The July ratings period finished with a mixed report from the two different co-existing ratings samples in the New York market. According to the soon-to-be-history set-top box sample, NBC-owned WNBC-TV finished on top in households in the late news battle with a 6.7 rating/12 share, followed closely by ABC-owned WABC-TV’s 6.6/11 and Viacom-owned CBS station WCBS-TV’s 4.2/7. Using Local People Meter data, WABC was tops with a 6.4/12, compared to WNBC’s 5.6/10 and WCBS’s 4.7/8.



WBAL Partners With Swimmer’s Mom for Exclusive Video

It’s good to be the hometown station of an expected Olympics medalist. Hearst-Argyle-owned NBC station WBAL-TV in Baltimore snagged a deal with local swimming phenom Michael Phelps’ mother to provide private, behind-the-scenes moments from Mr. Phelps’ time in Athens. Mr. Phelps’ mom will carry a DVD recorder to capture these moments, which will air exclusively on WBAL, the station said. The station also plans local coverage in Athens as well as a pre-Olympics special that was scheduled to air the night before the opening ceremony last week.



WRC Sweeps Sweeps

In Washington, NBC-owned station WRC-TV said its newscasts snagged the top spots across the board in July, with victories at 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., where it has held the top spot for more than 10 years, with the exception of the 1998 Olympics.



Portland’s KPTV Grows Its Morning Show

On the West Coast, Meredith-owned Fox station KPTV in Portland, Ore., saw its morning show “Good Day Oregon” finish first in all morning news time slots in July for the first time and grow 31 percent in share during the 6 a.m. hour to a 1.8/13 from a 1.2/11. The local show also beat all competition, including the network morning shows, from 7-9 a.m. with a 4.1/15.



Miami’s Telemundo Station Leapfrogs Competition

NBC-owned Telemundo station WSCV-TV in Miami ranked second in the July ratings period in the 6 p.m. news, with a 43 percent increase in ratings, and second in late news with an 11 percent increase. The ratings are for either English- or Spanish-language stations. The station also said its prime-time score increased 60 percent to a 5.3 household rating, moving the station to second in prime time, up from sixth last year.



New York’s WNJU Posts Strong Book

NBC-owned Telemundo station WNJU-TV in New York said it beat Spanish-language competitor Univision’s WXTV in prime time Mondays through Fridays during the recent July book for the first time ever. WNJU said it finished with a 2.4/4 share from 7-11 pm., up 68 percent, while WXTV ended the book down 30 percent to a 2.1/3.



Newsmarket Adds More Video

Online video source www.thenewsmarket.com said it added video from several new sources: UNICEF, Yahoo!, Asian Development Bank, crystal manufacturer Swarovski, metal manufacturer Corus, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Broadcast journalists can use the site to search for video by genre or keyword.



On the Move:

Viacom-owned UPN station WUPL-TV in New Orleans named Gary Wordlaw VP and general manager. He most recently served as VP and general manager for Viacom’s UPN station KSTW-TV in Seattle. He replaces Peter Uzelac, who moves to Viacom’s Dallas duopoly of CBS affiliate KTVT-TV and UPN station KTXA-TV … Cox promoted San Francisco Fox station KTVU-TV’s general manager Jeff Block to a new position in which he will develop Cox’s overall strategic digital efforts. Mr. Block will report to Cox Television president Andy Fisher and executive VP Bruce Baker. Mr. Block’s new role will be more closely fleshed out once a new general manager is in place at KTVU, Cox said. Mr. Block joined KTVU as a local sales manager in 1987 and was named general manager in 2001 … Fox-owned WTTG-TV in Washington named Shawn Yancy as permanent weekday co-anchor of the 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. news, joining Brian Holter. She has co-anchored the morning news from 5-7 a.m. since she joined the station in 2001.