Posted on: Thursday, June 17, 2004

'Idol' helps KHON dominate ratings

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

"American Idol," the Fox talent show that put Islanders in redial voting mode through much of the May TV rating period, hurled KHON-2 into an unchallenged No. 1 spot in the advance Nielsen rating figures, which were released Tuesday.

"It affects every portion of this book, from sign-on to sign-off," said Mike Rosenberg, general manager of KITV-4, the ABC affiliate

"Idol" drew a phenomenal 50 rating average on Tuesdays over four weeks, making it fourth among the most-watched TV shows of all time, Rosenberg said.

It follows the finales of "M*A*S*H," which logged a 60.2 rating in 1983, the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger of "Dallas," which pulled a 53.3 rating in 1980, and the "Roots" mini-series, Part VIII, which logged a 51.1 rating in 1977.

With a 47 rating average, the Wednesday showings of "Idol" ranked No. 17 among the all-time best-watched TV shows here, nestled among a host of Super Bowls.

In comparison, NBC's "Frasier" finale drew a 14 rating. The "Friends" finale drew a 22 rating in the same rating period.

At KHON-2, general manager Rick Blangiardi acknowledges that "Idol" was the one show most folks watched, but said that was not necessarily the determining factor for those who tuned in to the Channel 2 newscasts and its No. 1 anchor, Joe Moore.

"In retrospect, we continued to do everything we've been been doing — and quite frankly, there really wasn't a big news story in the rating period," Blangiardi said.

The big news was Jasmine Trias, the Maryknoll High School senior (and now graduate), who inspired local viewers to vote over and over again through her soaring ride to the No. 3 spot on "Idol." She changed the way Hawai'i viewers planned their Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, drawing up to 5 million phone-vote attempts at the height of the competition.

KHON regularly tracked her on the morning, early-evening and late-night news. By the time the contest was down to the top four contestants, even rival stations were doing 6 and 10 p.m. stories on the Mililani singer.

Everything "Idol" had viewers pushing the remotes. Even a Monday night fill-in "Idol" show on the best of the worst contestants — yeah, with star William Hung — drew a sizeable 36 rating.

The result, Rosenberg said, is that "KHON's ratings are all inflated and the rest of the market ratings are deflated."

KHON offers 27 hours of news per week, more than any other affiliate.

KITV managed to hang on to No. 2 for news at 5 and 6 p.m. but was beaten at 10 p.m.

KGMB-9, the CBS affiliate that is a sister station of KHON (both owned by Emmis Communications), was No. 2 for news at 10 p.m.

"We're making solid progress at KGMB-9," Blangiardi said. "We retained a solid position at 10 o'clock, and the Nielsens have a lag effect; I like what they're doing and I'm satisfied with the progress and effort they're making on air. I'd like to see better numbers ... but the numbers do not define the gains being made."

In prime time, KHON led with a 15 rating, followed by KGMB with 9, KHNL with 7 and KITV with 5.

Morning news also was KHON's domain, with the widest viewership (and a 10 rating) from 6:30 to 7 a.m. When NBC, ABC and CBS airs the morning network shows, KHON still led with a 9 rating.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.