Baltimore Stations Ratings Sink After Firing Anchor

Early in the May book, FTVLive told you that WJZ had fired Anchor Mary Bubala after a comment she made on the newscast.

It seems that when Bubala left the CBS O&O, so did the viewers.

The Baltimore Sun writes thatWJZ lost almost half of its 5 p.m. news audience in a key demographic during the May sweeps.

For the weekdays during the period from April 25 to May 3 when Bubala was still co-anchor of WJZ’s 5 p.m. newscast, it averaged a 1.6 rating.

From May 6 to May 22, with her no longer at the anchor desk, the 5 p.m. telecast averaged a 0.84 rating among viewers persons 25 to 54.

That’s a 46% audience loss.

Ouch!

If I was a B-More station, I would be getting Bubala’s agent on the phone ASAP.