NBC10 mounts charge to topple 6ABC

BURIED DEEP in the bowels of the 6ABC complex, at City Avenue and Monument Road, is a heavily guarded room that contains the mounted heads of the dozens (if not scores) of executives who, during the past 35 years, have come to Philadelphia determined to knock that station from its perch as the market's dominant provider of television news.

OK, that isn't true. But the point is, even if it were, that wouldn't keep Anzio Williams from being the latest to challenge "Action News," whose decades-long death grip on the hearts, minds and eyeballs of local residents is unprecedented in the broadcasting industry.

Williams, 41, is the vice president of news at NBC10. Since arriving from Sacramento, Calif., just about a year ago, he has overseen a dizzying series of on- and off-air changes designed with a single purpose: to separate "Action News" from its market-leading audience.

"We're here to win," proclaimed Williams during a recent breakfast at a City Avenue deli. "We're not here to be second or third place. I hate losing more than I love winning, so we're here to win."

Williams' battle cry is not just so much hot air and bravado. NBC10 and its Comcast Center overlords have bucked current industry trends by investing heavily in the station's news operation.

Although sharing resources, especially costly helicopters, has been the order of business in TV markets across the country for several years (a result of the economic downturn and the rise of competition from new media), NBC10 earlier this year broke from a cooperative agreement with CBS3 and Fox 29 and purchased its own chopper, which it dubbed Skyforce 10.

And Williams has added 15 new reporters, including two Delaware Valley natives - Philly guy Na'eem Douglas and Cherry Hill-born Matt DeLucia - both of whom started on-air June 17.

In addition, several veteran newsies, including Lori Wilson (who went to Indianapolis) and Terry Ruggles (retired), have left (whether they jumped or were pushed remains a matter of speculation).

The new faces at 10 represent a wide swath of the cultural spectrum. According to Williams, while he is happy that his on-air team is so diverse, competence and enthusiasm, not skin color, guide his personnel decisions.

"We serve a diverse community, so it's certainly important that we reflect that," he reasoned. "But when I meet with a potential reporter, or a potential news producer, I'm looking for talent above all else. I think success comes when you love what you do, so I'm looking for people with a passion for local TV news - enterprising journalists who are serious about making a positive contribution and getting answers for our viewers."

Williams' plan to topple Channel 6 may be quixotic. Time and again since its "Action News" claimed the ratings top spot in 1971 (with Larry Kane as news anchor and the late, great Jim O'Brien doing the weather), 6ABC has been in the competition's crosshairs, always to no avail. The station is, was and always will be No. 1 in this town, right?

According to one local TV vet who sports the scars of two separate battles against the Goliath of City Avenue, that ain't necessarily so.

"There's no question that [6ABC] doesn't make many mistakes; they're certainly not pushing away the audience," offered Paul Gluck, former news director at CBS3 and NBC10, and currently an associate professor at Temple University's School of Media and Communication, and general manager of TUTV, the campus TV station. "But keep in mind that people could make the argument in 1968: How could you ever unseat [iconic Channel 10 anchor] John Facenda or how would you unseat Vince Leonard at [Channel 3, at the time the local NBC affiliate]?

"Then, one day in 1970, Larry Kane and a really unique format popped up on Channel 6, and [by 1977, Channel 3's 'Eyewitness News'] had been unseated."

Gluck noted that industry thinking has changed since then. Today, the "overall" Nielsen ratings (the score that monitors viewers older than 12) is not the crucial measuring stick. Instead, the 25-to-54 demographic group is most desired by the advertisers who keep TV stations in business.

"There are some people who try to define 'victory' as having an enormous percentage of the viewing audience," he said. "I'm not sure that's victory anymore.

"I think victory can be in cultivating your own audience. If it's sizable, that's great, but it may be the demography of the audience you're serving that makes you No. 1. . . . It may be, in the end, you can cultivate a winning product and it may not be of the same definition as was applied 30 or 40 years ago."

If that's the case, then Williams and his minions appear to be on the right track. According to the May Nielsen ratings, NBC10 is making significant strides with the 25-to-54 crowd.

For instance, the station's 4 p.m. ratings among those viewers have increased 43 percent since May 2012; the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts have seen the audience size rise by 43 percent and 38 percent, respectively, during the same period.

At 5 a.m., the increase in audience is a stunning 80 percent. However, a much tougher nut to crack has been the 11 p.m. slot, where the station's ratings have remained static.

It continues to be No. 2 behind 6ABC, but there has been no significant growth in viewership. On the other hand, it is the only outlet to hold onto its share of the audience in the time slot; channels 3 and 6 have seen some erosion.

Some would suggest that at least part of the problem at 11 p.m. is NBC's ongoing failure to deliver a lead-in audience with its 10 p.m. programming. But Williams, not surprisingly, declined to place any blame on the network that employs him.

"We believe that viewership is about what we do, and less about what the network does," he said. "We believe things go in cycles, so I'm not one of those dudes who is going to hang my hat on what the network does. We're thankful for whatever they give us, but we believe if we're providing a better service compared to our competitors, people will find us."

Providing a better service, Williams believes, is pretty much the whole enchilada in his quest for ratings supremacy. During the interview, he returned several times to the theme of practicing serious, and relevant, journalism.

"We're all humans, and we like what we're used to," he said, referring to 6ABC's lengthy hold on the viewing public. "But I think in these crazy economic times, you better make sure the dollar you spend goes further. I believe that if folks are going to spend their time - which is their 'money' - watching us, we have to be a better value."

To that end, Williams said that he has looked long and hard at what is being covered by NBC10. He spoke of "finding a better balance" in both content and geography.

"That's not to say we're all of a sudden going to stop covering crime in Philadelphia, because that's part of our daily lives. But at the same time, I certainly understand that everybody is not going to be a victim of crime or end up on surveillance video or in a robbery or shooting. So we have to make sure our newscast is representative of the community.

"We know there's just as much positive and good news. If you haven't been in Center City lately, you wouldn't know all the development that's going on in the heart of Philadelphia. A lot of times, some of that doesn't make the news."

Williams has also identified bringing more "advocacy" to his station's news coverage as a key to future success. He cited as an example the recent deadly building collapse on Market Street.

"On that first day, we had close to a dozen journalists working the big story," he said. The result, he boasted, was that NBC10's coverage lapped the field by being the first to report relevant aspects of the incident and by asking what he insisted were "questions [other local news outlets] didn't ask, or didn't want to ask."

That's certainly what you'd expect someone in Williams' position to say. However, with so much information coming out in the aftermath of the collapse, and at such a rapid rate via traditional and new media, it's almost impossible to quantify, much less confirm, such claims. And an informal survey of other reporters and editors who worked on the story found them dubious (to put it mildly) of Williams' declarations.

But what the competition thinks is likely of no concern to Williams. He's convinced that his station's newfound aggressiveness in news gathering and reporting will ultimately lead to NBC10 making local news history by bumping 6ABC out of its top spot.

"Folks are saying journalism is dead," he said. "But I believe we're growing our ratings by doing good, solid journalism."