Channel 2 Action News Grows Lead in August
ATLANTA August 31, 2016 Channel 2 won every head to head newscast with WAGA coming in second place. The station’s newscasts combined to attract 52% of the local news audience according to Nielsen’s final report of the August Sweeps in Atlanta. WAGA came in a distant second with 26%, WXIA attracted 16%, WGCL 5% and WATL received 1%.
AUGUST BY THE NUMBERS
Channel 2 Action News “This Morning from 4:30-7 a.m.” attracted more audience than all local news stations combined and out-delivered #2 WAGA by 67%. The station grew each morning news time period over July: 4:30 a.m. grew 30%; 5 a.m. grew 15%; 5:30 a.m. grew 22% and 6 a.m. grew 39%. Second place WAGA was mostly flat month to month.
At Noon, WSB-TV delivered 39% more viewers than the competition combined and 125% more viewers than WAGA.
Channel 2 Action News at 4 p.m. grew 15% year to year and month to month. The station had 275% more viewers than WGCL, the only other news competitor in the time period.
At 5 p.m., Channel 2 Action News grew 22% over July and 10% over August 2015. It drew 47% more viewers than the second place local news station.
WSB-TV’s audience at 6 p.m. grew 13% over last month and equaled 93% more viewers than either of the two local news stations tied for second.
Channel 2 Action News at 11 p.m. won with 20% more people watching than was watching the second place station, when excluding the 2016 Olympic Game Days.
The following programs also ranked #1 on WSB-TV: “Good Morning America,” “Live with Kelly,” “The Doctors,” “The View,” “The Chew,” “General Hospital,” “ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir” and “Entertainment Tonight.”
DIGITAL REPORT
Channel 2’s Digital Suite of properties expanded its strength in the market year over year. With 33.6 million monthly digital Page Views, WSB-TV digital properties grew 6% over August 2015, while Page Visits grew by 22% year over year.
In Social Media, Channel 2’s station pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat rank #1 in local media. The WSB-TV Facebook fan page grew by 38% over August 2015 and now has 1,107,849 fans. Twitter followers grew by 97% in the same period and cracked the ? Million mark at 510,638.
August turned out to be a very busy month for local and community news and Channel 2 Action News led the way. With major projects like “Back 2 School” and “Convoy of Care,” the station proved again its long running #1 ranking in local news ratings and its focus on the community the station serves.
Serving the Community
August made for a very busy month for local and community news. Channel 2 Action News led the way with major projects like “Back 2 School” and “Convoy of Care,” proving again its long running #1 ranking in local news ratings and its focus on the community the station serves.
“Every year Channel 2 joins local school districts in welcoming North Georgians back from summer vacations as their kids return to the classroom,” said Tim McVay, Vice President and General Manager. “Everything ramps up, and certainly the traffic gets worse. It’s a seismic change in the pulse of the area.”
“We rolled out the welcome mat with stories specific to each district on their first day of class, recognizing things that have changed, the new challenges ahead and, in some cases, new schools opening for the first time,” said Misti Turnbull. “It’s an all-out station operation.
“Social and digital media have really added to our ability to laser target geographic areas and super serve individual school districts.”
The station’s #Back2School hashtag trended on Twitter.
In August, flood waters ravaged much of Louisiana. Hard hit Baton Rouge really needed help with survival supplies. People had fled from their homes so quickly that they left everything and were in desperate need of everyday supplies.
Channel 2 joined with Georgia law enforcement agencies led by the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). The plan became the massive effort called, “Convoy of Care.”
Channel 2 got the word out over its TV, Digital and Social Media platforms and people from all over the state responded. In two days the donations filled six tractor trailer rigs full of soap, bleach, toilet paper, baby formula, washcloths, towels, diapers, laundry detergent and more.
Spreading the Word on Social Media:
More than eight hours of live, on-site social media coverage across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat as the donations rolled in
Our #ConvoyOfCare hashtag trended on Twitter
Instagram post from the event became the most “Liked” ever for the @wsbtv Instagram account
Sweeping social media participation from our partners in local and state law enforcement agencies and organizations
Facebook Live inside a convoy vehicle as they drove from Atlanta for Baton Rouge
“Words can’t express how this makes you feel when you see the kindness of strangers up close,” said McVay. “We have station employees with strong ties to the flood zone for whom this became very personal. The response of the people of Georgia was overwhelming.
“Channel 2 really knows how to shine a light on need and our audience knows how to help their neighbors.”
Channel 2’s Investigative Reporter Mark Winne provided the major connection point with NOBLE. He road along in one of the trucks escorted from the heart of Atlanta to the stricken town of Baton Rouge. Winne filed live shots on Channel 2 Action News, updates on Twitter and on Facebook Live showing the supplies going into the hands of people in need. It was a long line.
