On first glance, the February 2007 local sweeps ratings look a lot like they often do, with KDKA-TV on top at noon, 5, 6 and 11 p.m. But looking closer, the more intriguing stories are:

		Graphic: TV News Ratings, February 2007

In an era when news ratings more typically decline year-to-year, local newscast ratings were up at 5 and 6 a.m. and 5 and 10 p.m. Credit may go to the cold, snow and ice last month, which often drives viewers to local news coverage.

"Judge Judy" loses. After years of dominance, WPXI's cranky courtroom judge lost to KDKA's 4 p.m. news, which rose to the No. 1 spot. Take solace, Judy: You still beat "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on WTAE, which ranked No. 3.

WTAE rebounds. After a lackluster November sweeps period, WTAE improved its fortunes in February, particularly at 11 p.m. with new anchor Wendy Bell, where the station ranked No. 2, a spot usually held by WPXI, which fell to No. 3 in the time period.

In news time periods where all stations were not up, KDKA was down year-to-year at 6 p.m., while WTAE was up and WPXI remained unchanged.

In the late news race at 11 p.m., KDKA and WPXI were down year-to-year, while WTAE was up. Perhaps a corollary: Ratings were again up for the 10 p.m. newscasts produced by WPXI and KDKA that air on WPGH and WPCW, respectively.

At noon, KDKA and WTAE were both up, while WPXI was flat.

The 7 a.m. local news on WPCW was down from a year ago, while KDKA's "Pittsburgh Today Live," in an earlier time period with more TVs in use, was up three-tenths of a ratings point.

In the national evening news race, local ratings mirrored the national trends: "ABC World News" was the top national newscast at 6:30 p.m., with improved ratings from a year ago, while competing "NBC Nightly News" was flat in the ratings. The second half of KDKA's hourlong 6 p.m. news was No. 1, as usual, at 6:30 p.m.

Ratings for the Katie Couric-anchored "CBS Evening News" at 7 p.m. were down from a year ago, when Bob Schieffer was anchor.

Morning national news ratings found ABC's "Good Morning America" on top, up from a year ago, while No. 2 "Today" on NBC was off by one-tenth of a ratings point. The first half-hour of CBS's "The Early Show" was flat while the last 90 minutes declined from a year earlier.

'Fifth-Grader' scores

Fox's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" quiz show held onto more than 26 million of the 30 million viewers watching "American Idol" Tuesday night, the highest-rated Fox premiere in 13 years, according to TVWeek.com. Probably not that surprising, considering how compatible the two programs are.

Jeff Foxworthy hosts "5th Grader," which basically consists of reminding the adults how dumb they are for not being able to answer questions a 10-year-old can answer correctly.

When an adult contestant loses, he or she has to look into the camera and declare, "I am not smarter than a fifth-grader!"

Pretty goofy, but on the TV humiliation meter, it's low-level stuff.

'Masterpiece' looks back

PBS mainstay "Masterpiece Theatre" takes a trip down memory lane Sunday (9 p.m., WQED), as host Derek Jacobi introduces excerpts of "Masterpiece" shows from the past 35 seasons.

Stars of some of these stories reminisce about their roles and the special counts down the Top 12 as selected by viewers in a nationwide poll.

Channel surfing

NBC has renewed "Las Vegas" for the 2007-08 TV season, but stars James Caan and Nikki Cox will not return. ... Showtime will air the television premiere of former Vice President Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" at 8 p.m. March 11. ... Disney Channel has renewed the wonderful preschool series "Johnny and the Sprites" for a second season that will begin production in the fall. ... Despite so-so ratings, ABC Family has renewed "Lincoln Heights" for a second season. ... A run of new "South Park" episodes begins airing at 10 p.m. Wednesday on Comedy Central. ... KDKA expands its Stacy Smith interview with former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum into a half-hour special, airing at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

TV Q&A

Today's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Dirt," "Supernatural" and "Heroes." Read it online at post-gazette.com/tv.