Yawn!
Another sweep, another battery of sensational sweep stories, right?
Not exactly.
All-in-all, this was a boring sweep for special stories. Channel 7 didn't have as many excellent reports as I've come to expect, Channel 2 relied on Pam Zekman drawing her reports out several days and Channel 9's investigative unit was absent.

Channel 5, on the other hand, kicked everyone's ass. They did 29 stories during the 28 day sweep. How's that possible? They doubled-up on 5 days, earning an A+ for effort and a B+ for achievement (seriously--Google???).

The usual criteria for identifying a sweeps story is to see what feature-length story is highly promoted that night, or in the case of Channel 7 & 9, which story is given "Special Segment" or "Cover Story" status. I decided to be very liberal this time, since sometimes the criteria was foggy (is a Phil Vittel review really worthy here? I'm not sure) and the aforementioned Channel 5 doubled-up some nights. Damn that was good.

During the 28-day November 2003 sweep, I identified 107 "special segments" (compared to 110 in May). Overall, I'd say the quality was average. The sweeps for dummies books wasn't as evident as May, but there was still some duplication / recycling, such as:

- Channel 2's Antonio Mora telling us in 2 parts Oct. 30-31 how to find registered sex offenders while Channel 7's Chuck Goudie tells us in 2 parts Nov. 4-5 that the records on those sex offenders are often inaccurate. Bummer.
- Channel 5's Nesita Kwan reported on Oct. 31 about new arousal drugs for men & women then Channel 2's Mary Ann Childers had some arousal drug options for older women on Nov. 25.
- Channel 9's Elyce Glink reported Nov. 3 on the various discount prescription drug programs out there the Channel 5's Phil Rogers on Nov. 12 told you how to get discounts thru mail order drugs.
- Channel 9's Jackie Bange told you on Nov. 4 about professionals you can hire to help you get organized and three days later Channel 7's Janet Davies told you again.
- Channel 7's Kathy Brock reported on Oct 30 about the danger of strangulation by mini-blinds, which is an old story that is still with us (unfortunately).
- Channel 5's Kim Vatis on Nov 25 reported on the health records of 40 Chicago restaurants. That's Pam Zekman's turf.
- Channel 2's Zekman, meanwhile, milked her "Time Killers" report about City Transportation Department workers who weren't working for 3 segments! Then she milked her "Beating the System: DUI" report for 5 segments! Wow!
- Channel 2's Mary Ann Childers talked about fake tits on Nov 18. That sentence just makes me smile.

Kicking off the sweep, Channel 32 heralded a really cool new segment by Jack Conaty called "Reality Check" in which he would dissect the campaign commercial of a state candidate and show how true or false the claims are. First up was Blair Hull, whose commercial was largely true but glossed a few things. The news here is that the segment seems to have been killed. I'd like to know why? Anyone at 32 wanna spill the beans to me? Send an email. Hey, spill them to Bob Feder even, but let's get the story out--if there is one. I'm guessing it is something like this: Channel 32's General Manager gets a call from a big-ranking and royally pissed Democratic Party member who threatens to shut the station out of the very lucrative election-time political money. Probably makes more threats too. Like having one of the loyalists carve giant X's into their studio or something. Channel 32's GM blinks big-time and orders the segment killed.

Just a theory.

As far as the boring sweep stories, this may be a byproduct of the impending change in Chicago's TV ratings system. Currently Nielsen Media Research measures Household viewing every day and measures viewing by people every rating sweep. Starting in June 2004, Nielsen will start measuring Households & people every day after they introduce People Meters to Chicago. Sweeps then become meaningless on a local level, and thus stunting the newscast with sensational sweeps stories becomes a thing of the past.

I believe that we will still see these special reports, but they will be concentrated on the nights in which the network lead-in is strongest, so the local stations can take advantage and keep a hold of the larger than usual viewership. In other words, Channel 5 will be running sweep-style stories every Thursday night for sure while Channel 2 will use the CSI nights for their big stories, etc. Chicago TV News will change. It should be interesting.

Here's a recap, organized by station & (in my opinion) relevance. A complete list in Excel format can be downloaded here:

CHANNEL 2
Excellent (9): Pam Zekman's 3 reports about city workers punching in but not working & 5 reports about people who beat the system driving DUI, Sylvia Gomez reporting the rising rate of rapes in the suburbs.
Good Info (2): Antonio Mora on finding registered sex offenders & how they are being supervised.
Interesting (4): Mary Ann Childers on the Seasonale birth control pills, Vince Gerasole on low-flow toilets, Steve Baskerville on Wind Power in the Chicago area & Chicago's winters.
What-ever! (7): Bill Zwecker on CBS at 75, Jon Duncanson on the Elizabeth Smart Story (movie tie-in), Duncanson & Gomez on how to keep your man from wandering, Gomez on a dieting by the color of your food, Childers on Silicone breast implants, South beach Diet craze & Viagra-type drugs for older women.

CHANNEL 5
Excellent (8): Dave Savini on crappy Harvey PD officers & Bad food served in schools to save money & kids blacking out for fun & an update on the CFD EMT cheating scam, Lisa Parker on the problems with reissued license plates with bad old records & fires in hospital operating rooms, Phil Rogers on the possibility of a Gacy accomplice, Renee Ferguson on the vulture-like tactics of board-up companies.
Good Info (7): Don Lemon on unlicensed cabs prowling O'Hare, Ferguson on Crappy Metra stations, Mary Ann Ahern on fire safety in dorms, Rogers on getting medication thru the mail, Savini on an unsolved California homicide, Parker on big money class action lawsuits, Kim Vatis on the health records of 40 eateries.
Interesting (5): Allison Rosati on healthy food delivery companies, Nesita Kwan on the top 5 hot spots where germs are, Parker on blind spots on bigger cars, Anna Davlantes on tips to avoid having car ticketed, Ahern on cheating in school.
What-ever! (9): Kwan on arousal drugs, Amy Jacobson on sponsored weddings, Davlantes on real life Jessica Lynch rescuers (movie tie-in) & where to find cheap stuff, Dick Johnson on the search engine Google (soon to have IPO, BTW), Anita Padilla on comparing discount stores, Rob Elgas with a 2 part Queer Eye for the Chicago guy & stopping popup ads online.

CHANNEL 7
Excellent (3): Chuck Goudie 2 part report on the flawed records kept on sex offenders, Ben Bradley on the poor service at Cook County run pharmacies.
Good Info (4): Alan Krashesky on College being expensive, Karen Jordan on celebrity obsession, Ron Magers on a Chicago Cold Case being investigated, Charles Thomas on the options ex-cons have after prison.
Interesting (8): Kathy Brock on the danger of mini blind cords, Sylvia Perez on gastric bypass for teens & a martial arts treatment for back pain, Sarah Schulte on cell phone service quality, John Garcia on marketing students to colleges, Kevin Roy on how unreal reality TV is, Rob Johnson on downloading free music, Linda Yu on how retailers are reacting to fatter Americans.
What-ever! (6): Janet Davies on home accessories & getting organized & cheap window treatments & cleaning your home, Leah Hope in do pets have emotions, Perez on spa medicine.

CHANNEL 9
Excellent (0)
Good Info (4): Dina Bair on insurance problems with gastric bypass operations, Elyce Glink on discount drug programs, Larry Potash on growth hormones, Robin Baumgarten on driving drowsy.
Interesting (6): Bair on birthing at home, Glink on what kind of house 220k buys you, Julie Unruh on picture phone privacy issues & places to have good clean fun, Julian Crews on place where kids learn to be DJs, Roseanne Tellez on managing your time
What-ever! (6): Jackie Bange on getting organized, Juan Carlos Fanjul on reforming prostitutes religiously, Allison Payne interviews Steve Harvey twice!, Phil Vittel on Carlucci's in Downer's Grove, Tom Skilling profiles some guy who lives on the Mississippi.

CHANNEL 32
Excellent (4): Jack Conaty dissects Blair Hull campaign commercial, Larry Yellen on Cook County Prosecutors office video confessions & a condo building mortgage scam, Mark Suppelsa on inaccurate gas pumps, Danielle Serino on the problems with moving yourself.
Good Info (7): Suppelsa on moms who catch online pedophiles & public school fees for extra-curriculars, Patrick Elwood on Cook County Jail conditions, Saxenmeyer on a woman who hired a hitman to kill her husband & the laptop theft epidemic, Serino on stores selling contact lenses without prescriptions & the secrets of the repo man.
Interesting (4): Suppelsa on anti-Kobe t-shirts ordered by Eagle County prosecutors, Darlene Hill on brides calling off weddings, Maragret Shortridge on pet dental care, Saxenmeyer on arranged marriages.
What-ever! (3): Serino on high-tech sewing machines, Walter Jacobson visits Scottie Pippen at home, Fox Focus on teaching women about football.

Again on the lowest-rated night for news, Saturday, no station ran special reports. Channel 7 skipped some Mondays due to late news after football. Channel 9 & 32 skipped some Sundays. Also, Channel 32 did some ratings manipulation by running ˝ hour shows on some nights, followed by 1/2 hour "special reports".
On Halloween Friday, they did ˝ hour on the County Building Fire & Friday Nov 21 they did ˝ hour on the Michael Jackson case. On Thursday Nov. 6 they did a ˝ hour of mostly recycled health reports from Margaret Shortridge and on Thursday Nov 13 they did a 1/2 hour of recycled Bottom Line reports from Danielle Serino. I have to say that the Nov 13 show was without a doubt the greatest 1/2 hour that Channel 32 news has done in a long time. I say that with total bias, no sarcasm and only as touch of seriousness. A half hour of Danielle Serino? Mmmmmm. My kinda show. Yes, I did tape it. I especially enjoyed the ironic contrast of the old consumer reporter (Robin Robinson) anchoring with the young, up-and-coming consumer reporter. My only disappointment was that Danielle didn't turn to Robin and ask, "Is it true that if I kill you, I become you?"