TV Q&A with Rob Owen

Friday, April 21, 2006

By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about how power outages impact Nielsen ratings, Spanish captions and "The West Wing."

As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

Q: On the night of April 13, cable service in our area was out for a couple of hours (not an unusual occurrence with Adelphia, if there's so much as a shower and a breeze), and that got me wondering if the Nielsen ratings in any way take into account local cable outages or electrical outages. Is the ratings service apprised of the down time? Will Nielsen notice that "Survivor" suddenly had 0 viewers in a certain zip code and investigate? How are these anomalies factored in, if at all?

-- Michal, North Versailles

Rob: According to Anne Elliot of Nielsen Media Research, if a power outage is short and confined to a small area, Nielsen will know if the metered households in the sample are not providing data.

"If the meters in a sample home do not provide usable data, they are considered 'out of tab' (out of the tabulations) and we will investigate why that happened. Because our meters are essentially mini-computers we can tell if it is a power failure. Sometimes it's because someone unplugged the TV set," she said, noting that often happens around Christmas when people rearrange rooms to make space for a Christmas tree. "If only a small number of homes are affected, they are removed from the reporting (or in-tab) sample until the problem is corrected. The homes that are able to provide good data are then used to do so, as long as there are enough to provide statistically reliable data. Our clients can see how many homes are "in-tab" to know the impact. In many cases a note will be inserted into a rating book to explain some of these situations."

For longer or more widespread power outages, Nielsen takes other steps. When hurricanes hit and power is knocked out in a large area, sometimes Nielsen simply won't report ratings from the affected TV market if the sample is no longer statistically significant. Elliott said ratings have yet to be restored in New Orleans since the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Q: I would love to know how you can participate in the Nielsen rating. Is there someone I can write to to let them know that I would love to be one of the families who get to watch TV shows and decide what TV shows I would like to keep on and what TV shows I would like to get rid of?

-- Kelly, Penn Hills

Rob: That's not how it works. Viewers are randomly selected to be Nielsen families; they don't apply.

"Our statistical research group does a good deal of preparatory work and would be quick to say it's not simply random. But for the non-statistician, that term works," Elliot explained. "Basically, the reason we cannot accept volunteers is that to do so would skew the sample."

Q: When will the media realize that we (the viewing public), for the most part, don't care about Tom Cruise and his beliefs? For instance, now an interview on "Prime Time"!!! As if prime time viewing isn't bad enough (consider the much-touted "Deal or No Deal"). I have become re-acquainted with my local library. Thank you, Mr. Carnegie.

-- Marge, Avalon

Rob: But Marge, you're doing the same thing you accuse the networks of: Making an assumption for everyone. The reality is, some people care (otherwise TV shows wouldn't use Cruise and his antics to get ratings), and some do not.

Q: I'm wondering if there is any way to eliminate the Spanish captions that are appearing more often on NBC and MSNBC shows. If they are not needed, they are annoying and often get in the way of the enjoyment of the program by obliterating part of the picture. Is there anything that can be done either through a cable company or in the television itself?

-- Susan, Pittsburgh

Rob: I actually get this question a lot. NBC and MSNBC are not putting Spanish captions on your TV, you are. Someone in your home inadvertently hit a button that turned on the captions in Spanish.

Some people do something similar and hit the SAP (second audio program) button and hear dialogue in Spanish.

In either case, consult the instruction manual that came with your TV to get rid of the captions.

Q: How is "Sons & Daughters" doing in the ratings? Unlike you, I could never get into the similar "Arrested Development," but "S&D" has gotten better each week.

-- Ken, Pittsburgh

Rob: The ratings for "Sons & Daughters" aren't much better than those for "Arrested Development," so like "AD," I expect "S&D" will be canceled.

Q: Hi, I was wondering if you knew if the Lifetime series "MISSING" has been renewed for a fourth season? Thanks for your help.

-- Jenna, North Carolina

Rob: According to a network publicist, not yet. That makes me think that unless the new programming strategy Lifetime will roll out this summer fails, new episodes of "MISSING" will remain, uh, missing from the Lifetime schedule.

Q: How is it that they can cancel a new show after one week? I feel that one or two weeks of viewing is not enough time for a new show. I think that each new show should at least get a month's air time to decide whether people like the show or not.

-- Kelly, Penn Hills

Rob: "They," the networks, can cancel a show anytime they want because they are the ones paying for its production. It's their ball; they have the right to take it and go home. Usually when they do that after one episode, the network executives have seen future episodes and know that the series isn't going to get better. They're also privy to all the behind-the-scenes turmoil and sometimes decide it's wiser to cut and run. Is it fair? No, but business decisions are often unfair.

Q: When is KDKA weather woman Rebecca Hower having her child, and is that her second child?

-- Dale, Saxonburg

Rob: Rebecca is due in July, KDKA news director John Verrilli said. It will be her second child.

Jon Burnett will fill in on the morning show, and freelancer Dennis Bowman will be filling in on the weekends.

Q: Last night "Girlfriends" on UPN aired a really good episode that had nothing to do with the actual show. Why did that happen, and how could that show be aired as a regular sitcom? We liked the show and thought it was something fresh and new compared to all the other new boring sitcoms on TV.

-- Sharon, Fairmont

Rob: I have to wonder if Sharon is related to one of the stars of the proposed "Girlfriends" spin-off that aired Monday night as a back-door pilot. The CW will announce its schedule next month and whether "Girlfriends" or its proposed spin-off will be part of that schedule.

Q: Do you think NBC will come up with a new program to replace "The West Wing" that will have Jimmy Smits in it as the new president? He sure has breathed new life into the show.

-- Fred, Butler

Rob: Alas, no. The ratings for "West Wing" are terrible. It will not be back after this year in any form.

Q: This past week's episode of the "West Wing" was very touching but left me with a question: Why not bring back Sam (Rob Lowe) for the death of Leo? I saw in the previews that he is coming back Sunday, but with his time and friendship with Leo I find it odd that he would not be there for the funeral. The only reason I can think of is that the producers feel that Rob Lowe is still a "big star" and his return would overshadow the actual death of John Spencer.

-- Mike Dillon, Pittsburgh

Rob: I think that could be part of it, but I also think there's a money issue. They could only get Lowe for so many episodes, and to have him in the Leo episode would either necessitate robbing Leo of the spotlight or wasting one of Lowe's limited appearances.

Q: I was wondering if anyone noticed on the KDKA noon news on Monday that when they reported on the Duke University lacrosse team, they had the Duquesne University logo on the screen instead of the Duke University logo. I was just curious because I did not see the beginning of the story, which led me to believe that Duquesne's team was now going to be undergoing an investigation. A big mistake by the graphics department at KDKA.

-- Ryan, Pittsburgh

Rob: I didn't see it myself, but I've heard about it from others. KDKA news director John Verrilli did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Q: My problem with television is this: So many stations, including the national ones, feel that people must have an automatic link to their computers when it comes to news stories that are aired. Many only give partial information and leave me wanting more. I only have access to a computer at rare times (library, friend's homes and so on), and it frustrates the heck out of me when I want to hear the full details of a story and I am being told, "You can get the whole story on our Web site at blah-blah-blah-dot-com."

WPXI is REALLY bad about this (I guess because that's the station I seem to see the most often), but even "NBC Nightly News" and other channels have fallen into this ... well, lazy kind of reporting. It's almost as though they don't really want you to know the whole story! So here I am, going around knowing only PART of the story on a nightly basis, and having to read my papers for the rest of the story (thank goodness for them, still, but they are also getting lazy in this department ... check our Web site for more information)! Isn't there some way, other than watching a constant CNN or Headline News (which won't tell me the local stuff, darn them), that I can get "the whole story" on my nightly news without having a computer?

-- Marge, Weirton, W.Va.

Rob: What you're reading is an online-only column, and the reason for that is simple: Space availability. In print, it's finite. On the Web, it's nearly infinite.

The reality is more information is migrating to the Web, whether it originates on TV or in newspapers. People have to get on board or be left behind.

But in my experience, I generally don't see TV stations not giving the news and sending viewers to the Web. There may be features and additional information online, but not the primary details of hard news stories you truly need.

"It's a growing part of the information distribution network of a lot of media outlets and the reach [of the Internet] has become such that it's bad business for us not to push content to the Web," said WPXI news director Corrie Harding. "I don't have any sense we're leaving any information out of what we're doing. It's including more information on our Web site. The luxury of the Web site is if we only have two minutes on TV, we can put extended interviews or video on the Web. I realize it's a challenge for folks who don't have home access to the Web, but it's one of those things a lot of people do, and we have to be able to serve those people as well."

Q: I wrote before concerning A&E and the "Horatio Hornblower" series. Is A&E going to continue ignoring quality shows and keep giving us reruns and reality shows? I, like many others, am hoping for new "Hornblower" episodes.

-- Bob, Butler

Rob: A&E is no longer producing any "Hornblower" films. However, "MI-5," its British spy import, will return in the third quarter of 2006.

Q: Is the actor who played Ray Luca on "Crime Story" still alive? I think his name is Anthony Dennison.

-- George, Taneytown, Md.

Rob: Tony Denison is very much alive and was seen on "The Closer" last season.

First published on April 21, 2006 at 12:00 am