May Ratings

[SoonerBorn1973]

Well, the May book is over and there are very few changes:

KFOR wins the AM again. Followed up by KWTV then KOCO with The Buzz (KAUT) and KOKH (Fox 25) bringing up the rear.

KFOR also won the Noon show. Followed by KWTV and KOCO.

KOCO won the 5pm slot again. KFOR made up some ground and KWTV is still pretty far behind.

KOCO won the 6pm by the smallest of margins over KFOR. KWTV also pretty far behind here.

KWTV won the all important 10pm slot. KFOR made up a little ground from last book with KOCO bringing up the rear.

Some important notes:

1. I'm told that stations like to round their ratings share. If this is the case, expect KWTV to run their "#1 in the mornings" promo during the 6am hour. From what I told, the gap is larger than last book but KFOR will round down and KWTV will round up. Expect this to happen at KFOR for the 6pm show as well. KOCO won that slot by fractions of a point. They'll both round to the same share.

2. For all the KWTV marks out there, the only newscast they won outright is the 10pm. Contribute this to the strong prime-time programming from CBS. And even for that show, their numbers went down while KFOR's nearly doubled from the very weak programming supplied by NBC. (By the way, that's a fact. Not an opinion)

[kmf563]

[drumsncode]

Thank you SoonerBorn. We all appreciate that you can give us this, as it is virtually impossible to get if you're an outsider. THANKS!

[kmf563]

Maybe he hacked the system, or has a good friend that has in IN.

[SoonerBorn1973]

Or maybe my last name is Nielsen.

[drumsncode]

Or maybe my last name is Nielsen.

Are you gonna make us call you Mr. Nielsen? ;-)

Actually, if you give us ratings info every sweeps period I'll call you His Royal Majesty or whatever you want. I used to search for hours on Google and not find a scrap of ratings info for local stations.

[drumsncode]

This brings up something I’ve wanted to talk about for a long time. Do you believe in “lead-in” as the strongest ratings-getter, or do you believe in the viewer-appeal of the newscast itself?

I know many people out there that swear by lead-in and attribute it to ratings wins and losses, yet I’ve never heard of a single person who said that they watch a certain newscast simply because they were led-in to that show. Everyone I know has a favorite newscast and they watch it with almost religious fervor.

Your point labeled #2 points out the complexity of the whole thing. You give lead-in credit for giving KWTV a win, and yet with terrible lead-in KFOR managed to gain share. That’s a very tough thing to reconcile.

If you ask Blaise Labbe why KWTV won at 10pm, do you think he’d say “We just got lucky because of all the CSI shows; our newscast actually sucks”, or do you think he’d say “We’ve got the greatest team in the nation and the best equipment, and we create newscasts that have more context, depth, perspective, and meaningful detail than our competitors.” (BTW, the last part is basically what he said in the newspaper the last time NEWS9 won November sweeps.)

I don’t believe in lead-in when it comes to getting viewers to watch a newscast. Everything I’ve ever read on this board supports my theory that people are extremely loyal to their stations and the anchors.

I used to be fiercely loyal to NEWS9 until they put in their new set and decided that showing the set and the big-screen monitors was more important than putting the anchor’s faces on camera. (And I can’t believe that since November 2006 no one has posted about this. Mark Shannon picked up on it the first week and made fun of it on his website.)

If I wanted to watch the anchors standing up from 20 feet away the whole show, I could watch KSBI. That’s just my own preference, but it’s what drove me to give KOCO a try, and I found that most often, they put on a much more enjoyable broadcast, and it’s not so laden with useless crime reporting.

My question to all of you: What drives you to watch a particular newscast?

[Matt]

I don’t believe in lead-in when it comes to getting viewers to watch a newscast.

You don't? Not even a little bit?

Look at KOCO--they're in third place in every time slot except five and six P.M.--no doubt thanks to Ms. Winfrey. . .

[drumsncode]

You don't? Not even a little bit?

Look at KOCO--they're in third place in every time slot except five and six P.M.--no doubt thanks to Ms. Winfrey. . .

It just kills me to believe that lead-in gives a station its ratings win, but I realize there are a lot of people that believe otherwise.

If KFOR gains marketshare with a lousy lead-in, don't you have to give credit to KFOR for putting on a good show that people want to watch?

I've always wondered, does anyone think that if all the CSI shows were replaced by Gilligan's Island reruns, would NEWS9 lose its 10pm dominance? If you believe it would, what's the use of having all that "great talent" at NEWS9 and all that multi-million dollar equipment, if your fate relies on whatever show was ahead of you.

That's why the whole concept bugs the heck out of me. It downplays the importance of the newscast itself and places your ratings fate into the hands of outside forces.

[BailJumper]

I don't put alot of faith in the lead-in. If it does exist, it's soon to be a dinosaur in the age of Tivo and DVR's. I record all the stations late night news programs (really) and watch them in fast forward the next morning.

I also don't like the idea of "sweeps." Station's plan ahead in an attmept to manipulate the ratings. It just seems to go against everything journalism is supposed to be.

I personally think ratings periods should be secret and the stations not told until it is over. I think that would be more accurate.

[SoonerBorn1973]

I think the fact that KWTV wins the 10pm but trails WAY behind in most other newscast answers your question as to if the lead-in really matters. If the lead-in really didn't matter, they would be more than just a roadbump for the 5pm and 6pm. Especially considering the 6pm is the SAME news team that anchors the 10pm.

I really think the answer is right in front of your face. You just have to open your eyes and look at it.

[BailJumper]

Especially considering the 6pm is the SAME news team that anchors the 10pm

Yes, but while the anchors do not change, often the audience does. I know very few people that are home in time for the 5 or 6pm news, but do watch the 10pm.

[drumsncode]

I think the fact that KWTV wins the 10pm but trails WAY behind in most other newscast answers your question as to if the lead-in really matters. If the lead-in really didn't matter, they would be more than just a roadbump for the 5pm and 6pm. Especially considering the 6pm is the SAME news team that anchors the 10pm.

I really think the answer is right in front of your face. You just have to open your eyes and look at it.

I definitely see your point. It's very disconcerting though, isn't it? It means that NEWS9 has been winning the 10pm for all this time based on lead-in, rather than quality. Wouldn't it be fun to ask Blaise Labbe why NEWS9 wins at 10? You know he'd spout the corporate party-line of bull. We hear it all the time in their promos.

I will try and incorporate lead-in into my mental framework, but it really offends the heck out of me. Stations knocks themselves out to put their best anchors (and their most beautiful) into their most important time periods, they're always trying to get the best look of their set, the best graphics packages, and their anchors even get "talent coaching", which always returns me to the belief that it's the look, feel, and content of the show that matters the most.

Still, I can't argue with the fact that NEWS9 doesn't beat everyone at 6pm if they're pounding them at 10pm. That makes a strong case for lead-in, unless someone can come up with other interesting reasons, such as viewer-demographics or something.

[Patrick]

I think lead-in matters. For example, I don't typically watch Fox 25 news at Nine, but I did last night because it came on right after American Idol, and I saw a story on their ads at the end of the American Idol broadcast that I wanted to see.

Samme thing with Channel 5. If my wife is watching Oprah, we'll typically just leave it tuned in there to watch the KOCO news.

Sure, I have news stations that I prefer....I like KWTV because it's the only locally owned station. But usually, I'm of the opinion that they all show the same stories anyways, so I typically just leave the TV on whatever channel it was on for the last program.

[SoonerBorn1973]

I definitely see your point. It's very disconcerting though, isn't it? It means that NEWS9 has been winning the 10pm for all this time based on lead-in, rather than quality. Wouldn't it be fun to ask Blaise Labbe why NEWS9 wins at 10? You know he'd spout the corporate party-line of bull. We hear it all the time in their promos.

I will try and incorporate lead-in into my mental framework, but it really offends the heck out of me. Stations knocks themselves out to put their best anchors (and their most beautiful) into their most important time periods, they're always trying to get the best look of their set, the best graphics packages, and their anchors even get "talent coaching", which always returns me to the belief that it's the look, feel, and content of the show that matters the most.

Still, I can't argue with the fact that NEWS9 doesn't beat everyone at 6pm if they're pounding them at 10pm. That makes a strong case for lead-in, unless someone can come up with other interesting reasons, such as viewer-demographics or something.

Oh, I agree. The lead-in factor has to really put a strain on the have-nots when it comes to network programming. It has to be frustrating that you have the local stations busting their rears to put on the best product, only to be held back by some of the decisions made by people in New York or LA. However, I really don't think KFOR has much of a gripe. They rode the wave of the most popular programming in the 90's and early 2000's. And I'm sure it's just a matter of time before ABC takes over the network programming war once everyone gets tired of the same story lines on CSI. In my opinion, it's cyclical.

[jbrown84]

Boy, that new Fox morning show was sure a bomb. It couldn't even beat the Daily Buzz.

[soonerliberal]

I feel the lead-in to the newscast is extremely significant to the newscast's ratings in every case besides the morning. There is a reason KOCO is in the lead at Five and Six, but in third in all the other newscasts. Oprah and World News. The top rated daytime show and the top national evening newscast are the lead-ins for those two newscasts. KWTV has a weak afternoon syndicated lineup and 4pm news, thus fewer people stay around for their newscasts.

CBS is generally strongest at its 9pm central timeslots, thus giving KWTV a big boost in the evening. ABC is generally stronger in the early primetime hours. I think longtime leader KFOR has suffered at 10pm in recent years due to NBC's declining primetime product. I remember about five years or so ago when KFOR won every single newscast besides noon.

[soonerliberal]

SoonerBorn, do you have the numbers? I am especially curious about the morning and 10pm ones.

[SoonerBorn1973]

SoonerBorn, do you have the numbers? I am especially curious about the morning and 10pm ones.

5am- KFOR 3.63, KOCO 1.34, KWTV 2.97
5:30am- KFOR 4.61, KOCO 2.51, KWTV 3.93
6am- KFOR 7.13, KOCO 3.50, KWTV 6.70

(Apparently Nielsen seperates the 5am hour but not the 6am hour. Don't ask cause I have no answer.)

5pm- KFOR 7.57, KOCO 8.97, KWTV 5.90
6pm- KFOR 9.13, KOCO 9.28, KWTV 7.51
10pm- KFOR 13.19, KOCO 9.64, KWTV 15.04

[drumsncode]

Thanks again to SoonerBorn for this extremely hard to obtain data.

This leads to a question I bet one of you can answer:

Just last night NEWS9 already updated their promo at the first commercial on their 10pm show to say "America's #1 Rated Late Newscast".

What exactly does that mean? We are the number 45 market, so what are they trying to tell us?

[soonerliberal]

Thanks for those SoonerBorn.

I think the "America's #1 Rated Late Newscast" comes because of two reasons:

1) In Oklahoma City, Network television is more popular than it generally is nationwide, where cable ratings tend to be a bit lower than the national average.

2) With the late newscasts being at 10pm in the Central time zone, it gives Midwestern stations an advantage over those on the coasts which show the late local news at 11 every night.

[jbrown84]

In the past, KOCB used to tout themselves as the #1 rated WB affiliate in the nation.

[drumsncode]

I guess what I'm trying to ask is:

Is this "#1 rating thing" relative to market size or something, or are they saying that they actually have more viewers than a market the size of New York?

[jbrown84]

They are saying they have more viewers than any individual station in any other market.

[billinvegas]

so, then KOCO is finally out of third place???

back when I was in the biz in OKC, KOCO had a death grip on third place!

5am- KFOR 3.63, KOCO 1.34, KWTV 2.97
5:30am- KFOR 4.61, KOCO 2.51, KWTV 3.93
6am- KFOR 7.13, KOCO 3.50, KWTV 6.70

(Apparently Nielsen seperates the 5am hour but not the 6am hour. Don't ask cause I have no answer.)

5pm- KFOR 7.57, KOCO 8.97, KWTV 5.90
6pm- KFOR 9.13, KOCO 9.28, KWTV 7.51
10pm- KFOR 13.19, KOCO 9.64, KWTV 15.04