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May Sweeps 2013: The Numbers


24994J

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What I will say about World News is that, its working. I'll quote the press release from May 2013 Sweeps,

“ABC World News” Drawing its Most-Watched Season in 2 Years."

World News is growing when NBC and CBS are mixed or down. If it was plain news like NBC or CBS, I probably would not watch it. To quote what many of my friends say, that kind of news is just boring and depressing. I wouldn't consider what ABC does fluff, I would consider it helpful news, i.e. "Real Money." You get the day's news for the first 12-13 minutes and then you get the interesting and helpful news for the rest. I think it is a good balance. I think the fact that we are on a news forum and many of you want hard news, I'm probably minority on the site, but hey, its working, why should they stop.

 

 

 

You bring up interesting points, especially whether ABC would want/let George leave GMA for World News with GMA currently wiping out the competition.

 

I think it is very likely if George takes over World News, it will go back to a Gibson like newscast. I also agree that if it isn't George it will be David Muir. If Diane had to leave (I hope she doesn't anytime soon), I would like to see David over George for two reasons, George is doing great at GMA and David will likely keep the Sawyer like newscast.

For those who like its a good newscast. But for me I watch GMA and get all the lifestyle reports I need in a day, which makes Diane's newscast unnecessary for me. I hope George stays up at GMA, he and Robin do great at keeping the show focused when Josh, Lara and Sam go off the rails at times. I don't see anyone else who could develop into that role for GMA if George left. David Muir, Dan Harris, Bill Weir or Josh Elliott don't seem ready yet. But if Diane decides to leave then contractually it goes to George.

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The dominant ratings likely come from continuity of talent (How long was Monica Pearson at WSB? 40 years. Glenn Burns? 31 years. Chuck Dowdle? 25+ years...) and WSB's roots in a newspaper (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Plus, I'll admit, by appealing to the emotions of people (sensationalism) with dramatic stories, the ratings and money roll in. Does it take a toll on journalistic integrity? Yes. Does it bring in ratings? Absolutely. With advertisers and today's competitive commercial television market, the latter will always trump the former (CBS being a recent exception).

 

Maybe I jumped the gun on WSB a bit. I still think my summary of WSB definitely holds true for evening, late night, and weekday morning newscasts; I will admit though that WSB can lighten up a little bit on weekend mornings and at noon. IMO those are the best times to watch WSB.

 

I don't know what Meredith thinks it's doing with WGCL; Tribune, despite it's current problems, managed the station a lot better. I'm just waiting for them to rebrand as "CBS 46 News" again (then reshuffle the anchor lineup....then rebrand again...rinse and repeat every 3-5 years). I think CBS will probably have to consider finding a new affiliate if this keeps up; they can't possibly be happy about WGCL's performance.

I've watched WSB online, given that I live in Miami-Ft.Lauderdale, and yes while comparing apples to oranges (or peaches for that matter) WSB-Tv, while sensational puts our local station, WPLG to shame in terms of presentation and story choices. I haven't checked out WAGA being that its Fox and skeptical due to corporate interests, but I beg to differ since WSB is more superior as an ABC affiliate IMHO.

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I've watched WSB online, given that I live in Miami-Ft.Lauderdale, and yes while comparing apples to oranges (or peaches for that matter) WSB-Tv, while sensational puts our local station, WPLG to shame in terms of presentation and story choices. I haven't checked out WAGA being that its Fox and skeptical due to corporate interests, but I beg to differ since WSB is more superior as an ABC affiliate IMHO.

It seems to be Cox's MO when it comes to their stations. Same story here in Charlotte with WSB's sister station WSOC (Channel 9). Overwhelming focus on crime and sensationalism, little to no personality/connection with the viewers during the newscast (feel like I'm being yelled at instead of being read the news), etc. Basically WSB-lite. There's a joke that the call letters stand for "We Show Only Crime".

Can't speak for WFTV, WPXI, KTVU or their other stations, but it wouldn't be surprising if their newscasts are similar (maybe not KTVU because their presentation and graphical elements are much more subdued than the other stations I mentioned).

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Don't know hard ratings, but here's how it probably went in Phoenix:

 

KTVK 3: Probably won mornings (Good Morning Arizona has always been fairly strong). Evening news? *shudders* They're second place at 9 and a dead last at 10.

 

KPHO 5: CBS, a rather heavy format and a different emphasis to other stations has made this station the narrow market leader in the last several years.

 

KSAZ 10: This station has some bright spots, namely its morning show and market-leading 9pm newscast, and is decently competitive. Probably one of the better stations all around, second overall.

 

KPNX 12: Seen better days. Still an OK competitor, but I'm of the mentality that they're a far cry from what they used to be.

 

KNXV 15: *crickets chirp* It's easy to make gains and be the "fastest-growing" newscast, but it's not easy to be a weak ABC affiliate. Under their new ND from Seattle, 15 has moved in an eerily KPHO-like direction with franchise reporting playing a heavy role.

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It seems to be Cox's MO when it comes to their stations. Same story here in Charlotte with WSB's sister station WSOC (Channel 9). Overwhelming focus on crime and sensationalism, little to no personality/connection with the viewers during the newscast (feel like I'm being yelled at instead of being read the news), etc. Basically WSB-lite. There's a joke that the call letters stand for "We Show Only Crime".

Can't speak for WFTV, WPXI, KTVU or their other stations, but it wouldn't be surprising if their newscasts are similar (maybe not KTVU because their presentation and graphical elements are much more subdued than the other stations I mentioned).

 

WFTV is very much the same way, lots of crime. In fact, they preempted the ABC soaps for live coverage of that trial thingy a couple years back. I've only watched WPXI once, but it appears to be just a teency-weency bit more subdued than Cox's stations down south; but still had more leading-with-bleeding than KD or WTAE.

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I they've gone back and forth quite since their debuts in the 90s. For a while GDLA was more popular but as of the last few years I believe KTLA Morning News has topped GDLA.

 

KTLA has typically always been ahead of KTTV's GDLA. There was a period in the mid 2000s where GDLA was ahead. Some interesting things I found about the sweep in the mornings are:

 

- KTLA's strong growth in the 5 and 6 am hours. Typically they have been 3rd or 4th at these times. Now they are within a hair of #1. Since the introduction of Chris and Megan about 2 years ago, ratings have skyrocketed. They have great on-air chemistry and I actually prefer the 4-7am news over the 7-10am news.

 

-The Today Show on KNBC which has fallen to 4th place. Huge drop over previous years.

 

-KNBC showing no signs of improvement in 5 and 6 am hours. Actually a decline.

 

-Not a surprise but KTTV's poor showing between 5-9 am. With them dropping half of the on-air staff over the past year, they lost whatever chemistry they had on-air and it shows.

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KNXV 15: *crickets chirp* It's easy to make gains and be the "fastest-growing" newscast, but it's not easy to be a weak ABC affiliate. Under their new ND from Seattle, 15 has moved in an eerily KPHO-like direction with franchise reporting playing a heavy role.

Maybe 15 made gains from February to May, but I would expect them to have lost 50 percent or more of their 5pm viewership, considering the new lead-in.
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