Wjz

WJZ -TV enjoyed one of its most successful ratings books ever in January winning all competitive weekday news time periods with viewers 25 to 54 years of age, the demographic on which most TV news ad sales are made. WJZ also won in total viewers in those time periods. The CBS-owned station was Baltimore's leader at 5 and 6 a.m. in the locally-produced newscasts that precede network morning shows. WJZ was also number one at noon, 5, 6 and 11 p.m. The last time that happened was in 2008, when WBAL, WJZ's long-time rival, topped all newscasts.

The Hollywood writers' strike safely behind them, Baltimore's TV watchers are flocking back to the network affiliates, with viewing levels up 2.3 percent over last year, according to figures released this week by A.C. Nielsen, a national ratings firm. The increase marked the first time since May of last year that overall ratings had gone up during the "sweeps" months of February, May and November, when stations traditionally put on their best programming and set advertising rates. In February, for instance, the overall audience was down 3 percent from a year ago. In November, the audience was down 5 percent.

A city circuit court judge has dismissed seven of eight charges in a defamation lawsuit filed last year by March Funeral Homes West Inc., against WJZ-TV. The suit arose from a pair of stories broadcast by CBS-owned WJZ (Channel 13) in October 1999 about a grieving woman's fears that her late husband's casket had been improperly handled at the gravesite. The funeral home, at the time a significant advertiser on the station, claimed the stories by reporters Suzanne Collins and Alex Demetrick blamed March for work done by a veterans cemetery staff.

Baltimore's long-running tug-of-war continues, as WBAL, Channel 11, and WJZ, Channel 13, once again staked competing claims for TV dominance in November. For the November sweeps period, which ended Wednesday, WJZ emerged as the region's top-rated TV station for total viewers, thanks in no small part to the large number of football fans who continue watching the Ravens, in spite of the team's five-game losing streak. Measured from 6 a.m.-2 a.m., the average rankings for each quarter-hour were: 1. WJZ: 5.7 rating, 13.3 share 2. WBAL: 4.7 rating, 10.9 share 3. WMAR, Channel 2: 2.5 rating, 5.9 share 4. WBFF, Channel 45: 2.3 rating, 5.4 share.

John Lanahan Jr. was spending Sunday afternoon at St. Agnes Hospital with his father, who was recovering from an allergic reaction. The two Orioles fans planned to watch the game against perennial favorite Boston Red Sox. Then disaster struck. As the game went into extra innings - ultimately, 17 in all - WJZ interrupted the broadcast at 7 p.m. to show "60 Minutes. " The hospital did not offer the cable station MASN, which carried the remainder of the game. The father and son missed out on the culmination of what is arguably the most memorable game of the O's season so far - in which designated hitter Chris Davis pitched two scoreless innings and the Orioles won, 9-6. "We were both pretty disappointed that we couldn't watch the end of the game," the 36-year-old accountant said.

The November ratings period that helps to set advertising rates is all but complete. And both of the Titans of Television Hill are busy bragging. For the "sweeps" period ending tonight, WBAL-TV seems highly likely to take top ratings for its 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts, and for the 11 p.m. news programs on Monday through Friday. The NBC affiliate also has the highest-rated weekend morning shows as of the figures available early yesterday morning. Yet it is possible that WJZ, a CBS station with the No. 1 prime-time lineup in the market, will snare highest ratings for the 11 p.m. newscasts when the full week is considered.

After 33 years of Baltimore television, Richard Sher says he's finally ready to move on. And this time, he means it. "I had done this a few times before," says Sher, whose announced retirement in 2004 lasted less than a month before he asked station management to take him back. "It was tough each time, but I thought this was the time to really do it." Sher, 67, says he made his decision to retire early this month. Although lean economic times have forced newsrooms throughout the country to cut costs, he insists the decision to leave now was his alone, and that he was not forced out by WJZ management.

WJZ-TV, which angered many fans in May when it cut away from a dramatic 17th inning win by the Baltimore Orioles to go to "60 Minutes," found itself in the same kind of programming crunch Monday. The CBS-owned station cut away from the men's finals of the U.S Open tennis championship at 6:30 Monday night to go to its Baltimore Ravens pre-game show. The station started running a crawl about 6:10 p.m. telling viewers they could follow the men's finals by going online to the station's website, wjz.com.

WJZ (Channel 13) yesterday named Atlanta newsman Vic Carter to fill the seat at its anchor desk that has been vacant since the death of Al Sanders in May.The station reached an agreement with Carter, 39, that will bring him to Baltimore, possibly by Dec. 1, to join Denise Koch as co-anchor of the station's 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts."

The Baltimore Sun and WJZ-TV, Channel 13, will share content and promote each other, representatives from two of Baltimore's leading media companies announced yesterday. Under the agreement, details of which were made available to employees at both WJZ and The Baltimore Sun yesterday afternoon, video shot for the TV station will be made available on the paper's Web site, baltimoresun.com. In addition, the TV and print newsrooms will share information and work together on future projects.