Channel 7 Widens Its Lead Over The Competition and Remains the Most-Viewed Station in New York and the Nation

Channel 7 Widens Its Lead Over The Competition and Remains the Most-Viewed Station in New York and the Nation

'Eyewitness News' Is Top-Rated Newscast at 5am, 6am, 12pm, 5pm, 6pm and 11pm in Feb'05 Nielsen Survey

'Academy Awards' scores higher ratings than 'Super Bowl'

NEW YORK, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The growing dominance of WABC-TV powers it to another win as New York's highest-rated broadcast station, posting a 5.0 rating/11 share, Monday-Sunday Sign-On to Sign-Off. This is according to Nielsen's Feb'05 NY Local People Meter data, where Channel 7's 22% ratings advantage over WNBC-TV, its nearest competitor, is up from last year's 7%.

In addition, Channel 7's "Eyewitness News" wins all six local news races, a feat it last accomplished in Feb'98. Following are highlights of "Eyewitness News'" performances in the Feb'05 Nielsen report:

* First Place News at 6pm - "Eyewitness News" delivers a 7.4 rating/14 share in households and a 3.0 rating/12 share in Adults 25-54, beating competing newscasts on WNBC-TV, WCBS-TV and WNYW-TV. The 6pm "Eyewitness News" rating advantage over "CBS2 News at 6" is up from 89% in Feb'04, to 131% in Feb'05. Its lead over "NewsChannel 4 at 6" is now 48%, up from 13% one year ago. This edition of "Eyewitness News" is anchored by Bill Ritter, Liz Cho, Sam Champion and Scott Clark.

* First Place News at 5pm - "Eyewitness News" notches a 7.3 rating/15 share in households and a 3.1 rating/14 share among Adults 25-54, Monday-Friday. This Channel 7 newscast delivers more Adults 25-54 than its 3 competitors combined, and is anchored by Diana Williams, Sade Baderinwa and Sam Champion. "Eyewitness News" holds a 128% rating advantage over "CBS2 News at 5" (up from 91% in Feb'04) and comes from behind in Feb'04 to now command a 35% lead over "Live At Five".

* First Place News at 11pm - "Eyewitness News" at 11pm wins the Monday- Sunday late news race, posting a 7.2 rating/13 share. With Bill Ritter, Liz Cho, Sam Champion and Scott Clark, "Eyewitness News" is the only 11pm news to increase share over its primetime lead-in, growing 2 share points.

* First Place News at 5am - "Eyewitness News" with Lori Stokes, Steve Bartelstein and Bill Evans, is top-rated with a 2.0 rating/11 share in households.

* First Place News at 6am - "Eyewitness News" not only is in first place with a 3.3 rating/14 share in households, but also holds a 6% ratings advantage over its nearest competitor (WNBC-TV's "Today in NY".)

* First Place News at 12pm - "Eyewitness News" scores a 4.8 rating/15 share in households, beating competing midday newscasts on WCBS-TV and WNYW-TV. This edition of "Eyewitness News" delivers a 1.7 rating/11 share among Adults 25-54, more than that delivered by its competitors combined.

Other highlights of Channel 7's Feb'05 performance include:

* First Place Network News at 6:30pm - "ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings" wins the network news race with a 7.2 rating/13 share in households, and has increased its lead to 140% over "CBS Evening News" and 44% over "NBC Nightly News." Among Adults 25-54, its 2.9 rating/10 share beats the combined deliveries of CBS' and NBC's competing network news programs.

* Top-rated Morning Programs - "Live! With Regis and Kelly" dominates the time period with a 4.9 rating/17 share in households. Newcomer "Tony Danza" posts a 3.5 rating/12 share and finishes in first place in its 10-11am time period.

* Top-rated Early Fringe Program - "Oprah Winfrey" at 4pm wins the afternoon race with a 8.9 rating/21 share in households. It more than beats the combined deliveries of "Judge Judy" on NBC/4 and "People's Court on CBS/2.

* Top-rated Access Programs - Even without Ken Jennings, "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" on ABC/7 remain the leaders in prime access, respectively delivering a 11.2 HH rating/19 share and a 10.1 HH rating/16 share.

* Top-rated Primetime Special - ABC's "77th Academy Awards" posted a 39.6 rating/55 share in households and a 28.4 rating/54 share in Adults 25-54. Not only does this beat "Super Bowl XXXIX's" 34.6 rating/51 share in households and 27.0 rating/54 share in Adults 25-54, but also it is the "Academy Awards'" best performance since 1998.

WABC-TV, Channel 7, is the ABC, Inc. Owned Television Station in New York City.

FINAL FEB'05 NIELSEN AVERAGES

DMA HH Adults 25-54 MON.- FRI. PROGRAMMING RTG/SHR RTG/SHR

WABC-TV M-Su 7am-1am 5.0/11 2.4/10 WCBS-TV M-Su 7am-1am 3.5/ 8 1.6/ 6 WNBC-TV M-Su 7am-1am 4.1/ 9 2.1/ 8 WNYW-TV M-Su 7am-1am 2.7/ 6 1.7/ 7 WPIX-TV M-Su 7am-1am 2.3/ 5 1.1/ 4 WWOR-TV M-Su 7am-1am 1.2/ 3 0.6/ 3

WABC Eyewtns News-Early 5-6am 2.0/11 0.8/ 9 WCBS CBS2 News Morning 5-6am 1.1/ 6 0.6/ 6 WNBC Today New York 1 5-6am 1.9/11 1.1/12 WNYW Good Day Wakeup 5-6am 1.0/ 6 0.7/ 8 WPIX WB11 Morning News 5-6am 1.1/ 6 0.7/ 7

WABC Eyewtns News-Morn 6-7am 3.3/14 1.4/12 WCBS CBS2 News Morning 6-7am 1.6/ 7 0.8/ 7 WNBC Today New York 2 6-7am 3.1/13 1.9/15 WNYW GDNY 1st Edition 6-7am 2.3/10 1.3/10 WPIX WB11 Morning News 6-7am 1.2/ 5 0.8/ 6

WABC Good Morning America 3.8/12 1.6/11 WCBS CBS Early Show 7 & 730am 1.7/ 5 0.7/ 5 WNBC Today Show 4.7/15 2.2/15 WNYW Good Day NY 2.4/ 8 1.2/ 8 WPIX WB11 Morning News 1.3/ 4 0.7/ 5

WABC Live! With Regis & Kelly 9am 4.9/17 2.0/15 WABC Tony Danza 10am 3.5/12 1.2/ 9 WABC The View 11am 4.1/13 1.6/11 WCBS Larry Elder 9am 1.6/ 5 0.5/ 3 WNBC Today Show 2 9am 3.1/11 0.9/ 7 WNBC Ellen 10am 3.4/11 1.5/11 WNBC Jane Pauley 11am 1.5/ 5 0.6/ 4 WNYW Montel Williams 9am 1.2/ 4 0.6/ 4

WABC Eyewitness News at Noon 4.8/15 1.7/11 WCBS CBS2 News Noon 4.6/14 0.9/ 6 WNYW Fox 5 Live 1130am 1.2/ 4 0.4/ 3 WABC Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 4.7/14 1.6/10

WABC Oprah Winfrey 8.9/21 4.5/23 WCBS People's Court 2.8/ 6 1.0/ 5 WNBC Judge Judy 4.7/11 1.7/ 9 WCBS Dr Phil 3pm 3.7/10 1.5/ 9 WNBC Judge Joe Brown 3pm 3.4/ 9 1.2/ 7

WABC 5pm Eyewitness News 7.3/15 3.1/14 WCBS CBS2 News at 5 3.2/ 7 0.8/ 4 WNBC Live at 5 5.4/11 1.6/ 7 WNYW Fox5 News at 5 1.6/ 3 0.6/ 3

WABC 6pm Eyewitness News 7.4/14 3.0/12 WCBS CBS2 News at 6 3.2/ 6 0.9/ 3 WNBC NewsChannel 4 at 6 5.0/10 1.7/ 7 WNYW Fox5 News at 6 1.4/ 3 0.6/ 2

WABC ABC World News Tonight 7.2/13 2.9/10 WCBS CBS Evening News 3.0/ 5 1.0/ 4 WNBC NBC Nightly News 5.0/ 9 1.8/ 6

WABC Jeopardy! 11.2/19 3.4/10 WABC Wheel of Fortune 10.1/16 2.9/ 8 WCBS Insider 3.3/ 6 1.6/ 5 WCBS Entertainment Tonight 4.2/ 7 2.2/ 6 WNBC Extra 3.4/ 6 1.8/ 5 WNBC Access Hollywood 3.6/ 6 2.2/ 6 WNYW The Simpsons 3.1/ 5 1.5/ 5 WNYW Seinfeld 4.1/ 7 2.5/ 7 WWOR King of Queens 2.9/ 5 1.9/ 6 WWOR Girlfriends 2.0/ 3 1.4/ 4 WPIX Friends 2.9/ 5 1.9/ 6 WPIX Everybody Loves Raymond 4.1/ 7 2.3/ 6

WABC M-Su. Prime 7.6/11 4.9/11 WCBS M-Su. Prime 8.0/12 4.5/10 WNBC M-Su. Prime 8.1/12 5.2/11

WABC 11pm Eyewtns News M-Su 7.2/13 3.6/ 9 WCBS CBS2 News at 11 M-Su 5.5/10 2.7/ 7 WNBC NewsChannel 4 at 11 M-Su 6.9/12 4.1/11

Source: NY Overnights: Nielsen 2/3/05 - 3/2/05

Source: WABC-TV

CONTACT: Pat Liguori (Research), +1-212-456-3406, for WABC-TV

Web site: http://www.abc.com/

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