At any rate

Arkansas Business, April 4, 2005 by Nate Hinkel

Nielsen Media Research Inc.'s first television ratings book of 2005 is in and there's a new leader in the 10 p.m. battleground slot.

KATV-TV, Channel 7, succeeded in closing the miniscule gap by which KTHV-TV, Channel 11, won that timeslot in the November 2004 book by one household ratings point and one share point over KATV.

This time, KATV posted a 13 rating and a 27 share at 10 p.m., compared with KTHV's 10 "rating and 21 share. KARK-TV, Channel 4, was third with a 7 rating and 14 share.

"We have worked diligently to bring our viewers a different newscast with 'Nightside,' our 10 o'clock broadcast," said Randy Dixon, news director at KATV. "We think our network helped to deliver some new viewers and bring some former viewers back to us with stronger prime-time lead-ins."

There's no doubt that ABC has reeled in new viewers with the success of "Desperate Housewives." The network has also found winners in "Lost," "Alias" and even gets a solid showing in the reality market with "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

KATV President and General Manager Dale Nicholson agrees that lead-ins were key to his station's success.

"The big news in this book may be the improved performance of our network," he said. "ABC has some hit shows and that has moved our network into the No. 2 prime-time position and I think it definitely helped us to capture more viewers for our late newscast."

KATV continued its success in the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. slots with sweeping victories that also improved on ratings reported at the same time last year.

A 14 rating and 31 share for KATV at 5 p.m. bested KARK's 7 rating and 15 share, while KTHV posted a 5 rating and 11 share. Both KARK and KTHV slipped a bit from numbers recorded during the same month last year, but KATV's numbers slightly improved.

At 6 p.m., KATV landed a 17 rating and 29 share, which is nearly identical to last year's Nielsen's, and KTHV followed in similar fashion with a 7 rating and 14 share. KARK also did not record any annual change of note, finishing third with a 5 rating and 11 share.

Outtakes will take a closer look at the full spectrum of the November Nielsen's book next week--including how the morning shows fared and a complete listing of time slot rankings, along with some insight into a positive KLRT-TV, Channel 16, showing--after all of the numbers are officially in.