Tallahassee Democrat from Tallahassee, Florida • Page 11

Sunday, March 9, 199711 A Tallahassee Democrat From Page 1A ijHi .,.,.,,11 I MM.I Ml I 7 Mill' A mlrrfWW 1 3rf 13 NETWORK STATIONS WTWC I Channel: 40 (Comcast cable 12). Network affiliation: NBC. Owner: Guy Gannett Communications, based in Portland, Maine. Station manangen Bill Anderson. WCTV Channel: 6 (Comcast cable 9) Network affiliation: CBS.

Owner: Gray Communications System, based in Albany, Ga. Station manager: Jere Pigue. WTXL Channel: 27 (Comcast cable 7). Network affiliation: ABC. Ownen Media Ventures Management based in McLean, Va.

Station manager: Dan Akens. WTLH Channel: 49 (Comcast cable 10) Network affiliation: Fox. Owner: Pegasus Broadcast Television, based in Radnor, Pa Station manager: Gary Shipley. yr -y I I' -1 WTWC station manager Bill Anderson, above left, and lighting director Scott Ripper, above right, work on the news set's design with meteorologist Mike Rucker, center, and designer Park Warne. Rucker and meteorologist Nancy Oignon, at left, work out a forecast on the station's new weather computer.

NEWS: WTWC'snew owner plans to stay the course with the station's new local-hews program petition for the two current stations with local news WCTV and WTXL who already seem to be responding to the challenge. The CBS affiliate, WCTV, unveiled a new studio set Saturday. The ABC affiliate, WTXL, instituted a morning news show last Monday. Both stations plan more changes even as they insist they are not reacting to WTWC. The question, of course, is whether Tallahassee can support three, separate local news broadcasts.

Tallahassee's Designated Market Area for audience ratings covers 18 counties in North Florida and South Georgia, and moved from being the No. 116 market to No. 114 last year. Yet the area is generally slow-growing in population and economy. And Tallahassee has always had an unusually strong broadcasting leaden WCTV, founded in 1955.

WTXL has chased the giant since its inception in 1976. And despite tripling its news ratings over the past five years, WTXL newscasts still draw only one-fifth to one-half the audience of WCTV. But times and TV viewers change. The experts say there is a Hunger for local news coverage on television. They say viewers do more sampling of different stations than ever before.

They say a good newscast can keep those samplers and "grow the market" so that there would be room for all three local network affiliates. "Tallahassee is a growing, progressive capital city," said Bruce Northcott, president of Frank N. Magid Associates, the nation's leading television consulting company. "If you had to start a newscast and bet on the prospects of it succeeding, you would say Tallahassee and NBC offer a great environment." Station's past time at plate was a huge strikeout WTWC, which went on the air in 1983, has broadcast local news before and failed miserably. From 1986 to 1988, the station aired local news programs that suffered technical glitches, shifting personnel and inconsistent news judgment.

The embarrassing newscasts were symbolic of a station bedeviled by so many financial and legal problems the NAACP sued WTWC for its hiring practices that some said its call letters stood for We're Tallahassee's Worst Channel. But things began to improve last August when the station was bought but of bankruptcy receivership by the Guy Gannett Communications Corp. The M-iine-based company, which owns seven stations, immediately announced plans to begin local Newscasts. Though there was speculation that the local-newscast plan was a stipulation of Gannett's contract with NBC currently the nation's top-ranked network Anderson said local news is a Gannett priority. never wagged the dog oi.

this deal. My company was not interested in this station if it couldn't grow a news program," said Anderson, 39, who is working for his third Gannett station. "The value of any TV station is in its local identity." Gannett has backed up its ideals with money. By the end of the year, Gannett will have poured about $3 million into WTWC. That includes improving its transmitter and tower, building a studio and newsroom; hiring 37 new employees, for a total of 58; and buying all new computer, editing and camera systems.

Anderson touts the improvements to WTWC's signal, whose once-fuzzy quality and intermittent outages are the chief reasons Comcast Cablevision carries a second NBC station, WALB from Albany, Ga Anderson also underlines the importance of the equipment bought for news broadcasts: a Weather Service Internet system that provides the latest in weather information and graphics; a computer system that allows reporters and producers to generate their own graphics; and digital cameras and tape machines that make WTWC the first all-digital broadcasting station in Tallahassee. "If there are any advantages to being the last to enter local news, (new equipment) is it," he said. But WTWC is starting with more than just new cameras. Rucker brings instant name recognition Anderson's biggest coup was landing Mike Rucker as his meteorologist Rucker spent 18 years as the weatherman at WCTV before quitting to join the state emergency management office in 1993. Ander- DEMOCRAT PHOTOS BY MARK WALLHEISER Scott Ripper, the lighting director at WTWC, checks the new local news studio's look through a TV camera.

"7yow sfaria newscast and bet on the prospects of it succeeding, you would say Tallahassee and NBC offer a great environment. Bruce orthcolt sist there is plenty of room for another news station and they say WTWC's newscasts can only help them. Competition sharpens each station's operation, they say, spurs more spending on equipment, and creates more viewers by creating more "news product." "I think anytime something like this happens, it improves the whole market place," said Jerry Pigue, general manager of WCTV. Some say improvements are already evident In addition to its new morning news program, WTXL began a 5 p.m. news broadcast last year and has invested in new weather forecasting equipment.

WCTV has built a new studio set and bought some new cameras. Both stations said more changes are ahead, but they insist such changes were always planned as part of new ownership. WCTV was bought by Gray Communications, of Albany, Ga, in December 1995, after being owned for three decades by the Phipps family. WTXL was purchased by Media Ventures, of Naples, nearly four years ago. Both stations insist they worry less about WTWC than they do about continuing to build on their own strengths.

For WCTV, which has a news staff of more than 40 people, that 'means continuing its broad range of coverage the station has bureaus in Thomasville and Valdosta, Ga. It has a satellite truck that allows live coverage of breaking events. "If you deliver a good product, with trust, knowledge and accuracy, people will watch," Pigue said. WTXL, with a full-time news staff of 25, wants to continue its concentration on Tallahassee news and chasing WCTV. "Increased competition brings increased competition, so we will respond," WTXL general manager Dan Akens said.

"But our main competition is in front of us. We'll keep an eye on the new kids (WTWC), but we'll be watching (WCTV)." For WTWC, this is not a passing fancy Anderson said he respects Pigue and Akens and "doesn't expect them io do less than their best to add value to the local market" But he suggests that it's a new day in Tallahassee news programming, and that WTWC is poised to prove the doubters wrong. "The assumption is there's not something happening in the marketplace. But there are already fluctuating viewing habits," Anderson said. "If we present options, and give people a long-term opportunity to sample, we have confidence people will watch." The key for WTWC may be its commitment to what Anderson called "staying the course." Anderson said Guy Gannett, founded in 1949, has never sold a television station.

He said the company buys under-performing stations to improve them, not make a quick strike. "My company has aggressive financial expectations," Anderson said. "But we recognize the greatest degree of success comes from allowing a station to mature." Anderson said WTWC news programming will be allowed to mature. In time, he plans to add morning and noon news broadcasts. He said his company will "refine, reinvest, prune and tune so we can be more competitive." "I heard someone say that this is just an experiment for us," Anderson said.

"I'm afraid not. We're not going away." Christopher Hall tie win oe co- 11 'Sr-w'5' She is WTWC's new news director, hired away from Conus Communications' Capital bureau. anchoring WTWC new local newscast, along with Stacey Adams. "Though NBC is the No. 1 network nationally, CBS is cleaning up locally because of WCTV." WCTV has the same dominance in local news.

In November, the most recent ratings period, WCTV's 6 p.m. local-news broadcast had a 29 rating (percent of all households). WTXL pulled only a 6 rating. For the 11 p.m. newscast, WTXL had a 7 rating to WCTV's 14.

But the point remains: WCTV is Goliath. Sapolsky said WTWC faces many challenges in trying to carve out even a small, WTXL-like share of Tallahassee TV news views: its lack of local identity, the loyalty of WCTV and WTXL viewers, and a trend among viewers toward non-news watching at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. "I admire (WTWC's) guts, but they face a real challenge," Sapolsky said. "I'm not saying they're going to fail, but they have an uphill battle." But it's not an impossible battle, said Frank Watson.

A former general manager at WCTV and the local Fox affiliate, Watson is now a consultant. He said WTXL's news ratings have slowly grown to a point where they represent success. The key for WTWC, said Watson, is to provide news content that is different from the other stations. "They can't be just as good as' WCTV and WTXL They have to provide things people haven't seen," Watson said. "They're going to get a lot of sampling because they're new.

But if they do not provide a newscast that can motivate viewers to change their habits, then there is not enough room in this market for three stations." TV execs say they welcome the competition Officials at WCTV and WTXL in- son made Rucker his first news-staff hire last December, pointing to surveys that showed Rucker remains the most recognizable weather personality in the area Anderson later hired Nancy Dig-non, also a former WCTV meteorologist, and invested heavily in weather forecasting tools. "We will excel in weather; it's a vital part of local news," Anderson said. "Our initials now are going to stand for 'We're Tallahassee's Weather Though WTWC hired some other faces familiar to Tallahassee including former WCTV broadcaster Jim Taylor it mainly went for enthusiasm and experience. Anderson hired Lisa Hall as his news director. Hall, who is believed to be only the second woman news director at a Tallahassee TV station, had been running the Florida capital bureau of Conus Communications, a nationwide television news service.

For his news anchors, Anderson hired former CNN broadcaster Kevin Christopher and Stacey Adams, a young veteran of stations in Texas and Michigan. He filled out the rest of the 19-person news staff with a range of under-40 types all with experience at one or more previous TV stations. Like most modern communications companies, Guy Gannett believes in surveys and focus groups. The company has a long-term relationship with Magid Associates, which has done extensive market research in Tallahassee. The station the community." And even old hands like head vi-deographer Richard Hill, who spent 11 years at WCTV, are excited about the possibilities.

"I'm a realist I know it's going to be tough to compete," Hill said. "But there is so much positive going on here, I don't see how we can't do a good job." Despite others' vigor, WCTV remains dominant It will take more than enthusiasm to win viewers. Barry Sapolsky, a Florida State University communications professor, has conducted surveys of local television viewing for 10 years. He said the longstanding dominance of WCTV is almost unassailable even for a station affiliated with top-rated NBC Sapolsky pointed to the example of Jay Leno (NBC) vs. David Letter-man (CBS).

Nationally, Leno is the clear ratings leader. But in Tallahassee, Letterman leads Leno in viewers by 6-1. "It's the same way throughout the (Nielsen ratings)," Sapolsky said. also invited 30 local residents to the station in December to seek their opinions about local news. Out of that discussion came ideas for the studio set and several topics that Anderson expects his reporters to cover.

Anderson showed the group tapes of 15 news sets and asked them for input. The residents evinced a preference for wood desks, blue walls and a busy newsroom in the background ideas that Anderson embraced. "Eighty percent of what you see here is them," Anderson said of the set "They were just plain folks, which makes them experts because they are viewers." WTWC also hits the air with lots of enthusiasm. Young reporters like Derek Slap rhapsodize about getting in on the ground floor "There's a bunch of idealists here; we can produce a newscast how it should be." Veteran salespeople like Jeff Piersol are excited by the improvements to a station he joined in 1995: "Just mentioning Ruckers name has gotten sales. There is such a buzz in 3.