Great Falls Tribune from Great Falls, Montana • Page 65

Business Computer card plane tickets 2G Area business briefs 3G Montana a neo Switzerland? 5C Weekly market summary 6-7G Great Falls Tribune Sunday, April 5,1987 A week's worth TV stations play rating game And KFBB looks like jtfxd I (F nal more fully to the widespread area considered to be dominated by Great Falls TV stations. "We've still got a long way to go, but we're going up, not back," he said. KRTV general manager and pres By PETER JOHNSON Tribune Staff Writer The first local television ratings since Great Falls has had three stations on their feet came out In late March, and it was KFBB station manager and president Stan Whitman who was wearing the biggest grin. Although KFBB Is affiliated with ABC, whose prime-time shows Whitman readily concedes are ranked "a poor third" in national ratings, KFBB nevertheless continued to have the best prime-time viewer average in both the Arbitron and Nielsen rating systems during the February ratings period. Furthermore, KFBB's local news shows maintained their large lead over their local competition.

whitman Whitman is tickled at the showing, attributing it to a possible difference in taste among Montana viewers and loyalty to a station they've watched for years. But managers at the other two stations had at least some numbers in the complicated rating system about which they were pleased. KTGF operations manager Chuck Outland was happy that virtually all the stations viewership numbers, though still low, improved dramatically from November, when the station had been on the air just two months. Outland said Outland some new stations don't score high enough to make the first rating books. He expects KTGF's numbers to keep improving as it develops viewer loyalty and expands its ability to send its sig- iiWX-Aaaaaaai 6 ident Pete Friden pointed to his sta- tion good showing in a listing of the top-watched individual shows.

The listing Included two popular game shows, "Wheel of Fortune," and "Jeopardy," which KRTV runs in the Friden dinner hour before prime time officially starts. While prime-time average is important, he said, ads are sold based on viewership for individual shows. The "prime access" period before prime time attracts many viewers, Friden said, and is a lucrative period for local stations which can sell all or most of the commercial time then. Networks usually permit them to sell commercials only between prime-time shows. Even KFBB's Whitman admits there is "pretty much of horse race" for prime time ratings between KFBB and KRTV, "although we do win it." Arbitron showed KFBB with an average "share" of 29 percent jn the Great Falls region, in prime time.

KRTV, an affiliate of CBS, the second-ranked network nationally, had an average 25 share, while fledgling KTGF, has a 13 share despite its affiliation with NBC, top-ranked nationally. Nielsen, the rival ratings company, showed similar prime-time numbers for February, with KFBB getting an average share of 30, KRTV, 27, and KTGF, 14. The "share" represents a survey estimate, obtained from diary entries, of the percentage of area television sets actually turned on and tuned in to a particular program. "My Sister Sam" "Who's the Boss?" "2020" stars and Vanna White "Jeopardy," with 15,800 viewers, is tied for tenth. Incidentally, rival KFBB's 5:30 p.m.

news report is tied for 10th in these listings, while its 10 p.m. news show is ranked 14th. Friden could not explain why KFBB was bucking national trends by leading the local prime-time market with its ABC shows, but the KRTV executive said Great Falls "has always been a real strong ABC market. I don't really know why, but there are always several markets that don't follow national trends." All three station managers agreed ratings are critically important for their ad sales. Whitman noted that TV stations have three sources of revenue and two are dependent on ratings.

The stations are paid by networks to run their programs and also sell both local and national commercials, with buyers generally wanting commercials during higher rated shows. But the Arbitron and Nielsen ratings also break down a program's viewership by age and sex, so businesses can steer their advertising to programs watched by potential buyers of their products. Competition among the shows is keen and can change in a matter of weeks, Friden said. He contrasted it to a newspaper in a non-competitive market like the Tribune, which he said might go five years between significant changes, such as a "shopper" publication starting up. There are four ratings months a year, when viewers can usually expect to see several blockbuster movies or miniseries competing for their attention.

The July period is considered a little less important, Whitman said, because it is a time for reruns, with many people vacationing or watching less TV. The May w. rev slf "Growing Pains" Local TV favorites Television shows that earn top rankings locally often have different rankings nationally. The top 20 programs locally are listed at left on the basis of the February 1987 Nielsen survey for the Great Falls viewing area. The far column shows how the same programs stood in a national Nielsen ranking from Sept.

22 to March 15 (the season to date), according to "Electronic Media." Citibank raised its prime lending rate to 7 percent, from iyt percent, the first increase by a major bank since June 1984. Citibank's move was immediately followed by Chase Manhattan. Economists do not expect a return to the double-digit rates of the early 1980s. OM of Canada received a $220 million interest-free loan from the governments of Canada and Quebec in return for guaranteeing the continued operation of a Quebec auto plant. Exxon agreed to buy Delhi Petroleum Proprietary of Australia for $690 million.

Ruport Murdoch agreed to buy Harper Row for $300 million, in a move to expand his global empire of publishing, film and broadcasting interests. The $65-a-share offer far exceeded two other bids made for the distinguished 170-year-old publishing house. John S.R. Shad is donating most of a $30 million gift to the Harvard Business School to support a program on ethics. The outgoing SEC chairman cited concern about the involvement of graduates from leading business schools in insider-trading abuses.

Tlmo Inc. has trimmed about 200 magazine employees, both editorial and business, in the last three months, and may trim 200 more by November as part of a belt-tightening process. A union official said the reductions would primarily affect Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. The federal ethics office has requested an inquiry by the Juttlco apartment on whether Lee H. Henkel Jr.

of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board violated criminal laws. The move relates to a proposal made by Henkel that would have aided a thrift unit with which he has had extensive business dealings. New-homo sales fell for a second consecutive month in February, declining by 2.7 percent. The drop was led by a 19.4 percent plunge in sales in the Northeast. International stock markets boomed during the first quarter, following the record-setting pace of the Dow Jones industrial average in New York.

Prices worldwide rose more than 22 percent after adjustment for a decline in the dollar. Investors in aerospace companies are being denied details about the companies' prospects because of the Pentagon's penchant for secrecy, industry and government experts say. IBM introduced far more powerful personal computers that may inaugurate a tumultuous era for the industry. IBM promised that its four new computers and more than 100 new peripheral products would mean spreadsheets that calculate faster and high-resolution charts displayed in 256 colors. Eli Lilly plans to sell its Eliza-both Arden cosmetics unit and use the sale proceeds to buy back stock.

Lilly is the third large pharmaceutical concern in a year to decide to sell its cosmetics unit in order to focus on health-care products. General Public Utilities declared a dividend, the first since 1979, when it sustained severe financial problems after the accident at its Three Mile Island nuclear plant. Richard G. Darman will resign as deputy Treasury secretary to become a managing director and investment banker at Shearson Lehman Brothers. Darman was a behind-the-scenes architect and strategist for many of President Reagan's biggest economic initiatives, including tax reform.

The Senate overrode the president's veto of a $87.9 billion highway measure, with not a vote to spare, despite an extraordinary personal appeal by Reagan. Remarks by a top trade official sent the dollar lower against the yen. The White House immediately disavowed the comments by Clayton K. Yeutter, showing its growing sensitivity to the dollar's plunge. Yeutter told a Senate panel that it was "mathematically" true that a continued drop in the dollar would help the trade deficit, but he said the situation was more complex.

The Canadian prime minister believes a "historic" trade pact with the U.S. is within reach. The accord would eliminate most trade barriers between the two nations over 10 to 15 years. Braxll hopes to raise $20 billion in new foreign credits over five years despite its suspension of interest payments to banks. House Democrats assailed a Federal Communications Commission board proposal for a $1.50 increase in monthly telephone charges for households and small businesses, signaling a possible reduction.

a winner The Great Falls region, called the "area of dominant Influence" by Arbitron and the "designated market area" by Nielsen, spans 13 northcen-tral counties from East Glacier to Glasgow which rely primarily on Great Falls stations for their TV viewing. KTGF's Outland says the new station still lacks the extensive translator system to rebroadcast its signals and has fewer cable connections than its competitors, so its signals don't reach some areas in the Great Falls region that go into the ratings. According to their managers, KTGF has eight translators, KFBB has 36 and KRTV has 44. Outland said KTGF's signals go near, but not into either Havre or Lewistown. He is hopeful that KTGF sometime soon can cover 95 percent of the area by getting on cable systems into Havre and Lewistown.

But Outland questioned whether TV watchers in all the sprawling viewership area actually shop in Great Falls. He noted the station's share of viewers increases greatly if only the "metro," or Cascade County, area is considered. For instance, while KFBB and KRTV each climb a point, to a 31 and 28 share repectively in Nielsen's February metro rankings, KTGF jumps from 14 to 23. Outland said he is particularly pleased with his station's performance on Thursday night, when "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties," No. I and 2 nationally, more than doubled the numbers received in the Nielsen ratings by the other two stations, with 37 shares, even when the greater geographic area was considered.

In Cascade County alone, the two popular shows did even 'better, with 53 shares. But KFBB's Whitman said other programs Thursday night demonstrate the problems KTGF is having getting viewers in the full region. NBC's "Cheers" and "Night Court," though not as popular as "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties," still rank in the top five nationally, he said. The two shows did well in Cascade County, but in the full Great Falls region, the back-to-back half-hour shows had Arbitron shares in the low 20s, tying or losing to KFBB's "The Colbys," 72nd nationally. The other two station managers, while agreeing it is difficult to start a new station, said most advertisers want to reach the bigger span to draw customers from the entire northcentral Montana region.

KRTV's Friden said he points to his station's success in the top-watched regular shows because commercials are sold based on individual program viewership. Listed that way, KRTV has six of the top 11 programs (compared with five for KFBB and none for KTGF), and seven of the top 20, (compared with II for KFBB and two for fledgling KTGF. That means of evaluation also throws out prime-time specials and miniseries, and Friden believes KFBB did better than the other two stations this rating period with the controversial mini-series, "Ameri-ka." Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it allows KRTV to include two syndicated game shows that run before prime time. "Wheel of Fortune" is tied for fourth in the expanded Great Falls market, with an estimated 17,300 viewers each week night, while attracts town. He also attributes the station's success to "good people." Since news director and 5:30 anchor Dick Pompa returned from Boise in 1985, the station has had "a lot of stability in a smaller market where people sometimes move quickly," Whitman said.

He also considers veteran Larry Owen to be the best weather analyst in the state and a favorite of many viewers. KRTV has been hurt in the last few years by originating its newscasts out of Billings, Whitman said, while KTGF loses some of its immediacy by taping much of its broadcast earlier in the day. That's why KFBB has had billboards promoting its newscasts as "local (and) live, always," Whitman said. Outland said KTGF taped its 10 p.m. show in the early evening when it first started out, but now only does so about a half-hour early so that any mistakes can be corrected before the broadcast goes out.

He said the station broadcasts some segments live for breaking news or sports scores. KRTV's Friden said station officials "saw a problem (with the ratings) and took steps to fix it." KRTV now originates the local and state segments of its broadcast from Great Falls again, after three years of having the program put together in Billings, he said. News director and 5:30 p.m. anchor Mack Berry selects which stories from other MTN stations to use and where Great Falls television preferences differ from national tastes. "Cosby," top-rated nationally, doesn't make the top five locally.

of "Wheel of Fortune" sweeps used to be considered less important than November and February, but not any longer, he said. May ratings now temper the mid-season ratings and help forecast how well a show will do next season. The station managers had mixed feelings about whether the Great Falls region can support all three stations. "It will be a real squeeze," said Friden. He said KRTV's advertising sales were about even for the first quarter of the year, with its local ad sales down but its national ad sales up from last year.

Whitman said the third station has depressed local advertising rates. "I don't know if Great Falls has enough business to support three full-time stations," he added. Both Whitman and Friden said their stations also lost money when KTGF started because they no longer were paid by NBC for running some of its shows and instead had to purchase syndicated shows to fill that air time. But Outland believes there is room for three stations, and said the ratings books appear to show the total number of viewers in the Great Falls region has increased since KTGF started. Since ratings and ad rates go hand in hand, he said, KTGF, like Avis, must "try harder." He said the station has attracted a number of businesses that didn't advertise on TV before.

"Our sales people talk to advertisers straight," he said. "We don't sell blue sky," but instead talk about the demographics of who's watching KTGF shows. It has helped being affiliated with the top-ranked network nationally. "If you're going to be a new station, be an NBC affiliate," Outland said. KRTV considers good stories from around the state more relevant than the national stories the other two stations sometimes use to fill space.

"We see the advantage of having a Helena reporter covering the capital full-time or being able to go to the scene of something like the Duffy murder trial" in Boulder through use of a Butte MTN reporter, Friden said, "but stories from other towns shouldn't always be the lead items in Great Falls." KRTV made its change in January for its 5:30 p.m. broadcast, and Friden thinks viewers liked it, since the February share numbers for that newscast remained the same or climbed in rival companies' ratings since November. But local origination of KRTV's 10 p.m. newscast did not occur until early March, missing the Februrary rating period, and the newscast's rating plummeted from November, losing five share points in Arbitron ratings and seven in Nielsen ratings. Friden is hopeful the change will re- -verse the trend.

Until mid-1984, KRTV had consistently won the newscasts ratings for a number of years. But then popular news director and anchorman Ed Coghlan, who had been with the station for more than a decade, quit to join a Los Angeles TV station. Later that year MTN's new owner, George Lilly, moved the network's headquarters, where the news originates, from Great Falls to Billings. Total National homes ranking 21,500 49th 20,800 10th 18,400 8th 17,300 21st 17,300 17,200 17th 17,000 7th 16,700 4th 16,100 37th 15,800 15,800 15,700 1st 15,300 2nd 15,000 14,800 9th 14,700 72nd 14,500 42nd 14,500 31st 13,800 12th 13,700 55th Program 1. Twenty-Twenty (KFBB) 2.

Who's the Boss? (KFBB) 3. Growing Pains (KFBB) 4. My Sister Sam (KRTV) Wheel of Fortune (KRTV) 6. Kate and Allie (KRTV) 7. 60 Minutes (KRTV) 8.

Murder She Wrote (KRTV) 9. Perfect Strangers (KFBB) 10. Jeopardy (KRTV) 11. TV 5 Evening Report (KFBB) 12. Cosby Show (KTGF) 13.

Family Ties (KTGF) 14. News 5 Nightly Report (KFBB) 15. Moonlighting (KFBB) 16. Colbys (KFBB) 17. Hotel (KFBB) Head of the Class (KFBB) 19.

Newhart (KRTV) 20. ABC Monday Movie (KFBB) Indicate not nationally ranked. Local coverage news watchers some of those share numbers have as much as doubled from the November ratings period as the station began to gain viewers and to extend its signal transmission further into the large 13-county Great Falls region. KTGF operations manager Chuck Outland said "news is the toughest area to make gains in" because it takes time to establish a following. He said the improved numbers probably show many people have watched some KTGF newscasts but "have not made us a regular habit yet." But Outland noted that KTGF newscasts received considerably higher share numbers when only Cascade County is considered.

That's partly because the station fully covers the county, but does not yet have cable coverage Havre or Lewis-town viewers, and its translator system does not reach some other areas also considered part of the full Great Falls region in ratings. The improved Cascade County ratings also show KTGF's emphasis on local news, Outland said. KTGF doubled its February share points, from 4 to 8, on its 10 p.m. newscast in Nielsen ratings when only Cascade County is considered. KFBB also increased its lead, from 44 to 53, among only Cascade County viewers, but KRTV's 10 p.m.

newscast slipped badly, from 23 to 17. KFBB general manager and president Stan Whitman said KFBB tries to concentrate on local stories, including those from Havre and Lewis- By PETER JOHNSON Tribune Staff Writer KFBB's local newscasts remain on top of the heap of Great Falls television ratings, while the new KTGF staff has made big increases in its small share of the ratings, according to February ratings by both Nielsen and Arbitron. But KRTV, the other long-time station, has lagged in second place for more than two years and actually fell back in recent ratings periods. However, station general manager and president Pete Friden said the station has made changes since the beginning of the year to address viewer concerns that too much of the newscasts came from Billings and other cities in the Montana Television Network. About 42 percent of the televisions turned on in the Great Falls region were tuned in to KFBB's 5:30 p.m.

local weekday newscasts, according to February ratings by both Nielsen and Arbitron, and about 44 percent were tuned to the station's 10 p.m. newscast. KRTV received 30 and 31 "shares" of the viewership for its 5:30 p.m. newscast, according to the two rival ratings companies, and 23 and 20 shares for its 10 p.m. newscast.

KTGF, which first went on the air in September, had 4 or 5 percent of the region's viewers for its two nightly newscasts during the February ratings period, according to Nielsen and Arbitron estimates. But TV news Nielsen share numbers for local TV newscasts during the February ratings period. The first column represents the wider 13-county area which Great Falls stations are considered to dominate. The second column shows the share numbers for Cascade County only. A share is an estimate of how many televisions turned on are actually tuned in to a program.

5:30 p.m. Station Region County KFBB 42 52 KRTV 30 28 KTGF 4 6 10 p.m. Station Region County KFBB 44 53 KRTV 23 17 KTGF 4 8 to play them in the Great Falls broadcast. And he and 10 p.m. anchor Josh Nelson introduce those segments, although weather and sports still come from Billings.

Friden thinks that gives KRTV the best of both worlds: good local coverage supplemented by the best access to state stories. He said.