Friday, June 16, 2006

Nielsens: KOAM on top, 'Live with Gary and Tiffany' tanks




The return of KODE and KSNF to Cable One has not done much to help the stations' Nielsen ratings.
The May book again showed KOAM on top in every local time slot. At 5 p.m. the news with Dowe Quick and Rhonda Justice had 27,000 viewers, more than the 21,000 posted by KODE, KSNF and Fox 14 combined.
At 6 p.m., the KOAM numbers increased, pulling in 35,000, while the other three stations combined for 28,000.
That led into Channel 7's best numbers, from 6:30 to 7 p.m. where Wheel of Fortune with 45,000 viewers, more than doubled the 20,000 for Entertainment Tonight, Friends and Seinfeld combined.
KOAM also won easily with its morning show and in the 10 p.m. timeslot.
***
5 p.m..- While KOAM won the 5 p.m. time slot, it appears viewers of the other stations opted for some meat on their plates rather than the fluff that KSN has been dishing out with its "Live with Gary and Tiffany."
While KOAM pulled in 27,000 viewers, Brian Hamman and Tara Brown's KODE newscast had 13,000. Live with Gary and Tiffany pulled a Poseidon and bottomed out at 4,000, tied with Fox 14's Malcolm in the Middle reruns.
6 p.m..- While you never know who is going to be manning the Nielsen books, which occasionally results in some surprises, the 6 p.m. ratings indicate that the problem may be with the light news format. With veteran anchor Jim Jackson back at the helm, KSN more than doubles its viewers, moving up to 9,000, KODE holds onto second place, moving from 13,000 to 15,000 viewers, while KOAM remains on top with 35,000 viewers.
10 p.m..- KOAM has a commanding 32,000 viewer for its 10 p.m. newscast, while Jackson and Tiffany Alaniz move into second place with 15,000 viewers. KODE has a slight drop from its 6 p.m. totals with 14,000 viewers.
Morning news- Dave Pylant and Doreen Scanlon's KOAM Morning News has 15,000 viewers, or as many as the prime time news programs for KSNF and KODE. Finishing in second place was KSN's Toni Valliere and Lucas McDonald, who have done much to improve that program, with 5,000 viewers. KODE finished third with 4,000.
Other time slots- Receiving the rights to air Seinfeld reruns has moved Fox 14 into a second place tie with the program KODE used to replace it "Entertainment Tonight," with seven thousand viewers. "Friends" on KSNF finished fourth with 6,000.
This area is probably one of the few where the perennial last place CBS Morning News from 7 to 9 a.m. is the dominant program. The Nielsens showed 14,000 viewers for the program, compared to 7,000 for "Good Morning America" on KODE, 6,000 for "The Today Show" on KSNF and 1,000 for programming including "Little House on the Prairie" reruns on Fox 14.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

From watching, I see part of KSNF's "Light News" problem as on air personalities taking the "Hometown News" slogan a little too far. I think it might be time for KSN to look into a more commanding apperance and presentation in the future, since it's obviously working at the other two stations.

Anonymous said...

You need to have somebody who knows what they are doing explain what saleable demographics are gleaned from the Nielsen ratings books and how. It is way to easy to generalize who is on-top vs who is actually successful on a business basis.
You also managed to miss the largest story in the broadcast industry today! Nielsen has announced that they are going to do away with with ratings diaries and are going to electronically measure the viewing of every TV that will definitely give us a better picture of what people are actually watching and when, rather than the crappy guesswork and try-to-remember inaccurate business that we have going on now.
What this most probably means is that we will see across-the-board local News viewing going down across the board, but that the locals will "even-out" quite a bit rather than having the Halo effect that some stations enjoy now.
Please research and learn to tell the whole story.
Also, I am not sure that the Nielsen numbers are available to be published if the outlet is not a subscriber. How would we ever know that you are telling the truth by sourcing second-hand info from a source that is not a Nielsen subscriber? Something sounds fishy...
Also, KSNF is never going to hire you as a weekend weatherman no matter how bad you continue to diss them!

Anonymous said...

Hey!
That's RIGHT!
I wonder if the Nielsen guys know that numbers are being posted without blogger being a subscriber! I see no attribution of where this info is coming from on this ugly blog ! I'll bet they would like to know this!

Anonymous said...

What are the demographics on the viewers? In everything I've seen KSN is a lot closer with the valuable 18-35 crowd. You'll never get the 70 year old Kansas farmers to switch over to anything but KOAM.

Anonymous said...

Randy,
What's your source for the info, which website etc?

Randy said...

No website, but the numbers are correct.

Anonymous said...

What are the age ranges those numbers represent? And again, what is your source? KOAM P.R. people that put up the slides in the movie theater?

Anonymous said...

I KNEW IT!
You are using the Nielsen numbers without a legal source! These arefor private use by subscribers.
I am sending this blog site to Nielsen.
Shame on a "Journalism teacher" who rips off sources!
Also, have somebody at KODE or something teach you how a ratings book REALLY works. You do't know what you are talking a bout.
oh, Mr. Nielsen.....

Randy said...

The preceding comment shows the sad side of the recently announced decision to close Exotic Animal Paradise.

Anonymous said...

The point is Randy, the numbers you have posted mean nothing. Advertisers want to see demos. Smart tv stations target the demos advertisers want, not just numbers. I would like to see a better break down of numbers.

Anonymous said...

To those people who want to know exactly what the demographics are, concerning these Neisen numbers posted, consider this...It does'nt matter too much on the break down of age groups. (I am very curious if Randy could get those numbers and post them). I am sure one can look at any local election and break it down by age groups too, but in the end its the total number of votes that elect the winner! If KOAM TV has the highest numbers, they still win, regardless of what some of you think. It would'nt surprise me that if you looked at the 18-35 year group Nielsen ratings for KSN, they would still fall short. If Jim Jackson left KSN would there not be panic among the owners and management of KSN! He is the cornerstone that keeps their local news afloat, otherwise they would sink even worse in the ratings!

Anonymous said...

Kode is the only station that matters ~ Anyone with even mild brain activity knows it

Anonymous said...

KODE is the best alternative to KSN if you wish to watch a Joplin TV station, located within the city limits of Joplin. I tend to rank them this way..

1st-KOAM
2nd(tied)-KODE & KFJX
3rd-KSNF

Anonymous said...

Exotic Animal Paradise?
Come on! Is that the best you can do? i know that you feel you are clever, so make a better attempt at a slam anyway...
You do not understand demos and TV sales and how things really do work in the business.Any manager at KODE or KOAM (oh! Wait - they are actually in Kansas and pay taxes and such to another state!)
will probably be happy to explain so you can have a clue about what you are "reporting" or rather, posting without attribution nor probably legally as the Nielsen service is private and paid and you do not have rights to access and publish any numbers that cite their company.
Put up sources or shut-up!

Anonymous said...

It just seems like KSN is more interested in fluff than news. Thumbs up? That just looks dumb. It's like they are always live at something that I know I don't care about. It's no suprise that their ratings are down, they just aren't cutting it anymore.

Anonymous said...

Ummmm, none of this really matters does it? I mean, most people don't watch local stations any more do they? I personally don't know anyone that watches local news.

And why would someone pay to see these unaccurate ratings when you can view them for free? Legal or not, DUH!

Anonymous said...

Several requests for the source of the info, and ignored. I thought that was taught in Journalism 101?

Randy said...

So far, I have only seen about two people demanding to see sources and one of those is our old friend who has been hiding information behind the Anonymouse service, so that no one knows what city he or she is actually from. It is ironic to think that person is demanding that I reveal my sources. I have seen others who claim the figures don't make any difference because they don't tell if KOAM has a larger share of the 18-49 audience. What I don't see anyone doing is saying that these figures are not accurate and that is the only thing that matters.
The information comes from A. C. Nielsen. How I obtained that information is none of your business and as for the laughable comment about Journalism 101- the first rule you learn in journalism is that you do not give up your sources or you aren't going to last long because no one will be able to trust you.
One of the first things I learned when I began working for newspapers 29 years ago was to watch out for people who talk about Journalism 101. Those are usually the ones who wouldn't be able to pass it if such a class existed.

Anonymous said...

Did you legally obtain this information?

Anonymous said...

Randy said: "What I don't see anyone doing is saying that these figures are not accurate and that is the only thing that matters."

What I have a problem with is you using the older viewer numbers to show KOAM beating the others so handily.
Your bias is very telling. I'm sure you could have shown all the numbers, but instead you showed the ones with the biggest gap. How responsible is that?

Anonymous said...

Does anyone realize that the older generation watches the news more! The younger generation is too busy with their lifestyles to have time to be a constant viewer. According to Pew Research Center's 2004 survey: Older people in general tend to be heavier news users (with the exception of online news), and local TV news user fits the pattern. Seven out of ten people 65 and older (70%) say they are regular local news viewers. By comparison just under half (46%)18-to-29-year-olds
are regular local news viewers.
So to those people commenting that the numbers are biased, maybe there is more truth to this than your willing to accept. Is it possible Randy does not want to share the numbers because it might put some station to shame? Or maybe he is not privy to that detailed breakdown. Either way it will all come out to the public eventually, just be patient...One last note, I work at a 300 plus bed hospital I spend alot of time in patients rooms. In the evening when people are watching local news, KOAM TV tends to be what I see on most.

Anonymous said...

Who cares if the information was obtained 'legally'? I laugh @ you! What a joker!

Anonymous said...

Freakin' AC Nielsen co. will probably care when they see my pointer to this blog on Monday when they hit the office.
Journalists cite sources for accuracy, so that they are believable and dependable. Bloggers, who claim to be watchdogs and journalists (Ha!) are skating along feeling that the First Amendment will probably cover their butts even if they are hijacking the Nielsen Co's private stock-in-trade info and posting it.
Because that is what is happing here.
Anybody is still somehow free in this country to state their opinion about TV stations or whatever! At least for the time being...
But! You cannot scam proprietary info and spread it - that belongs to someone who worked to accumulate it and is valuable to their customers.
Anonymouse is AWESOME!!!! I learned about it on this blog and will use it at all times. I do not care to be searched-out by the owner of this blog because of their anger. There has been a place to post annonymously created on this blog, and I want to make sure that it is really anonymous. Sorry if this frustrates the blog-scriber!


Nah... i ain't sorry.

Anonymous said...

To the person who wrote "Freakin' AC Nielsen co. will probably care when they see my pointer"...Why are you so obsessed with this topic? Do you work for Nielsen or have ties with one of the local stations? Could you answer this question "truthfully" or claim that you can't reveal your answer due to privacy issues? Everyone has their own taste in where they obtain information. I don't believe Randy is too upset about your threat to turn his blog in...

Anonymous said...

To Mr. Anonymous: when "they" receive your e-mail with the pointer, if "they" even read it, "they" will see that the person sending it can not spell and uses the word ain't and "they" will delete it and go on with their day never givng you the time of day.

Anonymous said...

If someone who is NOT a subscriber has and uses the ratings to influence sales, that person can be liable to EXTENSIVE punishment.

There is plenty of precedent, including local precedent for the above.

If someone who is NOT a suscriber gave the writer of this blog those details I'm sorry to say it might not be the average reader's business butit is the business of the Nielsen company.

Selective presentation of the ratings by offering only selected times or viewership could be interpreted as a backhanded attempt by someone with access to the books to influence the viewing audience.

Call me a nervous nelly: but if I were you, I would take this posting down.

Anonymous said...

I was asked if the Nielsen Ratings used here were accurate. I represent KOAM, the only local station to subscribe to the data and can attest they are. I can also address the writer who states 18-35 is the valuable demographic. Technically it is not. In this market there are four most sought Demographics, (1)total persons, (2)persons 18-49, (3)persons 25-54 and (4)persons 35+, not necessarily in that order. With that said, I'll respond to their 5pm News comment. At 5:00pm - 5:30pm, in the May 2006 rating period, for the persons 18-34 demographic, FOX-14 had 3,000, KOAM had 1,000, KODE had 1,000 and KSN showed none. Technically showing none means less than 500 since the data is provided in thousands and rounded to the nearest thousand. I do not seek to dispariage anyone especially FOX-14, KODE or KSNF. That is why I've added just this one example to address the mis-information. I would welcome anyone interested to contact KOAM-TV Sales for a complete and thorough review of the audience levels of any program, any daypart or any demographic. We also subscribe to county level data.

Randy said...

Perhaps the scariest thing I have seen in all of these comments is that more people between 18 and 34 watch reruns of "Malcolm in the Middle" than watch all of the three news programs put together.

Anonymous said...

And if you were king for a day, how would you get the 18-34 folks to watch the news instead of "Malcom."

Anonymous said...

I really hate to beat a dead horse but this is too easy. This is taken word for word from KSN's web site, the top news (bold) headline as of 6/20/06 at 9:34 PM

Capital Improvements
Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Close to 30 million dollars will be spent on improvements in one Southeast Kansas community next year.
The 2007-2011 capital improvements plan allots the money to several agencies through out the community. 15 million dollars is budgeted for the facility.
That money will come from the community, should they approve a half cent sales tax on the August ballot.
It’s all part of 27 million dollars in capitol improvement projects around the city.
Other major projects include highway and street improvements, storm drains, new water lines, and improvements to city parks and ball fields.
Gill says the city has paid off some old debts, freeing up money for the various projects.
Other sources of money include grants and money that was already part of the budget.
Gill says while some of these projects will help beautify the city, it was more a matter of need than making the city look better.

Reported By: Jeremiah Cook


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http://www.ksntv.com/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=4060

Am I misunderstanding this? What community or city in SE Kansas will get this money for improvements? Who is Gil that is mentioned in this web article?

Now will the web master at KSN re-write this (quickly before anyone visits the site) so it makes sense, or leave it alone since their ratings are already in the toilet...

Anonymous said...

It looks like the story,"Capital Improvements" had been removed from the KSN web site sometime this morning, June 21.

Anonymous said...

We are hearing so much talk about weekday ratings, does anyone have the weekend news number. Just curious to see if an infomercial garnered more viewers than the 6:00 newscasts.

Anonymous said...

Saturday audience levels from May A. C. Nielsen were as follows for 6:00pm: KFJX avg all weeks - 6,000. KOAM News at Six 21,000. KODE Paid Program 1,000. KSN Weekend News 3,000. I guess the info-mercial question is answered.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I thought this thread had finally died with the ratings data provided by Mr. Thomas. First the ratings weren't accurate or illegal to talk about. Then they were irrelevant because Randy didn't know advertising. Then I guess to everyone's astonishment, someone who knows actually uses their name and puts it all to rest. No more brilliant threats, speculation, or mis-information. Now, someone wants to dig deeper to find I'm not sure what. I have seen what you all seem so shocked to acknowledge coming for a long time. It has been a trend of audience level widening developing for many years. Was it the cable fiasco, was it network slumps or jumps, was it stock values, was it ethics, was it greed over creed, was it Gary and Tiffany? No to all and yes to all. It was everything that has been brewing over the last five years. Sometimes when you trip you never regain your balance. Sometimes if you vear off the road on the right you over correct and crash to the left. When you look at all the stations and there networks over time you see this example.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info at 6 PM on saturday. How about the 10 o'clock numbers for saturday and sunday.

Anonymous said...

Randy really needs a message board for the readers to discuss items on.