Ratings for Boston stations were through the roof Friday night as all stations had wall-to-wall coverage of the manhunt for Boston marathon bombing suspect in Watertown. During the 8pm hour, when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was taken into custody, 68% of Boston households were watching the four local network affiliates as well as local cable outlet NECN. Hearst-owned WCVB drew the most viewership.

From 7-9p.m., the Boston stations drew a combined 1.764 million viewers in a city that has 2.36 million TV households.

An additional 11% of Boston households were tuned in to coverage on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC from 7-9pm. TVNewser has the breakdown of the cable news ratings in Boston by network.

Here’s the ratings breakdown by station:

7:00-9:00 pm:

• WCVB (ABC): 10.4 rating / 23 share with 609,000 total viewers (10.5 / 22 with 259,000 A25-54)
• WBZ (CBS): 7.3 / 16 with 427,000 total viewers (7.1 / 15 with 175,000 A25-54)
• WHDH (NBC): 6.7 / 15 with 392,000 total viewers (9.1 / 19 with 226,000 A25-54)
• WFXT (Fox): 5.0 / 11 with 292,000 total viewers (6.9 / 15 with 171,000 A25-54)
• NECN: 0.8 / 2 with 44,000 total viewers (0.7 / 2 with 18,000 A25-54)

8:00-9:00 pm:

• WCVB: 11.0 / 23 with 645,000 total viewers (11.7 / 23 with 289,000 A25-54)
• WBZ: 7.6 / 16 with 447,000 total viewers (7.6 / 15 with 187,000 A25-54)
• WHDH: 7.1 / 15 with 417,000 total viewers (9.8 / 19 with 243,000 A25-54)
• WFXT: 5.9 / 12 with 345,000 total viewers (8.4 / 16 with 207,00o A25-54)
• NECN: 0.8 / 2 with 46,000 total viewers (0.7 / 1 with 17,000 A25-54)

 >More: For reference, an alert TVSpy commenter points out that 2012 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants was watched by 56.7% of Boston households.

Jim Hummel, weekend anchor for the Lafayette, LA ABC affiliate, KATC, will be joining the 10 pm. weeknight newscast, according to The Independent Weekly.

Hummel will replace Hoyt Harris, who will still anchor the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscast.  Harris will continue to produce his 10 p.m. segment, “The Rant”.

KATC president and general manager, Andrew Shenkan told the Independent Weekly in a statement, “With Hoyt’s experience in tackling the controversial issues of the day, Marcy’s knowledge of this community and its needs, and Jim’s fearless, relentless approach to getting the story first — and getting it right — you won’t find a better local news anchor team anywhere in the country.”

Hummel was named weekend anchor for KATC two years ago, joining the station as a general assignment reporter in 2009.  He previously worked for NECN in Newton, MA.

NECN, New England’s regional cable network, has launched the Boston market’s only 9 p.m. newscast.

The program, which is anchored by Latoyia Edwards (pictured) and John Daly, targets viewers who are early to bed and early to rise.

“The opportunity to provide the region’s only 9 p.m. newscast fits perfectly with our strategy as we were the first to launch a 4:30 a.m. newscast,” Bill Bridgen, the network’s executive vice president and general manager, said in a statement. “We believe that the viewer who watches early morning news is the viewer who wants and needs an early primetime newscast.”

Boston’s WSBK used to have a 9 p.m. newscast, but the station shifted it to 10 p.m. this fall when it became a MyNetworkTV affiliate.

Debra Juarez, the senior news director of New England Cable News, is joining NBC owned-and-operated WMAQ as news director next month, the station announced yesterday.

The move marks a return to Chicago for Juarez, who was vice president of news at WFLD for 12 years beginning in 1993. After leaving the Fox O&O in 2005, she founded a production company that handled commercials, videos and documentaries for both English and Spanish media. She joined NECN in 2010.

WMAQ has been searching for an assistant news director since June, when Shannon Hammel decided weeks after being hired she would stay at KXAS. TimeOut Chicago’s Robert Feder reported that although Juarez will fill the empty spot, her title will be news director in deference to her experience. The last person to hold the news director title at WMAQ was Camille Edwards, who left the station in 2008. Read more

WLNE has made its biggest on-air talent move since being bought by Citadel Communications earlier this year. The Providence ABC-affiliate announced this week that Karen Meyers (right) would anchor the station’s 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts, replacing Allison Alexander, whose contract was not renewed.

Alexander had been with WLNE since 2007 and, according to NewsBlues, was the highest paid newsroom employee.

Meyers, a graduate of Boston College, has spent the last four years working as an anchor for NECN, the regional cable news channel owned by Comcast.

“Karen’s journalistic experience, anchoring/reporting skill and her knowledge of New England make her an outstanding choice for this critical position in our news department,” said Chris Tzianabos, WLNE’s newly appointed president and general manager, in making the announcement. Read more

Veteran reporter Eileen Curran, whose contract was not renewed by WBZ last November after nearly a decade with the Boston CBS-affiliate, has resurfaced at 24-hour cable news channel NECN.

Curran appeared today on NECN covering a story about a group of sick dogs that were brought into New England illegally. Anchor Mike Nikitas introduced her as “our Eileen Curran.”

Boston TV news blog btvn, which first reported the move, points out that Curran is a veteran of the New England area, having worked as a weekend anchor for WFXT before joining WBZ.

Curran is just the latest local talent to land at the Comcast-owned channel, which has been aggressively remaking its news lineup to compete with network affiliates in the area.  NECN’s new morning and evening newscasts, for instance, are anchored by alumni of Providence’s WPRI– Steve Aveson co-hosts NECN’s new 7 a.m. morning show and John Daly recently joined the channel’s evening newscast.

Video of Curran’s first NECN report inside… Read more

NECN continues to remake its news lineup.  The Comcast-owned New England station announced this week that Latoyia Edwards and John Daly (left) will be its new evening anchor team.

The move comes in the wake of NECN’s aggressive reinvention of its morning news programming.  The station launched a new 7 a.m. morning show on Monday that offers local news during a time slot when most stations are running network morning shows.

Edwards has been working as a reporter-anchor for NECN since 2005.  Daly is a 30-year veteran of TV news.  He’s made stops at Providence’s WPRI and Hartford’s WFSB, among other stations.

“Latoyia is a familiar face to NECN viewers, and we are excited to pair her with John, who has 30 years of experience as a reporter and anchor,” said Bill Bridgen, NECN’s general manager and executive vice president.

Edwards and Daly are succeeding the team of Beth Shelburne and R.D. Sahl.  Shelburne left NECN last year to join Birmingham’s WBRC.  Sahl, who has been an evening anchor for NECN since 1997, officially signed off last Thursday. He will continue on with the station as a contributor. Read more

NECN, the New England cable TV network owned and operated by Comcast, is set to launch an overhauled morning show on Monday.

The new show, titled “The Morning Show on NECN,” will be hosted by Steve Aveson, a former anchor at Providence’s WPRI, and Taryn Winter Brill, a former “Good Morning America” correspondent.

“Our traditional morning news show has been an anchor at the news desk going over the morning news,” said Bill Bridgen, NECN’s general manager. “This is much more conversational, much more informal.”

NECN has invested in a brand-new set that eschews the standard news desk in favor of comfortable couches and chairs, reminiscent of network morning shows such as “Today.”

The fact that NECN’s new morning show set-up resembles network shows is not a coincidence.  “The Morning Show,” with a 7 a.m. start time, will be going up against the likes of Matt and Meredith in the mornings.

“It’s really an opportunity to capture the local audience when the broadcast networks go to their national programming,” Bridgen told The Boston Globe.

NECN’s aggressive re-invention of its morning programming has led to the departures or demotions of several established anchors. Read more

Karen Swensen, who has been working as a morning anchor for Comcast’s NECN since 2006, is set to return to New Orleans’ WWL, where she spent 12 years as an anchor and reporter.

“We pride ourselves on being a family here,” said Mike Hoss, WWL’s nighttime anchor and interim news director, “which makes it incredibly exciting to welcome back someone who meant so much to our family, to this station and this city during her time here.”

Hoss shared the anchor desk with Swensen for four years.  She is replacing Hoss’s former co-anchor, Lucy Bustamante, who left the station in October in order to work closer to her husband, a Navy SEAL stationed in Virginia Beach.

During her time in New Orleans, Swensen was awarded six Edward R. Murrow Regional Awards for investigative journalism, writing, and feature reporting.  She also won two Emmys while at WWL and is excited to be back at the station.
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