WDIV-Local 4 sweeps September with first place finishes

Local 4 News Today takes top morning news spot at 6 a.m.

WDIV-Local 4 reached a milestone for the month of September by winning in virtually every newscast in the market.  WDIV-Local 4 outpaced all other Detroit TV stations by being the most-watched newscasts at 6 a.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. in households and in certain key demographics, according to Nielsen Media Research.

“Achieving first place finishes both on-air and online lets us know we have the community’s trust. Local 4 News Today is really the big winner for us. We grew the coveted morning show audience more than 40% year over year, thanks to our talented journalists in front of and behind the camera,” said Vice President and General Manager Marla Drutz.

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“It really is a privilege to work with such an amazing team. Every story is important to them. Each one affects the lives of our viewers. That’s how we approach every day and why people know they can count on us to deliver the news with fairness and integrity,” said New Director Kim Voet.

WDIV Local 4’s first place newscast finishes include:

  • At 6 a.m., Local 4 News Today was No. 1 and grew a significant 43% over last September’s 2017 sweeps period delivery.  Local 4 News Today delivered a 4.3 household (HH) rating and a 17 HH share, beating both WJBK (4.0 HH rating/16 HH share) and WXYZ (3.0 HH rating/12 HH share) at 6 a.m.  WDIV-Local 4 achieved a much sought after victory in the local morning news. 
  • First at 4 is No. 1 in the 4 p.m. time period with a 5.6 household rating/15 household share beating both The Now (WXYZ 4 p.m.) (1.8 HH RTG/5 HH SHR) and Judge Judy (WJBK 4 p.m.) (3.4 HH RTG/9 HH SHR).  WDIV-Local 4 also wins across the board in the key demographics.  First at 4 remains the No. 1 newscast at 4 p.m. in Detroit.  It also posted significant growth year-to-year, up 81% in the HH ratings over September 2017. 
  • Local 4 News at 5 p.m. continues its eight-year winning streak and is No. 1 in the time period with a 7.2 household rating/17 household share, beating both WXYZ (3.4 HH RTG/8 HH SHR) and WJBK (3.9 HH RTG/9 HH SHR).  WDIV-Local 4 also wins across the board in the key demographics.  Up 38% YTY, Local 4 News at 5 p.m. is the Detroit market’s undisputed news leader in the early evening news.
  • Local 4 News at 6 p.m. is No. 1 in household ratings, garnering an 8.0 rating/17 share compared to WXYZ (5.1 HH RTG/11 HH SHR) and WJBK (3.9 HH RTG/8 HH SHR).  Local 4 News at 6 p.m., Detroit’s undisputed No. 1 newscast, is No. 1 across all key demographics and is up 21% YTY.
     
  • Local 4 News airing Monday through Sunday at 11 p.m. is Detroit’s No. 1 Late News and beat WJBK’s 10 p.m. news with a 7.0 household rating/15 household share as compared to WXYZ (4.1 HH RTG/9 HH SHR) and WJBK 10 p.m. (5.1 HH RTG/9 HH SHR) and WJBK M-F 11 p.m. (3.5 HH RTG/7 HH SHR).  UP 23% YTY, Local 4 News at 11 p.m. is the Detroit market’s unquestionable news leader in the late evening news, winning across the board in all key demographics.
     
  • WDIV-Local 4 also boasts first place finishes in The Ellen DeGeneres Show, NBC Prime and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon . In addition, The Today Show was No. 1 in the key women demographics, beating WJBK’s local news from 7-9 a.m. and Good Morning America (WXYZ). 

ClickOnDetroit.com is the No. 1 media website in Metro Detroit, according to the most recent comScore delivery (July/2018). 

“The end of summer has been really strong for the station. The intense interest in the life and legacy of Aretha Franklin brought one million unique visitors to ClickOnDetroit in one 24 hour period,” added Drutz. “It was a Detroit story that captured the world.”

On September 6, WDIV-Local 4, along with its parent company Graham Media Group, released the second season of their true crime podcast to strong results. Shattered: White Boy Rick has garnered more than 600,000 downloads in the first two weeks. The first season about three missing brothers from Morenci, Michigan also has 600,000 downloads since its release earlier this spring.