WCBS & Rather Fall To Univision In NYC.

In a ratings shocker that could set the stage for the all- important November “sweep” period, the two signature newscasts of the CBS Television Network and its flagship station, WCBS-TV Channel 2 in New York, have lost New York’s October Nielsen survey ratings race to the competing newscasts on Spanish-language Univision 41 (WXTV). It is the first time that both the 6 pm local news on a major New York network TV station and its leadout, the network’s signature 6:30 pm newscast, have simultaneously lost the ratings race in an October Nielsen survey period to a Spanish-language broadcaster.

Nielsen’s October survey measures TV viewing in several U.S. TV markets, including New York, the nation’s top market. The October 2002 survey is the four-week period from September 26, 2002 through October 23, 2002.

In the just completed October 2002 survey, “Noticias 41,” the 6 pm weekday local newscast on Univision 41 (WXTV) with anchors Rafael Pineda and Denisse Oller, scored a 4.0 Nielsen Station Index (NSI) average rating and 7 share to trounce the 3.2/6 NSI rating/share scored by the competing 6 pm local news on Viacom-owned WCBS-TV Channel 2. The 4.0 NSI rating scored by “Noticias 41” represents a whopping 25% increase over the 3.2 NSI rating that the newscast scored in the May 2002 Nielsen sweep period (April 25 – May 22, 2002). The May 2002 sweep, the most recent non-summer ratings survey period, is one of four, annual four-week periods in which the audiences of all TV stations nationwide are measured by Nielsen in order to set advertising rates.

“Noticiero Univision,” Univision’s nightly network newscast with anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, scored a 3.8 NSI rating in New York and a 7 audience share to beat the 3.6/6 NSI rating/share scored locally by the “CBS Evening News” with Dan Rather. “Noticero Univision” and the “CBS Evening News” are both seen from 6:30 pm to 7 pm in New York.

Each New York Nielsen Station Index rating point represents 72,823.2 TV households.