Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Feb. 5-7) -- another steamrolling Super Bowl
02/08/10 10:36 AM
By ED BARK
A little thing called Super Bowl XLIV occupied 74 percent of all D-FW TV sets in use Sunday, topping last year's audience by more than 450,000 viewers.
The New Orleans Saints' 31-17 win over the favored Indianapolis Colts averaged a mammoth 2,599,153 viewers locally on CBS, peaking at 2,911,323 in the game's final 15 minutes.
Last year's down-to-the-wire game, in which the Pittsburgh Steelers edged the Arizona Cardinals, had 2,125,760 viewers with a peak audience of 2,431,338.
Saints-Colts also rolled up a big number among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. Of the 2,599,153 viewers, 1,298,117 were in this age range.
This year's halftime act, The Who, are old enough to be the fathers or grandfathers of most viewers in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic. But surviving members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend made a very game go of it, even if it's doubtful that Daltrey summoned a live primal scream for the climactic "Won't Get Fooled Again." If he did, the camera didn't catch him, which is a cardinal sin. So I'm guessing they used a recorded "Ye-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-h!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" from one of the soon-to-be 66-year-old lead singer's better days.
CBS' post-Super Bowl show, the premiere of the reality series Undercover Boss, drew 1,133,312 viewers.
Rival broadcast networks wisely threw in the towel against Supie XLIV, with ABC's 6 to 7 p.m. repeat of America's Funniest Home Videos the biggest draw (47,504 total viewers).
In Friday's local news derby results, WFAA8 maintained its 10 p.m. lead in the February sweeps' six-weeknight sprint to the Feb. 12th start of the Winter Olympics. The snow/ice competitions from Vancouver then will push NBC5's late nighter out of the mix while also likely sucking viewers away from the three newscasts on Fox4, WFAA8 and CBS11.
WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The ABC station also swept the 5 p.m. news competitions.
NBC5 ran the table at 6 a.m., with WFAA8 second in both measurements. The usual silver or gold medalist, Fox4, fell to fourth place with 25-to-54-year-olds, just a smidge behind CBS11.
At 6 p.m., CBS11 recorded rare twin wins, edging WFAA8 in total viewers and running first by a more comfortable margin with 25-to-54-year-olds, where Fox4 and WFAA8 tied for second.
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Old, tired and all but dead: Mavs crap out against Timberwolves
02/05/10 10:18 PM
By ED BARK
Let's be blunt. The Dallas Mavericks stink. Stink on ice. Stink to the point of losing by nine points(!) on their home floor Friday night to the really crappy Minnesota Timberwolves.
I'd been holding back on this, but it's clear at this point. All is lost. The Mavs are old, tired and destined to flop in the post-season.
Dirk is drained, disgusted, dinged up and staggering into the showcase NBA All-Star game next weekend in Dallas. He didn't start Friday night because he showed up late for the team's shoot around. Who could blame him.
Dunce cap Josh Howard is playing like Moe Howard for the most part, again prompting trade rumors. As if anyone would want him.
The Shawn Marion acquisition is pretty much a bust, adding more age to a team that has seven players over 30.
The Mavs looked formidable in the early going, but have cratered miserably as the season wears on. You just DON'T lose to a team that was 11-38 going into Friday's game and had just three road wins. But the Mavs found a way.
This is a team that at long last needs to be rebuilt. No one is indispensable. In fact, I'd love to see Dirk traded to a team that had a genuine chance to win a championship. That team is not the Mavericks. Everyone should know that at this point. In a high octane league, the Mavs at this point are hamster-powered. It's hard to see anything changing down the stretch. Would you like the Mavs' chances in the playoffs against the precocious Oklahoma City Thunder?
I wouldn't. And that's a shame.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Feb. 4) -- WFAA8 takes lead in mini-10 p.m. sweeps sprint
02/05/10 10:44 AM
By ED BARK
WFAA8 bucked a big lead-in disadvantage to sweep the 10 p.m. newscast ratings on opening night of the February "sweeps."
It'll be a relatively short race, though, at least in the late night news wars. That's because NBC's Winter Olympics telecasts kick in on Friday, Feb. 12th, pushing NBC5's 10 p.m. weeknight newscasts out of the picture until Monday, March 1st.
The presumably potent Olympics also will probably downsize audiences for the 10 p.m. editions on Fox4, WFAA8 and CBS11. But from Feb. 4-11 the race is on, with six weeknights fully in play.
WFAA8's Thursday late-nighter drew 251,093 D-FW viewers in out-punching runnerup CBS11 (223,948 viewers). That's a deflating performance for CBS11, which inherited 434,323 viewers from the last 15 minutes of CBS' The Mentalist while WFAA8 got 257,879 from ABC's Private Practice.
WFAA8 also won at 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox's Bones opened big at 7 p.m., with its 271,452 total viewers doubling the audience for ABC's runnerup The Deep End (135,726 viewers).
ABC's Grey's Anatomy (380,033 viewers) then won the 8 p.m. hour in another heavyweight matchup with CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (318,956 viewers).
In other local news derby results, Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. for the second weekday in a row against archrival NBC5. The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Fox4's Good Day then handily beat the three network morning shows.
The early evening golds were split. Fox4 won at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements. WFAA8 topped the 6 p.m. total viewers Nielsens while NBC5 ran first at that hour with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The prime-time local news numbers again were dispiriting for both TXA21 and CW33.
TXA21 had just 13,573 total viewers for both the 7 and 8 p.m. hours. CW33 fell to 20,359 viewers after inheriting 88,222 from the last 15 minutes of The CW network's Supernatural.
WFAA8 bucked a big lead-in disadvantage to sweep the 10 p.m. newscast ratings on opening night of the February "sweeps."
It'll be a relatively short race, though, at least in the late night news wars. That's because NBC's Winter Olympics telecasts kick in on Friday, Feb. 12th, pushing NBC5's 10 p.m. weeknight newscasts out of the picture until Monday, March 1st.
The presumably potent Olympics also will probably downsize audiences for the 10 p.m. editions on Fox4, WFAA8 and CBS11. But from Feb. 4-11 the race is on, with six weeknights fully in play.
WFAA8's Thursday late-nighter drew 251,093 D-FW viewers in out-punching runnerup CBS11 (223,948 viewers). That's a deflating performance for CBS11, which inherited 434,323 viewers from the last 15 minutes of CBS' The Mentalist while WFAA8 got 257,879 from ABC's Private Practice.
WFAA8 also won at 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox's Bones opened big at 7 p.m., with its 271,452 total viewers doubling the audience for ABC's runnerup The Deep End (135,726 viewers).
ABC's Grey's Anatomy (380,033 viewers) then won the 8 p.m. hour in another heavyweight matchup with CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (318,956 viewers).
In other local news derby results, Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. for the second weekday in a row against archrival NBC5. The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Fox4's Good Day then handily beat the three network morning shows.
The early evening golds were split. Fox4 won at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements. WFAA8 topped the 6 p.m. total viewers Nielsens while NBC5 ran first at that hour with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The prime-time local news numbers again were dispiriting for both TXA21 and CW33.
TXA21 had just 13,573 total viewers for both the 7 and 8 p.m. hours. CW33 fell to 20,359 viewers after inheriting 88,222 from the last 15 minutes of The CW network's Supernatural.
Making a list: 17 North Texans and 9 from elsewhere in the state are in Idol's Hollywood contingent
02/04/10 11:24 AM
By ED BARK
It takes a little doing to determine just how many North Texans are going to Hollywood for next week's make-or-break American Idol survival rounds.
Actually, they've already been taped. But the nation at large won't be seeing the winnowing process until Tuesday, Feb. 9, when new judge Ellen DeGeneres makes her debut at the Kodak Theater. On Wednesday, Feb. 17th, the Fox juggernaut will announce its Season 9 batch of Top 24 finalists -- 12 women and 12 men.
Research on americanidol.com finds that 17 contestants from the D-FW viewing area will be in the initial Hollywood mix. Add 9 hopefuls from other parts of the state and that's a grand total of 26.
But weren't 31 "Golden Tickets" handed out at the Dallas auditions? Yes, but some Hollywood-bound, would-be Idols are from other states. And one of the 16 selected North Texans made the cut in Denver.
In alphabetical order, here is the North Texas contingent:
Kimberly Carver, 26, Denton
Michael Castro, 21, Rockwall
Stephanie Crews, 18, Dallas
David Duke, 23, Waxahachie
Todrick Hall, 24, Arlington
Erynne Hundley, 19, Keller
Casey James, 27, Fort Worth (auditioned in Denver)
Hope Johnson, 19, Arlington
Alex Lambert, 19, North Richland Hills
Savannah Low, 17, Arlington
Sydnee Randall, 19, Midlothian
Erica Rhodes, 24, Irving
Lloyd Thomas, 29, Dallas
Dawntoya Thomason, 27, Dallas
Heather Todd, 25, Kerens
Tim Urban, 20, Duncanville
Maegan Wright, 21, Richardson
Here are the 9 contestants from other parts of Texas:
Lacey Brown, 24, Amarillo (auditioned in Orlando)
Stephanie Daulong, 20, Austin
Anzeo Henderson, 28, Houston
Brandi Holmes 28, Houston (auditioned in Orlando)
Rachel Hubbard, 16, Boerne
Megan McCallon, 25, Houston
Paige Miles, 24, Cypress
Christian Spear, 17, Houston
Brittany Stone, 17, White Oak
Live Idol shows begin on Tues., Feb. 23rd, with the 12 women semifinalists performing. On Feb. 24th it's the 12 men, with two from each group eliminated by viewers on the season's first results show (Feb. 25th).
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Feb. 3) -- final Idol audition hour powers prime-time numbers
02/04/10 09:13 AM
By ED BARK
American Idol's last pre-Hollywood sing-around crunched all comers Wednesday, with Fox's preceding Human Target also winning its time slot.
Idol amassed 549,690 D-FW viewers at 8 p.m. while CBS' still potent Criminal Minds ran a respectable but distant second with 373,247 viewers. New episodes of ABC's Modern Family (217,162 viewers) and Cougar Town (176,444 viewers) placed third in the 8 p.m. hour, leaving NBC's Law & Order: SVU repeat out of the money with 108,581 viewers.
Idol also rolled as usual among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, with Modern Family running second from 8 to 8:30 p.m. opposite the first half-hour of Criminal Minds.
Human Target won the 7 p.m. hour in both ratings measurements, as did CBS' CSI: NY at 9 p.m.
In local news derby results, WFAA8 returned to the 10 p.m. winner's circle by edging runnerup CBS11 in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The 6 a.m. total viewers race was won by Fox4, although the margin of victory was a statistically insignificant four-one hundredths of a rating point over NBC5 and six-one hundredths over WFAA8. Fox4 edged the Peacock among 25-to-54-year-olds by a slightly wider margin, ending NBC5's five-day winning streak.
The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Fox4's Good Day then whipped the three network morning shows in both measurements, particularly among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 had a big day in the early evening Nielsens, sweeping both the 5 and 6 p.m. competitions.
Note to readers: The February "sweeps" ratings period begins today (Feb. 4th), although the 10 p.m. numbers will be largely inconsequential. That's because NBC's Olympics telecasts, which begin on Friday, Feb. 12th, will push NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts deeper into the night for 11 of the 20 weekdays while also likely diminishing the late night news audience on Fox4, WFAA8 and CBS11.
Otherwise there's a mini-sprint, with all four combatants in play at 10 p.m. for the next six weeknights. So we'll keep tabs on that while also reporting the complete end-of-sweeps totals at 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m.
American Idol's last pre-Hollywood sing-around crunched all comers Wednesday, with Fox's preceding Human Target also winning its time slot.
Idol amassed 549,690 D-FW viewers at 8 p.m. while CBS' still potent Criminal Minds ran a respectable but distant second with 373,247 viewers. New episodes of ABC's Modern Family (217,162 viewers) and Cougar Town (176,444 viewers) placed third in the 8 p.m. hour, leaving NBC's Law & Order: SVU repeat out of the money with 108,581 viewers.
Idol also rolled as usual among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, with Modern Family running second from 8 to 8:30 p.m. opposite the first half-hour of Criminal Minds.
Human Target won the 7 p.m. hour in both ratings measurements, as did CBS' CSI: NY at 9 p.m.
In local news derby results, WFAA8 returned to the 10 p.m. winner's circle by edging runnerup CBS11 in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The 6 a.m. total viewers race was won by Fox4, although the margin of victory was a statistically insignificant four-one hundredths of a rating point over NBC5 and six-one hundredths over WFAA8. Fox4 edged the Peacock among 25-to-54-year-olds by a slightly wider margin, ending NBC5's five-day winning streak.
The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Fox4's Good Day then whipped the three network morning shows in both measurements, particularly among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 had a big day in the early evening Nielsens, sweeping both the 5 and 6 p.m. competitions.
Note to readers: The February "sweeps" ratings period begins today (Feb. 4th), although the 10 p.m. numbers will be largely inconsequential. That's because NBC's Olympics telecasts, which begin on Friday, Feb. 12th, will push NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts deeper into the night for 11 of the 20 weekdays while also likely diminishing the late night news audience on Fox4, WFAA8 and CBS11.
Otherwise there's a mini-sprint, with all four combatants in play at 10 p.m. for the next six weeknights. So we'll keep tabs on that while also reporting the complete end-of-sweeps totals at 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Feb. 2) -- roosts ruled by Idol, Lost and double shot of NCIS
02/03/10 09:46 AM
By ED BARK
The return of ABC's Lost joined an already potent Tuesday night mix, and pretty much held its own. Let's get right to it.
Fox's one-hour American Idol audition show (from Denver) won the 7 p.m. hour, but with smaller returns than usual. Idol lured 508,973 D-FW viewers opposite a new episode of CBS' NCIS (305,384 viewers) and a one-hour Lost recap (278,238 viewers).
Idol also ran a comfy first with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, but Lost took the silver by an appreciable margin over NCIS.
Lost's two-hour season premiere then drew 312,170 total viewers, beating everything in the 8 to 10 p.m. slot except CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles (346,101 viewers). CBS' The Good Wife came close to Lost in the 9 p.m. hour, with 285,025 viewers.
Lost won big, however, among 18-to-49-year-olds, drawing 169,603 viewers in this age range. Fox's Kitchen Nightmares had the second biggest haul (117,418 viewers).
In local news derby results, CBS11 ran the table at 10 p.m. for a second straight weekday in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the favored advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 continued to prosper at 6 a.m. with wins in both measurements for a fifth straight weekday. A gradually improving WFAA8 edged Fox4 for second place in total viewers and tied for the silver among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 ran first at 5 and 6 p.m. in total viewers. But Fox4 again ran strong in the 25-to-54 demographic, taking golds at both hours.
The return of ABC's Lost joined an already potent Tuesday night mix, and pretty much held its own. Let's get right to it.
Fox's one-hour American Idol audition show (from Denver) won the 7 p.m. hour, but with smaller returns than usual. Idol lured 508,973 D-FW viewers opposite a new episode of CBS' NCIS (305,384 viewers) and a one-hour Lost recap (278,238 viewers).
Idol also ran a comfy first with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, but Lost took the silver by an appreciable margin over NCIS.
Lost's two-hour season premiere then drew 312,170 total viewers, beating everything in the 8 to 10 p.m. slot except CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles (346,101 viewers). CBS' The Good Wife came close to Lost in the 9 p.m. hour, with 285,025 viewers.
Lost won big, however, among 18-to-49-year-olds, drawing 169,603 viewers in this age range. Fox's Kitchen Nightmares had the second biggest haul (117,418 viewers).
In local news derby results, CBS11 ran the table at 10 p.m. for a second straight weekday in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the favored advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 continued to prosper at 6 a.m. with wins in both measurements for a fifth straight weekday. A gradually improving WFAA8 edged Fox4 for second place in total viewers and tied for the silver among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 ran first at 5 and 6 p.m. in total viewers. But Fox4 again ran strong in the 25-to-54 demographic, taking golds at both hours.
Nose for news at NBC5
02/02/10 11:18 AM
By ED BARK
Oh, this is making it way too easy.
NBC5 virtually invited a snark attack by letting anchor Jane McGarry go one-on-one with an odoriferous, sight gag graphic during Monday's 10 p.m. newscast.
Hmm, what could this story be about?
Might it be a reference to the stinko management and continued prime-time woes of the Fort Worth-based station's corporate owner?
Could NBC5 be calling viewer attention to its own reliably sub-standard newscast?
Surely Jane's perfume couldn't be the problem. Her splendiferous home spread in the current D magazine is evidence that the veteran news reader buys only the best -- and can afford to do so.
Well, as Jane told it, "People in Rowlett are raising a stink tonight over a nasty stench coming from a Garland landfill."
Hey, your friendly content provider lives in Garland, so maybe that's what this story was getting at.
Still, an anchor should never be caught alone on the air with a "Sickening Smell" graphic as a backdrop. That's only common sense.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Feb. 1) -- rack 'em up for CBS/CBS11
02/02/10 10:44 AM
By ED BARK
CBS returned to Monday night dominance with new episodes of prime-time's two top-rated comedies and CSI: Miami.
Two and a Half Men was the day's biggest draw, with 407,178 D-FW viewers from 8 to 8:30 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (380,033 viewers) kept most of the audience before CSI: Miami (386,819 viewers) built it back up a bit.
All three CBS mainstays also won their time periods among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
CBS sagged in the first hour of prime-time, though, where new episodes of How I Met Your Mother and Accidentally On Purpose ran fourth in total viewers behind Fox's league-leading House (257,879 viewers). The not-so-good doctor sagged to third place with 18-to-49-year-olds, though, with NBC's Chuck the winner and ABC's first hour of The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love sliding into second.
It was another miserable night for NBC's lame duck, sad sack Jay Leno Show, which easily had the night's smallest audience (54,290 viewers) among the Big Four broadcast networks. Leno even drew fewer viewers than The CW's combo of One Tree Hill (88,222) and Life Unexpected (61,077).
In local news derby results, CBS11 returned to the 10 p.m. winner's circle in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The news numbers otherwise were controlled by NBC5, which ran the table at 6 a.m., and WFAA8 (across-the-board wins at both 5 and 6 p.m.).
TXA21's "First In Prime" 7 to 9 p.m. newscasts had a sub-terrible night of it. The 7 p.m. portion had 5,429 total viewers and the 8 p.m. hour, 6,108. This made a comparative Goliath of The 33's 9 p.m. local news hour. It had 27,145 viewers while still being dwarfed by Fox4's competing 9 p.m. edition (196,803 viewers).
CBS returned to Monday night dominance with new episodes of prime-time's two top-rated comedies and CSI: Miami.
Two and a Half Men was the day's biggest draw, with 407,178 D-FW viewers from 8 to 8:30 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (380,033 viewers) kept most of the audience before CSI: Miami (386,819 viewers) built it back up a bit.
All three CBS mainstays also won their time periods among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
CBS sagged in the first hour of prime-time, though, where new episodes of How I Met Your Mother and Accidentally On Purpose ran fourth in total viewers behind Fox's league-leading House (257,879 viewers). The not-so-good doctor sagged to third place with 18-to-49-year-olds, though, with NBC's Chuck the winner and ABC's first hour of The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love sliding into second.
It was another miserable night for NBC's lame duck, sad sack Jay Leno Show, which easily had the night's smallest audience (54,290 viewers) among the Big Four broadcast networks. Leno even drew fewer viewers than The CW's combo of One Tree Hill (88,222) and Life Unexpected (61,077).
In local news derby results, CBS11 returned to the 10 p.m. winner's circle in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The news numbers otherwise were controlled by NBC5, which ran the table at 6 a.m., and WFAA8 (across-the-board wins at both 5 and 6 p.m.).
TXA21's "First In Prime" 7 to 9 p.m. newscasts had a sub-terrible night of it. The 7 p.m. portion had 5,429 total viewers and the 8 p.m. hour, 6,108. This made a comparative Goliath of The 33's 9 p.m. local news hour. It had 27,145 viewers while still being dwarfed by Fox4's competing 9 p.m. edition (196,803 viewers).
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Jan. 29-31) -- Grammys roll, but Pro Bowl also scores some points
02/01/10 01:42 PM
By ED BARK
CBS' three-and-a-half hour Grammy Awards telecast expectedly won big Sunday night while the NFL's much-maligned Pro Bowl showed that you can always put lipstick on a pigskin when it comes to D-FW viewers' fondness for all things NFL.
The Grammys averaged a hefty 610,767 viewers from 7 to 10:30 p.m., but still fell well short of last Wednesday's American Idol auditions from Dallas ( 807,570 viewers locally).
The Pro Bowl on ESPN (won 41-34 by the AFC) pulled in 407,178 viewers to finish second for the night. It even outdrew a new episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives (339,315 viewers) in the 8 p.m. hour.
On Friday night, a three-way faceoff of Republican gubernatorial candidates on WFAA8's The Belo Debate ran third from 7 to 8 p.m. with 101,795 viewers. The time slot winner, CBS' Ghost Whisperer, had 190,016 viewers. MY27's first hour of WWE Smackdown! rang up 142,512 viewers.
NBC's The Jay Leno Show, nearing the Feb. 11th end of its mostly disastrous prime-time run, continued to struggle with a fourth-place 115,367 viewers at 9 p.m. CBS' Numb3rs led the way at that hour with 223,948 viewers. It also won among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, with Leno sinking into an even deeper out-of-the-money rut. ABC's 20/20, with its heavily hyped hour-long expose of John Edwards, ran a surprisingly limp second in both measurements.
In local news derby results, WFAA8 had comfy twin wins at 10 p.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC5 again led the way at 6 a.m. with a doubleheader sweep of runnerup Fox4.
The Peacock also took the 5 and 6 p.m. golds in total viewers; WFAA8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds in the earlier hour while Fox4 did likewise at 6 p.m.
CBS' three-and-a-half hour Grammy Awards telecast expectedly won big Sunday night while the NFL's much-maligned Pro Bowl showed that you can always put lipstick on a pigskin when it comes to D-FW viewers' fondness for all things NFL.
The Grammys averaged a hefty 610,767 viewers from 7 to 10:30 p.m., but still fell well short of last Wednesday's American Idol auditions from Dallas ( 807,570 viewers locally).
The Pro Bowl on ESPN (won 41-34 by the AFC) pulled in 407,178 viewers to finish second for the night. It even outdrew a new episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives (339,315 viewers) in the 8 p.m. hour.
On Friday night, a three-way faceoff of Republican gubernatorial candidates on WFAA8's The Belo Debate ran third from 7 to 8 p.m. with 101,795 viewers. The time slot winner, CBS' Ghost Whisperer, had 190,016 viewers. MY27's first hour of WWE Smackdown! rang up 142,512 viewers.
NBC's The Jay Leno Show, nearing the Feb. 11th end of its mostly disastrous prime-time run, continued to struggle with a fourth-place 115,367 viewers at 9 p.m. CBS' Numb3rs led the way at that hour with 223,948 viewers. It also won among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, with Leno sinking into an even deeper out-of-the-money rut. ABC's 20/20, with its heavily hyped hour-long expose of John Edwards, ran a surprisingly limp second in both measurements.
In local news derby results, WFAA8 had comfy twin wins at 10 p.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC5 again led the way at 6 a.m. with a doubleheader sweep of runnerup Fox4.
The Peacock also took the 5 and 6 p.m. golds in total viewers; WFAA8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds in the earlier hour while Fox4 did likewise at 6 p.m.
Gables makes WFAA8 weekend morning debut; station also stages a three-way GOP guv debate
02/01/10 01:00 AM
By ED BARK
Dressed for balmier weather in a pink, sleeveless top, Shon Gables dawned on WFAA8 viewers Sunday morning in tandem with incumbent Debbie Denmon.
"I'm the new kid on the block," Gables said on three separate occasions while also repeatedly noting the unseasonably cold weather.
Denmon, who is moving to the station's weekend evening newscasts, agreeably chaperoned Gables' maiden voyage as WFAA8's new Saturday/Sunday AM anchor. From now on she'll be on her own.
Gables, a native Oklahoman who briefly lived in Texas "way back" in 1988, handled her limited duties smoothly Sunday. As previously posted, she had been freelancing at WPIX-TV in New York City after a stint from 2003 to 2006 as co-anchor of NYC's early morning newscasts on WCBS-TV.
"You're gonna love it and the viewers are gonna love you," Denmon told her near the end of Sunday's program.
"Well, thank you for passing the torch," Gables said. "You're a wonderful sweetheart."
Enough with the candy coating.
Yes, Texas Gov. Rick Perry actually winked at Sarah Lucero of San Antonio's KENS-TV after answering one of her questions.
No, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison didn't know who the first Texas governor was.
And maybe longshot hopeful Debra Medina again scored points by repeatedly promising to end property taxes if elected. Even if there's no chance she'll ever be able to deliver on that.
The three Republican candidates for governor gathered at Dallas-based WFAA8 studios Friday night for The Belo Debate, which was shown on a statewide network of stations. The big winner? WFAA8. This was a model for how debates should be conducted.
The questioners were sharp, the pace was crisp, the set looked like a million bucks and the candidates were called on to navigate a variety of segments.
A so-called Jeopardy round, as WFAA8 anchor and moderator John McCaa described it, caught Hutchison off balance when it came to identifying the state's first governor. But candidates also were grilled in depth during one-on-one segments in which the sharpest, most persistent questioners were longtime Dallas Morning News political reporter Wayne Slater and Len Cannon of Houston's KHOU-TV.
Lucero and Terri Gruca of Austin's KVUE-TV rounded out the reporter contingent. All work for Belo properties, hence the one-hour program's less than scintillating title. But prospective voters who took the time to tune in were given ample reason to stay tuned.
McCaa expertly orchestrated the proceedings without being a drudge about it. And the tone throughout showed both a respect for the office and a willingness to press the candidates when their answers didn't seem to add up.
So which of the three candidates came out ahead? Probably Perry, despite that patently phony grin punctuating several of his answers. He came to play, though, tangling twice with Slater and also playing an interesting game of ping-pong with Cannon on the subject of whether he'd serve out his entire term if re-elected. In the end, Perry unequivocally said yes -- and actually seemed to mean it.
Hutchison looked nice in a royal blue suit, but otherwise didn't seem to register much. She made a reasonably impassioned closing statement, although it likely was too little, too late. Perry seemed far more engaged, creating a few sparks while Hutchison too often came off as bland and comparatively lethargic. Maybe she should have batted an eye at Slater.
Medina, belatedly invited by Belo when her poll numbers accelerated to double-digits, has a knack for speaking in easily digested sound bites. For one she's a "born-again, Bible-believing Christian."
Another mantra -- "where there's freedom, there's prosperity" -- is tied to Medina's opposition to property taxes. And as a novelty act, she can still get away with describing both Petty and Hutchison as a "team of economic tricksters intent on destroying our freedoms and selling Texas to the highest bidder."
Who knows? Maybe Medina can force a run-off, which would give Hutchison a chance to regroup and perhaps put a skip in her step.
The Belo Debate tried to wrench all three candidates from their well-rehearsed talking points without being a bully about it. This was a forum with decorum, but never to the point of tedium.
***Reliable sources at D-FW's CBS11 think they see a frontrunner for the vacant job of news director. That would be Adrienne Roark, news director at CBS-owned WFOR-TV in Miami.
Roark was at CBS11 Friday for an interview. According to her WFOR bio, she joined that station in January 2007 as assistant news director before taking charge of the newsroom in June of that year.
CBS11 also has had in-house interviews with Scott Keenan, formerly an interim news director at the station, and Kurt Davis, currently news director at KENS-TV in San Antonio.
The previous CBS11 news director, Scott Diener, recently left the station to join its former president and general manager, Steve Mauldin, at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.
***Responding to a previous post on WFAA8's nationally popular new iPhone app, Elvira Sakmari, director of integrated media at Fort Worth-based NBC5, notes that her station launched an iPhone app in October.
It also ranked No. 10 in iTunes' free news aps list, "where we stayed for a week," Sakmari says.
"We congratulate WFAA, CBS11 and The Dallas Morning News on their app launches," she adds.
As of this writing, iTunes' top 100 downloads of free news aps lists WFAA8 as No. 7 nationally, a spike from No. 10 last week.
CBS11's app has jumped up to 29th place (from 57th) and the DMN ranks 71st (from 73rd).
There are no other North Texas-based news apps in the top 100, including NBC5's.