TV stations in New Orleans are used to being in second, third or even worse place, in the news ratings. That’s because for almost 40 years, only one local TV news operation can lay claim to be the market leader, WWL-TV, the CBS affiliate owned by Tegna. Since 1978, “WWL has won every news time […]
TV stations in New Orleans are used to being in second, third or even worse place, in the news ratings.
That’s because for almost 40 years, only one local TV news operation can lay claim to be the market leader, WWL-TV, the CBS affiliate owned by Tegna.
Since 1978, “WWL has won every news time slot — every single one, morning, afternoon and night, weekdays and weekends,” according to an article in the New Orleans’ Times-Picayune.
That streak lasted until last month when WVUE, the Fox affiliate owned the Louisiana Media Co., and operated by Raycom through a shared services agreement, won the late news ratings at 10, the first time a station other than WWL has done that in 38 years, ending a streak that has been called “unparalleled in the industry.”
Granted, it’s only one newscast and the margin was slim. WVUE earned a 7.6 weekday rating compared to 7.03 for WWL. And overall, WWL still dominates local TV news in New Orleans.
But a win, even by the slimmest of margins, is still a win. And in New Orleans, this is a big deal.
What’s especially noteworthy about it being WVUE that won the 10 o’clock news and not either WDSU or WGNO — the NBC and ABC affiliates, respectively — is that WVUE’s 10 o’clock news was started in 2010.
WDSU and WGNO have had 10 o’clock newscast for decades prior to that.
So how did WVUE do it?
“No secret formula,” said Mikel Schaefer, WVUE’s news director.
“No tricks. Just letting talented journalists work on great stories.”
“It’s a great achievement that took hard work,” said Blaine Strawn, WVUE’s creative services director.
Srawn said WVUE had a special report every night at 10, but to be effective in terms of reach and frequency, the station could only promote 2 or 3 of the strongest stories.
Strawn mentioned that every morning, on radio stations in New Orleans, WVUE reporters and anchors called in live to discuss their stories and that the station did special posts on Facebook.
Schaefer said the stations investigations into crime and consumer-type stories “all resonated with viewers.”
But that’s nothing new.
“Same things we’ve been doing for the past several years, best-quality journalism, day in and day out. Viewers appreciate that kind of hard, long-form investigative journalism.”
Schaefer said WVUE’s partnership with The Times-Picayune/NOLA.com also helped.
“We’ve done some good work with them, we help each other along the way. A few years ago, we did a series, Louisiana Purchase, which won a Peabody, and a couple of Murrow awards. That signature partnership can really make something special happen.”
But more than anything, Schaefer credits the station’s investigations as the reason for its performance at 10 in May.
“Lee Zurik’s investigations are very strong and have been for many year. That’s definitely helped build the 10 o’clock newscast.”
Zurik is WVUE’s investigative reporter and he also anchors the station’s 9 p.m. newscast.
Schaefer did finally admit to one trick the station employs to win news viewers in New Orleans.
“Serve the public. That cannot be overstated, our role is to serve the public. Really good people who work really, really hard. It’s a magical thing.”
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