Nielsen Media Research ratings released last week indicate that the arrival of a new local news broadcaster on the Twin Ports scene has had little or no impact on the audience for other local news programs.
KQDS-TV, aka Fox21, hit the air March 12 with a 9 p.m. local news program.
But the latest Nielsen ratings book, which tracks television viewing between April 26 and May 23, indicates that about 55,000 of the 172,000 households in the Twin Ports broadcast market are tuning in to local news at 10 p.m. -- a 6 percent larger audience than newscasters attracted during the same period one year ago.
WDIO-TV, Channel 10, an ABC affiliate, continues to boast the top-rated morning, afternoon and evening news programming, according to Nielsen. WDIO's 10 p.m. news pulls in more viewers than any other news program in the market. Its 16.4-point household rating equates to a weekday average of about 28,000 homes watching -- an audience 23 percent larger than its closest competitor, KBJR-TV Channel 6, an NBC affiliate.
"We had a remarkable book [Nielsen rating], and we don't stunt for ratings like a lot of other stations do," said David Poirier, WDIO's operations manager, meaning the station doesn't do things out of the ordinary to attract higher ratings numbers.
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Poirier said WDIO has built its audience through establishing a trusted team and delivering the news with consistency. That team is built around longtime anchor Dennis Anderson.
KBJR occupies the No. 2 spot, when it comes to the popularity of its news programming. But station manager Dave Jensch says the station has been closing in on WDIO.
"What really matters to me is our key demographic -- viewers between 25 and 54 years of age" said Jensch. In that demographic, he noted KBJR and WDIO are tied at 9.5 points each.
KDLH-TV, Channel 3, a CBS affiliate, draws the smallest 10 p.m. news audience -- about 5,000 households on an average weekday 10 p.m. broadcast
About 5,700 households turn to KQDS' 9 p.m. newscast, by Nielsen's estimate. That's a slightly stronger number than KDLH posted.
But given the margin of error involved in estimating viewership, Dave Hileman, KQDS' general manager, said: "My thought is that we're virtually tied with KDLH."
Jensch, who oversees programming at both KBJR and KDLH, said he doesn't consider KQDS a true competitor for the 10 p.m. local news audience because of the timing of its broadcast.
"We're not really competing with [KQDS]," he said. "They're attempting to forge a new 9 o'clock audience, and I wish them the best."
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Hileman isn't disappointed with his station's performance, especially in light of the fact that KQDS only began broadcasting local news six weeks before the rating period began.
"I'm thrilled that we could come right out of the gate and be competitive with such an established station," he said.
"We're pretty pumped," said KQDS news director Julie Moravchik. But she quickly added that she's not truly satisfied. "This is a number we plan to build on."
The Duluth News Tribune and Fox21 are partners in a news-sharing agreement.
