TV Worth Blogging
by David Thiel, Program Director for WILL-TV
An insider's view of public television programming and the issues that help determine what and how you watch
Controversial Reverend to Meet Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers, whose long television career has included many programs about matters of faith, has landed the first broadcast interview with Reverend Jeremiah Wright since the latter's controversial comments and relationship with Illinois Senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama came to light. Wright, who retired in early 2008 as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Senator Obama is a member, will be a guest on this Friday's Bill Moyers' Journal, airing on WILL-TV at 8:00 pm Central Time. It's another example of how newsmakers trust public television to engage in thoughtful, substantive conversation.
More Ratings Goodness for WILL-TV
Our copy of the February 2008 Nielsen ratings book arrived last week, showing strong audience growth at a time when most television channels are in decline. Each week an average of 129,000 households tuned in to WILL-TV at least once. That's up 9% from the same time last year and represents our largest audience for the February "sweeps" period since 2001. In prime-time, an average of 78,000 households watched each week.
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"10 Sisters" Rock Memphis, Spook Erie
When Tim Hartin and Alison Davis Wood's documentary 10 Sisters: A True Story debuted on WILL-TV in February 2007, it was a huge hit with a Nielsen rating of 8.5. (A rating point is equal to one percent of the total potential audience in a given television market. In the 500-channel TV universe of today, an 8.5 rating is very, very good.)
What's even more surprising about 10 Sisters is how well this Central Illinois story travels now that it's airing on public TV stations across the country. It had Memphis all shook up when it recently aired on WKNO-TV to the tune of a 2.5 rating. While that's a solid performance, it was downright scary in Erie, Pennsylvania when the sisters scored a 4.9 rating for WQLN-TV!
Congratulations to Tim, Alison and the cast and crew of 10 Sisters: A True Story!
Your Opera House of the Air
One of the things that continues to distinguish public television even in the 500-channel universe is our ongoing commitment to fine arts programming. While Bravo and A&E have ceded the field in favor of endless reality TV, WILL-TV regularly takes Central Illinois viewers to Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera. This Thursday at 7:00 pm, you can enjoy a live performance of "Madama Butterfly" by the New York City Opera, as James Valenti and Shu-Ying Li sing Puccini's tragic tale of culture clash. But that's only a taste of what opera buffs can expect in the months to come.
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The New "Doctor Who" Makes a House Call This Sunday
For months, fans of the long-running British adventure series Doctor Who have been asking me, "When is the new Doctor coming?"
The Doctor, you see, is an alien Time Lord with the ability to "regenerate" into a new physical appearance each time he faces imminent death. (This also proves to be convenient for the show's producers whenever their lead actor moves on to other work.) Since the show premiered in 1963, ten actors have played the part, the latest being David Tennant (photo, left). WILL's viewers will be familiar with him from his star turn as Casanova on Masterpiece Theatre, and "Harry Potter" followers will recognize him as the villainous Barty Crouch, Jr. from the film adaptation of The Goblet of Fire.
And this Sunday at 6:00 pm, his Doctor arrives on WILL-TV, when we present a special episode entitled "The Christmas Invasion" as part of our March fundraiser!
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Letters, We Get Letters
The Monday morning after a pledge drive weekend often means that there'll be an e-mail waiting for me reading something like this:
Every Saturday I wait patiently until 7 p.m. so I can watch Antiques Road Show and then As Time Goes By which happens to be my favorite Brit Com. I also really like Waiting for God. You can imagine my disappointment when I tuned in to find all my shows had been preempted once again by one of your constant bids for money. It seems to me you could find other ways to achieve your goals without hounding people to death on TV. I am an avid watcher of WILL and would be more than happy to donate, but your mindless jabbering (is) a huge turn off. Tonight, your programming not only stunk, but it was an insult to an intelligent person's intelligence.
