The local Fox

Like every competent salesman, Dan Cohen has his pitch memorized.

He knows what to do when a potential customer is basing his or her buying decision on cold statistics. He draws a picture, picking up any scrap of paper he can find. In this case, it's a stranded business card lying atop a broad mahogany conference table.

He sketches a pair of circles. One represents his company, KDSM Fox-17. The other is KCCI-TV 8, the top-rated station in Des Moines -- and therefore, one would think, the better destination for your advertising dollars, even though it's more costly.

Not so, says Cohen, former sales manager at KDSM and now general manager of KBSI, a Fox affiliate in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

"The target demographic you want to hit is that 18-49-year-old," he explains, dividing both circles into pie charts. About 75 percent of our viewers are in that demographic. But less than half of theirs is."

But their 18-49-year-old audience is still larger than KDSM's, right?

"That's true, but the rest of their audience." he continues, pointing to the other half of the circle, "is that over-55 demographic, and you don't want to reach them because they've already established brand loyalty. They're not changing their minds. It's a waste to try to reach them.

"Our other 25 percent, on the other hand, is the 12-17 demographic. You get that as a bonus."

Since becoming a Fox network affiliate in 1987, KDSM has become a major player in the local television market. Even though its ratings don't quite...