• WSHH is the winner of radio's 2007 Christmas music marathon. The station landed in a third-place tie (with WDSY) in the fall Arbitron rating, thanks largely to its all-Christmas format in November-December. Pittsburgh's other all-Christmas formatted station, WJAS, was sixth, but had about two thirds of the audience of its competitor.
Meanwhile, 3WS (WWSW) found some coal in its ratings stocking this year. After several years of success in opting of the all-Christmas format, it decided to slowly phase in holiday music this time around and primarily stuck with its '60s - '80s format until the weekend before the holiday. It didn't work. The station lost almost a full ratings point from summer to fall. Evidently, when you have a high percentage of female listeners, you better give them jingle bell rock instead of rock 'n' roll.
• You may have noticed 3WS has lengthened the shifts of its disc jockeys - Sherri Van Dyke and Mike Fraser are now covering the 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. hours, although it's not clear if all of those hours are live broadcasts. Unfortunately, that's indicative of radio's cost-cutting trends across the country. Fewer disc jockeys over longer periods of time may save a little money, but it certainly doesn't help with maintaining a high-energy level.
• Without virtually any promotion, B-94 (WBZW) took an almost two-point leap in the ratings after switching from "The Man Station" to a top 40 format. It should be mentioned, though, that "The Man Station" had virtually no ratings at all. That "cheep-cheep" you hear is CBS Radio, which three months into the format change, still hasn't hired a mid-day or overnight disc jockey, and didn't have a morning team in place until mid-January.
• WRRK, affectionately known as "Bob" (just ask the unnerving voice-over), which does spend a lot of money on advertising, continued its rollercoaster relationship with listeners. It was on the low end of the Thunderbolt this time around, finishing ninth.
• WDVE and KDKA were the top two stations again, but you already knew that.
• You may have heard that last week's two-night premiere of "American Idol" wasn't as popular as last year's premiere. What you probably haven't heard yet is that the show still has the largest audience on television (outside of football) and beat the other four networks combined in the time period with its 30 plus-million viewers.
• I'm not a big fan of the early "Idol" episodes - I prefer to tune in when it's narrowed to the talented singers - but the parade of desperately tin-eared candidates always attracts the largest national audience. I'm guessing that this year ratings may not be nearly as off as naysayers believe. With the increased popularity of TiVo and other recording devices, at least a few million folks probably opted to record "Idol" and watch the final new episodes of series on competing networks. Those "delayed viewing" numbers won't be released for a few weeks.
• The writers' strike isn't having nearly the negative effect on network TV viewing as first thought. At least two new series, "American Gladiators" and "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," are packing 'em in, while several long-running series are doing just fine during their first round of repeats.
• The networks suits must be smiling. It costs much less to produce reality series than hour-long dramas, and when "Gladiator" outdraws the former occupant of the timeslot ("Chuck"), it's just that much more money in the bank. The banker on "Deal or No Deal" is equally happy. In its new Monday home, it's far more popular than "Heroes."
• For those who still prefer scripted television - and let's hope some of those viewers still exist - there are a few series with multiple unaired episodes on the shelf. "Men in Trees" has 11 episodes to go, for instance, while "One Tree Hill" has nine. There are seven episodes of "Aliens in America" and "Carpoolers" remaining, six episodes of "Smallville" and five episodes of "Las Vegas."
• Still, if you're looking for "Grey's Anatomy," "Without a Trace," "Two and a Half Men" and most of the other Top 20 series, look no further. They're gone until further notice - probably fall.
• Sadly, ABC has seven "Cavemen" episodes on the back burner. If it airs them, you'll know desperation has set in.
• There are other signs already surfacing. ABC has ordered new episodes of its long-canceled reality shows, "The Mole" and "The Bachelorette." NBC has picked up "Nashville Star" from cable to take on "American Idol" and, after just two episodes, has already renewed "American Gladiator."
• Even No. 1 CBS is in a fog. Despite their disappointing track record, concert specials will be airing in January (Garth Brooks) and February (Celine Dion) and the network has three new reality shows in the works "America's Top Dog," "Game Show in My Head" and "Secret Talents of the Stars."
• With that lineup of alternate programming, the return of "Lost" and "Jericho" should reap spectacular ratings - the plot-lines couldn't possibly be more confusing that the network's upcoming schedules.