ABC 7 News at 11 New Late News Leader

ABC 7 News at 11 New Late News Leader

DETHRONES WRC-TV FOR FIRST TIME IN NEARLY 10 YEARS

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- WJLA-TV achieves a landmark in local broadcasting history today as ABC 7 News at 11pm wins Washington's late news race, upsetting WRC-TV's nearly ten-year ratings reign. Anchored by the popular team of Leon Harris, Maureen Bunyan, Doug Hill and Tim Brant, ABC 7 News at 11 experienced spectacular year-to-year growth, turning Washington's fastest growing 11pm newscast into the area's #1 late local news.

                            Ratings  Ratings Change    Share   Share Change   ABC 7 NEWS AT 11PM        4.60       +42.1%          9.7       +38.6%   News 4 at 11pm            4.36       -30.0%          9.6       -37.5%   9 News Now at 11pm        4.18        -6.9%          9.0        -7.2%   FOX 5 News at 11pm        3.38        +19.4          7.1        +18.3                                                       NSI LIVE ONLY - NOV-07   

"Our news team has worked incredibly hard to raise the news bar here in Washington, and it's encouraging to see our efforts pay off in the ratings," said Fred Ryan, President & General Manager of ABC 7. "I couldn't be more proud of Leon, Maureen, Doug and Tim, and the entire ABC 7 News team."

"This has been a truly amazing reversal of fortune," said Bill Lord, ABC 7's Executive VP of News. "We have assembled one of the most respected teams of journalists Washington has ever seen, and we're thrilled that viewers are following them to ABC 7 News."

Aside from the household ratings victory, ABC 7 News at 11 was #1 in the Adults 25-54, Females 25-54, Adults 18-49 and Females 18-49 demographics.

   ABC 7 also experienced significant successes in other newscasts:   -- Good Morning Washington at 5am grew +23.5% YTY in HH ratings, while WRC      and WUSA declined -17.1% and -9.0% respectively.   -- Good Morning Washington at 6am remained flat YTY while WRC decreased      -12.3% and WUSA was down -11.6%.   -- ABC 7 News at Noon grew +4% YTY in HH ratings.  WUSA was down -12%.   -- ABC 7 News at 5pm grew +3.3% YTY in HH share.  WRC experienced a -10%      slide, WUSA was down -4.1%, and WTTG remained flat YTY.   -- ABC 7 News at 5pm was #1 in the Adults 25-54, Females 25-54, Adults      18-49, and Females 18-49 demographics.   -- ABC 7 News at 6pm grew +3.9% YTY in HH share.  WRC, WUSA and WTTG all      three slipped by -16.0%, -14.8% and -5.5% respectively.   

ABC 7/WJLA-TV is a division of Allbritton Communications Company, which owns and operates eight television stations in seven broadcast markets, including Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, DC. Allbritton Communications also owns and operates NewsChannel 8, Washington's 24-hour local cable news channel, as well as the political newspaper and website POLITICO and POLITICO.com.

Source: WJLA-TV

CONTACT: Kathryn McGriff of WJLA-TV, +1-703-236-9322; or Nicole Hawkins
for WJLA-TV, +1-202-491-6980, nicole@nicolehawkins.com

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Profile: International Entertainment