Khq Tops Again In May Sweeps
The Nielsen ratings for the May sweeps have been released, and once again KHQ-Channel 6 is hard to beat.
This station has been dominating most of the news time periods for years except 5 p.m., and now it has crept close to winning even that time period. KREM-Channel 2 is the perennial winner at 5 p.m., partly because “Oprah” gets twice the ratings of anything else as a lead-in. But KHQ is sneaking up.
Checking some of the other numbers, it’s nice to see some good news for KXLY-Channel 4 for a change. They managed to place second at 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., thus making it out of the cellar in at least two time periods.
Here are the Nielsen numbers, with the rating number (percentage of TVs tuned to that station) followed by the share number (percentage of TVs in use at the time tuned to that station):
6 a.m.
KHQ: 5 rating, 31 share.
KXLY: 4, 22.
KREM: 2, 14. 5 p.m.
KREM: 13, 29.
KHQ: 12, 26.
KXLY: 7, 15. 6 p.m.
KHQ: 12, 24.
KREM: 10, 19.
KXLY: 7, 15. 11 p.m.
KHQ: 8, 32.
KXLY: 6, 23.
KREM: 5, 20.
There are also local newscasts scattered around during different parts of the day. Here’s how they fare:
KXLY’s 11:30 a.m. news: 2 rating, 12 share.
KREM’s noon news: 7 rating, 29 share.
KHQ’s 4:30 p.m. news: 6 rating, 17 share.
Another gauge of the news
KREM came out on top in the regional Emmy awards, presented this month in Seattle, which are another way of determining the TV news pecking order.
KREM’s 6 p.m. newscast won the Emmy for Outstanding Daily Newscast among smaller-market stations in the Northwest.
KREM’s Laurine Jue also won a writing Emmy for “Amazing Grace,” a story that covered the last three years in the life of a man dying from AIDS. Jue and photographer Virgil Williams won an Emmy for informational segment for the same story.
KHQ’s Dan Kleckner won an Emmy as host of “The Scenic Challenge,” an hour-long feature program about the Coeur d’Alene Triathalon. Tom Holmberg and Paula Salzano also won Emmys for their work as producers of that show.
With KXLY’s two Emmys, which I reported last week, all three Spokane stations took home some of those angel-holding-a-globe statuettes.
Fairchild retrospectives
If I were giving an award for best Fairchild-Mellberg retrospective, the winner would have to be KXLY’s half-hour documentary on Tuesday, “Rampage to Recovery: Fairchild One Year Later.”
KHQ and KREM both did respectable jobs with their segments, which were part of their regular newscasts. But KXLY’s went into far more depth.
With its carefully lit interview subjects, its swelling music and its subheads against a black field, this almost looked like “Dean Mellberg - A Documentary by Ken Burns.”
I mean that as a compliment. This special showed that kind of preparation, quality and emotion.
The great Garland
Last summer, the Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland, offered 25-cent matinees in the summer, a deal I didn’t think they could beat.
This year, they are going one better and having FREE matinees, every weekday at 9:30 a.m. And not only that, they are also offering reduced prices on kid’s popcorn and drinks.
This week’s movie will be “Home Alone,” followed by “The Little Rascals” next week and “The Flintstones” the week after that. It will continue with a different movie each week until Sept. 1.
Owner Don Clifton says it’s “a way for all of us at the Garland to say ‘thank you’ to all of the people of Spokane.”
The Fox-y lady
Speaking of discount movie theaters with class, the Fox Theatre, 1005 W. Sprague, has undergone some major renovations in its lobby and concessions area.
More renovations are planned. The idea is to restore some of the former glory to this historic downtown movie palace, according to the people at Act III theaters.
Even with these changes, it will remain a discount movie theater, and a profitable one, at that. That’s one reason the people at Act III are willing to give it a face-lift.
That MCA deal
What, exactly, is the significance of that deal between the new Spokane Arena and MCA Concerts, one of the biggest promoters in America?
Well, obviously it will ensure a steady flow of major events into the arena. The deal calls for 40 events in the next three years.
But it also means that we may not have to drive so often to The Gorge, which is owned by MCA Concerts. Arena general manager Kevin Twohig said that MCA will now consider the arena to be the concert venue for the Inland Northwest, and The Gorge to be the concert venue for the Puget Sound area. After all, 80 percent of The Gorge audience comes from the Puget Sound area anyway.
This means that many of the same acts that play the Gorge, which are generally top-level draws, will also play the arena.
Maybe we can actually get home from concerts before 2 a.m. now.
Hot Tickets
Don’t mingle with the masses when you attend an event at the new arena. That would be ever so lowclass.
Instead, you can join the arena’s newly announced Hot Tickets program.
For a $400 initiation fee, and another $400 per year for five years, you, too, can get a Hot Tickets membership. Members have the right to purchase tickets in a special reserved section (they still have to pay for the tickets) and also get admission to the private Arena Club, which is a restaurant-bar overlooking the arena floor. (Hockey games are not included; that’s a separate package.)
To sum up: You get to schmooze in the club before the show with other Hot Tickets hot-shots, after which you get to go sit in your choice seat for the show, all for $400 up front, another $2,000 over the next five years, plus the cost of the tickets.
Gee, I’d do it except I don’t happen to have a spare three grand lying around right now.
Call the arena at 324-7000 if you do.
The gospel truth
Something new is coming to Spokane radio tonight at 5.
“Heart & Soul,” a locally produced weekly gospel hour, debuts on KTSL-FM, 101.9. It will feature urban and traditional gospel from such acts as Bebe and Cece Winans, Kirk Franklin, the Mississippi Mass Choir, Andrae Crouch, Take 6 and others.
The host will be Michael Barrow, a Washington Water Power employee and a member of the Spokane Christian Center. Barrow said he is dedicated to providing a “powerful, exciting and soul-stirring music show” every week.
, DataTimes