Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., May 1)
05/02/08 09:08 AM
By ED BARK
May day, May day. Just two programs, one of them a local newscast, cracked a double-digit Nielsen rating on a night when two of the Big Four broadcast networks had their big-gun lineups in play.
CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation had a 10.5 rating (255,738 homes) in holding off ABC's competing Grey's Anatomy (221,640 homes). ABC's Lost then dipped to 165,621 homes, running well behind CBS' Without A Trace (219,204) and only a bit ahead of Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast (148,572).
Grey's and Lost delivered among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, though, with each show comfortably winning its time slot.
At 7 p.m., Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? ran first in total homes, narrowly beating ABC's Ugly Betty. But the Jeff Foxworthy brain-teaser dipped to fourth in the 18-to-49 demo, ahead of only CBS' bottom-dwelling Survivor: Micronesia. The CW's Smallville eased into third place.
NBC's lineup of four critically acclaimed comedies and ER ran fourth across-the-board in the total homes Nielsens. But the opening hour combo of My Name Is Earl and Scrubs hit the first-place jackpot with 18-to-49-year-olds, giving the Peacock reason to crow.
The daily local news derby again was dominated by WFAA8, but two of its rivals also had some bright spots.
WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast was Thursday's most-watched program, amassing 258,174 homes to prevail over CBS11 (224,075). The latter station improved on an already nice-sized lead-in from Without A Trace while pushing the once-dominant NBC5 into third place for the third time in four nights.
WFAA8 also won at 10 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC5 climbed to second place in this measurement.
The early morning news ratings remained volatile. WFAA8 ran the table for the third straight day, with the Peacock a solid second. Defending champ Fox4, which also started slowly in the February sweeps before a second-half rally, fell to a distant third in both ratings measurements. Its numbers among 25-to-54-year-olds -- just 29,445 of 'em -- were the station's lowest in recent memory. WFAA8 led with 76,557 viewers in that key demo.
Fox4 had better news at 5 and 6 p.m. It tied WFAA8 at the earlier hour among 25-to-54-year-olds and won outright at 6 p.m., where the ABC station usually dominates.
WFAA8 had the golds at both hours in total homes.
May day, May day. Just two programs, one of them a local newscast, cracked a double-digit Nielsen rating on a night when two of the Big Four broadcast networks had their big-gun lineups in play.
CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation had a 10.5 rating (255,738 homes) in holding off ABC's competing Grey's Anatomy (221,640 homes). ABC's Lost then dipped to 165,621 homes, running well behind CBS' Without A Trace (219,204) and only a bit ahead of Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast (148,572).
Grey's and Lost delivered among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, though, with each show comfortably winning its time slot.
At 7 p.m., Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? ran first in total homes, narrowly beating ABC's Ugly Betty. But the Jeff Foxworthy brain-teaser dipped to fourth in the 18-to-49 demo, ahead of only CBS' bottom-dwelling Survivor: Micronesia. The CW's Smallville eased into third place.
NBC's lineup of four critically acclaimed comedies and ER ran fourth across-the-board in the total homes Nielsens. But the opening hour combo of My Name Is Earl and Scrubs hit the first-place jackpot with 18-to-49-year-olds, giving the Peacock reason to crow.
The daily local news derby again was dominated by WFAA8, but two of its rivals also had some bright spots.
WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast was Thursday's most-watched program, amassing 258,174 homes to prevail over CBS11 (224,075). The latter station improved on an already nice-sized lead-in from Without A Trace while pushing the once-dominant NBC5 into third place for the third time in four nights.
WFAA8 also won at 10 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC5 climbed to second place in this measurement.
The early morning news ratings remained volatile. WFAA8 ran the table for the third straight day, with the Peacock a solid second. Defending champ Fox4, which also started slowly in the February sweeps before a second-half rally, fell to a distant third in both ratings measurements. Its numbers among 25-to-54-year-olds -- just 29,445 of 'em -- were the station's lowest in recent memory. WFAA8 led with 76,557 viewers in that key demo.
Fox4 had better news at 5 and 6 p.m. It tied WFAA8 at the earlier hour among 25-to-54-year-olds and won outright at 6 p.m., where the ABC station usually dominates.
WFAA8 had the golds at both hours in total homes.
|