Without American Idol, Fox 35 falls behind WRDQ

WRDQ beats WOFL at 10 -- but the gap was not as large as this WRDQ graphic would make it appear on first glance

WRDQ beats WOFL at 10 -- but the gap was not as large as this WRDQ graphic would make it appear on first glance

Catching up on some Orlando TV News after taking a short blogging break…

Yes, it’s really true. For the first time since its launch in 2002, WRDQ’s 10 p.m. newscast knocked off the No. 1 early-late news in town: Fox 35 News at 10. According to a WRDQ news release, Eyewitness News at Ten won the time period with adults 25-54 Monday through Friday in the August ratings period. TV27 delivered 1,113 more adults than Fox 35, despite having a lower-rated lead-in. TV27 grew 136 percent off its Oprah rerun lead-in while WOFL lost 33 percent of its lead-in audience. “The tremendous growth Eyewitness News at Ten has shown in August is a testament to TV27′s dedication to provide viewers with a quality fast-paced newscast,” said WFTV/WRDQ GM Shawn Bartelt. “I’m excited to see this trend continue for our Eyewitness News brand.” …

And after being dethroned in July as the morning news king by WESH, WFTV was back on top in August. From 5-7 a.m., Channel 9′s Eyewitness News Daybreak pulled in 20,538 adults 25-45. WESH 2′s Sunrise was No. 2 with 14,440, followed closely by Local 6′s Morning News with 14,180 and Fox 35 Morning News with 12,250. …

WFTV won all the news time periods in August, including the iconic 6 p.m. time period where it had 49,042 adults 25-54, followed by WESH (29,152), WKMG (14,665) and WOFL (11,775) …

A new Twitter site is posting Orlando TV ratings daily.OrlandoRatings has the scoop. The numbers look legit, but analyze at your own risk.

Local 6 News finishes July in 4th place

ttt-sweepsOrlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker has more on the July ratings races in O-Town TV, including WKMG’s fourth-place showing in the evening in the 25-54 demo.

“We were No. 4 before we made the changes,” WKMG General Manager Skip Valet told Boedeker. “I think I’m better serving the audience. We’re in the summertime, and everyone is down a little bit. I’m focused on how competitive we are in the morning and at 11 p.m.”

More July ratings numbers after the jump …

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WESH moves ahead of WFTV in the morning

wesh2newshdFor the first time in five years, WESH 2 Sunrise at 6 a.m. finished July ahead of WFTV’s Eyewitness News Daybreak in the adults 25-54 demo, WESH reports.

The station also notes that it is closing in on WFTV’s top-rated Eyewitness News in the evening — trailing now by 9,600 adults in the demo.

In the morning race, WESH’s audience is up 34 percent from last July. In the early evening — and without competition from WKMG from 5-6 — WESH 2 is up 58 percent. In late news — despite being saddled with NBC’s prime time as a lead-in — WESH is up 27 percent.

More good and some bad news for WESH after the jump …

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

ttt-wftvWFTV’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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No March madness: WFTV still No. 1

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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Not many folks see Frier’s goodbye on Local 6

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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