Honeymoon's back on for Me-TV and late-night fans

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: Courtesy of Robert Feder at Vocalo: : : " : Honeymoon�s back on for Me-TV and late-night fans : : When was the last time a television station admitted a mistake, apologized to viewers and reversed a bad programming decision? : Extraordinary as it seems, that�s what happened this week at Me-TV, the Weigel Broadcasting outlet for reruns of classic comedies (seen on WCIU-Channel 26.2, Comcast 223, RCN 14, WOW 17, AT&T U-verse 23, DirecTV 23 and Dish Network 23). Just one week after rolling out what was billed as its �new spring schedule,� the station bowed to the will of its late-night audience and issued an inspired mea culpa on the air. : The controversy involved the decision to replace �The Honeymooners,� �Dick Van Dyke� and �Taxi� with �Roseanne,� �The Nanny� and �3rd Rock From the Sun� from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., effective April 12. Virtually overnight, the station was inundated with angry calls and e-mails. Late-night ratings � particularly among the target demographic of women between the ages of 25 and 54 � declined noticeably. : �We just got a big lesson in how engaged and passionate our viewers are,� said Neal Sabin, executive vice president of Weigel Broadcasting. �People really were upset that their favorites weren�t there.� : As of this week, the station not only restored the old shows to their rightful places on the lineup but began airing a clever promo suggesting that it was all just a �bad dream,� borrowing clips of dream sequences from old sitcoms. To those who�d complained, the station responded with a note announcing the news and adding: : �We�ve done our part, now we need you, our loyal viewer, to do yours. To keep these shows where you want, we need you to watch Me-TV and get your friends and family to watch too. We want to keep Me-TV viable and growing. We make our programming decisions to enhance ratings and appeal to a larger audience. We rotate our programs for variety and to introduce different programs to viewers of specific time periods. When programs don�t perform well in a time period, we make adjustments. That�s why your viewing of shows like �The Honeymooners� is critical.� : Since then, Sabin said, the feedback has been gratifying and enthusiastic. One grateful viewer wrote: �My brother calls from Arizona and every night he asks, �What is Ralph doing tonight?� We all know the words by heart. Thanks again for your help in putting it back to 11 p.m. for us.� Another wrote: �Hooray to you, Me-TV, for returning to this perfect TV lineup. . . . Glad our numbers spoke up and that, as you say Frasier would say, you �were listening.� � : : In a similar vein, sister station Me-Too (seen on WCIU-Channel 26.3, Comcast 247, RCN 22, WOW 171 and AT&T U-verse 48) logged close to 300 calls and e-mails shortly after 11 a.m. last Sunday when the audio from a �Superman� episode accidentally played over the video of a �Hart to Hart� episode. �That�s an incredible number of responses especially for that hour on a weekend,� Sabin said. �Our viewers are watching � and listening � very carefully.� : "

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