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WDIV-TV Local 4 News Wins Big In March Ratings

Local 4 is #1 at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. News

DETROIT, April 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- WDIV-TV Local 4 News won at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. during the March 2011 Nielsen ratings period in the Detroit television market. In addition, Local 4 News Morning at 6 a.m. ratings continued to grow, finishing second in the key demographics.

Local 4 News at 4pm, anchored by Ruth Spencer , finished #1, delivering a 5.0 household rating and a 12 household share in the 4-4:30 p.m. time period. In the key demographics, Local 4 News at 4pm experienced tremendous growth year-to-year, up 67% in Adults 25-54 with a 2.0 Rating and up 56% in Women 25-54 with a 2.5 Rating.

Local 4 News at 5pm won the time period in household ratings and key demos, with a 7.1 rating and a 15 share to beat both WXYZ (5.9 RTG, 13 SHR) and WJBK (5.0 RTG, 11 SHR) in household ratings. Local 4 News at 5pm was also demonstrated tremendous growth in the highly coveted Women 25-54 demographic (3.2 RTG, 14 SHR) posting a year-to-year ratings increase of 58%, and in Adults 25-54 (3.2 RTG, 14 SHR) with a year-to-year ratings growth of 52%. For now the 9th month in a row Local 4 News at 5pm has experienced ratings growth in these key demographics, while in the same time period WXYZ experienced significant ratings decline, dropping 17% in Women 25-54 and 5% in Adults 25-54 over March 2010.

Local 4 News at 6 p.m. finished #1 in household ratings and all key demographics in the 6-6:30 p.m. time period. Local 4 News at 6 p.m. garnered an 8.3 household rating and a 17 share (compared to WXYZ 6.3 RTG, 13 SHR and WJBK 4.7 RTG, 9 SHR). WDIV also placed first in key demographics, up 45% in Women 25-54 (4.2 RTG, 16 SHR) and up 38% in Adults 25-54 (3.6 RTG, 14 SHR) over the previous year.

The perennial winner of late news, Local 4 News at 11 p.m. anchored by Carmen Harlan , Devin Scillian , Chuck Gaidica and Bernie Smilovitz , was #1 across the board dominating the time period with a 9.0 household rating and a 17 share (compared to WXYZ 7.0 RTG, 13 SHR, WJBK 10pm 8.1 RTG, 13 SHR, and WJBK 11pm M-F 5.2 RTG, 10 SHR).

Local 4 News Morning anchored by Guy Gordon , Rhonda Walker , meteorologist Andrew Humphrey , and traffic reporter Ashlee Baracy was #2 at 6 a.m. in the key demographics of Adults 25-54 and Women 25-54, experiencing significant growth year to year. Local 4 News Morning increased an impressive 38% in Adults 25-54 ratings over March 2010, and is up 32% in Women 25-54 ratings with a 2.9 rating and a 17 share to beat WXYZ's 6 a.m. morning news (2.4 RTG, 14 SHR W25-54).

Other dayparts in the WDIV programming lineup garnered strong ratings as well. The Ellen Degeneres Show won the 10-11 a.m. time period (3.5 HH RTG, 11 SHR), and is #1 in the coveted Women 25-54 demographic. Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy dominate the competition in the all important access time period of 7-8pm. WDIV's 7-8pm game show hour averages a 9.4 rating with a 17 share in household ratings, out-delivering all access competitors, topping WJBK by more than a 2 to 1 margin (4.1 HH RTG) and beating WXYZ (5.9 HH RTG) decisively by 59%. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno was also #1 in the 11:35 p.m. time period with a 4.5 household rating and a 11 share.

In addition, Local 4's website, ClickOnDetroit.com, achieved record-breaking numbers for the month of March with over 28 million page views.

About Post-Newsweek Stations

Post-Newsweek Stations is owned by The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO), a diversified education and media company. Post-Newsweek Stations owns and operates six television stations: WDIV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit; KPRC, the NBC affiliate in Houston; WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami; WKMG, the CBS affiliate in Orlando; KSAT, the ABC affiliate in San Antonio; and WJXT, an independent in Jacksonville. Post-Newsweek also has ownership interests in LATV Networks and Internet Broadcasting (IB).