KDOC-TV Remembers ‘Combat’ Lesson to Keep Its Male Viewers Tuned In : Television: Anaheim station caters to men who make up larger share of audience with special programming mix.

ANAHEIM —  Orange County’s only commercial broadcast station, KDOC-TV Channel 56, pulled the plug on reruns of “Combat” two years ago. What a mistake.

“You would have thought that I took their firstborn as hostage,” said Chuck Velona, the station’s general manager. “The switchboard lit up for days. We found out that it does draw viewers.”

Velona, 52, had just taken charge of KDOC after the station’s president retired from day-to-day general manager duties. He immediately returned the black-and-white action series to the weeknight lineup and in the process discovered the primary prime-time audience for the small UHF outlet: Men.

“Combat,” the 1962-67 World War II drama series starring Rick Jason and Vic Morrow, fits right into KDOC’s prime-time programming, which now includes a lineup of reruns that appeal to male viewers, such as “Hill Street Blues” and “Hogan’s Heroes,” and original programs such as daily racing highlights from Santa Anita and Hollywood Park.

In its promotional materials, the station cites audience surveys over the past two years from Arbitron and Litaker Research that show it attracting a larger share of male viewers than female viewers for almost all of its nightly lineup.

It is also quick to share copies of a story in the show business trade paper Weekly Variety called “It’s a Man’s World at KDOC.” The article calls the station a “regular guy’s video Valhalla” that developed the offbeat approach because of its limited budget. The oddity is that women watch prime-time shows more often than men by a margin of 42% to 33%, according to Nielsen Media Research. (The remainder is children’s programming.) By comparison, 57% of KDOC’s prime-time adult viewers are men.

“It’s something that nurtured itself into this niche of male programming,” Velona said. “We have attracted our share of (advertisers for) the beers, the cars, the men’s hair stuff.”

It could be a wise maneuver, some marketing analysts suggest. Sparked by the growth of cable and satellite channels, advertisers have a growing interest in targeting specific or distinct demographic groups.

“Men are harder to reach,” said John Vrba, senior vice president in the Newport Beach office of Western International Marketing, a media consulting firm that advises stations on where to place their ads. “If Chuck can stay with the approach that more males watch it, it would be a great secondary buy (in the market) for advertisers.”

But some industry observers doubt that a UHF station such as KDOC--which has a minuscule audience of fewer than 50,000 regular viewing households--can attract enough male advertisers to justify high ad rates. Media analysts estimate that a station with its audience size in this market charges between $100 to $400 per 30-second spot, depending on the terms of the contract with an advertiser. The station declined to provide financial details.

According to figures gathered by Nielsen Media Research, KDOC’s highest-rated prime-time program in March was “Horse Racing from Santa Anita” at 8 p.m., which attracted 35,000 households. That is less than one-tenth of 1% of the nearly 5 million TV homes in the Southern California television market.

“We’re talking 20,000 men,” said Richard Kurlander, vice president and director of programming at Petry Television Inc., a media consulting company in New York. “That I suppose is salable, but it is a very small dollar amount. The station can be profitable but profitable in terms of radio or cable TV. There’s no way they can compete with the bigger stations in the market.”

Yet strong competition from L.A.’s giant independent stations, such as KTLA-TV Channel 5, KCAL-TV Channel 9 and KCOP-TV Channel 13, has forced KDOC to carve a distinct identity throughout its history.

The station debuted in 1982, some 14 years after an investment group that originally included singer Pat Boone, entertainer Jimmy Durante and “Davy Crockett” star Fess Parker first applied for a license. At the start, its lineup consisted of black-and-white reruns such as “What’s My Line?” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” which were not only what was available at the time, but cheap to buy.

Gradually, however, the investment group followed through on promises to broadcast large amounts of local programming. That included Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach football games, locally produced children’s shows and “Hot Seat With Wally George,” featuring the ultra-conservative talk show host.

The hallmark of the investors’ plan to capture an Orange County identity, however, came in 1989, when it introduced a 30-minute nighttime newscast, which concentrated on county news and featured inserts from CNN Headline News.

But the newscast, as with all its local productions, proved to be too expensive. With a downturn in advertising revenue throughout the market, KDOC dropped the program and shut its production studio last fall, a move that trimmed about 20 jobs.

“They had a problem: Did they really want to be Orange County’s station?” consultant Vrba said. “It doesn’t make any sense. It’s too conforming and very expensive. And it’s pretty tough to compete with the L.A. stations.”

Boone, who originally opposed the idea of dropping the newscast and sought to find corporations willing to spend $250,000 to underwrite the program, said he still hopes of start it up again. He also has ideas for a slew of other local programming, such as a morning variety show, a daily teen program and a prime-time talk show with Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove).

“I’ve got some strange formulas ready to go, ideas that are a little offbeat,” Boone said. “Time will work in my favor and eventually we will get these programs activated. I want it to be an absolute fingerprint of Orange County.”

KDOC still has several local programs on its schedule, including occasional basketball games from Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine and will continue to produce a handful of documentaries on Orange County issues each year. (A documentary on drug and alcohol abuse among teen-agers won a National Assn. of Broadcasters Service to Children Award last September. It had been an episode of “Request Video,” also a victim of cutbacks at the station.)

“Every station tries to do something different to gain an edge,” said George A. Mastroianni, a communications professor at Cal State Fullerton. “A station needs an identity. You have got to sell something distinctive.”

KDOC’s latest programming strategy grew out of simple economics: It had to make do with what it had.

Velona “has proven to be a sharp marketer and administrator,” Boone said. “He knows what would get a segment of the audience to us in the evening. Men can sit back, relax, get popcorn and maybe watch two or three action programs. If we can get various segments at one time, maybe we can get them to watch at other times.”

Its sports programming and the horse racing, both strong in male appeal, remain on the schedule. Media analysts say they also are cheaper to produce and require smaller production staffs. Last spring, in an effort to promote the lineup, KDOC inserted one-minute Hollywood Park racing highlights into the late afternoon schedule in addition to the 30-minute, prime-time highlights. The idea was to get fans to stay tuned throughout the day.

The station also found a measure of success in competing for reruns. But it has not been easy, considering that KDOC must bid for exclusive rights against deep-pocket independent stations in Los Angeles. “Murphy Brown,” which airs on KTLA-TV, costs about $4,000 to $5,000 per show, while KDOC’s “The Rifleman,” which airs at 7 p.m., probably costs about $20 per episode, a media analyst said.

Not that all of KDOC’s lineup looks like retro 1960s. Velona acquired “Hill Street Blues” in 1991. Although a winner of 26 Emmy awards when it aired on NBC from 1981 to 1987, the series was a disappointment when it first began syndication in 1988. Analysts say KDOC got the show at a much cheaper rate than five years ago, when stations in markets such as Los Angeles were paying about $4,000 to $5,000 for each episode aired. And even though the latest numbers show that “Hill Street” attracts fewer viewers than “Perry Mason” reruns, it still has an appeal to an urban, male audience.

“For me to get that kind of quality product is a coup,” Velona said. “These are not the best of times in the syndication business. You can get some very, very good and attractive offers.”

Velona also bought reruns of “St. Elsewhere,” another critically acclaimed show, and said he is close to a deal on another show, although he declined to identify it.

Before joining KDOC, Velona was general manager of KHJ-TV until the Walt Disney Co. bought it from RKO General in 1989 and renamed it KCAL. After a couple of years in the syndication business, he joined KDOC, which had a programming budget that was “infinitesimal” compared to that of his previous employer, Velona said. But the new job allowed him to stay in Southern California. He also drew on his syndication contacts to make better deals for reruns.

“There aren’t too many executives with that kind of capability in programming,” Vrba said. “He has done an admirable job. Something like ‘Hill Street Blues’ and ‘St. Elsewhere’--that will stand up to Madison Avenue.”

Even so, analysts say the cost for a 30-second spot at KDOC has not changed much over the years.

“I guess a lot of people are surprised they are still surviving,” Mastroianni said. “I’m sure it’s a struggle. It’s a murderous market.”

Velona said the station is more profitable than in years past, but would not provide specific figures. However, industry analysts say that a station that size and with its audience would likely have annual sales of about $10 million, compared to about $150 million for a larger independent such as KTLA.

Paid programming, such as religious shows and infomercials, makes up about 25% of KDOC’s schedule and is a major source of revenue for the station. (KDOC is the only commercial station in the Southland market with a regular 30-minute weekday slot for infomercials during prime time, at 8:30 p.m.)

Velona said the station also cuts costs where it can. It stopped subscribing to a ratings service last year, although Nielsen and other services still compile audience numbers for comparative purposes. Now many advertisers, such as health clubs or aluminum siding manufacturers, instead depend on the level of response they get from those using the toll-free telephone numbers included in their ads.

Velona, meanwhile, said he does not plan to get carried away in a demographic derby. He is still on the lookout for the latest deals for fairly recent reruns, regardless of their appeal to men. Reruns of “Newhart,” the 1982-91 comedy starring Bob Newhart, will debut on KDOC this fall, perhaps taking the place of “Hogan’s Heroes” at 7:30 p.m. If that takes off, the thematic nature of the station could shift again to seeking a broader audience.

“Niche programming fell into what was available,” he said. “But it changes according to what is out there. You have to make the best with what you have.”

Tuning in KDOC-TV Channel 56 Location: Anaheim Parent company: Golden Orange Broadcasting Major Owners: Entertainment Pat Boone Former Westminster Mayor Calvin C. Brack Former Los Angeles FBI chief special agent William Simon Annual Sales: $5 million to $10 million First Broadcast: October, 1982 Market: Estimated 5 million homes in portions of Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Cable Systems: 63 in Southern California; 1.6 million subscribers

Average number of Most popular programs homes per day “Hogan’s Heroes” 52,000 “Horse Racing” 51,000 “The Rifleman” 48,000 “COMBAT” 48,000 “Hill Street Blues” 48,000

PROGRAMMING FOR MEN The majority of KDOC’s original programming appeals primarily to men, with the exception of “Pet Place” and “Froozles,” a children’s program. Average number of daily viewers: Program “Hot Seat With Wally George” (talk show) Men *: 11,000 Women: 6000 Program “Horse Racing” (highlights from local tracks) Men *: 32,000 Women: 22,000 Program “Southland Today” (news magazine talk show) Men *: 8,000 Women: 7,000 Program “Pet Place” (animals for adoption) Men *: 8,000 Women: 14,000 * Viewer estimates 1991-92, most recent available Source: KDOC-TV, Database Publishing Co., Arbitron, Litaker Research. Researched by TED JOHNSON and JANICE L. JONES/Los Angeles Times