Content Survey Live: U.S.A. Pool 2, Night 2: The Content Survey Rumble.

 This is Kuttsywood's Couch, and we've been on a mission.
Content Survey Live U.S.A. (better than fishing).
Five cities down, without even a stumble...
Tonight Minneapolis does the Content Survey Rumble...

(Sorry Verne.)

Welcome to the second night: of the second pool of Content Survey Live U.S.A. Last night Los Angeles got in first with a 7.5/10, on a big news night leading with the local edge on a significant national news story, the big question tonight is whether Minneapolis (airing it's late news at the same time as the east coast (a 10pm start: 11pm ET) can pull a upset that somehow gets them there in the postseason.

As we reach out to the world in 2026 and beyond (a teaser for the future perhaps), we are emphasizing your safety on the internet in the age of AI. And, that is why we believe the best choice for a VPN (where you can lock in US pricing for your trip to the Mall Of America (to lament the absence of Hulk Hogan's Pastamania), or figuring out how to take advantage of the Minneapolis Aquatennial in summer, or just checking out pricing at Walmart/Target without leaving your house in Australia) is Surfshark VPN. A VPN can make your life a whole lot easier when organizing your next trip to Minneapolis (or St Paul if you are so inclined) in general, (or Australia, if reading from the US: we'll leave the shrimp out to defrost while you come across the Pacific). Follow our link, and it helps deliver better content for you, and drives the challenge home.

And, now: onto the ground rules.

THE GROUND RULES

Our focus, in Content Survey Live will be monitoring multiple news services over a significant timespan (a benefit of technological change, now allowing us to watch American news bulletins here in Australia), using a slight modification of the same criteria we used in the “Great Local News Study” from Kuttsy's Pitch XI in August, 2019 and in Content Survey Live between 2020 and 2024.

-Locally sourced stories: that is stories reported by local journos. Really big local market stories with national impacts, also fit here. Voiced over local stories are counted separately.

-Live crosses: stuff that is used to embellish a story.

-Weather and traffic reports are not counted.

-Sport stories are counted for one point if it’s a voiced over piece: but… if you have a reporter on the scene reporting on the event, it counts for two points. This sports reporting scoring system is a modified version of the “Ray Robinson Number” from the 2024 special event, and the 2025 edition of Content Survey Live, which was utilized to examine overnight news, and will be counted up at the end of the regular season as a special secondary achievement going to the market who has the highest sports score.

This number, will be named… the David Hill Number: in commemoration of the role Hill played in revolutionizing sports coverage in Australia (as VP for sport for Nine in the mid eighties), the United Kingdom (launching UK cable powerhouse Sky Sports) and in the US (the founding father of Fox Sports, whose innovations reshaped NFL and other sport coverage for the better).

In addition, all scores in 2026 will be reported in a new format: a ranking out of 10: David Hill Number (e.g. 5.8/10 and a David Hill Number of 3) rather than separating these figures out.

THE TALE OF THE TAPE... MINNEAPOLIS.
Minneapolis: a city too much in the news in recent months, but yet a market that has surprisingly decent major league sports support, in relatively new sporting venues. Infamously known as the headquarters for US retail chain Target, Minneapolis (and it's twin: St Paul, the state capital of Minnesota) is a city whose news could come from anywhere within a large radius (including state house stories from St Paul): along with a huge news generator in itself: the Mall of America.

It's 10pm, and WCCO's news is about to hit the airwaves. Are we going to find out tonight that the words of The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme still ring true: is Minneapolis going to make it (into the post season that is)... after all?

We open tonight's news with live crosses and full stories concerning the two biggest stories of the day in the Twin Cities: childcare fraud raids, and the final State of The State address by Tim Walz in St Paul. We also get a fantastic piece about the history of the Minnesota State Flag (from a viewer suggestion no less)... that Australia needs to learn from for their own news purposes.

A good question indeed: love the journo/cammo credits here (something San Francisco is also known for).

A strong voiced over lineup, with background on the daycare fraud raids, a autism centre getting stung for fraud, sentencing of a school councilor over filming a student privately last year, Vikings Cheerleader auditions at the Mall of America (no, folks it doesn't count for the David Hill Number) and a incident where a ambulance crashed into a moose near Ely (the press release is here).

From California car chases last night to moose collisions... That's America, for you.

It could be worse: Sweden.

Now back to the task at hand. Sports coverage, tonight has the power turned way up, compared to LA. We get pieces on the Wild's race for a Stanley Cup dream on the road, a preview of the Timberwolves V Nuggets playoff run, Twins V Mariners being played in front of a crowd less packed in Minneapolis than any NRL game played in Australia last week (perhaps too many wanting to tune in for Walz's speech), Golden Gophers thrashing UST in college baseball, Vikings searching for new recruits post-Draft, and highlights of Minnesota United FC bowing out of the US Open Cup (American soccer's oldest prize: a knockout cup).

The two standout talents tonight: are sports anchor Mike Max (looks like the last of a dying breed of US sports presenter), and weather presenter (and Ray Combs/Pat Sajak doppelganger) Chris Shaffer, who incidentally, was celebrating a birthday yesterday Australian time/today US time: and what doesn't say "happy birthday" more, than a Australian doing a content survey on your news service.

Overall, tonight's bulletin hitting just as hard as LA's last night.

THE SCORES:

Three local stories.

Two live crosses.

Six voiced over pieces.

Seven sport pieces (each with a one point ranking for the David Hill Number).

Tonight's score: 7.5/10 with a David Hill Number of 7.

As we come into the halfway point of Pool 2, although Minneapolis and LA are tied at the top on 7.5/10 each, tonight's David Hill Number result for Minneapolis (three higher than LA last night) gives them the lead in the pool.

Boston and Houston have a challenge ahead. Score above 7.5/10 in survey (Boston, Friday AU time, Houston, Saturday AU time), and you'll likely secure the pool victory. Score 7.5/10, you'll have to have a sports segment better than Minneapolis tonight to win this pool.

This pool is live... until the very end for that post season spot.

AMERICA, YOUR SEASON LAUNCH IS READY.

6. Great Moments, CBS 1982-83.

The two word teaser, last night is important. Because, it had been tried the previous season: by CBS. For them, “Great Moments”, was looking back at the past, as one more great moment came for them: the end of M*A*S*H: the moment the 4077th, said “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” to a series that lasted far longer than it’s subject matter: the Korean War, in Feburary 1983.

That single episode still stands as the most watched individual episode of any American TV series: it actually eclipsed another CBS buildup effort: the revelation of who shot J.R. Ewing on Dallas in November 1980, to get that lofty perch.

CBS even went to the effort of offering advertisers for the M*A*S*H finale, ad prices higher than Superbowl XVII on NBC.

But for a waning CBS: now with some of it’s headliners gone, would face a uphill battle against a Tartikoff-energized NBC for the next two years.

Well, we are now at the halfway mark for Pool 2. Friday night (Australian time, Thursday US time): we arrive for a brief moment, on the US east coast again: this time with a market that knows how to sell it's heritage, through a station that has a legacy that runs just as deep.

The birthplace of the American Revolution... is about to go under the content survey of it's life.

Boston... are you ready for some content survey?

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