Hometown Dekalb - News From Dekalb County GA

Channel 2 Action News won every newscast time period in head to head competition in the March Sweeps which ran February 28-March 26, 2008.

“March quickly turned into a lion when a wave of tornadoes roared through our area striking the heart of downtown Atlanta and 13 other communities,” said Bill Hoffman, vice president and general manager for Channel 2. “The aftermath revealed damage like we haven’t seen in a long, long time. The response time and efforts by first responders and neighbors helping neighbors became the major story. Channel 2 Action News provided 18 hours of coverage from Friday night through Saturday afternoon.”

“We focused immediately on our viewers in the path of these storms; those who needed to be warned and those who were safely out of harm’s way,” said Glenn Burns, chief meteorologist for Severe Weather Team 2. “In times like this I am so grateful that we’ve armed Severe Weather Center 2 with the very latest technology. We could track the storms from so many levels, in high definition from both above and inside the cloud walls. We found the tornado tell-tale patterns of hail and wind signatures.”

“Our viewers followed the radar and severe weather alerts from all of our platforms depending on their unique circumstances,” said Marian Pittman, news director for Channel 2 Action News. “Viewers wrote to us in record numbers thanking Channel 2 for the coverage. One viewer wrote that they had lost power while taking shelter in their basement. They followed the radar path and alerts on their mobile device, logged on to wsbtv.com/mobile.”

A complete review of the ratings and page views for the severe weather days starts on page four of this report.

During the March measurement period, Channel 2 drew 54% of the overall news audience. WAGA came in second with 25%, WXIA was third with 15%, WGCL was fourth with five percent, and WATL was fifth (see chart below).

The tables below show the Household and Adult 25-54 audiences based on the ratings information. The breakouts show the average number household audience and the Adult 25-54 audience watching a particular station during a given time.

In addition, WSB-TV ranked Number 1 in both Households and Adults 25-54 in these key time periods:

• #1 Weekdays, 7-9 a.m. “Good Morning America.”
• #1 Weekdays, 9 a.m. “Live with Regis & Kelly.”
• #1 Weekdays, 10 a.m. “Montel Williams.”
• #1 Weekdays, 11 a.m. “The View.”
• #1 Weekdays, 4-5 p.m. “Oprah Winfrey.”
• #1 Weekdays, 7-7:30 p.m. “World News with Charles Gibson.”
• #1 Weekdays, 7:30-8 p.m. “Entertainment Tonight.”
• #1 Weekdays, 11:35 p.m.-12 a.m. ABC’s “Nightline.”
• #1 Saturdays, 6-9 a.m. “Channel 2 Action News Saturday AM.”
• #1 Saturdays, 9-10 a.m. “Good Morning America-Saturday.”
• #1 Saturdays, 12-12:30 p.m. “Channel 2 Action News Saturday at Noon.”
• #1 Sundays, 7:30-11:00 a.m. “Channel 2 Action News Sunday AM.”
• #1 Sundays, 12-12:30 p.m. “Channel 2 Action News Sunday at Noon.”

Click here to download additional charts and information.

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