I was the general manager of the local TV station in a small market. I was also the producer of the 5-8 am news, a segment that should be a profitable endeavor. Our viewership numbers were lagging behind the three other competing channels in the market, and it wasn't close. The other three channels were running anywhere from a 4.7 rating to a 6.5. We were running at 2.7. Viewership equals advertising dollars. We had done everything. A new set. New graphics. TV news is a take-no-prisoners, cut-throat world. TV stations in any town will do anything possible for ratings. I was at my wits end.
We had great on-air personalities. We had two anchors, a male and a female, and a female meteorologist. They were all pleasant on the eyes. Dan, our male anchor, looked like a Ken doll. His co-anchor, Ashley, I would compare to Kaley Cuoco of "Big Bang" fame. She was a finalist in our state pageant for the national title. 5' 8" with an athletic build and long, blonde hair. Our weather girl, Jenny, was more voluptuous than Ashley. She stood 5' 6" with 38DD-24-36 curves and long, brown, curly hair. I had heard rumors that both girls could be "had" fairly easily, but I had never tested the waters personally in order to maintain a professional relationship.
On a typical Tuesday we were having our typical newscast when it happened.
At 6:15, Jenny was going over the weather patterns and forecast. She looked stunning. But she always did. Today she was wearing a tight, knee length dress with red heels. The dress had a zipper all the way up the front, just up to her breasts. It stopped there, showing just enough cleavage to drive the men wild.
She turned to face the camera when suddenly the studio was filled with a large tearing sound. The seam of Jenny's zipper completely ripped apart from her breast to her waist! The dress flew open like barn doors and her breasts were the proverbial horses racing out the doors. Her lacy red bra was on full display.
Ahhh, the joys of live television! The air left the room. Jenny froze for a moment, then looked down at the remains of the dress. She quickly tried bringing the zipper back up, but it was no use. The dress was hanging on by its shoulder straps.
Jenny realized it was no use. Then, like the pro she is, she quickly wrapped up her segment like nothing had happened.
Jenny threw it back over to Ashley and Dan. They were more than a little shocked at what had just happened, but recovered and the show moved on. When the 6:28 wrap up of the past half hour rolled around, Jenny rejoined the set wearing her street clothes. And that's how she finished the morning.
I thought we were finished. I thought I was finished. I got a call from the New York offices asking "what the hell happened" and reminded me of FCC standards. I promised it would never happen again. They made it very clear that it had better not happen again or heads would roll.
The Wednesday show was uneventful. But I got a call from New York later Wednesday morning. They said our numbers showed a slight uptick for the 7-8 am hour for Tuesday to a 2.8 and another uptick for Wednesday's show to 2.9. They wondered if Tuesday's wardrobe malfunction had anything to do with it. They wondered if word had gotten out and male viewers were hoping for another wardrobe malfunction. Now they were okay with what happened Tuesday! They wondered if I could arrange for another "malfunction" to test the theory. I told them I'd do what I could.
I let Thursday's show go on as normal. I checked the overnight numbers early Friday morning. They were back where they were Monday at 2.7, before the malfunction. Maybe they were right.
I went to Jenny before Friday's show and explained the theory to her.
"Let me get this straight. You're asking me to show my tits? Again?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, uh, yeah."
She glared at me. "And, if this so called theory is right, they'll want me to do it again?"
"Well, uh, yeah, I'd say that's a definite probability."
She thought about it. "What's in it for me?"
I scratched my chin. "Tell you what. If the numbers jump again, I'll call New York and go to bat for you. If they don't wanna play ball, I'll never ask you to do it again. Even if it means my job."
She stared at me. She knew I'd go to bat for her. It wouldn't be the first time I'd have run interference for my staff.
"Fine. I'll do it."
For this morning's show she wore a tight black pencil skirt that fell to knee length. The black high heels only emphasized her toned legs. Up top she wore a white satin blouse that buttoned up the front. It was so tight it looked like it was about two sizes too small. The top button landed in the upper portion of her ample cleavage.
The 6:30 segment rolled around. Still no wardrobe malfunction. Jenny began her full forecast at 6:45. About three-quarters of the way through it, she twisted towards the camera. The shirt exploded! The buttons were literally popped off of it, falling to the floor. The shirt flew wide open, revealing a lacy, sheer white bra.
Once again, jaws hit the floor. Jenny half-heartedly acted as if she was shocked. She barely made any effort at all to cover up. After pausing for full effect, she quickly wrapped up her segment and threw it over to the anchor desk.
Just as the other day, Dan and Ashley had stunned looks on their faces when the cameras hit them. But they quickly recovered and carried on with the show. For the rest of the broadcast, Jenny was wearing a different, much looser shirt.
I checked the overnight numbers on Saturday. Just as before, the 7-8 o'clock segment ticked up to a 2.8. I was anxious all weekend to see what the Monday numbers were.
Monday's show went off without a hitch. Once again, Tuesday revealed the numbers ticked back up to a 2.9 for Monday's show. Could it be?! I thought. New York called. They were desperate. They wanted a wardrobe malfunction to become a weekly "feature" of the show. I told them Jenny wasn't going to do it for nothing. They asked for a few hours to mull it over.
Late Monday afternoon I got a call from New York. I went to Jenny.
"The theory seems to be holding steady. We went from a 2.7 to a 2.9. New York says for every 10th of a point increase over 3.0 they're give you $1,000. And if we can take over the market there's a $10,000 bonus in it for you."
Jenny thought about it. I could see the dollar signs in her eyes. "Tell them to double it and it's a deal."
Monday and Tuesday's broadcasts were typical. We were back down to a 2.7. Then came Wednesday.
Jenny looked great. She was wearing a tight blue wrap-around dress that clung to every curve. I was on the edge of my seat every day and every segment waiting to see if she would actually do it. The 5-6 segment sailed past. As she was giving her 6:15 forecast I saw her give an ever-so-slight tug at her hip where the dress gathered together. If you weren't paying attention you'd have missed it.
The dress completely unraveled. From top to bottom, it flew open. She raised her arms in the air as if she was in shock, pulling it even further apart. She was full frontal to the camera. What the home audience saw was a lacy dark blue pushup bra with matching boy panties. She let it hang there for several moments, then finally pulled it closed. She finished the forecast with one hand holding the dress closed as best as she could while the other hand operated the clicker.
The 6-7 o'clock segment jumped to a 2.9. Thursday's show climbed to the magic 3.0. Friday's show came. 5-6, nothing. 6-7, nothing. I wondered if she was going to miss an opportunity.
Her 7:15 segment came up, her next-to-last segment of the week. She was wearing almost a duplicate blouse to the button-popping malfunction, only the shirt was much looser today. But something looked different with the skirt for this 7:15 segment. She had her back almost completely turned to the camera when it happened. The zipper flew down the crack of her heart shaped ass. With nothing left to hold it, the black skirt fell to the floor. She strategically decided to wear a thong today. Her tan, bare ass was pointed straight at the camera. She stood there for a moment, then almost too slowly bent over to pull the skirt back up, totally mooning the viewing audience. She finished she segment holding the skirt up with one hand.
The stunt happened too late in the show to affect Friday's numbers, which held steady at 3.0. But Monday's show jumped to a 3.2! More and more horny males were tuning into our morning show to see if Jenny would bare flesh!
We realized the stunt was working. Twice a week, Jenny would have various wardrobe malfunctions showing various amounts of skin. The ratings continued to climb. The network was happy to keep writing her checks. News was beginning to spread about the "malfunctioning meteorologist". Her fan mail increased tenfold, full of marriage proposals and sexy underwear.
Our anchor Ashley wasn't aware these stunts were being encouraged by New York. She was aware, however, of the attention Jenny was suddenly getting. And she was jealous. She decided she was going to fight fire with fire.
Ashley's conservative clothing became sexier and sexier. The amount of cleavage she showed was getting deeper and deeper, to the point that it dipped well below her bust line. She got a sexy new haircut. Her tops were becoming more and more sheer. The bright lights of the studio made several of her tops appear almost transparent. It became quite apparent that Ashley had large, pink areolas. On multiple shows she would do an extreme turn to Dan when she was handing it off to him. Her shirt would puff open enough to catch a sideways glimpse of her bare breast inside, but only a fleeting glance. Ashely was getting some attention but nothing compared to Jenny. It was making her crazy. She was getting more and more bold, as was Jenny. And New York was loving it. In only a few short weeks we had climbed to a 4.1. We were closing in our competition!
The weather outside was turning colder but things were heating up in the studio. On one particular day, Jenny was wrapping up her 9-day forecast.
"So, guys, as you can see, the temps continue to fall over the next few days. Look at that. Next Thursday's high is going to be in the high 30s! Woooo, that's cold! Just thinking about it makes my nipples hard!" Her gumdrop-sized nipples looked like two finger tips pointing out of her shirt. She reached up and pinched a nipple. "Yes sir, that's a little nipply outside!" She looked over to the anchor desk. "Dan and Ashley, dress warm is all I can say!"
Ashely looked straight into the camera. "Wooo, that is cold, Ashely! Almost as nipply as it is in the studio!" Ashley's pencil-sharp nipples were trying to poke through her top. She reached through the wide opening of her shirt. Her forearm pulled the shirt open enough to bare the edge of her areola. She tweaked and twisted a nipple. "Ooooo, thank goodness my hands are warm." She looked to Dan. "Dan, how about you? Are you staying warm?"
