Local Stations Battle, WEWS Grows Key Newscast Viewership

 

The results are in! In the battle for television news viewers, local stations have never been so competitive. Nielsen’s November ratings period ended with WEWS in a virtual tie with its competitors in the 5PM, 6PM, and 11PM newscasts:

·        5-6PM – NewsChannel 5’s Live On Five and WJW’s newscast each earned a 6 HH rating, 12 share.

·        6–6:30PM – NewsChannel 5 at 6 earned a 7 HH rating, 12 share, virtually tied with WJW and WKYC. Finishing fourth was WOIO with a 4 HH rating, 7 share.

·        11-11:30PM – NewsChannel 5 at 11 earned a 7 HH rating, 13 share, just behind WKYC and WOIO’s 8 HH rating, 14 share.

When comparing the previous Nielsen October ratings period with November’s results, WEWS NewsChannel 5 had the most growth of local stations in the 5PM, 6PM, and 11PM newscasts:

·        Live On Five (5-6PM) – up 12% in HH rating, 5% in HH share. The newscast is also up 13% in HH rating and 4% in HH share since May 2006.

·        NewsChannel 5 at 6 (6–6:30PM) – up 18% in HH rating, 8% in HH share. The newscast is also up 22% in HH rating and 8% in HH share since May 2006.

·        NewsChannel 5 at 11PM (Sun–Fri) – up 9% in HH rating, 7 % in HH share.

NewsChannel 5 also gained viewers month to month in the key 6-7AM daypart:

·        NewsChannel 5’s “Good Morning Cleveland” (6-7AM) – only newscast in the time period to grow viewership since October 2006 with a 4% increase in Household (HH) rating.

WEWS enjoyed month to month growth with its popular, syndicated shows as well:

·        Live! With Regis & Kelly (9-10AM) – up 7% in HH rating, 3% in share since October 2006.

·        Martha (10-11AM) – up 4% in HH rating since October 2006.

·        Wheel of Fortune (7-7:30PM) – up 5% in HH rating since October 2006 and 25% since May 2006.

·        Jeopardy (7:30-8PM) – up 20% in HH rating, 11% in HH share since October 2006. The show is also up 36% in HH rating and 25% in HH share since May 2006.

The ABC affiliate also had major success with viewership of Primetime programming:

·        ABC – # 1 in the key A18-49 and A18-34 (adult) demos.

·        Grey’s Anatomy (9-10PM Thursdays) – # 1 in A18-49

·        Desperate Housewives (9-10PM Sundays) – # 2 in A18-49

·        ABC’s Nightline (11:30PM-12AM) – up 7% in HH rating, 3% in HH share since October 2006.

·        Jimmy Kimmel Live (12AM–1PM) – up 9% in HH rating, 7% in HH share since October 2006.