TV stations jockey for post-storm superiority
By ERIC DEGGANS, Times TV/Media Critic
Published August 19, 2004
After covering a big event, TV news outlets often turn their attention to another pressing matter:
Who got the most viewers?
But that question may never be resolved for Tampa Bay area TV stations vying for bragging rights over their Hurricane Charley coverage. Nielsen Media Research has recalled overnight TV ratings mistakenly released for Friday and Saturday, saying too many sample homes in the Tampa Bay area lacked power and telephone service to accurately calculate television viewership. A similar ratings blackout affects TV markets in the storm-tossed Orlando and Fort Myers areas.
"A lot of people aren't even watching television because they don't have electricity," said Nielsen spokeswoman Kerry Kielar of the hardest hit areas. The Tampa market, which covers 10 bay area counties, may see overnight ratings return by the week's end, Kielar said. "We're hoping people get their homes up and running as soon as possible."
The disruption irritated executives at stations that did well in the recalled ratings - particularly NBC affiliate WFLA-Ch. 8, which appeared to have earned up to 25 percent of viewership share Friday afternoon, and local cable TV news channel Bay News 9, which was ranked first among all TV stations at noon Friday.
"I have 120 people who put themselves at risk ... to come here and work (during the storm), and that's the real story," said Elliott Wiser, vice president and general manager of Bay News 9. "(But) it's also important to me that people trusted us enough to watch us."
Such conflicts highlight the sometimes awkward jockeying for bragging rights among notoriously competitive TV outlets following big news stories.
And it's not the only Charley-related disagreement: They're also wrestling over who first declared that Charley would not make landfall in the Tampa Bay area.
WFLA is airing promotional ads noting that its VIPIR computer forecasting system predicted Charley's turn last Wednesday. "Of all the computer models out there, VIPIR was the one to predict the turn," said WFLA news director Forrest Carr. "(We) presented it as an opinion."
But others say that doesn't count, since WFLA was emphasizing the Tampa Bay track of the storm, along with other area forecasters, until Friday.
Wiser said Bay News 9 forecaster Alan Winfield predicted the turn definitively Friday morning. Bill Berra, news director at ABC affiliate WFTS-Ch. 28, said chief meteorologist Denis Phillips was the first to tell viewers to disregard projections the storm would strike locally, at noon Friday.
"If (WFLA) saw the turn on Wednesday, why were they telling people to evacuate on Thursday?" Berra said. "I think all the stations did a good job keeping people informed. But if (WFLA) saw it would turn early, they should have said so."
In addition to covering the storm, stations also are organizing relief efforts. Viewers generally were told that aid agencies preferred cash donations, but that's not necessarily what stations are doing.
WFLA owner Media General urged viewers to donate supplies, using company trucks to take the goods to the affected areas. Consumer reporter Victoria Lim was there to document residents' relief at receiving the supplies.
"Everywhere we went, we were the first responders, and people had tears in their eyes when we rolled up," Carr said. "If you want to say that's a self-serving (move), I'll tell you: Shame on you."
WFTS also is collecting supplies for donation to the Red Cross and Salvation Army. But Berra acknowledged that the agencies would rather have money, so they can get the best prices on the most-needed supplies.
"If everybody starts driving their SUV down loaded with water, you've got traffic jams taking police away from other duties," he said. "People are wanting to help. We're trying to channel that in the best way possible.
CBS affiliate WTSP-Ch. 10 - which gave nearly $40,000 to relief agencies from parent company Gannett and viewer donations Wednesday - also plans to take 300 volunteers to Polk County on Saturday for a clean-up effort organized with local emergency relief officials and Habitat for Humanity.
"As a TV station sitting right here on Tampa Bay, we really felt we needed to do something to help (besides give money)," said WTSP vice president and news director Lane Michaelsen. (The St. Petersburg Times and WTSP share news and features under a partnership agreement.)
WTSP's location in an "A" flood zone forced the station into an evacuation Friday that saw it drop off the air twice and broadcast from a low tech public access studio for a while. But Michaelsen couldn't say whether the station will move to higher ground.
"Those are conversations we haven't had yet," he said.
[Last modified August 19, 2004, 01:32:17]
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