A Two-Station Race
By Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/9/2004
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Baltimore is a big news town and has one of the tightest two-station local-news races in the country. WBAL-TV, the Hearst-Argyle NBC affiliate, and CBS O&O WJZ-TV have battled for years for news supremacy.
"It's always either we're No. 1 or they are No. 1," said WBAL-TV General Manager Bill Fine. "It's a fever-pitched battle."
During the November sweeps, WBAL-TV won the early-news battle by the thinnest of margins, scoring a 10 rating/18 share to WJZ-TV's 9/17. WJZ-TV won a photo finish at 11 p.m., finishing with 10/19 to WBAL-TV's 10/18.
Sinclair's WBFF(TV) is one of the few Fox affiliates to compete head-to-head with an 11 p.m. newscast. WNUV(TV), Sinclair's The WB affiliate, carries local news at 6:30 p.m. WJZ-TV recently added a 4 p.m. early news show.
WMAR-TV, the ABC affiliate owned by Scripps Howard, runs a poor third throughout the day. The station continues to suffer repercussions from the loss of its NBC affiliation to WBAL-TV in 1995. Fox owns UPN affiliate WUTB(TV).
Mornings provide another interesting battleground. WJZ-TV is one of the few CBS-owned stations that do not carry the first hour of the network's The Early Show. The station's locally produced Morning Edition features a concoction of local news, weather and talk segments.
From a business standpoint, Baltimore stations appear to have fully recovered from the advertising slump of 2001-03. BIA Financial Network estimates the market's 2003 ad revenue at about $230 million, roughly on par with that of 2000.
"Fourth quarter was very healthy, and first quarter local looks strong," said Bill Fanshawe, general manager of WBFF/WNUV.
The market has no Pax affiliate, no Univision (the market's Hispanic population is only about 2%) affiliate and no true independent station.
Comcast is the major cable operator and manages three-year-old interconnect Comcast MarketLink. At 75%, cable penetration is higher than the national average. Satellite penetration, barely 10%, makes Baltimore one of the least competitive dish markets among major U.S. cities.
| Who | Share of population | Index* |
| 18-34 | 30% | 96 |
| 18-49 | 62% | 100 |
| 25-54 | 60% | 102 |
| 35+ | 70% | 102 |
| Married | 52% | 94 |
| Never married | 27% | 107 |
| College grad | 25% | 111 |
| White | 71% | 87 |
| Black | 25% | 207 |
| Asian | 3% | 20 |
| Hispanic | 2% | 58 |
| $100K+ HH | 18% | 120 |
| $50K+ HH | 55% | 115 |
| Below $50K HH | 45% | 86 |
| BY THE NUMBERS** | ||
| Adult continuing education | 20% | 126 |
| Play tennis | 8% | 136 |
| Interested in MLB | 40% | 118 |
| Interested in NFL | 50% | 113 |
| Own/lease foreign car | 29% | 132 |
| Bought mattress | 19% | 124 |
| Source: Scarborough Research 2003 Release 1 Multi-Market (Feb. '02-March '03) *Index is a measurement of consumer likelihood. An index of 100 indicates that the market is on par with the average of the 75 local markets. **Activities engaged in in past 12 months |
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