In the hard-fought television news arena, KCCI has been Central Iowa’s ratings leader for years, dominating the market in every category.

But its closest competitor, WHO-TV, is gearing up to mount a serious challenge over the next year that it hopes will begin to tip the scales in the lopsided rivalry.

“There is no question that KCCI has dominated this market for at least a decade,” said Jim Boyer, president and general manager of WHO-TV. “But we are finally done with the changes we’ve had to make, and we now have the core team we’ve always wanted. We are finally ready to make a run, and the next year is going to be very telling.”

One of the big changes Boyer points to is the addition of Erin Kiernan as co-anchor of the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts with senior anchor John Bachman. Kiernan was KCCI’s weekend anchor and was being groomed to become the station’s co-anchor for its main newscasts. She left the station a year ago to join WHO, but her old KCCI contract prevented her from appearing on the air until this month.

“She’s only been on the air for a few weeks, but there is real energy on our newscasts,” Boyer said. “We felt she would do really well, and we thought some KCCI viewers might follow her over.”

But WHO has a long way to go if it hopes to catch KCCI.

According to a May 2006 Nielsen Media Research report, KCCI swept the Monday through Friday newscast ratings and overtook WHO’s morning newscast after finishing just behind it last year. KCCI also received the highest ratings of any station in the country’s top 100 television markets in the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic.

“We are one of the most dominant stations in America,” said Mike Cunningham, creative services director for KCCI. “And we have a very loyal viewership.”

Paul Fredericksen, president and general manager of KCCI, said the May ratings period is the “Super Bowl” for television stations.

“By the July ratings book, the networks are in reruns and viewing habits overall are much lower,” he said. “And the November ratings won’t come back until after the Christmas advertising is sold. So the May ratings are what the rest of the year is based on. You want to win them all, but May has the most profound effect.”

Higher ratings, of course, mean higher advertising rates, or what it costs to purchase commercial time on a station. Boyer said though it isn’t always true, generally, the greater the ratings, the higher the rates.

“This is why stations pay so much attention to these ratings,” he said. “This is how we pay our bills.”

Boyer said one of the factors that led to KCCI’s dominance of the market is the stability the station has had over the years.

“Prior to my arrival, WHO had five news directors and three general managers in the last 10 years,” he said. “That is a tremendous amount of turmoil and changes in direction.”

Dave Busiek, news director for KCCI, said the station’s staff has remained remarkably stable over the years, and viewers have grown comfortable with the people they see on the air.

“People have grown to trust us because we provide a quality product every night, and have for many years,” he said. “People really don’t like change very much here in Iowa, and that rings true with the viewing audience.”

Boyer agrees, saying WHO has a lot of work to do to change many people’s perceptions of the station.

“My first job when I came here was to set a course and stick with it,” he said. “We had to improve the newscast and convince people to give us a shot and take another look at us.”

Boyer said because of KCCI’s perception as the dominant station in the Des Moines market, WHO can’t just be on par with its competitor; it has to be better.

“We have to be better on a consistent basis,” he said. “That is the only way we can get people to come over to us.”

Fredericksen said everyone at his station always tries to keep an eye on the competition.

“I have three televisions in my home and in my office,” he said. “We are very aware of what they are doing. We want to win, and every day to us is a ratings day.”

There is little he can do to affect his competition, Boyer said, so he doesn’t pay a lot of attention to KCCI.

“We have to pay attention to what we do,” he said. “We have to forget about them and concentrate on our newscast.”

And Boyer thinks his newscasts have definitely improved, which he said is evident by looking at the station’s recent awards. The Radio and Television News Directors Association awarded the station four Edward R. Murrow Awards, and the Northwest Broadcast News Association also recognized WHO with four awards.

But Fredericksen said those awards are for single newscasts, and are chosen by committees made up of people who live outside the market.

“We love awards and in no way are trying to say they aren’t nice to have, and we’ve had our share,” he said. “But I’d trade them any day of the week for ratings like we have, and I know WHO would too. Ratings are voted on by our viewers, and that is what you want to win.”

The Des Moines market’s television ratings are recorded by the diary method instead of using meters, which are more expensive and usually reserved for more populous area. With diaries, viewers must keep a daily written account of what they watch each day, which can be less accurate that the meter method, which electronically registers what a viewer is watching. Boyer said in a meter market, KCCI’s lead most likely wouldn’t be as large, and Nielsen has announced a plan to switch to electric meters in all markets over the next five years.

“A lot of times, people forget to fill them out until the end of the week, and then when they think ‘I know I watched news that night’ they will just assume they watched KCCI because that is the dominant station,” Boyer said. “Historically, this method favors the dominant station.”

Boyer said he isn’t suggesting KCCI isn’t ahead in the ratings. He is simply saying that the lead might narrow if the ratings were more precise.

“We’ve been number one when CBS was on top, and we’ve been number one when they’ve been in the dumps,” Fredericksen said. “We have a loyal base of viewers and we are confident that in the future we will remain on top.”

Fredericksen said a good example was when “ER” was incredibly popular on NBC. The show would dominate the 9 p.m. time slot, he said, but then viewers would switch channels to watch KCCI’s news.

“That speaks volumes,” he said.

Though he doesn’t think WHO will overtake the competition any time soon, Boyer believes this next year will be the beginning of his station’s revival, with the ultimate goal being to have the top-rated newscast.

“It is harder because, in most markets, there are three channels competing together, and here, KCCI only has to deal with one competitor,” he said. “But I truly feel we have the team in place and the momentum on our side. The next year will tell us a lot about whether we can catch KCCI.”

Des Moines’ own weather channel

KCCI is set to launch a new 24-hour all-weather channel on July 24.

To be aired on digital Channel 8.2, Mediacom Channel 247 and on the station’s Web site, the new station will feature both local and national meteorologists as well as a news ticker, weather radar and constant updates throughout the day.

Mike Cunningham, KCCI creative services director, said the new service, called Weather Now, will change the way people in the state get their forecast information.

“Instead of waiting, you will now be able to turn on your TV or go to your computer 24/7 and get exact weather information for any part of the state whenever you want it,” he said.

Dave Busiek, KCCI’s news director, said the new channel will coincide with the unveiling of the station’s new radar system.

“Our weather coverage is already outstanding,” Busiek said. “This just takes it to the next level.”

Cunningham said the new venture gives the station an added tool during severe weather coverage and will allow it to direct viewers to Weather Now for more detailed coverage without significantly interrupting regular programming.

Jim Boyer, president and general manager of WHO-TV, said his station has no plans to launch a similar station right now due to the expense of such a project. But he said the station will definitely do it in the future.

-Jason Hancock