard time keeping up.
There's watch-and-win on the news. And ``Seinfeld Says'' at 4:30 p.m., when you're urged to listen for the dialogue of the day.
Put it on a postcard and mail it in for a chance to win a day at a theme park. WTKR's Post Office Box 300 must be overflowing.
It's also where you send your mail in the hopes of having the station's weather guys do their Friday telecast from your backyard. It's where you mail your card predicting when the temperature will reach 93 degrees.
This phenomenon of the TV ratings sweeps is called ``contesting,'' and it has knocked local ratings for a loop here and in other markets. Did WTKR's news at 6 p.m. pull into a tie for first last February because viewers love co-anchors LeAnne Rains and Tom Randles and rooftop weather? Or was it because Channel 3 offered viewers a chance to win $500 if their lucky numbers popped up on the screen?
Will the May ratings accurately reflect what 6 p.m. local newscast the viewers like best? Or will the numbers be inflated by viewers switching to WTKR and WAVY to see if their numbers were chosen?
Ed Munson Jr., the general manager at WAVY, started a Super Bowl getaway last winter and today trawls for viewers at 6 p.m. with the Olympics' getaway to stay up with fierce rival WTKR. ``I wasn't about to let WTKR have the advantage,'' said Munson.
WVEC and its Dallas-based owner, BeLo Broadcasting, take the high road. They offer no free dips at Water Country USA or $270 giveaways for watching WVEC's news. You watch because you're comfortable with Jim, Cynthia, Jeff and Terry.
The station should be applauded for that, said Dave Hanna, the general manager of WPEN in Hampton. It's understandable that Hanna would say something nice about WVEC because Channel 13's newsroom provides WPEN with its 10 p.m. local newscast.
``I have concerns and reservations about using cash and prizes to bring people to your newscast. It's legal. But is it palatable? I'd never do it,'' said Hanna.
But he feels no guilt in scheduling WPEN's ``just watch and win'' Tuesday and Thursday night giveways. And another during ``Baywatch.''
``They are used to build the viewers' awareness of our station,'' said Hanna.
WGNT's $15,0000 Catch the Gold Sweepstakes starts at 5 p.m., just about the time Ricki Lake is taking up a hot social issue such as girls who just want to have fun, and continues through 8 p.m.
While watching Bart Simpson's exasperated teacher threaten to feed him to the school snake, Lumpy, the other night on WTVZ, I found another sweeps' seduction: The Simpson Jacket Giveaway.
``Test your Simpson savvy!'' Name Bart and Lisa's school, collect four other bits of Simpson trivia, and you could win a nice denim jacket courtesy of WTVZ.
As Hanna said, there is nothing illegal or immoral here. But will you ever see CBS or NBC use Dan Rather or Tom Brokaw in a lucky-number game to increase ratings? Never. That would cheapen the newscast. Same deal on a local level.
If's OK with me if Jerry Seinfeld shills for WTKR, but using the news department to do it is in bad taste. by CNB