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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Aug. 26) -- a super-rare double grand slam for Fox4 news

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
WFAA8 used to be the only D-FW station capable of doing this. In fact, it had three double grand-slams in January 2008 alone, the last on Jan. 28th of that year.

Fox4 and NBC5 now are the most likely to accomplish such a rare feat -- a sweep of the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscast ratings in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming). And on Tuesday, Aug. 26th, Fox4 finally turned this trick with wins across the board.

It’s become an exceedingly difficult mountain to climb. And I can’t remember it happening at all in the past six-and-a-half years. Once the news spreads, Fox4 management should be laying out an ice cream sundae spread for the entire on- and off-camera news staff. Or maybe a pre-Labor Day grilled hot dog/tofu extravaganza? Hey, your friendly content provider can only do so much at this end.

Here’s how it looked on Tuesday, with the runner-up station’s viewer totals also listed.

10 p.m.

Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 165,461
NBC5 -- 144,156

25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 98,110
NBC5 -- 74,649

6 a.m.

Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 134,925
NBC5 -- 101,549

25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 63,680
NBC5 -- 48,141

5 p.m.

Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 158,359
NBC5 -- 132,084

25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 55,758
NBC5 -- 28,031 (WFAA8 was barely behind NBC5 with 27,727)

6 p.m.

Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 151,968
NBC5 -- 135,635

25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 60,329
NBC5 -- 32,907

In prime-time, NBC’s 8 to 10 p.m. edition of America’s Got Talent was the overall top draw with 255,647 viewers. AGT also lead all comers among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for entertainment programming). The haul was 78,161 viewers in this key demographic.

(In case you’re wondering, the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts on Fox4 also ranked No. 1 with 18-to-49-year-olds.)

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers again toiled in late night hours on Fox Sports Southwest. The team’s latest loss, 5-0 at Seattle, drew just 49,709 total viewers, with 13,027 in the 18-to-49 age range.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net