Posted by Bud on January 08, 2010 at 20:19:38:
WLS maintains hold on top rating for late news
The December Nielsen ratings book shows no signs that long-dominant WLS-Channel 7 is in any danger of losing its grip on first place in the all-important late news ratings competition. They do show WBBM-Channel 2 solidly in second and WMAQ-Channel 5 in a battle for third place with WGN-Channel 9's 9 p.m. hourlong newscast.
Though its 10 p.m. news lead-in ratings typically aren't the largest in the market, WLS was nonetheless far ahead in the overall December competition with a 9.8 rating at 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. That suggests a number of viewers switch channels to watch Channel 7's late news.
WMAQ scored a 4.8 rating at 10 p.m., down from a 5.9 rating the same month a year ago. WMAQ's 10 p.m. news rating has been in decline almost from the day Jay Leno's prime time talkfest debuted in September. A month prior to the debut of Leno's new show, WMAQ also debuted its new 10 p.m. anchor lineup, with Rob Stafford replacing Warner Saunders alongside Allison Rosati -- a lackluster pairing that hasn't won high marks from many local observers. WGN-Channel 9 (which airs its late-night newscast at 9 p.m. rather than 10 p.m.) is now close behind WMAQ with a 4.6, though the Tribune Co. station's show also fell from its 6.3 rating a year ago. WGN's rating at 9 p.m. has been affected by strong prime-time programming on the networks.
Meanwhile, WBBM, once among the bottom-feeders, now has second place solidly in its grasp with a 5.7 rating at 10 p.m. in December, up from a 4.5 a year ago. But WBBM, which had the largest 10 p.m. news lead-in with a 7.3 in December, still loses a chunk of viewers when its late news starts. And WFLD-Channel 32's 9 p.m. newscast continues to trail the pack. The Fox late news, to which new WFLD general manager Michael Renda and news director Carol Fowler have begun to make changes, scored a lowly 2.2 in December, down from a 2.9 a year ago. So far, the new and prominent presence of Anna Davlantes as a contributing anchor and reporter has not worked any wonders for the station. This week, WFLD added Sun-Times entertainment columnist Bill Zwecker to contribute three or four segments a week on the late news.