ATLANTA — In the May Sweep, Channel 2 Action News turned in another dominating ratings period, winning every newscast, beating the combined competition in almost every time period, according to the Nielsen weekday average of Adults 25-54.
Channel 2 Action News drew 59% of Adults 25-54 watching local news in the Atlanta market, more than the other three local news stations combined. WAGA ranked second with 27%.
“May completed the 2013-2014 Television Season,” said Tim McVay, Vice President and General Manager for WSB-TV. “This book confirmed once again the strength of WSB-TV and ABC. Combining the station’s local news dominance with the stellar performances by ABC shows “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer” and a strong Prime Time fueled the Sweep.”
“Dancing with the Stars,” “Modern Family,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Billboard Music Awards” all won their time periods giving ABC the highest prime time rating in Atlanta.
The combined total of viewers watching Channel 2 Action News each day equaled 562,000 viewers, 56% more than the second place local news station. Channel 2 Action News “This Morning” from 4:30-7 a.m. continued to rank as the highest rated local newscast on any station during the month, with 236,632 viewers, A25-54.
All three of the early evening newscasts from 4-7 p.m. grew over May 2013.
“Major investigations, breaking news and local weather played a big role in our coverage this May,” said News Director Mike Dreaden. “Our investigative reports got action from the officials in charge.”
Here are three examples.
Jodie Fleischer uncovered DeKalb schools had failed their fire inspection that left students in danger for years. Fleischer took it to the fire chief prompting a department-wide investigation.
Aaron Diamant continues to dig into the story he broke over a year ago about malpractice in the VA Hospital system. He uncovered disturbing new numbers, hundreds of cases of deaths and injuries. The story has gone national and President Obama is now involved.
Jim Strickland keeps digging into the dangerous recalled tires and the trail he followed revealed way more tires on the market today than first believed. Strickland's report has generated a national inquiry picked up by ABC's Investigative Reporter, Brian Ross.
Digital Visitors to Channel 2 Action News platforms grew 64% over May 2013.
Video Plays rose 308% and Video Live Streams grew by 268% contributing to 3 million video views for the month.
WSB-TV’s iPhone and Android Weather App versions reached 300,000 downloads.
Channel 2’s Facebook “Likes” grew by 345% to 370,000. Twitter followers grew 100% to 100,000, giving @WSBTV the largest Twitter following of any TV station in the South.
About Channel 2 WSB-TV The ABC Affiliate is part of Cox Media Group and ranks as Atlanta's number one local television station. The station also operates its website, wsbtv.com, its mobile site, m.wsbtv.com, plus News, Weather and Traffic Apps, and airs MeTV on its digital sub-channel 2.2. WSB-TV also provides news, weather and traffic on Twitter @WSBTV and on WSB-TV's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wsbtv
About Cox Media Group Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of CoxReps. Additionally, CMG owns Cox Target Media, which operates Valpak, one of North America's leading direct marketing companies, and Savings.com, a leading online source for savings. The company's operations currently include 14 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 57 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services. CMG currently operates in more than 20 media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including more than 30 million TV viewers, more than 4 million print and online newspaper readers, and 14 million radio listeners. For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com
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