Sweeps month brings encouraging news to WISH-8, WTTV-4

WTHR-13 newscasts enjoyed a comfortable margin of victory in the February ratings "sweeps" period, while WISH-8 and WTTV-4 executives point to positives in the first major audience survey since local CBS affiliation switched from the former station to the latter.

According to Nielsen Co. figures released last week, NBC affiliate WTHR attracted the most viewers ages 25 to 54 for newscasts that air at 6 a.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.

During the February ratings period, Jan. 29 to Feb. 25, WTHR posted a 4.44 rating at 6 a.m., a 5.54 rating at 6 p.m. and a 3.39 rating at 11 p.m. Each rating point represents about 11,000 homes.

Fox affiliate WXIN-59 placed second for viewers ages 25 to 54 at all three times: 3.23 rating at 6 a.m., 1.95 at 6 p.m. and 1.51 at 11 p.m.

The new wrinkle on the Indianapolis TV landscape involved WISH, which became a CW affiliate on Jan. 1, and WTTV, which became the city's first CBS affiliate other than WISH since 1956.

WISH fared best at 6 a.m. (1.65 rating, good for third place), and it placed fourth at 6 p.m. (0.63) and fifth among five local newcasts at 11 p.m. (0.68). In February 2014, WISH was third at 6 a.m. (1.83), second at 6 p.m. (2.26) and fourth at 11 p.m. (1.61).

Advertisers covet the 25-to-54 segment for that demographic's spending power, and the months of February, May, July and November are crucial to stations because they use the numbers to determine advertising rates.

WISH's general manager, Les Vann, expressed optimism.

"I am very excited about the results from February," Vann said. "In the face of unprecedented upheaval in this market, we held our rank in the market."

On Jan. 1, WISH expanded its news programming by four hours each weekday.

"We have developed an audience in places where we never had news before, with a very short period of time to put this whole plan together," Vann said.

CBS announced last August that it planned to cut ties with WISH, apparently because the station's parent company was unwilling to pay programming fees set by the network. Although the flagging figures at 6 and 11 p.m. are related to the loss of CBS programming leading up to those times, Vann said his station is a success story in the making.

"There were a lot of people spreading a lot of doubt about us, and I never had doubt," Vann said.

WTTV, which brands itself as CBS4, fared best at 11 p.m. (1.12 rating, good for fourth place), and it placed fifth at 6 a.m. (0.12) and 6 p.m. (0.52).

Jessica Bellucci, vice president for communications for Tribune Broadcasting, noted that the 11 p.m. newscast is an improvement when compared with "Friends" reruns aired by WTTV in 2014 (which posted a 0.5 rating).

Tribune owns WTTV and WXIN. The Indianapolis Star and WXIN, the Fox affiliate, have a partnership to share news content and co-promote news coverage and community events.

"We are very pleased with the ratings results in Indy, especially competing against newscasts that have been established in the market for decades," Bellucci said. "The response to the launch of CBS4 has been overwhelmingly positive."

At 11 p.m., the 7-month-old WXIN "NewsPoint" program hosted by Nicole Pence posted a 1.5 rating among viewers ages 25 to 54. Bellucci said that's an improvement when compared with the Arsenio Hall talk show that aired in 2014 (1.3 rating).

In prime time among viewers ages 25 to 54, ABC affiliate WRTV-6 won February with a 3.46 rating. WRTV newscasts placed fourth at 6 a.m. (0.82) and third at 6 p.m. (0.86) and 11 p.m. (1.21).

Elsewhere in prime time, Indianapolis stations following WRTV were WTHR (3.33), WTTV (3.23), WXIN (3.23) and WISH (1.14).

Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.