WBAL leads May sweeps period

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WBAL leads May sweeps period Baltimore Business
Journal - May 25, 2006 by Julekha Dash,
Staff WBAL-TV Channel 11 led the May "sweeps"
period, garnering the highest ratings in nearly
every time slot compared to other local news
stations. May is one of four sweeps periods
when ratings largely influence the advertising
rates TV stations can charge. The other sweeps
periods occur in February, November and July.
NBC affiliate WBAL led the evening news
programs with a 7.7 rating for the 5 p.m. news
hour and an 8.2 for the 6 p.m. slot, outpacing
WJZ-TV Channel 13 by 3.5 ratings points in each
category. WBAL also led the 11 p.m. news, with
an 10.6 rating, one rating point higher than CBS
affiliate WJZ. One rating point is equal to
roughly 10,000 Baltimore households. WBFF-TV
Channel 45 came in third place for late night
news. The FOX affiliate's 10 p.m. news garnered a
6.3 rating. WBAL also edged out WJZ's morning
news program, hosted by Don Scott and Marty Bass,
between 5 a.m. and 530 a.m. But WJZ captured the
second part of the hour, with a 4.6 rating, half
a rating point higher than WBAL. The noon news
was led by WJZ, which grabbed a 5.7 rating, more
than two ratings points ahead of WBAL. WMAR-TV
Channel 2 garnered about a 1.0 rating during the
morning news time slots, and a 1.4 at noon. The
ABC affiliate's highest ratings period was during
the 11 p.m. period, when it grabbed a 3.8 rating
share.