Friday, March 03, 2000
WKRC-TV keeps ratings crown
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The tide has shifted in Cincinnati's TV news war. For the second consecutive sweeps month, WKRC-TV (Channel 12) has emerged as the run-away favorite in Tristate homes with Nielsen meters.
The CBS affiliate averaged the most viewers for all weekday newscasts in February sweeps, which ended Wednesday, as it did in November.
Last year, WCPO-TV (Channel 9) won the February and May sweeps. In recent years, those two stations had been neck-and-neck in the 11 p.m. ratings, considered the measure for the Tristate's news crown.
Channel 12 won the late news with a 12.3 rating and 24 percent audience share, up from an 11.5 rating last February. (A ratings point represents about 8,000 households; the share is a percentage of the available viewers.)
Channel 9 at 11 p.m. had a 9.9 rating and 19 percent share, down from an 11.8 rating last year. WLWT (Channel 5) had an 8.7 rating and 17 percent share, down from a 10.2 rating last February. WXIX-TV (Channel 19) averaged an 8.4 rating and 13 percent share at 10 p.m., matching last year.
Channel 12 also won the seven-day news average (including weekends), with Channel 9 second, Channel 19 third and Channel 5 fourth.
The ratings news was particularly sweet for Channel 12:
• Channel 12 won at 11 p.m. despite being second with CBS' 8-11 p.m. programming. ABC, fueled by Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, won sweeps month nationally and here 8-11 p.m., though ABC's ratings fell to third 10-11 p.m., not helping late newscasts.
• Oprah Winfrey tumbled to third at 4 p.m. for the first time. Channel 12's local news and Inside Edition won the hour, followed by Channel 5's Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown.
• David Letterman's huge ratings since his Feb. 21 return from heart surgery propelled his Late Show to No. 1 here, beating Jay Leno's Tonight Show for the first time in years.
• Strong ratings for Channel 12's local-CBS 7-8 a.m. news pushed Bryant Gumbel's Early Show into first place here, beating NBC's Today (5.3 rating) and Good Morning America (4.5). Channel 19's 19 in the Morning news (7-9 a.m.) averaged a 3.8 rating, a 72 percent jump from last February.
SHARING SCOTT: WCET-TV Senior Vice President Scott Elliott has accepted the dual role of vice president of broadcasting at Dayton's public TV operation, which could be the first of other joint ventures by the stations.
“We haven't made any plans at the moment, but we're leaving the door open,” says David Fogarty, president of Dayton's WPTD-TV (Channel 16) and Oxford's WPTO-TV (Channel 14). “We're not talking merger or anything, but that doesn't mean we can't become more regional.”
Mr. Elliott will spend three days at Channel 48 as station manager, and two days in Dayton supervising programming and operations.
Viewers won't see any immediate changes, but those who watch both stations may eventually see less duplication on weekend syndicated shows carried in the same time periods on both stations. “This allows us to co-ordinate the schedules and manage our regional coverage,” Mr. Fogarty says.
Mr. Elliott, who joined Channel 48 in 1988, also will oversee new digital channels launched later this decade.
“We have been looking for opportunities to collaborate with (Channel 16) in areas that increase efficiency and better prepare us for (the) future,” says Wayne Godwin, Channel 48 president.
FALSE ALARM: Channel 5 wasn't dropped today by Time Warner Cable, as the company warned in an Enquirer advertisement Wednesday. Time Warner has received a “re-transmission” extension to keep Channel 5 until April 1.
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