Very, very early indications from the November sweeps have the folks at KSL grinning - Ch. 5's 10 p.m. newscast came up with a big victory, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co.
Nielsen has KSL with a 20 rating and a 37 share, up a rating point and three share points over November 1992.And Ch. 5's winning margin over second-place KUTV-Ch. 2 increased even more. Ch. 2 pulled in 13 rating and a 21 share, down 3 rating points and 2 share points from the same period last year.
There had been some talk at KUTV about closing the gap or possibly even overtaking KSL, but Ch. 2 should be more concerned about Ch. 4 than Ch. 5. The November numbers show KTVX-Ch. 4 only 1 rating point and two share points behind KUTV.
(KTVX held steady with a 12 rating and was up two share points to a 23.)
Which would indicate that Ch. 2's strong performance in the May sweeps was indeed largely attributable to NBC's strong prime-time programming, particularly the mega-hyped "Cheers" finale.
As for KSTU-Ch. 13's 9 p.m. newscast, it's showing signs of improvement - up to a 5/9 from a 4/6, and without the benefit of Jazz lead-ins this year.
Again, this is just a bit of early info, but the late-news broadcasts are the most-watched and most important to the stations from an advertising revenue standpoint.
MORE GLOATING: KSL programmers are also gloating at least a bit over the chance to beat your local television editor over the head with some other numbers.
It's no secret that I've been a proponent of KSL moving the "Late Show with David Letterman" from 11:05 p.m. to 10:35 p.m. Sure, I understand that "M.A.S.H." is a winner there, but - selfishly - I'd rather be able to watch Dave a half hour earlier.
So it was with some small degree of satisfaction that KSL could report to me that Letterman did a 4 rating in November locally - about what "The Love Boat" did in the same time slot last year and a point less than Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" got at 10:35 p.m.
And it was with definite glee that KSL reported that that old war horse and longtime post-news time-slot winner "M.A.S.H." actually attracted 19,000 more homes than it did in November 1992.
GLOATING AT FOX: Word is that the big brass from KSL and KSTU were at the same party last Friday when word came that Fox had wrested the NFC football package away from CBS.
And that, while KSTU general manager Steve Carlston was all smiles, the folks from KSL were rather glum.
FOOTBALL FEVER: Much has been made of the fact that Fox billion-dollar-plus contract with the NFL for NFC games is going to cost that network money.
Lots of money. Estimates are, about $150 million a year.
But not only will the NFL's premiere conference - the one with most of the big-market teams - help further establish Fox as a real player in the network game, but Fox is certain to make back a bunch of that change through its owned-stations division.
Fox owns and operates stations in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C. - stations that are the new homes of the Falcons, the Bears, the Cowboys, the Rams, the Giants and the Redskins.
The Washington Post reports that the CBS affiliate in Washington currently pulls in as much as $250,000 a week when it broadcasts the 'Skins - money that will now be going into Fox's pockets.
The only two Fox O&Os that aren't in NFC cities are in Houston and right here in Salt Lake City - and they'll both be making a good deal of money from the advertising for the NFL games they carry.
It's also going to raise the profiles of all 140 Fox affiliates.
FOXY RUMORS: Fox is reportedly considering not continuing in the late-night TV business after the Chevy Chase debacle and giving the 10-11 p.m. time slot back to the local stations.
In which case, KSTU would move "Star Trek: The Next Generation" reruns back to 10 p.m.
BURKE'S BACK: CBS has scheduled the revival of the '60s series "Burke's Law" for Fridays at 8 p.m. beginning Jan. 7.
Gene Barry returns as Amos Burke, the wealthy homicide detective he play from 1963-66 on ABC. He's joined by his son (Peter Barton), a fellow detective who clashes mildly with his father.
(For all you "Young and the Restless" fans out there, this is the reason Barton left that show. Although his character actually died on "The Bold and the Beautiful" . . . but that's a long story.)
I've seen the pilot for "Burke's Law," and it's rather silly in spots but still rather entertaining in a "Murder, She Wrote" sort of way.
NAME DROPPER: KSL radio host Doug Wright, also co-host of KSL-TV's "The Movie Show," complained on the air last week that I've never mentioned his name in the column.
There it was.