AZ-TV News Release

[michaelhagerty]

All:
Because interest has been expressed on this board about the progress of AZ-TV, I'm posting the latest news release regarding February sweeps. We thank you for your interest.

---Michael Hagerty

NEWS RELEASE

March 2, 2006
For Immediate Release
Contact: Michael Hagerty, Director of Programming and Promotion 602.224.2271 or [email protected]

AZ-TV SHOWS DRAMATIC GROWTH IN FEBRUARY
6:30 PM Ratings Up By 266%!

Arizona’s own AZ-TV (KAZT, Channel 27, Cable 13) continued its streak as the state’s fastest-growing independent television station in the just-concluded February Nielsen sweeps.

The critically important 5-7PM afternoon/early fringe block of classic comedies (Bewitched, I Love Lucy, Hogan’s Heroes and The Andy Griffith Show) improved on the same time period in the February, 2005 sweeps by 75%, led by a 200% increase at 6PM with Hogan’s Heroes and a 266% boost at 6:30 with The Andy Griffith Show.

“These are huge numbers”, said AZ-TV Director of Programming and Promotion Michael Hagerty. “Not just in terms of the growth, but in terms of competition. Bewitched finished six-tenths of a point behind Malcolm In The Middle on KUTP, and only one point behind Friends on WB6. I Love Lucy is a single ratings point behind King Of The Hill on KUTP. It proves there’s a large and growing audience for the finest classic comedies of all time at the end of the workday.”

In primetime (Monday-Friday, 7-10PM), the first in a series of new programs joining AZ-TV in the coming months, My Wife & Kids (airing at 7 and 7:30 weeknights), continues to build an audience, coming within a point of five primetime shows on other networks (Sue Thomas, FB Eye on i [formerly PAX] ; Get This Party Started, America’s Next Top Model, South Beach and America’s Next Top Model Reunion, all on UPN) making AZ-TV a player in contemporary comedy.

What about the cable networks? In February, more people watched AZ-TV in primetime than watched E!, ABCFamily, Nick At Nite, HBO, Superstation WGN and 17 other cable networks. And AZ-TV’s primetime average was within half a point of ESPN, FX, Discovery, Lifetime, VH1, MTV, FOX Sports Arizona, A&E, The History Channel, Comedy Central, FOX News Channel, CNN, Cartoon Network and 8 other cable nets. “The viewers, with a myriad of choices, are increasingly choosing AZ-TV each evening”, said AZ-TV General Manager Ron Bergamo. “And we’re just getting started. Frasier debuts March 6 at 9 and 9:30, According To Jim begins its life in syndication on AZ-TV in September, and Cheers leaves Channel 12 for AZ-TV next January.”

AZ-TV is Arizona’s only locally-owned television station, part of Londen Media Group, featuring a unique mix of locally-produced programs (The Pat McMahon Show, AM Arizona with Tonya Mock and Lew Rees, Autoshow with Michael Hagerty, Arizona Backroads with Marshall Trimble), regional sports (Mountain West football and basketball, ASU baseball and more) and classic comedies of yesterday and today (I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, Hogan’s Heroes, Bewitched, Frasier and My Wife & Kids).

###

 

[Teddio]

> All:
> Because interest has been expressed on this board about
> the progress of AZ-TV, I'm posting the latest news release
> regarding February sweeps. We thank you for your interest.
>
> ---Michael Hagerty
>

Very impressive Michael! Good work, and thanks for posting your info.

 

[oldiesfan]

> AZ-TV SHOWS DRAMATIC GROWTH IN FEBRUARY
> 6:30 PM Ratings Up By 266%!

Michael--did your Ange ratings spike
even more the last three days of the
sweeps?

BTW, on Monday both KAZT and TV Land
aired the same episode at 6:30pm.

I will say that the program video for Ange
usually looks better on KAZT than on TV Land.

Did Viacom/Paramount/whatever re-do
the tapes you use (I assume then dumped
into your digital playback system) from
a better 35mm print or negative source?

 

[EricStein]

> Did Viacom/Paramount/whatever re-do
> the tapes you use (I assume then dumped
> into your digital playback system) from
> a better 35mm print or negative source?

I'm almost positive that AZ-TV is airing prints that were remastered by Paramount in the mid-to-late '90s, since they received the tapes for the show in '02. TV Land should also have the most recent prints as well, but it could be how Cox delivers the signal to its customers.

My question to Michael: Did CBS/Paramount allow you to air a series of "Barney's Best" this week after the passing of Don Knotts, or did you keep airing them in the order you've been airing them prior to that? I'm only asking because I don't regularly watch the reruns (my apology!).

 

[michaelhagerty]

> > AZ-TV SHOWS DRAMATIC GROWTH IN FEBRUARY
> > 6:30 PM Ratings Up By 266%!
>
> Michael--did your Ange ratings spike
> even more the last three days of the
> sweeps?
>
> BTW, on Monday both KAZT and TV Land
> aired the same episode at 6:30pm.
>
> I will say that the program video for Ange
> usually looks better on KAZT than on TV Land.
>
> Did Viacom/Paramount/whatever re-do
> the tapes you use (I assume then dumped
> into your digital playback system) from
> a better 35mm print or negative source?

Oldiesfan:
There was no discernible bump in Andy's ratings after Don Knotts died. The numbers had been strong and consistent all month.

Funny coincidence about AZ-TV and TV Land airing the same episode simultaneously. While some syndicated shows have schedules controlled by the syndicators, Andy isn't one of them. We did deviate from the original broadcast order this week to make sure that every episode had Barney as either the key element of the story or a very strong presence. My guess is TV Land did the same.

CBS Studios (the new name for what had been Paramount and before that Viacom) has been cleaning up their back catalog and making better digital transfers over the last 5 years. Since TV Land is a subsidiary, you'd expect them to get the best, but, perverse as it seems, it's more likely that they're operating off the same tapes that Nick At Nite had when it started running Andy 15 or more years ago. Our dubs are 4 years old (AZ-TV's fourth anniversary is April 22). Same deal with I Love Lucy, which we took from WB6 in January...we got new digital re-masters that hadn't been done when Belo got its dubs a few years back.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[michaelhagerty]

> My question to Michael: Did CBS/Paramount allow you to air a
> series of "Barney's Best" this week after the passing of Don
> Knotts, or did you keep airing them in the order you've been
> airing them prior to that? I'm only asking because I don't
> regularly watch the reruns (my apology!).

Eric:

While newer syndicated shows (usually those with barter components...a minute or so of national advertising sold by the syndicator) like Sabrina The Teenage Witch, My Wife & Kids, Girlfriends, The Parkers and Frasier have schedules dictated by the syndicator, older ones don't. We schedule Andy, Bewitched, I Love Lucy, Hogan's Heroes, Magnum, P.I. and Perry Mason and can air them however we see fit (there is usually a maximum number of plays per episode). Generally, we go with the original broadcast order.

When Don Knotts died this weekend, I did go back into the system and replace three episodes scheduled for this week where Barney either didn't appear or was not key to the plot with ones where Barney was a major presence. The other two days were already Barney episodes.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[oldiesfan]

> CBS Studios (the new name for what had been Paramount
> and before that Viacom) has been cleaning up their
> back catalog and making better digital transfers
> over the last 5 years.

Maybe you can ask them for new dubs of Hogan's Heroes
as most episodes look pretty grungy, even though they
are from 35mm film transferred to tape--but probably
done years ago as they all seem to have the 1990s blue
Viacom tag (as opposed to the 2000s Paramount logo).

A few episodes even have end credits culled from a 16mm
reduction print--I guess the original 35mm section was
lost or damaged beyond repair.