Question for TV news folks ...

I did not know that. Always wondered why local stations suddenly launched all these "investigations" in February. Side note - I know local news gets a lot of crud, but Tegna's "Big Story" shows where they showcase one story in a half-hour block (the names are different in each market) are really quite good. Kind of like Nightline, but with viewer feedback instead of an interview.

 

Under the old system stations got much deeper, more complete and accurate viewership numbers for February, May and November. (July too, but no one cared about July.) Since those numbers were the most complete and theoretically accurate measure of viewership, those were used to set ad rates. As a result, stations would through every resource we had into bumping up those numbers. Like, we had a full investigative team that worked year 'round producing stories that would air almost exclusively in those months. Also, no employees could take vacation in those months -- all hands had to be on deck.

For years now bigger markets have been fully metered, so the February, May and November sweeps periods are essentially obsolete. Some stations still put a focus on them but there's literally no reason -- we get ratings breakdowns by the time we get to work the next morning.

Not sure what the situation is in the really small markets these days.

 

Not all of us work daily news beats anymore. Take it for what it is and how it was meant: a widely used — and very, I think — apropos sentiment.

The SB takes place once a year and has become a major social focus here and elsewhere. LA car chases are so common and unless OJ is involved so boring and predictable that if those become major social foci here, I'll move to Portugal.

 

When I see a car chase on TV, I’m reminded of “Cops,” one episode in particular. A teen boy and girl were driving a truck (that I think they stole) leading the cops on a high-speed chase. The kids blew through an intersection, right into the path of a semi coming from the left. That fucking truck was hit so hard, it looked like a bomb went off.

My main point is, 99 percent of the time, car chases are a waste of time because you can arrest that person at home when they get tired of running. And the potential for bystander injury or death isn’t worth the marginal benefit in capturing the driver RIGHT NOW.

Of course, my dad ran from the cops so much on the gravel roads where he grew up, that it was either get on the train for Great Lakes basic training — or go to jail.

He became a gunner’s mate on the USS Callahan.

 

I lame Katy Tur's parents...Zoey Tur
"Los Angeles News Service was the first to use an AStar helicopter in a major city to cover breaking news,[2] and the first to televise a high-speed police chase.[6] Tur's other noteworthy reporting included the attack on Reginald Denny during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and finding the crash site of Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771.[7] Tur was also the first to broadcast O.J. Simpson's slow-speed chase on June 17, 1994.[8][9]"

 

Woman Is Killed When Police Car Crashes Into Hers During a Chase

By Michael Wilson

• Dec. 16, 2004

A nurse from Manhattan was killed Tuesday night when a police car chasing a robbery suspect broadsided her car at an intersection in Queens, the police said yesterday.

The woman, identified as Marie Fares, 55, was riding in the front passenger seat of a car driven by Roger Fares Jr., 18, her son. He suffered minor injuries and was to be released from Elmhurst Hospital Center, hospital officials said. His father, Dr. Roger Fares, 69, who was in the back seat, suffered head injuries and was also at Elmhurst Hospital Center. He had not fully regained consciousness yesterday and did not understand that his wife was dead, according to Raymond Fares, his brother.

Moments before the accident, a robbery had been reported at a cigar shop on Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, and a description of the getaway car was broadcast over the police radio, the police said. Officers spotted a vehicle matching the description shortly after 11 p.m., at Ditmars and 19th Street, and pursued it with their lights and sirens on, the police said.

The suspect's vehicle went east on 22nd Road, speeding through a stop sign at 21st Street, the police said. The police car followed, striking the passenger side of the Fares's car as it headed south through the intersection, the police said.

It was unclear whether the police car had stopped at the stop sign, the police said. There is no stop sign for traffic on 21st Street. The police said they were investigating whether any procedures had been violated.

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The police said officers later caught the suspect, whose name was not released yesterday, when he struck a parked car at 72nd Street and 25th Avenue in East Elmhurst.