Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2004 > June > 22 > Entry
KXAN News tops at 6 and 10 p.m.
CBS may be the top-rated network in prime time nationally, but Central Texans prefer NBC and Fox.
We’re a big market for “Friends” and “American Idol,” the two shows that lifted NBC and Fox, respectively, to greater heights in our fair city.
The May sweep ratings — those magical little Nielsen numbers that help local stations set their advertising rates — aren’t loaded with Earth-shattering new trends. The order of preference is pretty close to past sweeps, with the exception of KEYE’s news no longer getting trounced by sitcom reruns at every turn.
KXAN’s news is still No. 1 at 6 and 10 p.m., and KVUE’s news is still tops at 5 p.m. and early mornings. KXAN’s “Jeopardy” at 5 p.m. managed to beat news in that time period on KEYE and KTBC. And KEYE’s news at 6 p.m. was bested by KTBC’s reruns of “The Simpsons,” as well as news on KXAN and KVUE.
Here are some local highlights from the May rating period:
Early morning news (6 to 7 a.m.)
KVUE 4 rating/24,000 households
KTBC (6 to 8 a.m.) 3/20,000
KXAN 3/16,000
KEYE 1/8,000
5 p.m. news
KVUE 7 rating/43,000 households
KXAN (“Jeopardy”) 5/27,000
KEYE 4/24,000
KTBC (5 to 6 p.m.) 3/18,000
6 p.m. news
KXAN 7 rating/40,000 households
KVUE 6/37,000
KTBC (“The Simpsons”) 5/28,000
KEYE 4/20,000
10 p.m. news
KXAN 10 rating/59,000 households
KVUE 8/44,000
KEYE 7/38,000
KTBC (“The Simpsons”) 6/34,000
Prime-time entertainment
NBC (KXAN) 8 rating/47,000 households
FOX (KTBC) 7/41,000
CBS (KEYE) 7/40,000
ABC (KVUE) 6/36,000
WB (KNVA) 3/16,000
“NYPD 24/7” arrives …
ABC is debuting “NYPD 24/7” in “NYPD Blue“‘s old time period, tonight at 9. For maximum confusion, the new documentary series also has Dennis Franz, the Emmy-winning actor who plays Andy Sipowicz on “Blue,” doing host and voice-over duties.
“NYPD 24/7” follows real New York cops on real cases. First up in this seven-episode series is the case of a young woman who was stabbed in the lobby of her former boyfriend’s apartment building.
An ABC news team spent more than a year following three New York police units. The cases are edited to fit into an hour-long time period but unfold chronologically with the cops telling us what’s going on.
On the surface, having Franz as the voice-over guy seems like a stroke of genius. But either Franz is trying to mimic how Sipowicz would read a TelePrompTer or he’s having trouble on his own, because he speaks in a halting monotone that is oddly annoying.
Nevertheless, some of the cases and cops are fascinating.
ABC came up with the “24/7” franchise in 2000 with a summer series called “Hopkins 24/7,” set in Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 2002, “Boston 24/7” followed local elections in Beantown.
The current “24/7” incarnation, unless it hits a home run ratings-wise, is the third and final installment.
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