Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Dec. 13)
12/14/07 09:34 AM
By ED BARK
Let's zoom in for a bit on what Fox4's Good Day is doing against the three well-heeled network morning shows.
It's one thing to win at 6 a.m., which Good Day did again Thursday in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the key advertiser audience for news programming. But running the table from 7 to 9 a.m. might be the more impressive achievement. Fox4 accomplished that for the fifth time in six days Thursday, and it wasn't even close.
Good Day drew 121,780 homes, more than for Fox4's 6 or 10 p.m. newscasts. ABC's runnerup Good Morning America had 92,553 homes while the Early Show on CBS as usual dragged bottom with 43,841.
Good Day attracted 73,613 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo, again decisively whipping GMA (50,057). Early Show barely registered with 17,667 viewers in this demographic.
Better yet for Fox4, it collects all of the ad revenue for its local production., Belo8, NBC5 and CBS11 get only a small slice of the proceeds, which mostly go to the networks. Cash cows don't get much fatter than in the early-to-mid-mornings on Fox4.
In prime-time, the last new episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for awhile led all comers with 309,321 total D-FW homes. Without A Trace then pulled in a nice-sized 241,124 homes, giving CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast another huge lead-in advantage. The station again coughed it up, running a close second to Belo8 in total homes and dipping to third with 25-to-54-year-olds behind frontrunning NBC5 and Belo8.
Two observations about CBS11's Thursday newscast:
Investigator Bennett Cunningham has noticeably modulated his delivery in recent days. He now acts as though he's been in the end zone before, stating his facts with calm assurance rather than over-selling them. On Thursday, he had another solid followup on the potentially lethal effects of the drug Chantix, sold as Champix overseas. He's also had some eye-opening undercover looks at junketing Department of Transportation officials.
CBS11 also continues its latter day transparent pandering to 25-to-54-year-old women, who watch newscasts in appreciably larger numbers than men.
On Thursday, reporter Maria Arita touted the joys of cosmetic surgery at lower, more affordable interest rates. One ecstatic young woman, fresh from having her gut deflated by liposuction, acted as though she'd just ascended into heaven. Hitting a treadmill would have been far cheaper, but CBS11 seems to think that most women are shallow-minded suckers for instant gratification. So far the ratings are still digging trenches, though.
In the other local news battlegrounds, Belo8 won at 6 p.m. in both ratings measurements and also ran first at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 topped the 5 p.m. ratings in total homes.
Also of note: the NFL Network's Houston Texans-Denver Broncos game drew 73,068 total homes despite limited availability in the D-FW viewing area. Those who watched were spared Bryant Gumbel, who reportedly was under the weather. His replacement, veteran Tom Hammond, proved far easier to take.
Let's zoom in for a bit on what Fox4's Good Day is doing against the three well-heeled network morning shows.
It's one thing to win at 6 a.m., which Good Day did again Thursday in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the key advertiser audience for news programming. But running the table from 7 to 9 a.m. might be the more impressive achievement. Fox4 accomplished that for the fifth time in six days Thursday, and it wasn't even close.
Good Day drew 121,780 homes, more than for Fox4's 6 or 10 p.m. newscasts. ABC's runnerup Good Morning America had 92,553 homes while the Early Show on CBS as usual dragged bottom with 43,841.
Good Day attracted 73,613 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo, again decisively whipping GMA (50,057). Early Show barely registered with 17,667 viewers in this demographic.
Better yet for Fox4, it collects all of the ad revenue for its local production., Belo8, NBC5 and CBS11 get only a small slice of the proceeds, which mostly go to the networks. Cash cows don't get much fatter than in the early-to-mid-mornings on Fox4.
In prime-time, the last new episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for awhile led all comers with 309,321 total D-FW homes. Without A Trace then pulled in a nice-sized 241,124 homes, giving CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast another huge lead-in advantage. The station again coughed it up, running a close second to Belo8 in total homes and dipping to third with 25-to-54-year-olds behind frontrunning NBC5 and Belo8.
Two observations about CBS11's Thursday newscast:
Investigator Bennett Cunningham has noticeably modulated his delivery in recent days. He now acts as though he's been in the end zone before, stating his facts with calm assurance rather than over-selling them. On Thursday, he had another solid followup on the potentially lethal effects of the drug Chantix, sold as Champix overseas. He's also had some eye-opening undercover looks at junketing Department of Transportation officials.
CBS11 also continues its latter day transparent pandering to 25-to-54-year-old women, who watch newscasts in appreciably larger numbers than men.
On Thursday, reporter Maria Arita touted the joys of cosmetic surgery at lower, more affordable interest rates. One ecstatic young woman, fresh from having her gut deflated by liposuction, acted as though she'd just ascended into heaven. Hitting a treadmill would have been far cheaper, but CBS11 seems to think that most women are shallow-minded suckers for instant gratification. So far the ratings are still digging trenches, though.
In the other local news battlegrounds, Belo8 won at 6 p.m. in both ratings measurements and also ran first at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 topped the 5 p.m. ratings in total homes.
Also of note: the NFL Network's Houston Texans-Denver Broncos game drew 73,068 total homes despite limited availability in the D-FW viewing area. Those who watched were spared Bryant Gumbel, who reportedly was under the weather. His replacement, veteran Tom Hammond, proved far easier to take.
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