Posted by Bud on July 30, 2010 at 23:14:03:
Ch. 32 late news gets ratings boost for July -- is it the 'Sirott effect'?
July 30, 2010
LEWIS LAZARE | Chicago Sun-Times Media & Marketing columnist
Could it be the "Sirott effect" is starting to be felt at WFLD-Channel 32?
One ratings book does not a trend make. But WFLD saw a mini-surge in the ratings for its flagship 9 p.m. newscast in the Nielsen July ratings released Thursday. The hourlong 9 p.m. news jumped to a 2.8 rating from a 2.3 a year ago Monday through Friday.
The July ratings book includes 1½ weeks of newscasts with newly arrived co-anchor Bob Sirott, who is teamed with WFLD veteran Robin Robinson. Anna Davlantes was expected to be part of the anchor lineup at 9 p.m., but she and former WFLD sports anchor Corey McPherrin instead will co-anchor a three-hour chunk of WFLD's "Good Day Chicago" starting Monday.
WFLD general manager Michael Renda was on vacation and unavailable for comment Thursday. But the July ratings boost does suggest Renda's and news director Carol Fowler's efforts to overhaul the station's late news could be starting to click.
At the very least, the July numbers indicate the addition of Sirott may have prompted some sampling. Even with the ratings jump, though, WFLD's late news remains in last place.
WFLD's gains may have come, in part, at the expense of direct competitor WGN-Channel 9's late news, which dropped a half rating point to a 4.3 from a 4.8 a year ago. Another factor could be the lead-in rating to WGN's late news, which plummeted to 1.4 in July from a 2.6 a year ago. In third place overall, WGN's 9 p.m. news was the only late newscast to lose ground in July.
Meanwhile, WBBM-Channel 2 is counting on the new anchor lineups debuting in September to help move the news ratings needle. In the July book, however, WBBM could do no better than fourth place with a 3.8 rating at 10 p.m., up from 3.5 a year ago. WMAQ-Channel 5 still has a commanding hold on second place with a 5.8 rating in July, compared with a 5.2 a year ago.
The view still looks the same at the top, where WLS-Channel 7 leads by a wide margin. The station's 10 p.m. news notched a 9.3 rating, up nearly a full rating point from a year ago.
NIELSEN JULY RATINGS MON.-FRI. FOR CHICAGO LATE LOCAL NEWSCASTS
July '10 lead-in July '10 July '09
WLS-Ch. 7 4.7 9.3 (325,500 households) 8.4 (294,000)
WMAQ-Ch. 5 4.4 5.8 (203,000) 5.2 (182,000)
WGN-Ch. 9 1.4 4.3 (150,500) 4.8 (168,000)
WBBM-Ch. 2 4.1 3.8 (133,000) 3.5 (122,500)
WFLD-Ch. 32 2.9 2.8 (98,000) 2.3 (80,500)