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Posts Tagged ‘Ratings’

One small step for man, one giant ratings leap for Channel 9

July 21st, 2009

ttt-wftv WFTV’s Monday night special, recalling the Apollo moon landing 40 years ago, proved very popluar.

According to WFTV news director Bob Jordan, the space special drew a 3.7 rating and 14 share in the coveted 25-54 demo. “That’s more than ANY newscast Tuesday on WESH, WKMG or WOFL. Kudos to EP Craing Patrick and Bob Opsahl,” Jordan wrote on his Twitter feed.

Jordan also noted that the Apollo show went head-to-head with the CBS Evening News on WKMG. “It isn’t close: a 14-share A25-54 for ‘FTV, a 3-share for ‘KMG,” he Tweeted.

(If you missed it, the WFTV show can be viewed on WFTV.com)

And just to rub it in, Jordan notes that WFTV’s top-rated Eyewitness News drew more 25-54 demo viewers than WESH-2, Local 6 and Fox 35 combined on Monday. Very impressive.

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Posted in Orlando TV, WFTV-9

Tags: Bob Jordan Bob Opsahl Ratings WFTV-9

No March madness: WFTV still No. 1

April 3rd, 2009

The unusual — and basically meaningless — March sweeps ended on Wednesday. To no one’s surprise, WFTV-Channel 9 was once again the Nielsen powerhouse for Central Florida.

The ratings numbers show 9′s Eyewitness News was the top choice in households and in the 25-54 demo in all the time periods. WESH 2 News was No. 2, followed by WKMG’s Local 6 News.

At 10 p.m., WOFL’s Fox 35 News nearly doubled the viewers for the WFTV-produced Eyewitness News at 10 on WRDQ-Channel 27.

Details and more numbers here from from the Orlando Sentinel’s TV Guy.

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Posted in Orlando TV, WESH-2, WFTV-9, WKMG-6, WOFL-35, WRDQ-27

Tags: Ratings WESH-2 WFTV-9 WKMG-6 WOFL-35 WRDQ-27

Not many folks see Frier’s goodbye on Local 6

February 17th, 2009

Why did WKMG let go longtime anchor Bob Frier? Could be a combination of things — budget tightening, wanting to go in a different direction … yadda, yadda, yadda.

But one key reason has to be Local 6′s ratings. Yes, WKMG’s 11 p.m. newscast — once ranked No. 1 — does well following CBS’ primetime, but the station’s early evening newscasts are ailing. When other stations are promoting their upcoming 11 p.m. shows during network primetime, WKMG has been running spots trying to lure viewers to its 5 p.m. newscast.

And according to NewsBlues.com, WKMG may need a lot more promos. When Frier signed off on Friday night at the end of the 6 p.m. newscast, fewer than 1,000 homes in the key 25-54 demo were tuned in … and WKMG was the seventh-rated station in that quarter hour.

Here’s the viewer info from Friday evening, from NewsBlues.com:

		Rating	Share
1	WFTV-9-ABC	3.0	13	local news
2	WESH-2-NBC	1.8	8	local news
3	WRBW-65-MyTV	1.7	7	Judge Judy
4	WRDQ-27-Ind	.7	3	George Lopez
5	WKCF-18-CW	.6	2	Deal-No Deal
6	WOFL-35-Fox	.6	2	local news
7	WKMG-6-CBS	.2	1	local news

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Posted in Orlando TV, WKMG-6

Tags: Bob Frier Ratings WKMG-6

New news leader? WFTV, WESH battling it out

February 6th, 2009

Could WESH be about to end WFTV’s 30-year reign as the king of TV news in Orlando?

New Nielsen “people meters” data show — and parties at both stations acknowledge — a tight, two-station race between WFTV and WESH for the title of Central Florida’s news leader.

According to Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker, WFTV averaged 48,000 viewers to WESH’s 46,400 at 6 p.m. in the news-coveted 25-to-54 age group. For the demo at 11, WFTV had 43,200 to WESH’s 37,500.

Here’s the amazing part: Among viewers ages 18-to-49, WESH is the No. 1 station at 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m. — 30,000 viewers for WESH to 29,000 for WFTV.

“It’s a two-station race,” WFTV GM Shawn Bartelt told the Sentinel.

WESH GM Jim Carter agreed: “Based on the ratings I see, it’s a two-station race, and closer than it’s been in a long time. We were No. 2 at 11, just slightly behind WFTV. The rest of the time periods, we’re right there with them. The horse heads are next to one other. They’re neck and neck.”

WFTV still leads in the overall household ratings — 128,800 homes to WESH’s 100,100 at 6 p.m. But the demo results are a bit startling and perhaps indicate a shift in Central Florida’s viewing habits.

Read the full story here.

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Posted in Orlando TV, WESH-2, WFTV-9

Tags: Jim Carter Ratings Shawn Bartelt WESH-2 WFTV-9

Fox 35 hires Maliska as new news director

November 7th, 2008

Here’s your Friday Fast Five:

Gavin Maliska is the new news director for WOFL-Fox 35, according to NewsBlues. Maliska comes from Tribune-owned Fox affiliate WXIN in Indianapolis, where he was the ND. His Fox-heavy background includes being the deuce at WJBK in Detroit and managing editor at WFLD in Chicago. He also was managing editor for an internet sports company, and he was formerly the deputy business editor at the Chicago Sun-Times (got to like those newspaper guys!). …

Good news for Maliska is that the also-ran station he’s arriving to lead didn’t finish last in Tuesday night’s election coverage. According to Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker, WFTV led the local ratings race with an 11.1 rating, followed by WESH (8 rating), CNN (7), Fox News Channel (6.7), MSNBC (4.6), WOFL (3.8) and — ouch! — WKMG (3.8). That placed Local 6 ahead of only Central Florida News 13′s 1.9 rating. …

WKMG sports anchor “Ping” — aka David Pingalore — is playing sports instead of covering it this week. He’s playing as an amateur in Disney’s Children Miracle Network Classic tournament that started Thursday. According to the Sentinel’s Josh Robbins, Ping played college golf at Jacksonville University, lettering during the 1993-94 academic year. “Just being out here on the driving range now, I feel the adrenaline,” Pingalore said before the event. “But I can only imagine Thursday. It’ll be the equivalent of six Mountain Dews.” Ping shot a 65 on the par 72 course and was tied for 51st place among the amateurs after the first round. Click here for the leaderboard. …

Don Smith is leaving WESH’s creative servics department to head West to Salt Lake City for a similar role with the ABC/CW duppoly. Smith came KHOU to WESH back in 2005, ane he helped change the station’s on-air look with some memorable campaigns. And he likes barbecue, so you know he’s a good guy. …

And finally, Andy Fisher — former general sales manager at WFTV — is retiring his post as president of Cox Television. Fisher has been with Cox for 24 years and he has been the company’s president since 2001. Cox, of course, owns Channel 9.