David Brauer from online newspaper, Minnpost.com, claims to have access (from a local affiliate executive) to ratings for morning, weekend, 5 p.m., and 10 p.m. newscasts.
The 6 a.m. newscast stats were the most shocking with one broadcaster showing a 40% drop in viewership. The 10 p.m. time slot also showed a sweeping drop for all four broadcasters. The afternoon and weekend broadcast times showed mixed results.
There are many different scenarios that could be playing out with the attached ratings numbers.
1. Have some viewers not prepared for digital television signals?
2. Are viewers having problems with digital signal reception?
3. How accurate is David Brauer’s source?
Whatever the case, it’s tough to draw any conclusion at this time.
The statistics below represent total viewing households; no demographic breakouts. Though I don’t have actual ratings figures, stations are listed by their rankings in the time slot:
6 a.m. Monday-Friday
1. KARE (Ch. 11), up 13 percent
2. KMSP (Ch. 9), down 15 percent
3. KSTP (Ch. 5), down 40 percent
4. WCCO (Ch. 4), down 11 percent
5 p.m. Monday-Friday
1. KARE, up 13 percent
2. WCCO, up 43 percent
3. KSTP, up 13 percent
4. Fox9, down 25 percent
6 p.m. Monday-Friday
1. KARE, up 10 percent
2. WCCO, up 14 percent
3. KSTP, down 14 percent
10 p.m. Monday-Friday
1. KARE, down 7 percent
2. WCCO, up 11 percent
3. KSTP, down 14 percent
4. Fox9, down 14 percent
Link to rest of the article: MinnPost – Braublog: DTV switchover hurts many local newscasts
