Now primary station in Los Angeles, PBS SoCal's ratings are on the rise

As might be expected, PBS SoCal, which picked up primary station status and the PBS National Program Service in the L.A. market on Jan. 1, is experiencing a ratings spike, the Los Angeles Times reports. Last year at this time, the former KOCE-TV in Orange County was pulling in a 0.2 household rating for its programming day; now that's at 0.5 for January. Coincidentally, the Times points out, 0.5 is the same rating that KCET had during the same period last year. The station pulled out of PBS membership after a protracted fight over dues and overlap-market issues (Current, Oct. 18, 2010). Morning children's programming on PBS SoCal, however, is still scoring lower than KCET. Ratings for KLCS-TV and KVCR-TV, which are working toward a three-way collaboration with PBS SoCal, initially increased after KCET's departure but are now back at last year's levels.