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Katie McCall leaving KTRK-TV Ch. 13


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First, Adela Uchida mysteriously left Ch. 13 from the weekend newscast, then Christi Meyers retires after 27 years with the station and now, Katie McCall has left Ch. 13 after 5 years with the station, during which she anchored the weekend mornings before being moved to reporter last year.

McCall was at CW 39 KIAH-TV Houston for 6 years before leaving Houston for Chicago before returning to the Bayou City.

This was McCall's second stint in Houston and what is y'all reaction to McCall's exit from KTRK Ch 13 ?

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Isn't Fox 26 one of the major news stations in Houston?

 

I don't have access to current numbers, but it wasn't when I was there.  The gap between the big three and the also-rans (Fox and CW) was enormous.  Like 4 to 8x.  Fortunately, if you run a tight ship and don't have a lot of baggage, you can still make a lot of money off local TV news in Houston even with remarkably small numbers.

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Houston is a $500 million dollar tv market. Our DMA (designated market area) is 10 out of 210 markets. The only markets bigger than ours are as follows in this order: NYC, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Boston, Washington, Atlanta then Houston. The top 10 markets are the most coveted. It's where the majority of the money is in tv news.

 

ABC 13 (KTRK) is an O&O (owned and operated) station by ABC. They have notoriously been #1 for a long time in this market although in recent years they're share/rating points have come down significantly to be more in line with the other competitors. 

 

KPRC Channel 2 has struggled for years with ratings and has usually always been a bottom dweller. However, recent ratings books over the past year or two have shown a marked increase in their ratings often times competing for #1 or #2 in many of their newscasts including their morning show.

 

KHOU Channel 11 has usually always been the runner up to 13 but as of recent, their numbers have slipped. They often compete for #2 or #3.

 

FOX (KRIV) has had good days and bad. Rarely are they #1. 

 

There are approixmately 800 metered boxes in the Houston metro area. Trying to sample an audience of nearly 7 million people is difficult with only 800 meters. This has long been a point of contention with some of the stations. Neilson Ratings, which is the main 'go-to' for ratings is responsible for keeping track of who watches what. However, a new guy is in town 'Rentrak' which is able to sample all tv's that are on via a signal inside the tv itself. 

 

A good rating in Houston might be a 3 or 4 share. Each rating point represents a certain amount of households. I'm not sure what the number of households/point ratio is, but one point might be 60,000 house holds. Don't quote me on that. 

 

Most of the time, the stations fall somewhere between 1.5 and 3 rating. 

 

As far as turnover, yes, it is very common for anchors to come and go although turnover in a top 10 market is usually pretty rare being that the jobs are very, very lucrative and are extremely competitive to achieve. Once there, you try to stay there unless they don't renew your contract.

 

A bit of insider knowledge for ya. 

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Houston is a $500 million dollar tv market. Our DMA (designated market area) is 10 out of 210 markets. The only markets bigger than ours are as follows in this order: NYC, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Boston, Washington, Atlanta then Houston. The top 10 markets are the most coveted. It's where the majority of the money is in tv news.

 

ABC 13 (KTRK) is an O&O (owned and operated) station by ABC. They have notoriously been #1 for a long time in this market although in recent years they're share/rating points have come down significantly to be more in line with the other competitors. 

 

KPRC Channel 2 has struggled for years with ratings and has usually always been a bottom dweller. However, recent ratings books over the past year or two have shown a marked increase in their ratings often times competing for #1 or #2 in many of their newscasts including their morning show.

 

KHOU Channel 11 has usually always been the runner up to 13 but as of recent, their numbers have slipped. They often compete for #2 or #3.

 

FOX (KRIV) has had good days and bad. Rarely are they #1. 

 

There are approixmately 800 metered boxes in the Houston metro area. Trying to sample an audience of nearly 7 million people is difficult with only 800 meters. This has long been a point of contention with some of the stations. Neilson Ratings, which is the main 'go-to' for ratings is responsible for keeping track of who watches what. However, a new guy is in town 'Rentrak' which is able to sample all tv's that are on via a signal inside the tv itself. 

 

A good rating in Houston might be a 3 or 4 share. Each rating point represents a certain amount of households. I'm not sure what the number of households/point ratio is, but one point might be 60,000 house holds. Don't quote me on that. 

 

Most of the time, the stations fall somewhere between 1.5 and 3 rating. 

 

As far as turnover, yes, it is very common for anchors to come and go although turnover in a top 10 market is usually pretty rare being that the jobs are very, very lucrative and are extremely competitive to achieve. Once there, you try to stay there unless they don't renew your contract.

 

A bit of insider knowledge for ya. 

 

Any clue how ratings are changing because of streaming services?  I rarely watch live tv shows... unless they are streamed on my computer, iPhone or via Apple TV at home.  Do those views count as a part of Nielsen ratings yet?

 

I've always been curious about this. 

 

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