Olympics Hurt, Not Helped WOWT

One year ago, WOWT (Cox Channel 8) viewers learned that a mainstay on the anchor desk was getting ready to say goodbye.

The month-long farewell to Pat Persaud that encompassed the entire May ratings period proved to be one of the NBC affiliate’s strongest ratings performances in recent memory. That is, until last November.

With Tracy Madden elevated to co-anchor with John Knicely, WOWT surprisingly scored even larger audiences, widening its lead on KETV (Cox Channel 9) at 10 p.m. to the point where a newscast promo touted WOWT’s 10 p.m. newscast as being “watched by more people than all other local newscasts combined.”

That promo was still airing Thursday night. But according to the February 2006 Nielsen Media Research report, WOWT no longer draws such a sizeable audience in the most coveted newscast time slot.

So what happened?

NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics scored a bronze when WOWT – and other affiliates of the Peacock network around the country – had hoped it would be golden. Case in point, the 4 p.m. time slot. WOWT’s average rating for its newscast at that time (which airs against “Judge Judy” and “Oprah”) is a 6 rating and 22 share. Airing in the same time slot for three weeks of the ratings period, the Olympics attracted an audience of about half that (3/13).

Ratings points measure the percentage of all households viewing a program, while the share measures the percentage of households with sets in use. (Example: if there are 100 households, 50 of them watching television, and 25 watching a specific program, that program has a 25 rating and a 50 share). At present, each ratings point equals 3,146 viewers.

Because NBC’s prime-time Olympics coverage typically extended well past 10 p.m. on 17 of the 28 days in the ratings period, audience numbers for 10 p.m. newscasts in an Olympic year are often considered “skewed” and do not paint an accurate picture of typical viewership.

Notwithstanding, WOWT saw its total viewership erode at 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. when compared to the last ratings period (November 2005) and a year ago (February 2005). Only its 11:30 a.m. newscast gained viewers.

“The lead in of low Olympics numbers from four o’clock did affect our five o’clock news somewhat,” said WOWT General Manager Frank Jonas. “But we are confident that it will bounce back. Year to year, we actually went up a rating point at 10 o’clock, in spite of (coming on the air later). So we have maintained our No. 1 position at 10.”

But the dominance WOWT once enjoyed has been whittled away considerably. Two years ago in February, it boasted the No. 1 newscast in total viewers at 6 a.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Its lead at 10 p.m. over KETV back then was a whopping three ratings points, the equivalent to several thousand dollars in advertising revenue.

But according to Nielsen, KETV now has the most viewers at 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., it is a virtual tie between KETV and WOWT.

In the battle of locally-produced sports shows, WOWT’s “Sunday Sports Extra” handily outdistances KMTV’s “Harrah’s Sports Sound-Off.” But its viewership has declined, losing two ratings points and three share points from two years ago.

In the face of it all, though, Jonas remains optimistic that the May ratings, which begin April 27, will pose a more accurate representation of WOWT’s viewing audience.

“We are extremely happy with the way February turned out,” he said. “As positive as the Olympics are, it is always difficult on your regularly scheduled programming, such as news pre-emptions.”