Aug 2007
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Aug. 30)
08/31/07 12:05 PM
By ED BARK
Meaningless or not, Thursday night's final Dallas Cowboys pre-season game wasn't about to lose to a passel of reruns.
The team's disinterested loss to the Minnesota Vikings, with both teams mostly benching their starters, drew a dominating 343,420 homes from 7 to 10 p.m. on CBS11. The most-watched competing attraction, Fox4's local 9 p.m. newscast, managed 112,038 homes.
That's a wrap for the Cowboys' four pre-season games. Here's how the other three played out in D-FW:
Cowboys-Colts -- 486,601 homes
Cowboys-Broncos -- 361,760 homes
Cowboys-Texans -- 336,113 homes
CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast, delayed until 10:05 p.m. by a big block of commercials and a brief game wrapup, held off Belo8 to win in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8, in a very rare occurrence, came within an eyelash of getting skunked in the four major local newscast competitions. It's only trip to the winner's circle was a first-place tie at 5 p.m. with NBC5 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 easily beat all comers at 6 a.m. in total homes and the 25-to-54 demo. The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of its Good Day also returned to the practice of whipping the three network morning shows.
NBC5 won at 5 and 6 p.m. in total homes and also by an unusually large margin at 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. Its 74,620 viewers in that age group came close to doubling the crowds for runnersup Fox4 and Belo8 (40,180 apiece).
Meaningless or not, Thursday night's final Dallas Cowboys pre-season game wasn't about to lose to a passel of reruns.
The team's disinterested loss to the Minnesota Vikings, with both teams mostly benching their starters, drew a dominating 343,420 homes from 7 to 10 p.m. on CBS11. The most-watched competing attraction, Fox4's local 9 p.m. newscast, managed 112,038 homes.
That's a wrap for the Cowboys' four pre-season games. Here's how the other three played out in D-FW:
Cowboys-Colts -- 486,601 homes
Cowboys-Broncos -- 361,760 homes
Cowboys-Texans -- 336,113 homes
CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast, delayed until 10:05 p.m. by a big block of commercials and a brief game wrapup, held off Belo8 to win in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8, in a very rare occurrence, came within an eyelash of getting skunked in the four major local newscast competitions. It's only trip to the winner's circle was a first-place tie at 5 p.m. with NBC5 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 easily beat all comers at 6 a.m. in total homes and the 25-to-54 demo. The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of its Good Day also returned to the practice of whipping the three network morning shows.
NBC5 won at 5 and 6 p.m. in total homes and also by an unusually large margin at 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. Its 74,620 viewers in that age group came close to doubling the crowds for runnersup Fox4 and Belo8 (40,180 apiece).
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Longstanding news director resigns from CW33
08/31/07 06:58 AM
By ED BARK
Nine years after launching Ch. 33's prime-time newscast, news director Anthony Maisel is opting to leave the building.
"Never bury the lead," Maisel said in a memo to station staffers before telling them he's resigning. His last day will be Sept. 21st.
"I'm leaving because it is time, and there are no other reasons," Maisel told unclebarky.com Thursday.
The Tribune Company currently owns the now CW33 and 25 other TV stations. But speculation abounds that news departments will be terminated at some of those stations after Chicago-based billionaire Sam Zell's purchase of the media giant is finalized sometime this fall. Zell plans to take his new company private. Tribune currently is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
CW33's 9 p.m. news averaged 40,460 D-FW homes per weeknight during the May "sweeps" ratings period, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Maisel said he has no idea whether CW33's news operation has a longterm future. The station's original half-hour WB33 News At Nine debuted in 1998, with Maisel hiring its entire startup staff.
"I still have 15 people here from then," he said.
In his memo, Maisel said that he and his wife, Robin, "discussed this at length and finally realized this decision is the best one for me and my family. I have not decided what my next career will be, but I have a couple of options."
Maisel praised the CW33 news staff as devoted and loyal to both the station and their families.
"I love the news," he said. "But more importantly, I deeply care for all of you and the team we have built," he said.
The 9 p.m. newscast's executive producer, Mark Shepherd, will be in charge of news operations after he leaves, Maisel said.
Nine years after launching Ch. 33's prime-time newscast, news director Anthony Maisel is opting to leave the building.
"Never bury the lead," Maisel said in a memo to station staffers before telling them he's resigning. His last day will be Sept. 21st.
"I'm leaving because it is time, and there are no other reasons," Maisel told unclebarky.com Thursday.
The Tribune Company currently owns the now CW33 and 25 other TV stations. But speculation abounds that news departments will be terminated at some of those stations after Chicago-based billionaire Sam Zell's purchase of the media giant is finalized sometime this fall. Zell plans to take his new company private. Tribune currently is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
CW33's 9 p.m. news averaged 40,460 D-FW homes per weeknight during the May "sweeps" ratings period, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Maisel said he has no idea whether CW33's news operation has a longterm future. The station's original half-hour WB33 News At Nine debuted in 1998, with Maisel hiring its entire startup staff.
"I still have 15 people here from then," he said.
In his memo, Maisel said that he and his wife, Robin, "discussed this at length and finally realized this decision is the best one for me and my family. I have not decided what my next career will be, but I have a couple of options."
Maisel praised the CW33 news staff as devoted and loyal to both the station and their families.
"I love the news," he said. "But more importantly, I deeply care for all of you and the team we have built," he said.
The 9 p.m. newscast's executive producer, Mark Shepherd, will be in charge of news operations after he leaves, Maisel said.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Aug. 29)
08/30/07 09:11 AM
By ED BARK
CBS swept the prime-time ratings in total homes Wednesday with a firstrun Power of 10 followed by reruns of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
Then the roof caved in on CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast. Unlike the previous night, it squandered a substantial lead-in advantage to place a distant third behind frontrunning Belo8 and runnerup NBC5. The ratings-starved station still has a l-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng way to go, with or without the just-canned "First Five Minutes" open.
Belo8 also won at 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The ABC station otherwise had a tougher time on the three other major newscast battlefields.
Fox4 won at 6 a.m. in both ratings measurements, with Belo8 placing second ahead of a lately slumping NBC5.
Belo8 had the edge in total homes at 5 p.m. while NBC5 placed first at 6 p.m.
The Peacock also won at the later hour among 25-to-54-year-olds, with Fox4 taking that prize at 5 p.m.
CBS swept the prime-time ratings in total homes Wednesday with a firstrun Power of 10 followed by reruns of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
Then the roof caved in on CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast. Unlike the previous night, it squandered a substantial lead-in advantage to place a distant third behind frontrunning Belo8 and runnerup NBC5. The ratings-starved station still has a l-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng way to go, with or without the just-canned "First Five Minutes" open.
Belo8 also won at 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The ABC station otherwise had a tougher time on the three other major newscast battlefields.
Fox4 won at 6 a.m. in both ratings measurements, with Belo8 placing second ahead of a lately slumping NBC5.
Belo8 had the edge in total homes at 5 p.m. while NBC5 placed first at 6 p.m.
The Peacock also won at the later hour among 25-to-54-year-olds, with Fox4 taking that prize at 5 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Aug. 28)
08/29/07 09:32 AM
By ED BARK
Belo8's local newscasts fell just short of a rare double grand slam Tuesday, with only Fox4's Good Day standing in the way among advertiser-favored 25-to-54-year-olds.
The ABC station swept the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. local newscast competitions in total homes and also won at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo. But Belo8's Daybreak slipped to third at 6 a.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The gap between first and third place was minimal, though. Here's a telescoped look at the early morning 25-to-54 numbers:
Fox4 -- 54,530
NBC5 -- 48,790
Belo8 -- 43,050
CBS11 -- 8,610
CBS11 fared far better at 10 p.m., though, at least in total homes. It ran second after improving slightly on the 9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in from a repeat of NCIS. The station faded to fourth with 25-to-54-year-olds.
In prime-time, CBS ran first from 7 to 9 p.m. with a firstrun combo of Power of 10 and Big Brother 8. Both shows were tops in both total homes and among 18-to-49-year-olds, the key target audience for non-news programming. ABC's Primetime Crime then took over at 9 p.m.
Belo8's local newscasts fell just short of a rare double grand slam Tuesday, with only Fox4's Good Day standing in the way among advertiser-favored 25-to-54-year-olds.
The ABC station swept the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. local newscast competitions in total homes and also won at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo. But Belo8's Daybreak slipped to third at 6 a.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The gap between first and third place was minimal, though. Here's a telescoped look at the early morning 25-to-54 numbers:
Fox4 -- 54,530
NBC5 -- 48,790
Belo8 -- 43,050
CBS11 -- 8,610
CBS11 fared far better at 10 p.m., though, at least in total homes. It ran second after improving slightly on the 9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in from a repeat of NCIS. The station faded to fourth with 25-to-54-year-olds.
In prime-time, CBS ran first from 7 to 9 p.m. with a firstrun combo of Power of 10 and Big Brother 8. Both shows were tops in both total homes and among 18-to-49-year-olds, the key target audience for non-news programming. ABC's Primetime Crime then took over at 9 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 27)
08/28/07 02:44 PM
By ED BARK
Network reruns pockmarked Monday's prime-time lineups, with none faring worse than Fox's double barrel of Prison Break.
Although filmed entirely in North Texas, a hometown advantage continued to elude the drama's far-flung arsenal of pursued and pursuers. The 7 to 8 p.m. PB repeat drew just 41,405 D-FW homes while the 8 p.m. hour had 51,148. That meant a fifth place finish in the total homes Nielsens and a deeper sixth place hole (behind even TXA21's local newscasts) among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
In the cable arena, ESPN's Falcons-Bengals pre-season game, overrun by Michael Vick blab, drew a nice-sized 107,166 homes to run second overall in prime-time behind CBS' repeats of four comedies and CSI: Miami.
The local newscast returns again gave three of the four stations gold medals.
Belo8 had twin wins at 10 p.m. in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 also had a big total homes win at 6 a.m., where its Daybreak whipped Fox's usually dominant Good Day by a full rating point (24,356 homes). But Good Day retaliated with another first place finish among 25-to-54-year-olds, with Daybreak falling to third.
NBC had an unusually prosperous run in the early evening wars. The Peacock won at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements and also notched a 6 p.m. victory in the 25-to-54 demo. Belo8 picked up a win in total homes at 6 p.m.
Network reruns pockmarked Monday's prime-time lineups, with none faring worse than Fox's double barrel of Prison Break.
Although filmed entirely in North Texas, a hometown advantage continued to elude the drama's far-flung arsenal of pursued and pursuers. The 7 to 8 p.m. PB repeat drew just 41,405 D-FW homes while the 8 p.m. hour had 51,148. That meant a fifth place finish in the total homes Nielsens and a deeper sixth place hole (behind even TXA21's local newscasts) among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
In the cable arena, ESPN's Falcons-Bengals pre-season game, overrun by Michael Vick blab, drew a nice-sized 107,166 homes to run second overall in prime-time behind CBS' repeats of four comedies and CSI: Miami.
The local newscast returns again gave three of the four stations gold medals.
Belo8 had twin wins at 10 p.m. in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 also had a big total homes win at 6 a.m., where its Daybreak whipped Fox's usually dominant Good Day by a full rating point (24,356 homes). But Good Day retaliated with another first place finish among 25-to-54-year-olds, with Daybreak falling to third.
NBC had an unusually prosperous run in the early evening wars. The Peacock won at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements and also notched a 6 p.m. victory in the 25-to-54 demo. Belo8 picked up a win in total homes at 6 p.m.
Prolific, terrific, large-livin' local boy continues to make good
08/27/07 08:07 PM
Certain local media types love chronicling their every piddling move. But The Dallas Observer's Robert Wilonsky has been next-to-mum about his continued guest-hosting of the syndicated Ebert & Roeper movie review program.
I've been even more remiss in not mentioning Wilonsky's fine work as a pinch-hitter for the still ailing Roger Ebert. D-FW's most prolific writer/interviewer and partyer will be joining co-host Richard Roeper again this weekend. You can see him locally on Belo8 at 12:35 a.m. Sundays.
The long-term future of E&R is in doubt, with Ebert and Disney still dickering over a new contract. For now, though, the show goes on. And it's made a very wise choice in bringing Wilonsky in from the wings.
Ed Bark
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 24-26)
08/27/07 10:14 AM
By ED BARK
There's still more than a passing interest in Dallas Cowboys pre-season games, even when they're throwing interceptions.
But Saturday's total homes numbers took another dip, although each D-FW Nielsen rating point is newly worth 24,365 homes instead of 23,800.
The Cowboy's loss to the Houston Texans drew a very nice-sized 336,113 homes on CBS11, down from 361,760 the previous Saturday against the Denver Broncos. Fox4 amassed 486,601 total homes for the team's Aug. 9th pre-season opener against the defending Super Bowl champ Indianapolis Colts.
CBS11 deployed its A-team news anchors, Doug Dunbar and Karen Borta, for Saturday's 10 p.m. news in hopes of gaining some much-needed visibility immediately after game's end. The station then managed a rarity, 10 p.m. victories in both total homes (194,848) and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main target audience for news programming.
On Sunday, Fox's two-hour Teen Choice Awards, in which surfboards serve as trophies, sunk to fourth place from 7 to 9 p.m. with just 65,761 homes. But did the show win with D-FW teens? Yes and no. It ran second with 12-to-17-year-olds from 7 to 8 p.m. opposite a repeat of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. But the second hour of Teen Choice had the biggest teen haul of the day (23,345 of 'em).
At the other end of the viewing teeter-totter, Teen Choice overall averaged just 9,600 viewers 55 years and older. Dagnabbit, the competing Texas Rangers-Seattle Mariners game on MY27 drew 83,680 of 'em.
Over on ESPN, Sunday afternoon's Little League World Series championship game, won by Georgia over Japan with a walk-off homer, lured a comparatively pint-sized 24,356 total homes. Still, it was Sunday's most-watched ESPN attraction.
In Friday's local news derby, Belo8 won at 10 p.m. in total homes, but CBS11 tallied a win with 25-to-54-year-olds coming off a league-leading lead-in from the Patriots-Panthers pre-season game. The lead-in disparity wasn't huge, though, and CBS11 actually improved on it.
It was back to the outhouse at 6 a.m., though, where CBS11 endured "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) for the third time in the last four weekdays.
Fox4 again won handily in both measurements at that early hour, with Belo8 pulling into second place ahead of NBC5.
Belo8 placed first at 6 p.m. across the board and also was tops at 5 p.m. in total homes. Fox4 won at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds.
There's still more than a passing interest in Dallas Cowboys pre-season games, even when they're throwing interceptions.
But Saturday's total homes numbers took another dip, although each D-FW Nielsen rating point is newly worth 24,365 homes instead of 23,800.
The Cowboy's loss to the Houston Texans drew a very nice-sized 336,113 homes on CBS11, down from 361,760 the previous Saturday against the Denver Broncos. Fox4 amassed 486,601 total homes for the team's Aug. 9th pre-season opener against the defending Super Bowl champ Indianapolis Colts.
CBS11 deployed its A-team news anchors, Doug Dunbar and Karen Borta, for Saturday's 10 p.m. news in hopes of gaining some much-needed visibility immediately after game's end. The station then managed a rarity, 10 p.m. victories in both total homes (194,848) and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main target audience for news programming.
On Sunday, Fox's two-hour Teen Choice Awards, in which surfboards serve as trophies, sunk to fourth place from 7 to 9 p.m. with just 65,761 homes. But did the show win with D-FW teens? Yes and no. It ran second with 12-to-17-year-olds from 7 to 8 p.m. opposite a repeat of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. But the second hour of Teen Choice had the biggest teen haul of the day (23,345 of 'em).
At the other end of the viewing teeter-totter, Teen Choice overall averaged just 9,600 viewers 55 years and older. Dagnabbit, the competing Texas Rangers-Seattle Mariners game on MY27 drew 83,680 of 'em.
Over on ESPN, Sunday afternoon's Little League World Series championship game, won by Georgia over Japan with a walk-off homer, lured a comparatively pint-sized 24,356 total homes. Still, it was Sunday's most-watched ESPN attraction.
In Friday's local news derby, Belo8 won at 10 p.m. in total homes, but CBS11 tallied a win with 25-to-54-year-olds coming off a league-leading lead-in from the Patriots-Panthers pre-season game. The lead-in disparity wasn't huge, though, and CBS11 actually improved on it.
It was back to the outhouse at 6 a.m., though, where CBS11 endured "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) for the third time in the last four weekdays.
Fox4 again won handily in both measurements at that early hour, with Belo8 pulling into second place ahead of NBC5.
Belo8 placed first at 6 p.m. across the board and also was tops at 5 p.m. in total homes. Fox4 won at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Aug. 23)
08/24/07 04:11 PM
By ED BARK
America's Team, the sainted Green Bay Packers, brightened up prime-time Thursday on a night otherwise filled with reruns and the weekly Big Brother 8 eviction show on CBS.
Fox's presentation of the Pack's spirited and inspirational losing effort against the Jacksonville Jaguars lured 133,958 D-FW homes to win the 7 to 9 p.m. slot. Then a repeat of CBS' Without A Trace took over from 9 to 10 p.m. with 159,460 homes. (Note: we're using new Nielsen figures that say each rating point in D-FW is worth 24,356 homes, up from 23,800.)
The Packers didn't fare quite as well with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, edging Big Brother but losing to both Trace and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Belo8 scored twice at 10 p.m., where its local newscast won in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The ABC station also had an infrequent win at 6 a.m. in total homes, but Fox4 continued its summer-long dominance among 25-to-54-year-olds. CBS11 finally registered some viewers in that key demo after receiving "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) on the previous two early mornings. This time CBS11 managed 8,610 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo, compared to first-place Fox4's 54,530.
Belo8 won in both ratings measurements at 5 p.m. and also had a victory at 6 p.m. in total homes. NBC5 broke through with a 6 p.m. win among 25-to-54-year-olds.
America's Team, the sainted Green Bay Packers, brightened up prime-time Thursday on a night otherwise filled with reruns and the weekly Big Brother 8 eviction show on CBS.
Fox's presentation of the Pack's spirited and inspirational losing effort against the Jacksonville Jaguars lured 133,958 D-FW homes to win the 7 to 9 p.m. slot. Then a repeat of CBS' Without A Trace took over from 9 to 10 p.m. with 159,460 homes. (Note: we're using new Nielsen figures that say each rating point in D-FW is worth 24,356 homes, up from 23,800.)
The Packers didn't fare quite as well with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, edging Big Brother but losing to both Trace and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Belo8 scored twice at 10 p.m., where its local newscast won in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The ABC station also had an infrequent win at 6 a.m. in total homes, but Fox4 continued its summer-long dominance among 25-to-54-year-olds. CBS11 finally registered some viewers in that key demo after receiving "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) on the previous two early mornings. This time CBS11 managed 8,610 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo, compared to first-place Fox4's 54,530.
Belo8 won in both ratings measurements at 5 p.m. and also had a victory at 6 p.m. in total homes. NBC5 broke through with a 6 p.m. win among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Taking the 5th
08/24/07 08:13 AM
By ED BARK
As expected, Dallas-Fort Worth has climbed another rung on the TV market ladder and now trails only the major megalopolises of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.
D-FW, boasting 2,435,600 TV homes according to new measurements from Nielsen Media Research, moved into fifth place ahead of the slumping San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area. (Note: this new number now will be used in all future "Local Nielsen ratings snapshot" reports on unclebarky.com.)
Nielsen also says that Houston remained in the No. 10 spot while San Antonio stays at 37th. But Austin moved up a notch to 51st.
Philadelphia will be out of reach for quite a while. Its 2,939,950 TV homes give it slightly more than a half-million lead over D-FW, which gained 56,940 homes in the past year.
As expected, Dallas-Fort Worth has climbed another rung on the TV market ladder and now trails only the major megalopolises of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.
D-FW, boasting 2,435,600 TV homes according to new measurements from Nielsen Media Research, moved into fifth place ahead of the slumping San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area. (Note: this new number now will be used in all future "Local Nielsen ratings snapshot" reports on unclebarky.com.)
Nielsen also says that Houston remained in the No. 10 spot while San Antonio stays at 37th. But Austin moved up a notch to 51st.
Philadelphia will be out of reach for quite a while. Its 2,939,950 TV homes give it slightly more than a half-million lead over D-FW, which gained 56,940 homes in the past year.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Aug. 22)
08/23/07 09:22 AM
By ED BARK
The premiere of Fox's amusingly shallow Anchorwoman did the trick in the key 18-to-49-year-old demo Wednesday night but otherwise was no blockbuster in D-FW.
Starring model and former wrestling villain Lauren Jones as a raw recruit to a Tyler, TX newsroom, Anchorwoman drew 77,500 advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. CBS' Power of 10 game show, the runnerup from 7 to 8 p.m., had 65,1000 viewers in that demo.
Power of 10 topped Anchorwoman in total homes, though -- 109,480 to 92,820. NBC's competing Most Outrageous Moments (97,580) also outdrew the Fox confection, scheduled to run for four more Wednesdays.
In the cable universe, an overall average of 29,842 homes tuned in the Texas Rangers' modern day record 30-run explosion against the Baltimore Orioles. The game aired in the late afternoon and early evening on Fox Sports Southwest.
The daily local news competitions again had three winners.
NBC5 took first place at 10 p.m. in total homes and also topped English language newscasts among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. But Univision's Spanish language Noticias 23 newscast had the most 25-to-54-year-olds, drawing 111,390 to the Peacock's 103,320.
Fox4 nipped Belo8 in total homes at 6 a.m., but won by a more comfortable margin with 25-to-54-year-olds. For the second straight day, CBS11 registered morale-killing "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) in the key 25-to-54 demo.
Belo8 won in total homes at 5 and 6 p.m. and also placed first with 25-to-54-year-olds at the earlier hour. The ABC station and NBC5 tied in that audience demo at 6 p.m.
The premiere of Fox's amusingly shallow Anchorwoman did the trick in the key 18-to-49-year-old demo Wednesday night but otherwise was no blockbuster in D-FW.
Starring model and former wrestling villain Lauren Jones as a raw recruit to a Tyler, TX newsroom, Anchorwoman drew 77,500 advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. CBS' Power of 10 game show, the runnerup from 7 to 8 p.m., had 65,1000 viewers in that demo.
Power of 10 topped Anchorwoman in total homes, though -- 109,480 to 92,820. NBC's competing Most Outrageous Moments (97,580) also outdrew the Fox confection, scheduled to run for four more Wednesdays.
In the cable universe, an overall average of 29,842 homes tuned in the Texas Rangers' modern day record 30-run explosion against the Baltimore Orioles. The game aired in the late afternoon and early evening on Fox Sports Southwest.
The daily local news competitions again had three winners.
NBC5 took first place at 10 p.m. in total homes and also topped English language newscasts among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. But Univision's Spanish language Noticias 23 newscast had the most 25-to-54-year-olds, drawing 111,390 to the Peacock's 103,320.
Fox4 nipped Belo8 in total homes at 6 a.m., but won by a more comfortable margin with 25-to-54-year-olds. For the second straight day, CBS11 registered morale-killing "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) in the key 25-to-54 demo.
Belo8 won in total homes at 5 and 6 p.m. and also placed first with 25-to-54-year-olds at the earlier hour. The ABC station and NBC5 tied in that audience demo at 6 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Aug. 21)
08/22/07 09:53 AM
By ED BARK
NBC's two-hour finale of America's Got Talent, with two North Texans vying for the $1 million grand prize, expectedly dominated Tuesday's prime-time ratings.
Audiences peaked between 8:45 and 9 p.m., when 226,100 D-FW homes watched Mesquite-based ventriloquist Terry Fator proclaimed "The Best New Act in America." He outlasted runnerup Cas Haley of Arlington, whose reggae song stylings also kept the phone and Internet votes coming in.
Overall, AGT averaged 188,020 total homes from 7 to 9 p.m. while also lapping the field with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds (114,700 of 'em).
ABC's Primetime Crime (138,040 homes) then took over at 9 p.m., edging competition from NBC's Singing Bee and CBS' NCIS (both with 130,900 homes). Bee was tops with 18-to-49-year-olds, though, giving the Peacock a clean sweep in that key demo.
In the local news derby, it again was very bad news for CBS11 in the hard-fought 6 a.m. race. The station had "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. In no small measure that's a disaster. Even a pair of infomercials on CW33 outdrew CBS11 from 6 to 7 a.m.
Fox4 again easily led the way at 6 a.m. in both audience measurements, outpointing CBS11 83,230 to 0 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 notched two wins at 10 p.m., with a particularly strong showing in the 25-to-54 demo. It had 154,980 of 'em compared to 103,320 for Univision's runnerup Spanish language newscast, Noticias 23.
Belo8 had a paper thin win at 5 p.m. in total homes, and a bit wider margin at 6 p.m. over runnerup NBC5. But the Peacock took the 5 p.m. crown with 25-to-54-year-olds.
At 6 p.m. it was a three-way tie among NBC5, Fox4 and a King of Queens rerun on TXA21. Belo8 slid to an unaccustomed sixth place at that hour, with CBS11's newscast and a CW33 Friends repeat tying for fourth.
NBC's two-hour finale of America's Got Talent, with two North Texans vying for the $1 million grand prize, expectedly dominated Tuesday's prime-time ratings.
Audiences peaked between 8:45 and 9 p.m., when 226,100 D-FW homes watched Mesquite-based ventriloquist Terry Fator proclaimed "The Best New Act in America." He outlasted runnerup Cas Haley of Arlington, whose reggae song stylings also kept the phone and Internet votes coming in.
Overall, AGT averaged 188,020 total homes from 7 to 9 p.m. while also lapping the field with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds (114,700 of 'em).
ABC's Primetime Crime (138,040 homes) then took over at 9 p.m., edging competition from NBC's Singing Bee and CBS' NCIS (both with 130,900 homes). Bee was tops with 18-to-49-year-olds, though, giving the Peacock a clean sweep in that key demo.
In the local news derby, it again was very bad news for CBS11 in the hard-fought 6 a.m. race. The station had "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. In no small measure that's a disaster. Even a pair of infomercials on CW33 outdrew CBS11 from 6 to 7 a.m.
Fox4 again easily led the way at 6 a.m. in both audience measurements, outpointing CBS11 83,230 to 0 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 notched two wins at 10 p.m., with a particularly strong showing in the 25-to-54 demo. It had 154,980 of 'em compared to 103,320 for Univision's runnerup Spanish language newscast, Noticias 23.
Belo8 had a paper thin win at 5 p.m. in total homes, and a bit wider margin at 6 p.m. over runnerup NBC5. But the Peacock took the 5 p.m. crown with 25-to-54-year-olds.
At 6 p.m. it was a three-way tie among NBC5, Fox4 and a King of Queens rerun on TXA21. Belo8 slid to an unaccustomed sixth place at that hour, with CBS11's newscast and a CW33 Friends repeat tying for fourth.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 20)
08/21/07 10:55 AM
By ED BARK
Fox4 had a mid- to late-summer night's dream Monday, controlling most of prime-time and also winning across the board in the key newscast audience demographic of 25-to-54-year-olds.
For starters, the Fox network's cut-and-paste TV's Funniest Moments special controlled the 7 to 9 p.m. slot in both total homes (161,840) and among 18-to-49-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for entertainment programming.
Fox4's local 9 p.m. newscast then beat all competing programs in the 25-to-54 demo and finished second by small margins to CBS' CSI: Miami in both total homes and with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Meanwhile, 7 to 9 p.m. repeats of NBC's Thank God You're Here and Heroes barely had a pulse with D-FW audiences, respectively luring 45,220 and 40,460 total homes.
Fox4's 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. local newscasts ran the table among 25-to-54-year-olds, the favored advertiser target audience for news programming. Belo8 claimed a share of the lead at 5 p.m.. But the ABC station drooped badly at 6 a.m., where Fox4 drew 77,490 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo compared to Belo8's third-place 28,700 viewers.
NBC5 ran just a smidgen behind Fox4 in the 10 p.m. ratings for 25-to-54-year-olds. It was more bad news for CBS11, though. Despite a substantial lead-in from CSI: Miami, CBS11 ran a distant fifth in this key demo. Univision's Noticias 23 newscast tied for second with the Peacock.
Belo8 had a better day in the total homes Nielsens, finishing first by comfortable margins at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
Fox4 continued its dominance at 6 a.m., again outpointing runnerup NBC5.
Fox4 had a mid- to late-summer night's dream Monday, controlling most of prime-time and also winning across the board in the key newscast audience demographic of 25-to-54-year-olds.
For starters, the Fox network's cut-and-paste TV's Funniest Moments special controlled the 7 to 9 p.m. slot in both total homes (161,840) and among 18-to-49-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for entertainment programming.
Fox4's local 9 p.m. newscast then beat all competing programs in the 25-to-54 demo and finished second by small margins to CBS' CSI: Miami in both total homes and with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Meanwhile, 7 to 9 p.m. repeats of NBC's Thank God You're Here and Heroes barely had a pulse with D-FW audiences, respectively luring 45,220 and 40,460 total homes.
Fox4's 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. local newscasts ran the table among 25-to-54-year-olds, the favored advertiser target audience for news programming. Belo8 claimed a share of the lead at 5 p.m.. But the ABC station drooped badly at 6 a.m., where Fox4 drew 77,490 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo compared to Belo8's third-place 28,700 viewers.
NBC5 ran just a smidgen behind Fox4 in the 10 p.m. ratings for 25-to-54-year-olds. It was more bad news for CBS11, though. Despite a substantial lead-in from CSI: Miami, CBS11 ran a distant fifth in this key demo. Univision's Noticias 23 newscast tied for second with the Peacock.
Belo8 had a better day in the total homes Nielsens, finishing first by comfortable margins at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
Fox4 continued its dominance at 6 a.m., again outpointing runnerup NBC5.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 17-19)
08/20/07 09:49 AM
By ED BARK
The Dallas Cowboys of course were the weekend's big draw, although Saturday's numbers weren't up to the previous week's pre-season opener.
Cowboys-Broncos on CBS11 averaged 361,760 homes, down from the 486,601 that watched the Aug. 9th Cowboys-Colts game on Fox4. Still, nothing else came remotely close to Saturday's Dallas win. The competing Texas Rangers-Minnesota Twins game on MY27 drew just 33,320 faithful hardball homes.
On Friday night, The Disney Channel's premiere of High School Musical 2 easily outdrew all competing D-FW broadcast and cable programming. From 7 to 9 p.m., HSM2 amassed 168,980 homes and had a giant-sized 35 percent share of 12-to-17-year-olds watching TV at those hours. All told, HSM2 lured an average of 56,260 teens in the D-FW viewing area.
In Friday's local news derby, Belo8 notched wins at 10 p.m. in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 continued its dominance at 6 a.m., winning in both ratings measurements. The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Good Day also again beat the three network morning shows across the board.
Fox4 had an unusually good day at 6 p.m., too, registering twin wins. Belo8 did likewise at 5 p.m.
The Dallas Cowboys of course were the weekend's big draw, although Saturday's numbers weren't up to the previous week's pre-season opener.
Cowboys-Broncos on CBS11 averaged 361,760 homes, down from the 486,601 that watched the Aug. 9th Cowboys-Colts game on Fox4. Still, nothing else came remotely close to Saturday's Dallas win. The competing Texas Rangers-Minnesota Twins game on MY27 drew just 33,320 faithful hardball homes.
On Friday night, The Disney Channel's premiere of High School Musical 2 easily outdrew all competing D-FW broadcast and cable programming. From 7 to 9 p.m., HSM2 amassed 168,980 homes and had a giant-sized 35 percent share of 12-to-17-year-olds watching TV at those hours. All told, HSM2 lured an average of 56,260 teens in the D-FW viewing area.
In Friday's local news derby, Belo8 notched wins at 10 p.m. in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 continued its dominance at 6 a.m., winning in both ratings measurements. The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Good Day also again beat the three network morning shows across the board.
Fox4 had an unusually good day at 6 p.m., too, registering twin wins. Belo8 did likewise at 5 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Aug. 16)
08/17/07 10:03 AM
By ED BARK
Paced by a dominating performance from the So You Think You Can Dance finale, Fox4 swept Thursday's prime-time ratings, with nothing else even close.
Dancing drew 180,880 homes from 7 to 9 p.m., with a repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation running a distant second (111,860 homes). The hoof-and-puff competition also smoked all comers in the advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-old competish (see, I'm sounding like Daily Variety). Its 136,400 viewers in that realm more than doubled the crowd for ABC's Grey's Anatomy repeat (58,900 of 'em).
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast likewise easily controlled the last hour of prime-time, emerging as Thursday's most-watched program in total homes (204,680).
The 10 p.m. news competition went to Belo8 in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 also won in homes at 5 and 6 p.m., but otherwise couldn't get to the winner's circle. NBC5 took first place at 5 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds and Fox4 topped the 6 p.m. Nielsens in that demographic.
The 6 a.m. ratings again belonged to Fox4, with CBS11 continuing to experience very trying times at that hour. Here's a telescoped look at Thursday's top-to-bottom disparities in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds.
TOTAL HOMES
Fox4 -- 76,170
Belo8 -- 69,020
NBC5 -- 57,120
CBS11 -- 16,660
25-to-54-YEAR-OLDS
Fox4 -- 60,270
Belo8 -- 40,180
NBC5 -- 25,830
CBS11-- 861
No, that last number's not a misprint. But it sure is a jolt.
Paced by a dominating performance from the So You Think You Can Dance finale, Fox4 swept Thursday's prime-time ratings, with nothing else even close.
Dancing drew 180,880 homes from 7 to 9 p.m., with a repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation running a distant second (111,860 homes). The hoof-and-puff competition also smoked all comers in the advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-old competish (see, I'm sounding like Daily Variety). Its 136,400 viewers in that realm more than doubled the crowd for ABC's Grey's Anatomy repeat (58,900 of 'em).
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast likewise easily controlled the last hour of prime-time, emerging as Thursday's most-watched program in total homes (204,680).
The 10 p.m. news competition went to Belo8 in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 also won in homes at 5 and 6 p.m., but otherwise couldn't get to the winner's circle. NBC5 took first place at 5 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds and Fox4 topped the 6 p.m. Nielsens in that demographic.
The 6 a.m. ratings again belonged to Fox4, with CBS11 continuing to experience very trying times at that hour. Here's a telescoped look at Thursday's top-to-bottom disparities in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds.
TOTAL HOMES
Fox4 -- 76,170
Belo8 -- 69,020
NBC5 -- 57,120
CBS11 -- 16,660
25-to-54-YEAR-OLDS
Fox4 -- 60,270
Belo8 -- 40,180
NBC5 -- 25,830
CBS11-- 861
No, that last number's not a misprint. But it sure is a jolt.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Aug. 15)
08/16/07 10:27 AM
By ED BARK
Flashy cars making constant high-speed left turns on an oval playground are supposed to be a hot proposition in these parts.
Not so with the Wednesday night premiere of ABC's NASCAR in PrimeTime, which sputtered to a distant fourth place finish in both total homes and with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
NASCAR drew just 57,120 homes from 9 to 10 p.m. and 54,740 in its final 15 minutes. But the sub-dismal showing didn't keep Belo8 from winning the 10 p.m. newscast competition. Here's a telescoped look at how some D-FW newscasts have drawing power and one clearly still doesn't.
9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in -- NASCAR in PrimeTime (54,740 homes)
Belo8's 10 p.m. news -- 161,840 homes
9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in -- Dateline NBC (154,700 homes)
NBC5's 10 p.m. news -- 145,180 homes
9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in -- CSI: NY (164,220 homes)
CBS11's 10 p.m. news -- 116,620 homes
9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in -- Fox4's local newscast (119,000 homes)
Fox4's 10 p.m. news -- 114,240 homes
Belo8 also won at 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. Despite the solid lead-in from CSI: NY, CBS11's news dipped to fifth place in the English-speaking broadcast universe. It ran slightly behind an Everybody Loves Raymond repeat on CW33.
Elsewhere in prime-time, the first hour of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance (7 to 8 p.m.) edged the new CBS game show Power of 10 in total homes. From 8 to 9 p.m., a repeat of CBS' Criminal Minds narrowly took first.
Dance handily won the 7 to 9 p.m. slot with 18-to-49-year-olds, though.
In the other major local news races, Fox4 continued its dominance at 6 a.m. with runaway wins in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 won in both ratings measurements at 5 p.m., and also in total homes at 6 p.m. But NBC5 broke through to take first place at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo.
Flashy cars making constant high-speed left turns on an oval playground are supposed to be a hot proposition in these parts.
Not so with the Wednesday night premiere of ABC's NASCAR in PrimeTime, which sputtered to a distant fourth place finish in both total homes and with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
NASCAR drew just 57,120 homes from 9 to 10 p.m. and 54,740 in its final 15 minutes. But the sub-dismal showing didn't keep Belo8 from winning the 10 p.m. newscast competition. Here's a telescoped look at how some D-FW newscasts have drawing power and one clearly still doesn't.
9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in -- NASCAR in PrimeTime (54,740 homes)
Belo8's 10 p.m. news -- 161,840 homes
9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in -- Dateline NBC (154,700 homes)
NBC5's 10 p.m. news -- 145,180 homes
9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in -- CSI: NY (164,220 homes)
CBS11's 10 p.m. news -- 116,620 homes
9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in -- Fox4's local newscast (119,000 homes)
Fox4's 10 p.m. news -- 114,240 homes
Belo8 also won at 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. Despite the solid lead-in from CSI: NY, CBS11's news dipped to fifth place in the English-speaking broadcast universe. It ran slightly behind an Everybody Loves Raymond repeat on CW33.
Elsewhere in prime-time, the first hour of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance (7 to 8 p.m.) edged the new CBS game show Power of 10 in total homes. From 8 to 9 p.m., a repeat of CBS' Criminal Minds narrowly took first.
Dance handily won the 7 to 9 p.m. slot with 18-to-49-year-olds, though.
In the other major local news races, Fox4 continued its dominance at 6 a.m. with runaway wins in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 won in both ratings measurements at 5 p.m., and also in total homes at 6 p.m. But NBC5 broke through to take first place at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo.
Long-term forecast: Whatever the weather, Pete Delkus won't be cooling it
08/15/07 12:45 PM
No longer green: Belo8's Pete Delkus has that well-weathered look. Photos: Ed Bark
By ED BARK
Belo8 chief meteorologist Pete Delkus came right out and man-hugged sports anchor Dale Hansen last week upon his return from Cowboys training camp.
Their on-air embrace definitely wouldn't have been Troy Dungan's style. But the bow-tied weather legend, who retired on July 18th, already seems like ancient history at the station that first brought him to prominence 31 years ago. Delkus quickly has put his own stamp on North Texas maps, whether intensely taking viewers though severe weather or lobbing little broadsides at Hansen during what one observer has termed "Pete 'n' Dale's Playhouse."
"I think Delkus is one of the best hires 8 has ever made," Hansen says via email. "He's a little crazy, and as most people probably know, I like those kinds of guys. Dungan will always be one of the best people I've ever worked with. But Delkus is gonna get there."
He arrived in June 2005, jumping from the 33rd to 6th largest TV market after turning down a lifetime contract offer from WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, where he spent nine years. In an earlier life he had been a highly regarded minor league pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization. But an elbow injury permanently ended that career and sent Delkus on the path to a "totally out of nowhere career."
Post-baseball, he planned on being a sportscaster after majoring in TV and radio communications at Southern Illinois University. But an executive at an Orlando, Florida TV station forecast a much brighter future for Delkus as a weatherman.
Delkus balked, and this time not from a pitcher's mound.
"My first response was, 'Man, I don't want to do weather. Those guys are a bunch of geeks,' " Delkus recalls from his perch at Belo8's weather center. "But here I am and I absolutely love it. I can't imagine chasing down athletes to get interviews."
Delkus, 41, took masters level meteorology courses at Mississippi State University. He prepped as a forecaster for WFTV-TV in Orlando before moving to Cincinnati in 1996. He had talked to friends about moving to TV's big leagues, with Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth on his radar. But Delkus also figured that "they've got a guy in Dallas who's never gonna retire."
Then came the call from Dungan, who indeed was getting ready to call it quits and had hand-picked Delkus as his successor. So no cold fronts, just a warm breeze.
"I was very concerned about coming here and replacing Troy because I didn't want people to think I was the guy kicking him out," Delkus says.
For a while they tried a two-headed weatherman approach, often appearing together to divvy up highs and lows. It was all part of the "anointing" process, but Dungan says their five months as on-air teammates often felt a "bit awkward."
"That was not our favorite thing," Dungan said in an earlier interview. "We didn't mind working together, but every night at 6:30 we said, 'What the heck are we going to do tonight?' "
Meanwhile, the station was readying a major promotional push with the tagline "Delkus Delivers." The saturation ad campaign, launched earlier this year, blanketedd the D-FW viewing area with billboards, bus signs and six tongue-in-cheek TV commercials that portrayed the newcomer as omniscient in all matters of weather forecasting.
"Rather than go with a typical chest-beating approach, we just did the opposite of that," says Jim Glass, Belo8's director of creative services. "We wanted to have some fun with him, and also play up credibility."
NBC5 president and general manager Tom O'Brien says he still has the hammer in veteran David Finfrock, now the "inarguable dean" of D-FW temperature takers.
"If you're trying to compete against that, that's a fairly significant uphill battle, because David is so good," O'Brien says.
Finfrock has never received this kind of star treatment, though. Some of the Delkus spots, currently being rested, co-star his real-life children, Emily and Peter. In one they encourage Dad to "do it again." He responds by parroting, "72 degrees, 32 percent humidity, Southwest wind at 10."
Another commercial has a garishly dressed golfer striding up to Delkus' house.
"Petie," he implores before Delkus gives him a look that says bad weather is on the way. The poor sap tosses his clubs as Delkus says, "Thunderstorms."
The timing proved fortuitous, says Glass. "We had one of our biggest talent switches ever. And here we hit the wettest May, June and July in history."
Delkus admittedly is sometimes overly earnest during severe storms, but says that bad weather has never floated his boat.
"If we never had ice storms or tornadoes or flooding, I'd be the happiest guy in town," he says. "Because I go out to these situations and see where people have lost everything they've worked their whole lives to have. So the only time I'm serious and not screwing around is when we have bad weather. Otherwise if it's sunny and 100, let's have a little fun."
Night in, night out, Delkus' principal foil is the always opinionated Hansen.
"I'm kind of like Eddie Haskell," he says, a reference to Leave It to Beaver's resident sandbagger.
Delkus says he initially watched Hansen in wonderment. "Oh my gosh," he thought. "He's so outrageous."
But he later convinced himself that Hansen is "really a big teddy bear. So I decided to give him a hard time one night and see how far I could push him. He comes over to me after the news and says, 'Hey, that's pretty funny. You know, nobody gives me crap here.' "
"Does that bother you?" Delkus says he asked. "And Hansen's like, 'No, not at all.' "
It's pretty much been open season ever since, with Delkus jabbing Hansen about his lack of hair, ample girth and Bobble-head doll likeness among other things. Hansen in turn has ridiculed Delkus' pitching prowess and close-cropped "Chia Pet" hairstyle.
Belo8 executive news director Michael Valentine says the Pete 'n' Dale sideshow is now officially incorporated into 10 p.m. newscasts as a vehicle to keep second-half ratings from sagging.
"It gives some life to the end of the show," he says. "it's not the identity of who we are, but in Dale and Pete you have two very dominating personalities. I don't think there's anything wrong with watching a newscast and at some point laughing during it. I think we go too far sometimes, but that's life. They miss each other when they're not together."
The banter between them is "not contrived," Valentine adds. "They don't work out any of their skits beforehand. It's as spontaneous as it can be. They like to give each other grief. You really love Dale or you really don't love Dale. And now we've got somebody in there who can kind of mix it up with him and keep him on his toes. It just provides something that you don't see elsewhere in the market right now. We have the luxury of those big personalities."
Delkus, a fitness buff who lifts weights and runs with his bird dogs five days a week, says he understands when Hansen occasionally exercises the option to lay out on him.
"Some nights it's better for Dale not to say anything. Because he may say something that gets both of us in trouble. But from what he tells me, he's having a great time."
As is Delkus. And if he wasn't . . .
"If I can't have fun at work, I'd want to go a place where I could," he says. "But I can have fun here. I don't want to imagine working anywhere else."
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Aug. 14)
08/15/07 09:50 AM
By ED BARK
When it rains it pours. OK, bad analogy of late.
CBS11's consistently dismal 10 p.m. newscast ratings dropped lower yet Tuesday after serious audio problems threatened to shut the whole thing down in the first several minutes. A lousy lead-in from a repeat of CBS' The Unit didn't help either.
After all was said and done -- although sometimes not heard very well -- CBS11 clocked in with just 61,880 homes to run behind even a Bernie Mac repeat (71,400 homes) on sister station TXA21. Anchor Doug Dunbar manned up as best as he could, even keeping a straight face when reporter J.D. Miles did a belly crawl through a dog door during a featured piece on a home robbery.
Belo8 led the 10 p.m. parade with a total of 195,160 D-FW homes and also barely beat runnerup NBC5 among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
In prime-time, NBC's 7 to 9 p.m. combo of America's Got Talent and The Singing Bee narrowly won in total homes and by a wider margin with 18-to-49-year-olds, the key advertiser demographic for non-news attractions.
Two North Texans, Terry Fator of Dallas and Arlington's Cas Haley, advanced to Talent's Final Four, with the winner to be announced on Aug. 21st.
In the other major local newscast competitions, Fox4 won at 6 a.m. by wide margins in both ratings measurements. The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Good Day also beat the three network morning shows.
Belo8 again swept the ratings battles at 5 and 6 p.m.
When it rains it pours. OK, bad analogy of late.
CBS11's consistently dismal 10 p.m. newscast ratings dropped lower yet Tuesday after serious audio problems threatened to shut the whole thing down in the first several minutes. A lousy lead-in from a repeat of CBS' The Unit didn't help either.
After all was said and done -- although sometimes not heard very well -- CBS11 clocked in with just 61,880 homes to run behind even a Bernie Mac repeat (71,400 homes) on sister station TXA21. Anchor Doug Dunbar manned up as best as he could, even keeping a straight face when reporter J.D. Miles did a belly crawl through a dog door during a featured piece on a home robbery.
Belo8 led the 10 p.m. parade with a total of 195,160 D-FW homes and also barely beat runnerup NBC5 among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
In prime-time, NBC's 7 to 9 p.m. combo of America's Got Talent and The Singing Bee narrowly won in total homes and by a wider margin with 18-to-49-year-olds, the key advertiser demographic for non-news attractions.
Two North Texans, Terry Fator of Dallas and Arlington's Cas Haley, advanced to Talent's Final Four, with the winner to be announced on Aug. 21st.
In the other major local newscast competitions, Fox4 won at 6 a.m. by wide margins in both ratings measurements. The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Good Day also beat the three network morning shows.
Belo8 again swept the ratings battles at 5 and 6 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 13)
08/14/07 09:55 AM
By ED BARK
CBS' scripted reruns ruled much of prime-time Monday, despite the presence of Fox's Hell's Kitchen finale.
Fox did win the first hour (7 to 8 p.m.) with a new episode of So You Think You Can Dance, attracting the most total homes and advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. But CBS then cruised in both audience measurements with repeats of Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement and CSI: Miami.
Two and a Half was Monday's overall biggest draw with 192,780 D-FW homes. Hell's Kitchen, with Virginia's Rock Harper the winning chef, lured 140,420 homes.
Cable's biggest draw was pro football, with the Broncos-49ers preseason game on ESPN nabbing 107,100 homes. A new episode of TNT's The Closer had 92,820 homes to rank as cable's second biggest attraction.
In the local news derby, CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast again squandered Monday's biggest lead-in to tie for third place with Fox4 in total homes. It ran an out-of-the-money fifth among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in both audience measurements, with an especially big margin in the 25-to-54 demo.
Belo8 perked up a bit at 6 a.m., where it's been running third in the summer. The ABC station tied Fox4 for first in homes and ran a solid second -- behind Fox4 -- with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m. for the second straight weeknight.
CBS' scripted reruns ruled much of prime-time Monday, despite the presence of Fox's Hell's Kitchen finale.
Fox did win the first hour (7 to 8 p.m.) with a new episode of So You Think You Can Dance, attracting the most total homes and advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. But CBS then cruised in both audience measurements with repeats of Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement and CSI: Miami.
Two and a Half was Monday's overall biggest draw with 192,780 D-FW homes. Hell's Kitchen, with Virginia's Rock Harper the winning chef, lured 140,420 homes.
Cable's biggest draw was pro football, with the Broncos-49ers preseason game on ESPN nabbing 107,100 homes. A new episode of TNT's The Closer had 92,820 homes to rank as cable's second biggest attraction.
In the local news derby, CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast again squandered Monday's biggest lead-in to tie for third place with Fox4 in total homes. It ran an out-of-the-money fifth among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in both audience measurements, with an especially big margin in the 25-to-54 demo.
Belo8 perked up a bit at 6 a.m., where it's been running third in the summer. The ABC station tied Fox4 for first in homes and ran a solid second -- behind Fox4 -- with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m. for the second straight weeknight.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 10-12)
08/13/07 10:34 AM
By ED BARK
Tiger Woods' sweat-drenched march to the PGA championship teed up big ratings Sunday afternoon for CBS.
Ratings peeked between 5:45 and 6 p.m., with 257,040 homes tuned in to see Woods hole a final par putt to win by two strokes. Overall the final round averaged 157,080 homes, with its concluding hour ranking as Sunday's most-watched program.
Saturday's TV audiences were comparatively miniscule. So much so that CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast not only logged a rare late night win, but also drew the day's biggest audience (135,660 homes).
On Friday, Belo8 led the 10 p.m. newscast pack with a dominating 192,780 homes. The ABC station also easily topped the 10 p.m. field among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 likewise won in both ratings measurements at 5 and 6 p.m., but its early morning ratings continued to sag.
Fox4 again took first place across the board at 6 a.m., completing a perfect week. Belo8 ran third behind runnerup NBC5.
Meanwhile, CBS11 had "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) from 6 to 7 a.m. in the key 25-to-54 audience demo. Even TXA21's competing Daily Buzz managed 5,740 viewers in the 25-to-54 age range.
Tiger Woods' sweat-drenched march to the PGA championship teed up big ratings Sunday afternoon for CBS.
Ratings peeked between 5:45 and 6 p.m., with 257,040 homes tuned in to see Woods hole a final par putt to win by two strokes. Overall the final round averaged 157,080 homes, with its concluding hour ranking as Sunday's most-watched program.
Saturday's TV audiences were comparatively miniscule. So much so that CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast not only logged a rare late night win, but also drew the day's biggest audience (135,660 homes).
On Friday, Belo8 led the 10 p.m. newscast pack with a dominating 192,780 homes. The ABC station also easily topped the 10 p.m. field among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 likewise won in both ratings measurements at 5 and 6 p.m., but its early morning ratings continued to sag.
Fox4 again took first place across the board at 6 a.m., completing a perfect week. Belo8 ran third behind runnerup NBC5.
Meanwhile, CBS11 had "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) from 6 to 7 a.m. in the key 25-to-54 audience demo. Even TXA21's competing Daily Buzz managed 5,740 viewers in the 25-to-54 age range.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Aug. 9)
08/10/07 09:14 AM
By ED BARK
A big dose of the Dallas Cowboys put Fox4 in a dominant position Thursday night.
The opening pre-season game against Indianapolis, which ran from 7 to 9:43 p.m., drew an overall average of 486,601 D-FW homes. That's slightly more than triple the crowd for the most-watched competing program. A CBS repeat of Without A Trace drew 161,840 homes from 9 to 10 p.m.
Fox4 also rode the Cowboys to a rare 10 p.m. newscast win in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The station again the controlled the 6 a.m. news ratings and won at 6 p.m. as well in both ratings measurements. And the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of its Good Day whipped the three network morning shows.
Belo8 broke through with twin wins at 5 p.m. to keep Fox4 from achieving a rare double grand slam in the daily local news competitions.
A big dose of the Dallas Cowboys put Fox4 in a dominant position Thursday night.
The opening pre-season game against Indianapolis, which ran from 7 to 9:43 p.m., drew an overall average of 486,601 D-FW homes. That's slightly more than triple the crowd for the most-watched competing program. A CBS repeat of Without A Trace drew 161,840 homes from 9 to 10 p.m.
Fox4 also rode the Cowboys to a rare 10 p.m. newscast win in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The station again the controlled the 6 a.m. news ratings and won at 6 p.m. as well in both ratings measurements. And the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of its Good Day whipped the three network morning shows.
Belo8 broke through with twin wins at 5 p.m. to keep Fox4 from achieving a rare double grand slam in the daily local news competitions.
Belo8 news veteran switches sides to side with new mayor
08/09/07 05:24 PM
By ED BARK
Veteran Belo8 reporter Chris Heinbaugh will be changing uniforms later this month, moving from covering City Hall to playing on the same team.
Heinbaugh confirmed late Thursday afternoon that he'll become new mayor Tom Leppert's chief of staff on Aug. 27th. The story was first reported by metro reporter Dave Levinthal of The Dallas Morning News, which like Belo8 is owned by Belo Corp. Heinbaugh also had periodically written columns for the newspaper.
"It really was not even on my radar," Heinbaugh said in a telephone interview with unclebarky.com. "It wasn't something I was seeking out."
Heinbaugh, 47, had however been contemplating a career change when the mayor's office contacted him last week to gauge his interest in becoming Leppert's right-hand man.
"I met with the mayor and we had a great conversation," Heinbaugh said. "He's smart as hell, he's enthusiastic and he knows where he wants to go. In a way I see part of my role as a facilitator. This mayor does not need a mouthpiece. He's fully capable of formulating a message and delivering it. I can help him navigate the press and make him aware of what they're looking for. I also can help him navigate City Hall."
Heinbaugh, who joined Belo8 in November 2000, said he informed station management on Monday of his interest in the mayoral job after "tiptoeing around doing any City Hall stories so there wouldn't be any conflict of interest." Leppert and Heinbaugh then sealed the deal over breakfast at La Madeleine.
The two never discussed any such appointment during the campaign, said Heinbaugh, who had "been looking at other things" beyond Belo8 after Leppert was elected.
"I think it just came down to feeling I'd done everything I could do in television," he said. "I'd rather make a decision now than when you're feeling beat up and tired and not in a good frame of mind. Opportunity knocked and it seemed like a good opportunity to stay in Dallas and contribute. When you end up covering City Hall for so long, you really become invested in it."
Belo8's new City Hall reporter will be veteran Brad Watson. Heinbaugh's tentative last day at the station is Aug. 22nd.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Aug. 8)
08/09/07 11:15 AM
By ED BARK
How low can a show's ratings go? Wednesday's Nielsens show shockingly subterranean numbers for some network "attractions."
ABC's prime-time lineup barely registered, with a 7 p.m. According to Jim repeat ranking as the network's top draw with just 73,780 homes. That made it something of a Goliath compared to ABC's 8:30 to 10 p.m. lineup of two canceled series -- The Knights of Prosperity (28,560 homes) and The Nine (35,700 homes).
D-FW ratings for CBS' The Early Show were an even deeper archaeological dig. It averaged a sub-piddling 7,140 homes from 7 to 9 a.m. And in the key 25-to-54-year-old news demographic, Early Show had "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. before averaging 4,305 viewers in the 25-54 demo during its concluding half-hour.
CBS fared much better with a second episode of its Power of 10 game show, which ran a very close third in total homes at 7 p.m. behind Fox's So You Think You Can Dance? and NBC's Most Outrageous Moments. Better yet for CBS, Power tied Dance for first place among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
In the local news derby, NBC5 parlayed a nice-sized 9 p.m. lead-in from Dateline NBC into two runaway wins at 10 p.m., particularly among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 controlled the 6 a.m. numbers as usual in both audience measurements while Belo8 did likewise at 5 and 6 p.m.
The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Fox4's Good Day also beat the three competing network morning shows among 25-to-54-year-olds and 18-to-49-year-olds.
How low can a show's ratings go? Wednesday's Nielsens show shockingly subterranean numbers for some network "attractions."
ABC's prime-time lineup barely registered, with a 7 p.m. According to Jim repeat ranking as the network's top draw with just 73,780 homes. That made it something of a Goliath compared to ABC's 8:30 to 10 p.m. lineup of two canceled series -- The Knights of Prosperity (28,560 homes) and The Nine (35,700 homes).
D-FW ratings for CBS' The Early Show were an even deeper archaeological dig. It averaged a sub-piddling 7,140 homes from 7 to 9 a.m. And in the key 25-to-54-year-old news demographic, Early Show had "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. before averaging 4,305 viewers in the 25-54 demo during its concluding half-hour.
CBS fared much better with a second episode of its Power of 10 game show, which ran a very close third in total homes at 7 p.m. behind Fox's So You Think You Can Dance? and NBC's Most Outrageous Moments. Better yet for CBS, Power tied Dance for first place among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
In the local news derby, NBC5 parlayed a nice-sized 9 p.m. lead-in from Dateline NBC into two runaway wins at 10 p.m., particularly among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 controlled the 6 a.m. numbers as usual in both audience measurements while Belo8 did likewise at 5 and 6 p.m.
The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Fox4's Good Day also beat the three competing network morning shows among 25-to-54-year-olds and 18-to-49-year-olds.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Aug. 7)
08/08/07 10:27 AM
By ED BARK
The premiere of CBS' Power of 10 flexed in D-FW Tuesday night, whipping NBC's potent America's Got Talent in total homes from 7 to 8 p.m. and placing a competitive second with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
The Drew Carey-hosted game show, in which teenager Jamie Sadler won a million bucks, drew 161,840 homes opposite the first hour of Talent (139,825 homes). NBC's most successful summer show, with two North Texans among the eight finalists, then jumped to 192,780 homes in its last half-hour.
Another network premiere, ABC News' I-Caught, won the 9 to 10 p.m. hour in total homes (154,700) and ran second to NBC's Law & Order: SVU repeat among 18-to-49-year-olds.
Fox had a highly forgettable night in prime-time, drawing just 30,940 homes for the summer-long loser On the Lot and only 45,220 for a House rerun.
Over on ESPN 2, Barry Bonds' late night, historic 756th home run attracted 33,320 total homes. The Texas Rangers-Oakland A's game on Fox Sports Southwest averaged 49,980 homes.
In the local news derby, Belo8 took the 10 p.m. crowns in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 again cruised at 6 a.m. with wins in both ratings measurements. Belo8 did likewise at 6 p.m., but split first-place finishes at 5 p.m. with NBC5. The Peacock had the edge among 25-to-54-year-olds, with Belo8 tops in total homes.
The premiere of CBS' Power of 10 flexed in D-FW Tuesday night, whipping NBC's potent America's Got Talent in total homes from 7 to 8 p.m. and placing a competitive second with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
The Drew Carey-hosted game show, in which teenager Jamie Sadler won a million bucks, drew 161,840 homes opposite the first hour of Talent (139,825 homes). NBC's most successful summer show, with two North Texans among the eight finalists, then jumped to 192,780 homes in its last half-hour.
Another network premiere, ABC News' I-Caught, won the 9 to 10 p.m. hour in total homes (154,700) and ran second to NBC's Law & Order: SVU repeat among 18-to-49-year-olds.
Fox had a highly forgettable night in prime-time, drawing just 30,940 homes for the summer-long loser On the Lot and only 45,220 for a House rerun.
Over on ESPN 2, Barry Bonds' late night, historic 756th home run attracted 33,320 total homes. The Texas Rangers-Oakland A's game on Fox Sports Southwest averaged 49,980 homes.
In the local news derby, Belo8 took the 10 p.m. crowns in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 again cruised at 6 a.m. with wins in both ratings measurements. Belo8 did likewise at 6 p.m., but split first-place finishes at 5 p.m. with NBC5. The Peacock had the edge among 25-to-54-year-olds, with Belo8 tops in total homes.
News commandment: Thou shalt not worship -- or even acknowledge -- a rival network's false Idol
08/07/07 12:20 PM
By ED BARK
Does a tree falling in a forest make a sound if no one hears it?
Were Monday's jam-packed, traffic-stalling American Idol auditions at Texas Stadium a story if the show isn't on your network?
Somewhere there's a happy medium, which none of D-FW's four major TV news providers managed to locate.
NBC5, Belo8 and CBS11 acted as if nothing at all had happened. Their collective 10 p.m. newscasts made no mention of an event that drew an estimated 12,500 good, bad and ugly singers hoping to make some kind of mark on America's most popular TV show.
Fox4 in contrast covered the scene as though it were the second coming of Christ -- or at least a flying saucer landing. The station saturated Monday's Good Day with Idol live shots. And more than half of that night's 9 p.m. local newscast -- including the entire second half-hour -- fell prey to Idol piffle. As noted earlier on unclebarky.com, Fox4 both profited and lost with such coverage. Sometimes you just have to know when to stop. Or at least start.
NBC5, Belo8 and CBS11 all looked petty and penny ante in blanking Idol from their 10 p.m. shows. This was a legitimate huge event meriting at least a 15-second "kicker" at newscast's end. But Idol's on a rival network, so let's just pretend it doesn't exist.
Imagine, though, if one of the sweltering auditioners had died of heatstroke during summer's hottest day so far. Now we've got ourselves a story at the expense of a competitor. It's easy to envision Belo8 gumshoe Byron Harris, the scourge of Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" series, decrying how tender human flesh had been sacrificed on the altar of a soulless, profit-making television show. And that would be just the first of a six-part series.
It was a bit different back on November 15, when former Dallas Cowboys great Emmitt Smith won ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Belo8, an ABC affiliate, couldn't get enough of that one, dispatching "Why Guy" Mike Castelucci to Los Angeles to step in all the latest poop. But Fox4 and CBS11 at least reported Smith's triumph on their 10 p.m. newscasts that night. Not so NBC5, which steadfastly refused to play along even for a second. It did, however, have a story on the latest dangers posed by sugary drinks.
Whether going to extremes or in extreme denial, stations continue to look sophomoric in these instances. It's only news if our network makes it. Period. End of story.
This rationale led Fox4 to spill Idol all over itself, reporting with all the dexterity of a kid eating cake and ice cream on his or her first birthday. Among those in on the Idol action Monday were Megan Henderson, Maria Sotolongo, Dan Godwin, Steve Noviello, Brandon Todd, James Rose, Heather Hays, Celena Rae and even sports anchor Mike Doocy.
The Deuce, reporting from Cowboys training camp in San Antonio, couldn't resist slapping on an Idol auditioner placard before performing his version of Frank Sinatra singing Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely?" Now if only Dale Hansen would do "I Am the Walrus."
Doocy did, however, seem to understand this was mostly a load of crap.
"Everybody here is talking about American Idol -- mostly because I'm asking 'em about it," he told a back-in-Dallas threesome of Hays, Sotolongo and Rae. He then goofed on "the Idol fever that has gripped muggy San Antonio." Hoo-hah.
Fox4's specially decorated "Idol Insider" studio included a poster subtly emblazoned with "The Dream Is Back." Hays, Sotolongo and Rae, the now very tiresome Idol finalist from Season 4, sat in swivel chairs and spread it thick for a full half-hour.
"It was so hot," said Rae. "I can't believe they were just crowded together like that."
Rae also described the throngs as kind of "somber." For some reason, she said, "there were very few people singing unless we came up with a camera."
Oh really.
Anyway, it's done for now. Take it from correspondent Brandon Todd, who was sentenced to Texas Stadium for much of Monday. At 9:32 p.m. that night he pronounced, "I can officially tell you the American Idol auditions for Dallas are over."
Oh happy day.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 6)
08/07/07 10:52 AM
By ED BARK
For a while it worked. Then viewers obviously got sick of it.
Fox4's live, task force coverage of Monday's American Idol auditions at Texas Stadium clearly helped the station to dominate the 6 a.m. ratings, where it crunched rival morning shows in both total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
But Fox4's usually formidable 9 p.m. local newscast clearly paid a price by continuing to worship Idol. Auditions were prominently featured in the first half-hour before the entire second half-hour originated from the station's specially decorated "Idol Central." Ratings slid in both audience measurements, knocking Fox4 to an unaccustomed distant fourth place with just 78,540 homes and 60,270 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo.
A repeat of CBS' CSI: Miami led at 9 p.m. in total homes (183,260) while Dateline NBC drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds (129,150).
An 8 p.m. battle of first-run reality competitions went to Fox's penultimate episode of Hell's Kitchen with 138,040 homes. ABC's premiere of Fat March managed 116,620 homes while the finale of NBC's Age of Love limped in with 104,720 homes. The overall time slot winner, however, was CBS' rerun combo of Two and a Half Men (178,500 homes) and Rules of Engagement (140,420 homes).
Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, Hell's Kitchen nipped the CBS sitcoms to place an overall first from 8 to 9 p.m.
In the other main local news faceoffs, NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds. Belo8 did likewise at 6 p.m.
The 5 p.m. spoils were divided between Belo8 (first in total homes) and Fox4 (tops with 25-to-54-year-olds).
For a while it worked. Then viewers obviously got sick of it.
Fox4's live, task force coverage of Monday's American Idol auditions at Texas Stadium clearly helped the station to dominate the 6 a.m. ratings, where it crunched rival morning shows in both total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
But Fox4's usually formidable 9 p.m. local newscast clearly paid a price by continuing to worship Idol. Auditions were prominently featured in the first half-hour before the entire second half-hour originated from the station's specially decorated "Idol Central." Ratings slid in both audience measurements, knocking Fox4 to an unaccustomed distant fourth place with just 78,540 homes and 60,270 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo.
A repeat of CBS' CSI: Miami led at 9 p.m. in total homes (183,260) while Dateline NBC drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds (129,150).
An 8 p.m. battle of first-run reality competitions went to Fox's penultimate episode of Hell's Kitchen with 138,040 homes. ABC's premiere of Fat March managed 116,620 homes while the finale of NBC's Age of Love limped in with 104,720 homes. The overall time slot winner, however, was CBS' rerun combo of Two and a Half Men (178,500 homes) and Rules of Engagement (140,420 homes).
Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, Hell's Kitchen nipped the CBS sitcoms to place an overall first from 8 to 9 p.m.
In the other main local news faceoffs, NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds. Belo8 did likewise at 6 p.m.
The 5 p.m. spoils were divided between Belo8 (first in total homes) and Fox4 (tops with 25-to-54-year-olds).
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 3-5)
08/06/07 11:07 AM
By ED BARK
Tiger Woods' march to a lopsided victory at the Bridgestone Invitational led Sunday's daytime ratings, even though the summertime numbers again were typically below par.
CBS' all-afternoon coverage averaged a less than imposing 76,160 homes to beat the Rangers-Blue Jays game on Fox4 (64,260) and ABC's presentation of the X-Games (49,980).
Sunday night's two-hour premiere of TNT's critically praised miniseries The Company topped the cable universe ratings with 47,600 homes. But the four major broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox -- all drew bigger crowds from 7 to 9 p.m. with mostly reruns. The only first-run attraction, CBS' Big Brother 8, continued to perform poorly in D-FW. It ran fourth from 7 to 8 p.m. with just 69,020 homes.
Saturday night's premiere of ABC's four-part Masters of Science Fiction anthology series left few spines tingling. It drew a paltry 49,980 homes at 9 p.m., less than half the crowd for CBS' time slot-winning 48 Hours Mysteries (109,480)
Friday's local newscast derby mostly went Belo8's way. It swept the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. Nielsens in both total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
But Fox4 chalked up another two wins at 6 a.m., where Belo8's Daybreak again wilted in running third.
Tiger Woods' march to a lopsided victory at the Bridgestone Invitational led Sunday's daytime ratings, even though the summertime numbers again were typically below par.
CBS' all-afternoon coverage averaged a less than imposing 76,160 homes to beat the Rangers-Blue Jays game on Fox4 (64,260) and ABC's presentation of the X-Games (49,980).
Sunday night's two-hour premiere of TNT's critically praised miniseries The Company topped the cable universe ratings with 47,600 homes. But the four major broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox -- all drew bigger crowds from 7 to 9 p.m. with mostly reruns. The only first-run attraction, CBS' Big Brother 8, continued to perform poorly in D-FW. It ran fourth from 7 to 8 p.m. with just 69,020 homes.
Saturday night's premiere of ABC's four-part Masters of Science Fiction anthology series left few spines tingling. It drew a paltry 49,980 homes at 9 p.m., less than half the crowd for CBS' time slot-winning 48 Hours Mysteries (109,480)
Friday's local newscast derby mostly went Belo8's way. It swept the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. Nielsens in both total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
But Fox4 chalked up another two wins at 6 a.m., where Belo8's Daybreak again wilted in running third.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Aug. 2)
08/03/07 09:48 AM
By ED BARK
Fox rolled to a big night in prime-time, sweeping the 7 to 10 p.m. D-FW Nielsens in both total homes and with advertiser-courted 18-to-49-year-olds.
The network's increasingly potent Don't Forget the Lyrics! hummed along with 171,360 homes, followed by So You Think You Can Dance (168,980). Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast (178,500) then outdrew all competing network programming for the third straight night. It also was prime-time's most-watched program, nipping a CBS repeat of Without A Trace (173,740).
Airing opposite Lyrics!, CBS's weekly live eviction episode of Big Brother 8 finished a distant second at 7 p.m. in both homes and among 18-to-49-year-olds.
On cable, Night 1 of the X Games on ESPN averaged just 11,900 total homes from 8 to 10 p.m. Age made a difference, of course, but not a major one. The X-Games drew 1,600 viewers in the 55+ demo and 4,820 in the 18-to-34 bracket. Maybe if they worked in bowling . . .
Local news wars wins again were split three ways, with NBC5 getting the most golds.
The Peacock won for the third straight time at 10 p.m. in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. CBS11 slid into an unaccustomed second place in homes, just ahead of Belo8. Then again, Belo8 had the night's puniest lead-in audience from a rerun of ABC's Men In Trees.
NBC5 also broke through at 6 a.m. to nip Fox4 in total homes. But the latter station again won among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 took first place at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements. The Peacock then retaliated with twin wins at 6 p.m. The two stations have been hotly competitive at those hours this summer after Belo8 dominated during the May "sweeps."
Fox rolled to a big night in prime-time, sweeping the 7 to 10 p.m. D-FW Nielsens in both total homes and with advertiser-courted 18-to-49-year-olds.
The network's increasingly potent Don't Forget the Lyrics! hummed along with 171,360 homes, followed by So You Think You Can Dance (168,980). Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast (178,500) then outdrew all competing network programming for the third straight night. It also was prime-time's most-watched program, nipping a CBS repeat of Without A Trace (173,740).
Airing opposite Lyrics!, CBS's weekly live eviction episode of Big Brother 8 finished a distant second at 7 p.m. in both homes and among 18-to-49-year-olds.
On cable, Night 1 of the X Games on ESPN averaged just 11,900 total homes from 8 to 10 p.m. Age made a difference, of course, but not a major one. The X-Games drew 1,600 viewers in the 55+ demo and 4,820 in the 18-to-34 bracket. Maybe if they worked in bowling . . .
Local news wars wins again were split three ways, with NBC5 getting the most golds.
The Peacock won for the third straight time at 10 p.m. in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. CBS11 slid into an unaccustomed second place in homes, just ahead of Belo8. Then again, Belo8 had the night's puniest lead-in audience from a rerun of ABC's Men In Trees.
NBC5 also broke through at 6 a.m. to nip Fox4 in total homes. But the latter station again won among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 took first place at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements. The Peacock then retaliated with twin wins at 6 p.m. The two stations have been hotly competitive at those hours this summer after Belo8 dominated during the May "sweeps."
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Aug. 1)
08/02/07 11:41 AM
By ED BARK
ABC's first burn-off of The Nine fell off a ratings cliff following solid numbers for the season finale of American Inventor.
Perhaps viewers are smart enough to know there won't be a resolution to the already canceled serial drama. ABC long ago confirmed that. But the network does have a few un-aired episodes left, and the first one spilled out Wednesday night at 9. It drew a measly 64,260 D-FW homes after the climactic closing 15 minutes of Inventor pulled in 176,120.
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast again won the last hour of prime-time with 178,500 total homes, edging a repeat of CBS' CSI: NY (171,360 homes).
On the 24 hour cable news front, CNN's continuous live, breaking coverage of the Minneapolis bridge collapse let the ratings way with an average of 55,533 homes from 8 to 11 p.m. Fox News Channel topped the 7 to 8 p.m. hour with 47,600 homes but then dipped to an average of 26,973 homes for the next three hours. MSNBC averaged just 15,470 homes from 7 to 11 p.m.
The local news derby found NBC5 on top at 10 p.m. for the second straight night in total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. Belo8 made a nice recovery from its Nine lead-in to finish second.
Fox4 racked up two more wins at 6 a.m. while Belo8 continued its summer-long droop with a pair of third-place finishes behind NBC5.
The Peacock won at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements and Belo8 did likewise at 6 p.m.
ABC's first burn-off of The Nine fell off a ratings cliff following solid numbers for the season finale of American Inventor.
Perhaps viewers are smart enough to know there won't be a resolution to the already canceled serial drama. ABC long ago confirmed that. But the network does have a few un-aired episodes left, and the first one spilled out Wednesday night at 9. It drew a measly 64,260 D-FW homes after the climactic closing 15 minutes of Inventor pulled in 176,120.
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast again won the last hour of prime-time with 178,500 total homes, edging a repeat of CBS' CSI: NY (171,360 homes).
On the 24 hour cable news front, CNN's continuous live, breaking coverage of the Minneapolis bridge collapse let the ratings way with an average of 55,533 homes from 8 to 11 p.m. Fox News Channel topped the 7 to 8 p.m. hour with 47,600 homes but then dipped to an average of 26,973 homes for the next three hours. MSNBC averaged just 15,470 homes from 7 to 11 p.m.
The local news derby found NBC5 on top at 10 p.m. for the second straight night in total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. Belo8 made a nice recovery from its Nine lead-in to finish second.
Fox4 racked up two more wins at 6 a.m. while Belo8 continued its summer-long droop with a pair of third-place finishes behind NBC5.
The Peacock won at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements and Belo8 did likewise at 6 p.m.
Sarah Dodd: Happiness is a new pup and (for now) a respite from TV news
08/01/07 01:29 PM
By ED BARK
Resignations always happen for a reason, and Sarah Dodd is too good a reporter to pretend otherwise.
"Life is too short to be in a place where you're not completely satisfied and fulfilled," she says in her first face-to-face interview since leaving CBS11. "And you're the only person who can change that. So if you don't like what's going on, you have to leave . . . That was the bottom line. I wasn't happy anymore. I'm young enough to go do something else."
Her abrupt departure, effective July 14 but not officially announced until 12 days later, gave the clearest signal yet that all is not well under the "run 'n' gun" regime of new vice president of news Regent Ducas.
Dodd, who turns 33 next week, also is careful to praise CBS11 for the opportunities given her during a mostly gainful seven-year stay.
She was embedded with U.S. Army troops during the march into Iraq. Her six years of City Hall reporting were both distinguished and dogged. She went to Guantanamo Bay, South Korea and China on CBS11 assignments. And from 2005 until D-Day, she anchored the station's first weekend morning program.
"My whole life was my job," Dodd says. "And I loved it."
She then made news herself by marrying Dallas police chief David Kunkle in December, becoming his fifth wife. Tongues wagged, and Dodd left the City Hall beat because, in her words, "I didn't ever want there to be a perception of anything that was inappropriate."
That all happened before the earth began shaking in the CBS11 newsroom. Ratings had gone stagnant despite the critical praise the station had earned. Once close to the top spot at 10 p.m., CBS11 had dropped back to a distant third. Ducas arrived from the CBS station in Kansas City with the firm belief that news viewers were the same everywhere. And what they want, in his view, is a "more topical approach" that prizes news of the moment over "packages" that sometimes take weeks to report and prepare.
"It does make me sad to watch some of the things that pass for news right now," Dodd says. "There's no depth or substance."
The May "sweeps" ratings period brought an onrush of quick-hit, tragedy-spiked, mini-reporting on CBS11, with the 10 p.m. newscast's "First Five Minutes" segment designed to hook viewers on the feeling they're getting something piping hot and "urgent."
"It's all about the here and now of news," Ducas explained in an April interview with unclebarky.com. "That's one of the changes you'll feel, sense and hear on the air. A bit more urgency. Not so much the way it's been."
Or to put it another way, CBS11 seemed newly intent on becoming NBC5, where a like-minded approach had ruled the 10 p.m. Nielsen numbers for five years. Belo8 finally broke through by winning the prized 25-to-54-year-old ratings race in May.
Dodd and a number of her colleagues