WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 Wins February Sweeps

WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 Wins February Sweeps

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- WXYZ-TV is again the Detroit television market's number one station, sign-on/sign-off, according to the February 2006 Nielsen Media Research rating survey which ended Wednesday. WXYZ-TV garnered a 6.0 rating/14 share, versus WDIV's 5.7 rating/13 share, WJBK's 3.6 rating/8 share and WWJ's 2.4 rating/6 share. WXYZ-TV was Detroit's number one rated television station in daytime, noon news, afternoons, early fringe, early evening news, prime access and prime time.

Helping to lead the way to WXYZ-TV's February rating victory was the impressive performance of Channel 7's Action News. Action News was the dominant number one newscast in the Detroit market for noon news, 5 p.m. news, and for the entire 5 - 7:30 p.m. early evening news block. In addition, WXYZ-TV's early morning (6 - 7 a.m.) was tied for number one with FOX2, posting a 4.5 rating/18 share. 11 p.m. Action News, which aired against NBC's Winter Olympics 17 out of the 28 nights in the February sweeps, garnered a 9.5 rating/17 share, outdelivering its ABC prime time share lead-in by 12%. In head-to-head late news competition, WDIV's year-to-year (Feb. '05 versus Feb. '06), rating advantage has been reduced by more than 62%, with less than 1.7 rating points separating WXYZ from WDIV in 11 p.m. news.

Action News at Noon, anchored by Robbie Timmons and Carolyn Clifford was Detroit's number one rated noon news. Airing noon - 1 p.m., Action News is Detroit's only one-hour noon newscast and handily outdelivers both WDIV and WJBK. Action News delivered a 5.6 rating/17 share, versus WDIV's 4.2 rating/13 share and WJBK's 2.3 rating/8 share.

At 5 p.m., Robbie Timmons and partner Frank Turner were the dominant number one, posting a commanding victory over WDIV. 5 p.m. Action News garnered a 9.5 rating/19 share, versus WDIV's 7.4 rating/15 share and WJBK's 3.6 rating/7 share. This is the twenty-first consecutive rating book that 5 p.m. Action News has placed first.

11 p.m. Action News with Diana Lewis and Stephen Clark generated a 9.5 rating/17 share. WDIV's regularly scheduled 11 p.m. News garnered a 11.1 rating/20 share. WJBK's 10 p.m. News placed third in late news, garnering a 6.2 rating/9 share.

In non-news programming, WXYZ-TV also turned in top rated performances. WXYZ-TV's morning block programming (9 - 10 a.m. Regis & Kelly, 10 - 11 a.m. Martha Stewart and 11 a.m. - noon The View) were all number one, averaging a 4.3 rating/14 share. WDIV averaged a 3.0 rating/10 share and WJBK posted a 2.6 rating/9 share.

At 4 p.m., WXYZ's Oprah delivered a 9.5 rating/22 share. WDIV's Ellen DeGeneres delivered a 4.3 rating/10 share and WJBK's Judge Judy garnered a 3.3 rating/8 share. Oprah continues to beat both WDIV and WJBK combined at 4 p.m.

At 7:30 p.m., WXYZ-TV's Entertainment Tonight placed first, garnering an 8.6 rating/14 share and beating WDIV's second place Jeopardy, which averaged an 8.1 rating/13 share.

ABC prime time programming was number one in February 2006 averaging an 11.2 rating/17 share. WDIV/NBC placed second in prime time programming, generating a 10.2 rating/15.3 share. FOX prime on WJBK was third, averaging an 8.1 rating/12 share. CBS prime on WWJ was fourth, garnering a 6 rating/9 share.

Each local rating point equals approximately 19,360 households; share represents the percentage of TV sets tuned into a program.

The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP) is a diverse and growing media enterprise with interests in national cable networks, newspaper publishing, broadcast television stations, electronic commerce, interactive media, and licensing and syndication.

The company's portfolio of media properties includes: Scripps Networks, with such brands as HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living, Great American Country and HGTVPro; daily and community newspapers in 18 markets and the Washington-based Scripps Media Center, home to the Scripps Howard News Service; 10 broadcast TV stations, including six ABC-affiliated stations, three NBC affiliates and one independent; United Media, a leading worldwide licensing and syndication company that is the home of PEANUTS, DILBERT and approximately 150 other features and comics; Shop At Home, which markets a growing range of consumer goods directly to television viewers in roughly 55 million U.S. households and online through http://shopathometv.com/ ; and Shopzilla, the online comparison shopping service that carries an index of more than 30 million products from approximately 65,000 merchants.

Source: WXYZ-TV

CONTACT: Marla Drutz of WXYZ-TV, +1-248-827-9300

Web site: http://detnow.com/

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