Eschaton

Someone had better check and see if Pat Buchanan is okay:

Spanish-language newscast most-watched in Bay Area
By Edwin Garcia
Mercury News

One of the Bay Area's smallest television stations, which broadcasts in Spanish, is drawing some of the region's biggest ratings.

This summer's Nielsen Station Index crowned KDTV's ``Noticias 14'' at 6 p.m. as the most-watched newscast among Bay Area adults ages 18 to 49. It was the San Francisco station's best showing ever -- and the first time a Spanish-language newscast has topped all 6 p.m. local news programs for a major sweeps period in that age group.

The surging popularity of KDTV (Ch. 14) and other Spanish-language stations nationwide reflects an audience that is intimately bonded to its newscasts. Their success is also prompting a growing number of English-language stations to take notice. Some are diversifying their staffs and programming, while others are offering a Spanish simulcast.

Spanish-language newscasts in Miami and Los Angeles in the past few years have outranked all stations in their respective markets. And KDTV, owned by Univisión Communications, has occasionally ranked No. 1 among young adults.

But the recent sweeps-month ratings show KDTV increasing viewership among older adults and inching closer to the news audience most advertisers crave: 25- to 54-year-olds. Its ratings will probably continue to grow when Nielsen updates its population figures for the November sweeps period to reflect the latest census data.

An estimated 71,000 viewers ages 18 to 49 watched ``Noticias 14'' on an average weekday during the sweeps period that ran July 11 to Aug. 7. In second place was ``KTVU Channel 2 News at 6'' with an average daily viewing audience of 59,000. (The 6 p.m. local news ratings leader among all viewers over 18 years was KGO, with 176,000.)