Posted by chicagomedia.org on March 06, 2009 at 11:17:15:
Ch. 2 news on the uptick?
In the ratings-obsessed world of television news, everyone knows a single monthly ratings book does not a trend make. But in the February 2009 ratings book that concluded Thursday, CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 was the only one of the five major Chicago television stations with 9 or 10 p.m. evening newscasts to register an uptick in its Monday through Friday ratings.
And it was a small uptick, as the station climbed to a 4.5 rating from a 4.1 a year ago.
WBBM executives admit the small jump may be attributable -- in part at least -- to WBBM's big newscast lead-in rating, which at 6.2 last month was much larger than the 4.7 a year ago.
That disparity between the lead-in rating (6.2) and the actual newscast rating (4.5) represents the problem WBBM still faces -- and knows it must correct before any ratings turnaround can happen. The station has to find a way to hold on to more viewers who watch WBBM's prime time programming, but then disappear -- possibly to another station -- at 10 p.m.
As for the rest of the pack, everyone was down in the late evening news ratings year over year, though perennial front-runner ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 is still very much the leader of the pack with a 9.8 rating at 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, down from a 10.7 a year ago. Second-place NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5 slipped to a 6 rating from a 6.8. Tribune Co.-owned WGN-Channel 9's 9 p.m. newscast, in third place, pulled a 5.2 rating, off from a 6.5 a year ago, while Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32's 9 p.m. flagship newscast dropped to a 3.1 rating from a 4.2, putting it in fifth place behind fourth-place WBBM.
(Lewis Lazare, Chicago Sun-Times)