WABC #1 in NY & Nation for February 2005 Sweeps; Oscars Beat Super Bowl in NY

[Pavan]

Channel 7 Widens Its Lead Over The Competition and Remains the Most-Viewed Station in New York and the Nation


'Eyewitness News' Is Top-Rated Newscast at 5am, 6am, 12pm, 5pm, 6pm and 11pm
in Feb'05 Nielsen Survey

'Academy Awards' scores higher ratings than 'Super Bowl'

NEW YORK, March 3 -- The growing dominance of WABC-TV powers
it to another win as New York's highest-rated broadcast station, posting a 5.0
rating/11 share, Monday-Sunday Sign-On to Sign-Off. This is according to
Nielsen's Feb'05 NY Local People Meter data, where Channel 7's 22% ratings
advantage over WNBC-TV, its nearest competitor, is up from last year's 7%.
In addition, Channel 7's "Eyewitness News" wins all six local news races,
a feat it last accomplished in Feb'98. Following are highlights of
"Eyewitness News'" performances in the Feb'05 Nielsen report:

* First Place News at 6pm - "Eyewitness News" delivers a 7.4 rating/14
share in households and a 3.0 rating/12 share in Adults 25-54, beating
competing newscasts on WNBC-TV, WCBS-TV and WNYW-TV. The 6pm
"Eyewitness News" rating advantage over "CBS2 News at 6" is up from 89%
in Feb'04, to 131% in Feb'05. Its lead over "NewsChannel 4 at 6" is now
48%, up from 13% one year ago. This edition of "Eyewitness News" is
anchored by Bill Ritter, Liz Cho, Sam Champion and Scott Clark.

* First Place News at 5pm - "Eyewitness News" notches a 7.3 rating/15
share in households and a 3.1 rating/14 share among Adults 25-54,
Monday-Friday. This Channel 7 newscast delivers more Adults 25-54 than
its 3 competitors combined, and is anchored by Diana Williams, Sade
Baderinwa and Sam Champion. "Eyewitness News" holds a 128% rating
advantage over "CBS2 News at 5" (up from 91% in Feb'04) and comes from
behind in Feb'04 to now command a 35% lead over "Live At Five".

* First Place News at 11pm - "Eyewitness News" at 11pm wins the Monday-
Sunday late news race, posting a 7.2 rating/13 share. With Bill Ritter,
Liz Cho, Sam Champion and Scott Clark, "Eyewitness News" is the only
11pm news to increase share over its primetime lead-in, growing 2 share
points.

* First Place News at 5am - "Eyewitness News" with Lori Stokes, Steve
Bartelstein and Bill Evans, is top-rated with a 2.0 rating/11 share in
households.

* First Place News at 6am - "Eyewitness News" not only is in first place
with a 3.3 rating/14 share in households, but also holds a 6% ratings
advantage over its nearest competitor (WNBC-TV's "Today in NY".)

* First Place News at 12pm - "Eyewitness News" scores a 4.8 rating/15
share in households, beating competing midday newscasts on WCBS-TV and
WNYW-TV. This edition of "Eyewitness News" delivers a 1.7 rating/11
share among Adults 25-54, more than that delivered by its competitors
combined.

Other highlights of Channel 7's Feb'05 performance include:

* First Place Network News at 6:30pm - "ABC World News Tonight with Peter
Jennings" wins the network news race with a 7.2 rating/13 share in
households, and has increased its lead to 140% over "CBS Evening News"
and 44% over "NBC Nightly News." Among Adults 25-54, its 2.9 rating/10
share beats the combined deliveries of CBS' and NBC's competing network
news programs.

* Top-rated Morning Programs - "Live! With Regis and Kelly" dominates the
time period with a 4.9 rating/17 share in households. Newcomer "Tony
Danza" posts a 3.5 rating/12 share and finishes in first place in its
10-11am time period.

* Top-rated Early Fringe Program - "Oprah Winfrey" at 4pm wins the
afternoon race with a 8.9 rating/21 share in households. It more than
beats the combined deliveries of "Judge Judy" on NBC/4 and "People's
Court on CBS/2.

* Top-rated Access Programs - Even without Ken Jennings, "Jeopardy!" and
"Wheel of Fortune" on ABC/7 remain the leaders in prime access,
respectively delivering a 11.2 HH rating/19 share and a 10.1 HH
rating/16 share.

* Top-rated Primetime Special - ABC's "77th Academy Awards" posted a 39.6
rating/55 share in households and a 28.4 rating/54 share in Adults
25-54. Not only does this beat "Super Bowl XXXIX's" 34.6 rating/51
share in households and 27.0 rating/54 share in Adults 25-54, but also
it is the "Academy Awards'" best performance since 1998.

WABC-TV, Channel 7, is the ABC, Inc. Owned Television Station in New York
City.

FINAL FEB'05 NIELSEN AVERAGES

DMA HH Adults 25-54
MON.- FRI. PROGRAMMING RTG/SHR RTG/SHR

WABC-TV M-Su 7am-1am 5.0/11 2.4/10
WCBS-TV M-Su 7am-1am 3.5/ 8 1.6/ 6
WNBC-TV M-Su 7am-1am 4.1/ 9 2.1/ 8
WNYW-TV M-Su 7am-1am 2.7/ 6 1.7/ 7
WPIX-TV M-Su 7am-1am 2.3/ 5 1.1/ 4
WWOR-TV M-Su 7am-1am 1.2/ 3 0.6/ 3

WABC Eyewtns News-Early 5-6am 2.0/11 0.8/ 9
WCBS CBS2 News Morning 5-6am 1.1/ 6 0.6/ 6
WNBC Today New York 1 5-6am 1.9/11 1.1/12
WNYW Good Day Wakeup 5-6am 1.0/ 6 0.7/ 8
WPIX WB11 Morning News 5-6am 1.1/ 6 0.7/ 7

WABC Eyewtns News-Morn 6-7am 3.3/14 1.4/12
WCBS CBS2 News Morning 6-7am 1.6/ 7 0.8/ 7
WNBC Today New York 2 6-7am 3.1/13 1.9/15
WNYW GDNY 1st Edition 6-7am 2.3/10 1.3/10
WPIX WB11 Morning News 6-7am 1.2/ 5 0.8/ 6

WABC Good Morning America 3.8/12 1.6/11
WCBS CBS Early Show 7 & 730am 1.7/ 5 0.7/ 5
WNBC Today Show 4.7/15 2.2/15
WNYW Good Day NY 2.4/ 8 1.2/ 8
WPIX WB11 Morning News 1.3/ 4 0.7/ 5

WABC Live! With Regis & Kelly 9am 4.9/17 2.0/15
WABC Tony Danza 10am 3.5/12 1.2/ 9
WABC The View 11am 4.1/13 1.6/11
WCBS Larry Elder 9am 1.6/ 5 0.5/ 3
WNBC Today Show 2 9am 3.1/11 0.9/ 7
WNBC Ellen 10am 3.4/11 1.5/11
WNBC Jane Pauley 11am 1.5/ 5 0.6/ 4
WNYW Montel Williams 9am 1.2/ 4 0.6/ 4

WABC Eyewitness News at Noon 4.8/15 1.7/11
WCBS CBS2 News Noon 4.6/14 0.9/ 6
WNYW Fox 5 Live 1130am 1.2/ 4 0.4/ 3
WABC Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 4.7/14 1.6/10

WABC Oprah Winfrey 8.9/21 4.5/23
WCBS People's Court 2.8/ 6 1.0/ 5
WNBC Judge Judy 4.7/11 1.7/ 9
WCBS Dr Phil 3pm 3.7/10 1.5/ 9
WNBC Judge Joe Brown 3pm 3.4/ 9 1.2/ 7

WABC 5pm Eyewitness News 7.3/15 3.1/14
WCBS CBS2 News at 5 3.2/ 7 0.8/ 4
WNBC Live at 5 5.4/11 1.6/ 7
WNYW Fox5 News at 5 1.6/ 3 0.6/ 3

WABC 6pm Eyewitness News 7.4/14 3.0/12
WCBS CBS2 News at 6 3.2/ 6 0.9/ 3
WNBC NewsChannel 4 at 6 5.0/10 1.7/ 7
WNYW Fox5 News at 6 1.4/ 3 0.6/ 2

WABC ABC World News Tonight 7.2/13 2.9/10
WCBS CBS Evening News 3.0/ 5 1.0/ 4
WNBC NBC Nightly News 5.0/ 9 1.8/ 6

WABC Jeopardy! 11.2/19 3.4/10
WABC Wheel of Fortune 10.1/16 2.9/ 8
WCBS Insider 3.3/ 6 1.6/ 5
WCBS Entertainment Tonight 4.2/ 7 2.2/ 6
WNBC Extra 3.4/ 6 1.8/ 5
WNBC Access Hollywood 3.6/ 6 2.2/ 6
WNYW The Simpsons 3.1/ 5 1.5/ 5
WNYW Seinfeld 4.1/ 7 2.5/ 7
WWOR King of Queens 2.9/ 5 1.9/ 6
WWOR Girlfriends 2.0/ 3 1.4/ 4
WPIX Friends 2.9/ 5 1.9/ 6
WPIX Everybody Loves Raymond 4.1/ 7 2.3/ 6

WABC M-Su. Prime 7.6/11 4.9/11
WCBS M-Su. Prime 8.0/12 4.5/10
WNBC M-Su. Prime 8.1/12 5.2/11

WABC 11pm Eyewtns News M-Su 7.2/13 3.6/ 9
WCBS CBS2 News at 11 M-Su 5.5/10 2.7/ 7
WNBC NewsChannel 4 at 11 M-Su 6.9/12 4.1/11

Source: NY Overnights: Nielsen 2/3/05 - 3/2/05



SOURCE WABC-TV
Web Site: http://www.abc.com

[Brent88]

WOW... that's impressive.

[Janice]

It doesn't surprise me that more New Yorkers watched the Oscars than the Superbowl. New York is a very artistic and actor's city.

Many New Yorkers probably had no interest in seeing the Patriots in yet another Superbowl, especially since the Red Sox had beat the Yankees in the ALC games, and continued on to win the World Series. New York and Boston are the biggest rivals when it comes to sports.

[Brian Damage]

Just out of curiosity, who won the sweeps overall? That's what matters the most.

[Pavan]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

Just out of curiosity, who won the sweeps overall? That's what matters the most.

WABC...

WABC-TV 5.0/11
WCBS-TV 3.5/8
WNBC-TV 4.1/9
WNYW-TV 2.7/6
WPIX-TV 2.3/5
WWOR-TV 1.2/3