Channel 10 Takes the Ratings Lead

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Jeff Derderian, GoLocalProv Media Critic

Spirits are pretty high over on Kenney Drive in Cranston – home to Channel 10. With the February ratings period done and over, Channel 10 can claim it is number one with viewers across the board for every newscast. During the November ratings book, WPRI edged out Channel 10 for the lead at 11pm. Now that has changed. However, Channel 12, sure can be proud of some gains in the morning news race, more on that in a minute, first lets break down the numbers obtained by GOLOCAL.

Ratings are measured by the number of households watching a particular TV station at a certain time. 1-rating point represents about 6,200 households.

Morning News/6am to 7am

Frank Coletta continues his #1 spot in the mornings – coffee cup salute and all. As reported here, some change with weather talent is in the wings. Gary Ley and Kelly Bates apparently will share the weekday weather duties. This after Bates was taken off the mornings and Lay returned to the weather department after a brief “retirement”.

Channel 12 deserving some real credit here for this day-part. With somewhat new male anchor Patrick Little (who used to be the main sports guy) and new anchor Danielle North, the numbers are up and are encouraging for them compared to previous am anchor teams. Coletta is no easy person to be competitive with in the mornings and historically no other station has even come to close to measuring up. Channel 12 is a strong #2 competitor in the morning.

WJAR---7.4 rating
WPRI---3.9 rating
WLNE---0.9

NOTE: During the 5am to 5:30am time frame, the gap closes between 10 and 12. Channel 10 has a 2.8 rating compared to Channel 12’s 2.3 rating

6pm News

The horse race here is not really a race. Channel 10 continues to easily beat the other two stations combined at 6pm.

WJAR - 9.0 rating
WPRI - 5.5 rating

WLNE---1.7 rating

NOTE: During the glory days of TV news, it would not be unheard of for Channel 10 to have a 14 or 15 rating at 6pm. Those days are gone, but, this 9.0 rating at 6pm is something to be congratulated given how hard all three stations here in Providence try to keep viewers because of the Internet etc.

7pm News

Both Channel 10 and Channel 6 do a 7pm news. However, Channel 10’s newscast continues to dominate the time period. Clearly the idea to news at 7pm was a good idea. With people getting home later and later these days, it’s a way of life for people to tune in later in the night.

WJAR---6.1 rating
WLNE---1.1 rating

11pm News

As we said, Channel 10 takes back this time period compared to November. NBC continues to struggle with its Prime Time line-up of shows prior to 11pm news. GoLocalProv spoke with Channel 10 President and General Manager, Lisa Churchville who said while she is happy with the change at 11pm, there is still more work needed by the network. “Still, we would like to have more MUST SEE programming. I am very encouraged that NBC will start investing again with their new owner, COMCAST”.

WJAR---5.8 ratingnews@golocalprov.com
WPRI---5.4 rating
WLNE---1.9 rating

Jeff Derderian is a former television news reporter and anchor both in Providence and Boston. He is one of the founders of the Station Education Fund. He can be reached at news@golocalprov.com

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Channel 10 Takes the Ratings Lead

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