February TV News: A New Battleground

This just in: The TV news wars have broken out on a new front: 5-6:30 p.m. Yes, the morning news battles still raged in Feburary -- with big snow storms, freezing rain, school closings and the Liz Carroll murder trial -- with just three-tenths of a ratings point separating Chs 9, 19 and 5 behind leader Ch. 12.

But the big news in the February sweeps ratings released today is the early evening news competition. In my opinion, the new emphasis on 5-6:30 p.m. in a reaction from Ch 5 taking second place at 5 p.m. in November, knocking Ch 12 to third. Well, Ch. 12 roared back with a vengance in February, while Ch. 9 and Ch. 5 revved up the original content in the early news block.

Ch. 12 increased ratings 38% at 5-6:30 p.m., while Ch 9 grew 17% and Ch 5 increased by only 6% over the 90 minutes. Ch. 12 closed the gap at 6 p.m. to six-tenths of a ratings point, compared to 1.8 points in November. The weather and murder trial also boosted Ch 12's 4 p.m. newscast by 63% over November.

But the biggest leap of all came for Ch. 19's 10 p.m. newscast. It was up 56% from November, to an 8.9 rating and 14% audience share, with "American Idol," the weather and trial coverage. The 8.9 rating Monday-Friday -- against the networks' big "sweeps" programs -- translates into more TV homes than the 11 p.m. news audience for Chs 9 or 5.

In fact, "The Simpsons" drew more 11 p.m. viewers on Ch. 19 (5.5 rating) than the Ch. 5 news (5.3) in Feburary. D'Oh!

Here are the numbers from Nielsen Media Research:

Station Rating Homes Share
7-6 a.m.
WKRC-TV 6.0 53,214 20%
WCPO-TV 4.5 39,911 16%
WLWT-TV 4.2 37,250 14%
WXIX-TV 4.2 37,250 14%

5 p.m.
WCPO-TV 9.8 86,916 20%
WKRC-TV 7.9 70,065 16%
WLWT-TV 5.9 52,327 12%

5:30 p.m.
WCPO-TV 10.1 89,577 19%
WKRC-TV 9.3 82,482 17%
WLWT-TV 4.9 43,458 9%

6 p.m.
WCPO-TV 10.8 95,785 19%
WKRC-TV 10.2 90,464 18%
WLWT-TV 4.8 42,571 8%

10 p.m.
WXIX-TV 8.9 78,934 14%
WSTR-TV 2.3 20,399 3%

11 p.m.
WKRC-TV 14.1 125,053 26%
WCPO-TV 8.6 76,273 16%
WLWT-TV 5.3 47,006 10%