KTLA Scores Big Parade Victory : Television: Station’s commercial-free coverage of the Rose Parade secures ratings win for 17th year in a row.

No commercials meant big ratings for KTLA Channel 5’s Tournament of Roses Parade coverage on Wednesday.

The longtime Los Angeles-area Rose Parade ratings leader saw its dominance challenged last year by KTTV Channel 11’s no-commercial early morning broadcast. So, proving once again the old adage that imitation is the sincerest form of television, Channel 5 also broadcast live this year from Pasadena’s 103rd parade without commercials.

And, Channel 5 said Thursday, the 1992 broadcast matched its highest rating ever for the annual show. It was the independent station’s 17th consecutive ratings win.

“This is a very, very happy day for KTLA,” Steve Bell, KTLA’s senior vice president and general manager, said. “When we win the Rose Parade big it really says that all is right in the world for us.”

“I congratulate KTLA on a super job,” KTTV vice president of programming Don Tillman said. “They used our format and it worked.”

The parade was the most watched program in Southern California on New Year’s Day. Almost 2 million area homes tuned into the live broadcasts that began at 8 a.m. and aired on five stations.

KTLA’s coverage drew a 24.2 or 25 rating, according to local ratings figures released Thursday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. The station claims the latter mark equals its top mark, set in 1988. (The discrepancy is based on a dispute regarding the length of the telecast. KTTV credits KTLA with the lower figure.)

KTLA, which had a 49% audience share, eclipsed the ratings of the four other stations carrying the parade. With each local rating point being equivalent to 48,751 households, it means that 1.19 to 1.2 million Southland households were tuned to the channel which first began airing the parade in 1947.

KTTV was second with a 10.2 rating, 3.3 points less than a year ago.

The local outlets of the three major networks were way behind. KNBC Channel 4 and KABC Channel 7 each received a 2.1 rating and KCBS Channel 2 a 1.5.

* Among the holiday’s football games, Washington’s 34-14 victory over Michigan in the 78th Rose Bowl was Los Angeles’ most-watched game of the day, drawing a 22.6 rating (1.1 million households) for KABC. Notre Dame’s 39-28 USF&G; Sugar Bowl upset over Florida, also on KABC, was second at 11.4. KNBC had a 3.6 for the Hall of Fame Bowl, a 2.3 for the Fiesta Bowl and a 9.7 for the Federal Express Orange Bowl. The Mobil Cotton Bowl on KCBS had a 6.7 and the Florida Citrus Bowl on KABC an 8.