Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri., May 2-4) -- closing out the Mavs
05/05/14 12:14 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
From a gutty, last-second home win to a blowout loss in San Antonio, the Dallas Mavericks were a case study in contrasts during their final two games of the season.
Sunday’s deciding Game 7 of the Mavs-Spurs first round playoff series aired mostly on ABC after three-quarters of the first quarter got shoved over to ESPN2 in favor of the down-to-the-wire finish between the victorious Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.
Tipping off at 2:40 p.m. instead of the scheduled 2:30 start time, Mavs-Spurs had just 35,507 D-FW viewers on ESPN2 before the game moved to ABC at 2:58 p.m. Almost all of those viewers -- 32,567 -- were within the 18-to-49-year-old advertiser-prized motherlode, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
The Spurs’ 119-96 demolition of Dallas mercifully ended at 5:19 p.m. ABC’s portion, with the game picked up with 3:10 left in the first quarter, averaged 468,686 total viewers. That included 237,739 in the coveted 18-to-49 age range.
Friday night’s game, a pulsating 113-111 Mavs win, was shown on both TXA21 and ESPN. It started at 7:10 p.m. and ended at 9:48 p.m.
TXA21’s homegrown telecast averaged 298,255 total viewers while ESPN drew just 78,114. Among 18-to-49-year-olds, it was TXA21 with 127,011 viewers and ESPN with 52,107.
Which means that despite the blowout, Sunday’s Mavs-Spurs game easily outdrew Friday’s in total viewers by a score of 468,686 (for ABC’s portion) to 376,369 (on TXA21/ESPN). In the 18-to-49 demographic, Sunday’s game averaged 237,739 viewers to Friday’s 179,118.
TXA21, which had its last Mavs post-season telecast on Friday, likewise soundly outdrew ESPN in both ratings measurements. ABC and ESPN used the same announcing team -- Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy -- for both games. TXA21 as always went with Mark Followill and Derek Harper.
On Fox Sports Southwest Sunday afternoon and evening, the Texas Rangers’ 14-3 rout of the Angels averaged 106,520 total viewers. The game ran all the way until 6:36 p.m., drawing its biggest crowd -- 149,127 viewers -- between 5:45 and 6 p.m.
Fox’s Sunday afternoon Talladega NASCAR Sprint Cup race, which mostly aired before the Mavs-Spurs began, averaged 149,127 viewers.
Sunday’s prime-time programs were paced by CBS’ 60 Minutes in total viewers (227,242) and ABC’s America’s Funniest Videos among 18-to-49-year-olds (100,958).
Saturday’s big sports attraction, the Kentucky Derby, had the usual marathon buildup on NBC before the horses finally broke from the gate at 5:33 p.m. Nielsen measures ratings in 15-minute increments. And from 5:30 to 5:45 p.m., the Derby drew a very nice-sized 340,862 total viewers to easily ranked as Saturday’s most-watched TV attraction.
Other than the Mavericks game, Friday’s biggest draw was CBS’ Blue Bloods with 255,647 total viewers.
Here are Friday’s local news derby numbers, with seven of the 20 weekdays now in the books during the ongoing May “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 was tops in total viewers at 10 p.m. but again fell to fourth place with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). Fox4 and WFAA8 tied for first in that key demographic.
NBC5 nipped Fox4 by a paper-thin margin in the 6 a.m. total viewers race; Fox4 won comfortably among 25-to-54-year-olds.
CBS11 ran first at 6 p.m. in total viewers while WFAA8 had the 25-to-54 gold.
At 5 p.m., NBC5 and CBS11 shared first place in total viewers but Fox4 won easily with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
From a gutty, last-second home win to a blowout loss in San Antonio, the Dallas Mavericks were a case study in contrasts during their final two games of the season.
Sunday’s deciding Game 7 of the Mavs-Spurs first round playoff series aired mostly on ABC after three-quarters of the first quarter got shoved over to ESPN2 in favor of the down-to-the-wire finish between the victorious Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.
Tipping off at 2:40 p.m. instead of the scheduled 2:30 start time, Mavs-Spurs had just 35,507 D-FW viewers on ESPN2 before the game moved to ABC at 2:58 p.m. Almost all of those viewers -- 32,567 -- were within the 18-to-49-year-old advertiser-prized motherlode, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
The Spurs’ 119-96 demolition of Dallas mercifully ended at 5:19 p.m. ABC’s portion, with the game picked up with 3:10 left in the first quarter, averaged 468,686 total viewers. That included 237,739 in the coveted 18-to-49 age range.
Friday night’s game, a pulsating 113-111 Mavs win, was shown on both TXA21 and ESPN. It started at 7:10 p.m. and ended at 9:48 p.m.
TXA21’s homegrown telecast averaged 298,255 total viewers while ESPN drew just 78,114. Among 18-to-49-year-olds, it was TXA21 with 127,011 viewers and ESPN with 52,107.
Which means that despite the blowout, Sunday’s Mavs-Spurs game easily outdrew Friday’s in total viewers by a score of 468,686 (for ABC’s portion) to 376,369 (on TXA21/ESPN). In the 18-to-49 demographic, Sunday’s game averaged 237,739 viewers to Friday’s 179,118.
TXA21, which had its last Mavs post-season telecast on Friday, likewise soundly outdrew ESPN in both ratings measurements. ABC and ESPN used the same announcing team -- Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy -- for both games. TXA21 as always went with Mark Followill and Derek Harper.
On Fox Sports Southwest Sunday afternoon and evening, the Texas Rangers’ 14-3 rout of the Angels averaged 106,520 total viewers. The game ran all the way until 6:36 p.m., drawing its biggest crowd -- 149,127 viewers -- between 5:45 and 6 p.m.
Fox’s Sunday afternoon Talladega NASCAR Sprint Cup race, which mostly aired before the Mavs-Spurs began, averaged 149,127 viewers.
Sunday’s prime-time programs were paced by CBS’ 60 Minutes in total viewers (227,242) and ABC’s America’s Funniest Videos among 18-to-49-year-olds (100,958).
Saturday’s big sports attraction, the Kentucky Derby, had the usual marathon buildup on NBC before the horses finally broke from the gate at 5:33 p.m. Nielsen measures ratings in 15-minute increments. And from 5:30 to 5:45 p.m., the Derby drew a very nice-sized 340,862 total viewers to easily ranked as Saturday’s most-watched TV attraction.
Other than the Mavericks game, Friday’s biggest draw was CBS’ Blue Bloods with 255,647 total viewers.
Here are Friday’s local news derby numbers, with seven of the 20 weekdays now in the books during the ongoing May “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 was tops in total viewers at 10 p.m. but again fell to fourth place with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). Fox4 and WFAA8 tied for first in that key demographic.
NBC5 nipped Fox4 by a paper-thin margin in the 6 a.m. total viewers race; Fox4 won comfortably among 25-to-54-year-olds.
CBS11 ran first at 6 p.m. in total viewers while WFAA8 had the 25-to-54 gold.
At 5 p.m., NBC5 and CBS11 shared first place in total viewers but Fox4 won easily with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net