The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 28

THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL MEMPHIS SATURDAY APRIL 13 1996 C4 SATURDAY MORNING APRIL 13 Channel 24 has nowhere to go but up in news lists with news in the early mornings And its noon news also is having trouble finding an audience after being absent for nearly three years Establishing a new time period for news is one of the most difficult things a station can do even when the news is produced and reported competently Just ask Channel 24 Be the judge Former Dyer County Judge David Lanier is a featured judicial sleazeball in edition of Investigative Reports which airs at 8 pm on the cable network The segment deals with judicial scandals ranging from a New York judge who stalked threatened and tried to extort a former girlfriend to a family court judge who apparently ignores evidence of sexual abuse of children to Lanier His 1992 conviction for violating the civil rights of female employees ana women in his courtroom was overturned by a federal appellate court in January The segment also looks at people trying to reform the judicial system by making judges more accountable for their actions The individual stories are powerful especially the women in West Tennessee who recall Lanier's power and offenses but the program overall is unfocused and scattershot hopping WOGY-FM 941 music director and midday jock (a stupid corporate policy prevents the station from revealing its read names) will present the country music DJ of the year award at the Academy of Country Music awards show this year' The program airs at 7 pm Wednesday April 24 on WMO TV Channel 5 was selected to present the award in March1 and said he doesn't know who his angel was or how he was chosen Le Bonheur focus Drs Joan Chesnev and Keith English infectious disease spe cialists at Le Bonheur Medical Center will be featured on a segment of Discover Magazine on Discovery Channel It will air at 7 pm Sunday April 21 The segment follows doctors at Le Bonheur as they struggle against drug-resistant bacteria that target infants and children TOM WALTER Television Radio tinue to vex Channel operation Thursday night the station reported on possible contenders for Ninth Congressional District seat As we heard the name state Rep Lois DeBerry read to us the station flashed on the screen the name US Rep Louis DeBerry This the way to build confidence among viewers And just as the February ratings period began co-anchor Lynn Carthane went on maternity leave She returned to the station recently just in time She projects competence and a level of comfort that is rare at the station The fierce rejection by viewers may in fact have little to do with Channel 24 and what putting on the air Both WREG-TV Channel 3 and Channel 13 put news programs into new time periods just before the ratings began and both shows are struggling Channel 3 debuted its female-oriented 4:30 pm newscast First News about a month before the ratings period began It averaged a 3 rating 8 share the same rating Cheers reruns did in the same time period in November The station hopes its acquisition of Jeopardy! which airs at 4 pm will boost the news numbers at 4:30 pm another way of saying lead-in is important But for early morning news programs lead-in is almost nonexistent one of the reasons Channel Mornings on Fox program which airs from 6 to 8 am is struggling Channel 13 switched from ABC to Fox in December Mornings on Fox averaged a 1 rating 5 share and so far is being overwhelmed by better-established local news programs on Channel 3 and WMC-TV Channel 5 Channel 3 is the leader in the 6-7 am time period with an 8 rating 35 share while Channel 5 comes in second with a 6 rating 27 share (Channel 5 takes over the lead at 7 am when Today comes on the air) Channel 13 also is struggling because it had little history SHOWS 2 pm CSPAN Public Pokey Conference (3:001 351266 5 pm CSPAN Public Pokey Conference (1:00) 329066 6 pm CSPAN Rood to Hie White Houee (1:00) 654424 6:30 pm CNN Croeafke Sunday A debate on the current tax filing process 429559 7 pm CSPAN Booknotea Wayne Fields Union of Words: A History of Presidential Eloquence) (1:00) 856795 8 pm CSPAN British Houae of Corn-mono The presence of cameras In the British Parliament 339443 8:30 pm CSPAN Public Pokey Conference 35857B 9 pm CSPAN Road to the White Houae (Repeat) (1:00) 885207 IQjpm CSPAN Booknotea See 7 pm 10:15 pm HBO Dermis Miller Topic: children Guest: actor Paul Sorvino (Repeat) 9388191 10:30 pm MTV Squirt TV (Repeat) 50WBT 11 pm CSPAN British House of Commons See 8 pm 129153 11:30 pm CSPAN Pubkc Pokey Conference (3:00) 696917 2:30 am CSPAN Pubkc Pokey Conference (1:30) 708450 4 am CSPAN Public Policy Conference (2:00) 182641 -V iveff i 1 nyV-y It easy being the new kid on the block Just ask WPTY-TV Channel 24 which has been trying to launch a news operation since December And trying is the operative word No one should make too much out of a ratings period that comes two months after a station begins new programming especially the news News habits are among the hardest to break and change tends to come slowly And Channel 24 at least can say based on the February ratings the ratings can go only one way up They go much lower Even after station officials noticed the ratings diaries sent by AC Nielsen Media Research were not properly tabulated and forced a re-count the news numbers get any better Channel 24 switched from a Fox to an ABC network affiliation Dec 1 beginning a news operation in the process Take for instance Channel 5 and 6 pm newscasts Both averaged a 1 rating 2 share That means only one percent of all TV households in AC Designated Market Area around 30 Mid-South counties tuned into the early news on Channel 24 And only 2 percent of the households that had their TV sets on at the time watched Channel news The situation much better at 10 pm The station averaged a 2 rating 3 share Well the station might say there are competing ABC affiliates in Jonesboro Ark and Jackson Tenn that strip away some viewing an argument WHBQ-TV Channel 13 made when it was the ABC affiliate here) Or viewers with ratings diaries were confused over the switch and report what they were watching accurately Or viewers know Channel 24 now produced news Or sample accurately reflect viewing habits Maybe viewers took a look at the news and rejected it There was plenty to reject The stations news operation went on the air before it was ready Equipment broke down or didn't work at all A passel of reporters and anchors new to the city could not convince viewers they knew the city Tension on the air was visible and continues to be visible at times Then there is the credibility problem Simple mistakes con- TALK TODAY 7 am ii: Today How to tell a homa and finance a new one football player-turned-author Tim Green (Outlaws) the making of the film James and the Giant Peach baseball all-star Cal Ripken Jr Substitute co-anchor: Carol Martin 84435 7 am CSPAN Saturday Journal Congressional Quarterly political reporter Alan Greenblatt: round-table guests: Joyce Campbell press secretary to Sen Bob Dole (R-Kan) White House Mary Ellen SPAN Satun 11145 AN Public Pi yms 11 am BET Teen Summit 930394 1 pm CSPAN Public Policy Conference (3:00) 116110 4 pm CSPAN Public PrOcy Conference (2:00) 515329 4:30 pm CNN Evana a Novak Secretary of State Warren Christopher 546226 5 pm (IB Tony Brown'a Journal Dr Peter Breggin discusses the Implications of a government sponsored violence initiative linking race to a predisposition to commit crime 5145 5:30 pm CNN Pinnacle 633706 6 pm CSPAN America and the Courts Chief Justice William Rehnquist speaks on the state of the federal judiciary In the United States (1:00) 116752 7 pm CSPAN American Perspective Speech by NPR commentator Andrei Cod rescu in Lynchburg Va address by Bill Plante at the University of Norm Carolina Chapel Hill speech by Paul Kennedy In Boston (3:06) 866428 7:30 pm BET Toon Summit 143435 8 pm CNN Larry Kina Weekend En- ie of the OJ Simpson 9 pm El Howard Stem (Repast) 961467 El Howard Stem (Repeat) 10 pm CSPAN American Perapec- knee See 7 pm 713684 11:30 pm LIFE Late Me First date fairy tales 595232 1 am CNN Larry King Weekend See 8 pm 900820 1 am CSPAN Pubkc Pokey Conference (3:00) 153240 4 am CSPAN Public Pokey SUNDAY 7 am (it Today Oklahoma Gov Frank Keating discusses his state's recovery from the 1995 bombing of the federal building: a family tom apart by the Oklahoma City bombing Substitute co-anchor: Carol Martin 19356 7 am at Good Morning AmericaSun-day The Oklahoma City community one year after the federal building bombing the history of taxes discipline tor children marathon winner Jean Driscoll 494882 7 am CSPAN Sunday Journal (Live) 458337 i CD Sunday Morning Oklahoma City one year after the bombing of the federal bufidlng new musical Rent sculptor I i Butterfield 12917 9 am CNN Evana a Novak Secretary of State Warren Christopher (Repeal) 93888? 9 am CSPAN Sunday Journal (Repeat) (2:00) 721795 10 am BET Our Volcaa 492646 11 am CSPAN Pubkc Pokey 0:00) 370820 control device that simplif ies VCR programming Pli 7 Call $29-2700 for page reprints Readers Digest altered about fhepundXmiioMad to salve die Goneoenoe ol die dwhonaet by retorting lo diem as "edecady chat-longed" I agree widi thaw oondualon- "a mule In a email true olhypocriey A phony a add a phony regandaas ol abet dano-mnalional Hondo he's Dr Thomas Vinaon LEAWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH 3838 Macon Road at Homer Dr Thomas Vinson I Sun Bible Study 940 AM Sun Worship Services 11 AM 8 8 PM Wed Worship Service 6:30 PM Radio AM WCRV 640 11 AM Sun Prayer Tower Phono 323-PRAY ONE WEEK ONLY! ALL SOFAS ALL UPH CHAIRS ALL RECLINERS (In Stock Only) 50 OFF Mlfe Sugg Retail Price Choose From: Thomasville Vanguard Century Massoud And More! OFFER ENDS APRIL 20 1996 Pryor isles 'Captive a pulsating tale of rescue from slavery I for owners ol VCR plus a remote- and everything Dad must be so proud David Caruso stars in the 1995 crime drama Kiss of Death (7 pm HBO) US senator from Texas Kay Bailey Hutchison guests on a Walker Texas Ranger (9 pm WREG-TV Channel 3) in which a state senator tries to disband the Rangers Marilu Henner hosts the special Having a Baby! (9 pm WPTY-TV Channel 24) in which celebrities act as though the first people who ever reproduced other highlights Old and unimproved! Fox rebroadcasts the 1995 Clio Awards (6 pm WHBQ-TV Channel 13) which honored TV's best commercials Scheduled reports on Dateline (6 pm WMC-TV Channel 5): contaminated shellfish how birth order may affect personality Scheduled network movies include All She Ever Wanted (8 pm WPTY-TV Channel 24) starring Marcia Cross as a woman who decides to have a baby at great personal risk TUNE IN smuggles a letter to her parents Guilt-wracked Mink and Elizabeth then set out on a hazardous journey posing as slave and master to rescue Mary Captive Heart is a real pulse-pounder as Mink and Elizabeth risk discovery and capture right up to the end Roseanne hosts the premiere of the six-week series Saturday Night Special (10 tonight WHBQ-TV Channel 13) The ensemble is joined by Sharon Stone Scott Wolf and Eric Idle with musical guests Bush and Melissa Etheridge Meanwhile Saturday Night Live (10:30 pm WMC-TV Channel 5) is hosted by former presidential candidate Steve Forbes with musical guest Rage Against the Machine other highlights Tori Spelling visits office guest-starring on Malibu Shores (7 pm WMC-TV Channel 5) as a woman who according to ads for the show her eyes set on Josh not to mention her lips legs By Kirk Nicewongcr United Feature Syndicate NEW YORK Captive Heart: The James Mink Story (8 pm Sunday WREG-TV Channel 3) is one of those on historical record" movies that make you wish you knew how much is historical and how much is Louis Gossett Jr stars as a prosperous businessman in 1850s Canada Mink a black man is highly respected and his marriage to the white Elizabeth (Kate Nelligan) is socially accepted Mink however is concerned about the marital prospects of their daughter Mary (Rachael Crawford) and sets about finding her a husband Mink meets charming American William Johnson (Peter Outerhridge) Mary and Johnson are wed and set off for the US Johnson turns out to be a slave trader and after brutalizing Mary sells her to libidinous Virginian Sherman Clay (Wirfeton Rekert) Mary befriends the also-enslaved Indigo (Ruby Dee) and Elroi (Michael Jai White) son With help she Samuels FURNITURE INTERIORS Eat 1916 6656 Winchaator-ln Winchaator Court 360-8100 Mon-Sot 10-6 Thun 'til 8 Sun 1-5 5508 Poplar at Yules 761 -4998 Mon-Sot 10 pm Thun Til pm.