Highway to hell: Rerunning a daring 1978 WFAA8 story that got a lot of motors running
09/02/10 03:30 PM
By ED BARK
Longtime WFAA8 investigator Byron Harris remembers taking tons of heat over this gambit. And not just from irate motorists.
In May 1978, Harris and two other WFAA8 staffers decided to test the feasibility of the federally mandated 55 mph highway speed limit by driving three cars abreast on I-30 from Dallas to Fort Worth. They stayed at 55 mph throughout, prompting "surprisingly violent" reactions from some drivers, Harris says in the piece (which is replayed below after being recently posted on youtube). "They consider it their right to break the law."
One motorist came close to wiping out while swerving to the shoulder of the road in an effort to get ahead of the WFAA8 pack. Drivers on CB radios can be heard voicing their extreme displeasure.
The station captured the action with two cameras while Chopper 8 stayed in communication from overhead to warn of any emergency vehicles trying to pass through.
Asked to reminisce, Harris said via email that "the reaction was vitriolic. Lots of calls to the station. People realized that Channel 8 was involved because one of the three cars we used to drive 55 belonged to (former anchor) Michael Brown, who had a "News 8" vanity license plate."
News director Marty Haag wasn't amused, Harris recalled.
"Marty knew about it and approved it, because we used the helicopter," he said. "But both he and I were shocked by how angry people got. When I got back after the shoot, he'd been fielding the calls as well as reaction from the front office. It may have been the closest I've ever gotten to getting fired. On the one hand, he (Haag) knew he'd approved it so he could only go so far. On the other hand, he was really mad at me for doing it."
Initially signed into law in 1973 by President Nixon, the 55 mph speed limit was repealed during the Clinton administration. Harris and Haag remained close friends until his death in 2004. Here's the vintage video:
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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Sept. 1) -- Fox4 newscasts make it a sweep with 25-to-54-year-olds
09/02/10 09:27 AM
By ED BARK
Demographically speaking, Fox4 has the healthiest local news operation in town right now.
In contrast, WFAA8 continues to have a case of the vapors.
We didn't write these rules. Networks, local stations and their advertisers did. And with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming, Fox4 ruled like a potentate on the first day of September.
The station won all four of the principal four-way local news competitions, topping the 25-to-54 demographic at 6 a.m. and at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. But that's not all.
From 4:30 to 6 a.m. and from 7 to 9 a.m. (against the three network morning shows), Fox4's Good Day likewise had the 25-to-54 golds. Its 9 p.m. local newscast also beat all competing programming. So did its noon to 12:30 p.m. local newscast. And Fox4's 5:30 p.m. local newscast beat its three network evening news competitors in the 25-to-54 measurement.
That's a grand total of eight local news hours on Fox4. And the station won every one of them among 25-to-54-year-olds viewers.
In contrast, WFAA8 had another winless day in this key demographic. The ABC affiliate ran fifth at 5 p.m. (trailing CW33's local newscast besides those on Fox, NBC5 and CBS11); fourth at 6 p.m. and third at both 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
In the late night local news slot, WFAA8 had a lead-in advantage over all of its rivals via the last 15 minutes of ABC's three-hour CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock. The station won in total viewers at 10 p.m., but was the only news station to lose a portion of its 25-to-54-year-old audience when the 10 p.m. newscasts started. Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11 all increased their inherited audiences in this demographic.
The only upside for WFAA8 Wednesday was its third-place finish at 6 a.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds after it ran fourth at that hour in total viewers. CBS11 fell to a distant fourth in that age group.
The day's other total viewer newscast wins went to Fox4 at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., and CBS11 at 6 p.m.
In prime-time ratings results, Fox Sports Southwest's Texas Rangers-Kansas City Royals game won from 7 to 8 p.m. in total viewers before NBC's America's Got Talent won the second hour and Fox4's 9 p.m. newscast took the third (even though the CMAs had a slightly larger audience for its closing 15 minutes).
Among 18-to-49-year-olds, the preferred advertiser audience for non-news programming, CBS' Big Brother 12 nipped both the Rangers and Fox's Masterchef at 7 p.m. before Talent won at 8 p.m. and the Rangers controlled the 9 p.m. hour.
That's an impressive showing for the North Texas 9, proving that baseball isn't just for viewers old enough to remember color analyst Tom Grieve as a player.
Demographically speaking, Fox4 has the healthiest local news operation in town right now.
In contrast, WFAA8 continues to have a case of the vapors.
We didn't write these rules. Networks, local stations and their advertisers did. And with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming, Fox4 ruled like a potentate on the first day of September.
The station won all four of the principal four-way local news competitions, topping the 25-to-54 demographic at 6 a.m. and at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. But that's not all.
From 4:30 to 6 a.m. and from 7 to 9 a.m. (against the three network morning shows), Fox4's Good Day likewise had the 25-to-54 golds. Its 9 p.m. local newscast also beat all competing programming. So did its noon to 12:30 p.m. local newscast. And Fox4's 5:30 p.m. local newscast beat its three network evening news competitors in the 25-to-54 measurement.
That's a grand total of eight local news hours on Fox4. And the station won every one of them among 25-to-54-year-olds viewers.
In contrast, WFAA8 had another winless day in this key demographic. The ABC affiliate ran fifth at 5 p.m. (trailing CW33's local newscast besides those on Fox, NBC5 and CBS11); fourth at 6 p.m. and third at both 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
In the late night local news slot, WFAA8 had a lead-in advantage over all of its rivals via the last 15 minutes of ABC's three-hour CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock. The station won in total viewers at 10 p.m., but was the only news station to lose a portion of its 25-to-54-year-old audience when the 10 p.m. newscasts started. Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11 all increased their inherited audiences in this demographic.
The only upside for WFAA8 Wednesday was its third-place finish at 6 a.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds after it ran fourth at that hour in total viewers. CBS11 fell to a distant fourth in that age group.
The day's other total viewer newscast wins went to Fox4 at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., and CBS11 at 6 p.m.
In prime-time ratings results, Fox Sports Southwest's Texas Rangers-Kansas City Royals game won from 7 to 8 p.m. in total viewers before NBC's America's Got Talent won the second hour and Fox4's 9 p.m. newscast took the third (even though the CMAs had a slightly larger audience for its closing 15 minutes).
Among 18-to-49-year-olds, the preferred advertiser audience for non-news programming, CBS' Big Brother 12 nipped both the Rangers and Fox's Masterchef at 7 p.m. before Talent won at 8 p.m. and the Rangers controlled the 9 p.m. hour.
That's an impressive showing for the North Texas 9, proving that baseball isn't just for viewers old enough to remember color analyst Tom Grieve as a player.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tue., Aug. 31) -- Talent, Rangers fight for supremacy
09/01/10 01:02 PM
By ED BARK
Pitcher Cliff Lee's latest odious outing for the Texas Rangers and a two-hour chunk of NBC's America's Got Talent waged Tuesday's marquee ratings battle while President Obama's live address kicked off prime-time with tepid ratings.
The first-place Rangers' 10-9 loss at Kansas City, after Lee squandered three different leads, ran all the way to 10:35 p.m. before a wild pitch ended it. The elongated game on Fox Sports Southwest averaged 230,734 D-FW viewers, including 257,879 during the 8 to 10 p.m. portion against Talent (237,521 viewers).
NBC ran Talent at its appointed hours after the Peacock, ABC, CBS and Fox all covered the president's cessation-of-combat in Iraq speech from 7 to 7:20 p.m. Obama had his biggest audience on NBC, with 128,940 viewers, and his smallest on Fox (61,077) among the Big Four broadcast networks.
ABC and CBS both pushed their prime-time programming to 10:20 p.m. while Fox4 aired a shorter version of its 9 p.m. local newscast before starting the 10 p.m. edition on time.
In Tuesday's local news derby numbers, NBC5 won the downsized, two-way 10 p.m. competition in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming on most stations.
The Peacock also prevailed at 6 a.m. in total viewers while tying arch rival Fox4 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds.
CBS11 ran the table at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. golds were split between WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox 4 in the 25-to-54 age range.
Also of note: Three of the four major local news competitors -- Fox4, CBS11 and lately, WFAA8 -- now are starting their waker-uppers at 4:30 a.m. while NBC5 at least temporarily stays with its network's Early Today. Here are Tuesday's 4:30 to 5 a.m. results:
Total Viewers
CBS11 -- 40,718
Fox4 -- 27,145
Early Today -- 20,359
WFAA8 -- 6,786
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 15,345
CBS11 -- 12,276
Early Today -- 9,207
WFAA8 -- "hashmarks" (no measurable audience)
CBS11 then slid to an out-of-the-money fourth place in both measurements during the 5 to 7 a.m. portion.
Pitcher Cliff Lee's latest odious outing for the Texas Rangers and a two-hour chunk of NBC's America's Got Talent waged Tuesday's marquee ratings battle while President Obama's live address kicked off prime-time with tepid ratings.
The first-place Rangers' 10-9 loss at Kansas City, after Lee squandered three different leads, ran all the way to 10:35 p.m. before a wild pitch ended it. The elongated game on Fox Sports Southwest averaged 230,734 D-FW viewers, including 257,879 during the 8 to 10 p.m. portion against Talent (237,521 viewers).
NBC ran Talent at its appointed hours after the Peacock, ABC, CBS and Fox all covered the president's cessation-of-combat in Iraq speech from 7 to 7:20 p.m. Obama had his biggest audience on NBC, with 128,940 viewers, and his smallest on Fox (61,077) among the Big Four broadcast networks.
ABC and CBS both pushed their prime-time programming to 10:20 p.m. while Fox4 aired a shorter version of its 9 p.m. local newscast before starting the 10 p.m. edition on time.
In Tuesday's local news derby numbers, NBC5 won the downsized, two-way 10 p.m. competition in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming on most stations.
The Peacock also prevailed at 6 a.m. in total viewers while tying arch rival Fox4 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds.
CBS11 ran the table at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. golds were split between WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox 4 in the 25-to-54 age range.
Also of note: Three of the four major local news competitors -- Fox4, CBS11 and lately, WFAA8 -- now are starting their waker-uppers at 4:30 a.m. while NBC5 at least temporarily stays with its network's Early Today. Here are Tuesday's 4:30 to 5 a.m. results:
Total Viewers
CBS11 -- 40,718
Fox4 -- 27,145
Early Today -- 20,359
WFAA8 -- 6,786
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 15,345
CBS11 -- 12,276
Early Today -- 9,207
WFAA8 -- "hashmarks" (no measurable audience)
CBS11 then slid to an out-of-the-money fourth place in both measurements during the 5 to 7 a.m. portion.
Taunting's a penalty in football -- and WFAA8 investigator Brett Shipp merits a flag
09/01/10 12:36 AM
By ED BARK
Frankly, this is conduct unbecoming of a topflight investigative reporter with an armload of prestigious national awards.
Or to use a football analogy, WFAA8's Brett Shipp has been to the end zone many times before. He should act like it. In that context, we'll get to his very ill-considered Facebook posting in just a few paragraphs.
Shipp weighed in on Tuesday's 10 p.m. newscast (delayed 20 minutes by President Obama's address) with his second report on the questionable ethics of Southlake Carroll's high-powered football program. And he added another heavyweight to this one -- defending 5A champion Euless Trinity. That school currently has an even higher profile than Southlake after its football team was ranked as No. 1 in the country by USA Today. So these are big fish. No doubt about it.
Shipp's report contends that both schools may have violated University Interscholastic League rules in Texas by letting some members of their teams scrimmage together in June while coaches appeared to be yelling out "sport specific skill instructions." The UIL allows only supervised "strength and conditioning" activities during the summer, with the use of "sport specific equipment" also prohibited.
Most football fans in North Texas know by now that Shipp reported at length last week on the questionable eligibility of would-be Southlake starting quarterback Daxx Garman, who transfered from Oklahoma. Because of the report, Garman was not allowed to play in the team's season opener, which it lost last week. An appeal hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14th, with Garman on the sidelines at least until then.
In the interim, Shipp has been using his Facebook page to help spread the word about Tuesday's second report. But he went way overboard with a Tuesday morning post (that was removed after this story appeared).
"Tonight at Ten on News 8: Forget the QB," he wrote. "Southlake's coaches are in hot water. What's more, see what happens when they invite Number 1 ranked Trinity into the hot tub with them. Sniff, sniff!!!! Is that the smell of two cooked seasons?"
No, that's the smell of a grandstanding taunt that makes Shipp look like a juvenile blowhard. And really, he's much better than that.
Tuesday's story in fact did not have the impact of the Garman investigation, even if both schools appear to have some further explaining to do. Neither head coach -- Hal Wasson of Southlake and Steve Lineweaver of Trinity Euless -- wanted Shipp and his cameraman around. But he stood his ground and questioned both of them.
Wasson initially was shown running over to Shipp and asking, "Who are you filming?" At the close of the story, he emphatically told Shipp, "We are supervising our facilities." Back live in WFAA8 studios, Shipp very audibly sighed in apparent exasperation before telling viewers that the UIL wanted to see WFAA8's story before looking into the matter. Penalties, Shipp said, can range from "reprimand all the way to suspension."
Lineweaver was approached by WFAA8 during a Trinity practice last week.
"Did you guys get permission to come out here?" the coach asked.
"No, we didn't," Shipp told him.
Lineweaver told him to go through a school representative first. When Shipp persisted, Lineweaver repeated, "Would you please go through proper channels? Thank you."
These are gut-grinding situations for all involved. If the coaches are knowingly violating rules, they damned sure don't want anyone else to know about it. And Shipp wouldn't be human if he completely relished these confrontations. They're part of an investigator's job -- and certainly not a pleasant one.
Shipp erred, though, in grinding his heel into the neck of both schools' football programs well before his report actually aired. It's one thing for him to use Facebook as a vehicle to alert potential viewers that Part 2 of his investigation into possible high school football irregularities is coming Tuesday night. It's quite another to write, "Sniff, sniff!!!! Is that the smell of two cooked seasons?"
You just don't earn points that way.
Here's video of Shipp's Tuesday night story:
Frankly, this is conduct unbecoming of a topflight investigative reporter with an armload of prestigious national awards.
Or to use a football analogy, WFAA8's Brett Shipp has been to the end zone many times before. He should act like it. In that context, we'll get to his very ill-considered Facebook posting in just a few paragraphs.
Shipp weighed in on Tuesday's 10 p.m. newscast (delayed 20 minutes by President Obama's address) with his second report on the questionable ethics of Southlake Carroll's high-powered football program. And he added another heavyweight to this one -- defending 5A champion Euless Trinity. That school currently has an even higher profile than Southlake after its football team was ranked as No. 1 in the country by USA Today. So these are big fish. No doubt about it.
Shipp's report contends that both schools may have violated University Interscholastic League rules in Texas by letting some members of their teams scrimmage together in June while coaches appeared to be yelling out "sport specific skill instructions." The UIL allows only supervised "strength and conditioning" activities during the summer, with the use of "sport specific equipment" also prohibited.
Most football fans in North Texas know by now that Shipp reported at length last week on the questionable eligibility of would-be Southlake starting quarterback Daxx Garman, who transfered from Oklahoma. Because of the report, Garman was not allowed to play in the team's season opener, which it lost last week. An appeal hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14th, with Garman on the sidelines at least until then.
In the interim, Shipp has been using his Facebook page to help spread the word about Tuesday's second report. But he went way overboard with a Tuesday morning post (that was removed after this story appeared).
"Tonight at Ten on News 8: Forget the QB," he wrote. "Southlake's coaches are in hot water. What's more, see what happens when they invite Number 1 ranked Trinity into the hot tub with them. Sniff, sniff!!!! Is that the smell of two cooked seasons?"
No, that's the smell of a grandstanding taunt that makes Shipp look like a juvenile blowhard. And really, he's much better than that.
Tuesday's story in fact did not have the impact of the Garman investigation, even if both schools appear to have some further explaining to do. Neither head coach -- Hal Wasson of Southlake and Steve Lineweaver of Trinity Euless -- wanted Shipp and his cameraman around. But he stood his ground and questioned both of them.
Wasson initially was shown running over to Shipp and asking, "Who are you filming?" At the close of the story, he emphatically told Shipp, "We are supervising our facilities." Back live in WFAA8 studios, Shipp very audibly sighed in apparent exasperation before telling viewers that the UIL wanted to see WFAA8's story before looking into the matter. Penalties, Shipp said, can range from "reprimand all the way to suspension."
Lineweaver was approached by WFAA8 during a Trinity practice last week.
"Did you guys get permission to come out here?" the coach asked.
"No, we didn't," Shipp told him.
Lineweaver told him to go through a school representative first. When Shipp persisted, Lineweaver repeated, "Would you please go through proper channels? Thank you."
These are gut-grinding situations for all involved. If the coaches are knowingly violating rules, they damned sure don't want anyone else to know about it. And Shipp wouldn't be human if he completely relished these confrontations. They're part of an investigator's job -- and certainly not a pleasant one.
Shipp erred, though, in grinding his heel into the neck of both schools' football programs well before his report actually aired. It's one thing for him to use Facebook as a vehicle to alert potential viewers that Part 2 of his investigation into possible high school football irregularities is coming Tuesday night. It's quite another to write, "Sniff, sniff!!!! Is that the smell of two cooked seasons?"
You just don't earn points that way.
Here's video of Shipp's Tuesday night story: