Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 56

Life Arts Austin American-Statesman E10 Thursday, June 11, 1998 llwf lawjr tt Order of popularity for local news in the May Nielsens: think they were helped by all the 'Seinfeld' hype. We were flat but, that gives us the opportunity to grow." While KXAN's competitors refuse to see a trend in the station's No. 1 status, KXAN's general manager cautiously does. "We've seen steady growth over the last few years," Wallace said. "It's been slow but sure.

With that kind of base, as opposed to a spike out of the blue, I think that's an indication that we're building loyalty." In other Nielsen news from May, NBC's "Nightly News" with Tom Brokaw came out on top for the first time in at least 20 years. Central Texas usually 'favors Peter Jennings on ABC, with an occasional bow to Dan Rather on CBS. In non-news programming, NBC was tops in prime time, as you'd expect CBS was second and Fox was third. ABC, which is sagging nationally, finished fourth in prime time here. "I'm pleased to see all habits seem to be off in this market" he said.

"Three years KEYE didn't exist KXAN was struggling in third place and KVUE looked invincible, having toppled longtime leader KTBC. Today it's a totally different landscape There isn't one station that has consistently won this year. "Our biggest problem is that we're not yet appointment viewing. That takes time, so while all our research shows that people like our newscasts, we need more sampling and we hope to get that when CBS comes out with its new schedule this fall." Fox affiliate KTBC, which came in dead last in all evening, news ratings, takes comfort in not losing more viewers from last year and in doing well among younger viewers, especially women 18-49. "I think we did fine.

No disappointments at this point" said general manager Danny Baker. "Congratulations to KXAN, but I your late news," he said. "I don't want to take away from their (KXAN's) product because it's, a good product. But I've got to believe that all the 'Seinfeld' hype had something to do with it" Rosenwasser said he's still happy with KVUE's newscasts and has no changes planned. The only good sign for KVUE was the early-morning news, where popular anchor Fred Cantu regained the lead after falling behind KXAN in February.

At 6 p.m., KEYE finished third, a couple of rating points ahead of last place KTBC. But at 10 p.m., the two stations were in a virtual tie, with KTBC only slightly behind KEYE. "I wish we had more of a lead-in from CBS in prime time," said KEYE's general manager, Dennis Upah. "I was really disappointed in the impact that had on some of our newscasts." But Upah always finds a silver lining in KEYE's Nielsens. KXAN on a slow but steady climb.

Wallace, news director Bruce Whiteaker and others in the newsroom are careful to keep specifics of "the plan" a secret. All they'll say is it is based on audience research into what people would like to see in a local newscast "We've gone to a lot of time and trouble to figure out what people want and we've delivered it on a daily basis," Wallace said. Initially, KVUE, an ABC station, benefited from the network affiliation switch, too, but about a year ago its decade-long dominance began to slip. Nationally known for its policy on responsible crime coverage, KVUE has seen its loyal audience eroding. But KVUE general manager Sam Rosenwasser doesn't see the decline of February (when KVUE dipped slightly below KXAN at 10 p.m.) and May as a trend.

"NBC is just on fire right now, and when that happens, it creates a marvelous platform to promote Early Morning KVUE Channel 24 KXAN Channel 36 KTBC Channel 7 KEYE Channel 42 5 p.m. KXAN Channel 36 ('Jeopardy') KVUE Channel 24 KEYE Channel 42 KTBC Channel 7 6 p.m. KXAN Channel 36 KVUE Channel 24 KEYE Channel 42 KTBC Channel 7 10 p.m. KXAN Channel 36 KVUE Channel 24 KEYE Channel 42 KTBC Channel 7 By Diane Holloway American-Statesman Staff It's official and undisputed. KXAN has the top-rated local news at 6 and 10p.m.

1 According to the just-released Nielsen ratings for May, KXAN Channel 36 knocked off longtime news leader KVUE Channel 24. When the word reached KXAN, newsroom staffers allowed themselves tiny sips of champagne, followed by ice cream sundaes. "I love it when a plan comes together," said general manager Jane Wallace. "It's a plan we've been working on for along time, and it didn't happen overnight But we kept plugging along, and here we are." This changing of the guard started with the network affiliation switch in 1995, when KTBC became a Fox station and KEYE aligned with CBS. The resulting confusion disrupted viewing patterns and started NBC affiliate I I III .1 I I.I.LI II .11 .1111.1 I.

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