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AS A MAJOR U.S. PORT AND THE SITE OF SOME WAR OF 1812 BATTLES ALONG THE Chesapeake and Delaware bays, Baltimore is a city rich in maritime history. But it's the city's renaissance which began in the 1970s that has made it a model for urban renewal across the country. The heart of the city's revitalization effort is the Inner Harbor, a vast complex filled with shops, restaurants and attractions.
The largest city in Maryland, Baltimore attracts some 11 million visitors a year, who flock to such popular attractions as Harborplace, the National Aquarium, the Babe Ruth Museum and Fort McHenry, the birthplace of the National Anthem. The city also boasts many sports teams, including Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles and the National Football League's Baltimore Ravens.
As part of the vibrant Baltimore-Washington, D.C., metro area, Baltimore's local media must compete somewhat with their counterparts in the nation's capital. But there's plenty of competition right within Baltimore, which ranks 23rd in the country with 1.09 million TV households, notably between die two top-ranked TV stations. Argyle TV's NBC affiliate WBAL-TV and CBS owned-and-operated WJZ-TV are embroiled in a heated battle for market supremacy, duking it out from book to book. In the February sweeps, WJZ and WBAL were in a virtual dead heat in the mornings, both benefiting from strong lead-ins. WJZ's noon newscast has historically beaten the competition thanks to its perennial heavy-weight lead-in, The Price Is Right. Likewise, WBAL has seen a resurgence in recent years of The Oprah Winfrey Show at 4 p.m., enabling it to take the lead in the evening-news race between 5 and 6:30 p.m. WBAL earned an 11.4/22 share at 5 p.m. to WJZ's 6.3/12. WBAL also wins late news and sign-on to sign-off, ahead of WJZ.
WBAL president and general manager Bill Fine touts the steady growth his station has experienced in every news daypart over the past few years, citing the on-air talent as a major contributor. The station installed a new morning team last summer, including Stan Stovall, promoted from weekend morning-news anchor to weekday mornings. Stovall works a split shift, as he also anchors the 5 p.m. news. Mindy Basara was also promoted from weekends to weekday mornings. WBAL has the market's senior anchor...