Breaking Down the Book

The final television ratings book of 2004, which was recorded in November; has been tallied, studied and laid out for all of Outtakes' loyal readers to muddle through. And since you can't find the results of Nielsen Media Research Inc.'s hard work published anywhere else, this whole space has been dedicated to the unveiling.

The new kid on the block, Fox affiliate's KLRT-TV, Channel 16, reported solid growth among its key demographic groups for the nine-month-old Fox 16 News at Nine. The metro's only 9 p.m., hour-long newscast is working out the newbie kinks and shaking out some growing pains that come along with any upstart news program.

"Our key demographics grew at a pretty good clip, so I'm very pleased," said General Manager Chuck Spohn. "Internally, our team is gelling. By the time we hit the November book we were just finishing up our eighth month on the air, so we're happy to have a positive showing."

Despite Spohn's optimism, the Fox news team may take a little...