Capital Combat
By Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/20/2004
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The hot story in the nation's No. 8 TV market is the strife at once-dominant CBS affiliate WUSA. And its competitors are scrambling to take advantage of the discord.
Gannett-owned WUSA has transformed its public façade in recent months with a new anchor team: Tracy Neale, from Fox O&O WTTG, and Todd McDermott, from WCBS New York. The station was still negotiating last week for the future services of veteran anchor Gordon Peterson, a 23-year fixture on the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. WUSA's embarrassing fifth-place finish at both 5 and 7 p.m. resulted in the ouster of News Director Dave Roberts last month.
Albritton's WJLA, one of the last family-owned major-market network affiliates, underwent its own internecine drama just before the May book when General Manager Chris Pike was demoted and Albritton President Fred Ryan took over. WJLA's 6 p.m. news show finished a respectable second, although its late news continues to suffer from poor ABC lead-ins. WJLA shares a staff with co-owned NewsChannel 8, a 24-hour cable news operation.
"It's a time of tremendous change, more than I've seen in any market at any one time," says Michael Jack, general manager at top-rated WRC, which has finished first in most news slots for 26 consecutive books.
In May, WTTG's Fox 5 Morning News overtook WRC's a.m. show for the first time, as household ratings grew nearly 30%. Its 10 p.m. newscast easily won its time period.
Paxson's WPXW and Fox-owned UPN affiliate WDCA are busy fighting a different battle: defending their licenses. Several advocacy groups petitioned the FCC in August to deny renewal, claiming the stations failed to meet requirements for airing children's programming.
On the cable front, Comcast is the primary cable operator in D.C. and parts of Maryland. Cox is dominant in the Virginia suburbs. The market's cable penetration stands at about 72%, slightly above the national average. About 17% of the market's households have satellite.
Although political news abounds in D.C., local stations don't run to cover it. Interest in local politics is dwarfed by national concerns. "Most people just aren't that interested," says RTNDA chief David Bartlett, former D.C. news director. "This isn't New York or Chicago."
| Who | Share of population | Index* |
| 18-34 | 32% | 101 |
| 18-49 | 65% | 104 |
| 25-54 | 63% | 107 |
| 35+ | 68% | 99 |
| Married | 52% | 100 |
| Never married | 28% | 110 |
| College grad | 34% | 149 |
| White | 71% | 86 |
| Black | 23% | 190 |
| Hispanic | 8% | 62 |
| Asian | 3% | 129 |
| $100K+ HH | 29% | 192 |
| $50K+ HH | 67% | 137 |
| Below $50K HH | 33% | 65 |
| BY THE NUMBERS** | ||
| Spent 10+ hr/wk online | 25% | 146 |
| Home value above $250k | 33% | 174 |
| Played tennis | 7% | 128 |
| Went running/jogging | 23% | 116 |
| Drives foreign car | 35% | 158 |
| 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. NM = Not large enough to be measured **Activities engaged in past 12 months |
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