If 2005’s state championship Saturday numbers were considered a touchdown by station officials, last fall’s must be a touchdown plus a successful two-point conversion.

The ratings for November’s weekend high school football tripleheader are in and – for the second consecutive year -Bangor television station WABI executives are giving each other high-fives over them.

“We’re very happy with them,” WABI program director Steve Hiltz said of the rating (percentage of total TV households, on or off) and share (percentage of TV viewers actually watching a particular program in a given time period) numbers. “From our perspective, I would say there’s a 90-percent-plus chance we’ll do it again. People really like seeing it and it’s doing really, really well ratings-wise, as well as with ad support and sponsorship.”

The overall numbers nearly equaled last year’s, thanks in large part to a stronger start with the early game than the previous year’s.

The 11 a.m. Class A title game between Lawrence of Fairfield and Gorham opened with a 4 rating and 27 share and peaked at 7 and 34, respectively, during the second hour (noon-1 p.m.). This means WABI’s share for the game peaked at approximately 18,000 households in its designated market area, which includes Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo, Hancock, and Washington counties.

The 2005 “A” game between Bonny Eagle of Standish and Mt. Blue of Farmington in the same slot opened at 1 and 8 and peaked at 12,000 households.

The 2:30 p.m. Class C game, a rematch of 2005’s game between Foxcroft Academy and Lisbon, opened with a 5 and 34 and grew to 6 and 29 (13,000 households). The year before, the “B” game between Brewer and York was the 2:30 game. That opened with a 3 and 15 and grew to a 6 and 27 (13,000 households).

The final game of Nov. 18 was the Class B contest between Winslow and Mountain Valley of Rumford, which didn’t end until 9 p.m. This game drew a 6 and 16 to start, but dwindled to a 4 and 12 (5,000 households) for the second hour and a 3 and 10 from 8 to 9 p.m.

The 2005 C game in this same time slot (6 p.m.) started at 12 and 33 (24,000), dropped to 10 and 27 (21,000), and finished at 5 and 15 (11,000).

“I’d say the overall numbers [for all three games together] are basically even,” said Hiltz. “It was a little stronger for our early game this year, but last year’s [2005] finish was stronger.”

“My impression is if we did it this year, it’s very likely we’ll do it again,” said Hiltz. “These numbers show that the interest and support remained the same and makes it worthwhile for us to do it.”

Hiltz also points out that there was no Greater Bangor team such as Bangor or Brewer involved last fall to boost ratings, although Lawrence is in WABI’s DMA.

The other key determinant for continued broadcasts – ad support – also remained strong.

“I believe we were virtually sold out this year,” Hiltz said. “I don’t believe I saw any in-house ads for us that would have run in place of unsold ad spots.”

With the first year’s tripleheader experience under their belts, WABI personnel were able to produce the 2006 games more efficiently and easily.

“We were pretty well prepared this year and it really went very smoothly, much more so than the first year,” Hiltz said. “It was a lot easier to put together.”

All things considered, it’s a good bet WABI will be kicking off a third annual tripleheader broadcast next November.

“We have a decision to make on that and we’ll be talking to the Maine Principals’ Association again,” he said. “We usually have until June to decide, but we try to get it done earlier. From my perspective, there’s a high probability we’ll do it again.”

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600, or at aneff@bangordailynews.net