PEORIA
Television is nothing if not a popularity contest, so the question becomes: Which of Peoria's local TV stations is most popular?
Both WMBD-TV Channel 31 (the CBS affiliate) and WEEK-TV Channel 25 (the NBC affiliate) are making that claim, leaving viewers like Joan Smith of Morton confused.
"WMBD 31 has been touting that label for a couple of months and cites a Media Audit source, then here appears (WEEK's) Tom McIntyre with a 'No. 1 and most watched station' bit. Who's No. 1 in the area?" wondered Smith in an e-mail where she stated that 31 was her favorite, but liked Denise Jackson and Ashley McNamee on 25.
No station in this market subscribes to the Nielsen ratings service anymore, so a station can't cite those ratings numbers to make any claims.
Media Audit is a Houston-based service that surveys all types of media (including the Journal Star). According to their surveys, WMBD is the most-watched station in a four-county region that includes Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford and McLean counties, said 31 general manager Dan Bates.
Over at WEEK, GM Mark DeSantis offered this: "CBS prime programming is No. 1 on a national basis and indications are that CBS prime programming is No. 1 in central Illinois. However, WEEK remains the dominant No. 1 and most watched news station in all time periods," he said.
Bates acknowledges that 25 still has better news numbers but said that the gap is closing. "All the signals out there are very encouraging," he said.
News is a big feature on both stations with morning, noon, afternoon and evening programs. "We run 51/2 hours of news each weekday," said Bates. WEEK runs a similar block of weekday news. As to whether last year's exodus from the WEEK/WHOI newsroom (including Mike Dimmick, Eric Shangraw, Gina Morss, Jen Christiansen and Lee Ranson) has helped WMBD, Bates wouldn't say. "We've had people leave, too," he said.
That's true. After a brief stint as a 31 news anchor last year, Cynthia Schweigert returned to Champaign where she now does a morning show on WCIA, the CBS affiliate.
By the way, that was former 19 meteorologist Ric Kearbey who was handling weekend weather duties on 31 recently. "Ric was filling in on weekends while we awaited our new morning/noon meteorologist, Karissa Sanford," said 31 news director Rick Moll. Sanford started last month.
Steve Tarter is Journal Star business editor. Tarter's phone number is 686-3260, and his email address is starter@pjstar.com. Follow his blog, Minding Business, on pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @SteveTarter