Gannett Station Widens Lead in Buffalo Ratings
It wasn't that long ago when WGRZ the Gannett station in Buffalo was in last place in the news ratings.
The Number 1 station was WKBW followed by WIVB and then WGRZ.
You can flip that upside down now.
WGRZ topped the news ratings from morning to evening. WIVB gets a win late, thanks to CBS prime time and WKBW continues to suck wind.
As FTVLive told you a few weeks ago, WKBW GM Bill Ransom is going to retire later this year. When Ransom took over the station is was a solid number one. Under Ransom's leadership the station went from first to worst. And you wonder why the guy gets to retire, instead of being fired a long time ago?
One interesting trend in the market, more Buffalo viewers are watching at 5 a.m. and fewer viewers are watching at 5 p.m.
The combined rating of the Big Three at 5 a.m. was 8.8, which was 25 percent higher than it was a year ago. And all three stations saw 5 a.m. increases.
The combined rating at 5 p.m. was 16.6, which was about 15 percent lower than the 19.3 rating a year ago. And all three stations saw 5 p.m. decreases. Channel 4 dropped about 20 percent at 5 p.m. from a year ago.
Also, WIVB is just starting a pissing match with Time Warner Cable on Retrans fees. The station did the same thing a few years ago and was off the area's biggest cable system for about a month.
If that happens again, it could spell more bad news for the falling second place station.
H/T Buffalo News