There have been no major changes at local anchor desks. Nor have any newscasts been added or dropped. But suddenly, Baltimore is a much more competitive local news market than it has been in decades.
Front-running WBAL (Channel 11) is not winning by wide margins any more with its evening newscasts, and even more surprising, WMAR (Channel 2) is no longer a ratings doormat trailing the competition by seemingly insurmountable margins.
Blame it on the Local People Meters, a new bit of technology introduced in Baltimore on July 2 by the Nielsen Media Co. to measure area viewing habits. Nielsen ratings are the primary source of data used by stations to sell advertising time - the fuel that makes the wheel of television go 'round and 'round.
"Obviously, this is much better for us, because in the old system, 'BAL [WBAL] and 'JZ [WJZ] had such a huge lead on us that we would never win a night on any newscast," said Bill Hooper, general manager of WMAR. "And now, we're winning nights or we're second on some nights. It's not huge, and it depends on the demographics ... but it's kind of changed the game a little."
Previously, Nielsen and Baltimore broadcasters relied on a decades-old method of handwritten diaries. The new People Meters offer instant, real-time demographic information that rules out the variable of faulty recall by viewers filling out their diaries.
But as impressive and technologically improved as Local People Meters seem, their arrival in other cities has caused shifts in station standing, complaints from broadcast companies and even lawsuits.
Only three weeks in, the results are extremely preliminary, and we are nowhere near loud complaints or lawsuits.
But the post-People-Meter pattern seen in other larger markets - of the top-rated station or stations seeing their ratings drop as the lowest-rated stations gain - looks like it could be repeating here.
All the stations are crunching the numbers for this July compared with last July. And the spin is sure to soon begin. But here is a snapshot of what I have seen based on 12 days (starting July 2) of complete data and three weeks of partials.
(And I promise, if you allow me one paragraph of numbers with decimal points, I will use them no more.)
WJZ (Channel 13) is tied, if not a touch ahead, of WBAL (Channel 11) at the most lucrative weeknight newscast spot at 11 o'clock - a reversal from last year.
