The July television “sweeps” numbers are in, and WJZ-13 appears to be closing the gap on WBAL-11.
Baltimore?s CBS affiliate posted strong ratings during the month, ranking first among viewers for daytime programming. The network moved closer to WBAL, the city?s NBC affiliate, which led three evening time slots.
“It?s always great when you can claim the No. 1 in any survey,” said Jay Newman, WJZ?s vice president and general manager.
“It?s a credit to the hard work and dedication of our news and technical staff to present day-to-day news coverage, follow breaking weather stories and cover other events such as the release of ?Hairspray? and the Cal Ripken story.”
WJZ?s 4 p.m. newscast edged WBAL?s airing of :The Oprah Winfrey Show” during the July sweeps period — the first time since February 2003 the popular talk show was not No. 1 in Baltimore.
About 55,000 households watched the newscast, about 2,000 more than “Oprah.” “Oprah” remained the top talk show in the market.
WJZ?s 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and noon newscasts ranked first during the sweeps period. The network also topped Monday to Friday morning, soap opera and prime ratings.
WBAL continued to lead the Baltimore-market evening newscasts, ranking first with its 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. WBAL?s 11 p.m. newscasts drew about 96,000 households, ahead of second-place WJZ?s 78,000 households.
The NBC affiliate also claimed the most-watched weekend morning and late-night newscasts.
“We are extremely proud of the work our entire team has put forth in the past month,” Jordan Wertlieb, WBAL?s president and general manager, said in a statement. “I believe we proved this is a 365-days-a-year news organization, and the summer months are as equally important and compelling as any other time of the year.”
BIA Financial Network Inc., a Chantilly, Va.-based media advisory firm, estimated that television-advertising revenues in the Baltimore market were about $245 million in 2006.
