Everyone's a winner in D-FW's November newscast "sweeps" (but Fox4 has the most scores while WFAA8 sweeps marquee 10 p.m. battles)
12/02/13 12:22 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Ending on the day before Thanksgiving, the latest four-week November “sweeps” ratings competitions had something for everyone among the four major local newscast combatants.
WFAA8 narrowly reclaimed the 10 p.m. total viewers crown it lost a year ago to CBS11 while routing its three adversaries among 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 flexed mightily at 6 a.m. and added 5 and 6 p.m. wins in the 25-to-54 demographic.
CBS11 retained its 6 p.m. supremacy in total viewers; NBC5 broke through after a winless November 2012 to top the 5 p.m. field in total viewers.
Here are the particulars, with year-to-year November ups and downs in parentheses. As always in these unclebarky.com reports, final Nielsen totals are broken down to the third decimal point to give you the most accurate numbers.
10 P.M.
Total Viewers
WFAA8 -- 193,013 (up 19,256)
CBS11 -- 172,775 (down 37,262)
NBC5 -- 118,379 (up 6,717)
Fox4 -- 117,313 (up 1,521)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
WFAA8 -- 93,235 (up 17,098)
Fox4 -- 63,863 (down 3,301)
NBC5 -- 52,925 (down 4,044)
CBS11 -- 49,329 (up 3,778)
Comment: These were WFAA8’s only newscast wins, but they’re big ones. The ABC station also was the only one to register audience increases in both Nielsen measurements. And they were sizable ones, too.
CBS11 still had a total viewers lead-in advantage from 9 p.m. CBS programming. But a Monday night stinker, the new Hostages, got the station off to weekly bad starts while NBC5 and WFAA8 respectively basked in the afterglows of the freshman hit The Blacklist and the reliable Castle. In NBC5’s case, it was enough to inch the station ahead of Fox4 in the total viewer Nielsens after placing fourth in November 2012.
6 A.M.
Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 134,783 (up 27,665)
WFAA8 -- 86,778 (up 1,345)
NBC5 -- 84,079 (up 2,639)
CBS11 -- 67,888 (up 17,771)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 68,860 (up 5,541)
WFAA8 -- 43,479 (down 5,232)
NBC5 -- 37,203 (down 5,904)
CBS11 -- 30,987 (up 8,986)
Comment: Fox4 was never threatened and won by significantly larger margins than a year ago. CBS11, which has been fourth in the waker-upper derby since Uncle Barky leapt into puberty, showed real signs of possibly making a move into third place at this time next year. The station had the biggest increase among 25-to-54-year-olds -- seldom a CBS strong suit -- while NBC5 and WFAA8 both lost ground in this measurement from November to November. But the also-rans all have a long way to go before moving into the same area code as Fox4.
6 P.M.
Total Viewers
CBS11 -- 180,657 (up 27,277)
WFAA8 -- 144,369 (down 2,471)
NBC5 -- 133,433 (up 15,644)
Fox4 -- 113,692 (up 6,712)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 60,816 (up 5,934)
WFAA8 -- 49,878 (down 3,096)
NBC5 -- 35,588 (down 6,028)
CBS11 -- 32,449 (up 9,852)
Comment: CBS11 comfortably beat WFAA8 this time after last November’s close race. The station also improved its 25-to-54 standing while WFAA8 was the only station to lose viewers in both ratings measurements. NBC5 made substantial headway in total viewers but faltered in the revenue-enhancing competition among 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4’s win in the 25-to-54 battle was far comfier than a year ago, when it drew fewer than 2,000 more viewers than WFAA8.
5 P.M.
Total Viewers
NBC5 -- 123,705 (up 11,186)
Fox4 -- 113,621 (down 1,758)
WFAA8 -- 109,928 (up 18,024)
CBS11 -- 102,685 (up 12,846)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 53,717 (up 9,984)
WFAA8 -- 37,751 (up 7,463)
CBS11 -- 31,444 (up 8,698)
NBC5 -- 29,585 (down 1,210)
Comment: Significant audience increases in both audience measurements made this generally older-skewing time period a plus for all concerned, even though Fox4 and NBC5 respectively had minor losses in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds. The Peacock otherwise dethroned last November’s champ, Fox4, in total viewers while WFAA8 and CBS11 both markedly improved their performances.
In other ratings news . . .
This was the first ratings sweeps period for WFAA8’s fledgling 4 p.m. local newscast. For now at least, the station sports a pair of bloody noses.
NBC5 won in total viewers with 81,239 while CBS11 ran second (69,451) and WFAA8 third (51,982). It was the same order of finish among 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 led with 25,563, followed by CBS11 (23,583) and WFAA8 (14,838).
***At 9 p.m., Fox4’s local newscast bludgeoned CW33’s soon-to-be-extinct Nightcap, which will become the anchor-less NewsFix sometime early next year. The scores were 147,423 to 19,529 in total viewers and 69,896 to 8,684 among 25-to-54-year-olds. Those totals gave Fox4’s 9 p.m. edition the station’s largest local news audience, outdrawing the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. offerings in both measurements.
***Fox4’s 5:30 p.m. local newscast had more 25-to-54-year-olds than the competing network evening newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC. But Fox4 flip-flopped that position with a fourth place finish in total viewers. The NBC Nightly News led the way.
***KTXD-TV’s (Ch. 47) two major local productions, The Broadcast and The Texas Daily, continued to struggle for any audience at all.
From 9 to 11 a.m. weekdays, The Broadcast averaged 1,775 total viewers with 731 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
The 6 to 7 p.m. edition of Texas Daily averaged 497 viewers, with supposedly almost all of them (488) in the 25-to-54 measurement. But when the rating is this low -- a .007 in total viewers -- demographic numbers tend to be imprecise.
Texas Daily’s 9:30 p.m. repeat improved to 1,988 viewers with 488 of them 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Ending on the day before Thanksgiving, the latest four-week November “sweeps” ratings competitions had something for everyone among the four major local newscast combatants.
WFAA8 narrowly reclaimed the 10 p.m. total viewers crown it lost a year ago to CBS11 while routing its three adversaries among 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 flexed mightily at 6 a.m. and added 5 and 6 p.m. wins in the 25-to-54 demographic.
CBS11 retained its 6 p.m. supremacy in total viewers; NBC5 broke through after a winless November 2012 to top the 5 p.m. field in total viewers.
Here are the particulars, with year-to-year November ups and downs in parentheses. As always in these unclebarky.com reports, final Nielsen totals are broken down to the third decimal point to give you the most accurate numbers.
10 P.M.
Total Viewers
WFAA8 -- 193,013 (up 19,256)
CBS11 -- 172,775 (down 37,262)
NBC5 -- 118,379 (up 6,717)
Fox4 -- 117,313 (up 1,521)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
WFAA8 -- 93,235 (up 17,098)
Fox4 -- 63,863 (down 3,301)
NBC5 -- 52,925 (down 4,044)
CBS11 -- 49,329 (up 3,778)
Comment: These were WFAA8’s only newscast wins, but they’re big ones. The ABC station also was the only one to register audience increases in both Nielsen measurements. And they were sizable ones, too.
CBS11 still had a total viewers lead-in advantage from 9 p.m. CBS programming. But a Monday night stinker, the new Hostages, got the station off to weekly bad starts while NBC5 and WFAA8 respectively basked in the afterglows of the freshman hit The Blacklist and the reliable Castle. In NBC5’s case, it was enough to inch the station ahead of Fox4 in the total viewer Nielsens after placing fourth in November 2012.
6 A.M.
Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 134,783 (up 27,665)
WFAA8 -- 86,778 (up 1,345)
NBC5 -- 84,079 (up 2,639)
CBS11 -- 67,888 (up 17,771)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 68,860 (up 5,541)
WFAA8 -- 43,479 (down 5,232)
NBC5 -- 37,203 (down 5,904)
CBS11 -- 30,987 (up 8,986)
Comment: Fox4 was never threatened and won by significantly larger margins than a year ago. CBS11, which has been fourth in the waker-upper derby since Uncle Barky leapt into puberty, showed real signs of possibly making a move into third place at this time next year. The station had the biggest increase among 25-to-54-year-olds -- seldom a CBS strong suit -- while NBC5 and WFAA8 both lost ground in this measurement from November to November. But the also-rans all have a long way to go before moving into the same area code as Fox4.
6 P.M.
Total Viewers
CBS11 -- 180,657 (up 27,277)
WFAA8 -- 144,369 (down 2,471)
NBC5 -- 133,433 (up 15,644)
Fox4 -- 113,692 (up 6,712)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 60,816 (up 5,934)
WFAA8 -- 49,878 (down 3,096)
NBC5 -- 35,588 (down 6,028)
CBS11 -- 32,449 (up 9,852)
Comment: CBS11 comfortably beat WFAA8 this time after last November’s close race. The station also improved its 25-to-54 standing while WFAA8 was the only station to lose viewers in both ratings measurements. NBC5 made substantial headway in total viewers but faltered in the revenue-enhancing competition among 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4’s win in the 25-to-54 battle was far comfier than a year ago, when it drew fewer than 2,000 more viewers than WFAA8.
5 P.M.
Total Viewers
NBC5 -- 123,705 (up 11,186)
Fox4 -- 113,621 (down 1,758)
WFAA8 -- 109,928 (up 18,024)
CBS11 -- 102,685 (up 12,846)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 53,717 (up 9,984)
WFAA8 -- 37,751 (up 7,463)
CBS11 -- 31,444 (up 8,698)
NBC5 -- 29,585 (down 1,210)
Comment: Significant audience increases in both audience measurements made this generally older-skewing time period a plus for all concerned, even though Fox4 and NBC5 respectively had minor losses in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds. The Peacock otherwise dethroned last November’s champ, Fox4, in total viewers while WFAA8 and CBS11 both markedly improved their performances.
In other ratings news . . .
This was the first ratings sweeps period for WFAA8’s fledgling 4 p.m. local newscast. For now at least, the station sports a pair of bloody noses.
NBC5 won in total viewers with 81,239 while CBS11 ran second (69,451) and WFAA8 third (51,982). It was the same order of finish among 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 led with 25,563, followed by CBS11 (23,583) and WFAA8 (14,838).
***At 9 p.m., Fox4’s local newscast bludgeoned CW33’s soon-to-be-extinct Nightcap, which will become the anchor-less NewsFix sometime early next year. The scores were 147,423 to 19,529 in total viewers and 69,896 to 8,684 among 25-to-54-year-olds. Those totals gave Fox4’s 9 p.m. edition the station’s largest local news audience, outdrawing the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. offerings in both measurements.
***Fox4’s 5:30 p.m. local newscast had more 25-to-54-year-olds than the competing network evening newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC. But Fox4 flip-flopped that position with a fourth place finish in total viewers. The NBC Nightly News led the way.
***KTXD-TV’s (Ch. 47) two major local productions, The Broadcast and The Texas Daily, continued to struggle for any audience at all.
From 9 to 11 a.m. weekdays, The Broadcast averaged 1,775 total viewers with 731 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
The 6 to 7 p.m. edition of Texas Daily averaged 497 viewers, with supposedly almost all of them (488) in the 25-to-54 measurement. But when the rating is this low -- a .007 in total viewers -- demographic numbers tend to be imprecise.
Texas Daily’s 9:30 p.m. repeat improved to 1,988 viewers with 488 of them 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net