I will use this space today to thank YOU for making ABC 33/40 News number one at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 nightly. The November ratings period ended on Wednesday, and since Birmingham is a “metered” market now, we don’t have to wait on ratings results. Our morning program, Good Morning Alabama, also had a great ratings period; it was the only local morning newscast to show growth from both May 2004 and November 2003. We are humbled by this and we thank you for watching. We understand the responsibility that comes with being the market leader for news and weather, and we promise to keep working hard to maintain your trust. There are many options available these days for getting news, which is another reason to thank you for joining us.

For those of you who are new to the area, ABC 33/40 is only eight years old. In 1996, WBRC, Channel 6, changed network affiliation from ABC to Fox, and Allbritton Communications was awarded the ABC affiliation for the Birmingham market. Allbritton purchased WCFT, Channel 33, in Tuscaloosa, and WJSU, Channel 40, in Anniston, and opened a central facility for the new station in the Riverchase section of Hoover. The two transmission towers were moved closer to Birmingham; Channel 33 on a monstrous 2,000 foot tower north of Tuscaloosa near the Warrior River, and Channel 40 high atop Bald Rock mountain near Leeds. The station signed on the air on the first day of September in 1996.

There were plenty of skepticism in the industry; lots of people thought two “little country UHF stations” without a transmitter in the city of Birmingham could not compete with the established stations on Red Mountain. Here we are in 2004 and the ratings speak for themselves. Again, thanks for allowing us in your home nightly!

The frost was already heavy when Little Miss Molly and I took a midnight walk. Same story on our early morning walk today. But that did not discourage that little ball of energy. Zip here, zip there, change directions, go backwards, you name it. I have to be constantly on guard to adjust to her to avoid whiplash. I barely avoided whiplash this morning when a mockingbird flew low over our heads. Molly jumped up and pawed at it even though it was 10 feet over her head. Then she took off after it and almost jerked me backwards.

Her tiny nostrils are only about the size of the opening in the tip of a ballpoint pen, so it is a mystery how she can be going at breakneck speed with her nose skimming the cold grass and still pick up all the scents. One of these days she is going to misjudge and burrow her nose into the ground and turn a flip. I will die laughing when she does. This morning we met another shih-tsu on the walking track. They briefly kissed and kept going.

When we got back home, I had to get out a bunch of garbage and recycle stuff to the curb. I left the garage door open very briefly, but during that brief time Molly saw the shih-tzu pass by again. She came racing out through the garage and across the driveway so fast that her tail was sticking straight out. She wanted to rub noses with the doggie again. She also looked "fancy free" because she had escaped without a leash. Wish I had a 50-acre fenced in area to turn her loose...another late bedtime last night. After our midnight walk, we did not fall asleep until almost 2:00 a.m. Molly would make an excellent "weather dog" because the mixed up hours don't seem to bother her. Life goes on.

The temperature finally dropped to freezing at Birmingham Airport for the first time this season. This is not the latest "first freeze" on record but it was getting close. Here is a roundup of this morning's low temperatures in a number of regions: (UPDATED AT 1 PM PM to include additional reports, including some new low temperatures from the Southern Appalachians plus a new national low from Colorado)

ALABAMA
24 in Valley Head and Florence (Central Heights)
25 in Black Creek (NE Etowah County) and Hackneyville
26 in Pinson, Russellville and Desoto State Park
27 in Decatur, Fort Payne, Hartselle, Jasper, Talladega, Heflin, Scottsboro
and at Russell Cave National Monument
28 in Huntsville, Muscle Shoals, Meridianville, Muscle
Shoals, Cottondale, Weaver, Center Point, Vinemont
29 in Anniston, Alabaster, Smokerise, Helena, Oak Grove, Empire (another
report 28 in Helena)
30 in Anniston, Tuscaloosa, Cullman, Unniversity of Alabama/Huntsville
and Alexander City
31 at Birmingham, Shelby County Airport, Oxford, Clanton
and Union Springs

REGIONAL
17 in Mountain City, Tenn.
18 at Banner Elk, N. C.
24 at Beech Mountain, N. C.
23 at Asheville and Franklin, N. C.
21 at Spruce Pine and Mt. Mitchell, N. C.
20 atop Mt. LeConte in Great Smoky Mountain National Park

NATIONAL
-33 at Antero Reservoir, Colo.
-24 in Gunnison, Colo., over on the West Slope
-11 at Barrow Alaksa, windy, with wind chill -38
We do not get a report from traditional cold spot Fraser, Colo., till late in the day but yesterday they had -25.

ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM ABC 33/40 WEATHER WATCHERS
...from Black Creek: "huge frost with the 25 low and freezing fog in trees.
...from Hartselle: "Heavy frost with dense fog"
...from Smokerise: "29 with frost but the frost was very heavy in the lower elevations and very pretty" (His station is not in the valley)