Sweeping Up in Fargo
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In the day and age of people meters and instant ratings, it's hard to think back to the old days, when you had to wait for the Nielsen diaries to come in. You had to wait weeks for the diaries to be tabulated before you could get any sense of the numbers.
Well, the old days are still the days in markets like Fargo.
The stations in the market are just finding out who won the Feb. book.
And it looks like WDAY-TV’s catchphrase, “the news leader,” is proving true.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings, based on a February survey, the station’s newscasts at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. are the most-watched in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
WDAY’s greatest lead was at 10 p.m., the most lucrative time slot for newscasts, where it garnered a 17 percent rating and a 42 share. That’s up from a 16 percent rating and a 36 percent share in the last ratings survey in November.
“It’s the best we’ve had in a while,” said Jeff Nelson, news director at the ABC affiliate. He estimated the February ratings were the best in more than 10 years. “I’m pleased the viewers see our experience and enjoy watching our product.”
Ratings refer to the percentage of all households in a market that are watching a station, while the share is the percentage of TVs in use at the time watching that station.
KVLY also showed substantial gains over November.
“When you do good work, people are drawn to you. We are continuing a course of excellence at Valley News,” said Ike Walker, KVLY’s news director, referring to the station’s gains. “I think we did well. There are great things to come. I continue to be pleased by the performance of my team.”
KVLY had a 10 percent rating and 25 percent share at 10 p.m., up from a 6 percent rating and a 14 percent share in November.
But its sister station was slumping. On KXJB, which is simulcast with KVLY at 10 p.m. under the Valley News Live banner, the newscast received a 3 percent rating and an 8 percent share, down from 5 percent rating and a 12 percent share in November.
KVLY is an NBC affiliate, while KXJB is CBS. KVRR got a 5 percent rating and an 11 percent share for its 9 p.m. newscast, similar to the 5 percent rating and 12 percent share the Fox affiliate in drew in November.
