Oct 2006
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Oct. 30)
10/31/06 02:29 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Toting the pigskin for the first and maybe last time on a special Monday night playing field, NBC's Friday Night Lights gained at least a little ground in D-FW.
The acclaimed, Austin-made high school football series had higher Nielsen numbers than it did last week in the show's regular Tuesday slot. It also lured more viewers than Monday's latest episode of Fox's Prison Break, which still can't seem to catch a break in the local ratings despite being filmed entirely in North Texas. Here's a telescoped replay from three angles:
Friday Night Lights (9 p.m. Monday)
Total homes -- 145,180 (third in time period)
18-to-49-year-olds -- 96,000 (tied for second)
Friday Night Lights (7 p.m. Tues., Oct. 24)
Total homes -- 97,580 (fourth)
18-to-49-year-olds -- 78,000 (second)
Prison Break (7 p.m. Monday)
Total homes -- 135,660 (third)
18-to-49-year-olds -- 78,000 (second in first half-hour, third in second half-hour)
Prison Break fared even worse with one of its prime target audiences, 18-to-34-year-olds. It finished fifth Monday in D-FW, but was No. 1 nationally in this demographic. That's a puzzlement.
The local news wars saw all four major stations in winners' circles. NBC5 and CBS11 tied for first in total homes at 10 p.m., with the Peacock winning among 25-to-54-year-olds, the prime target audience for news programming.
Belo8 won at 5 and 6 p.m. in homes, and also notched a victory with 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.
Fox4 took the 6 a.m. race in both ratings measurements and had another win at 6 p.m. with younger viewers.
The four-week November ratings "sweeps" begin on Thursday. It should be quite a battle, with heavy reinforcements of stories that supposedly will either "shock" or "surprise" you.
Look for the straight dope on all of this at unclebarky.com. You won't find it elsewhere.
Toting the pigskin for the first and maybe last time on a special Monday night playing field, NBC's Friday Night Lights gained at least a little ground in D-FW.
The acclaimed, Austin-made high school football series had higher Nielsen numbers than it did last week in the show's regular Tuesday slot. It also lured more viewers than Monday's latest episode of Fox's Prison Break, which still can't seem to catch a break in the local ratings despite being filmed entirely in North Texas. Here's a telescoped replay from three angles:
Friday Night Lights (9 p.m. Monday)
Total homes -- 145,180 (third in time period)
18-to-49-year-olds -- 96,000 (tied for second)
Friday Night Lights (7 p.m. Tues., Oct. 24)
Total homes -- 97,580 (fourth)
18-to-49-year-olds -- 78,000 (second)
Prison Break (7 p.m. Monday)
Total homes -- 135,660 (third)
18-to-49-year-olds -- 78,000 (second in first half-hour, third in second half-hour)
Prison Break fared even worse with one of its prime target audiences, 18-to-34-year-olds. It finished fifth Monday in D-FW, but was No. 1 nationally in this demographic. That's a puzzlement.
The local news wars saw all four major stations in winners' circles. NBC5 and CBS11 tied for first in total homes at 10 p.m., with the Peacock winning among 25-to-54-year-olds, the prime target audience for news programming.
Belo8 won at 5 and 6 p.m. in homes, and also notched a victory with 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.
Fox4 took the 6 a.m. race in both ratings measurements and had another win at 6 p.m. with younger viewers.
The four-week November ratings "sweeps" begin on Thursday. It should be quite a battle, with heavy reinforcements of stories that supposedly will either "shock" or "surprise" you.
Look for the straight dope on all of this at unclebarky.com. You won't find it elsewhere.
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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri., Oct. 27)
10/31/06 10:18 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
D-FW's topsy turvy local newscast ratings stayed true to form Friday, with Belo8 scoring an exceedingly rare early morning victory in the key audience demographic.
The ABC station won among advertiser-craved 25-to-54-year-olds, edging the usual first place finisher, Fox4. Belo8's newscast also was tops at 10 p.m. in both total homes and 25-to-54-year-olds. But Fox's concluding fifth game of the World Series was the overall top draw between 10 and 10:30 p.m., with 253,470 homes.
That was an uncommon victory for baseball in D-FW. But the Cards-Tigers were no match for Sunday night's Cowboys-Panthers game on NBC5. It lured 802,060 homes with a 33.7 Nielsen rating that was second nationally only to Charlotte's 34 rating. Shame on us.
Back to Friday's local news programming, where NBC5 won comfortably at 5 and 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, and also had the edge at 5 p.m. in total homes. Belo8 and Fox4 respectively took the total homes crowns at 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Also of note are those wacky syndicated court shows on KTXA-TV (Channel 21). They're consistently quite a force between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., particularly among 18-to-49-year-olds, the key advertiser target for entertainment programming. A procession of Judge Mathis, the People's Court, Judge Mathis again and Judge Maria Lopez beat all competition except ABC's 1 to 3 p.m. soap duo of One Life to Live and General Hospital.
Talk about your guilty pleasures.
D-FW's topsy turvy local newscast ratings stayed true to form Friday, with Belo8 scoring an exceedingly rare early morning victory in the key audience demographic.
The ABC station won among advertiser-craved 25-to-54-year-olds, edging the usual first place finisher, Fox4. Belo8's newscast also was tops at 10 p.m. in both total homes and 25-to-54-year-olds. But Fox's concluding fifth game of the World Series was the overall top draw between 10 and 10:30 p.m., with 253,470 homes.
That was an uncommon victory for baseball in D-FW. But the Cards-Tigers were no match for Sunday night's Cowboys-Panthers game on NBC5. It lured 802,060 homes with a 33.7 Nielsen rating that was second nationally only to Charlotte's 34 rating. Shame on us.
Back to Friday's local news programming, where NBC5 won comfortably at 5 and 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, and also had the edge at 5 p.m. in total homes. Belo8 and Fox4 respectively took the total homes crowns at 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Also of note are those wacky syndicated court shows on KTXA-TV (Channel 21). They're consistently quite a force between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., particularly among 18-to-49-year-olds, the key advertiser target for entertainment programming. A procession of Judge Mathis, the People's Court, Judge Mathis again and Judge Maria Lopez beat all competition except ABC's 1 to 3 p.m. soap duo of One Life to Live and General Hospital.
Talk about your guilty pleasures.
Rolling, rolling rolling: Wheel of Fortune
begins 3-week tour of Dallas
10/29/06 04:19 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
The thrill of victory and, for the first time, the agony of high-def. Wheel of Fortune has both going for it this fall, which makes the show's two longrunning stars just a little camera-shy.
Vanna White, who will hit the half-century mark on Feb. 18, isn't ready for those kinds of closeups. Pat Sajak, who turned 60 last Thursday, would just as soon be shot the old-school way. They talked about putting their pores on the line during a recent stop in Dallas to tape three weeks worth of Texas-themed shows that begin rolling out Monday (6:30 p.m. on CBS11 locally).
"No. No, of course I'm not ready for it," White says without batting an eyelash. "It shows every line and wrinkle in your face. Makes you look 20 times older than you are!"
But how does she really feel?
"They apply the makeup differently because every little thing shows. Everything. Every follicle. I'm scared to look at it. I don't think I'm going to watch the show for a while. All these years people say, 'You look so much better in person.' But now I'm afraid what they're going to say."
Sajak spoke with clarity, too. So to speak.
"Boy, I'm not a fan of HD personally. I'd like some Barbra Streisand gauze...I want the Barbara Walters soft-focus. You can barely see Barbara anymore. People may be completely repulsed and say, 'Who's this new host that we have here -- Quasimodo?' I want low-def. Low, lower and lowest def."
They're otherwise doing just fine. Sajak is in his 25th year of hosting Wheel, which is very nice work if you can get it. The hours aren't long, the pay is super-sweet and Wheel is still the No. 1-rated show in syndication, according to Nielsen Media Research.
"It's a show that defies logic in some ways," Sajak says. "There's an old-fashioned nature to it that's kind of counter to what's going on in television. If I went to pitch this show to a network today, I wouldn't get past 30 seconds. But somewhere along the line we became part of the popular culture. Even if you don't watch the show every day, it's kind of comforting to know it's out there. It's like the sunset."
White, who began turning heads and letters in 1982, has both a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as "Television's Most Frequent Clapper." She supposedly averages 720 claps a show and more than 28,000 a season.
"What did they do, slow the camera down and count each one?" she wonders.
She's never replicated a dress on the air, and now has worn more than 5,000 different outfits. But White's briefly stumped when asked to name the first letter she ever turned (according to official Wheel press materials).
"Let me guess. N?"
"No."
"T?"
"Yes."
"OK. All right. I should have remembered that one."
She'd rather have people forget her upcoming 50th birthday.
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I need to figure out something. It's going to be here before I know it."
She then says "yikes" in a whisper, prompting her even older interviewer to blurt, "Don't get depressed."
"No? I kind of am," White says. "I am depressed. There's something about it. It just sounds so old. But it's only the way we feel, right? I'm going to be as good as I can when I turn that age on my next birthday. I refuse to say it."
Let's end on a brighter, perkier vowel. Sajak is a master of self-deprecation, it turns out. At the time of our interview, he hadn't yet read a Rolling Stone profile on Wheel creator Merv Griffin. But this did cause him to remember what Rolling Stone once said about him. The writer first referenced the movie The Fly. Then he said that if Dick Clark and a chipmunk entered its experimental machine together, Pat Sajak would emerge.
High-def at least won't do that to him.
In performance: Craig Ferguson at the Granada
10/29/06 02:21 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Craig Ferguson gave up his desk job Friday night, stopping in Dallas to be a standup guy both onstage and for charity.
The Scottish host of CBS' Late Late Show found himself a bit at odds with the British-themed "Community a Go-Go" event at the Granada Theater. The stage was back-dropped with three big Union Jacks, prompting Ferguson to ad lib, "When I see a flag like this, I think I'm in court."
Wearing faded jeans, white sneakers and a hang-out black tee, Ferguson held court for 55 minutes on behalf of Community Partners of Dallas, which aids abused and neglected children. His TV show also got into the act. A VIP package that includes a backstage tour of Late Late Show fetched the night's top bid of $2,600 at a concluding live auction. In comparison, a "celebrity mountain bike" autographed by Jessica Simpson, Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson had a tough road to just $700.
Ferguson, who mostly eschews cue cards during his TV monologues, resorted to well-practiced material at the Granada. Still, he threw himself into it, winning the crowd over with his exuberance as much as his jokes. He gabbed about his youthful years in Glasgow ("a medieval Starsky & Hutch"), his "odd" mother, his own rehabbing from drug and alcohol abuse, Tom Cruise ("the apex of success and crazy") and most notably, fellow Scotsman Sean Connery.
"He's a walking cadaver!" Ferguson said of Connery, 76. But in his view, Connery remains "the sexiest man alive" and the consummate James Bond. No offense to latter day 007 Pierce Brosnan, but he's merely "cute in a sort of Orlando Bloom way. I can do Orlando Bloom, but Sean Connery can do me."
Ferguson, who's been doing Late Late Show since January 2005, recalled first visiting America as a 13-year-old during the 1976 Bicentennial. He and his parents came over on a "tramp steamer, which has nothing to do with Paris Hilton."
He vividly remembers America's vibrant colors and gleaming teeth from that year. Plus he got to see Blue Oyster Cult with his cousins at a concert where they "all had to share the same cigarette." This convinced him that one had to do some sort of drug at a rock concert. But when Deep Purple came to Glasgow, he inadvertently knocked himself out with an artificial stimulant that turned out to be chloroform. The moral of that story: "Just say no to chloroform."
But seriously, folks, he's been sober, by his count, for 14 years. And that's even though "you're encouraged to be crazy in L.A."
Ferguson knows where he stands, though. He's just a slug on a TV talk show, a mere mortal who bows to the goddess of the genre.
"Oprah is the world's last superpower," he declares. "I love Oprah. I have to. I'm in show business."
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Oct. 26)
10/27/06 03:39 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
The World series finally scored a few ratings runs Thursday night -- but only against reruns.
Game 4 of the fall classic came within a half-step of being D-FW's most-watched program from 9 to 10 p.m. The tightly fought Cards-Tigers contest on Fox drew 226,100 homes, just shy of the 228,480 taking in ABC's Grey's Anatomy rerun at that hour. Baseball did handily beat repeats of CBS' Shark (183,260 homes) and NBC's ER (119,000).
The up-and-down four major local newscast races again gave each station at least one reason to put on a happy face. Significantly, CBS11 seems to be making genuine progress at 6 p.m. while continuing to struggle at 10 p.m. The station won for the second time this week among 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target for news programming. Helping are strong "lead outs" at 6:30 p.m. from Wheel of Fortune, which Belo8 gave up on last fall. It should only get better for CBS11 in the next three weeks, with Wheel airing 15 shows that were recently taped in Dallas.
Belo8 nipped CBS11 by just one-tenth of a rating point in total homes at 6 p.m. But the ABC station won by comfortable margins at 10 p.m. in both ratings measurements.
Fox4 again controlled the 6 a.m. slot in total homes and 25-to-54-year-olds. That left NBC5 with dual wins at 5 p.m.
Despite Katie Couric's exclusive interview with Michael J. Fox, the CBS Evening News slid back into fourth place in D-FW after recording a rare win Wednesday in total homes.
The World series finally scored a few ratings runs Thursday night -- but only against reruns.
Game 4 of the fall classic came within a half-step of being D-FW's most-watched program from 9 to 10 p.m. The tightly fought Cards-Tigers contest on Fox drew 226,100 homes, just shy of the 228,480 taking in ABC's Grey's Anatomy rerun at that hour. Baseball did handily beat repeats of CBS' Shark (183,260 homes) and NBC's ER (119,000).
The up-and-down four major local newscast races again gave each station at least one reason to put on a happy face. Significantly, CBS11 seems to be making genuine progress at 6 p.m. while continuing to struggle at 10 p.m. The station won for the second time this week among 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target for news programming. Helping are strong "lead outs" at 6:30 p.m. from Wheel of Fortune, which Belo8 gave up on last fall. It should only get better for CBS11 in the next three weeks, with Wheel airing 15 shows that were recently taped in Dallas.
Belo8 nipped CBS11 by just one-tenth of a rating point in total homes at 6 p.m. But the ABC station won by comfortable margins at 10 p.m. in both ratings measurements.
Fox4 again controlled the 6 a.m. slot in total homes and 25-to-54-year-olds. That left NBC5 with dual wins at 5 p.m.
Despite Katie Couric's exclusive interview with Michael J. Fox, the CBS Evening News slid back into fourth place in D-FW after recording a rare win Wednesday in total homes.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Oct. 25)
10/26/06 01:37 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Let's leave the main ratings arenas for a moment and spend a few paragraphs on the poor side of town. For instance, who's winning the hardly titanic struggle from 7 to 9 p.m. between Channel 21's fledgling local newscast and the new MyNetworkTV's pair of English language telenovelas on Channel 27?
On Wednesday, as on most days, it's the news in a breeze, even though the numbers are tiny compared to the major networks' prime-time programming. Here's a snapshot of the results in total homes, 25-to-54-year-olds and 18-to-49-year-olds:
Homes
TXA 21 News -- 27,370
Desire -- 7,140
Fashion House -- 2,380
25-to-54-year-olds
TXA 21 News -- 14,135
Desire -- 5,654
Fashion House -- "hashmarks" (no measureable rating)
18-to-49-year-olds
TXA 21 News -- 15,000
Desire -- 9,000
Fashion House -- hashmarks
Across the dial in the penthouse suite, ABC's Dancing with the Stars results show was Wednesday's top attraction with 273,700 homes in D-FW. But Dancing ranked No. 3 with 18-to-49-year-olds, the prime advertiser target for entertainment programming. ABC's Lost led the way, luring 258,000 younger viewers, followed by CBS' CSI: NY (195,000) and Dancing (153,000).
In the news-go-round, Belo8 had a second straight bad day. Only a tie at 10 p.m. in total homes, with NBC5, kept the once dominant ABC station from being an also-ran across the board. Fox4 had the overall best showing. It won at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the favored advertiser audience for news programming.
Fox4 also triumphed at 6 p.m with 25-to-54-year-olds, with NBC5 winning at 10 p.m. in that demo. CBS11 won in homes at 6 p.m., helped by a rare win from Katie Couric's preceding CBS Evening News.
The November ratings "sweeps" start a week from today, with NBC5 likely to continue a 10 p.m. winning streak that dates to the February 2002 sweeps. The three other major news time periods have no prohibitive favorite, although Fox4 would be the best bet to prevail at 6 a.m. in what likely will be another tight fight with NBC5.
Let's leave the main ratings arenas for a moment and spend a few paragraphs on the poor side of town. For instance, who's winning the hardly titanic struggle from 7 to 9 p.m. between Channel 21's fledgling local newscast and the new MyNetworkTV's pair of English language telenovelas on Channel 27?
On Wednesday, as on most days, it's the news in a breeze, even though the numbers are tiny compared to the major networks' prime-time programming. Here's a snapshot of the results in total homes, 25-to-54-year-olds and 18-to-49-year-olds:
Homes
TXA 21 News -- 27,370
Desire -- 7,140
Fashion House -- 2,380
25-to-54-year-olds
TXA 21 News -- 14,135
Desire -- 5,654
Fashion House -- "hashmarks" (no measureable rating)
18-to-49-year-olds
TXA 21 News -- 15,000
Desire -- 9,000
Fashion House -- hashmarks
Across the dial in the penthouse suite, ABC's Dancing with the Stars results show was Wednesday's top attraction with 273,700 homes in D-FW. But Dancing ranked No. 3 with 18-to-49-year-olds, the prime advertiser target for entertainment programming. ABC's Lost led the way, luring 258,000 younger viewers, followed by CBS' CSI: NY (195,000) and Dancing (153,000).
In the news-go-round, Belo8 had a second straight bad day. Only a tie at 10 p.m. in total homes, with NBC5, kept the once dominant ABC station from being an also-ran across the board. Fox4 had the overall best showing. It won at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the favored advertiser audience for news programming.
Fox4 also triumphed at 6 p.m with 25-to-54-year-olds, with NBC5 winning at 10 p.m. in that demo. CBS11 won in homes at 6 p.m., helped by a rare win from Katie Couric's preceding CBS Evening News.
The November ratings "sweeps" start a week from today, with NBC5 likely to continue a 10 p.m. winning streak that dates to the February 2002 sweeps. The three other major news time periods have no prohibitive favorite, although Fox4 would be the best bet to prevail at 6 a.m. in what likely will be another tight fight with NBC5.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Oct. 24)
10/25/06 04:31 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
The World Series is a big sporting event, but so is ABC's Dancing with the Stars, which creamed baseball's showcase both nationally and in D-FW.
Dancing's local ratings aren't hurt, of course, by the continued strong showing of latter day mambo king Emmitt Smith. His latest floor show was watched in 371,280 homes locally; the first 90 minutes of Fox's Series coverage were a comparative bunt single (143,990 homes).
NBC's ratings-starved Friday Night Lights, also in play between 7 and 8 p.m., placed fourth with 97,580 homes. But the Austin-made freshman series perked up a bit with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, finishing a distant second to Dancing.
The local news wars were dominated by NBC5, which won the key 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. time periods in both total homes and 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC also took first at 6 p.m. in homes and at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic. Fox4 chipped in with a 6 p.m. victory among 25-to-54-year-olds, but finished fourth in total homes at that hour. And Fox 4's 7 to 9 a.m. portion of the locally produced Good Day continued to whip the high-priced network spreads on NBC, ABC and CBS.
That left scraps for once dominant Belo8, which edged NBC5 in homes at 5 p.m. Winless CBS11 fared worse. Its homegrown 6 a.m. show ran fifth, falling short of the syndicated Daily Buzz on sister station KTXA-TV (Channel 21) in both homes and 25-to-54-year-olds.
The World Series is a big sporting event, but so is ABC's Dancing with the Stars, which creamed baseball's showcase both nationally and in D-FW.
Dancing's local ratings aren't hurt, of course, by the continued strong showing of latter day mambo king Emmitt Smith. His latest floor show was watched in 371,280 homes locally; the first 90 minutes of Fox's Series coverage were a comparative bunt single (143,990 homes).
NBC's ratings-starved Friday Night Lights, also in play between 7 and 8 p.m., placed fourth with 97,580 homes. But the Austin-made freshman series perked up a bit with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, finishing a distant second to Dancing.
The local news wars were dominated by NBC5, which won the key 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. time periods in both total homes and 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC also took first at 6 p.m. in homes and at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic. Fox4 chipped in with a 6 p.m. victory among 25-to-54-year-olds, but finished fourth in total homes at that hour. And Fox 4's 7 to 9 a.m. portion of the locally produced Good Day continued to whip the high-priced network spreads on NBC, ABC and CBS.
That left scraps for once dominant Belo8, which edged NBC5 in homes at 5 p.m. Winless CBS11 fared worse. Its homegrown 6 a.m. show ran fifth, falling short of the syndicated Daily Buzz on sister station KTXA-TV (Channel 21) in both homes and 25-to-54-year-olds.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Oct. 23)
10/24/06 03:32 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Hmm, something really suppressed the 10 p.m. newscast ratings Monday night. Wonder what it might have been?
Oh yeah, the T.O. Cowboys were playing the New York Giants on ESPN's Monday Night Football, with Channel 21 the broadcast outlet in D-FW. ESPN's ratings weren't immediately available, but Channel 21 had a 10.7 rating (254,660 homes) for the game. That was good enough to whip everything in its path from 7:30 to 10:45 p.m. Here's a snapshot of what the four 10 p.m. local newscasts did against the Cowboys and on the previous Monday (Oct. 16):
CBS11
147,560 homes (down 28,560)
NBC5
99,960 homes (down 66,640)
Belo8
97,580 homes (down 73,780)
Fox4
71,400 (down 23,800)
That 's a shortfall of 192,780 homes from the previous Monday. And it's an unaccustomed spot for Belo8, an ABC affiliate whose network had Monday Night Football for 36 years until punting it to ESPN this season.
NBC5 took first place at 10 p.m. with advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-olds, but drew 65,021 few of them than on the previous Monday. Fox4 again topped the 6 a.m. ratings in both measurements. The 5 and 6 p.m. faceoffs were split three ways. Belo8 won in total homes in both time periods, while NBC5 and CBS11 respectively were tops among younger viewers at 5 and 6 p.m.
Fox's Prison Break, returning from a three-week layoff in deference to baseball, continued to have a tough time drawing big crowds on its home turf. Filmed entirely in North Texas this season, PB ranked third in total homes from 7 to 8 p.m. It dropped a notch to fourth among 18-to-49-year-olds, the principal advertiser target for non-news programming.
PB will have its "fall finale" on Nov. 27 before taking an anticipated lengthy hiatus. Last year, in its first season, the series didn't resume until May 5. But sources at Fox say that PB likely will be back sooner this time.
Hmm, something really suppressed the 10 p.m. newscast ratings Monday night. Wonder what it might have been?
Oh yeah, the T.O. Cowboys were playing the New York Giants on ESPN's Monday Night Football, with Channel 21 the broadcast outlet in D-FW. ESPN's ratings weren't immediately available, but Channel 21 had a 10.7 rating (254,660 homes) for the game. That was good enough to whip everything in its path from 7:30 to 10:45 p.m. Here's a snapshot of what the four 10 p.m. local newscasts did against the Cowboys and on the previous Monday (Oct. 16):
CBS11
147,560 homes (down 28,560)
NBC5
99,960 homes (down 66,640)
Belo8
97,580 homes (down 73,780)
Fox4
71,400 (down 23,800)
That 's a shortfall of 192,780 homes from the previous Monday. And it's an unaccustomed spot for Belo8, an ABC affiliate whose network had Monday Night Football for 36 years until punting it to ESPN this season.
NBC5 took first place at 10 p.m. with advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-olds, but drew 65,021 few of them than on the previous Monday. Fox4 again topped the 6 a.m. ratings in both measurements. The 5 and 6 p.m. faceoffs were split three ways. Belo8 won in total homes in both time periods, while NBC5 and CBS11 respectively were tops among younger viewers at 5 and 6 p.m.
Fox's Prison Break, returning from a three-week layoff in deference to baseball, continued to have a tough time drawing big crowds on its home turf. Filmed entirely in North Texas this season, PB ranked third in total homes from 7 to 8 p.m. It dropped a notch to fourth among 18-to-49-year-olds, the principal advertiser target for non-news programming.
PB will have its "fall finale" on Nov. 27 before taking an anticipated lengthy hiatus. Last year, in its first season, the series didn't resume until May 5. But sources at Fox say that PB likely will be back sooner this time.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri., Oct. 20)
10/23/06 02:25 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Sign of the apocalypse? The most-watched TV show in D-FW Friday was NBC's new 1 vs 100, the knucklehead, big-money game show hosted by Bob Saget.
This only encourages the network to act all that much faster on announced plans to begin de-emphasizing scripted programming. Shudder, it's easy to envision a second edition of 1 vs 100 leading off either Tuesday or Wednesday nights, where NBC has been dying this fall in the Nielsens with three new scripted shows.
1 vs 100 attracted 185,640 homes locally on NBC5, edging Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast (183,260) as Friday's overall top draw. Belo8's news programming fared well throughout the day, also winning the 10 p.m. race among advertiser-craved 25-to-54-year-olds. It likewise took first place in both measurements at 5 and 6 p.m., although CBS11 shared the lead at 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
At 6 a.m., Fox4's Good Day took the two ratings crowns, with Belo8 a competitive second in the 25-to-54 demo.
NBC5, which usually enjoys at least slice or two of the first-place pie, went home hungry Friday.
Sign of the apocalypse? The most-watched TV show in D-FW Friday was NBC's new 1 vs 100, the knucklehead, big-money game show hosted by Bob Saget.
This only encourages the network to act all that much faster on announced plans to begin de-emphasizing scripted programming. Shudder, it's easy to envision a second edition of 1 vs 100 leading off either Tuesday or Wednesday nights, where NBC has been dying this fall in the Nielsens with three new scripted shows.
1 vs 100 attracted 185,640 homes locally on NBC5, edging Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast (183,260) as Friday's overall top draw. Belo8's news programming fared well throughout the day, also winning the 10 p.m. race among advertiser-craved 25-to-54-year-olds. It likewise took first place in both measurements at 5 and 6 p.m., although CBS11 shared the lead at 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
At 6 a.m., Fox4's Good Day took the two ratings crowns, with Belo8 a competitive second in the 25-to-54 demo.
NBC5, which usually enjoys at least slice or two of the first-place pie, went home hungry Friday.
Weathering a technical meltdown
10/23/06 09:12 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Oct. 19)
10/20/06 04:17 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
NBC5 and CBS11 made most of the noise in Thursday's local newscast battles, with the latter station coming up a rare winner at 6 p.m. in both total homes and advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-olds.
Otherwise NBC5 wore the party hats, winning across the board in D-FW's two most important local news time periods, 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The station also notched a win in total homes at 5 p.m., with Belo8 prevailing at that hour with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 had an all-around bad day, and that even goes for Good Day, which finished an unaccustomed third at 6 a.m. with younger viewers. But the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of the show again bested the three network offerings in both ratings measurements. That remains one of the market's most impressive feats.
On the entertainment front, ABC continues to struggle with Six Degrees, its 9 p.m. followup act to the super-hot Grey's Anatomy. The hospital drama had another smashing win, attracting 411,740 homes opposite CBS' runnerup CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (266,560 homes). NBC's Deal or No Deal lagged in third place with 140,420 homes.
Audiences then flowed to the amazingly resilient ER, transforming NBC5 from least-watched to most-watched locally. ER hauled in 278,460 homes to dominate both Six Degrees (166,600) and CBS' Shark (188,020). The audience lead-in from ER then sparked NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast, which cruised to another easy Thursday night win.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
NBC5 and CBS11 made most of the noise in Thursday's local newscast battles, with the latter station coming up a rare winner at 6 p.m. in both total homes and advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-olds.
Otherwise NBC5 wore the party hats, winning across the board in D-FW's two most important local news time periods, 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The station also notched a win in total homes at 5 p.m., with Belo8 prevailing at that hour with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 had an all-around bad day, and that even goes for Good Day, which finished an unaccustomed third at 6 a.m. with younger viewers. But the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of the show again bested the three network offerings in both ratings measurements. That remains one of the market's most impressive feats.
On the entertainment front, ABC continues to struggle with Six Degrees, its 9 p.m. followup act to the super-hot Grey's Anatomy. The hospital drama had another smashing win, attracting 411,740 homes opposite CBS' runnerup CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (266,560 homes). NBC's Deal or No Deal lagged in third place with 140,420 homes.
Audiences then flowed to the amazingly resilient ER, transforming NBC5 from least-watched to most-watched locally. ER hauled in 278,460 homes to dominate both Six Degrees (166,600) and CBS' Shark (188,020). The audience lead-in from ER then sparked NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast, which cruised to another easy Thursday night win.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Oct. 18)
10/19/06 04:55 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
NBC had fabuloso 10 p.m. ratings Wednesday night, beating Belo8 in both total homes and with advertiser-courted 25-to-54-year-olds, the main target for news programming.
Speaking of Fabuloso, Belo8 loaded its prime-time promotional windows with a tease that went like this: "We're exposing the toxic lookalikes. Is this poisonous mix in your house?" Medical reporter Janet St. James' expose convincingly showed how the brightly colored cleaning agent, which is sold in clear bottles, easily could be mistaken for Gatorade or other energy drinks. There was just one problem. NBC5 did virtually the exact same story several days earlier, also after a barrage of on-air promotions. And they probably got the idea from a months-old Consumer Reports alert.
Some of us can remember the days when Belo8 took pride in beating a competitor into submission with exclusive stories and investigations. Now the station is drinking NBC5's Fabuloso -- which by the way looks like Kool-Aid, too.
Back in the ratings realm, CBS11's 10 p.m. news just can't hold a CSI lead-in, whether it's Monday's Miami version or Wednesday's NY hour. The station again squandered another substantial lead-in advantage to finish a distant third at 10 p.m. in both ratings measurements. In the key 25-to-54 demographic, CBS11 inherited 226,160 viewers from the last 15 minutes of CSI: NY. Its newscast held on to only 104,600 of them.
In Wednesday's three other major local news face-offs, Fox4 won at 6 a.m. on both scorecards and also took first at 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 prevailed with the younger viewers at 5 p.m. while Belo8 was tops in total homes at 5 and 6 p.m.
NBC had fabuloso 10 p.m. ratings Wednesday night, beating Belo8 in both total homes and with advertiser-courted 25-to-54-year-olds, the main target for news programming.
Speaking of Fabuloso, Belo8 loaded its prime-time promotional windows with a tease that went like this: "We're exposing the toxic lookalikes. Is this poisonous mix in your house?" Medical reporter Janet St. James' expose convincingly showed how the brightly colored cleaning agent, which is sold in clear bottles, easily could be mistaken for Gatorade or other energy drinks. There was just one problem. NBC5 did virtually the exact same story several days earlier, also after a barrage of on-air promotions. And they probably got the idea from a months-old Consumer Reports alert.
Some of us can remember the days when Belo8 took pride in beating a competitor into submission with exclusive stories and investigations. Now the station is drinking NBC5's Fabuloso -- which by the way looks like Kool-Aid, too.
Back in the ratings realm, CBS11's 10 p.m. news just can't hold a CSI lead-in, whether it's Monday's Miami version or Wednesday's NY hour. The station again squandered another substantial lead-in advantage to finish a distant third at 10 p.m. in both ratings measurements. In the key 25-to-54 demographic, CBS11 inherited 226,160 viewers from the last 15 minutes of CSI: NY. Its newscast held on to only 104,600 of them.
In Wednesday's three other major local news face-offs, Fox4 won at 6 a.m. on both scorecards and also took first at 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 prevailed with the younger viewers at 5 p.m. while Belo8 was tops in total homes at 5 and 6 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Oct. 17)
10/18/06 02:15 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
D-FW is said to be a football-crazed market, but most viewers are taking a pass on NBC's excellent, Austin-made Friday Night Lights.
Its Tuesday night ratings were punier than a Pee Wee League game, so don't be surprised if Lights' lights are turned out before the November "sweeps." The third episode was seen in just 73,700 homes locally, down from an already lowly 119,000 the previous week. In contrast, ABC's Emmitt Smith-infused Dancing with the Stars topped the 7 to 8 p.m. charts with 307,020 homes, with CBS' NCIS second (176,120) and CW's Gilmore Girls taking third (85,680). The fictional West Texas Dillon High Panthers did manage to nip the first hour of Fox's slumping Cardinals-Mets playoff game, but it was nearly close enough to call for a measurement.
Friday Night Lights also came up way short among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, the only audience demo NBC cares about for entertainment programming. Rubbing it in, Channel 33's 6:30 p.m. repeat of The Simpsons attracted more 18-to-49-year-olds than Lights. And the cartoon classic was D-FW's top draw at 6:30 p.m. with 18-to-34-year-olds, outdrawing the well-financed humans on Wheel of Fortune, Extra, Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight.
In another sports arena, the Mavericks-Rockets preseason game on Channel 21 averaged a 2.8 rating in homes (66,640). That's roughly double the crowd being drawn by the station's fledgling 7 to 9 p.m. local newscast, which the Mavs supplanted Tuesday night.
The market's four major local news battlegrounds had something for everyone, except CBS11.
NBC5 continued to muscle up for the November sweeps, where it hasn't lost at 10 p.m. since November 2001's tri-annual news fistfight. The station had lopsided latenight wins in both total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target for news programming. Fox4 was first at 6 a.m. in both audience measurements, and its Good Day show also continued its mastery over the 7 to 9 a.m. network morning shows.
Belo8 won across the board at 5 p.m., and also took the 6 p.m. face-off in total homes. NBC5 had the 6 p.m. edge with 25-to-54-year-olds.
D-FW is said to be a football-crazed market, but most viewers are taking a pass on NBC's excellent, Austin-made Friday Night Lights.
Its Tuesday night ratings were punier than a Pee Wee League game, so don't be surprised if Lights' lights are turned out before the November "sweeps." The third episode was seen in just 73,700 homes locally, down from an already lowly 119,000 the previous week. In contrast, ABC's Emmitt Smith-infused Dancing with the Stars topped the 7 to 8 p.m. charts with 307,020 homes, with CBS' NCIS second (176,120) and CW's Gilmore Girls taking third (85,680). The fictional West Texas Dillon High Panthers did manage to nip the first hour of Fox's slumping Cardinals-Mets playoff game, but it was nearly close enough to call for a measurement.
Friday Night Lights also came up way short among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, the only audience demo NBC cares about for entertainment programming. Rubbing it in, Channel 33's 6:30 p.m. repeat of The Simpsons attracted more 18-to-49-year-olds than Lights. And the cartoon classic was D-FW's top draw at 6:30 p.m. with 18-to-34-year-olds, outdrawing the well-financed humans on Wheel of Fortune, Extra, Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight.
In another sports arena, the Mavericks-Rockets preseason game on Channel 21 averaged a 2.8 rating in homes (66,640). That's roughly double the crowd being drawn by the station's fledgling 7 to 9 p.m. local newscast, which the Mavs supplanted Tuesday night.
The market's four major local news battlegrounds had something for everyone, except CBS11.
NBC5 continued to muscle up for the November sweeps, where it hasn't lost at 10 p.m. since November 2001's tri-annual news fistfight. The station had lopsided latenight wins in both total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target for news programming. Fox4 was first at 6 a.m. in both audience measurements, and its Good Day show also continued its mastery over the 7 to 9 a.m. network morning shows.
Belo8 won across the board at 5 p.m., and also took the 6 p.m. face-off in total homes. NBC5 had the 6 p.m. edge with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Oct. 16)
10/18/06 02:46 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Broken records don't play very well. Neither do CBS11's Monday 10 p.m. newscasts.
So this bears repeating. As noted last Tuesday, CBS11 should dominate the 10 p.m. ratings on a night when it reaps a huge lead-in advantage from the preceding CSI: Miami. Instead the station barely scraped by in total homes, edging arch rivals Belo8 and NBC5 by a whisker when it should have been a full beard. And CBS11 was routed in the key news demographic, 25-to-54-year-olds.
It should be noted that we're not judging quality here. In that realm, CBS11 matches or exceeds its opponents on most nights. But viewer rejection continues. Here's a telescoped look at Monday's audiences for the last 15 minutes of network entertainment shows and the 10 p.m. newscasts they fed into:
Homes
CSI: Miami -- 314,160
CBS11 News -- 176,120
What About Brian (ABC) -- 121,380
Belo8 News -- 171,360
Studio 60 (NBC) -- 109,480
NBC5 News -- 166,600
25-54
CSI: Miami -- 209,198
CBS11 News --- 90,464
What About Brian -- 79,156
Belo8 News -- 115,907
Studio 60 -- 110,258
NBC5 News -- 149,831
While calling paramedics for CBS11, let's note that Belo8 took the 5 p.m. news competition in both audience measurements and also won in total homes at 6 p.m. NBC5 swept the 6 a.m. faceoff and Fox4 had a win at 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds.
On the entertainment front, NBC's Deal or No Deal joined CSI: Miami as Monday's only shows to crack a double-digit rating in total homes. But by 9 p.m., NBC's struggling Studio 60 had nearly shrunk from sight in D/FW. The Peacock network's Monday night scorecard looks like this:
Deal or No Deal -- 261,800 homes
Heroes -- 221,340
Studio 60 -- 114,240
That's too bad because Studio 60 had its best episode since the pilot. A guest appearance by Sting worked well, and there were some terrific scenes among Sarah Paulsen, Christine Lahti and Matt Perry. Creator/writer Aaron Sorkin also took at shot at Cowboys coach Bill Parcells during an exchange among network bosses played by Amanda Peete, Steven Weber and Ed Asner.
"If you want her to cook the meal, you've got to let her shop for the groceries," Asner told Weber.
Peete then asked Weber, "Who said that?"
"Bill Parcells," he told her.
"Who's that?"
"Football coach. He hasn't won a playoff game in nine years."
Actually, it hasn't been that long. Parcells' New York Jets beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-24 on Jan. 10, 1999 for his last post-season victory to date. If you want to cook the meal, Aaron, you've gotta do the research.
Broken records don't play very well. Neither do CBS11's Monday 10 p.m. newscasts.
So this bears repeating. As noted last Tuesday, CBS11 should dominate the 10 p.m. ratings on a night when it reaps a huge lead-in advantage from the preceding CSI: Miami. Instead the station barely scraped by in total homes, edging arch rivals Belo8 and NBC5 by a whisker when it should have been a full beard. And CBS11 was routed in the key news demographic, 25-to-54-year-olds.
It should be noted that we're not judging quality here. In that realm, CBS11 matches or exceeds its opponents on most nights. But viewer rejection continues. Here's a telescoped look at Monday's audiences for the last 15 minutes of network entertainment shows and the 10 p.m. newscasts they fed into:
Homes
CSI: Miami -- 314,160
CBS11 News -- 176,120
What About Brian (ABC) -- 121,380
Belo8 News -- 171,360
Studio 60 (NBC) -- 109,480
NBC5 News -- 166,600
25-54
CSI: Miami -- 209,198
CBS11 News --- 90,464
What About Brian -- 79,156
Belo8 News -- 115,907
Studio 60 -- 110,258
NBC5 News -- 149,831
While calling paramedics for CBS11, let's note that Belo8 took the 5 p.m. news competition in both audience measurements and also won in total homes at 6 p.m. NBC5 swept the 6 a.m. faceoff and Fox4 had a win at 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds.
On the entertainment front, NBC's Deal or No Deal joined CSI: Miami as Monday's only shows to crack a double-digit rating in total homes. But by 9 p.m., NBC's struggling Studio 60 had nearly shrunk from sight in D/FW. The Peacock network's Monday night scorecard looks like this:
Deal or No Deal -- 261,800 homes
Heroes -- 221,340
Studio 60 -- 114,240
That's too bad because Studio 60 had its best episode since the pilot. A guest appearance by Sting worked well, and there were some terrific scenes among Sarah Paulsen, Christine Lahti and Matt Perry. Creator/writer Aaron Sorkin also took at shot at Cowboys coach Bill Parcells during an exchange among network bosses played by Amanda Peete, Steven Weber and Ed Asner.
"If you want her to cook the meal, you've got to let her shop for the groceries," Asner told Weber.
Peete then asked Weber, "Who said that?"
"Bill Parcells," he told her.
"Who's that?"
"Football coach. He hasn't won a playoff game in nine years."
Actually, it hasn't been that long. Parcells' New York Jets beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-24 on Jan. 10, 1999 for his last post-season victory to date. If you want to cook the meal, Aaron, you've gotta do the research.
Troy's autumn years mean summer departure
10/18/06 02:44 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Troy Dungan, dean of Dallas' weathercasters, is forecasting his own future, too. He'll be hanging up his trademark bow ties on July 18, leaving WFAA-TV (Channel 8) after 31 years of taking our temperatures.
"I've done this enough," he said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "I'll miss the people. You know how it is. It's a soap opera every day. There's always stuff going on."
Dungan also has been teaching Bible study classes on Wednesdays in the station's conference room. He'll miss that, too, he said.
Although he doesn't look it, he'll have a momentous birthday on November 17. But being 70 years old isn't a death sentence for those with sunny dispositions.
"My parents were looking for a casket to crawl into," Dungan said. "They got old before their time. I think it's a state of mind."
His wife, Janet, will be throwing him a black tie party at Dallas' Mercury Grill, where they have brunch on most Sundays. They're also fresh from a two-week vacation in Italy, where Dungan said he wore a tie just once -- a long tie -- on their last night before returning to Dallas Sunday.
Dungan already has lightened his workload, doing just the 6 p.m. newscasts since July 19, his 30th anniversary at Channel 8. His successor, meteorologist and former Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Pete Delkus, joined the station in June 2005, with Dungan playing a key role in recruiting him. He came from WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, which offered Delkus a lifetime contract in a last ditch effort to keep him.
"So we had at least a year for what we call the anointing process," Dungan said. "This market does not take to newcomers very well."
For five months they tried a two-headed weatherman gambit, cross-talking throughout their 10 p.m. segments in an effort to accustom viewers to ringing out the old, ringing in the new.
"That was not our favorite thing," Dungan said. "We didn't mind working together, but every night at 6:30 we said, 'What the heck are we going to do tonight?' It was a bit awkward."
Delkus now is fully in charge of the latenight newscasts, with "Delkus Delivers" promos getting heavy play on Channel 8. Dungan is content to fade into the background and get home early. In retirement, he'll still have a 25-days-a-year deal with Channel 8 to "do whatever we decide," he said. That might include weather specials, filling in for Delkus on occasion and a return to the "Santa's Helpers" charity drive that he's spearheaded for much of his tenure at Channel 8. "Just something to kind of keep me in the mix," he said.
Dungan said he'll also be free to do "commercials, voiceovers and other projects they wouldn't let us do at Channel 8." He might try writing a book, too.
"It'll just be nice to have that freedom," he said, after weathering a career that began in 1958 at KWTX-TV in Waco.
"I think I've worked about enough. I've worked in parts of six decades. I must be pretty old."
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri., Oct. 13)
10/18/06 02:40 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
Belo8's local newscasts had a merry, not scary Friday the 13th, winning six of the eight contested time periods while also making a respectable showing in the hard-fought early morning race.
The ABC affiliate swept the 10, 6 and 5 p.m. contests in total homes and with advertiser-favored 25-to-54-year-olds, although Fox4's usually competitive newscasts gave way to a baseball playoff game in the two early evening slots. At 6 a.m., NBC5 topped both ratings measurements, with Belo8 a reasonably close third in homes and tied for second with Fox4 among 25-to-54--year-olds.
CBS11's newscasts continued to struggle. But the station also continues to rebound at 6 p.m. from what now is becoming an expected poor ratings performance in D/FW by Katie Couric's struggling CBS Evening News. On Friday, for instance, CBS11's 6 p.m. newscast finished third with an average of 123,760 homes. Still, that was a considerable upswing from the 69,020 homes for Couric's preceding Evening News.
NBC5, the second-place finisher at 6 p.m. attracted 133,280 homes, down a bit from the 149,940 furnished by Brian Williams' NBC Nightly News. Belo8 had 147,560 homes at 6 p.m., a nice boost from the 114,240 drawn by Charles Gibson's World News on ABC.
In the entertainment derby, NBC's newest big-money game show for dummies, 1 vs 100, performed smartly in both total homes and with 18-to-49-year-olds, the target audience for non-news programming. The Bob Saget-hosted premiere edged CBS' Close to Home in homes and clubbed both it and ABC's Men In Trees in the 18-to-49-year-old faceoff.
Just one more thing -- and in newscast parlance, this might shock you. Eighty-two-year-old Bob Barker's The Price Is Right easily was 10 a.m's top dog among 18-to-49-year-olds. They thoroughly respect this elder, whose timeless game show doubled the 18-to-49-year-old crowd for its closest competitor, ABC's The View
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Oct. 12)
10/18/06 02:38 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Finally a bit of good news for CBS11.
The station's 6 p.m. newscast topped Thursday's D/FW Nielsen ratings in both total homes and advertiser-favored 25-to-54-year-olds. That marked its first victory in any of the four major news combat zones since Oct. 4, when CBS11's 10 p.m. offering took first in total homes.
Otherwise NBC5 kept its momentum going, winning in both homes and 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. while also finishing first in homes at 5 p.m. Belo8 hit the winner's circle at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds while Fox4 sustained a rare, across-the-board shutout.
Belo8's bus touring 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts have been something of a bust this week. The ABC station's heavy promotional campaign and extra expense have paid off in only sporadic wins in time periods it dominated until this year. Through Thursday, here's a snapshot of the week's 16 early evening competitions in total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds:
Belo8
First place finishes: 7 (including one tie with NBC5)
Second place: 5
Third place: 1
Fourth place: 3
NBC5
First place: 6 (including one tie with Belo8)
Second place: 6
Third place: 3
Fourth place: 1
Fox4
First place: 2
Second place: 2
Third place: 10
Fourth place: 2
CBS11
First place: 2
Second place: 2
Third place: 2
Fourth place: 10
On the entertainment front, ABC's new Six Degrees continued to dig a deep ratings hole for itself after the network's preceding smash hit, Grey's Anatomy. Here's the precipitous dropoff in total homes:
Grey's Anatomy -- averaged 392,700 from 8 to 9 p.m.
Six Degrees -- averaged 178,500 homes from 9 to 10 p.m.
Finally a bit of good news for CBS11.
The station's 6 p.m. newscast topped Thursday's D/FW Nielsen ratings in both total homes and advertiser-favored 25-to-54-year-olds. That marked its first victory in any of the four major news combat zones since Oct. 4, when CBS11's 10 p.m. offering took first in total homes.
Otherwise NBC5 kept its momentum going, winning in both homes and 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. while also finishing first in homes at 5 p.m. Belo8 hit the winner's circle at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds while Fox4 sustained a rare, across-the-board shutout.
Belo8's bus touring 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts have been something of a bust this week. The ABC station's heavy promotional campaign and extra expense have paid off in only sporadic wins in time periods it dominated until this year. Through Thursday, here's a snapshot of the week's 16 early evening competitions in total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds:
Belo8
First place finishes: 7 (including one tie with NBC5)
Second place: 5
Third place: 1
Fourth place: 3
NBC5
First place: 6 (including one tie with Belo8)
Second place: 6
Third place: 3
Fourth place: 1
Fox4
First place: 2
Second place: 2
Third place: 10
Fourth place: 2
CBS11
First place: 2
Second place: 2
Third place: 2
Fourth place: 10
On the entertainment front, ABC's new Six Degrees continued to dig a deep ratings hole for itself after the network's preceding smash hit, Grey's Anatomy. Here's the precipitous dropoff in total homes:
Grey's Anatomy -- averaged 392,700 from 8 to 9 p.m.
Six Degrees -- averaged 178,500 homes from 9 to 10 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Oct. 11)
10/18/06 02:37 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
NBC's prime-time entertainment lineup, including two new sitcom premieres, fared poorly in D/FW Wednesday night. Still, NBC5's latenight newscast managed to score commanding ratings wins in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal news target audience for advertisers.
That's a very good sign if you're NBC5. With the November "sweeps" just three weeks away, it shows that significant numbers of viewers are navigating toward rather than away from you. That still leaves the unsolved mystery of veteran anchor Mike Snyder's appeal, but we'll leave that alone for now.
The Peacock opened the night with dismal ratings in D/FW for Tina Fey's 30 Rock and John Lithgow's 20 Good Years, both of which rated far behind ABC's top-drawing Dancing with the Stars and CBS' steadily performing Jericho.
NBC's losing ways continued at 8 and 9 p.m. with The Biggest Loser and the newly plugged in Dateline. The last 15 minutes of the latter program bequeathed 178,500 total homes and 127,215 younger viewers to the 10 p.m. news. NBC5 then upped those numbers to 259,420 homes and 240,295 viewers aged 25-to-54. Most of that audience seemed to come at the expense of CBS11's news, which again suffered significant dropoffs in both categories.
Second place Belo 8's 10 p.m. news added a marginal number of homes (16,660) at 10 p.m., but lost 45,232 of those advertiser-craved 25-to-54-year-olds.
Wednesday's other three major newscast bouts went like this:
*NBC5 won at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, but just four-tenths of a rating point (11,308 viewers) separated the four stations at 6 p.m.
*Belo8 placed first in total homes at 5 and 6 p.m., and also was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.
*Fox4 took total home honors at 6 a.m.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
NBC's prime-time entertainment lineup, including two new sitcom premieres, fared poorly in D/FW Wednesday night. Still, NBC5's latenight newscast managed to score commanding ratings wins in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal news target audience for advertisers.
That's a very good sign if you're NBC5. With the November "sweeps" just three weeks away, it shows that significant numbers of viewers are navigating toward rather than away from you. That still leaves the unsolved mystery of veteran anchor Mike Snyder's appeal, but we'll leave that alone for now.
The Peacock opened the night with dismal ratings in D/FW for Tina Fey's 30 Rock and John Lithgow's 20 Good Years, both of which rated far behind ABC's top-drawing Dancing with the Stars and CBS' steadily performing Jericho.
NBC's losing ways continued at 8 and 9 p.m. with The Biggest Loser and the newly plugged in Dateline. The last 15 minutes of the latter program bequeathed 178,500 total homes and 127,215 younger viewers to the 10 p.m. news. NBC5 then upped those numbers to 259,420 homes and 240,295 viewers aged 25-to-54. Most of that audience seemed to come at the expense of CBS11's news, which again suffered significant dropoffs in both categories.
Second place Belo 8's 10 p.m. news added a marginal number of homes (16,660) at 10 p.m., but lost 45,232 of those advertiser-craved 25-to-54-year-olds.
Wednesday's other three major newscast bouts went like this:
*NBC5 won at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, but just four-tenths of a rating point (11,308 viewers) separated the four stations at 6 p.m.
*Belo8 placed first in total homes at 5 and 6 p.m., and also was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.
*Fox4 took total home honors at 6 a.m.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Oct. 10)
10/18/06 02:35 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
This just in: Katie Couric's still fledgling CBS Evening News just isn't doing very well in D/FW. In fact it's faring terribly so far with the younger viewers it was designed to lure with an anchor who spent 14 years on Today. Here's a telescoped look at how her numbers diminished Tuesday in the three key Nielsen measurements -- total homes, 25-to-54-year-olds and 18-to-49-year-olds.
Total Homes
ABC World News -- 161,840
NBC Nightly News -- 149,940
Fox4 local news -- 90,440
CBS Evening News -- 76,160
25-to-54
World News -- 73,502
Nightly News -- 62, 194
Fox4 local news -- 59,367
According to Jim repeats (Ch. 33) -- 36,751
Evening News (tied with That '70s show repeats on Ch. 21) -- 19,789
18-to-49
World News -- 60,000
Nightly News -- 51,000
Fox4 local news -- 48,000
According to Jim -- 27,000
That '70s Show -- 21,000
Jose L-Censura (Ch. 29) -- 19,500
Evening News -- 9,000
CBS11's four major local newscasts fared little better Tuesday, finishing last at 6 a.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. in competition with Fox4, NBC5 and Belo8. The 10 p.m. newscasts on CBS11 managed third-place finishes,, ahead of Fox4, in total homes and the key 25-to-54 news demographic.
Tuesday's local news winners
*NBC5 at 10 p.m. in both audience measurements, and at 6 p.m. in total homes. The station also tied for first at 6 a.m. with Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds
*Belo8 in both audience measurements at 5 p.m.
*Fox4 at 6 p.m. in the 25-54 demo.
This just in: Katie Couric's still fledgling CBS Evening News just isn't doing very well in D/FW. In fact it's faring terribly so far with the younger viewers it was designed to lure with an anchor who spent 14 years on Today. Here's a telescoped look at how her numbers diminished Tuesday in the three key Nielsen measurements -- total homes, 25-to-54-year-olds and 18-to-49-year-olds.
Total Homes
ABC World News -- 161,840
NBC Nightly News -- 149,940
Fox4 local news -- 90,440
CBS Evening News -- 76,160
25-to-54
World News -- 73,502
Nightly News -- 62, 194
Fox4 local news -- 59,367
According to Jim repeats (Ch. 33) -- 36,751
Evening News (tied with That '70s show repeats on Ch. 21) -- 19,789
18-to-49
World News -- 60,000
Nightly News -- 51,000
Fox4 local news -- 48,000
According to Jim -- 27,000
That '70s Show -- 21,000
Jose L-Censura (Ch. 29) -- 19,500
Evening News -- 9,000
CBS11's four major local newscasts fared little better Tuesday, finishing last at 6 a.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. in competition with Fox4, NBC5 and Belo8. The 10 p.m. newscasts on CBS11 managed third-place finishes,, ahead of Fox4, in total homes and the key 25-to-54 news demographic.
Tuesday's local news winners
*NBC5 at 10 p.m. in both audience measurements, and at 6 p.m. in total homes. The station also tied for first at 6 a.m. with Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds
*Belo8 in both audience measurements at 5 p.m.
*Fox4 at 6 p.m. in the 25-54 demo.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Oct. 9)
10/18/06 02:33 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
The 10 p.m. newscast ratings on Mondays should be owned by CBS11. But the station continues to squander a major "lead-in" advantage locally from the last 15 minutes of CBS' CSI: Miami. Let's telescope what happened in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target audience for newscasts.
Total Homes
CSI: Miami lead-in --- 249,900
CBS 11 News --- 166,600
NBC's Studio 60 lead-in -- 116,620
NBC5 News -- 176,120
ABC's What About Brian -- 116,620
Belo8 News -- 147,560
Fox4 News at Nine -- 130,900
Fox4 News at 10 -- 104,720
25-to-54-year-olds
CSI: Miami -- 186,582
CBS11 News -- 90,464
Studio 60 -- 98,945
NBC5 News -- 130,042
What About Brian -- 96,118
Belo8 News -- 96,118
Fox4 News at Nine -- 87,637
Fox4News at 10 -- 67,848
The significant audience dropoffs for CBS11's latenight newscast, coupled with audience gains by its two major competitors, are of major concern to management. The station won't win its first-ever "sweeps" victory at 10 p.m. until it can maximize the largesse of its network, particularly on Monday nights. Instead, a severely disadvantaged NBC5 won in both major audience measurements.
NBC5 also had a big day in the other major newscast competitions, winning at 6 a.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. for a clean sweep in total homes. Among 25-to-54-year-olds, NBC5 tied Fox4's Good Day at 6 a.m. and also matched Belo8's winning numbers at 5 p.m. Fox4 took the top spot at 6 p.m., with Belo8 dropping to fourth.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
The 10 p.m. newscast ratings on Mondays should be owned by CBS11. But the station continues to squander a major "lead-in" advantage locally from the last 15 minutes of CBS' CSI: Miami. Let's telescope what happened in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target audience for newscasts.
Total Homes
CSI: Miami lead-in --- 249,900
CBS 11 News --- 166,600
NBC's Studio 60 lead-in -- 116,620
NBC5 News -- 176,120
ABC's What About Brian -- 116,620
Belo8 News -- 147,560
Fox4 News at Nine -- 130,900
Fox4 News at 10 -- 104,720
25-to-54-year-olds
CSI: Miami -- 186,582
CBS11 News -- 90,464
Studio 60 -- 98,945
NBC5 News -- 130,042
What About Brian -- 96,118
Belo8 News -- 96,118
Fox4 News at Nine -- 87,637
Fox4News at 10 -- 67,848
The significant audience dropoffs for CBS11's latenight newscast, coupled with audience gains by its two major competitors, are of major concern to management. The station won't win its first-ever "sweeps" victory at 10 p.m. until it can maximize the largesse of its network, particularly on Monday nights. Instead, a severely disadvantaged NBC5 won in both major audience measurements.
NBC5 also had a big day in the other major newscast competitions, winning at 6 a.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. for a clean sweep in total homes. Among 25-to-54-year-olds, NBC5 tied Fox4's Good Day at 6 a.m. and also matched Belo8's winning numbers at 5 p.m. Fox4 took the top spot at 6 p.m., with Belo8 dropping to fourth.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Oct. 6-8)
10/18/06 02:30 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Guess what? Sunday's Cowboys-Eagles game did huge business on Fox4. Here's the scorecard in the three principal ratings categories:
Homes -- 811,580
18-to-49-year-olds -- 674,400
25-to-54-year-olds -- 673,674
Now how about that Friday night Texas governor's debate on Belo8? It placed third from 7 to 8 p.m. in all three major food groups. A comparison:
Homes -- 97,580
18-to-49-year-olds -- 39,000
25-to-54-year-olds -- 48,059
The Friday local newscast ratings also were less than sensational for Belo8. The ABC station rarely loses across the board with 25-to-54-year-olds, the key newscast demographic for advertisers. But on Friday, Belo8 was an uncommmon fourth at 10 p.m., third at 6 p.m. and second at 5 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The day's winners were NBC5 at 10 p.m. and 5 p.m., and Fox4 at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Still, there's a silver lining for Belo8 in the early morning race, which now is second only in importance to the 10 p.m. competition. The station's Daybreak slowly has been closing in on NBC5's waker-upper. On Friday, Belo8 finished second from 6 to 7 a.m. with both 25-to-54-year-olds and in households. Belo8 also has been gaining on NBC5 at 10 p.m., where the latter station's winning streak stretches to the Feb. 2002 "sweeps."
Simultaneously, though, Belo8's onetime strongholds at 5 and 6 p.m. are crumbling. So it should be a very interesting and competitive November sweeps race, with each of the four major newscast races up for grabs.
Guess what? Sunday's Cowboys-Eagles game did huge business on Fox4. Here's the scorecard in the three principal ratings categories:
Homes -- 811,580
18-to-49-year-olds -- 674,400
25-to-54-year-olds -- 673,674
Now how about that Friday night Texas governor's debate on Belo8? It placed third from 7 to 8 p.m. in all three major food groups. A comparison:
Homes -- 97,580
18-to-49-year-olds -- 39,000
25-to-54-year-olds -- 48,059
The Friday local newscast ratings also were less than sensational for Belo8. The ABC station rarely loses across the board with 25-to-54-year-olds, the key newscast demographic for advertisers. But on Friday, Belo8 was an uncommmon fourth at 10 p.m., third at 6 p.m. and second at 5 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The day's winners were NBC5 at 10 p.m. and 5 p.m., and Fox4 at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Still, there's a silver lining for Belo8 in the early morning race, which now is second only in importance to the 10 p.m. competition. The station's Daybreak slowly has been closing in on NBC5's waker-upper. On Friday, Belo8 finished second from 6 to 7 a.m. with both 25-to-54-year-olds and in households. Belo8 also has been gaining on NBC5 at 10 p.m., where the latter station's winning streak stretches to the Feb. 2002 "sweeps."
Simultaneously, though, Belo8's onetime strongholds at 5 and 6 p.m. are crumbling. So it should be a very interesting and competitive November sweeps race, with each of the four major newscast races up for grabs.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Oct. 5)
10/18/06 02:28 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
ABC's Grey's Anatomy again ruled the ratings roost in D/FW, but both the network and Belo8 have to be more than a trifle disappointed in the hit med drama's Thursday night supporting cast.
Grey's lured a highly impressive 372,000 advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds to thump CBS' competing CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (174,000). The 8 p.m. slot's other ostensible big cheese, NBC's Deal or No Deal, melted down to just 57,000 younger viewers.
Then the bottom fell out at 9 p.m., with ABC's new Six Degrees dropping two-thirds of its inherited 18-to-49 audience. Meanwhile, NBC's ER docs more than tripled Deal's punchless performance, drawing 213,000 younger viewers to spank second-place Six Degrees (126,000). CBS' new Shark also dropped the ball, sinking to 99,000 of those heavily courted 18-to-49-year-olds.
From 7 to 8 p.m., the second episode of ABC's Ugly Betty beat CBS' runnerup Survivor: Cook Islands in total homes (235,620 to 185,640). But the score dramatically changed with 18-to-49-year-olds. Here's a telescoped look:
The Office (NBC) -- 135,000
Survivor -- 132,000
Smallville (CW) -- 126,000
Ugly Betty -- 117,000
My Name is Earl (NBC) -- 96,000
Fox's Mets-Dodgers playoff game struck out in both ratings categories.
In the local newscast derby, NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in total homes and the advertiser-preferred 25-to-54-year-old target audience for non-entertainment programming. Belo8 took the 5 and 6 p.m. races in both competitions. And at 6 a.m., Fox4 won as usual with 25-to-54-year-olds while NBC5 claimed first in total homes.
ABC's Grey's Anatomy again ruled the ratings roost in D/FW, but both the network and Belo8 have to be more than a trifle disappointed in the hit med drama's Thursday night supporting cast.
Grey's lured a highly impressive 372,000 advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds to thump CBS' competing CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (174,000). The 8 p.m. slot's other ostensible big cheese, NBC's Deal or No Deal, melted down to just 57,000 younger viewers.
Then the bottom fell out at 9 p.m., with ABC's new Six Degrees dropping two-thirds of its inherited 18-to-49 audience. Meanwhile, NBC's ER docs more than tripled Deal's punchless performance, drawing 213,000 younger viewers to spank second-place Six Degrees (126,000). CBS' new Shark also dropped the ball, sinking to 99,000 of those heavily courted 18-to-49-year-olds.
From 7 to 8 p.m., the second episode of ABC's Ugly Betty beat CBS' runnerup Survivor: Cook Islands in total homes (235,620 to 185,640). But the score dramatically changed with 18-to-49-year-olds. Here's a telescoped look:
The Office (NBC) -- 135,000
Survivor -- 132,000
Smallville (CW) -- 126,000
Ugly Betty -- 117,000
My Name is Earl (NBC) -- 96,000
Fox's Mets-Dodgers playoff game struck out in both ratings categories.
In the local newscast derby, NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in total homes and the advertiser-preferred 25-to-54-year-old target audience for non-entertainment programming. Belo8 took the 5 and 6 p.m. races in both competitions. And at 6 a.m., Fox4 won as usual with 25-to-54-year-olds while NBC5 claimed first in total homes.
The Dallas two-step resumes
10/05/06 04:45 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Yet another 11th hour development came at 10 p.m. earlier this week. That's when "the busiest woman in South Hollywood," a k a Dallas Film Commission director Janis Burklund, learned that the makers of a long-planned Dallas feature film want to reboot yet again. Now they'd prefer to shuck Louisiana and film the whole thing here in return for more "cheap or free" inducements.
"We've just got some more work to do to make it work for them," Burklund said in a telephone interview Thursday after talking to representatives of 20th Century Fox. "It's exhausting. We have to scrape. I have to constantly beg people for incentives. But we are Dallas. We have a look that's very hard to duplicate in Louisiana."
Production on the film, initially scheduled to start this month, has been pushed back to Feb. 5, Burklund said. And the shooting schedule has shrunk to 45 days, with John Travolta still the only confirmed star. He'd be J.R. Ewing, the role made famous by Larry Hagman more than a quarter-century ago.
Earlier this year, Burklund was told that the filmmakers would shoot roughly one-third of Dallas in Dallas, with tax incentive-rich Louisiana getting the bulk of the action. But now the game's on again, with Burklund and her thimble-sized staff scurrying to assure the film's bean-counters that Dallas can provide cheaper office space, more affordable location shoots and local crews that can go home at night rather than be fed dinner and put up in hotel rooms. Burklund figures she has a month before pre-production starts in mid-November.
"There are just all these little pieces to try to put this little jigsaw puzzle together," she said. "It's a shining example of why we need these state tax incentives. If we had them, we wouldn't be having these conversations with the film people. It would have been a given that Dallas would be made here."
Travolta's been cast for several months. But the movie's director and scriptwriters have changed, and the supporting cast remains up in the air. Shirley MacLaine and Luke Wilson supposedly are still negotiating to play Miss Ellie and Bobby Ewing, while Marcia Cross of Desperate Housewives is the latest actress rumored to be the new Pam Ewing.
Other reels are turning, too. Fox's Prison Break continues to shoot in North Texas while the show takes a three-week hiatus in deference to baseball's playoffs and World Series. And brief exterior shooting on the pilot for HBO's 12 Miles of Bad Road is scheduled for late October, with Lily Tomlin heading the cast as Dallas high-end realtor Amelia Shakespeare. Mary Kay Place is also in the mix in a dramedy created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason of Designing Women fame.
Burklund said that Denzel Washington also was in Dallas recently to scout locations for Great Debaters, a period drama set at Wiley College in Marshall, TX. Shooting on the feature film tentatively is set for next spring, with Dallas, Marshall and Shreveport, LA each getting part of the action under Washington's direction.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Oct. 4)
10/05/06 02:43 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Lost was found -- big-time --- in D/FW Wednesday night.
Rarely does an entertainment show amass double-digit ratings among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. But the third season premiere of ABC's mind trip turned that corner with a 10.2 Nielsen number (a whopping 306,000 younger viewers). That's more than the combined 18-to-49-year-old audience for the four major networks' competing programs -- CBS' Criminal Minds, NBC's The Biggest Loser, Fox's repeat of House and CW's One Tree Hill.
Lost also was watched in a grand total of 357,000 D/FW homes. That's a home improvement of more than 25 percent over the preceding Dancing with the Stars, another ABC hit buoyed locally by contestant Emmitt Smith.
In the latenight arena, the 18-to-49-year-old crowd preferred Channel 33's 11 p.m.-midnight repeats of Friends and Sex & the City to any of the high-powered network comedy/talk shows on NBC, CBS and ABC.
Wednesday's local news wars gave each of the four combatants something nice to tell their sales reps. The key news demographic -- 25-to-54-year-olds -- yielded three winners. Belo8 triumphed at 10 p.m., but by just two-tenths of a rating point over NBC5. The ABC affiliate came close to squandering a huge lead-in advantage from ABC's preceding premiere of The Nine.
Belo8 also won at 5 p.m., while NBC5 and Fox4 respectively took the trophies at 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The total homes ratings gave CBS11 a win at 10 p.m. Fox4 was No. 1 at 6 a.m. and Belo8 topped the field at 5 and 6 p.m.
Katie Couric's 5:30 p.m. CBS Evening News remained a hard sell in D/FW. She tied for fourth in the 25-to-54 ratings (with Channel 33's rerun of According to Jim) and was a distant third in total homes.
Wednesday's dreaded "hashmark" honors (no measurable rating) go to the new MyNetworkTV's Desire at 7 p.m. on Çhannel 27. The translated telenovela had no pulse with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Lost was found -- big-time --- in D/FW Wednesday night.
Rarely does an entertainment show amass double-digit ratings among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. But the third season premiere of ABC's mind trip turned that corner with a 10.2 Nielsen number (a whopping 306,000 younger viewers). That's more than the combined 18-to-49-year-old audience for the four major networks' competing programs -- CBS' Criminal Minds, NBC's The Biggest Loser, Fox's repeat of House and CW's One Tree Hill.
Lost also was watched in a grand total of 357,000 D/FW homes. That's a home improvement of more than 25 percent over the preceding Dancing with the Stars, another ABC hit buoyed locally by contestant Emmitt Smith.
In the latenight arena, the 18-to-49-year-old crowd preferred Channel 33's 11 p.m.-midnight repeats of Friends and Sex & the City to any of the high-powered network comedy/talk shows on NBC, CBS and ABC.
Wednesday's local news wars gave each of the four combatants something nice to tell their sales reps. The key news demographic -- 25-to-54-year-olds -- yielded three winners. Belo8 triumphed at 10 p.m., but by just two-tenths of a rating point over NBC5. The ABC affiliate came close to squandering a huge lead-in advantage from ABC's preceding premiere of The Nine.
Belo8 also won at 5 p.m., while NBC5 and Fox4 respectively took the trophies at 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The total homes ratings gave CBS11 a win at 10 p.m. Fox4 was No. 1 at 6 a.m. and Belo8 topped the field at 5 and 6 p.m.
Katie Couric's 5:30 p.m. CBS Evening News remained a hard sell in D/FW. She tied for fourth in the 25-to-54 ratings (with Channel 33's rerun of According to Jim) and was a distant third in total homes.
Wednesday's dreaded "hashmark" honors (no measurable rating) go to the new MyNetworkTV's Desire at 7 p.m. on Çhannel 27. The translated telenovela had no pulse with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
The Belo guv debate: Self-serving or public service?
10/05/06 11:49 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Are the powerbrokers at Belo Corp. playing monopoly with Friday night's one and only televised Texas gubernatorial debate?
Well, they're certainly playing hardball. But from this view, the bigger problems are the night, the format and the on-air exclusion of anyone not employed by Belo.
Here's the gist of "Belo's Rules for the Gubernatorial Debate," a document sent to various news outlets with an interest in the four-way face-off among Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Democrat Chris Bell and independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman:
1. No non-Belo stations in "Belo markets" (Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin) will be allowed to carry the debate live.
2. TV stations outside these markets can air the debate live, but can't stream it on their Web sites.
3. Spanish-language and PBS stations in Belo markets cannot carry the debate live, but can rebroadcast it later within a four-day window that will close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
4. Radio stations in and outside Belo markets can air the debate live, but can't stream it on their Web sites.
5. All TV stations in Texas can air segments from the debate on their late night Friday newscasts.
This isn't the way it used to be done, although in practice not much will change in terms of the debate's overall TV and radio exposure. In recent years, gubernatorial debates were brokered by a consortium of Belo, PBS TV stations, the Texas Association of Broadcasters, the Texas State Radio Networks and Texas Monthly. That was the game plan again this year, with Thursday, Oct. 5 the original target date.
Then Belo stepped in and agreed to Perry's insistence that there be one debate only, and that it be scheduled on the eve of Saturday's Texas-Oklahoma game. Frankly, there's no use in having a debate without Perry, so he can pretty much call the tune.
Let's be honest. Even if Belo's rules permitted, rival broadcast stations would have next to no interest in preempting network entertainment programming for a Texas governor's debate. And anyone who wants to watch Perry et. al. instead of Ghost Whisperer presumably will have an opportunity to do so, either on live TV or on Belo-owned Web sites. It's not a perfect situation, but it's good enough for government work. In this case, that's doubly so.
Here are the potential pitfalls, though. First, it's a lousy night and time. Many potential viewers are still out and about at 7 p.m. on a Friday. Texas-OU weekend further drains the audience pool.
Belo also is relying solely on Belo-ites to both question the candidates and keep them in line during the one-hour debate. The corporation's four Texas TV properties are represented by moderator Greg Hurst (Houston's KHOU) and questioners John McCaa (Dallas' WFAA), Sarah Lucero (San Antonio's KENS) and Christine Haas (Austin's KVUE). The lone print interloper is easily the most knowledgeable participant. Veteran Austin bureau chief Wayne Slater of Belo's The Dallas Morning News knows Texas politics through and through.
McCaa is a quality anchor, but his slot should have been given to Brad Watson, the guy in the campaign trenches for Belo8. Hurst, Lucero and Haas are all anchors, too. Do they really know the ins and outs of the governor's race better than their respective stations' field reporters, who perhaps aren't as pretty?
One more thing: There's no slot this time for Texas Monthly's hard-hitting political junkie, Paul Burka. He doesn't work for Belo, so tough luck for him.
Oh well, it's a done deal, and we'll see how Friday's Belo-centric event plays out. For an objective review, check out unclebarky.com on Saturday morn.
Are the powerbrokers at Belo Corp. playing monopoly with Friday night's one and only televised Texas gubernatorial debate?
Well, they're certainly playing hardball. But from this view, the bigger problems are the night, the format and the on-air exclusion of anyone not employed by Belo.
Here's the gist of "Belo's Rules for the Gubernatorial Debate," a document sent to various news outlets with an interest in the four-way face-off among Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Democrat Chris Bell and independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman:
1. No non-Belo stations in "Belo markets" (Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin) will be allowed to carry the debate live.
2. TV stations outside these markets can air the debate live, but can't stream it on their Web sites.
3. Spanish-language and PBS stations in Belo markets cannot carry the debate live, but can rebroadcast it later within a four-day window that will close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
4. Radio stations in and outside Belo markets can air the debate live, but can't stream it on their Web sites.
5. All TV stations in Texas can air segments from the debate on their late night Friday newscasts.
This isn't the way it used to be done, although in practice not much will change in terms of the debate's overall TV and radio exposure. In recent years, gubernatorial debates were brokered by a consortium of Belo, PBS TV stations, the Texas Association of Broadcasters, the Texas State Radio Networks and Texas Monthly. That was the game plan again this year, with Thursday, Oct. 5 the original target date.
Then Belo stepped in and agreed to Perry's insistence that there be one debate only, and that it be scheduled on the eve of Saturday's Texas-Oklahoma game. Frankly, there's no use in having a debate without Perry, so he can pretty much call the tune.
Let's be honest. Even if Belo's rules permitted, rival broadcast stations would have next to no interest in preempting network entertainment programming for a Texas governor's debate. And anyone who wants to watch Perry et. al. instead of Ghost Whisperer presumably will have an opportunity to do so, either on live TV or on Belo-owned Web sites. It's not a perfect situation, but it's good enough for government work. In this case, that's doubly so.
Here are the potential pitfalls, though. First, it's a lousy night and time. Many potential viewers are still out and about at 7 p.m. on a Friday. Texas-OU weekend further drains the audience pool.
Belo also is relying solely on Belo-ites to both question the candidates and keep them in line during the one-hour debate. The corporation's four Texas TV properties are represented by moderator Greg Hurst (Houston's KHOU) and questioners John McCaa (Dallas' WFAA), Sarah Lucero (San Antonio's KENS) and Christine Haas (Austin's KVUE). The lone print interloper is easily the most knowledgeable participant. Veteran Austin bureau chief Wayne Slater of Belo's The Dallas Morning News knows Texas politics through and through.
McCaa is a quality anchor, but his slot should have been given to Brad Watson, the guy in the campaign trenches for Belo8. Hurst, Lucero and Haas are all anchors, too. Do they really know the ins and outs of the governor's race better than their respective stations' field reporters, who perhaps aren't as pretty?
One more thing: There's no slot this time for Texas Monthly's hard-hitting political junkie, Paul Burka. He doesn't work for Belo, so tough luck for him.
Oh well, it's a done deal, and we'll see how Friday's Belo-centric event plays out. For an objective review, check out unclebarky.com on Saturday morn.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Oct. 3)
10/04/06 12:46 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Local newscasts on Belo8 are starting to roll a bit in the ratings. They're not nearly the juggernauts they once were, but a little momentum is evident of late.
Most notable is Belo8's performance in the now feverishly competitive 6 to 7 a.m. hour, where the ABC affiliate's Daybreak lately has been reaching near-parity among advertiser-targeted 25-to-54-year-olds. On both Monday and Tuesday, the show finished a scant one-tenth of a rating point behind Fox4's Good Day, which usually has lots more breathing room. Local ratings are volatile of late, so this could change as soon as tomorrow. But for now, Belo8 is happy to get a vitamin B shot.
Belo8 also took the 5 and 10 p.m. newscast competitions among 25-to-54-year-olds, but dropped to third at 6 p.m., well behind Fox4 and NBC5. In total homes, Belo8 won in a walk at 5 and 6 p.m., while NBC5 and Fox4 respectively were tops at 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
On the entertainment front (where 18-to-49-year-olds are the key measurement), here's a snapshot of an interesting four-way fight at 3 p.m. among some of the country's top syndicated hours:
Ellen (NBC5) -- 27,000
Dr. Phil (CBS11) -- 24,000
Who Wants to be a Millionaire (Belo8) -- 18,000
Judge Alex (Fox4) -- 12,000
Ellen, on the other hand, ranked only third in total homes, where Millionaire easily outpointed Phil.
Tuesday's most-watched program, in a romp, was ABC's Emmitt Smith-fueled Dancing with the Stars. It easily won in all three major Nielsen measurements, drawing more than five times the audience for the first 90 minutes of Fox4's competing Yankees-Tigers playoff game. Dancing was watched in 326,060 homes, for instance, while baseball barely got to home plate (60,690).
Local newscasts on Belo8 are starting to roll a bit in the ratings. They're not nearly the juggernauts they once were, but a little momentum is evident of late.
Most notable is Belo8's performance in the now feverishly competitive 6 to 7 a.m. hour, where the ABC affiliate's Daybreak lately has been reaching near-parity among advertiser-targeted 25-to-54-year-olds. On both Monday and Tuesday, the show finished a scant one-tenth of a rating point behind Fox4's Good Day, which usually has lots more breathing room. Local ratings are volatile of late, so this could change as soon as tomorrow. But for now, Belo8 is happy to get a vitamin B shot.
Belo8 also took the 5 and 10 p.m. newscast competitions among 25-to-54-year-olds, but dropped to third at 6 p.m., well behind Fox4 and NBC5. In total homes, Belo8 won in a walk at 5 and 6 p.m., while NBC5 and Fox4 respectively were tops at 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
On the entertainment front (where 18-to-49-year-olds are the key measurement), here's a snapshot of an interesting four-way fight at 3 p.m. among some of the country's top syndicated hours:
Ellen (NBC5) -- 27,000
Dr. Phil (CBS11) -- 24,000
Who Wants to be a Millionaire (Belo8) -- 18,000
Judge Alex (Fox4) -- 12,000
Ellen, on the other hand, ranked only third in total homes, where Millionaire easily outpointed Phil.
Tuesday's most-watched program, in a romp, was ABC's Emmitt Smith-fueled Dancing with the Stars. It easily won in all three major Nielsen measurements, drawing more than five times the audience for the first 90 minutes of Fox4's competing Yankees-Tigers playoff game. Dancing was watched in 326,060 homes, for instance, while baseball barely got to home plate (60,690).
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Oct. 2)
10/03/06 01:57 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Escapist entertainment? In D/FW, not so much. Prison Break's Nielsen ratings remain pretty dismal in these parts, even though the second season of the Fox series is being shot entirely in North Texas.
Monday night's seventh episode, the last before a three-week break for baseball, failed to arrest the attention of advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. Nationally, Prison Break placed first with that key target demographic. But on Fox4 in D/FW, it ran fifth! Here's a telescoped look, with the number of younger viewers shown in thousands:
Deal or No Deal (NBC5) -- 105,000
Wife Swap (ABC/Belo8) --- 102,000
The Class and How I Met Your Mother (CBS11) -- 84,000
7th Heaven (CW/Ch. 33) -- 78,000
Prison Break (Fox4) -- 75,000
Prison Break otherwise ran fourth in households locally, but most network advertisers focus solely on the 18-49 ratings. So consider the otherwise still hot Fox show an unaccountably big flop in D/FW. Why? It escapes me.
In the newscast wars, Belo8 had a big day with 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target for non-entertainment programming. The ABC station won handily at 5 and 6 p.m. while nipping CBS11 by just one-tenth of a point at 10 p.m. Belo8 in turn trailed early morning's usual frontrunner, Fox4's Good Day, by just one-tenth of a point from 6 to 7 a.m.
It was a different story in total homes, with CBS11 winning at 10 p.m. while Belo8 notched wins at 5 and 6 p.m. Fox4 again prevailed at 6 a.m. over runnerup NBC5.
The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, now in its fifth week, has been designed to have higher appeal with younger viewers. On Monday it was just the opposite in D/FW. Couric squeezed into second place at 5:30 p.m. in total homes, but ran fourth in the 25-54 and 18-49 races. In both cases, Fox4's local newscast took third place.
Monday's most-watched shows in the three major ratings competitions
Homes: CBS' CSI: Miami -- 276,080
25-to-54: CSI: Miami -- 206,371
18-to-49: CSI: Miami -- 198,000
Escapist entertainment? In D/FW, not so much. Prison Break's Nielsen ratings remain pretty dismal in these parts, even though the second season of the Fox series is being shot entirely in North Texas.
Monday night's seventh episode, the last before a three-week break for baseball, failed to arrest the attention of advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. Nationally, Prison Break placed first with that key target demographic. But on Fox4 in D/FW, it ran fifth! Here's a telescoped look, with the number of younger viewers shown in thousands:
Deal or No Deal (NBC5) -- 105,000
Wife Swap (ABC/Belo8) --- 102,000
The Class and How I Met Your Mother (CBS11) -- 84,000
7th Heaven (CW/Ch. 33) -- 78,000
Prison Break (Fox4) -- 75,000
Prison Break otherwise ran fourth in households locally, but most network advertisers focus solely on the 18-49 ratings. So consider the otherwise still hot Fox show an unaccountably big flop in D/FW. Why? It escapes me.
In the newscast wars, Belo8 had a big day with 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target for non-entertainment programming. The ABC station won handily at 5 and 6 p.m. while nipping CBS11 by just one-tenth of a point at 10 p.m. Belo8 in turn trailed early morning's usual frontrunner, Fox4's Good Day, by just one-tenth of a point from 6 to 7 a.m.
It was a different story in total homes, with CBS11 winning at 10 p.m. while Belo8 notched wins at 5 and 6 p.m. Fox4 again prevailed at 6 a.m. over runnerup NBC5.
The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, now in its fifth week, has been designed to have higher appeal with younger viewers. On Monday it was just the opposite in D/FW. Couric squeezed into second place at 5:30 p.m. in total homes, but ran fourth in the 25-54 and 18-49 races. In both cases, Fox4's local newscast took third place.
Monday's most-watched shows in the three major ratings competitions
Homes: CBS' CSI: Miami -- 276,080
25-to-54: CSI: Miami -- 206,371
18-to-49: CSI: Miami -- 198,000
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri., Sept. 29)
10/02/06 11:30 AM Ed Bark |Permalink
By ED BARK
Let's take an up-close look at a largely unreported ratings phenomenon in D/FW. Virtually every day of the week. Fox4's homegrown Good Day whips the national networks' heavily promoted and financed morning shows from 7 to 9 a.m.
Friday's numbers were typical, with Good Day again winning handily in both total homes and the key newscast target audience of 25-to-54-year-olds. Note that each Nielsen rating point equals 23,800 homes and 28,270 viewers aged 25-to-54. And from now on, we're going to do the math for you. Here's a snapshot:
Homes
Good Day -- 97,580
Good Morning America (ABC) -- 85,680
Today (NBC) -- 69,020
The Early Show (CBS) -- 35,700.
25-54
Good Day -- 53,713
GMA -- 45,232
Today -- 28,270
Early show -- 24,030
Good Day also won at 6 a.m. in both categories opposite local morning shows on NBC5, Belo8 and CBS11. Otherwise the spoils were divided at 5,6 and 10 p.m.
Belo8 took the 10 p.m. crown Friday in both homes and 25-54. The ABC affiliate also won at 6 p.m. in homes, but placed third to Fox4 and NBC5 with younger viewers. At 5 p.m., it was Fox4 topping the field in homes while tying for first with Belo8 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Both of the early evening newscast competitions remain exceedingly close, particularly in homes. The winners' circles are changing day-to-day.
On the entertainment front, Megan Mullally's new talk show is a disaster area at 9 a.m. weekdays. Friday's edition on Channel 21 had the dreaded "hash marks" (no measurable rating) among 18-to-49-year-olds, the target advertiser demo for non-news programming. It was the same story in homes. This is not a good sign in a hotly contested time period in which the new Rachael Ray on CBS11 barely placed No. 1 in homes (61,880) while losing the 18-to-49 battle to Belo8's resilient, homegrown Good Morning Texas (31,097). Note: in the 18-49 demo, each rating point equals 30,000 viewers.
Friday's most-watched shows in the three major ratings competitions
Homes -- Wheel of Fortune on CBS11 (157,080)
25-54 -- ABC's 20/20 on Belo8 (104,599)
18-49 -- (tie) 20/20 and ABC's Men In Trees on Belo 8, and Numb3rs on CBS11 (75,000)
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Let's take an up-close look at a largely unreported ratings phenomenon in D/FW. Virtually every day of the week. Fox4's homegrown Good Day whips the national networks' heavily promoted and financed morning shows from 7 to 9 a.m.
Friday's numbers were typical, with Good Day again winning handily in both total homes and the key newscast target audience of 25-to-54-year-olds. Note that each Nielsen rating point equals 23,800 homes and 28,270 viewers aged 25-to-54. And from now on, we're going to do the math for you. Here's a snapshot:
Homes
Good Day -- 97,580
Good Morning America (ABC) -- 85,680
Today (NBC) -- 69,020
The Early Show (CBS) -- 35,700.
25-54
Good Day -- 53,713
GMA -- 45,232
Today -- 28,270
Early show -- 24,030
Good Day also won at 6 a.m. in both categories opposite local morning shows on NBC5, Belo8 and CBS11. Otherwise the spoils were divided at 5,6 and 10 p.m.
Belo8 took the 10 p.m. crown Friday in both homes and 25-54. The ABC affiliate also won at 6 p.m. in homes, but placed third to Fox4 and NBC5 with younger viewers. At 5 p.m., it was Fox4 topping the field in homes while tying for first with Belo8 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Both of the early evening newscast competitions remain exceedingly close, particularly in homes. The winners' circles are changing day-to-day.
On the entertainment front, Megan Mullally's new talk show is a disaster area at 9 a.m. weekdays. Friday's edition on Channel 21 had the dreaded "hash marks" (no measurable rating) among 18-to-49-year-olds, the target advertiser demo for non-news programming. It was the same story in homes. This is not a good sign in a hotly contested time period in which the new Rachael Ray on CBS11 barely placed No. 1 in homes (61,880) while losing the 18-to-49 battle to Belo8's resilient, homegrown Good Morning Texas (31,097). Note: in the 18-49 demo, each rating point equals 30,000 viewers.
Friday's most-watched shows in the three major ratings competitions
Homes -- Wheel of Fortune on CBS11 (157,080)
25-54 -- ABC's 20/20 on Belo8 (104,599)
18-49 -- (tie) 20/20 and ABC's Men In Trees on Belo 8, and Numb3rs on CBS11 (75,000)
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Mark her for stardom
10/01/06 10:43 PM Ed Bark |Permalink
Shelly Slater, News 8
By ED BARK
First impressions can be misleading, but not these.
Sparkling News 8 newcomer Shelly Slater, newly plucked from Fox-owned WDAF-TV in Kansas City, clearly is on a fast track to the top of the Dallas station's anchor hierarchy. No longer dominant at 10 p.m. or anywhere else, the Belo-owned station sorely needs a rising star with charm, smarts and sex appeal. In short, a beaming babe with brains. Sorry if that sounds sexist, but you can bet that station management is sold on exactly that combination.
Born in Plano, and currently anchoring weekends with Brad Hawkins, the University of Missouri-Columbia journalism major looks like a diamond in the not-so-rough. She already seems finely polished, a dynamite hire by a station that hasn't been No. 1 in the key 10 p.m. news wars since the November, 2001 "sweeps."
Slater prepped at WSAZ-TV in Charleston, West Virginia, where she was the 2003 Associated Press reporter of the year. She joined Kansas City's Fox station in 2004 as a general assignments reporter, soon becoming a weekend anchor. Now she's effortlessly assumed that same position at News 8. Her talent is apparent at first sight. Simply put, she clicks. Iola Johnson had that same kind of magic during her glory days at Channel 8 with co-anchor Tracy Rowlett.
Not that Slater's inevitable ascendance will happen overnight. Channel 8 obviously has a longtime incumbent anchor, Gloria Campos, at 10 p.m. weeknights. But there are ways of shuffling these decks without altogether dealing someone out.
Know this for sure, though. Belo8 is tired of losing ground to its network-owned rivals at Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11. Also, it's no longer enough to win in the household ratings anymore. Stations whose newscasts prosper with advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-olds are making the cash hauls these days. Belo8 isn't exactly a bullet on those charts, but that's where young gun Slater can help.
Prediction: By this time next fall, Shelly Slater will be a full-fledged player on one or more of Belo8's major weeknight newscasts. Not to put any undue pressure on her, but that's exactly why she was hired.