Sweeping up

We’re back, and we’re sweeping up from the recent February ratings period in local markets (All ratings are measured by Nielsen):

New York: WABC-TV dominated the ratings and in all local news time periods as usual, but it was WCBS-TV that surged to second place overall. A bad book for WNBC-TV, which fell to third, but it was an even worst book for MyNetworkTV affiliate WWOR-TV, who finished dead last in the ratings, finishing behind even the two Spanish-language stations. It looks like the ghosts of RKO (or Morton Downey Jr.) are still haunting the station.

Boston: ABC affiliate WCVB-TV re-established dominance over NBC affiliate WHDH-TV by beating them head-to-head in every news time period, something WCVB hasn’t been done since the ‘90’s.

Detroit: WXYZ-TV, another ABC affiliate, beat NBC affiliate WDIV at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. news slots but not at 11p.m. while Fox-owned WJBK-TV took mornings. Inside Edition, which returned to WDIV’s early fringe lineup for the first time in 16 years, flopped (finishing third behind WJBK’s Judge Judy and WXYZ’s Oprah) , despite continuing coverage of Anna Nicole’s death. Notice the 3.1 rating was only a third of what the show got in that same time period in ’89. Another notable: The Early Show didn’t exactly wake up in the Motor City with a 0.3 rating. WXYZ won overall in households, while CBS-owned WWJ-TV finished fourth.

Miami: ABC affiliate WPLG-TV (noticing a trend here, folks?)also swept its competition, including the Spanish-language stations and won in households sign-on to sign-off (and without Oprah – which was a mainstay on the station’s early fringe lineup in the ‘80’s and 90’s.) NBC-owned WTVJ did not have a good book.

Orlando: Another ABC affiliate, another win: WFTV manhandles its rivals.

St. Louis: Here’s a market where the ABC affiliate doesn’t dominate. Or has a local newscast. Or any ratings. Or a clear signal. Or good management. Or…. Oh – where was I? NBC affiliate KSDK beat its rivals, including barely edging out CBS affiliate KMOV-TV at 10 p.m. Of surprise note here, was KMOV finishing third in the morning news race, behind Fox-owned KTVI.

Memphis: Another close 10 p.m. news race – CBS affiliate WREG-TV barely topped longtime leader WMC-TV. It was the fifth straight victory over the NBC affiliate. Also of note, Fox-owned WHBQ-TV (Channel 13) newscast finished with a record 10.8 rating at 9 p.m., easily topping the ratings of ABC affiliate WPTY’s (Channel 24) newscast at 10 p.m. Both stations swapped affiliations in December 1995, clearly to Fox’s benefit.

Louisville: NBC affiliate WAVE –TV makes huge gains in the ratings, but its CBS affiliate WLKY that dominates the news here with a huge victory at 11 p.m. One surprise (or maybe not if you’re a Louisville area resident) was WLKY’s The Young and the Restless beating Oprah on WHAS at 4 p.m. WHAS used to be the dominant station in Louisville, which was a CBS affiliate. Unhappy with the network’s prime-time performance, it dumped CBS for ABC in 1990, while CBS wound up on UHF outlet WLKY. When the network returned to number one, WLKY shocked everybody in Louisville when it went to number one too, beating its most established VHF rivals. Now, WHAS is a shadow of its former self, despite being affiliated with a network with hot shows.

Dallas: (From Ed Bark): A successful book for ABC affiliate WFAA-TV, which won newscasts at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m., in total homes and in adults 25-54 at 5 and 6. NBC-owned KXAS won at 10 in adults 25-54, Fox-owned KDFW won at 9 p.m. over KDAF, while CBS-owned KTVT struggled in all news time periods. KTVT did prevail in the prime access 6:30 p.m. time period with Wheel of Fortune in households over the Anna Nicole-fueled tabloid entertainment shows, but it was Entertainment Tonight on WFAA that won the time period in adults 18-49. Meanwhile, KTVT’s sister station KTXA-TV was successful with the win-happy Dallas Mavericks.

Denver: NBC affiliate KUSA-TV wins. Again. Meanwhile, ABC affiliate KMGH-TV continues its decades-long losing streak by finishing third in all news time periods. CBS was wise to dump this station and buy KCNC-TV 12 years ago.