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Heading west for another bout with the summer TV Critics Association "press tour"

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A little piggy in a blanket, Uncle Barky? And so it begins yet again. Photo: Ed Bark

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Television Critics Association’s annual summer “press tour” gets underway this week, and your friendly content provider is heading west once again to arduous Beverly Hills.

The damned thing will stretch all the way through Aug. 9th, when FX typically puts an end to it with a full day of interview sessions. I’ll be there almost for the duration, missing just a handful of early panels on Tuesday, July 25th after arriving in mid-afternoon on that day.

Unclebarky.com will go dark during that time, with all of my dispatches being filed for the New York City-based tvworthwatching.com. You can read them here. (Note to readers: The publishing mechanism I use makes it very complicated to publish via a laptop or other device. And I’m not about to mess with it.)

My first press tour was in the summer of 1980, well before cable networks became a force and also pre-dating the launch of the Fox network, the Internet and latter day streamers such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Only ABC, CBS and NBC “presented” during that 1980 tour. Now it’s an almost impossibly crowded field.

So please wish me luck as I strive to remain both ambulatory and of reasonably sound mind. Unclebarky.com will fire up again in mid-August.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., July 21-23) -- it's Spieth time

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Dallasite Jordan Spieth’s incredible down-the-stretch rally to win the (British) Open put virtually all eyes on NBC’s late morning/early afternoon live coverage Sunday.

Spieth teed off at 8:30 a.m. D-FW time and dropped a short putt to make his third Major tournament victory official at 12:38 p.m. The audience not surprisingly peaked at 225,404 D-FW viewers from 12:30 to 12:45 (Nielsen Media Research measures ratings in 15-minute increments.)

NBC’s 6 to 8 a.m. portion of golf coverage averaged just 29,084 viewers before Spieth and Matt Kuchar began what became a classic battle. Kuchar had taken a one-stroke lead after 13 holes, overcoming a three-stroke deficit at the start of the day. But then came a Spieth barrage of birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie and a closing par. He ended up beating Kuchar by three strokes, averting what for a time seemed like a Masters-style collapse.

Even the great Jack Nicklaus felt compelled to tweet, “Wow! What a wild back nine! Is @JordanSpieth something else?”

The 8:30 to 12:38 portion of The Open averaged 159,964 viewers, and the final hour, 203,591.

It wasn’t the top overall draw of the day, though. That crown again went to CBS’ Big Brother, with a 7 p.m. episode that averaged 232,675 viewers and 112,249 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range. BB has been a virtually unstoppable force this summer, increasing its viewership by the week. But CBS’ following Candy Crush again bombed Sunday night, plummeting to 43,627 total viewers and 12,828 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

A special edition of BB also easily ranked as Friday’s most-watched prime-time attraction, with 196,320 total viewers and 73,763 in the 18-to-49 realm.

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

CBS11 broke through for a 10 p.m. win in total viewers while NBC5 ran first among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 won at 6 a.m. in total viewers and shared the 25-to-54 lead with NBC5.

The 6 p.m. golds went to CBS11 in total viewers and NBC5 with 25-to-54-year-olds. The Peacock also swept the 5 p.m. competitions.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., July 19-20) -- double dose of Big Bro goes down easy for CBS but can't save what follows

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Big Brother continues to work its hot weather magic for CBS, most notably among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds who otherwise tend to stay away from the older-skewing network.

But the following hours also have to be filled. And that’s not working out well at all.

Thursday’s 8 p.m. hour of BB easily led all prime-time attractions with 218,133 total D-FW viewers and 105,834 in the 18-to-49 age range. Then came Zoo, which fell to 65,440 total viewers and super-plunged with 18-to-49-year-olds (12,828).

It was the same story Wednesday night, although the 7 p.m. episode of BB initially had a tougher time of it opposite Fox’s Masterchef. The two shows tied in total viewers with 189,049 apiece while BB nipped Masterchef among 18-to-49-year-olds by a score of 73,763 to 70,556.

Then along came CBS’ new Salvation with 94,524 total viewers but almost a rock-bottom 9,621 within the 18-to-49 motherlode. Back-to-back episodes of NBC’s The Carmichael Show won the 8 p.m. hour in both ratings measurements.

Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast continued to hold up well in the summer heat, scoring twin wins on Thursday against competing network entertainment programming while also topping its slot Wednesday in total viewers. There was a stumble with 18-to-49-year-olds, though, where the newscast ran second to ABC’s repeats of Modern Family and The Goldbergs.

Here are the four-way local news derby results.

Wednesday -- TEGNA8 notched a 10 p.m. win in total viewers by nipping NBC5. The two stations tied for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added 5 and 6 p.m. firsts in the 25-to-54 realm. The total viewer golds went to NBC5 at 5 p.m. and TEGNA8 at 6 p.m.

Thursday -- Fox4 made it a twofer at 10 p.m. and also ran the table at 6 a.m.

TEGNA8 was tops in total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. The firsts with 25-to-54-year-olds went to NBC5 at 5 p.m. and Fox4 at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon.-Tues., July 17-18) -- Fox4's 9 p.m. news puts crimp in NBC's usual Tuesday night dominance

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC usually calls the prime-time tune on Tuesdays with its combo of America’s Got Talent and World of Dance.

Both attractions again were tops in total D-FW viewers, with AGT leading all programming with 319,928. But among advertiser-coveted 18-to-to-49-year-olds, Fox4’s local newscast delivered a big wallop at 9 p.m. with 89,799 while Dance faded to a distant second (60,935). AGT took the 7 to 9 p.m. slot with 70,556 viewers in this key demographic. But that’s a lousy percentage of its overall total.

On a comparatively lackluster Monday, ABC’s The Bachelorette and Fox4’s 9 p.m. news tied for the prime-time lead in total viewers with 138,151 each. They also shared the lead among 18-to-49-year-olds, but with just 44,899 apiece.

And now, here are those delightful local news derby numbers for the four-way competitions.

Monday -- TEGNA8 ran first in total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept both the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. competitions. At 6 p.m., CBS11 ended its latest drought with a win in total viewers and Fox4 took the 25-to-54 gold.

Tuesday -- NBC5 and TEGNA8 tied for the 10 p.m. top spot in total viewers, but TEGNA8 won outright among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and TEGNA8 did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. medals went to TEGNA8 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 realm.

Email comments or questions to; unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs.-Sun., July 13-16) -- still knuckling under to Big Brother

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Who’s your daddy? That would be CBS’ Big Brother.

The network’s annual summertime showcase of bickering “houseguests” continues to dominate, easily ranking as prime-time’s biggest draw on both Sunday and Thursday in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

Sunday’s 7 p.m. hour drew 83,385 D-FW viewers in this age range, blasting ABC’s competing Celebrity Family Feud (51,317). And Thursday’s 8 p.m. edition had 70,556 viewers of the 18-to-49 persuasion, spanking NBC’s competing game hour The Wall (41,692).

BB also pulled in more total viewers than any other Sunday program and tied CBS’ The Big Bang Theory rerun for Thursday’s biggest overall audience.

In the have-not realm, NBC’s Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly continued to languish, with just 65,440 total viewers and 16,036 in the 18-to-49 realm. It’s not a good look when ABC’s competing repeat of America’s Funniest Home Videos whips you on both ratings scorecards.

Other summertime losers are CBS’ hot weather pair of the new Candy Crush and Season 3 of Zoo. Each show plummeted, particularly among 18-to-49-year-olds, after inheriting substantial lead-in audiences from BB.

ABC’s Thursday night lineup was “led” by The Gong Show with just 65,440 total viewers and 19,243 in the 18-to-49 age range. But that made it a ratings monster compared to the network’s lead-off hitter, Boy Band (21,813 total viewers and 2,245 in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic).

(D-FW ratings were not available for HBO’s Sunday night seventh season premiere of Game of Thrones.) Relatively little action took place, but the lines are now pretty firmly drawn for the upcoming all-out war among all those armies in waiting and on the advance.)

Here are the Thursday and Friday local news derby results.

Thursday -- TEGNA8 took the 10 p.m. top spot in total viewers, but Fox4 had the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

The 6 a.m. wins went to Fox4 in total viewers and NBC5 with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 swept the 5 p.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. first among 25-to-54-year-olds. TEGNA8 drew the most total viewers at 6 p.m.

Friday -- NBC5 ran the table at 10 p.m. and Fox4 did likewise at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., the golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., July 12) -- It's Big Brother again while ESPYS, Salvation fight for attention

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Big Brother as usual paid the ratings rent for CBS but couldn’t keep the network’s following premiere of Salvation from bombing with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.

BB lured 96,213 D-FW viewers in this key demographic, nearly half its total audience of 196,320 viewers. Both hauls were prime-time bests Wednesday.

Salvation, in which Earth is facing the imminent arrival of a wipeout asteroid, then won from 8 to 9 p.m. in total viewers with 145,422, just enough to beat the competing hour of ABC’s three-hour ESPY awards (130,880 viewers). But Salvation crumbled to 19,243 viewers in the 18-to-49-year-old realm, well less than half the crowd for the competing hour of the ESPYS (48,107 viewers).

The full three-hour ESPYS, hosted by Peyton Manning, averaged 123,609 total viewers and 44,899 in the 18-to-49 demographic. The sports trophy giveaway was beaten in both measurements from 9 to 10 p.m. by Fox4’s local newscast, which had 159,964 total viewers and 51,314 in the 18-to-49 age range.

And now for Wednesday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 topped the 10 p.m. field in total viewers while Fox4 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

NBC5 took a double turn in the 6 a.m. winner’s circle, where Fox4 usually holds the power.

TEGNA8 ran first in total viewers at 6 p.m., but Fox4 had the 25-to-54 gold. At 5 p.m., NBC5 drew the most total viewers while Fox4 again was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., July 11) -- a low-scoring All-Star game on the field & otherwise

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Absent any Texas Rangers on the playing field, the American League’s 2-1 win over the National League fell hard on Fox to NBC’s competing combo of America’s Got Talent and World of Dance.

AGT easily led all prime-time programming Tuesday with 341,742 D-FW viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. World of Dance then likewise beat the All-Star game with 225,404 viewers in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS’ 7 p.m. rerun of NCIS also outscored the game with 203,591 viewers.

Extending to 10 innings and running from 7:22 to 10:38 p.m., the All-Stars averaged 181,778 viewers, down significantly from last year’s crowd of 247,884 for the American League’s 4-2 victory. AGT conversely jumped from 254,966 viewers to last night’s 341,742.

The game also fell to an average of 57,728 viewers in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic, compared to 98,447 for last year’s All-Star encounter. AGT drew 64,142 viewers in the 18-to-49 realm before World of Dance had a night’s best of 73,763.

The closing innings of the game did manage to outdraw each of the 10 p.m. local newscasts on NBC5, TEGNA8 and CBS11. But the ratings nonetheless were pretty dismal, despite some extra Fox gimmickry that included interviewing two outfielders on the field of play while the game was in progress .

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.

CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. in a downsized three-way race while NBC5 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 ran first at 6 a.m. in total viewers, but the Peacock again was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.

At 6 p.m., TEGNA8 took the total viewers gold and Fox4 had the most 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 and TEGNA8 tied for the total viewers lead at 5 p.m., with Fox4 again the 25-to-54 winner.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., July 10) -- diminishing returns

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Summertime viewing levels pretty much flat-lined in prime-time Monday, with even the Babe Ruth-ian exploits of Aaron Judge failing to generate all that much interest in the All-Star game’s home run derby.

ABC’s two-hour edition of The Bachelorette won the 7 to 9 p.m. slot with just 138,151 D-FW viewers despite the continued presence of Dallas lawyer Rachel Lindsay as the show’s rose queen. Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast then dominated that hour with the same number of viewers.

Among 18-to-49-year-olds, Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance nipped the first hour of Bachelorette, but with only 38,485 viewers in this key demographic. The rest of prime-time’s winners, also with lowly totals, were hour two of Bachelorette and Fox4’s newscast.

On ESPN, the home run derby averaged 94,524 total viewers and 32,071 in the 18-to-49-year-old realm. For the entire Monday, Wheel of Fortune on CBS11 was the top draw with 189,049 total viewers in its regular 6:30 p.m. slot.

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 remained in control of the 6 a.m. competitions with twin wins and NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m. The Peacock and TEGNA8 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m., but NBC5 had first place to itself with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., July 7-9) -- CBS tries to Candy Crush competish

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Sunday night’s premiere of CBS’ Candy Crush game show took a big tumble from its Big Brother lead-in while still emerging as semi-sweet.

BB drew 189,049 D-FW viewers in the 7 p.m. slot, losing narrowly to ABC’s competing Celebrity Family Feud (196,320 viewers). But the feuding houseguests as usual muscled up with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, punishing Celeb Fam Feud by a score of 89,799 viewers to 51,314.

Candy Crush, hosted by Mario Lopez, fell to 87,253 total viewers in losing a head-to-head matchup with ABC’s Steve Harvey’s Funderdome (116,338). CC outdrew Funderdome in the 18-to-49 rate race while sharing the top spot from 8 to 9 p.m. with the first hour of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior repeat (28,864 each).

ABC’s $The 100,000 Pyramid won in both measurements at 9 p.m., with 159,964 total viewers and 32,071 in the 18-to-49 realm.

On Friday, Fox4, TEGNA8 and CBS11 all aired locally produced half-hour news specials commemorating the one-year anniversary of the police ambush in downtown Dallas.

TEGNA8 drew the most total viewers with its 10:35 p.m. A City Moves Forward (94,524). Fox4’s 9:30 p.m. Seven Hours had 79,982 viewers while CBS11’s Dallas Ambush: One Year Later, which aired at 6:30 p.m., drew 50,898 viewers.

Among 25-to-54-year-olds (the key advertiser demographic for news programming), Fox4 had 24,054 viewers for its special, followed by TEGNA8 (21,047) and CBS11 (6,013).

Here are Friday’s local news derby results for the quartet of four-way competitions.

NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers, but Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and the Peacock did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. wins went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., July 6) -- another upper for Big Brother

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS keeps prospering with Big Brother, which again led all prime-time programming with its Thursday edition.

Airing in the 8 p.m. hour, BB dominated with 189,049 D-FW viewers and 76,970 in the advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

Another CBS biggie, a 7 p.m. repeat of The Big Bang Theory, also won its time slot in both ratings measurements. The network’s 7:30 p.m. Life In Pieces was tops in total viewers but Fox’s second half of Beat Shazam had the edge with 18-to-49-year-olds.

The 9 p.m. hour also was split. NBC’s The Night Shift ran first in total viewers while Fox4’s local newscast took the 18-to-49 gold.

After a solid start, the third episode of ABC’s The Gong Show re-do continued to sag, running last among the Big Four broadcast networks in total viewers (just 43,627) while beating only CBS’ competing Zoo in the 18-to-49 realm. Zoo was prime-time’s lowest scorer in that key demographic with a sub-measly 6,414 viewers, a gargantuan drop-off from the preceding BB.

Here are Thursday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but was nipped by Fox4 for the lead with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions. TEGNA8 ran first at 5 and 6 p.m. in total viewers while NBC5 won the 25-to-54 crowns at both hours.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Fox4 adds Blake Hanson as reporter

Blake Hanson

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Dallas-based Fox4 has hired Blake Hanson as a general assignment reporter.

He’s scheduled to start on July 31st, the station announced Friday. Hanson has spent the last three years at Charlotte, NC’s WSOC-TV, the market’s ABC affiliate. It’s a sizable but not daunting TV market jump, from No. 22 to No. 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.

“I know Fox4 viewers will welcome a reporter with the skills and passion for investigating the important stories that impact their communities,” Fox4 vice president and news director Robin Whitmeyer says in a statement.

Hanson, who has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, also has worked at New Orleans WDSU-TV and Columbia, MO’s KOMU-TV.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., July 5) -- Big Brother is still big daddy

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS continued to bask in the warm summertime ratings glow of Big Brother Wednesday.

Airing in the 7 p.m. hour, the long-running gaggle of disparate, carping, conniving “houseguests” led all prime-time programming with 196,320 D-FW viewers and 83,385 in the advertiser-cherished 18-to-49 age range.

Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast ranked second in prime-time in both measurements, with 167,235 total viewers and 48,107 in the 18-to-49 realm.

Over on cable’s FX, the 9 p.m. premiere of Snowfall (“How Crack Began”) drew just 36,356 total viewers, falling off from the network’s preceding feature film Kingsman: The Secret Service (50,898). But almost all of Snowfall’s viewers (32,071) were in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Kingsman also had 32,071 viewers within the 18-to-49 motherlode.

Here are Wednesday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and TEGNA8 did likewise at 6 p.m. NBC5 ran first in total viewers at 5 p.m. but Fox4 led with 25-to-54-year-olds.

LOCAL TV NEWS NOTE: Fox4 has announced a half-hour special commemorating the Friday, July 7th one-year anniversary of the police ambush in downtown Dallas.

Seven Hours will air at 9:30 p.m. on that night, Fox4 announced Thursday.

As previously posted, CBS11 earlier announced a half-hour special, Dallas Ambush: One Year Later, for Friday at 6:30 p.m. TEGNA8 hasn’t made any official announcement (at least not to unclebarky.com). But Friday’s programming grid lists a half-hour commemorative special, A City Moves Forward, at 10:35 p.m.

NBC5 will not be joining in with any self-standing commemorative programs.

“We’ve been doing special stories in every newscast all week,” vice president of news Mark Ginther says. “No special planned.”

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri., June 30 to Tues., July 4) -- going Fourth

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s 7 to 9 p.m. edition of Macy’s Fourth of July special topped Tuesday’s prime-time ratings while PBS drew a nice-sized crowd for its annual A Capitol Fourth festivities.

Macy’s mix of performances and fireworks pulled in 138,151 D-FW viewers. But just 19,243 were in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age range. A condensed 9 to 10 p.m. reprise fell off in total viewers but upped its 18-to-49 audience to 32,071.

Over on KERA13, the 7 to 8:30 p.m. Capitol Fourth had 87,253 total viewers and 16,036 in the 18-to-49 realm. Those are big numbers for PBS.

Monday was mostly reruns in prime-time, but CBS hit the jackpot on Sunday night with a new Big Brother hour that lured a league-leading 203,591 total viewers and 96,213 within the 18-to-49 motherlode.

Friday’s top prime-time scorers were CBS’ Blue Bloods repeat in total viewers (138,151) and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast among 18-to-49-year-olds (41,692).

Here are Friday’s local news derby results, with Monday and Tuesday numbers both “thrown out” via holiday exemptions taken by all four competitors.

NBC5 and TEGNA8 tied for the top spot at 10 p.m. in total viewers, but Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and added a 5 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds.

NBC5 drew the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. TEGNA8 prevailed at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net