WCBS #1 at 11pm Nov '09 Sweeps

[NYNews 54]

According to Rob Morrison's twitter page, WCBS finished #1 at 11pm during the November 2009 sweeps period. Very interesting, finally a change. Wish them continued success, since WNBC does not seem to care anymore.

 

Added:

Although the press release from WABC says otherwise:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=resources/inside_station&id=7159561

 

Not sure which demo is Rob talking about. Or maybe he's referring to the Mon-Sun 11pm ratings?

[nynewsguy 66]

According to Rob Morrison's twitter page, WCBS finished #1 at 11pm during the November 2009 sweeps period. Very interesting, finally a change. Wish them continued success, since WNBC does not seem to care anymore.

 

Added:

Although the press release from WABC says otherwise:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=resources/inside_station&id=7159561

 

Not sure which demo is Rob talking about. Or maybe he's referring to the Mon-Sun 11pm ratings?

 

I don't know where Morrison got his numbers from, but WABC was a clear winner across the board. Total viewers and demographics.

I think it'll be a while before there is any real shakeup in the current rankings... WCBS will have their opportunity once Oprah goes off the air, provided that WABC doesn't replace her with either Dr. Oz or Nate Berkus.

 

Truth is this - despite CBS having substantially more popular primetime programming than ABC, more people tune into channel 7 specifically for the news than stick with whatever channel they're watching prior. It says a lot about the viewers, and about the connection people obviously feel with the talent at WABC.

[nynewsguy 66]

ok, so it turns out that WCBS was "most watched" at 11pm in DECEMBER. not during sweeps. However, "most watched" could mean for the demographic, or overall. Who knows.

Lets see what January has in store.

[DMA 135]

The thing is, sweeps can be skewed by sensationalist stories that appeal to people who don't watch the news often, so if WCBS was #1 at 11 in December, that means something. I think a few months back they were #1 at 11, so it's definitely more than a one-time occurrence, due in part to the strength of CBS Primetime.

 

Edit:

Here are the results for late September-Early October:

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20091009/FREE/910099987

 

Channel 4's late news, with Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons, has fallen 19%, to an average 2.9 households rating, but it wasn't the only station to see its numbers fall at 11 p.m. WABC was down 16%, to a 5.4 household rating. WCBS rose 31% to a 5.5.

It;s no coincidence that WABC lost at 11 then, and they lose at 11 now. It looks like WCBS may beat WABC at 11 during the next sweeps.

[NYNews 54]

Rob Morrison's response to someone's tweet on twitter:

 

"@NYNewsWATCH your headline should read WABC website had dated, erroneous info."

[DMA 135]

I suppose WABC should stop airing their #1 in New York Promo, as it's erroneous.

[NYNews 54]

I suppose WABC should stop airing their #1 in New York Promo, as it's erroneous.

 

LOL

[NewsJunkie247 1]

Way to go, WCBS! As a viewer of WNBC for years, I can now say I find myself watching WCBS and WABC more and more often. The other day, for example, after watching News 4 New York at 11 during the first segment, I was flipping over to WCBS. The news was the same at 11 as it was at 6PM and even though I like David Ushery, I was a little disappointed that Chuck and Sue weren't on. It seems WCBS and WABC have different stories and it just feels like a more traditional newscast on one of those channels than it does on WNBC with the set and the two anchor format.

[IceManNYR 240]

WCBS has their #1 at 11pm in December promo running as of Today.

[nynewsguy 66]

I suppose WABC should stop airing their #1 in New York Promo, as it's erroneous.

 

 

LOL. WABC is still the most watched station in NY and in the US. They win that title hands down. Between all the other newscasts, and all the daytime programming, no station in NY is even CLOSE to taking that title away from them. It'll be years before that changes... their #1 in NY promos are still very much true. Losing one newscast doesn't change that in the least.

[Vlad 325]

Yeah, I gotta agree that's true too, one broadcast not gonna dethrone them. Now WCBS is clearly the winner at 11PM, which is great, but looking at the scheme of things overall, WABC is still the most watched station so the promos are still viable.

 

But if WCBS can be number one at 11PM that means something is not working right for WABC, either their ABC Primetime programming is not as strong as CBS's or the quality of WABC's newscast is starting to become a bit stale. WABC needs to do a bit more of a refreshing of their look. Their graphics are fine, but they really need to update their music now, that's long been overdue, 10+ years with the same music is kinda pushing it for me, although WPVI has had their for long, and etc.. hopefully WABC doesn't follow their trend. Whether they use News Series 2000 + NG, (whatever the new name of that package is called) and Eyewitness News NG4, etc... they need new music. I'm sick and tired of that same old redundant boring Track 11, bumper for every damn break, lol. They need more variety, like WNBC and WCBS has for each segment. It seems that they are slowly doing this with their new music and promos, but they need to do it all across the board. I hate to say it but, their set is also starting to become a bit dated now, simple improvements such as removing that cheap excuse for a backdrop and and adding a quality projection screen with a live camera behind the desk could dramatically improve the set's look and appearance.

[wabceyewitness 825]

Yeah, I gotta agree that's true too, one broadcast not gonna dethrone them. Now WCBS is clearly the winner at 11PM, which is great, but looking at the scheme of things overall, WABC is still the most watched station so the promos are still viable.

 

But if WCBS can be number one at 11PM that means something is not working right for WABC, either their ABC Primetime programming is not as strong as CBS's or the quality of WABC's newscast is starting to become a bit stale. WABC needs to do a bit more of a refreshing of their look. Their graphics are fine, but they really need to update their music now, that's long been overdue, 10+ years with the same music is kinda pushing it for me, although WPVI has had their for long, and etc.. hopefully WABC doesn't follow their trend. Whether they use News Series 2000 + NG, (whatever the new name of that package is called) and Eyewitness News NG4, etc... they need new music. I'm sick and tired of that same old redundant boring Track 11, bumper for every damn break, lol. They need more variety, like WNBC and WCBS has for each segment. It seems that they are slowly doing this with their new music and promos, but they need to do it all across the board. I hate to say it but, their set is also starting to become a bit dated now, simple improvements such as removing the Duratrans and adding a projection screen behind the main set could dramatically improve the set's look and appearance.

 

 

 

 

Those are nice ideas for a refresh... but that has nothing to do with the ratings. The biggest mistake in TV News is thinking that changing the set and graphics will attract more viewers. Focus on the content and use your talent to the best of their abilities.

[RGSJenkins 435]

WABC needs to do a bit more of a refreshing of their look. Their graphics are fine, but they really need to update their music now, that's long been overdue, 10+ years with the same music is kinda pushing it for me, although WPVI has had their for long, and etc.. hopefully WABC doesn't follow their trend. Whether they use News Series 2000 + NG, (whatever the new name of that package is called) and Eyewitness News NG4, etc... they need new music. I'm sick and tired of that same old redundant boring Track 11, bumper for every damn break, lol. They need more variety, like WNBC and WCBS has for each segment. It seems that they are slowly doing this with their new music and promos, but they need to do it all across the board. I hate to say it but, their set is also starting to become a bit dated now, simple improvements such as removing the Duratrans and adding a projection screen behind the main set could dramatically improve the set's look and appearance.

Ironically, WCBS hasn't been using any bumper music for a while, they show the graphic with spinning eye but there's is no bumper music at all.

 

Four ABC O&Os have use the same package in the same form, no serious updates for at least 10 years, WPVI since white met bread, WLS since '92, KFSN since '94, and WABC since '99. I don't know if WABC wants keep it that way, but what I think.

 

Off topic but Anthony Johnson doing sports for Rob Powers tonight.

[Vlad 325]

Those are nice ideas for a refresh... but that has nothing to do with the ratings. The biggest mistake in TV News is thinking that changing the set and graphics will attract more viewers. Focus on the content and use your talent to the best of their abilities.

 

Oh definitely, I certainly agree with that. Its certainly not the image that plays a role, its the quality of the broadcast. I think a lot of it has to do with the programming and lead in at 10PM. The 10PM shows this past Fall on WABC and ABC in overall, simply underperformed which is why the 11PM news faltered. Castle, Eastwick and the Forgotten are horrible shows, perhaps Castle was the best out of the three. But Eastwick and the forgotten have already been canceled and dropped by ABC. So perhaps Lost (Tue) and Ugly Betty (Wed) will help out this Winter and Spring... How are the other ABC Affiliates in other DMAs fairing out at 11PM?