Seinfeld vs. News
by January 26, 1998 12:00 am 76 views
With viewers between 18 and 34 years old, reruns of Seinfeld, the NBC sitcom, beat out the two local television newscasts for the 10 p.m. weekday timeslot, according to Nielsen ratings from the November sweeps.
The ratings were: KFSM Channel 5, 5; KHBS/KHOG Channels 29/40, 2; and KPOM/KFAA Channels 24/51 (Seinfeld), 8. The ratings are based on the number of viewers who had their televisions on at that time and include Fort Smith as well as Northwest Arkansas.
KPOM/KFAA stopped airing a local newscast in June 1992.
David Needham, general manager at KFAA in Rogers, says the station has been airing the Seinfeld reruns for three years and they get higher ratings each year.
“I wish I could run it more than once a day,” Needham says. “We’re seeing more and more stations not doing news. The expense is incredible for the station. It was a business decision at the time.”
The local news stations fared better when older viewers were included. When viewers ages 18-49 were polled, KFSM won out with a rating of 8. KHBS/KHOG had a rating of 5, and KPOM/KFAA had a rating of 6.