Ratings Feast for NBC

Buoyed by the popularity of the “Rosie O’Donnell Show,” KNBC-TV Channel 4 came close to a clean sweep of the local news race during the November ratings sweeps, according to figures released Wednesday by Nielsen.

For the first time in years, KNBC squeaked past archrival KABC-TV Channel 7 in news at both 4 and 5 p.m.

Channel 7 had enjoyed a long reign as champ thanks to the supremacy of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as a lead-in to the afternoon news block. But since “Rosie” began providing some real competition to “Oprah” at 3 p.m. last summer--nearly doubling the audience Channel 4 had generally lured before--the news race has tightened significantly.

With one day remaining in the sweeps period, KNBC’s margin of victory at 4 and 5 p.m. was two-tenths of a rating point, or about 10,000 of the market’s nearly 5 million homes. Though data from the final day of the ratings month might affect the official totals slightly, it was unlikely to change the final standings.

The one bright spot for KABC continues to be its 6 p.m. newscast, anchored by Laura Diaz and Marc Brown, which bounced back to beat KNBC by a comfortable spread.

KNBC, meanwhile, maintained its usual longtime strength in news at both the beginning and end of the day, trouncing KABC at 11 p.m. and from 5:30-7 a.m. In fact, KABC’s hourlong 6 a.m. newscast slipped this month, dropping behind competing newscasts presented by KTLA-TV Channel 5 and KTTV-TV Channel 11.

KTTV had reason to celebrate the sweeps results, too, as the station lengthened its lead in news at 10 p.m. over KTLA, which had dominated the prime-time news battle for about 20 years until Channel 11 caught and then passed it earlier this year.

Fox-owned KTTV clearly benefited again from a strong prime-time showing by its parent network, which actually beat the prime-time scores of NBC, ABC and CBS in the Los Angeles market in head-to-head competition from 8-10 p.m. (During the less-hyped months of the year--when Fox’s prime-time ratings are down and not handing the local station an overwhelming lead-in advantage--KTLA still wins the 10 p.m. news competition most of the time.)

The November sweeps are one of four annual ratings periods used by some local stations to set advertising rates. And to establish bragging rights.

KTLA still has at least one reason to brag: The ever-popular “KTLA Morning News” again topped all competitors--including “Good Morning America” on KABC, the “Today” show on KNBC and KTTV’s “Good Day, L.A.”

KCBS-TV Channel 2’s new morning broadcast, “This Morning”--a combined effort between the local station and CBS network news--barely registered with local viewers, and Channel 2 continued to languish in all other news time periods as well. CBS’ Dan Rather also foundered here, badly trailing both top-ranked Peter Jennings of ABC and NBC’s Tom Brokaw in the network news wars.

Channel 2’s 6 p.m. local newscast even scored about 20,000 homes less than KMEX-TV Channel 34’s competing news in Spanish. KMEX continued to stand as the market’s top-ranked Spanish-language broadcaster.

On the tabloid front, “Extra” at 7 p.m. on KNBC scored higher ratings than KCBS’ “Hard Copy” and KCAL-TV Channel 9’s “Inside Edition” in head-to-head competition, and it grabbed more viewers than “Entertainment Tonight” did at 7:30 p.m. on KCBS. “Entertainment Tonight” did manage to knock off newcomer “Access Hollywood,” which airs opposite it on Channel 4.

But none of those real-life news and gossip shows even came close in the 7-8 p.m. hour to KTTV’s reruns of the fictional “Home Improvement” and “The Simpsons.” In fact, “The Simpsons” more than doubled the total audience of “Entertainment Tonight” and again proved to be the most popular show outside of prime time. KABC’s tandem of “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” remained a strong second in that hour.

The heavily promoted “Oprah Winfrey Show” maintained its lead among talk shows, beating “Rosie O’Donnell” by about 60,000 households. Other talk hosts continued to slide a bit. KCOP-TV Channel 13’s “Ricki Lake,” once thought to be a serious challenger to “Oprah,” trailed such shows as KTLA’s “Saved by the Bell” and KCAL’s “The Quack Pack” at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, hometown favorite Jay Leno and “The Tonight Show,” a big winner across the country, also romped here over “Nightline” on KABC and “The Late Show With David Letterman” on KCBS, which actually finished fifth in the 11:30 p.m. time slot behind KCAL’s “Jerry Springer” and reruns of “MASH” on KTTV.