WRAL Has ‘Remarkable’ First Day as NBC Affiliate

By Kevin Eck 

Raleigh, N.C., NBC affiliate WRAL is claiming victory in its affiliation switch to NBC on Monday.

“It was pretty remarkable,” said Steve Hammel, the station’s vp and GM.

Hammel said the station notched the highest ratings for the Today Show in the Raleigh DMA and the highest ratings ever for the Nightly News with Lester Holt in the market.

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“It’s just day one, but we remain very optimistic about the change and the future with NBC,” said Hammel.

From the station:

WRAL’s highly rated newscasts immediately lifted NBC from a distantly rated #3 in this market to #1 in key day parts.
WRAL’s dominant, local morning news block drives the TODAY ratings up 265% to #1 in time period, beating Good Morning America. CBS This Morning loses more than half its audience and falls to #3 in the time period.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt is up more than 200% driven by WRAL’s #1 rated 6:00PM newscast. CBS Evening News loses more than half its audience and falls to #3.
Again WRAL’s powerhouse late news pushes The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to #1 in time period up more than 60% and dominating late fringe. Steven Colbert falls to #3 with one-third of Fallon’s ratings.
In primetime, the NBC hit show The Voice grew 19% from its spring premiere last year.

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