As you probably know, Nielsen decided to move the February sweeps period to March in anticipation of the digital transition that was supposed to occur February 17th. For many stations, the original deadline was kept. These were mainly smaller stations with affiliated programming other than NBC, CBS or ABC.
For those who wished or had to wait, Congress delayed the drop-dead date to June 12th and Nielsen kept with its March sweeps period which will be comparing apples to oranges with February sweeps from last year. Ratings will be measuring shows that are different and have to deal with the return of Daylight Savings Time this weekend that changes the equation of people watching tv vs. people doing something else in the evening with the later nightfall.
So sweeps begin today, Thursday, March 5th and will last through Wednesday, April 1st - which of course is April Fool's Day - so we'll see where the joke lies.
Get ready to see those outrageous reports, sensationalized dramas and stories about sex... but not from WKYC.
As always, we'll be doing the quality reports you've come to expect and know you can trust. Report the Facts, Respect the Truth is still important to us at Channel 3.
With NBC primetime still struggling, we know we will have an interesting challenge on our hands, but will work even harder to make Channel 3 News at 11 pm your #1 choice for late night news.
Let the games begin.
