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KATV Stands Out in November Nielsens

2 min read

KATV-TV, Channel 7, of Little Rock nearly swept the November Nielsen ratings book again this year, surpassing all other central Arkansas TV stations in attracting weekday news viewers, except at midday.

The ABC affiliate’s morning and evening shows topped all competitors. Conversely, the station failed again to topple a noon winner, which, this year, was CBS television affiliate KTHV-TV, Channel 11. KATV’s 11:30 a.m. show came in third behind the noon shows of KTHV and NBC affiliate KARK, Channel 4.

Chart: Click here (PDF) for a chart of Monday-Friday newscast ratings.

KTHV unseated KARK from its 2010 first-place spot at noon, which has gone back and forth between the stations.

KATV’s household ratings improved in all but one weekday show time over 2010’s. Only KATV’s 10 p.m. household rating sank, dipping from 9.6 to 9.4.

Each ratings point represents 1 percent of the 571,630 households in the market.

Still, from the ratings of Nielsen Media Research, KATV appears to have cemented its position as the top news station in the market.

KATV News Director Nick Genty said the station’s rating improvements over 2010’s book show the successes of KATV’s transition to high-definition television in September and its new "Daybreak" show team of reporters Alyson Courtney and Chris Kane and meteorologist Melinda Mayo. Also helping is KATV’s year-long effort to grow its social media presence.

Due to the social media push, Genty said, the station increased its Facebook fans from around 15,000 early in 2011 to its present total of nearly 68,000.

Genty insists such social media interaction translates into more viewers, as exhibited by the growth of KATV’s audience this year.  "There’s got to be a direct relationship," he said.

Consumers now want to interact with their news sources online, in addition to getting information when and how they want it – on their smartphones, through websites or on TV, Genty said.

"We’re trying to reach our consumers where they are, and they’re everywhere," he said. "That’s kind of been our goal: to deliver on all the platforms the best we can."

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