Rose Parade Ratings: Bob and Stephanie Do It Again, As KTLA is Down Vs. Last Year But Still Dominates

Here's why KTLA was silly a few years ago to try and marginalize Stephanie Edwards off its coverage of the Tournament of Roses Parade: You don't mess with success. And KTLA continues to OWN the Rose Parade coverage in Los Angeles. No one else even comes close. Here's how the live coverage broke down on New Year's Day from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.:

KTLA -- 1.3 million
KABC -- 264,000
KNBC -- 105,000
(CBS stopped airing the Rose Parade in 2005.)

KTLA's ratings are town a tick from last year (1.4 million), but still solid. Kudos to KTLA, but I must admit, I was disappointed to see Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards on their best behavior this year. Normally, part of the fun of the KTLA broadcast is catching the subtle passive aggressive jabs between the two, much like an old married couple. (They've been doing this for more than 30 years, after all.) But this year, the Bickersons seemed rather subdued, and if there were any juicy Bob/Stephanie moments, I missed them. (To be fair, I remember writing last year about how they played nice as well.)

KTLA airs the Tournament of Roses Parade throughout the day, and subsequent airings are also ratings hits. Here's how the rerun numbers broke down:

Encore 1 (10 am-12:30pm): 991,000
Encore 2 (12:30-3 pm): 373,000
Encore 3 (3-5:30 pm: 171,000
Encore 4 (Primetime 7:30-10pm): 113,000

By that last encore, viewers are pretty much done with the parade. KABC, KCBS and KCAL all beat the station in primetime.

Meanwhile, did you miss the parade? Here's a 3-minute time lapse of the entire event, via Los Angeles News Group photographer Dean Musgrove. H/t to LA Observed for this link:



Oh, you wanna watch the entire 2-hour show? KTLA has video here.

Darn: Stephanie Edwards and Bob Eubanks Play Nice This Year

It's the other Tournament of Roses tradition: Keeping an eye and ear out any for passive aggressive asides by Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards during KTLA's annual Rose Parade coverage. The two Bickersons will occasionally make a snide remark about the other one during the parade... but this year, it seems like they behaved themselves. There was so little mention on Twitter this Tuesday morning that I figured it was uneventful. And it sounds like I was pretty much right. Bob Timmermann wrote on Twitter that the duo offered up "nothing too outrageous. Except Bob didn't know that marching bands don't have strings and woodwinds." Another commenter, @MrTvEditor, writes that "My mother thought Stephanie was having denture issues at some points." Happy New Year!

Stephanie Edwards and Bob Eubanks on Their 30 Years as Rose Parade Hosts

It's been 30 years since Stephanie Edwards and Bob Eubanks began hosting the Tournament of Roses Parade together for KTLA (interrupted, of course, by KTLA's infamous decision to bench Edwards a few years ago). KTLA continues to dominate the Rose Parade coverage here in L.A., and part of that is the mild bickering that takes place annually between Edwards and Eubanks, who aren't afraid to needle each other like an old married couple.

Yesterday, because Jan. 1 fell on a Sunday, KTLA had no Rose Parade to broadcast -- so it rebroadcast Edwards and Eubanks' first, from 1982. Meanwhile, Edwards and Eubanks recently sat down with the TV Academy to discuss their tenure as Rose Parade hosts:

Rose Parade Hosts Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards: Yeah, We're Old.

Given the Stephanie Edwards/Tournament of Roses Parade controversy earlier this decade, the KTLA spots promoting this year's parade coverage are quite surprising.

As you probably remember, Edwards' advancing age was to blame for KTLA's decision to replace her alongside Bob Eubanks in the mid-2000s. Edwards was eventually brought back to the parade thanks to overwhelming demand... and now, in this year's spots, both Eubanks and Edwards poke fun at, well, their advancing age. (In another spot, Edwards cracks that a float dedicated in their honor would be titled... wait for it.. "Day of the Dinosaurs.")

I kinda admire their willingness to poke fun at their ages... but still surprised KTLA was willing to center their Rose Parade marketing campaign on the idea that Eubanks and Edwards are, well, old. I guess KTLA's coverage so dominates the New Year's Day ratings (truly, no one comes close in the L.A. market) that it doesn't matter. (And these spots may even endear the duo -- who, it's always been rumored, didn't exactly play nice with each other -- to viewers.)

Stephanie Edwards Snubbed Again?

UPDATED: No, Stephanie Edwards fans, she wasn't snubbed. Read on below.

The Los Angeles Area Emmy Award nominees have just been announced, and NBC-owned KNBC (Channel 4) is tied with Fox-owned KTTV (Channel 11) for the most nominations, at 16 a piece.

Among the honorees at this year's local Emmys, to be held Aug. 30, is the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, which will receive this year's Governors Award.

Speaking of the Tournament of Roses, KTLA's annual coverage of the Tournament's famed parade has earned a nomination in the Outstanding Live Special Events (Programming) category. Among the names listed for the nomination: Host Bob Eubanks and contributor Michaela Pereira.

But not listed: Stephanie Edwards.

Here's who's up for that parade coverage Emmy:

"Tournament Of Roses Parade" -- KTLA5
Gracelyn Brown, Executive Producer
Joetta Di Bella, Producer
Bob Eubanks, Host
Doug Larson, Technical Director
Ira Lawson, Producer
Christie Lyn Lugo Leigh, Producer
Sarah de la O, Associate Director
Michaela Pereira, Host
Chris Reilly, Producer
Beth Stiller, Director

No room for Stephanie? An Academy spokesperson told me it wasn't a mistake on their end; Edwards was not on the list of nominees submitted to the organization.

That's because the eligibility for the local Emmys stretched from Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2008. In other words, it wasn't this past year's Tournament of Roses Parade that was nominated, but the one that aired a year and a half ago. The one that ran seven months ago, featuring Stephanie back in the booth, won't be eligible until next year.

Edwards made her big return to the parade in 2009, joining Eubanks once again as co-host after having been demoted a few years earlier (before disappearing all together).

Here's more on the nominations:

KNBC actually has a slight leg up on KTTV thanks to the first-ever local Emmy nom for a digital subchannel.

KNBC's secondary channel 4.2, which airs raw news footage during most weekdays (and weather forecasts at other hours), earned an Emmy nomination in the live special events (news) category.

Known as News Raw 4.2, the service picked up the nom for its 2008 Election Night coverage. KNBC's regular Channel 4 news team is also behind the Channel 4.2 programming -- which means, added together, KNBC actually earned 17 noms.

In third place, CBS' combined KCBS/KCAL duopoly earned 13 nominations, while PBS outfit KCET was next with 10. FSN Prime Ticket earned seven, tied with Tribune's KTLA and public access outlet L.A. Cityview 35.

As usual, ABC-owned KABC declined to submit itself for any categories, leaving a handful of station staffers to do so themselves -- which is why the outlet earned only five noms, tied with Univision's KMEX and Telemundo's KVEA.

The Tournament of Roses picked up the Governors Award in recognition of its 120th anniversary -- and its more than 60 years of broadcasting. The Rose Parade has earned 11 L.A. Area Emmys through the years.
...

Other notable nominees include recently retired KNBC anchor Paul Moyer, who is competing in the serious news story-single report category for his "Judge's Pay."

In key categories, KMEX's Horacio Cervantes will face off against KTLA's Deborah Wilkinson for news director, while KNBC's Mary Harris competes with KTTV's Bob Tarlau for news writer.

The hard news reporting category is a competish between KNBC's Ana Garcia and Fred Mamoun; KNBC's Joel Grover and Matt Goldberg; and KTLA's Chip Yost. In sports reporting, FSN West/Prime Ticket's Patrick O'Neal is up against KABC's Curt Sandoval and Dae Ho Suk.

Coverage of the September's terrible Metrolink crash earned two nominations in the Live Coverage of an Unscheduled News Event category, one for KTTV and one for KCBS/KCAL.

The Return of Stephanie Edwards: A Tournament of Roses Parade Recap

Yup, she's back: Longtime TV host Stephanie Edwards, who had handled the Tournament of Roses Parade alongside Bob Eubanks for years, was shoved aside a few years ago in favor of KTLA morning host Michaela Pereira. After two years of viewer complaints, Stephanie was back on the KTLA show beside Bob this year, while Pereira was the one stuck in the stands.

The telecast began with Edwards addressing talk that the two actually hate each other: "People write in all the time and ask if we like each other," he said. "The answer is no... we love each other!"

Oh, gag. I'm not buyin' it.

As for the return of Stephanie... well, two years out of the booth, and she was a bit rusty.



Honda's "Asimo" robot kicked off the show. Sitting in our Glendale HQ, I waited and waited for the fighter jets that normally kick off the parade. I got Evan all excited -- in years past, the jets have buzzed right over our home on the way to Pasadena. But this year, nothing. The 4-year-old figured I was full of crap.



This year's theme: "Hats Off To Entertainment." There's something strangely pure and wholesome about the Tournament of Roses Parade; in this cynical age, it's almost hard to accept its sunny ethos. But what the hell, it's the start of a new year.



There's Michaela, who tried to put the best face on her demotion. "I got the best seats in the house," she kept telling us. Sorry, we didn't believe Stephanie when she tried to tell viewers the same thing two years ago.

Stephanie Edwards Accepts KTLA's Rose

Good news for Stephanie Edwards fans: According to the L.A. Times, the host will be back alongside Bob Eubanks on next year's coverage of the 2009 Tournament of Roses Parade.

Edwards, of course, was demoted in 2006 and replaced by "KTLA Morning News" anchor Michaela Pereira. The paper writes:

“The people at the station thought it was a great idea, and Stephanie thought it was a great idea,” said station spokesman Paul Nichols.

She will be reunited with co-host Bob Eubanks for the parade.

KTLA was heavily criticized in 2006 when the then-63-year-old Edwards was replaced in the broadcast booth by KTLA Morning News co-anchor Michaela Pereira, who was much younger. Edwards was confined to a sideline role interviewing crowd members.

The controversy increased when she was soaked by rain during the parade. Edwards has not appeared on the broadcast since 2006.

Check out past Stephanie Edwards posts here.

Retro Friday: Stephanie Edwards and "Monty Python"

Before "Good Morning America," there was "A.M. America," ABC's short-lived morning show hosted by Bill Beutel and Stephanie Edwards. In this 1975 clip, Beutel is out, but the cast of "Monty Python" joins Edwards to co-host on the set. If that's not surreal enough for you (and trust me, it's surreal), the mayhem is contrasted by a somber Peter Jennings, who anchors the morning show's newscast -- and reports the impending collapse of Saigon.

Retro Friday: Lucky Trade School Kids, Lucky Supermarket

Wow, had I seen this commercial as a kid, I might have enrolled in the "Video Technical Institute" instead of Northwestern. After all, their future's so bright, they gotta wear shades, apparently. YouTube user Cubbie72 taped this ad off KTLA in 1987.

Now, a bonus Retro Friday clip:



Oh, if only Stephanie Edwards could still assist us in grocery store selection. Here's a Lucky ad from 1987, referencing several other defunct supermarkets (such as Alpha Beta) as well. Meanwhile, as you remember we wrote last year, Lucky isn't quite dead -- a few stores with the Lucky name have reopened in the past year or two. But the brand as we once knew it is still pretty much gone.