WFMJ remains on top

Everybody finds a germ of hope in the ratings.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A year ago, all the television stations in the area had plans for improvement. As the various Nielsen reports came out, some of those plans seemed to be working.
But the November sweeps report done by the A.C. Nielsen Co. show that the three major network stations -- WFMJ, WKBN and WYTV -- ended the year much where they started it.
WFMJ, Channel 21, is still at the top of the heap when it comes to local news ratings, with WKBN, Channel 27, coming in second and WYTV, Channel 33, placing third. (See graphic above for numbers.)
After a year of jockeying, adjusting and updating, what do the stations have?
In the case of WFMJ, there's a sense that the long-term plan is truly paying off. Jack Grdic, sales manager at Channel 21, said the management has worked hard to develop a package of syndicated material and newscasts that would ensure local success, regardless of the network programming.
"It takes a great deal of strategy and planning," he said. "That's something we put a heavy emphasis on."
Those strong syndication shows help with lead-ins to news shows. The idea is that "Oprah," which has terrific ratings, will pull in some viewers to the evening newscast.
Meantime, Grdic said, the content of the newscasts have reflected the kind of news the Valley wants.
By putting the evening news anchors on the noon news, Grdic said, the station has been able to raise its ratings there, the only newscast where WKBN still has the edge.
Things change, and change
Over at WKBN, the year's ratings have had some serious ups and downs, with real gains in July and losses in November. The result is something close to where the station was a year ago.
Gary Coursen, news director at Channel 27, noted: "Fortunately, if you're not No. 1, there's no finish line in this ratings business. ... I look at this as a long-term process that has no ending."
At the moment, Coursen is pleased with his news content, but is hoping to make inroads with viewers during the morning and evening news.
While not disclosing his station's plans, Coursen said that he has "concerns over the news industry in general, that it's less relevant to young people. I think we have to watch that we don't focus so much on each other" and forget the viewers.
WYTV, meanwhile, has redesigned its sets and refocused its morning show. Dave Trabert, general manager, said the results have been showing up in some of the ratings. The station's morning show, while still in third place, is still up substantially in viewers from a year ago.
Trabert said that advertisers are interested in the number of people, not just number of households, that a station attracts. In those numbers, he said, WYTV is making progress.
"This is the first year in some time that WYTV grew year to year. Our 6 a.m. news grew, our 5 p.m. news grew and our 6 p.m. news grew. The late news was down 4 percent," Trabert said.
Still, both WYTV and WKBN had hoped to close the gap with WFMJ. And Channel 21's newscasters had hoped to put some distance between themselves and the other stations.
Network impact
A complicating factor for all the stations is the strength of prime time television on ABC and CBS networks. With "Must-See TV" disintegrating on NBC, Channel 21 had to overcome a viewer's reluctance to switch channels for the first time in years.
Conventional wisdom holds that viewers will tend to stay with the same station's newscast. If they're watching CBS from 10 to 11 p.m., for instance, they'd likely stay with the WKBN news.
Whether that works may be open to debate, but it's clearly easier to attract an audience who's already watching your station.
Trabert said the strength of "Desperate Housewives" and "Boston Legal" helps to account for better viewership of WYTV's weekend news.
Still, all agreed on one thing: The newscast has to have news for viewers to stay tuned.
So, that's where all three stations plan to continue their emphasis: storytelling.
From positions 2 and 3, it's no surprise that Coursen and Trabert are emphasizing tighter, newsier formats.
But even Grdic, whose station is No. 1, recognizes that the race is never won.
The station has already taken aim at the noon news. While it's hard to fight WKBN's lead-in of "The Price Is Right," going to the main anchors is a clear indication that WFMJ wants to climb that last ratings mountain.