Chicago ratings box

Here are some notable ratings items:

- Lewis Lazare's Sun-Times column noted ABC-owned WLS-TV's continued ratings dominance in the month of December. According to the ratings "book", WLS finished first at 10 p.m. in households, followed by CBS-owned WBBM-TV and NBC-owned WMAQ-TV, which continues to suffer from having Jay Leno as a news lead-in (though that may not be the case for not much longer.)

The 9 p.m. news race still has WGN-TV way ahead of Fox-owned WFLD-TV, as viewers have not flocked to Anna Davlantes, who now appears on the newscast regularly.

One thing bugs me about this part of the article: Lazare says that strong competition from prime-time programming has affected WGN's 9 p.m. newscasts. What, from Leno? From Castle and Eastwick? CBS is the only network providing strong ratings in the last hour of prime-time. Lazare also did not mention other reasons: the increasing use of DVRs in the time period; and viewers who are watching fare on the cable nets such as Monday Night Football, where the Vikings-Bears game on Dec. 28 (also simulcast on WLS) did a huge number.

Just how did he get this job writing about media again? 

- Hot Hawks. The Chicago Blackhawks are so hot right now, they are melting the ice they play on! The team is winning in the standings - and in the ratings race, too. Thursday night's game - a road contest against the Boston Bruins - drew a record 3.43 household rating for Comcast SportsNet, opposite the Texas-Alabama BCS Championship football game on ABC.

As for the BCS football game, the matchup between the #2 ranked Texas Longhorns and the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide, the game drew a whopping 28 million viewers.