Orange County's Weekly Household Viewership Tops 1 Million

Ratings show KOCE-TV 7th in the United States in viewership.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, U.S.A. -- Nielsen ratings published September 27, 2006 indicate KOCE-TV, Orange County's only public broadcasting station, has increased its viewership to 1,030,929 households -- effectively moving the public broadcast station into seventh place overall nationally.

The PBS Research Viewership Report compiled data from four sweeps periods to determine rankings among all 347 public broadcast stations. Numbers reported by the PBS Research Department represent cume ratings, or the average number of households watching for at least 15 minutes per week. KOCE-TV, which has experienced steady audience gains since 2000, ranked just 45,000 households behind San Francisco's KQED.

As the seventh-most watched PBS station in America, President and General Manager Mel Rogers has pledged plans for continued support of local non-profit charities and arts organizations. "We will continue to offer the best of PBS programs that enhance the quality of life for all of us in Orange County."

The station's programming includes staples like "Sesame Street," documentaries, forums for local politics and diversity education; as well as "Inside OC" with Rick Reiff and the two-time Emmy Award-winning news and information show "Real Orange," which has also garnered numerous Golden Mike Awards from the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California and three Excellence in Journalism Awards from the Orange County Bar Association. KOCE-TV's programming helped the station edge out WGBH-Boston, WETA-Washington, D.C. and KERA-Dallas for its seventh place ranking. The rating applies to broadcast time between the hours of 7 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Mel Rogers stated that he and his staff used news of the ratings boost to reiterate the station's mission of providing quality broadcasting.

"KOCE-TV's climb in viewership reinforces the fact that we are doing our part to deliver quality programming, education and timely news to the residents of this community, " Rogers commented. "Orange County deserves to have the best public service media enterprise and we remain committed to achieving this goal year after year. KOCE-TV is focused on serving as a unifying force in the community; one that educates our kids and brings us Orange County news and information."

About KOCE-TV
"KOCE-TV," says TVInews, Pete Allman, "is one of the finest, and one of the most watched PBS stations in America, has an estimated 5.8 million viewers* each month, and offers a mix of both local and national programs." In addition, of being experts in fund raising, KOCE Classroom serves more than half-a-million K-14 students. The winner of hundreds of awards including Emmys and Community Service Awards, KOCE continues to be a leading resource for education, culture and local issues in Southern California. For more information, please visit http://www.koce.org