The Second Coming

Wow, I haven’t seen anything that has generated blog traffic like the announcement that Claudia Barr will occupy the anchor chair at 3 starting tonight. I’m surprised that some announcement hasn’t been made in the Commercial Appeal about this to drum up interest among viewers. I don’t think I’ve missed seeing it. But then, some of the moves down on the river have been kept under wraps until the last minute. For instance, the announcement of switching Jim Jaggers and Tim Simpson on the 10 o’clock news came the Friday BEFORE the November book started on Monday. I would have thought they’d have geared up for that well prior to the start of the book. Since I don’t have any access to ratings information anymore, I will have to depend on someone out there who has that access to let me know if it made a difference.

As for the Barr move, I think you may see some spikes here or there as word gets out in the community, but then viewers will go back to their usual habits. The reality is, most of the people who really care deeply about this are in the TV business and they don’t get a ratings diary so their vote really doesn’t count.

And one final note, I’ve tried to keep things above board on these posts and for the most part, those who’ve taken time to post a response have kept on the high road as well. Please, let’s keep it that way. If you don’t like this blog, do me a favor and don’t read it. It’s like watching television: If you don’t like what you’re watching, change the channel. If you have a bone to pick with me, I’ve got an email address at the top of the page and you can get a Yahoo account just for blasting me. But on this blog, let’s keep it civil.
Thanks in advance.