It was close, but the Talent-McCaskill debate finished last, on average, in the Kansas City TV ratings from last Sunday, when compared with the other local over-the-air major network affiliates.
The pair debated for the first 45 minutes. Here are the rating averages for all four local stations from 9:00 to 9:45 A.M.:
Meet The Press, KSHB: 2.93
Chris Matthews/This Week, KMBC: 3.54
Sunday Morning/Chiefs Insider, KCTV: 3.63
Fox 4 Sunday Morning, WDAF: 3.98
Each rating point is worth about 9,000 households, give or take, based on old projections that may have changed since I was a TV guy. That means about 27,000 households watched part of the debate.
(The Chiefs game, by the way, averaged almost a 31 rating: ten times as many viewers as the debate. Interestingly, though, the first 15 minutes of KCTV's Chiefs Insider lost to the last 15 minutes of the debate.)
To be fair: the Missouri debate was most important to, let's face it, Missourians. The Kansas half of the audience may have tuned out but was still metered for the debate. The shows on the other stations may have had appeal on both sides of the state line.
That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
Posted by Dave Helling
NEEDS MORE ADVERTISING.
LET PEOPLE KNOW WHEN THE DEBATES WILL BE HELD AND WHERE THEY CAN BE VIEWED.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS DEMOCRACY????
Posted by: Engawyer | October 14, 2006 at 04:08 PM