Seattle, WA – The sun is shining not only on Western Washington but on KING 5 as the station continued to be the top choice for Western Washington consumers. In nearly every daypart and across every screen, KING 5 bested the competition and grew its share of audience during the May ratings period.
As in previous sweeps, KING 5 has the No. 1 newscasts in mornings, evenings and at night among the coveted demographic of adults 25-54. KING 5 Mornings at 6 a.m. was the top newscast in the morning while KING 5 News at 630 p.m. was the top-rated newscast in the evening. The Home Team was its most dominant with KING 5 News at 11 p.m., besting its closest competitor by more than 40%. In addition, KING 5 News at 10 p.m. on sister station KONG delivered audiences that were larger than that of affiliate newscasts at 11 p.m. And KING 5 News at 9 p.m. on KONG finished No. 1 head-to-head versus competing newscasts in the time period.
KING 5 continues to lead the competition because of its compelling, exclusive coverage. KING 5 political reporter Natalie Brand broke the story that Seattle Mayor Ed Murray will not seek re-election. KING 5 environmental reporter Alison Morrow’s year-long investigation, “The Bear Hunt,” revealed abuses in a state-managed program originally intended to help private timber owners protect trees from bears. Tacoma Bureau Chief Jenna Hanchard traveled to Washington, D.C. with a team of police officers participating in an annual three-day bicycle trip to remember fallen officers. KING 5 also showcased John Sharify’s powerful piece about a gym in Arlington where patients with Parkinson’s disease learn boxing as therapy.
The KING 5 Investigators also remained vigilant in holding companies and the government accountable. KING 5 investigative reporter Susannah Frame continued to shine a light on the troubled Hanford Nuclear Reservation when she broke the story that a tunnel full of highly contaminated materials collapsed. Frame’s reporting from Hanford on the day of the collapse made national headlines. Her follow-up stories revealed that Hanford managers were warned 25 years ago that the tunnels were in danger of collapsing. KING 5 News investigative reporter Chris Ingalls’ review of domestic violence protection orders, “Never Surrender,” exposed a failing Washington state law aimed at taking guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.
“Our continuing success in achieving audience growth for both KING 5 and king5.com has a lot to do with innovation while remaining true to our journalistic roots,” said Cheryl Carson, KING 5 News Director. “Our KING 5 brand carries a legacy of not only first-rate journalism in our storytelling, but also being a leader in the market using new technologies. We have a very tech-savvy community from both an audience and business standpoint and we need to be responsive to both.”
KING 5’s local lifestyle programming is also tops in Western Washington. The annual Best of Northwest Escapes series highlighting Northwest travel destinations helped Evening at 7:30 p.m. continue to grow its audience. Evening and daytime talk show New Day Northwest attract larger audiences than all other locally produced lifestyle and entertainment programs in Seattle.
KING 5’s NBC affiliation also proved dominant once again. NBC finished No. 1 in Primetime with strong performances by The Voice, The Wall, SNL Live, Dateline and Superstore. Also, TODAY in Seattle doubles its network competition and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt finished #1 relative to the network news competition. NBC late night continues its dominant performance with both The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers beating all late-night offerings, including Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and James Corden. And Saturday Night Live capped a historically successful season with both its primetime and late-night airings.
As dominant as KING 5 is over the air, its social and digital audiences continue to expand dramatically. More than 3.5 million visitors have accessed king5.com or used the KING 5 mobile app in May, consuming more than 28 million page views. KING 5 also had over 1.4 million interactions in the past month on its Facebook page, the most of any media company in the Seattle market, per CrowdTangle, a social media measurement tool. KING 5 has more than 833,000 Facebook Likes, 533,000 followers on Twitter, and 68,000 followers on Instagram, more than any other local broadcast entity.
ABOUT KING 5
KING 5, The Home Team is a multi-platform media company and NBC affiliate based in Seattle, WA. KING was the first television station in the Pacific Northwest, founded in 1948 by Dorothy Bullitt, now owned by TEGNA Inc. Today KING 5 is the dominant media company in the region, delivering the largest local news audience, the most local programming and most engaged social and digital audiences. For more information, go to www.king5.com.
CONTACT:
Lisa Thompson
Director of Community Relations & Communications
(206)448-5555
lthompson@king5.com
