Eyewitness News #1 from 5 to 6:30pm

(NEWS RELEASE) - Following up on its historic February 2012 ratings book, Eyewitness News made history again in May. For the first time since 1993, Eyewitness News at 6 p.m. on WPRI 12 was the number one 6 p.m. newscast in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. In addition, Eyewitness News at 5 p.m. and Eyewitness News at 5:30 p.m. also captured first place for local news in all key demos. This is the first time in the history of the market that WPRI 12 was number one from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

When it comes to the late news, Eyewitness News at 10 on Fox Providence continues to be the number one rated newscast in all key demos in the Providence/New Bedford DMA. Eyewitness News at 11 on WPRI 12 has significantly closed the gap at 11 pm as well and is extremely close to WJAR in the late news race. Eyewitness News has two-thirds of the local news viewers at night, far more than both WJAR and WLNE combined.

The success for Eyewitness News also extends to the local morning news race. Airing from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., Eyewitness News This Morning on Fox Providence continues to grow in popularity, demonstrating that viewers want local news, weather, and traffic to help start their day. Eyewitness News This Morning on Fox Providence showed impressive growth in all key demos year to year, growing a whopping 173%. In fact, Eyewitness News This Morning on Fox Providence beat both Good Morning America and CBS This Morning in key demos.

When it comes to weekend mornings, Eyewitness News This Morning (on Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and Sundays from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.) is the only weekend morning newscast to grow year to year in all key demos. In fact, Eyewitness News This Morning is the number one rated local morning news on Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m..

This impressive growth also extends to online coverage. For WPRI.com , growth continued with a 35% increase in site visits, unique visitors rising 34% over May 2011, page views up 34% year to year, and video views growing 25%. Mobile total page views increased 71%, while video on mobile platforms was up 41%.

“The tremendous growth in our ratings demonstrates that the viewers of southern New England have recognized our coverage and are making the switch to Eyewitness News,” says Jay Howell, President & General Manager of WPRI 12, Fox Providence, and myRITV. “From our award winning investigative coverage to our commitment of offering more local morning news to the tremendous growth of wpri.com , it’s both gratifying and humbling to see the hard work of our employees recognized by viewers on all platforms.”

Our team provides news, weather, and investigative coverage that truly resonates with viewers,” says News Director Joe Abouzeid. “We know the viewers have a choice for their news, and we’re honored that they’re counting on us.”