Most likely still shocked and confused about whatever it was that happened at the end of The Oscars last night, dozens of Lexington residents accidentally tuned into ABC 36 News after the awards show ended, causing the news program to reach double digit viewers for the first time this year.
“I’ve always heard rumors there was a third news station in Lexington,” said one local viewer, “but I didn’t believe it until last night. The Oscars ended so crazily and abruptly, then all of a sudden there were people reading the news in front of what appeared to be a $40 green screen purchased at Big Lots.”
Another viewer simply couldn’t find her remote.
“I think the remote fell underneath my couch or something, so I was forced to watch the news broadcast on channel 36. It definitely didn’t look as fancy as the news you’ll find on LEX 18 or WKYT, but all the graphics looked pretty good considering they were done in Microsoft Paint,” she told us.
“I only watch the last 15 minutes of the Oscars every year, because that’s when all the good stuff happens,” said a man who watched the entire Daytona 500 from start to finish. “Going from that absurd Oscars ending to what looked like teenagers reading the news made for a really surreal television experience. I might start watching ABC 36 News more often though, it really brought back memories of my childhood, when news stations used dial-up internet and Windows 95. The broadcast had a real ‘America Online’ feel to it.”
The spike in viewers caused ABC 36 to hit a three year high in the Nelson ratings, a television ratings system compiled by Lexington resident Cathy Nelson using a digital antenna she bought at a yard sale.
“According to my calculations, they didn’t quite reach the ratings of Me TV or Ion Television, but they were right on par with that channel that’s just a screen of a weather map. And they slightly surpassed that PBS channel that only comes in if the sky is clear, which you can actually determine by watching that channel that’s just a screen of a weather map,” Cathy Nelson told us.