Simpson Trial Lifts Ratings of TV Stations : Coverage: Overall viewership is up 13% in L.A., with KTLA leading the pack. CNN and E! audiences have also grown dramatically with their gavel-to-gavel reporting.

Coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial is boosting ratings at networks and local television stations, with increasing numbers of viewers tuning in to live coverage during the day and to special trial wrap-up shows in the evening, television executives said Friday.

Overall viewership in Los Angeles from Jan. 24--the official start of the trial’s opening statements--through Thursday went up about 13% over the same period last year, according to research figures from KTLA Channel 5, which has benefited the most from the viewer increase because of its gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial.

Influencing the increase are daily summary shows that are attracting more viewers than regular programming. These include KTTV Channel 11’s “Simpson: Day in Court” at noon and KNBC Channel 4’s “O.J. Simpson: The Trial,” which airs at 7:30 p.m.

The trial also is having a huge impact on CNN and the E! Entertainment Network, which also are providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of the proceedings. CNN officials said their daily ratings are about eight times as high as their usual daytime numbers. E! officials said their daytime audience has tripled and their nighttime audience has doubled since the beginning of the trial.

In addition, ABC’s “Nightline,” which has devoted several nights to the trial, is getting higher ratings since Jan. 24 than its late-night competition--CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” and NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.”

“The Simpson trial probably has brought viewers to ‘Nightline’ who otherwise might not be watching it,” said the show’s executive producer, Tom Bettag. “We’ve made changes in the show over the past several years, and people who might not have tuned in for a while, I think, are watching Simpson and then coming back again another night to see the show.”

Bob Furnad, executive vice president and senior executive producer for CNN, said he had mixed feelings about the response the Simpson story is getting.

“We’re getting high ratings for our trial coverage, and all of our other shows, even on the weekend, are benefiting,” Furnad said. “But, while this is a good news story and obviously one of high interest, it’s not one of those stories that as a journalist you necessarily feel deserves the audience thirst it’s getting. I’d like to see us get high numbers for covering the revolt in Moscow or the war in Bosnia, stories that affect many people’s lives. But this is clearly a story that people are thirsty for.”

Court TV is also providing gavel-to-gavel coverage, but executives said they do not release ratings of individual trials.

Among local stations, KTLA continues to dominate in the daytime, with a 5.8 rating, followed by a 5.7 for KNBC and a 5.4 for KABC Channel 7. Each rating point represents 49,362 homes locally.

“More people are tuning in to television, especially in the morning,” said a KCBS Channel 2 research official. “In the afternoon, they tend to go back to their talk shows and soaps.”

But even though they are pleased, station officials said they are becoming increasingly frustrated with covering the trial.

Before the trial started, most station executives had said they would use hourly updates as a way of keeping viewers apprised of the proceedings without interrupting regular programming. However, since the trial’s start, many stations have jumped in and out of live coverage almost at a moment’s notice, cutting into soap operas and talk shows.

Stations began cutting in with more live coverage when they discovered how popular KTLA was with continuous coverage, several insiders said.

“What we’re trying to do is to be all things to all audiences, and it’s very tough,” said KCBS General Manager William Applegate. . . . It’s clumsy for the station operators and the networks, and it’s certainly clumsy for the audience, because they don’t know what’s going to be on.”