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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Jan. 31) -- DOA for Do No Harm; minimal interest in 30 Rock finale

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
The February "sweeps" rating period opened for business Thursday, with ABC's Shark Tank the only prime-time repeat in sight among the Big Four broadcast networks.

It got drubbed in the 7 p.m,. hour, but the night's biggest loser was NBC's premiere of its new medical drama Do No Harm.

Airing at 9 p.m., Do No Harm drew a piddling 55,074 D-FW viewers. Even worse, just 6,379 of them were advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. The national numbers were equally pathetic, giving DNH a fighting chance to become this season's first one-episode-and-out cancellation.

NBC also aired a so-so one-hour series finale of 30 Rock. It had 117,031 total viewers, beating Shark Tank (61,958) but losing overwhelmingly to CBS' The Big Bang Theory (516,315) Fox's American Idol (392,399) and CBS' Two and a Half Men (351,094). 30 Rock likewise ran a distant third with 18-to-49-year-olds.

CBS' Person of Interest (440,589) and Elementary (275,368) rolled from 8 to 10 p.m. in total viewers. Among 18-to-49-year-olds, Fox4's 9 p.m. newscast edged Elementary while Person of Interest beat the 8 p.m. episode of NBC's The Office while tying a second episode for first place at 8:30 p.m.

In Thursday's local news derby results, Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 drew their initial sweeps marks in the sand, some of them very faint. Here's the complete breakdown on Day 1 of the four-week February combat in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. Note that at 10 p.m. NBC5 had a very lousy lead-in and also lost its video capabilities, according to numerous tweets from station staffers.

10 P.M.

Total Viewers
WFAA8 -- 213,410
CBS11 -- 178,989
Fox4 -- 130,800
NBC5 -- 96,379

25-to-54
WFAA8 -- 101,357
Fox4/NBC5 -- 65,584 each
CBS11 -- 26,830

6 A.M.

Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 123,916
WFAA8 -- 75,726
NBC5 -- 68,842
CBS11 -- 41,305

25-to-54
Fox4 -- 83,471
WFAA8 -- 47,698
NBC5 -- 38,754
CBS11 -- 17,887

6 P.M.

Total Viewers
WFAA8 -- 172,105
CBS11 -- 165,221
NBC5 -- 117,031
Fox4 -- 110,147

25-to-54
Fox4 -- 62,603
WFAA8 -- 56,641
NBC5 -- 44,717
CBS11 -- 29,811

5 P.M.

Total Viewers
Fox4/WFAA8 -- 137,684 each
NBC5 -- 96,379
CBS11 -- 82,610

25-to-54
Fox4 -- 62,603
NBC5/WFAA8 -- 32,792
CBS11 -- 20,868

Overall impressions: Fox4 and WFAA8 are off to the fastest starts while CBS11 is in a demographic dumpster with fourth-place finishes throughout the day and night among 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5's second place tie at 10 p.m. in that key demographic was pretty impressive, given its technical problems and severe lead-in disadvantage from Do No Harm.
unclebarky@verizon.net