Olympics a Boost for Channel 8

The Winter Olympics proved to be a gold medal ratings winner for the local CBS affiliate, KFMB-TV (Channel 8), according to the February rating reports released Tuesday.

Featuring primarily Olympics programming, Channel 8 easily won the local prime-time ratings battle for February, earning more than twice the ratings as the other network affiliates. In the Nielsen report, Channel 8’s prime time, Monday through Sunday, earned a 21 rating and 36 share, followed by ABC affiliate KGTV (Channel 10) with a 9 rating and 16 share.

The Olympics also helped Channel 8’s 11 p.m. newscast, which went from a 4 rating and 15 share in last February Nielsen’s report to an 8 rating and 25 share this February. The Arbitron report showed a smaller jump, from a 5 rating to a 7, but it was clear the prime-time Olympics provided a major boost.

(Ratings points represent the percentage of the total television audience tuned to the program, while the share reflects the percentage of the audience actually watching television during that period.)

“The feeling around here was that it was the best book in years,” Channel 8 spokesman Tim Hnedak said.

But the ratings explosion for other Channel 8 programs, which executives at some of the other affiliates feared would accompany the Olympics boost, didn’t occur. In some markets, the CBS affiliates’ newscasts, buoyed by the Olympics, jumped over other newscasts to the No. 1 spot.

Channel 10, which has been No. 1 at 11 p.m. for the past 5 years, still won the 11 p.m. slot, but not by much. In the Nielsen report, Channel 10 had a 9 rating and 28 share to Channel 8’s 8 and 25, while both Channel 10 and Channel 8 had a 7 rating in the Arbitron report, with Channel 10 earning a 25 share to Channel 8’s 22.

Channel 39, which had been threatening to move into second place at 11 p.m., was one rating point behind the second place station in both books.

“We knew the Olympics would be strong here, and lo and behold they did well, but our late news held on,” Channel 10 program director Don Lundy said.

Channel 10 also maintained its lead in the key 5 p.m. news competition, although Arbitron showed Channel 8 moving ahead of Channel 10 at 6:30 p.m. by one ratings point. However, both 6:30 newscasts were beaten by “Jeopardy” on Channel 39.

“We were pleased with the 6:30 number which came up because you can’t necessarily attribute that to the Olympics,” Channel 8’s Hnedak said.

According to the reports, Channel 39’s “Ross Hedgecock Report,” which is struggling to build an audience, moved up slightly from past ratings periods, posting a 2 rating, 7 share in Nielsen and 3 rating, 8 share in Arbitron, but was soundly beaten by Channel 8’s 4 p.m. reruns of “M*A*S*H,” which posted a 5 rating in both books, and Channel 8’s 4:30 newscast, which had a 7 rating in each book.

The “Oprah Winfrey Show” on Channel 10 continued to dominate the 4 p.m. slot, the all-important lead-in to the 5 p.m. newscast, posting a 12 rating and 39 share in Nielsen and an 11 rating and 33 share in Arbitron.

But the big news in the book was undoubtedly Channel 8. The Channel 8 news team was completely revamped last year, and this ratings period was the first sign that people might be willing to watch it.

“I like to think (the audience) will stay with us in May (the next ratings period),” Hnedak said. “That’s the real test.”