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TV War: Channel 5 Firmly at No. 1 — Even After Jim Sackett’s Retirement!

Posted by , March 19, 2012 Print

Jim Sackett‘s gone — and could it be? — already forgotten?

While WPTV-Channel 5 honchos delayed anchorman of 20-plus years Sackett’s retirement for months because they feared a steep drop in viewership, the always-tanned Sackett’s departure late last year barely showed on the most recent local TV ratings!

jim sackett ratings

Sackett (Courtesy WPTV-Channel 5)

WPTV-Channel 5′s registered a minimal drop with the main new prime-time anchor team of Michael Williams and Kelley Dunn, according to Nielsen ratings obtained by Gossip Extra for the all important February sweeps.

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The NBC affiliate lost a few hundred viewers in key news slots of 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. but remains way ahead of the competition, with more than 150,000 households between Boca Raton and Vero Beach tuning in.

That’s more than twice the audience of WPBF-Channel 25, and almost three times that of WPEC-Channel 12 at 6 p.m.

Rather than pointing out who isn’t there, WPTV General Manager Steve Wasserman lauded what the station does differently.

“The quality of our people, the consistency of coverage and commitment to quality journalism and our newly expanded investigative unit, the largest of any station in town, are some of the reasons why we, thankfully, continue to earn our leadership position every day,” he wrote in a statement.

The historic decline that started at CBS 12 when longtime anchorman Curt Fonger‘s contract wasn’t renewed last fall continued, with 3rd place ratings at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. There’s hope for the station at 11 p.m., however. Often working solo, anchorwoman Liz Quirantes managed to beat the WPBF news duo of Tiffiny Kenney and Victor Blackwell at 11 p.m., with 10 percent of the households tuning in to 25′s nine percent.

“We had a fantastic February book with significant year-to-year growth in every weekday newscast from 4:30am (where we are No. 1) all the way until 11pm,” Channel 25 News Director Kyle Grimes said.

For more:

–  Without Curt Fonger, Channel 12′s ratings nose dive

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3 Comments

  1. Snore, 1 year ago Reply

    Michael Williams is boring. Snoozefest. The reason why WPTV is still getting viewers with him is that people fall asleep within seconds of him opening his crooked mouth. Can’t switch over the channel if you’re sleeping.

    Never watch 25 but 12 is a joke. Can barely understand a word Suzanne boyd says.

    I can tolerate Cashmere and Cake on Fox as they don’t seem to hate each other like the other anchors do but sometimes I think half of what is happening goes over Jay’s prettyboy head.

    • Really?!, 1 year ago Reply

      Michael Williams is one of the finest newsmen to work in South Florida. The market in West Palm should be thrilled to have such an insightful, dedicated, intelligent, and well-versed reporter.

      People who throw out cheap insults need to think before they speak. I’d love to see you do 1/100th of the job Williams does.

  2. torchie, 1 year ago Reply

    Who cares. WPTV is for losers.


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