It was a horse race down to the tiniest percentage point for local newscasts during the November sweeps period.
The closest race was at noon, when WBIR, Channel 10, and WVLT, Channel 8, have been duking it out. In the end, WBIR won - by a hair. The rating for the noon news for both stations was a virtual tie (both scoring a 6.2), but WBIR managed to squeak out a victory by a hundredth of a point.
The late-night news for WBIR also had an uphill battle, in part because of the weak lead-in that "The Jay Leno Show" provides. WBIR's late-night news pulled ahead on the last night of sweeps to win by a mere one-tenth of a point (6.9) over WVLT (6.8).
WBIR also laid claim to the best ratings in all time periods in which they produce local content: 5 a.m., 6 a.m., noon, 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m.
In a memo to the WBIR staff, news director Bill Shory wrote, "Two weeks ago, November sweeps looked pretty grim. With 'Jay Leno' getting crushed, our 11 p.m. newscast was barely holding on to second place - with WVLT far out in first. Even our 5 p.m. newscast, which has won consistently since going on the air a year ago, had slipped behind WATE."
WATE's newly minted 5:30 p.m. (7.7) news earned a clear second-place finish win, yielding to WBIR's local news hour but besting WVLT's "The Andy Griffith Show" (3.6). WATE news was second for the entire 5 p.m. hour.
WBIR's "Live At Five At Four" - which replaced the ratings-challenged "Style" more than a year ago - won its time period (6.7) during the sweeps period, outdistancing "Oprah" (5.1) and WVLT news (3.8).
The 6 p.m. news saw WBIR winning (12.5), with WATE at second (8.7) and then WVLT (4.3).
In primetime, WVLT won with the help of CBS's popular programming. "NCIS," which airs at 8 p.m. Tuesdays, is the most-watched network series in the Knoxville market. Spin-off "NCIS: Los Angeles," which airs at 9 p.m. Tuesdays, is the most-watched new program of the fall season around here.
Other primetime favorites for Knoxville viewers include "Dancing with the Stars," "The Good Wife" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
In network daytime programming, CBS's "The Young and the Restless" is the most-watched drama (6.1) with NBC's "Days Of Our Lives" (4.8) being second. CBS's "The Price Is Right" remains a favorite, too, winning its period during sweeps over ABC's "The View" and WBIR's "Ellen."
In late-night, "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" and "The Craig Ferguson Show" were the most-watched talk shows.
Terry Morrow may be reached at morrowt@knoxville.com or 865-342-6445. His blog can be found at http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/telebuddy/. He contributes to "Live At Five At Four" on WBIR, Channel 10, and "The Marc & Kim & Frank Show" on WWST-FM, 102.1.
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
- |
Comments » 2
HoraceMorris writes:
WBIR's news is becoming unwatchable. Between all the goof ups and not telling the complete story, gone are the days of great and informative newscasts from this station. The problem is WATE isn't much better and WVLT's set and production looks cheap. All the 5:00 news shows are a waste of time and the old Live at Five should be changed to the Bore at Four - boring!
jut writes:
WBIR once the clear leader has slipped, and its not because of NBC. The news set is dark and depressing, graphics hideous, and worse off the video looks like they handed my grandma a video camera. Robin Wilhoit, Russell and a few others are the professionals. Too many right out of college reporters and for the love of Pete I immediately turn to WATE when Ed Rupp starts his druken like traffic report, please leave him on WIVK.
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.