KMBC would have made no concessions for Letterman

So David Letterman has decided not to take his bag of tricks - and his stupid pet tricks - over to ABC. And for that his fans in Kansas City can breathe a sigh of relief. That's because "Late Show With David Letterman" would suddenly have begun airing 90 minutes later, at 12:05 a.m., in place of "ABC News Nightline," at an hour otherwise known for cheesy dating shows and infomercials. Take a moment and imagine yourself fighting off sleep, night after night, just to see Letterman. Imagine your frustration, even anger. Now you have a taste of how "Nightline" devotees here have felt. It was 22 years ago this month that ABC turned its nightly "America Held Hostage" into a permanent program, anchored by Ted Koppel. Channel 9 sent "Nightline" to the back of the line, scheduling it after reruns of "M*A*S*H," "All in the Family" and "The Bob Newhart Show." Today it airs after "Seinfeld," "Cheers" and "Entertainment Tonight." Other than the titles, not much has changed over the years. ABC executives have tried pleading, cajoling, harassing and even paying KMBC to move up "Nightline." "They bugged us constantly about it," recalls Pat Patton, KMBC's program director during the 1980s and '90s. But the station said no dice every time. Surely, though, the chance of landing a big-time entertainer like Letterman might have changed things, right? After all, Letterman would have brought youth to ABC - not his own, of course (he'll be 55 next month), but large numbers of youthful viewers that advertisers love. Those are the same advertisers, we must assume, who told ABC they thought Koppel's audience was getting a little long in the tooth. Unfortunately for those partisan to Dave, these arguments do not carry much weight with Channel 9 management. Frankly, they're glad the Letterman deal didn't go down. They might have needed to add another switchboard operator just to handle all the calls from outraged Letterman fans, on top of the ones the station already gets from outraged Koppel fans. Currently Channel 9 airs "Seinfeld" at 10:35 and plans to do so for a long, long time. The station has a huge financial stake in "Seinfeld" and the rest of its late-night lineup, and management sees no good that can come from messing with it. Here are the reasons they list: 1. As owner of the city's top-rated 10 p.m. newscast, KMBC builds up a head of steam that propels its audience through the next 90 minutes. This block of time is crucial because it's loaded with commercial breaks, and Channel 9 gets to sell nearly all the commercials. During "Nightline" and "Politically Incorrect," by contrast, KMBC must share much of the commercial time with ABC. 2. When late-night viewers who watch Channel 9 get up the next morning, their TVs are pre-set to 9's morning programs. It's no coincidence that KMBC has traditionally excelled in late nights and early mornings. 3. As ABC's troubles continue to pile up (it hasn't had a breakout hit since "Millionaire," which is now out of gas), affiliates like KMBC become more dependent on non-ABC programs. In this regard, Channel 9 is lucky. Every night at 10, thousands of viewers who were watching NBC, CBS or cable faithfully switch back to watch its news. In fact, KMBC is usually the only station in Kansas City where the late newscast typically draws a larger audience than the show that preceded it. In February, Channel 9's audience grew 50 percent at 10 p.m., despite the added competition of NBC's Winter Olympics coverage, which ran until 10:30 on KSHB, Channel 41. 4. KMBC is contractually obliged to air "Seinfeld" at 10:35 p.m. until March 2006 - yes, 2006. If Channel 9 bumps it to 11:05 or later, it has to compensate the company that distributes "Seinfeld." Thus, to persuade its Kansas City affiliate to move "Nightline" to 10:35, network executives would have to compensate Channel 9 for all the commercial time it was giving back to ABC as well as cover the penalty fee for "Seinfeld." Fat chance. "We've always been open" to negotiating the 10:35 time slot, says KMBC general manager C. Wayne Godsey. "But the economics of the deal have not been there." And this is a particularly bad time for ABC to be pitching either Koppel or Letterman to Channel 9. "Seinfeld" is one of the most popular sitcoms in syndication, and KMBC will be adding "Will & Grace" repeats this fall at 11:05. This will give the station its most formidable late-night combo since "Roseanne" and "Grace Under Fire" hit their peak. "These programs are doing much better than 'Nightline' would do in this time period," Godsey says. Though it's a bit of an apples-oranges comparison, Channel 9 once again won the local news derby in late news, while KSHB, Channel 41, boosted by Olympics coverage, ranked second. (The orange is the fact that NBC 41's newscast aired at 10:30, when audience levels are lower.) Managers at stations not affiliated with NBC were quick to dismiss the February ratings book as being overly skewed by the Winter Games. It didn't help, they said, that the one week that was Olympics-free was wiped off the books thanks to the ice storm, which knocked out the area's Nielsen meters. Channel 9 edged out "Fox 4," WDAF, for morning supremacy. KCTV, Channel 5, picked up viewers with its new 4:30 a.m. newscast but still lost the time period to a Fox 4 rerun of "Cops." Regent Ducas has been named news director at KCTV, replacing Don North. He starts next month. Ducas is currently assistant news director at NBC affiliate WDIV-TV in Detroit and has served as acting news director there. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Then-New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (left) presented the Top Ten Things I Will Miss About Being Mayor on David Letterman's show in November. @ART:Photo (color)