Friday, November 19, 1999
No bingo winners at Channel 12
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If Channel 12 has offered a $25,000 Bingo prize each weekday for almost three weeks, the station should has given away more than $300,000 by now, right?
Wrong.
As of Wednesday, 13 days into “Big Bucks Bingo” during the 11 p.m. news, the station hasn't a winner yet.
Channel 12 has had lots of viewers — winning the 11 p.m. news ratings by 31/2 points to date — but no Bingo winners.
“No, we haven't had a winner yet, but it would thrill us if we did,” says Bill Moll, general manager.
Channel 12, which had won the 11 p.m. ratings since June, started the Bingo game Nov. 1. It concludes Nov. 24, the night before Thanksgiving, and a week before sweeps end Dec. 1.
According to the rules, a viewer wins $25,000 if the five Bingo numbers broadcast by Channel 12 “form a straight line horizontal, vertical or diagonal Bingo on an Official Bingo Game Card.” Rules says “approximately 1 million Official Bingo Game Cards” were printed by Channel 12 and radio station WLW-AM and mailed to Tristate residents.
Meanwhile, rival WCPO-TV (Channel 9) has had 16 winners pocket a total of $23,000 in its evening news sweeps contest. Channel 9 awards $1,000 to the first viewers to match the last four digits on their Social Security card with a numbers announced during the 5:30 or 11 p.m. news. Winners can double their cash by answering a trivia question related to that Channel 9 newscast.
Halfway through the four-week sweeps, Channel 12 leads at 11 p.m. with a 11.7 rating. WLWT (Channel 5) is second with an 8.5 rating, followed by Channel 9 with an 8.1 rating. WXIX-TV (Channel 19) is averaging a 7.2 rating for its 10 p.m. news.
MORE MILLIONS: Regis Philbin's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which hadn't given away $1 million through Wednesday, has been extended by three days. Millionaire will continue through Wednesday, instead of concluding Sunday. The hit game show has propelled ABC into first place nationally for November sweeps.
HAIL MARY: Mary, Mother of Jesus continues to inspire millions, given NBC's Sunday ratings. The Bible story starring Pernilla August and Christian Bale was second in its time period and No. 19 in the weekly Nielsen ratings.
ABC's blockbuster Who Wants to be a Millionaire was No. 3 for the week, with The Practice No. 11.
Mary drew more followers than CBS' Aftershock: Earthquake in NY (No. 25), Fox's The X-Files (No. 27) and WB's Jack & Jill (No. 113).
SMACK 'EM: Folks from low-power WBQC-TV (Channel 25), the UPN affiliate not carried by most Tristate cable systems, asked wrestling fans at the WWF event Tuesday for their help.
“It's time to lay the Smackdown on your cable system!” say leaflets distributed at Cincinnati Gardens. “If you have cable, please call and tell them you want WBQC-TV25 added to your service.”
The Tristate's two biggest cable systems, Time Warner and Insight (formerly InterMedia), do not carry Channel 25. Cable systems are not required by law to carry low-power stations.
ENQUIRERING MIND: This Enquirering mind wants to know: Because Time Warner is going to drop WDTN-TV, Dayton's ABC affiliate, from more than 65,000 Butler County homes on Jan. 1, why not add Channel 25?“If you're going to take off Channel 2, why not replace it with another network that's not duplicated?” says Elliott Block, Channel 25 owner.
AROUND THE DIAL: Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the cartoon talk show, features two former Cincinnati residents, Jerry Springer and Sarah Jessica Parker (11 p.m. today, Cartoon Network). Says a Cartoon statement: “Space Ghost Coast to Coast further lowers the bar of talk show integrity when guest Jerry Springer listens to the skewed recollections and relative truths of Space Ghost regarding a steamy interview” with Ms. Parker.
The sad death of a place for birth and life
40 inmates freed as jail nears limit
Police shun ex-con's firm
Warrant amnesty offered for 1 day
Bulk of warrants for minor offenses
Partial list of warrants in Kenton Co.
Throng fawns over Glenn
Glenn center loses $10M bid in House
Showdown is looming at Fernald
Options for treating Fernald waste
Another bomb threat closes school
Delta boosts convention center
Medicare bill aids hospitals
Payday loans' high interest adds misery, lawmakers told
Softball coach gives $387,000 to NKU
Forging a separate faith
The Boss: How rock is done
CSO gives premieres good launch
GET TO IT
No bingo winners at Channel 12
Roots redefine the rap show
She's faced disease and endured
Whose home for the holidays?
Business ads slam justice for liability-limits ruling
Butler Co. races too close to call
Deerfield broadens its powers
Fund-raiser to give ailing kids a hand
Group shares its Shawnee heritage
Lebanon turns maroon and white
Miami U sees hidden agenda in lawsuit
Mining company appeals rejection of zoning change
Panel weighs anti-smoking plan
Patton bans outdoor burning after fires
Police, FBI seek Falmouth bank robber
School district fires treasurer, but won't say why
Siblings reunited after 8 decades apart
State GOP trolls N.Ky. for cash
Students join the hungry for a day
Trenton goes 'football-crazy'
TRISTATE DIGEST
