Channel 4 Leads News Ratings Again

KNBC Channel 4 completed a clean sweep of this year’s local news ratings by winning its third consecutive “sweeps” in November, scoring victories in all news time periods over rivals KABC Channel 7 and KCBS Channel 2.

According to figures released Thursday by A.C. Nielsen Co., Channel 4 trounced its two rivals by at least 74,000 households in the early-morning news and all afternoon/early-evening newscasts. It also won at 11 p.m. but only by a narrow margin, as KABC improved significantly over its performance in last May’s competition.

Channel 4 also won the news race in Arbitron’s ratings, but KABC was a much closer second in all time periods. Channel 2 was a distant third once again in both services, getting clobbered at 11 p.m. by reruns of “Cheers” on KTLA Channel 5 and only managing to tie “The Arsenio Hall Show” on KCOP Channel 13.

The good news for Channel 2 was that, in its first sweeps with “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy”--before September the game shows had aired on Channel 13--it catapulted from last place to first in the competitive 7-8 p.m. time period.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the November sweeps--one of four critical ratings periods that help determine advertising rates--was the sensational performance of “Hunter” on Channel 5 at 6 p.m. “Hunter” proved to be a killer in its first time out in syndication, winning its time period over local and national news and the debuts of such ballyhooed sitcoms as “Night Court” and “Growing Pains” on Channel 13 and “Who’s the Boss?” on Channel 9.

Disney-owned Channel 9, which plans to unveil a three-hour prime-time newscast next March, also flopped in news during November, despite the debut of highly paid veteran anchorman Jerry Dunphy as the centerpiece of the station’s news department. KHJ’s 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. newscasts, anchored by Dunphy and Pat Harvey, mustered a high of only a 2.7 rating, down more than one full point from a year ago.

In other sweeps highs and lows (using Nielsen numbers unless otherwise indicated, with each Nielsen point representing 49,315 households):

Can We Talk?: Joan Rivers’ return to television is off to, well, a rather shaky crawl. The comedian’s afternoon talk show on Channel 2 was crushed by all three of her more established rivals. “Oprah” won as usual with a 7.2 rating at 3 p.m. for KABC-TV while KNBC’s “Donahue” scored a 5.5 and Rivers only a 2.2. “Geraldo” managed a 5.4 at 4 p.m. on Channel 2. Even “The Sally Jesse Raphael Show,” which airs at 2 p.m. on Channel 9, beat Rivers.

That’s Entertainment: “Entertainment Tonight” gossiped its way to the top of the 7 p.m. time period, beating “Wheel of Fortune,” which had previously held the top spot in this competitive time period. Though its ratings improved over last May, “Cosby” managed only third, nearly two full rating points behind.

What Happened to Maury?: KTTV’s Maury Povich and “A Current Affair,” which had been dominating the 7:30 p.m. time period for at least the last year, slipped to third in November as “Jeopardy” on Channel 2 sneaked into the top spot. KNBC’s new “Hard Copy” was second. KABC’s “Eye on L.A.,” formerly unbeatable in this time period, fell to sixth.

Play It Again, Hal: As always, KTLA, with anchorman Hal Fishman, wiped out all comers in the independent news race, scoring a 5.1 at 10 p.m. and drawing a larger audience than CBS-owned KCBS’s 11 p.m. newscast. KTTV and KCOP were tied at 10 p.m. in Arbitron, but, in the Nielsen account, KTTV with a 2.5 rating was slightly ahead of Warren Olney and KCOP’s 2.3.

Still No Johnny-Come-Latelys: Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” is still king of late-night talk, registering a 5.9 rating for the month. “Arsenio” is still going strong with a 4.4 at 11 p.m. on Channel 13. “Late Night With David Letterman” garnered a 3.6 at 12:30 a.m. for KNBC, while the endangered “Pat Sajak Show” on KCBS checked in with an anemic 2.4. Even “Later With Bob Costas,” which doesn’t air until 1:30 a.m. on KNBC, outdrew “Sajak.”