WABC-TV Wins March 2009 Rating Period

CONTINUES TO BE MOST WATCHED STATION IN THE NATION

“EYEWITNESS NEWS” DOMINATES NEW YORK NEWS RACE

NEW YORK, April 2 /PRNewswire/ — WABC-TV continues to be New York’s most watched broadcast television station in both Households and Adults 25-54 in Nielsen’s March 2009 sweep. With a 4.1 rating/10 share in DMA Households, Monday-Sunday Sign-On to Sign-Off, WABC-TV has a 37% lead over its nearest competitor. With each rating point representing 74,338 Tri-State area TV households, ABC 7 attracts a larger audience than any other television station in the country.

WABC-TV is also New York’s news leader, beginning with the early morning news race. At 5am, “Eyewitness News This Morning” with Lori Stokes, Ken Rosato and Bill Evans boasts a DMA Household rating that is at least 60% higher than any competitor. At 6am, WABC-TV tops its closest competitor by 35% in DMA Households. “Eyewitness News This Morning” is equally dominant among Adults 25-54. At 5am, WABC-TV delivers more than double the rating of any competitor in this demographic, and its 6am rating is 25% greater than that of its closest competitor.

“Eyewitness News at Noon” with Lori Stokes, Ken Rosato and Bill Evans nearly doubles its competition in DMA Households. It also draws more than twice as many Women 25-54 viewers.

WABC-TV’s “Eyewitness News at 5” with Diana Williams, Sade Baderinwa and Lee Goldberg out delivers its nearest competitor by 60% in DMA Households and 110% among Adults 25-54. WABC-TV’s rating among Adults 25-54 is higher than the deliveries of all other 5pm news competitors combined. This sweep marks the 58th consecutive survey period that WABC-TV has finished an outright #1 in DMA Households among local M-F 5pm newscasts.

Channel 7 continues to dominate the competition with the Mon-Fri editions of “Eyewitness News at 6” with Bill Ritter, Liz Cho, Lee Goldberg and Scott Clark. WABC-TV’s Household rating is 87% higher than its closest competitor. Among Adults 25-54, WABC-TV’s delivery is at least 33% higher than any other local news program at 6pm. This sweep marks the 63rd consecutive survey period that WABC-TV has finished an outright #1 in DMA Households among local M-F 6pm newscasts.

The Mon-Fri edition of “Eyewitness News at 11” featuring Bill Ritter, Liz Cho, Lee Goldberg and Scott Clark completes the total weekday victory for “Eyewitness News.” WABC-TV wins the 11pm Late News race on every weeknight of the sweep in Household rating and tops its closest competitor by 29% for the sweep. With a 3.1 rating among Adults 25-54, WABC-TV is number one with a 41% advantage over the second place station.

“Eyewitness News” is equally strong on Saturday and Sunday. On weekend mornings, “Eyewitness News This Morning” with Michelle Charlesworth, Phil Lipof, Jeff Smith and Jessica Taff, collectively delivers the key Adult 25-54 demographic better than any of its competitors, and has a 13% advantage over the next-closest station. On weekend nights, “Eyewitness News at 11,” featuring Joe Torres, Sandra Bookman, Heidi Jones and Marvell Scott, out delivers the second place station by 37% in DMA Households and by 20% among Adults 25-54.

When it comes to network news, more New Yorkers turn to ABC News on Channel 7 than any other source. ABC’s “Good Morning America” wins its Mon-Fri 7:00-9:00am time period in Household ratings with a 15% advantage over its closest competitor. It also ranks #1 in the key areas of Adults 25-54 and Women 25-54. In the evening, ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” holds a commanding lead in both Households and Adults 25-54. This marquee ABC news program delivers higher ratings than the combined deliveries of the other network evening news programs. ABC’s “Nightline” continues its long run of success by ranking #1 among all Late Night programs in Household rating and Adults 25-54.

In Primetime, WABC-TV is #1 in Household ratings with 5 of the top 10 regularly scheduled programs. WABC-TV also boasts 5 of the top 10 regularly scheduled Primetime shows among Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, and 6 of the top 10 regularly scheduled programs among Women 25-54.

During the day, more people in the tri-state area keep their TVs on ABC7. “Live with Regis and Kelly” continues its long stretch of dominance at 9am, where it delivers a Household rating 52% higher than that of its closest competitor. The locally produced, nationally syndicated program also outpaces the 9am edition of “The Today Show” by 59%.

WABC-TV’s syndicated programs “Rachael Ray,” “Millionaire,” “Oprah,” “Jeopardy,” and “Wheel of Fortune” continue to be the #1 programs in their respective time periods in Households and most key demographics, including Adults and Women 25-54.

WABC-TV, Channel 7, is the ABC, Inc. owned television station in New York City.

                                                           % ADVANTAGE OVER
          PROGRAM         TIME PERIOD   RTG/SHR  RANK   WCBS    WNBC     WNYW
    Sign-on to
     Sign-off        M-Su 7:00-1:00am    4.1/10   #1     37%     78%     141%
    Eyewitness News
     This Morning    M-F  5:00-6:00am    1.6/10   #1    100%    100%     220%
    Eyewitness News
     This Morning    M-F 6:00-7:00am     2.7/12   #1     50%     35%     125%
    Good Morning
     America         M-F 7:00-9:00am     3.9/13   #1    179%     15%     160%
    Live with Regis
     and Kelly       M-F 9:00-10:00am    3.5/12   #1     52%     59%     400%
    Rachael Ray      M-F 10:00-11:00am   3.2/11   #1    256%     88%     357%
    The View         M-F 11:00am-12:00pm 4.7/17   #1    135%    488%     488%
    Eyewitness News
     at Noon         M-F 12:00-12:30pm   4.5/16   #1     88%     NA*    543%*
    Afternoon
     Rotation        M-F 12:00-4:00pm    3.0/10   #1     50%    173%     173%
    Oprah Winfrey    M-F 4:00-5:00pm     5.8/15   #1     38%    346%     287%
    Eyewitness News
     at 5            M-F 5:00-6:00pm     5.6/13   #1     60%    331%     460%
    Eyewitness News
     at 6            M-F 6:00-6:30pm     5.8/12   #1     87%    176%     427%
    Eyewitness News
     at 6            M-Su 6:00-6:30pm    5.1/11   #1     65%    132%     364%
    ABC's World News
     Tonight         M-F 6:30-7:00pm     6.4/13   #1     NA*     88%     129%
    Jeopardy!        M-F 7:00-7:30pm     7.2/13   #1    140%    243%     380%
    Wheel of Fortune M-F 7:30-8:00pm     6.8/12   #1    119%    152%     258%
    Primetime        M-Sa 8:00-11:00pm   6.5/10   #1      3%     71%    14%**
                     Su 7:00-11:00pm
    Eyewitness News
     at 11           M-F 11:00-11:35pm   6.6/12   #1     29%     53%    43%**
    Eyewitness News
     at 11           M-Su 11:00-11:35pm  6.4/12   #1      33%    49%    49%**

    *  WNBC-TV does not air news at Noon; WNYW-TV airs its midday news at
       11am and does not air network news
    ** WNYW-TV Prime airs M-Sa 8-10pm/Su 7-10pm & Late News airs 10-11pm

    Source: NY Nielsen LPM Live Only Overnights 3/5/09-4/1/09.

                 FINAL NIELSEN AVERAGES
                                        MAR'09
                                        DMA HH
    MON.- FRI. PROGRAMMING              RTG/SHR                   

    WABC-TV M-Su 7am-1am                 4.1/10
    WCBS-TV M-Su 7am-1am                 3.0/7
    WNBC-TV M-Su 7am-1am                 2.3/6
    WNYW-TV M-Su 7am-1am                 1.7/4
    WPIX-TV M-Su 7am-1am                 1.3/3
    WWOR-TV M-Su 7am-1am                 0.8/2

    WABC Eyewtns News-Early 5-6am        1.6/10
    WCBS CBS2 News Morning 5-6am         0.8/5
    WNBC Today New York 1 5-6am          0.8/5
    WNYW Good Day Wakeup 5-6am           0.5/3
    WPIX Morning News 5-6am              0.8/5

    WABC Eyewtns News-Morn 6-7am         2.7/12
    WCBS CBS2 News Morning 6-7am         1.8/8
    WNBC Today New York 2  6-7am         2.0/9
    WNYW GDNY 1st Edition 6-7am          1.2/5
    WPIX Morning News 6-7am              1.3/6

    WABC Good Morning America            3.9/13
    WCBS CBS Early Show 7 & 730am        1.4/5
    WNBC Today Show                      3.4/12
    WNYW Good Day NY                     1.5/5
    WPIX Morning News                    1.5/5
    WABC Live with Regis and Kelly 9am   3.5/12
    WABC Rachael Ray 10am                3.2/11
    WABC The View 11am                   4.7/17
    WCBS The Doctors 9am                 2.3/8
    WNBC Today Show 2 9am                2.2/8
    WNBC Today Show 3 10am               1.7/6
    WNBC Martha 11am                     0.8/3
    WNYW Morning Show 9am                0.7/3

    WABC Eyewitness News at Noon         4.5/16
    WCBS CBS2 News Noon                  2.4/9
    WNYW Fox 5 Live 11am                 0.7/3
    WABC Who Wants To Be A Millionaire   3.5/12
    WNBC Bonnie Hunt 2pm                 0.8/3

    WABC Oprah Winfrey                   5.8/15
    WCBS Judge Judy 4-5pm                4.2/11
    WNBC Deal or No Deal 4-5pm           1.3/3
    WCBS Dr Phil 3pm                     2.1/6
    WNBC Ellen 3pm                       1.8/5

    Source: NY Nielsen LPM Live Only Overnights 3/5/09-4/1/09.

                 FINAL NIELSEN AVERAGES

                                        MAR'09
                                        DMA HH
    MON.- FRI. PROGRAMMING              RTG/SHR

    WABC 5pm Eyewitness News            5.6/13
    WCBS CBS2 News at 5                 3.5/8
    WNBC NewsChannel 4 at 5p            1.3/3
    WNYW Fox5 News at 5                 1.0/2

    WABC 6pm Eyewitness News            5.8/12
    WCBS CBS2 News at 6                 3.1/7
    WNBC NewsChannel 4 at 6             2.1/4
    WNYW Fox5 News at 6                 1.1/2

    WABC ABC World News                 6.4/13
    WCBS CBS Evening News               3.4/7
    WNBC NBC Nightly News               2.8/5

    WABC Jeopardy!                      7.2/13
    WABC Wheel of Fortune               6.8/12
    WCBS Insider                        3.0/6
    WCBS Entertainment Tonight          3.1/5
    WNBC Extra                          2.1/4
    WNBC Access Hollywood               2.7/5
    WNYW The Simpsons                   1.5/3
    WNYW Seinfeld                       1.9/3
    WWOR House of Payne                 1.6/3
    WWOR House of Payne                 1.6/3
    WPIX Two and a Half Men             2.8/5
    WPIX Family Guy                     2.4/4

    WABC M-Su. Prime                    6.5/10
    WCBS M-Su. Prime                    6.3/10
    WNBC M-Su. Prime                    3.8/6
    WNYW M-Su. Prime                    5.7/9

    WABC 11pm Eyewtns News M-F          6.6/12
    WCBS CBS2 News at 11 M-F            5.1/9
    WNBC NewsChannel 4 at 11 M-F        4.3/8

    WABC 11pm Eyewtns News M-Su         6.4/12
    WCBS CBS2 News at 11 M-Su           4.8/9
    WNBC NewsChannel 4 at 11 M-Su       4.3/8

    Source: NY Nielsen LPM Live Only Overnights 3/5/09-4/1/09.

SOURCE WABC-TV