A new report from The Media Audit comparing local early evening and prime newscasts reveals that 10 of the top 20 news programs are produced by NBC affiliates while the country's top ranked news program is produced by a CBS affiliate.

According to the report, WWL New Orleans, a Belo station and CBS affiliate, ranks as having the No. 1 local news program in the U.S., in terms of audience reach. The station, which has had to recover from an exodus of on-air talent and relocation of its studios due to hurricane Katrina, now reaches 55.3% of all adults with its early evening newscast in a typical week.

NBC affiliate WLBT Jackson, Miss., ranks second with 49.4% of adults who view the station's early evening news, followed by NBC affiliate WIS Columbia, S.C. (49.2% reach).

Birmingham, Ala.'s WBRC ranked seventh in the report and is the only station airing a prime newscast that ranked among the top 20 stations with a 45.7% reach. WBRC-TV is a Fox affiliate.

The Media Audit report went on to say that news programming continues to be important for local television stations because it represents a disproportionate amount of a station's income. It cited a recent survey conducted annually by the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) that said that news accounts for almost 16 percent of a typical station's programming each day (almost four hours per day), but news programs on average represent nearly 45 percent of a station's revenue. The study further suggests that the percentage of revenue from news may not be affected by a weak economic climate. Historical data from the RTNDA surveys show that the share of revenue from news was slightly higher in 2001 than it had been in 1999, even though 2001 was a down year in the economy and 1999 was near the end of the 1990s boom.

According to The Media Audit report, 25.2% of U.S. adults currently tune in to a local NBC affiliate for early evening news in the typical week, down 3.3 percentage points from a 2005 survey, followed by 24.9% for ABC stations, down 1.7 percentage points from 2005 and 21.6% for CBS stations, down 2 percentage points from 2005. Currently, 19.3% of U.S. adults tune in weekly to a Fox affiliate for a prime time newscast, a figure that has remained unchanged over the past three years.

As a result of continued audience fragmentation, the study said, local TV stations are increasingly relying on Web site visitors to make up for lost share. Last month, The Media Audit reported a 22% increase from 2005 to 2007 in average unique monthly visitors for the country's top 25 local TV Web sites. In the case of WWL New Orleans, the addition of its past 30-day Web site visitors resulted in an unduplicated reach of 64.9%, an increase in total reach by nearly 10 percentage points.

Among TV news viewers who are the most Internet savvy are local late evening news viewers of NBC stations. Thirty-five percent of local NBC late evening news viewers are heavy Internet users, spending 430 minutes or more per week online, followed by 35% for local Fox prime news viewers and 33.6% for local ABC late evening news viewers. Among all U.S. adults, 32.7% are considered heavy Internet users.

According to the report, Fox viewers are the youngest among consumers of local TV news. The median age for a prime time news viewer for a Fox station is 44.7 years, compared to 49.9 years for an early evening news viewer of an NBC station; 50.4 years for an early evening news viewer of an ABC station; and 51.1 years for an early evening news viewer of a CBS station.

When compared to average weekday newspaper reach, many local TV stations still remain competitive. Among all U.S. adults, 47.6% are exposed to a weekday newspaper, compared to an average rating of 45.1% for the top 20 local TV early evening/ prime newscasts and an average rating of 41.4% for the top 50 local TV newscasts.

The data for this report was compiled from 2007 surveys and compares more than 350 stations across 91 U.S. markets. In addition to early evening and prime newscasts, The Media Audit measures early morning and late evening TV news, in addition to TV websites.

The Media Audit is a multimedia, qualitative audience survey that covers over 450 target items for each rated media's audience.

Here is The Media Audit's list of top early evening and primetime newscasts:

                                                   Weekly
Market                   Station          Reach     18+ Rating
New Orleans, LA     WWL (CBS)    426,700    55.3
Jackson, MS          WLBT (NBC)    179,400    49.4
Columbia, SC         WIS (NBC)       219,600    49.2
Dayton, OH    | More …