Portland Press Herald from Portland, Maine • 48

Pi I ENCE 8rTiine Sunday Telegram Sunday ebruary 62000 WCSH sitting pretty but ratings game means changes across town What does the current bat tle for news ratings mean for the TV viewer? Changes and plenty of them: WMTW (Channel 8) Last month WMTW hired John Dougherty who had worked at WC SH in the 1970s and and had worked in Boston since 1988 The move is seen as a boon for WMTW since Dougherty is well known to southern Maine viewers and the sta tion gains stature by luring someone who was working in Boston Later this year WMTW will try to break the long held perception that it is a Lewiston Auburn station by moving its news operation to down town Portland WMTW officials also hope to launch a morning news pro gram on weekdays something Pat Callaghan and Cindy Williams carry the day at WCSH "'Mil KbbH analysts say is crucial to being a seri ous news provider Last November WMTW an nounced it was buying four Maine ra dio stations from Downeast Radio Group WLAM (1067 and 870 AM) a nostalgia music station WZOU (1470 AM) which simulcasts WLAM WMWX (999 and 969 M) which plays a mix of music from the 1980s and and WTHT (1075 M) a country station The sale which is not complete will make WMTW the only TV station in the market that also owns radio stations That gives the station a powerful out let for promotion as well as another place to give people news WGME (Channel 13) At WGME the changes have been smaller WGME abandoned its red and orange sets and logo replacing them with hues of green and blue The station also launched a public service campaign called Maine which is tied to a national campaign to help children in a variety of areas The national cam paign is headed by Gen Colin PowelL WGME will promote the campaign by doing news stories and series aimed at helping children and will air many public service announcements with the same aim Another change made in mid January is segment Immediately after the head lines are read at the start of a news cast a weather summary is given Alan Cartwright general manager said the change is a way to recognize that weather information is impor tant to viewers and some want to wait until 10 or 20 minutes into the newscast to get it WPXT (Channel 51) WPXT has an hour of news at 10 pm but no newscasts that compete with the other stations However WPXT managers think the three main news providers are missing some viewers Because of that WPXT may launch a 6 pm or 6:30 pm news by this fall Station manager Jim Lapiana says such a newscast would target viewers He says the main news providers especially WCSH and WGME have a traditional approach to the news which means they attract an older audience WCSH (Channel 6) WCSH secure in its position made any significant changes to the on air presentation of news and planning any In the last rat ings period November 1999 Nielsen Media Research reported that WCSH had the highest news ratings in all six of the time periods in which it com peted or several periods before that WGME had often won at least two of those time periods usually at noon and 5:30 pm But WGME won another time slot since 1995 when it ranked first at 11 pm HOW THEY RATE 13 20 18 24 26 32 19 24 whom you ask comes a three way battle for ratings 10:30 pm RayRouthier Staff art tend to be pessimistic because 098 Time slot Nov 1998 eb 1999 May 1999 Nov 1999 ONE LONGELLOW SQUARE Hmftles 25 13 23 9 17 9 28 8 20" 10 20 5 21 9 17 8 Connect Make the Center your connection to a world of music and culture Become a member or only $199 be a Center Member and get a full year of action Buy four for less Take 20 off the ticket price Dance riday Card Pay for four get the fifth free! Buy tickets in advance Take $2 off each ticket Student discount $5 off for students and youth under 17 Charge tickets by phone: 207 761 1545 with Visa or MC Bey tickets at our Box Office Cafe Culture or Amadeus Music on ore Street DOUG DANCERS Saturday 212 oo PM Portland High School Theater $20 company of dare devils profoundly human super humans who dance on a dime" New York Times dance workshop with Doug Varone 212 1 1:00 am at CCE $5 cations studies at the State Universi Increased Here is a list of the Nielsen ratings for local television news programs over the past year The ratings are compiled three times a year in ebruary May and November Each program is rated in shares a share being the percentage of people watching TV at that time who are watching that show or the latest ratings Nielsen surveyed 943 households in southern Maine and western New Hampshire between Nov 4 and Dec 1 John Dougherty Dougherty said he knows his sta tion turn around its third place ratings overnight But he said he thinks the station has a chance to makegains is absolutely an opening now for Channel Dougherty said things are reporting and more investigations show that stations need to be more locally relevant to really re tain said Condra who is a former TV station manager are going to have to take time to do meaningful journalism With more than 50 percent of revenues coming from local news and local program ming see people putting more 6 am sts WCSHj WGME Noon WGME VIETNAMESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION 5UKDJn213iOOpKCCfH4 Potluck party with Phong Nguyen Ensemble dancer Kim Oanh Nguyen and Portland Vietnamese dancersMtbuntsc Dana aid Musk lectin M0pmccE Youthfijfyli yMexteos classic son music plus potluck Mexican food i dancing! MARIACHI DANCEjRIDffif: PIUS 29 MORE EVENTS EROM MARCH TO MAY INCLUDING: Batoto Yetu African Dance Company St Patrick estival of Irish Dance Music Bt ariltan diva Virginia Rodrigues Cambodian New Year estival Irish Duet: Mai tin Hayes A Dennis Cahill lit vlaBoot: music dance from Sweden by Avi Hoffman Balfa Toujows Cajun Trio Dance ridays with live bands playing African Latino Celtic Cajun and Creek music Workshops A Lectures traditional music and dance CAL CCE AT 761 1545 AND GET A COMPLETE SPRING CALENDAR! sources on the weekday news the priority In any case the ratings decline at WGME does not necessitate panic Though ratings are important TV 26 WGME WMTW 5:30 WGME WMTW 6 om WCSH Jit WGME WMTW 10 pm Do It Right! The Cross Ultimate Ideal Cut Diamond is simply the most beau tiful diamond you will ever sec the most beautiful diamond she will ever wear Call us for our 24 page technical diamond buying guide Knowledge is power ree! 1 800 433 2988 Cross Jewelers Jewelers to New Englund Since 1908 570 Congress St Portland MB 1 1 pm 1WCSH WGME WMTW Season Waifc NEWS Continued from Page IE stand to help The battle for ratings is a battle for money stauons can maxe as mucri as half their revenue from advertising shown on local news Ratings are critical because they help determine how much money a station can charge for commercials The differences in how much sta tions charge for commercials can be significant Right now the price range for a one time 30 second spot on 6 pm news is $800 to $1000 according to several media buyers The same type of ad on 6 pm news costs about $500 to $700 and $150 to $250 on WMTW Prices can be quite different for advertisers depending on how many ads they bqy how long they run and the relationships they have with the stations With so many media competing for 20 managers and advertisers say ratings mean the sta tion is in dire straits Several adver tising executives in Portland said position as the number two station is still strong enough and its ads are priced competitively enough to bring it a good share of the mar ad revenues Advertisers look at overall ratings nearly as much as they look at how well a news show or station attracts specific demographic groups said Ruth Lucas inegold a media consultant who buys ads for clients with all of TV sta tions Advertisers want their ads seen by as many people as possible she said so she places ads with all three stations regardless of their ratings are people watching every station and advertisers want to miss any of inegold said gets a share of what the advertisers are Of course everyone wants the big gest share To that end they will tweak their newscasts until they have attention TV stations be more viewers than their competitors lieve local news is their future the Whether the changes to local news thing that will distinguish them from shows benefit viewers depends on cable the Internet and whatever else whom you ask is coming The battles for ratings is a If the Portland market truly be battle for long term survival comes a three way battle for ratings Alan Cartwright general manager that could produce more in depth and at WGME agrees with that assess higher quality news said Jerry Con ment but says ratings his main dra assistant professor of communi nAnroro imnrmnna inrni nmvs is trv to concentrate on mv cus ty of New York tomer not on my said competition is prompting many sta Cartwright who was station tions nationally to do more enterprise manager in me eany itrjus wnen that station solidified its number one ranking in news news is the future of local stations why you see everyone investing in Competition may be heating up be cause WCSH and WGME are now owned by big out of state corpora tions that answer to stockholders and are more cost conscious than the previous owners family businesses resources into it not that owned the stations outright and Only time will tell While competi had no debt to payoff WMTW Broad tion theoretically should force sta cast Group is based in Maine but is tions to do better journalism that owned by the Harron family of happened so far said Lyombe Pennsylvania Eko assistant professor of joumal Shortiy after being sold to Sinclair ism and mass communication at the Broadcast Group last summer University of Maine WGME canceled its weekend mom tend to be pessimistic because ing and noon news programs Cart corporate run stations are notorious wright said that was because he for stifling creativity and doing any needed to put more people and re thing for Eko said com sources on the weekday news the petition increases creativity good But it just increases tne noise level of the news creating a lot of hype for ratings then all the news products will seem the Back from Boston Bangor native Dougherty drops anchor at WMTW John Dougherty the new anchor at WMTW TV (Channel 8) knows that being number one in news lastforever Dougherty 55 who grew up in Bangor began working as a TV re porter in Portland at WCSH (Channel 6) in 1976 At that time WGME (Channel 13) had the most popular news shows and dominated the battle for ratings well into the 1980s WMTW (Channel 8) was never seen as a contender Dougherty said In the mid 1980s WCSH started to catch WGME That probably had a lot to do with network affiliate NBC developing blockbuster shows such as Cosby and which brought a lot more viewers to WCSH Also around that time WCSH hired Pat Callaghan and Cindy Williams who are still the anchors today That kind of longevity along with a strong net work helped WCSH become a strong news station Dougherty said By the time Dougherty left WCSH in 1988 to become a reporter and an chor at WBZ in Boston WCSH was considered on a par with WGME Now back at WMTW He said he took the job there because he wanted to work in Maine again Through his years of working in Bos ton Dougherty and his wife split time between their home in Yarmouth and a home in Cambridge Mass soz hJ8 I 7 4 I I hB MalKPIaza 220ftIaine' ftlall R4 South Portland (Next to Zne)(207)772 4123 SAITO TO SOifAn Extensive Collection Of Womens Boots D(es Shoes Walking Shoes And Casual Styles vsrom Selby Slides Easy Spirit Soft Spots Hmrv in for best selection! 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