The July ratings are due this week in Savannah, Ga., the 97th DMA. And they'll deliver the first tangible verdict on whether WJCL-WTGS News Director Michael Sullivan is a mad genius — or just plain crazy.

Sullivan is the news director who agreed to let a reality show follow his reporters and shooters around for six months. The result was 13 hour-long episodes of Making News Savannah Style, which airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on the TV Guide Channel.

Like making sausage, news making is a process that rarely benefits from harsh outside scrutiny. Most news directors would sooner gnaw off a limb than permit such coverage. And Michael Sullivan can't even claim ignorance. This is the show's second season. What was he thinking?

"You have to understand that we were a solid third place in the market," Sullivan says. "That's the lowest news rating for any ABC affiliate in the country," (Or "the 198th Best Local News Station," as the cable network says on its Hollywood Boulevard billboard.)

"I figured you can't fall off the floor," says Sullivan. "The outside cameras meant extra publicity and some positive pressure, which could only help."

Not that the ABC-Fox duopoly needed more challenges. Although new owner New Vision Television was planning a massive equipment upgrade, the newsroom was still patching together an ancient load of DVP-Pro cameras, some purchased in 1995. Equipment failure would become a recurring theme of the reality show.

But Sullivan also saw an added "reality" — a possible shortcut out of last place. "I knew it would focus our team-building. Everyone was aware of being observed and I coached them to be as open and honest as possible. And this enhanced the candor of our real interactions."

Sullivan's confidence was more than a hunch. A 15-year resident of the region, Sullivan previously was news director of Savannah's NBC affiliate, WSAV. And although he'd been at WJCL-WTGS only a few weeks, he had personally hired about a third of his staff during his first tour of duty as news director, between 2003 and 2006.

Some of the "stars" of TV Guide's docu-reality show (l-r): Wendy McNew, Jennifer Beale, Jason Davis, Michael Sullivan, Frank Sulkowski, Stephanie Simoni and Danielle Powell.

That gig ended suddenly when Sullivan and the sales manager were suddenly "whacked" by then VP-GM Mitchell Mound. The reasons were obscure at the time, but gradually became clear as Mound was indicted and convicted for embezzlement.

Meanwhile, Sullivan was already consulting for New Vision at its newsrooms in Youngstown, Ohio; Mason City, Iowa; and Birmingham, Ala. Quite coincidentally, after New Vision purchased his former Savannah duopoly, they offered him his old job back.

Sullivan accepted because "it's rare in our business to get the chance to finish something you started before." Besides, the Savannah region had become home. Sullivan has stayed active in civic affairs on scenic Tybee Island where his wife owns and operates an art gallery.

But while Savannah provides an idyllic setting, improving a newscast leaves little time for leisure. And the imminent arrival of the Nick Davis Productions' team gave Sullivan an excuse to establish some useful deadlines for sharpening everyone's skills on the air and behind the scenes.

"I knew I'd have three months to get people ready before the crews showed up," says Sullivan. "I hoped it would be a good growing experience," especially for his young reporters, for many of whom this was a first job.

In fact, training and retaining young talent became another recurring theme of Making News Savannah Style. And each time a fledgling reporter was seen screwing up, Michael Sullivan proved to be the polar opposite of Michael Scott, Steve Carell's character in NBC's The Office. Time and again we see him transform the urge to kill into a "teaching moment."

Undaunted by their last-place status in a market long-dominated by CBS affiliate WTOC, Sullivan's team show themselves to be resilient and resourceful. "We all chase the same stories," says Sullivan. "It comes down to presentation. We've got fewer resources, but more imagination."

Sullivan and his station had no say in the editing of Making News and no money changed hands. But there were immediate benefits, especially in the form of advance publicity in the local papers.

"Since October, our late news has come out of hash marks. We've gone from a near zero to a 1 rating," says Sullivan. "So right away they gave us something to build on."

Sullivan has been building, partly by hiring on-air talent familiar to the market like morning anchor Lyndy Brannen and sports anchor Jesse Blanco.

On the other hand, Making News also revealed plenty of arguments, griping and candid comments about how nice it might be to work elsewhere, especially in a larger market. In other words, it was business as overheard in every newsroom since the invention of movable type.

But, despite signing their rights away, Sullivan gives the Nick Davis Productions and executive producer Steve Bronstein high marks for integrity and professional courtesy. It was agreed that personal — and personnel — issues were off-limits. There was even a hand-signal station staffers could use to take themselves off camera.

When cameras captured Sullivan popping pills at his desk, he sheepishly explained that he was only following wifely orders by taking his daily vitamins. After sharing a laugh, the footage was never used.

That left plenty of stories to tell, including the newsroom pulling together to cover the aftermath of a tragic explosion in a local sugar refinery.

Entertainment reporter Jennifer Beale jumps into hard news mode when Savannah's St. Patrick's Day parties fall victim to a power blackout, reporter Wendy McNew tries not to flirt with a National Guard captain while shooting a feature story and pregnant producer Danielle Powell is ordered out of the newsroom and off her feet by her obstetrician.

We also see crime reporter Jason Davis resign to head for greener pastures, while sports director Frank Sulkowski, with a new baby at home, signs a new five-year contract. Without any fanfare, that moment feels like a victory for Sullivan's scrappy little team. Damned if you don't find yourself rooting for them at every turn.

That's a sentiment that Sullivan is banking on.

"We have research from years ago showing there's local pride in WJCL," whose call letters come from its founder, J.C. Lewis, a beloved local leader. "We did a lot of promotion on our own air about Making News to bring viewers closer to the process of covering their town. We had our anchors address some of our issues on the air. We even turned our cameras on the Making News crews."

In this Wednesday's penultimate episode, according to TV Guide, "Police get involved when reporter Candace McCowan and cameraman Nate Nauert receive a mysterious note while working a case about a missing couple."

It was a real problem, says Sullivan. "The note was left on our news vehicle windshield, which made it a protected source. We refused to give it to the police until we finished our story, but you'll see us debating whether we're really impeding the investigation."

I won't give away the outcome, but suffice it to say, the end result was a classic "teaching moment" for Sullivan and his young cadre of reporters. Someday Sullivan hopes to make a career of such moments.

"I'd love to teach a course in "emotional honesty in reporting and train young reporters to discover their own biases and to look past them. It's important to learn how our blind spots can limit story research and reinforce stereotypes."

While Making News hardly rivals The Closer for cable ratings, it's one of the TV Guide's best-known shows and a likely candidate for renewal. With two episodes left this season, news directors around the country are already contacting Sullivan, asking whether to volunteer for season three.

Sullivan's answer is professional and to the point. "It depends. Does the show fit your style and marketing needs? Six months is a long haul. If you're the kind of operation that goes crazy because the screen goes black, then please don't do this. But if you're loose enough to let others see you bounce back from your mistakes, this might be for you."

We'll report next week whether Sullivan's faith was rewarded or punished by the July book. Either way, Sullivan is relentlessly optimistic. "Hey, by January. we'll be Savannah's first high-def newscast. We already have something new to promote."

Market Share by Arthur Greenwald showcases innovative station promotions every Monday in TVNewsday. Share one of your own success stories by writing to Arthur at greenwald@tvnewsday.com.