Tribune's 'Serch' Off to Respectable Start
Tribune’s four-week test of new conflict talker, Serch, starring deejay and former rapper MC Serch, debuted across eight Tribune markets on Monday at a 1.1 rating/3 share weighted metered market household average, according to Nielsen Media Research. Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Serch hit a 0.6/4.
Those markets, stations and time slots are WPIX New York at 4 p.m., KTLA Los Angeles at 4 p.m.; WPHL Philadelphia at 1 p.m.; KDAF Dallas at 9 a.m.; WDCW Washington DC at 2 p.m.; WSFL Miami at noon; WXIN Indianapolis at noon and KSWB San Diego at 2 p.m.
Among households, Serch improved its time slots by 10% compared to the year-ago time period average of 1.0/3, but lost 15% from its 1.3/4 lead-in across the eight markets.
Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54 across the eight markets, Serch was even with its year-ago rating and up a share point. Compared to its 0.9/5 demo lead-in, Serch dropped off 33%.
Drilling down to the individual markets, on WPIX New York at 4 p.m., Serch averaged a 1.5/4 in households, improving 25% from both its lead-in, CBS Television Distribution’s The Test at a 1.2/3, and last year, when NBCUniversal’s Maury aired.
Among women 25-54 in New York, Serch hit a 1.1/5, almost doubling its Test 0.6/3 lead-in and beating Warner Bros.' Ellen, which did a 0.8/4 on WNBC, and Sony Picutres Television’s Dr. Oz on Fox's WNYW at a 0.4/2. Serch’s demo rating was nearly 60% over its year-ago time period average in New York.
Serch’s highest rating came in Indianapolis where it did a 2.6/4, up 24% from what Maury averaged in the time period last January, but off 37% from its 4.1/7 lead-in, which was also Maury.
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Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.