WXTV tops WCBS in news

6 p.m., 11 p.m., and 6 a.m. won by Univision station

By JOHN DEMPSEY

The wave of Spanish-speaking immigrants to New York over the last few decades crashed into WCBS-TV in the July sweeps, causing the station to fall behind Univision's WXTV in all of the key local-news races for the first time ever.

WXTV's half-hour newscast at 6 p.m. weekdays averaged a 3.6 rating to easily beat out the first half of WCBS' hourlong newscast, which finished with a 2.6 rating. The 3.6 rating for WXTV was up 33% from the July 2001 sweeps.

At 11 p.m., WXTV's half-hour newscast climbed by 43% to a 3.3 rating this July, its highest rating ever, edging out WCBS' 11 p.m. newscast.

And during the 6- to-7-a.m. newscast, WXTV wound up with a 1.2 rating to WCBS' 0.8 rating. WXTV was up 100% from its 0.6 rating of July 2001.