L.A. news sweeps results are mixed

Recent transitions in the ownership landscape of the local television market provided mixed results for several stations as they approach the end of the November sweeps, according to local Nielsen ratings data released Tuesday.

This sweeps period, which officially ends tonight, is the first to measure the effects of several duopolies -- consolidations in which a single company owns two television stations in the same city. The relaxing of rules by the Federal Communications Commission governing TV ownership in 1999 has led to several duopolies and new marketing strategies by management of the newly merged stations.

KCBS-TV, which merged with KCAL-TV Channel 9 earlier this year under the joint ownership of Viacom, continued to come up short in the afternoon and 11 p.m. news competition, despite the highly publicized arrival of former KABC-TV “Eyewitness News” anchor Laura Diaz, that station’s top female anchor. In September, Diaz was teamed up with Harold Greene, an “Eyewitness News” partner.

The KCBS 5 p.m. news, anchored by Diaz and Greene, showed a 23% decline in rating and 20% decline in audience share from last November. The Diaz-Greene team’s 11 p.m. newscast was up only 2% in rating and off 10% in audience share from last year.

Don Corsini, vice president and general manager of the two stations, was still encouraged, noting the station’s afternoon and evening news shows demonstrated mostly double-digit growth since October. He added that the 11 p.m. news last November benefited from viewers who had tuned in to several highly rated network specials. This year, the network relied more on regular programming.

“We’ve always said this was going to be one day at a time, baby steps,” Corsini said. With boosts from the highly rated “CSI: Miami” on Mondays and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” on Thursdays, he said the 11 p.m. news was positioned to improve significantly in the coming months: “I’m pleased to death that Laura is in a position to move the needle.”

KCAL’s three-hour prime-time news block, on the other hand, had more cause for celebration. The 8 p.m. news increased 3% in rating from last November, while the 9 p.m. news rose 12% from last year. However, the 10 p.m. newscast fell off 7% from last November. Jerry Dunphy, KCAL’s main anchor, died in May.

The traditionally competitive 10 p.m. news rivalry between KTTV-TV and KTLA Channel 5 wound up with a clear victory for KTLA. Coming back from a rating loss during the last major sweeps period in May, KTLA “News at 10” came in first in the time period, while KTTV’s “Fox News at 10” came in second, dropping 18% in rating and 29% in share from last November.

One of the tightest news races of the local sweeps is going down to the wire. Rivals “The KTLA Morning News” and “Good Day L.A.” on KTTV were almost neck and neck going into the final day. Status quo remained in other races. KNBC-TV Channel 4 maintained its dominance in the 11 p.m. news competition, while KABC Channel 7 remained on top in late afternoon.