As if driving in Los Angeles weren’t treacherous enough, KCBS is giving viewers another reason to stay off the roads.
On April 28, the CBS-owned station will debut a two-part investigative series exposing the driving records of Los Angeles County bus drivers.
KCBS says many of the LA County Metropolitan Transit Authority’s drivers have suspended licenses and convictions for drunk driving.
The exposé comes just in time for night one of May sweeps.
In theory, headline-grabbing exposés like this were supposed to be sprinkled through the year, rather than just the November, February and May rating periods, when TV markets transition to Nielsen’s new electronic ratings system, the Local People Meter (LPMs), which report demographic information daily.
The new system has been operating in Los Angeles for a year, but stations are still loading up their best programming and promotions during sweeps.
After all, the networks have kept up special programming for sweeps and most of the 210 Nielsen-rated TV markets still only get demographic ratings data – the currency for ad sales – during sweeps periods.
Among CBS’ May sweeps highlights will be the finale of Everybody Loves Raymond and an Elvis movie.
For its “Bus-ted!” series, KCBS has obtained driving records for more than 4,500 bus drivers after a three-year legal fight.
The station says the transit authority “had fought to keep secret” information on “local bus drivers with backgrounds that include multiple suspensions of their driver's licenses, collisions that led to fatalities, and, in a number of cases, convictions for driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
Part two of the series, by KCBS reporter David Goldstein, will air April 29 on the 11 p.m. news.
