Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 29

'I 1 I I I I I January 20 1978 1C i Minneapolis Tribune Photo Pete Hohn We're No. 4 (but that ain't so bad) I'S KSTP's "Eyewitness News" leading in the late-night race by a healthy margin. Channel 5 received a weekly average rating of 22 (220,000 homes), to a 1 2 rating for WCCO-TV (129,000 homes), and a 6 for KMSP-TV (63,000 homes). All are seen at 10 p.m. WTCN's 9:30 news received a 5 rating (55,000 homes).

Amundson, who is universally liked and respected in the local TV news fraternity, isn't the kind to fret over such things. "We laugh at ourselves a lot. We've got the smallest staff in town. Everybody knows that. I don't apologize for that," he said.

"All my people are professionals." Amundson is both news director and anchorman, a rarity in major markets (the Twin Cities ranks 14th). He has only three reporters, three news photographers, and a total siaff of about a dozen compared with staffs of up to 75 news people, meteorologists and technicians on the three network-affiliated stations. "I would admit that maybe seven, II I The WTCN news staff of Joe Boyle, Gil Amundson and Toni Hughes: They may not have No. 1 rating, but they don't have any ulcers, either. WTCN news: Conscientious objectors to ratings war NT11 WTCNTV a little bit," staging events for the sake of cameras.

Still, he promos Johnson's report on a live 10-second "teaser" broadcast directly from the Channel 1 1 newsroom. Those teasers, plus a few filmed spots on Channel 11 are normally the only promotion Amundson's "Total News" gets. His face is not seen on MTC buses nor on the billboards perched above freeways. "That doesn't bother me. I feel kind of proud that without having these big splash promotions that cost so much, we've maintained our ratings.

My feeling is that we don't need it," Amundson says WTCN's general manager, Bob Fransen, prefers not to disclose his station's news budget but suspects it is smaller than the others. Still, he insists that Channel 1 1's news is not just a token effort like that of many independents around the country designed simply to keep the FCC satisfied. WTCN continued on page 4C impressed eight years ago we might go out to something and the others would dig our guys a little bit. They don't do it any more. Our ratings are decent and we're not competing with anybody head to head," he said.

"We had bigger numbers at 9:30 than Channel 9 had at 10 o'clock a while back." The fact is that the others don't consider WTCN news much of a factor. Some joke that Channel 1 1 actually runs an hour of news each night, the regular half hour newscast at 9:30, then the fictional and inept WJM-TV news at 10 p.m. as depicted on reruns of the Mary Tyler Moore show. Dave Moore, veteran WCCO-TV anchorman, said, "I don't know that they're a factor," and called for advice from the newsroom. "Our guys say no." But Moore is quick to add that he's never had much faith in ratings anyway.

"Gil is an excellent newsman. I wish we had him." "Let's put it this way." said WCCO's Ron Handberg. "I've never been beaten on a story by Channel 1 1 They're not viewed by the TV news community as a competitive force." "I don't feel their presence," said KSTP's Ron Magers. "We're fighting Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore more than their news. Channel 11, as do many independents, uses counter programming, placing entertainment (Carol Burnett reruns at 6 p.m.

and Mary Tyler Moore reruns at 10 p.m.) opposite the competition's local news. Carol Burnett outpolls Channel 9's news at 6 p.m. but lags behind 4 and 5. Mary Tyler Moore beats both Channel 4 and Channel 9 news at 10 p.m., according to the latest Arbitron survey. Meanwhile, back in the WTCN newsroom, Amundson's typewriter pauses.

He chats quietly with reporter Curt Johnson, who has just entered the room. Tonight, as usual, there will be a report on the power line protest. Amundson has some misgivings that the protesters are "jacking us around I By Steve Berg Staff Writer Gil Amundson is the guy with the bushy eyebrows, sitting alone in the far corner of the quiet, tidy newsroom on a just plain Tuesday night. Somehow the scene doesn't fit the image of a television nerve center three hours before air time. There is no hysteria, no rushing about with long sheets of wire copy, no hot-shot reporter pleading with Amundson a minute twenty on the liquor store no key decisions about whether to edit out the blood on a film clip of some calamity.

Just the steady tapping of his typewriter. Somebody once said it's lonely at the top. Amundson wouldn't know about that. He is news director for WTCN-TV and anchorman for Channel 1 1's "Total News," seen weeknights at 9:30. It is a program seemingly lost in the recent late night streetfight for news dominance.

It is, alas, the No. 4-ranked news program in a market of four commercial stations. Arbitron's latest survey book showed 'Small-town girl' makes good, but small town isn't A Mm resulting deaths. "Actually," she said, "I cut out some of the more gruesome scenes on the advice of my editor. I had written a whole autopsy report showing how one of the victims died, but I oecided that was a little too much." The subject matter must have something to do with the cool homecoming she received.

After folks) know what to make of the book," she said during a recent visit to Minneapolis. "When we meet on the street they try not to talk about the book. When they do say something, it's something like. 'You've got quite an And then they shake their heads." The product of that imagination is "One by One," which is not exactly your average bedtime story. It is about two men who run around New York injecting botulism poisoning into cupcakes and liverwurst and other normally innocuous foods and then get their kicks by reading the newspaper accounts of the her mother used to run a i fT all grocery store in North Branch, and the local townspeople must now be allowed a moment of uneasiness as they think back to all the cupcakes and liverwurst they bought there.

Could Linda have No, Linda would never do that, at least not the same Linda who 12 years ago starred in the North Branch High School production of "Annie Get Your Gun" and then went off to the University of Minnesota to enter medical school. But then, again, this book doesn't really sound like the same, innocent Linda, either. "I think most of the townspeople were absolutely shocked by the first chapter and never got any further," she said. "Actually, once you get into the book I really don't think it's all that bad. It just that first chapter Needless to say, it is not the typical "once upon a time first chapter.

The book starts out with an 18-year-old prostitute who performs a couple of "tricks," describes her lot in life with a string of tour-letter words, consumes a poison -iaden cupcake and drops dead in the back seat of a police patrol car And that is just the first six pages. "I wanted someone to drop dead quickly," Ms. Lee explained. "I Lee continued on page 4C By Jeff Strickler Staff Writer It should be one of the classic "small town girl makes good" stories. And it is, sort of.

Linda Lee, raised in North Branch, goes off to New York and proceeds to write a book on her very first try at such things that draws an advance from her publisher twice the size of that given to "Jaws." So far, so good. Then Ms. Lee decides to return home for the holidays. The local general store orders a shipment of the book, which it promptly sells out. The local newspapers schedule interviews.

The stage is set for the triumphant return. And then, without warning, the whole thing fizzles: Expected requests to speak never materialize, a newspaper in a neighboring town writes a frontpage article about her and gets just about everything except her name wrong and then, even the unimaginable happens very few people even read the book. "I don't think they (hometown Linda Lee Photo EnlSeutoert, J2 1.