Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 9) -- Cowboys get cold shoulder from viewers, too
12/10/13 10:16 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ meltdown in frigid Chicago also ended up sinking near the bottom of the ratings heap among the 13 regular season games shown this season.
On the receiving end of a 45-28 pasting that wasn’t that close, the ESPN/KTXD-TV (Ch. 47) telecast became the second to sink below the one million viewers mark.
ESPN averaged 795,346 D-FW viewers for Cowboys-Bears, which mercifully ended at 10:38 p.m. KTXD’s simulcast had 198,836 viewers for a not-so-grand total of 994,182. Only the Cowboys’ Sept. 22nd rout of the St. Louis Rams on Fox has drawn a smaller crowd, with 943,135 viewers.
The final minutes of the Cowboys-Bears game dwindled to a total of 596,509 viewers on the two TV venues. New episodes of CBS’ NCIS have approached that level this season. The Nov. 19th episode of NCIS, for instance, drew 561,003 viewers.
KTXD went all out for its first ever Cowboys game, inviting “The Ticket” (1310 AM) sports radio personalities in for an entire day of simulcasts. It was funny seeing “The Hardline’s” Mike Rhyner all dressed up in a suit, even if very few witnessed this spectacle. The simulcasts mostly had “hashmarks” (no measurable audience) and never rose above a TV audience of 4,970 viewers for any 15-minute segment measured by Nielsen Media Research.
KTXD’s pre- and post-game shows fared better, with former NBC5 sports anchor Scott Murray hosting and old Cowboys Everson Walls and Tony Hill opining.
The half-hour pre-gamer averaged 35,507 viewers while the post-game edition had 42,608.
Among non-Cowboys attractions Monday night, NBC’s 7 p.m. edition of The Voice ranked highest with 276,951 viewers. But most of the one-hour edition aired before kickoff time at 7:41 p.m. The Peacock’s two-hour Season 4 premiere of The Sing-Off then drew 163,330 viewers.
Sing-Off won its first hour in the non-Cowboys competition but was outdrawn in its second by Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast (170,431 viewers).
ABC’s 7 to 9 p.m. pair of Christmas specials had tough sledding. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town drew 92,317 viewers before a newbie, The Great Christmas Light Fight, had the same smallish crowd in the 8 p.m. hour.
Here are Monday’s four-way local news derby results:
Fox4 notched a rare doubleheader win at 10 p.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The station also ran the table as usual at 6 a.m.
NBC5 remained solid at 5 p.m. with a sweep and also had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. Fox4 won at 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ meltdown in frigid Chicago also ended up sinking near the bottom of the ratings heap among the 13 regular season games shown this season.
On the receiving end of a 45-28 pasting that wasn’t that close, the ESPN/KTXD-TV (Ch. 47) telecast became the second to sink below the one million viewers mark.
ESPN averaged 795,346 D-FW viewers for Cowboys-Bears, which mercifully ended at 10:38 p.m. KTXD’s simulcast had 198,836 viewers for a not-so-grand total of 994,182. Only the Cowboys’ Sept. 22nd rout of the St. Louis Rams on Fox has drawn a smaller crowd, with 943,135 viewers.
The final minutes of the Cowboys-Bears game dwindled to a total of 596,509 viewers on the two TV venues. New episodes of CBS’ NCIS have approached that level this season. The Nov. 19th episode of NCIS, for instance, drew 561,003 viewers.
KTXD went all out for its first ever Cowboys game, inviting “The Ticket” (1310 AM) sports radio personalities in for an entire day of simulcasts. It was funny seeing “The Hardline’s” Mike Rhyner all dressed up in a suit, even if very few witnessed this spectacle. The simulcasts mostly had “hashmarks” (no measurable audience) and never rose above a TV audience of 4,970 viewers for any 15-minute segment measured by Nielsen Media Research.
KTXD’s pre- and post-game shows fared better, with former NBC5 sports anchor Scott Murray hosting and old Cowboys Everson Walls and Tony Hill opining.
The half-hour pre-gamer averaged 35,507 viewers while the post-game edition had 42,608.
Among non-Cowboys attractions Monday night, NBC’s 7 p.m. edition of The Voice ranked highest with 276,951 viewers. But most of the one-hour edition aired before kickoff time at 7:41 p.m. The Peacock’s two-hour Season 4 premiere of The Sing-Off then drew 163,330 viewers.
Sing-Off won its first hour in the non-Cowboys competition but was outdrawn in its second by Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast (170,431 viewers).
ABC’s 7 to 9 p.m. pair of Christmas specials had tough sledding. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town drew 92,317 viewers before a newbie, The Great Christmas Light Fight, had the same smallish crowd in the 8 p.m. hour.
Here are Monday’s four-way local news derby results:
Fox4 notched a rare doubleheader win at 10 p.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The station also ran the table as usual at 6 a.m.
NBC5 remained solid at 5 p.m. with a sweep and also had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. Fox4 won at 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net