As the dust from the February ratings period settles, it’s become clear there’s no stopping the WFTV juggernaut. Channel 9 was No. 1 in six of the seven daily newscasts, with only WKMG’s noon news preventing a clean sweep by WFTV.
The real race is for No. 2 in O-Town, and it looks like WKMG has improved to solid second-place status ahead of WESH in most news time periods.
Based on information distributed to the media by WFTV, here are some details:
- From 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., Channel 9 delivers 67,332 viewers – 95 percent more than second-place WESH (34,438). Third-place WKMG has 30,803, and fourth-place WOFL 20,717. In the battle for No. 2, Channel 6 edges Channel 2 at 5 a.m., with Channel 2 back at No. 2 at 6 a.m.
- At noon, WKMG’s Local 6 News is king with WFTV’s hour-long Eyewitness News in second place and WESH 2 News a distant third.
- From 5 to 6:30 p.m., Channel 9 pulls in 51 percent of the news audience, winning all three half hours and getting 13 percent more homes than channels 6 and 2 combined. In February, WFTV said it delivered 139,162 households while WKMG had 74,828 and WESH 48,250.
- At 11 p.m., Channel 9 is tops – winning that time period for the second straight ratings period. WFTV says Eyewitness News is the only late local newscast to out-perform its network lead-in, growing rating and share and delivering 20,036 more homes than second-place WKMG.
"Our goal in February, as always, was to provide the quality local news coverage our viewers expect," commented WFTV Vice President and General Manager Shawn Bartelt. "It’s a tribute to our staff that viewers are choosing Channel 9 Eyewitness News."
In the 10 p.m. news race, WOFL’s hour-long Fox 35 News at 10 is tops followed by the WFTV-produced Action News at 10 on WRDQ-Channel 27. Among the Spanish language stations, WVEN-Channel 27 finishes ahead of WTMO-Channel 40.
The Orlando Sentinel has more on the results of the February ratings period.