Sweeps Results How top markets fared With November sweeps history, local
broadcasters are feasting on the preliminary household-ratings fodder. Here is
a look at how some top markets performed.
Baltimore
Hearst-Argyle's NBC affiliate WBAL is the dominant player in early
fringe and evening news. With hearty ratings for Dr.
Phil at 3 p.m. and Oprah at 4
p.m, WBAL swept early news, with top ratings at 5 and 6 p.m. The station won 11
p.m. new, too, with an average 10.8 rating/20 share. But Baltimore viewers
preferred CBS in prime time. CBS O&O WJZ posted an average 11.3/17 in
prime, nearly three ratings points ahead of WBAL.
Dallas
The Big Three stations can each make a November-sweeps claim in the
market. Despite NBC's weakness in prime this fall, the network's O&O
KXAS was top-rated in 10 p.m. news for the ninth consecutive ratings period.
This November, KXAS paced with a 10.4/16. With help from
Oprah, Belo's ABC affiliate WFAA topped
early news at 5 and 6 p.m. Prime time, however, belonged to CBS O&O KTVT,
which edged out WFAA by a tenth of a ratings point.
Denver
KUSA and KCNC each have sweeps bragging rights. Gannett's late-news
heavyweight KUSA conquered 10 p.m. news with an average 11.4/22. But CBS
O&O KCNC is gaining ground. A year ago, the station revamped its late news
with a new anchor team—Jim Benemann and Molly Hughes—and redesigned set.
Ratings perked up to an 8.3/16 last month from a 7.7/14 last year. CBS'
strong prime time sets up the news. KCNC won prime in the market with a 9.1/15.
KUSA was second (8.5/14), followed by McGraw-Hill's KMGH (7.1/12) and Fox
O&O KDVR (3.7/6).
Detroit
The Motor City is an NBC town in prime time and late news. Less
competition helps. The CBS O&O WWJ is weak here and doesn't program news.
Post Newsweek's NBC affiliate WDIV topped prime time with a 11.4/17 and
swelled to 16.9/29 for 11 p.m. news, up from 15.3/23 last November. WXYZ,
Scripps Howard's ABC affiliate, ranks second in both dayparts, with 9.8/14 in
prime and 10.8/18 for its 11 p.m. news. Fox O&O WJBK's 10 p.m. newscast
pulled in 7.5/11. WDIV's highlight of the month: Its coverage of Thanksgiving
Day parade grabbed a 25.6/46 rating.
Miami
Spanish-language broadcaster Univision's WLTV is the leader here, with
top marks at 6 (7.3/13) and 11 p.m. (6.3/11). Rival Telemundo isn't far
behind. Its WSCV placed second overall at 6 p.m. (6.1/11) and third at 11 p.m.
(5.4/9). “Among English-language broadcasters, CBS O&O WFOR is on the
move. Thanks to stellar lead-ins from Dr.
Phil and Oprah, WFOR won 5 p.m.
news and, for the first time, 5:30 and 6 p.m. (Too bad Phil is moving to WPLG in 2006.) The CBS prime engine
roared WFOR into late news, where it topped the English- language stations with
a 5.8/10 (second overall behind Unvision.)
Milwaukee
ABC's reinvigorated prime time catapulted Hearst-Argyle's ABC
affiliate WISN to the top of prime for the first time in five years. With hits
like Desperate Housewives and Lost, WISN earned an average 9.7 rating, beating
out the NBC affiliate WTMJ. The prime win wasn't enough to unseat late-news
leader WTMJ, which boasted top marks at 10 p.m. with 11.0/18. WISN was second
with 8.6/14, followed by Fox O&O WITI's 6.9/11 and CBS affiliate WDJT's
4.5/7.
San Francisco
In the market's first sweeps with LPMs, CBS O&O KPIX was tops in
late news with a 5.6 household rating, edging Cox-owned Fox affiliate KTVU's
5.3 rating. In the key 25-to-54s, KTVU and NBC O&O KNTV tied No. 1 with 2.6
ratings. KPIX logged a 2.5. Thanks to CBS' strong prime time, KPIX ranked
first in 25 to 54s (4.0/11), followed by ABC O&O KGO (3.7/10).
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