CBS11, Fox4 hope to have newscast firsts as the May sweeps wind down
05/16/09 10:37 AM
By ED BARK
Two D-FW-based TV stations hope to make ratings history for themselves -- both at the expense of WFAA8 -- as the May "sweeps" enters its final days.
CBS11 has never won or tied for first place at 10 p.m., either in total viewers or with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. But with just four weekdays left to be counted, the station's newscast trails front-running WFAA8 by a mere one-tenth of a rating point in the total viewer Nielsens. That's just 6,640 viewers.
At 6 p.m., Fox4 is on the verge of winning for the first time ever among 25-to-54-year-olds. It leads both WFAA8 and NBC5 by three-tenths of a rating point (9,106 viewers) in a time period that WFAA8 has dominated for decades.
Lead-in programming from respective networks clearly is a factor in the 10 p.m. horse race. And it also could play a big role in the stretch run before the sweeps end Wednesday night.
CBS11 has benefited for several years from its network's 9 p.m. menu of mostly hit crime series. Through 16 of the sweeps' 20 weekdays, CBS is drawing an average of 318,864 viewers from 9:45 to 10 p.m. CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast then averages 245,791 viewers.
In that same period, ABC's 9:45 to 10 p.m. programming is averaging 219,219 viewers, with WFAA8's 10 p.m. news upping that average to 252,434 viewers.
That might account for a moral victory for WFAA8. But CBS11 gladly will take a tie or a win and try to build from there. The content of its newscast is steadily improving, and its retention of the CBS network lead-in is a bit better than it was in May 2008.
In the last three nights of the sweeps, here's what CBS11 and WFAA8 will be getting from their networks in the 9 p.m. hour.
Monday -- CBS11 has the season finale of CSI: Miami and WFAA8 gets the season premiere of The Bachelorette. Advantage: CBS11
Tuesday -- CBS11 has the season finale of Without A Trace while WFAA8 gets the big-ticket season finale of Dancing with the Stars. Advantage: WFAA8 -- by a lot.
Wednesday -- CBS11 has the season finale of Criminal Minds and WFAA8 gets Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Advantage: CBS11
The 6 p.m. ratings race among 25-to-54-year-olds is a case of Fox4 making its own bed with a local newscast that wins at 5:30 p.m. in this demographic opposite the three network evening newscasts. Fox4 then retains 100 percent of that audience at 6 p.m. Its 25-to-54-year-old haul at that hour is up 29 percent from last May while WFAA8 has lost 30 percent of its 25-to-54-year-old viewers.
Here's how it looks elsewhere in the local news derby Nielsens.
WFAA8 will win comfortably at 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, with CBS11 taking second.
In the 6 p.m. total viewers race, WFAA8 leads runnerup NBC5 by four-tenths of a rating point. That should be enough to ensure victory.
The 5 p.m. races, which WFAA8 lost in the March sweeps for the first time in over two decades, are both still up for grabs. WFAA8 leads NBC5 by two-tenths of a point in total viewers while the two stations are tied for first among 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 is just one-tenth of a point back in the latter measurement.
Meanwhile, NBC5 is riding a runaway train at 6 a.m., where it's dominating in both ratings measurements. The Peacock's audience so far is up 53 percent year-to-year in total viewers. And it's showing a 39 percent increase in 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 will finish second on both scorecards.
|