Let's take a few more glances at the local results of the November sweeps period - a few things that space precluded looking at yesterday.
- KTVX reclaimed first place in the sign-on to sign-off ratings in both services, displacing KSL.(These numbers are the averages of each station's numbers for every show it broadcasts.)
According to Nielsen, KTVX was first with a 7 rating and a 22 share; KSL second with a 6/20; KUTV third with a 6/19; KSTU fourth with a 4/13 and KXIV fifth with a 1/3.
According to Arbitron, it was KTVX 6/21; KSL 5/20; KUTV 5/18; KSTU 4/14; and KXIV 1/4.
- The above graph is certainly not comprehensive - it's a narrow look at five of the more popular television shows in Utah.
But it's interesting, nonetheless.
Not surprisingly, KSTU's "The Simpsons" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" do considerably better among young viewers than does "60 Minutes." But it may come as a bit of a surprise that BYU football doesn't do any better among the younger viewers.
Jazz games rate higher but have a lower share - because BYU football games were played on Saturday afternoon when there are fewer people watching television.
The broad appeal of "The Simpsons" is also evident. KSTU will begin showing "Simpsons" reruns in the fall of 1994 at either 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. - a fact that has to be somewhat disconcerting to Ch. 13's competitors.
- "Entertainment Tonight" faded badly for KUTV-Ch. 2 at 6:30 p.m. in the Arbitron book - down from a 10 rating in November 1991 to a 7 this November. It held steady at 10 in the Nielsen book.
- KSL's 6:30 p.m. news held steady in Arbitron but dropped a couple of points in Nielsen.
- KTVX's "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy" both rebounded nicely in both books - up 4 and 2 ratings points, respectively, in Arbitron and up 2 and 3 points, respectively, in Nielsen.
Both handily win their 6 and 6:30 p.m. time slots.
- KSTU, however, pulls in some good numbers and young demographics with "Full House" and "The Golden Girls" at 6 and 6:30 p.m.
- "Designing Women" is a major disappointment for KSL-Ch. 5 at 4 p.m., doing no better than 2 rating in both books.
- "Murphy Brown" isn't exactly what KSL had hoped for at 5 p.m. either, but Ch. 5 is hoping it can build on the 4 and 5 ratings the off-network sitcom pulled in.
- After all these years, "M.A.S.H." on Ch. 5 continues to win the post-late news time slot, albeit by a considerably smaller margin than it used to.
"Night Court" (Ch. 4) has moved into an extremely close second in Nielsen, but "M.A.S.H." holds a larger lead in Arbitron.
Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" isn't doing much better than Johnny Car-son's "Tonight" did in Utah - it's still in fourth place (behind KSL, KTVX and KSTU.) Leno's demographics are somewhat better than Carson used to be - meaning he draws more younger viewers.
(With these results, do you think KSL would ever air a possible CBS David Letterman show at 10:35? Not on your life. And Ch. 5 would have plenty of justification for such a decision.)
- Both "SportsBeat Saturday" and "SportsBeat Sunday" draw very nice ratings for KSL.
- "The Movie Show" on KSL pulled a 5 rating in Nielsen and a 3 in Arbitron on Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. - not a bad start for the locally produced program.
- All the broadcast networks have struggled mightily on Saturday nights, and the local ratings offer a bit of evidence as to why.
Home Box Office got a 2 rating and a 13 share locally, according to Arbitron.
What makes that so astounding is that only a small percentage of homes in the Salt Lake market subscribe to HBO.
`HOME' IS A GONER: ABC has canceled the "Home" show, which has gone through several incarnations since it first appeared on the network.
The word is that Gary Collins, Sarah Purcell and the rest of the crew will be looking for jobs after April 9.
HOW WEIRD: Joey Buttafuoco, the man whom Amy Fisher was in love with in the infamous "Long Island Lolita" case - the subject of three TV movies - once appeared on the CBS soap opera "As the World Turns" as "Thug No. 2."
The only thing weirder than this is that CBS learned of Buttafuoco's role only when soap fans called and told them.
I BEG TO DIFFER: Entertainment Weekly magazine has named the cast of "Saturday Night Live" entertainers of the year, saying "In a year brimming with ripe comic targets, their masterful marksmanship has earned a million laughs."
Well, if that's true, there must have been 3 million misfires. "SNL" has always missed more than it hit.
And if this was the best that entertainment had to offer in 1992, then 1992 must have been a pathetic year.
STILL `LIVING': Although creator/star Keenan Ivory Wayans has quit the Fox show "In Living Color," the network assures us that the show will go on.
Wayans was unhappy that he wasn't consulted when Fox scheduled reruns of "Color" for Thursday nights and over continuing run-ins with the network's censors. (And you thought Fox didn't have any censors.)
Anyway, Fox tells us that Matt Wickline and Sandy Frank, two writers from the first season, have returned as consultants for "Color."
And in a settlement with Fox, Wayans agreed not to badmouth the network. How nice.
NBC MULLING CHANGES: NBC would neither confirm nor deny a report in Daily Variety that it would move "Blossom" and "Seinfeld" to Thursday nights.
If that happens, it would come as no surprise. NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield has stated publicly that one of his top priorities is repairing Thursdays, which have fallen apart since the departure of "The Cosby Show."
Variety speculated that "Blossom," which does well with younger viewers, would be moved op-posite "The Simpsons." And that "Seinfeld" would follow "Cheers" - and be in position to replace "Cheers" next season after that popular show retires.
Stay tuned . . .
ABC SWAPPING SHOW: ABC is going to swap nights for "Civil Wars" and "Going to Extremes."
As of Jan. 13, "Extremes" moves to Wednesday for its final three original episodes - then it's off into the limbo of hiatus for at least a few weeks.
And as of Jan. 19, "Wars" moves to Tuesdays, where it aired several times last season without much ratings success.
Neither show is expected to survive into next season.
LETTERMAN IN PRIME TIME? One weird rumor about David Letterman has NBC pondering a Monday-Friday show at 9 p.m. for the talk-show host.
I suppose weirder things have happened, but I can't think when.
This is really getting out of hand.