Range(A2:A6) has two names and three blank cells.

Range(B2:B6) has the following in each cell(alt-entered)

6AM-9AM Start
11AM-2PM Start
11AM-2PM Start


This returns 0, looking for 2.

=SUMPRODUCT(--(B2:B6="*4PM-6PM Start*")*(A2:A6<""))

As a test these return 5 so the "*wild card*" is not an issue.

=COUNTIF(B2:B6,"*4PM-6PM Start*")
=COUNTIF(B2:B6,"*4PM-6PM*")

I've tried some other googled versions of countif but can't get them to work either.

Clearly, I'm overlooking the obvious.

Thanks.
Howard