February may have been cold and miserable in much of the U.S., but the month was hot in Miami — especially for Telemundo-owned station WSCV.
The flagship station’s 30-minute 11 p.m. newscast outranked all of its broadcast competitors — regardless of language — in the key adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 demos, according to Nielsen.
The win made WSCV the Miami-Fort Lauderdale DMA’s No. 1 station for news at 11 p.m. for the 23rd consecutive month, a record since the market transitioned to Nielsen’s Local People Meters (LPMs) in October of 2008.
Telemundo’s national investment in local 5:30 p.m. news broadcasts also paid strong dividends in South Florida, as WSCV was No. 1 in the timeslot, regardless of language, among viewers 18-49 and 25-54. Likewise, Noticiero Telemundo 51 at 6 p.m. outranked all other Miami broadcast-TV stations in those two key demographics.
Crossing the country, Univision’s KMEX in Los Angeles continued to dominate primetime among Spanish-language stations. It averaged 305,538 primetime viewers in February, for No. 3 behind No. 1 KABC-TV (367,027 viewers) and No. 2 KCBS-TV (365,912 viewers).
KVEA, Telemundo’s Los Angeles station, ranked No. 7 overall and was the No. 2 Spanish-language broadcaster in primetime, with an average 126,557 viewers. KRCA, the Estrella TV flagship, finished No. 8 overall and No. 3 among Spanish-speaking stations, with 99,582 viewers.
Meruelo Media’s KWHY, a MundoFox affiliate, rounded out L.A.’s broadcasters, averaging 87,092 primetime viewers during February, according to Nielsen data.
The 6 p.m. newscast remained a highly competitive daypart in Los Angeles, with Univisions KMEX a solid No. 2 overall and No. 1 among Spanish-language stations, attracting 242,150 viewers. By comparison, KVEA’s 6 p.m. newscast averaged 177,382 viewers during February, according to Nielsen.
Nonetheless, KVEA defeated KNBC, its NBCUniversal sister station, in the 6 p.m. news battle. The Peacock Network O&O’s newscast averaged some 144,600 in the timeslot. And KVEA’s recently launched 5:30 p.m. newscast was the market’s most-watched among adults 18-49, Telemundo said.
“Our local stations have the awesome responsibility of serving their communities as first informers, providing local viewers with the information they need to flourish in their daily lives,” Telemundo Station Group president Manuel Martinez said. “Knowing that viewers are choosing our Telemundo stations to get the local news and information they need reaffirms our commitment to continue boosting our stations and communities with more live, local news and weather coverage.”
In Miami, WSCV’s ratings riches didn’t stop with its newscasts. The station was No. 1 on weekdays between 7 p.m.-11 p.m. in February, averaging a 2.4 rating and a 22 share among adults 18-49. Older demos paced WSCV’s success, with a greater concentration of viewers closer to 54 years of age than 18 years of age in one of the few major Hispanic DMAs where Hispanics prefer to speak Spanish in the home.
