This time around, ‘Idol’ was no help

“Good Day L.A.,” Fox-owned KTTV’s daily show that decisively triumphed over its national and local competition last year with the help of Fox’s “American Idol” and “Joe Millionaire,” fell from its ratings throne in the just-ended February sweeps in the competitive morning news race, according to local ratings released Thursday by Nielsen Media Research.

The irreverent “Good Day L.A.,” anchored by Steve Edwards, Dorothy Lucey and Jillian Barberie, declined 27% in ratings and 17% in share from last February, when it beat ABC’s “Good Morning America, “KTLA Morning News” and NBC’s “Today.” “Good Day L.A.” last month sank to fourth place in the 7 a.m. time period behind “Good Morning America,” “Today” and “KTLA Morning News.”

Even though “American Idol” continues to be a ratings phenomenon and the network had another major hit with “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance,” their success did not help KTTV-TV Channel 11’s morning or evening news at 10 p.m., which fell 29% in ratings and 25% in share from last February. However, “Fox 11 News at 10” still easily won over its rivals, KTLA-TV Channel 5’s “News at 10” and KCAL-TV Channel 9’s 10 p.m. news.

Jose Rios, KTTV’s news director, said he was not concerned about the ratings for the morning show. He pointed out that he expected “Good Day L.A.” to still beat its rivals in key demographics. “I believe the biggest difference between last year and this year was the prelude to war, which affected the whole marketplace,” he said.

As for criticisms that the program’s format of bantering and teasing among the three anchors was wearing thin, Rios pointed out that the newscast had won two Emmys in the last three years for hard news coverage: “And we do a national show too, which no one else does.”

Other developments in the morning news arena include the boost in ratings for “KTLA Morning News,” which added co-anchor Michaela Pereira last month. The newscast jumped 3% in rating and 10% in share from November, the previous major sweep period (KTLA is owned by Tribune, which also owns the Los Angeles Times).

In other local news races, KABC-TV Channel 7’s “Eyewitness News” was the top-rated newscast in the early morning, and it maintained its dominance in the 4 to 6:30 p.m. news block. KNBC-TV Channel 4 remained the top-rated 11 p.m. newscast for the 11th consecutive sweeps.

Spanish-language stations also continued to prosper. Univision’s KMEX-TV Channel 34 posted an average ratings growth of 11% from a year ago, and it is the third-highest-rated station in Los Angeles behind KABC and KNBC.

“Noticiero 52,” the 6 p.m. newscast on KVEA-TV Channel 52, posted ratings gains of 35%, placing it behind KABC and KNBC and ahead of KCBS’ 6 p.m. news.

The just-completed sweeps is the last that will be measured by Nielsen’s diary system -- in which viewers keep a record of programs watched. When the May sweeps come around, audiences will be measured via Nielsen’s new People Meters, which automatically tabulate which shows people are watching and provide instant audience demographic information that is especially coveted by advertisers. Because they will monitor viewing patterns throughout the year, the People Meters are expected to diminish the importance of the sweeps periods.