Does anyone watch the 11 o'clock news anymore?   

KCRA-TV Testing Ten O'Clock News

Officials at NBC-affiliate KCRA in Sacramento, California, say no. Waving lifestyle studies at NBC, the officials say desirable viewers are asleep by then and want the news an hour earlier.

Usually affiliates grumble when low-rated network-news shows expand into prime time or encroach on affiliates' programming time and zap advertising bucks.

But KCRA says it was the network that balked when the station asked to move its late-night newscast to 10 p.m. from 11 p.m. "They are afraid of a decline in their whole prime-time schedule," says Jon Kelly, KCRA's co-owner and a major player in convincing NBC to temporarily shift its prime-time block in Sacramento to make way for an earlier newscast.

Early returns from the experimental eight-and-a-half-month shift, which began in September, appear encouraging to KCRA and NBC officials.

The 10 p.m. newscast trounced some of the prime-time offerings on ABC and CBS. And overall ratings for NBC's 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. prime-time block were about the same as when prime time began at 8 p.m. and ended at 11.

Other West Coast affiliates, many interested in moving their newscasts to the more heavily viewed 10 p.m. slot, are noting the results.

KRON, the NBC affiliate in San Francisco, already produces a 10 p.m. newscast for KOFY, an independent Bay Area station. The program is similar to the one KRON airs an hour later.

"We are a producer of a news product," explains Brian Fiori, director of research at KRON. "Our station is not the only channel there is to get our product to the people."

Ratings and time slots aside, KCRA News Director Bill Bauman says the changeover had a shaky start because of a fundamental difference between an early and late newscast.

"The perception of a 10 o'clock newscast is different from an 11 o'clock show," Bauman says. "At 11 o'clock, people want the news to be a recap. But at 10 p.m., there is a feeling that the world is still open for business and things are still happening."

So the station beefed up its reporting staff and mobile units and emphasized on-the-scene coverage of breaking news. However, this often meant more crime stories, and Bauman says he was ridiculed for airing a tabloid-style show.

"We were overly reliant on crime news to fill the news hole, but we've since struck a better balance," he says, citing as examples live reports from a nearby Air Force base and from the Soviet Union.

Even though the shift is temporary, KCRA's Bauman, for one, sees no turning back. But others, such as KRON's Fiori, say success so far may be due to heavy promotion and publicity about the rollback.

"I would expect a decrease in ratings for KCRA," he says. "They aren't going to change everyone's viewing behavior."