WNYT maintains dominance in TV news ratings

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For several years, Nielsen news has been good news for WNYT, NewsChannel 13.

The trend is continuing: Nielsen’s first local ratings report for 2008 is out, and just about all the numbers are good for management and staff at the Menands television station.

WNYT has kept — and in some cases extended — its lead in early morning, late afternoon, early evening and late night news broadcasts. At noon, where WRGB, CBS 6, had built a slight lead in the November ratings book, both WNYT and WTEN, News 10, have claimed a share of the lead: All three stations have posted 4 ratings and 19 shares in the time period.

A rating is a show’s percentage of viewers based on the overall number of households with TV sets in the market. Share points measure the percentage of viewers of the total number watching TV at a given time.

In the November book, WNYT enjoyed comfortable leads at both 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. with ratings numbers of 11 and 6, respectively. For the February ratings period, those numbers are 12 and 8.

“The key is we’re very happy with the numbers and we’ve been able to put some more distance between us and our competitors,” said Stephen P. Baboulis, vice president and general manager at WNYT. “I think we’re doing a good job, our people are doing a good job and the way we’re presenting the news is attractive to the audience. It’s a combined effort all the time. We’re always trying everything we can to make sure we serve the viewers to the best possible level. My guess is that’s really what’s being demonstrated right now; we’re in tune with the viewership.”

WNYT has been successful with few changes in consistent lineups. The station will make a major change Monday, when it discontinues its noon broadcast in favor of a late morning, 11 a.m. news show.

“We think that doing an entire morning of news and information will provide more opportunities for people to view our news but also provide a branding opportunity for us, that we’re the place to go when people want good, solid news and information,” Baboulis said.

For more on this story, read Wednesday’s edition of The Daily Gazette.