In every daypart, WABC was tops among households and the all-important adults 25 to 54 demographic.

The Bill Ritter-Sade Baderinwa broadcast scored a 6.3 household rating, the highest for any 11 p.m. newscast in a major sweep in nearly four years, the station says.

WCBS/Channel 2, though, was pleased with its February performance.

Its late news, anchored by Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson, had an average of 511,000,
the station’s largest 11 p.m. audience during a major sweep period since November 2010 and best February sweep performance since 2005, a station spokesperson says.

The station also saw year-to-year gains at 5 and 6 p.m.

If the final day of the sweeps period is any indication, WNBC came in third among noon newscasts in the 25 to 54 demo and households.

At 5 p.m., WNBC only beat WNYW and WPIX. The same applies for Channel 4 at 6 p.m. (minus a WPIX newscast).

However, thanks to the Ellen lead-in, WNBC may have notched a slight victory in the adults 25 to 54 demo at 5 p.m.

WNBC was third at 11 p.m.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We begin with the Best Morning Newscast.

Everyone is chasing WABC. The veteran team of Lori Stokes and Ken Rosato, the epitome of morning anchors, along with senior meteorologist Bill Evans are a great combination of talent and chemistry.

Best Sports Anchor—The local Emmy Awards can’t be wrong year after year. Bruce Beck is the most popular sports anchor in New York. Although entertaining, like his predecessor Len Berman, Beck is more nuts and bolts. And it works effortlessly.

Best Weather Anchor–Although Evans and Lee Goldberg at WABC hold their own, this is Lonnie Quinn‘s year. The weatherman shined with his, seemingly, non-stop Sandy coverage. Quinn finds a way to entertain and inform, and especially with severe storms, He understands his role perfectly, never causing a panic.

Special Superstorm Sandy Achievement: WPIX

Everyone worked hard to provide Sandy coverage. But Channel 11 took it further. The PIX Morning News did three remotes from areas devastated by the storm. Sukanya Krishnan, Frances Rivera, and Tamsen Fadel took viewers to parts of the Jersey Shore, Staten Island, and Nassau County.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The rampage is the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, behind the Virigina Tech massacre in 2007 where 32 students died.

The weekend was the time for families and friends to cope with the insurmountable loss. President Obama attended last night’s prayer vigil.

Although Newtown is on the outskirts of the New York tri-state area, it’s close enough for stations to easily send reporters to cover the services.

By Saturday, this was anything but a typical story. WNYW/Channel 5 brought in Dari Alexander to co-anchor with Christina Park. Likely unrelated, top meteorologist Nick Gregory was on-duty Saturday night as well.

For the Sunday night vigil, it was WABC/Channel 7 that shined. Bill Ritter anchored for Newtown, while Sade Baderinwa was behind the desk. Ritter struck the perfect balance of reporting the information, while masterfully dealing with the incredibly sad story.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

You probably woke up this morning to stations locked in ”wall-to-wall” mode, but that was not the case last night. Unlike last year’s Hurricane Irene (when I was holed up in a hotel), Sandy did not lead to an all-nighter by the area stations.

Here is how they took to the air this time.

Kaity Tong was a calming presence, anchoring a two-hour edition of the News at Ten on WPIX.  As was the case with Irene, WPIX’s coverage did not include Jodi Applegate.

Tong, as a solo anchor, was given an assist by reporter Dan Mannarino, who handled some phone interviews and other information for viewers. WPIX double-teamed the audience with veteran experience from Mr. G and Craig Allen.  WPIX was the only game in town until 11 p.m., as WNYW/Channel 5 was televising the final game of the World Series.

While the storm moved closer to New York, the other channels opted for prime-time network scheduling. At 11 p.m., WCBS/Channel 2 anchors Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson, first appearing at halftime of the New York Jets game, led the station’s one-hour special Sandy newscast. Thereafter, WCBS kept a crawl on the screen until the morning team resumed coverage at 4 a.m.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

WNBC/Channel 4 anchor Tom Llamas reported live from New Orleans during last night’s 11 p.m. newscast with Chuck Scarborough and Shiba Russell as the storm was about to make landfall.

WABC/Channel 7 had the only other local presence in the Big Easy. Reporter Jim Dolan also handled the impending fury at 11 p.m. with David Navarro (in for Bill Ritter at the Republican National Convention) and Sade Baderinwa at the anchor desk.

At WCBS/Channel 2, Drew Levinson reported live with Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson. Levinson, though, is a national correspondent for CBS Newspath, an affiliate news service.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene hitting our area.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

WABC took the prize as most-watched station in New York. The just-concluded May sweeps give Channel 7 wins across virtually all dayparts, winning in households and other key demographics.

Eyewitness News at 11:00, led by Bill Ritter and Sade Baderinwa, with meteorologist Lee Goldberg and sports anchor Rob Powers, scored a 6.1 household rating, the highest for a major sweep in the last three years.

The 4 p.m. newscast was the only such broadcast that failed to produce a victory for Channel 7, and that can be traced to the success of Judge Judy on WCBS.

Thanks to that monster lead-in, WCBS declared itself a winner at 5 p.m. among households and total viewers.

WCBS says it’s the station’s first sweeps win since 1982.

“It is very gratifying to get such an incredible report card.  Achieving significant ratings growth in every daypart makes it clear that we are getting a great team effort from the best local news team in the business and more and more people across the tri-state area are appreciating the quality coverage that we are providing every day,” said Peter Dunn, President, CBS Television Stations, and president and general manager, WCBS-TV.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Starting in the weekday mornings, Eyewitness News This Morning with Lori Stokes, Ken Rosato and Bill Evans had the highest Household rating at 4:30.

At 5 a.m., WABC was tops in Households and Adults 25 to 54, while during the 6 o’clock hour, once again, more viewers watched Channel 7 than any other local newscast.

Stokes, Rosato, and Evans return at noon, and so do the great ratings. The broadcast holds a 39 percent advantage over its closest competition among Households. The lunchtime newscast also draws more than twice as many Adults 25 to 54 and Women 25 to 54 as its closest competitor.

A change of anchors at 4 p.m., but the result is the same for WABC. With Liz Cho, David Novarro, and Lee Goldberg, Channel 7 won in the pivotal Adults 25 to 54 grouping. The 4 p.m. newscast, which debuted in the summer, only falls short in the key Household rating to Judge Judy on WCBS/Channel 2.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

While the Jersey Shore gang was hanging out in Italy, Hurricane Irene was bearing down on the Jersey Shore.

Every local TV station went non-stop throughout the weekend with storm coverage.

WNBC/Channel 4, had the highest rating (tied for second) among its competitors. A large reason for that can be attributed to three words–Chuck and Sue.

The long-running anchor team of Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons (more than 30 years) was at the helm for coverage Saturday night (596,000/3.0).

WABC/Channel 7, with veteran Bill Ritter and Sade Baderinwa, took fifth place (568,000/2.8) for the Saturday evening 4-segment of Irene.

WNYW/Channel 5, although not on the survey for Saturday coverage, did crack the Top 10 for its regular Ernie Anastos/Dari Alexander 10 p.m. newscast on Thursday (480,000/2.4) and Friday (510,000/2.5) as preparations got underway.

WCBS/Channel 2 anchored by Maurice DuBois and Kristine Johnson, landed at number 16 (405,000/2.0) for a one-hour portion Saturday night (9-10 p.m.)

More from the Top 10 after the jump

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The category-one storm made her first landfall early Saturday morning in Cape Lookout, North Carolina as stations began their wall-to-wall mode.

Accentuating the serious nature of the story, virtually every anchor was on the air.

WNYW’s Dari Alexander was one of the few anchors not seen during the weekend coverage. She was last seen by viewers on Friday night. Her 10 p.m. colleague Ernie Anastos (above, center) made his first appearance at 3 p.m. Sunday with co-anchor Christina Park, as the storm weakened significantly.

But Channel 5 did have its Good Day team, Rosanna Scotto and Greg Kelly, in place. However, much of Scotto’s screen time during the weekend was with WNYW’s newest member–Steve Lacy, and not her “TV husband” Kelly.

Kelly and Scotto were together Saturday, helping provide of the special moments.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In the ratings tabulated by Nielsen, Eyewitness News This Morning with Lori Stokes, Ken Rosato, and Bill Evans had the highest Household rating from 4:30 to 5 a.m., while boasting twice as many Adults 25 to 54 as any other station. At 5 and 6 a.m., Channel 7 beat all competitors in Households and Adults 25 to 54.

In the newscast at noon, WABC held a 50 percent lead over WCBS in the Households rating, and by twice as much in the Women 25 to 54 demographic.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

While no on-air talent is leaving, WABC is playing a bit of anchor roulette.

Liz Cho and David Navarro will anchor at 4. Cho remains at 6 p.m. with Bill Ritter.

The day, arguably, means the most for Navarro, who had a homecoming at WABC in December after a 10-year absence in Chicago.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The timing of the accident (just after 5 p.m.) made for instant drama: just add water and stir.

The men who had been out on the scaffolding were ultimately brought down to street level safely.

With choppers providing live video from the scene, viewers saw all the riveting images.

Although not all images were as riveting as others, Channel 4, for example, which shares the helicopter with Fox 5/WNYW, actually had a much grainier feed than their partner. Apparently, WNBC was overcompensating for the darker, albeit clearer, picture on WNYW.

WNYW, though, was late to get to the coverage, taking approximately 30 minutes longer than WCBS and WABC for their choppers to arrive.

Once all the stations were on air and up in the air, this played out right through the 6 p.m. newscasts.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

But, it is “steady as she goes” at WABC/Channel 7.

WABC won the key demographic Adults 25-54 in most dayparts throughout the day.

Starting in the predawn hours, Eyewitness News This Morning with Lori Stokes, Ken Rosato and Bill Evans, the station edged the competition at 4:30 a.m. In the 5 a.m. hour, however, Channel 7 had a whopping 67 percent lead.

The advantage, according to the Nielsen figures released by WABC and obtained by FishbowlNY, was maintained in the second full hour, with a 42 percent lead in the pivotal Adults 25-54 demo.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Charles Perez

In his new book, Confessions of a Gay Anchorman, Perez discusses his coming out and how his TV gigs were affected by it.

For the chapter on his stint at WABC, (lasting all of 12 pages), however, Perez’s focus was not on his sexuality, at least not on the surface.

But Perez, hardly a memorable name in the annals of Eyewitness News history, took one jab after another at his former colleagues.

“To me it’s not about any of the people I mentioned,” Perez tells FishbowlNY. “It was about how shocked I was to get to a place that I thought was going to be about professionalism and journalism. In my experience, it was about ego more than anything. It was a culture of inflated egos and inefficiency,”

In the book, Perez calls WABC’s shop “by far the most overstaffed facility I’d ever worked in.”

In response, Perez joked, “How many people does it take to put in a light bulb?”

Faced with breaking news, Perez says he was forced to be at the cameraman’s beck and call.

“I could sit down there waiting for a photographer for a freaking hour and a half before he would actually get in the truck and pull out,” Perez alleges. “Everybody was moving like snails.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

This year’s class includes WCBS/Channel 2 sports anchor Otis Livingston (far right), WNBC/Channel 4 meteorologist Janice Huff, WABC/Channel 7 anchor Sade Baderinwa, and veteran NY1 anchor Lewis Dodley.

As Black Media Legends, the inductees were awarded a trophy. They are also part of the Faces of Black History poster, given free at the more than 600 area McDonald’s throughout February.

The list of other honorees after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.