Among local stations, no clear winner in ratings
With one day left in the November sweeps ratings period, WHDH-TV (Channel 7) has taken over first place in the early morning news race. WCVB-TV (Channel 5), however, maintained its tight grip on most of the day's newscasts.
Each of Boston's TV stations, in fact, has something to crow about.
In late news, WBZ-TV (Channel 4) claimed victory by maintaining its lead at 11 p.m. in total viewers and in most key demographics. WFXT-TV (Channel 25) dominated at 10 p.m., and WCVB won at noon, 5 p.m., and 6 p.m.
The final numbers, which will include last night's tally, won't be released until next week by Nielsen Media Research. But the numbers provided through Tuesday provide a clear picture of where the stations stood during the important ratings month. The numbers are used to help set advertising rates.
"The mornings turned out to be the most competitive ratings I have seen in my career," said Bill Fine, president and general manager of WCVB, which won in the key 25-54 demographic at 5 a.m. but came in second in total viewers to WHDH. "We need to work a little harder to get back to our customary position there. It's tight as I've ever seen."
With a disappointing performance last May in late news, WHDH resurged in the mornings. The news was a shot in the arm for the station, which recently unveiled a new high-definition news desk and introduced the new morning team of Adam Williams and Anne Allred.
At 5 a.m., WHDH won with 43,600 total viewers, followed by WCVB with 35,500, WBZ with 29,600, and WFXT with 29,100.
At 6 a.m., WHDH led again with 86,800 viewers, while WCVB finished in second with 84,900, followed by WFXT with 71,700 and WBZ with 65,100. But WCVB, which also ushered in a new morning anchor team with Bianca de la Garza and David Brown this spring, triumphed throughout the day.
At noon, WCVB drew 116,900 viewers, followed by WBZ with 65,200, and WHDH with 57,400. WCVB also claimed its top perch at 5 p.m., winning with 180,300 viewers. WHDH came in second with 93,300, followed by WBZ with 90,100 and WFXT with 27,100 viewers. And WCVB's 6 p.m. program drew the largest audience on average for a single newscast with about 217,600 viewers. That program was up about 14,000 viewers from a year ago. In that same hour, WBZ came in second with 117,300 viewers, followed by WHDH with 102,800.
At 10 p.m., WFXT averaged 144,900 viewers, easily beating WLVI-TV's (Channel 56) newscast, which had about 43,500.
The 11 p.m. newscast, considered highly lucrative because it draws the most in key demographics and advertising dollars, continues to be a heated race. WBZ won with an average of 183,900 viewers. The win marks the fourth sweeps period in a year when the station won the time slot. WCVB improved to second place with 176,000 viewers, while WHDH slipped to third with 142,100, followed by WFXT with 68,400. Overall though, WFXT had the largest audience in late-night viewers, taking both its 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts into consideration.
"I'm excited. We again had great success in November," said Ed Piette, general manager of WBZ. "This is a very smart market, and I think people are beyond a lot of the smoke and mirrors that television newsrooms try and throw at them. Our product is sophisticated, and it responds to the knowledge base of the marketplace."
Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com 