Home Miami TV Which Station Wins @ 11?

Which Station Wins @ 11?

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Apparently, the folks at WTVJ are under the impression that they’re winning in the ratings war… at least on weeknights at 11PM.  According to multiple SFLTV.com tipsters, new WTVJ news director Lane Michaelson was allegedly boasting at the fact that (thanks to the new Jay Leno Show), their ratings are now number one at 11PM on weeknights.

Others claim that supposedly WPLG dropped to second place now that Charles Perez has left South Florida, and WSVN to number three (who’s 11PM ratings were never outstanding), and WFOR to dead last. The Jay Leno show made its debut to a strong audience of 18 million but on the second and subsequent nights ratings fell to below 8 million. And last week Leno’s ratings fell further to 5.7 million viewers.

…But before you get enraged by the apparent idiocy of the South Florida TV news viewers, a former WTVJ employee claims:

“They’ve been known for lying about this type of stuff. It wouldn’t surprise me if they ‘adjusted the numbers’ to make it look like they were number one. It wouldn’t be the first time”

In station TV promos it’s an oft occurrence for the station to claim the number one spot. A close inspection of the tiny Nielsen disclaimer reveals that they only counted total viewers either from a certain demo or days, e.g. Monday trough Friday total viewers or Monday trough Friday 25-54 demo only.

So what exactly are the real ratings… and who exactly is winning? I have no idea. After Nielsen went people meters, ratings seems to have become hard to come by. However, if you’d like to clear up these claims, please contact us anonymously here, or email Alex(at)SFLTV.com.

33 COMMENTS

  1. Well…yeah, i Think for the last couple weeks probably nearly every NBC station in the US is getting #1 ratings. Give it a couple weeks and they will be back to the way they were.

    It is interesting that WFOR would be last considering they have the strong ratings at all other times. I didn’t think WPLG has done well for a long time, not just since Charles Perez left…i dont think their ratings have been strong since Lauderdale left. I also remember them losing the #1 position to #3 in February to WFOR and WSVN respectively.

  2. Hey GB WFOR SUCKS and will continue to do so as long as you have all those clueless managers there who have been giving plenty of time to make the station successful. Unfortunately that is not their goal.

  3. Nick is soo right! Not for nothing, but when the heck are they going to get someone in there at WFOR that knows what they are doing? WTVJ is imploding, WPLG and WSVN market leaders?!? that too is laughable…the SoFl tv market is SoF*$ked!

  4. Ok. Although I won’t post the numbers here I can say that WTVJ is not #1 in any demo or HH ratings in their M-F or M-Sun late news for September. It’s pretty much WSVN #1 with all three other stations vying for 2nd place. WFOR is not, however, last.

      • Really? WFOR did not come into existence until 1995, when they swapped affiliations and channel locations with NBC. I admire your consistency, GB. Google WCIX if you need some accurate knowledge.

        • The affiliation change did in fact occur in 1989, when WCIX was on Ch. 6 and WTVJ was on Ch. 4. What happened in 1995 was that WCIX moved to Ch. 4 and changed its call letters to WFOR. WTVJ then moved to Ch. 6.

          • I was a bit imprecise, but my point was that the ratings were not consistent regardless of location on the dial or call letters.

  5. I can easily see WPLG slipping in ratings. Management there has always believed talent is interchangeable and experience takes a back seat to a tight sweater. Sooner or later it bites you in the ass.

    • They havent held strong ratings since Feb, and even more so since Dwight retired. Both WFOR and WSVN have creeped past them since then.

  6. Chuck, WFOR has not been at the bottom since being an independent. I am not saying they have always been #1. It is true too that the dial switch in 1995 probably helped them more than anything since they had a whole new wealth of viewers that would not have seen them before with the channel 6 signal. As a CBS owned station in South Florida, it would have been created in 1989 when CBS purchased WCIX. The call letters were just an identity change, it was still the same station.

  7. I see Adam Cooperstein( the sports anchor) was doing the morning news on WTVJ by himself today. They are really running thin on talent !

  8. Every business is cutting down on expenses somehow. Weather it’s a TV station or stores putting in self checkout stations or sunpass lanes instead of paid workers. People need to embrace technology and re-invent themselves, make themselves stand out. WTVJ has laid off a lot of people well technology has a lot to do with that as well. At WPLG they have trucks that self tune themselves to go live. Well that means they will be getting rid of engineers eventually. The people that stand out in the market will keep their jobs. Every station knows who has a good work reputation. And, if one is let go another will pick him/her up. The days of taking all day for a crew to do a story are over. You have to be able to shoot it in 1/2 hour log and write it in less time and edit it in 10 minutes. I’ve been reading from a lot of people here for a while some know somewhat of the business and others have no idea. It’s not what it used to be. And, if you want to keep your job find out a way to stand out.

  9. Or work cheap. THe bean counters have destroyed this business. Soulless bastards. But then, people on the business side who have no idea of what their product is does not exclusively work in media. And you, like most of them, should break down and buy SpellCheck too. Weather or not you don’t know how to spell whether.

  10. Chuck: yes I know it’s whether. I’m writing my thoughts down not writing for an on air piece. I’m just communicating online. I wonder if I go back through your posts what I can find. No thanks, I have better things to do. By the way this post may have issues as well. Sorry, I’m not going to go back and proof read online chatting.

    By the way Chuck, after you get more Emmy’s than you can count come back and we can talk.

  11. Chuck, ok a couple I can understand, lucky etc. When you get more than 10 and other awards Chuck that’s a different story.

    Nothing else need to be said.

    Before you critique others look in the mirror yourself and find your own flaws that others may see. Just have fun and post here but quit trying to belittle others.

  12. You trumpet your cheap goldware and tell me not to belittle? You must be a real wizard at your job. Idiot. Simple enough?

  13. Your true colors come out. Try to have a great day Chuck. Enjoy life it’s to short to be mad at the world. Here is a hug for you.

    • Thank you Mr. Instigator! Welcome back, Mitch. Chris, you are clearly one of the clueless members of the new breed in communications who like to half-ass their way through the business. I am not in the business directly, I have merely lived here my whole life and seen the steady decay of the on-air product in this particular market. The talent both in front of and behind the camera has diminished to the point where a former secretary apparently is being actively considered for a prime anchoring position. Once upon a time, you went to a minor market and learned the craft and earned your way into a major market. Example: in 1979, WECA Channel 27 in Tallahassee, a cheap startup operation, used the following on-air talent for its 6 and 11 pm news: John Joyce (who ended up as a PIO for the state of Florida) and Mary Anne Loughlin (an original CNN anchor) on news; Tom Mees on sports (who left rather quickly and became an original anchor for ESPN who sadly died very young); and Bryan Norcross on weather (South Floridians know him). That’s the way it was and it could be again. So spare me the Emmys; the industry itself is responsible for devaluing them. You should know the difference between “weather” and “whether” regardless of what you are doing. I bet you use “should of” instead of “should have” too. Laxity in private will seep into your work, trust me.

  14. Well Chuck as you said you merely lived here your whole life so you can’t speak to much on the industry as a whole. Yes I’m familiar with WECA that later became WTXL TV. Identity? From WECA to WTXL it went through more slogans “NewsCenter, Action News twice, Tallahassee’s NewsChannel, just Newschannel. So spare me history. I’m not a new kid in the buis I’ve been in TV for over 25 years and you have been a watcher and from that you are the authority. Spare me. You don’t know what it’s like to cover news nor will you ever. I am one who saw the writing on the wall and realized that the only way to stay in it is to learn how to be a do-it-all worker. So if I’m clueless for keeping up with technology and doing what I have to do to feed my family then clueless must have a different meaning to me. If you want to change the business why don’t you apply for a job at any of the local stations and maybe your writing can get you one. Make sure you can shoot, write, edit, report, go live…. oh and you have one hour to do it all. Like I said, either keep up with the times or go back to school and find a new business. By the way, yes I worked my way up through markets and jumped around. Get in the car and drive out of state and enjoy a whole different world out there.

    Back to you Chuck…. Another hug for you. Hopefully this one made you smile.

    (thee folllowinng hsa noot beenn cheked for granmmmmar)..sorry couldn’t resist.

  15. Then you should be as offended as I that a Roxanne Vargas is being considered for the same chair Ralph Renick once occupied. Not to mention that a Jackie Nespral has been in front of a camera for years largely because she was a cheerleader at UM. The mediocritization must end somewhere.

  16. Chuck do you have knowledge yourself of that. People here say they saw that and now it turns into the biggest thing. Just like the movement to Hialeah. I can tell you it’s not true. The station is looking for a main anchor outside of the station. Also, Look at Pam. She turned out to be a great anchor. She did not go up the ranks. Everyone is different. I have seen people who jumped around and became great journalists. And some did the same and to this day I believe they should change careers. Years, ago it used to be that a major market would not even look at you if you did not have at least 5 years experience in a large/medium market. But, due to the economic times that has changed. Is it good? No. But, that’s the way it is. But, along the way you will get people who have no experience but are talented or have a personality that shines and stations take advantage of that sign them for little and when they get good enough they move on. Case in point… Lonnie Quinn that came to WTVJ as an actor. But, people loved him.

    Then there are people like Putney. SOLID as can be. Just as others. When he leaves he won’t be replaced by a seasoned reporter. Frankly WTVJ was lucky that when Nick Bogert left they had someone to fill his shoes who knows what he is doing. Hopefully they make a wise decision and keep him.

    Anyways, my apologies if I offended you before. I was having a little fun here. But, if you are a viewer who grew up here watching TV you know about the days…. Hurricane Andrew, The Mariel, Elian…. and so on. This market is like no other. News here makes international news all the time. That cannot be said for other markets.

    Oh, and your comment on Julia. Yes you’re right… She is a class act.

  17. Looking over the post I see tons of errors. that’s what happens when you write your thoughts like me. Maybe I should go back and proofread.

  18. Ah, peace at last. So Chris, looks like you and I are on the same page. Susan Wallace did a piece a long time ago about minor spelling and grammatical errors. That should tell you WTVJ and I go way back. It kills me to see what the money clowns have done to it. NBC made a calculated decision to trade the best signal in South Florida (Channel 4) to obtain a better signal in Philadelphia. The beancounters at 30 Rock, by making that choice, drove the economics that ended up wrecking WTVJ. They think they can build brand loyalty without consideration for whom is representing the brand. So sorry for being so harsh…and an Emmy is something to be proud of. Keep Hope Alive!

  19. Yes, I remember the switch and it was one of the worst mistakes they made to trade for the signal switch in Philadelphia. WFOR, WPLG, and WTVJ answer to stockholders who want to see the bottom line. That is one thing that WSVN is good at. They don’t have to worry about that. Only to the man upstairs signing the checks.

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