NBC’s reshuffle deals WCVB a stronger hand
Channel 7 lost ground in four major news slots during its first month since its NBC programming jumped over to a new station that also had trouble with local news viewers, according to TV ratings from January released yesterday.
Many of the news viewers apparently leaking from the NBC universe landed at WCVB Channel 5, whose standings in a number of evening and nighttime slots improved since December’s ratings.
WCVB General Manager Bill Fine told the Herald his station has been the “biggest beneficiary” of the tectonic shifts in what he called “an ever-changing, fiercely competitive news market.”
“We have former NBC-watchers in some time periods and former Channel 7 watchers in others,” Fine said. “We are going up in a five-station market.”
WBTS, christened NBC Boston on Jan. 1, had a rough start to the year. Its news programming ranked last across the board in the sought-after 25- to 54-yearold demographic, according to Nielsen numbers. But the station is keeping its chin up.
An NBC Boston spokeswoman said the station is “very pleased” with how things went for its first month, noting the new station performed well in prime time, as well as “The Today Show” from 6 to 9 a.m.
On its slow start in local news, the spokeswoman said, it’s “a marathon, not a sprint.”
“As far as local news goes, we are where we expected to be,” the station said. “We said all along it’s going to take time to build the local audience, so we are not disappointed. We feel good about where we are heading, building an audience in the local world.”
WHDH maintained its first-place standing in prime demographics at noon and 11 p.m. newscasts, but the station dropped behind FOX 25 for 5 a.m. and behind WCVB for the evening slots from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the ratings show.
“We are happy with our prime-time lineup, our 9 o’clock and 10 o’clock news have found an audience immediately and we continue to be the leader at 11 p.m. in adults 25 to 54,” said Channel 7 Vice President and GM Paul Magnes. “We are very pleased with what we are doing.”