Race between WAVY, WVEC newscasts heats up

By Will Harris

Correspondent

WAVY and WVEC may each have something to crow about in the latest Nielsen ratings, but the competition between the local television stations is fiercer than ever.

The ratings book for Hampton Roads area stations during the May sweeps period shows that WAVY continued to maintain the top spot for its early morning (5 and 6 a.m.) and late night (11 p.m.) news broadcasts, while WVEC held on to its lead during the 5-6:30 p.m. time slot. But the numbers show ratings drops for most of WAVY's various newscasts, in some cases by well over a full ratings point.

Doug Davis, WAVY's president and general manager, said he is pleased with the May ratings book. "It's certainly a competitive marketplace, but our morning show is one of the most successful and highest rated in the country."

The ratings help determine how much a station can charge for advertising. The network affiliations are: WAVY, NBC; WVEC, ABC; WTKR, CBS; and WVBT, Fox.

WVEC's 11 p.m. newscast increased from 6.3 to 7.3 percent. When asked whether WAVY should be looking over its shoulder, WVEC News Director Richard Lebenson said, "They do a fine job, and viewers like them, but I think viewers come to us because they trust our coverage. They're familiar with and like our anchor team, and when the big story hits, viewers know that they're going to get balanced coverage."

WTKR trailed WAVY and WVEC throughout the course of all newscasts. A spokesman for the station did not return calls for comment.

The station announced this week that Jeff Hoffman had been hired as general manager to replace Dave Bunnell, who left after about a year on the job.

Meanwhile, the numbers for the 10 p.m. newscast on WAVY's sister station, Fox affiliate WVBT, have maintained a steady growth.

"The 10 p.m. show truly continues to reach new levels," said Davis, general manager for both stations. "If one night WAVY can do an 11 rating and WVBT can do an 8.5 rating and still beat the other two guys, we're happy with that coming along in tandem."