Mar 2010
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., March 30) -- V's not for victory
03/31/10 10:28 AM
By ED BARK
ABC's mega-hyped return of V, after several months off the air, had less than out-of-this-world ratings in D-FW.
Preceded by a new episode of Lost, the aliens-among-us drama drew 169,658 viewers to run third at 9 p.m. behind NBC's Parenthood (196,803 viewers) and Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast (190,016 viewers). It did, however, beat a repeat of CBS' The Good Wife (128,940 viewers).
V fared better with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, tying Parenthood for the 9 p.m. top spot. All in all, though, not a great showing. And Good Wife will be back with a new episode next Tuesday.
ABC also chose to smudge up TV screens with a very annoying "V: They Return" countdown clock positioned in the bottom right hand corner during much of Lost. At one point, the onerous promo partially obscured a printed notepad response from Sun Kwon, who at least temporarily has forgotten to speak English after a bonk on the head.
Lost is hard enough to follow without an attention-diverting "bug" on the screen. Was anyone else really pissed off by this?
Elsewhere in prime-time, Fox's American Idol commanded the 7 to 9 p.m. ratings with 488,614 total viewers for its weekly two-hour performance show. Pulling in second were ABC's Dancing with the Stars results show (312,170 viewers) and Lost (278,238 viewers).
Dancing's first evictee was Shannen Doherty, with Pamela Anderson surviving a Bottom 2 scare. Apparently Anderson is viewed as a bit too slutty for Dancing's now predominantly older audience. She scored well with judges, though. And the show's producers would have turned a whiter shade of pale had she been the first evictee.
Against all of this heavy-duty competition, TXA21's "First In Prime" local newscast continues to struggle mightily. The 7 p.m. hour had just 6,108 total viewers Tuesday, with the 8 p.m. portion inching up to 10,858 viewers in a viewing area of about 6.8 million. Little CW33's 9 p.m. local newscast was a comparative Goliath, with 50,219 viewers.
In Tuesday's four-way local news derby, NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. competitions, edging WFAA8 and Fox4 in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The Peacock also notched another doubleheader win at 6 a.m. while also taking first place at 5 p.m. in total viewers.
Second place Fox4 again soared from 7 to 9 a.m., though, where its Good Day beat the three network morning shows in both ratings measurements. The victory margin was especially impressive among 25-to-54-year-olds, with Good Day drawing more viewers than Today, GMA and Early Show combined.
WFAA8 won at 6 p.m. in total viewers while also besting Fox4 by a negligible one hundredth of a rating point among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 prevailed at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic.
ABC's mega-hyped return of V, after several months off the air, had less than out-of-this-world ratings in D-FW.
Preceded by a new episode of Lost, the aliens-among-us drama drew 169,658 viewers to run third at 9 p.m. behind NBC's Parenthood (196,803 viewers) and Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast (190,016 viewers). It did, however, beat a repeat of CBS' The Good Wife (128,940 viewers).
V fared better with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, tying Parenthood for the 9 p.m. top spot. All in all, though, not a great showing. And Good Wife will be back with a new episode next Tuesday.
ABC also chose to smudge up TV screens with a very annoying "V: They Return" countdown clock positioned in the bottom right hand corner during much of Lost. At one point, the onerous promo partially obscured a printed notepad response from Sun Kwon, who at least temporarily has forgotten to speak English after a bonk on the head.
Lost is hard enough to follow without an attention-diverting "bug" on the screen. Was anyone else really pissed off by this?
Elsewhere in prime-time, Fox's American Idol commanded the 7 to 9 p.m. ratings with 488,614 total viewers for its weekly two-hour performance show. Pulling in second were ABC's Dancing with the Stars results show (312,170 viewers) and Lost (278,238 viewers).
Dancing's first evictee was Shannen Doherty, with Pamela Anderson surviving a Bottom 2 scare. Apparently Anderson is viewed as a bit too slutty for Dancing's now predominantly older audience. She scored well with judges, though. And the show's producers would have turned a whiter shade of pale had she been the first evictee.
Against all of this heavy-duty competition, TXA21's "First In Prime" local newscast continues to struggle mightily. The 7 p.m. hour had just 6,108 total viewers Tuesday, with the 8 p.m. portion inching up to 10,858 viewers in a viewing area of about 6.8 million. Little CW33's 9 p.m. local newscast was a comparative Goliath, with 50,219 viewers.
In Tuesday's four-way local news derby, NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. competitions, edging WFAA8 and Fox4 in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The Peacock also notched another doubleheader win at 6 a.m. while also taking first place at 5 p.m. in total viewers.
Second place Fox4 again soared from 7 to 9 a.m., though, where its Good Day beat the three network morning shows in both ratings measurements. The victory margin was especially impressive among 25-to-54-year-olds, with Good Day drawing more viewers than Today, GMA and Early Show combined.
WFAA8 won at 6 p.m. in total viewers while also besting Fox4 by a negligible one hundredth of a rating point among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 prevailed at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic.
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Idol: Judges again stick it to "Teflon Tim" while Casey keeps rollin' along
03/31/10 08:58 AM
By ED BARK
American Idol's disparate North Texas duo -- Duncanville's Tim Urban and Forth Worth's Casey James -- again drew polar opposite reactions from judges on Tuesday's performance show.
Urban, whom some are calling "Teflon Tim," took another pan-frying but laughed and smiled through it all. James again impressed judges, particularly hard-to-please Simon Cowell.
Here's our weekly compendium of actual comments from judges followed by Uncle Barky's wizened benedictions.
CASEY JAMES, 27, FORT WORTH
Song: "Hold On, I'm Comin' " by Sam & Dave
Randy Jackson -- "This was another hot night for you. You stayed in your element."
Ellen DeGeneres -- "The thing about you is you're consistent. You're always good. You have a great voice, you have a great tone . . . It felt a little generic . . . You sang it great, but that's a safe zone for you."
Kara DioGuardi -- "I think you have more range in you. I wanna see you go back, maybe, to an acoustic guitar and just sing. Show me everything you got. 'Cause I think you got more."
Simon Cowell -- "It was your strongest week you've had so far. For me it showed a completely different side of you as an artist. I thought it sounded authentic . . . I'm really, really impressed with you this week."
Uncle Barky -- "You looked great, had both a swagger and a smile, and made this song rock. It was the best vocal of the night, and the only danceable one. You're looking like a lock for the Final Four, and have the most long-term star potential of anyone in this rather lackluster Top 10. Hell, I can already see you at Jerry's Palace, doing the annual Thanksgiving Day gig either this year or next. You've got Carrie Underwood/Daughtry potential."
TIM URBAN, 20, DUNCANVILLE
Song: "Sweet Love" by Anita Baker
Randy -- "Some plusses and minuses for me . . . When you first started, I feel like, you know, it's kind of got this singing waiter thing . . . It just felt so pedestrian and not like 'American Idol searching for the next superstar, the best we can find.' The good plus part about it was at least you sang in tune . . . But there was no vibe to it, dude. It had no swag on it."
Ellen -- "I heard there's a drinking game going on at home, every time I call you adorable. So I'm going to call you adorable right now because those people may never drink again . . . But man, I just kept going 'Why did you choose that song?' That is a tough song to sing . . . You were walkin' like you were sneakin' into a bedroom. So good for you for takin' that on. But oh boy, why?"
Kara -- "It was like Broadway at times, Vegas at times . . . And you took the soul out of the song and you made yourself so uncommercial and young and current, which is why all these people love you. They see that in you. And I just don't understand why you keep doing this. Why are you laughing?"
Simon -- "I'll tell you why he's laughing. Because I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever what we say . . . Completely inappropriate song. It's like a mouse picking a fight with an elephant. You're not gonna win. But it doesn't matter because you're gonna smile, the audience is gonna vote for you, nobody cares. You'll be here next week. So, well done."
Uncle Barky -- "Maybe you're laughing because loopy Kara's discombobulated comments could have come directly from the now sorely missed Paula Abdul. In other words, they made no sense at all, but at least Abdul had staked out that territory and then branded herself a consummate ditz. Taking advice from Kara is akin to buying life insurance from Freddy Krueger.
"So pay no mind to any of 'em. Just keep smiling and striving to sing the best you can. Actually I thought this was your best vocal, all things considered. But Simon's got it right. The judges can shred you like a cheese grater, but your cuddly teen mag mug, winning personality and ability to take a punch are your aces in the hole. You're in the mold of a long list of dreamy teen idols, from Fabian and Bobby Sherman to David Cassidy and Zac Efron. None of 'em are exactly Caruso. Idol needs people like you to keep it interesting, particularly in this less than scintillating season. No wonder lame duck Simon took a punch at Dancing with the Stars. He can feel the show breathing down Idol's neck in the weekly Nielsen ratings.
"Getting a little windy here, but one more thing. You're almost certain to be in the Bottom Three again Wednesday night. But I think that weepy Didi Benami -- or maybe the previously invulnerable Siobhan Magnus -- will end up taking the gas. You'll always be on borrowed time, though, just like punch toy Sanjaya Malakar was in Season 6. He made it all the way to the final 7 before being voted off. That's likely about as far as you can go, so go for it. After all, it's only American Idol."
Badu ado is picture perfect for D-FW newscasts (but one of 'em bungles it anyway)
03/29/10 10:14 PM
By ED BARK
However you looked at it -- or her -- Dallas-based singer Erykah Badu's bare-all music video from Dealey Plaza provided D-FW television stations with a consummate, easily hyped picture story Monday.
It also afforded one station the opportunity to screw just about everything up during the day's early evening newscasts. We'll get to NBC5 in due time.
In brief, Badu purportedly sought to make an artistic statement with "Window Seat," in which she brazenly "liberated" herself by stripping to a completely nude state before collapsing to the ground at the site where President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
Tourists, some of them with young children, watched the video being filmed "guerilla style" on the sunny Saturday afternoon of March 13th. It was released over the weekend, triggering Monday's pixilated peep shows. Badu could have been arrested and charged on a number of counts had anyone complained. But reportedly no one did. And the police presence apparently was non-existent in the heart of downtown Dallas.
Fox4 had the best early evening coverage, courtesy of the well-seasoned Richard Ray. He was the only local TV reporter to reach Badu by telephone, although he didn't have any audio of her voice.
"She told us she was frankly kind of surprised that nobody made any kind of formal complaint at the time," Ray said.
Most eyewitnesses perhaps "were in shock," Ray said Badu also told him. "No permit, no plan, she said. We just did it."
Veteran assassination site hanger-on Mike Brownlow told Ray on camera that he witnessed the making of the video. It happened fast, he said. "A white van was on the street and waiting for the getaway."
WFAA8 went live to David Schechter in Dealey Plaza. He at times seemed intent on having the singer arrested.
"Badu will likely avoid any criminal charges, despite what appears to be obvious evidence," Schechter told viewers before Dallas police department spokeswoman Janice Crowther said that "people can do lots of things with videos. That would be up to the DA's office to determine if the video is enough to prosecute her."
The now viral video shows that a good number of people crossed Badu's path. Still, Schechter said it "seems there are few witnesses to what now may be the second most famous event in Dealey Plaza."
Maybe that's because he couldn't immediately find any. Instead Schechter resorted to interviewing a man who said he did not see Badu naked, "but I wish I had."
Schechter ended his report by encouraging viewers to watch WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast, where "we'll hear in her (Badu's) own words why she did it."
But the scratchy audio on Monday's late nighter was courtesy of WFAA8's content partner, The Dallas Morning News, whose Hudson Hauk throughly questioned Badu. The interview can be read in its entirety here.
CBS11 sent reporter Arezow Doost to Dealey Plaza, where she also found Mike Brownlow. He had played ball with Fox4's Ray, but Doost pretty much struck out with him. "I'm not sayin' it wasn't her (Badu), I'm not sayin' it is," he told CBS11.
Doost did find one eyewitness, though. A woman named Rebecca Lewis dutifully said she was "very offended" by what she saw of Badu. Efforts to reach the singer directly were spurned by her management, said Doost, who instead was told "Just go to her Twitter page."
One of Badu's tweets, used by all four stations, read, "There were children there. I prayed they wouldn't B traumatized."
Then there was NBC5, which had comparatively brief coverage of the Badu ado.
"The video was filmed on St. Patrick's Day," anchor Jane McGarry erroneously told viewers near the end of the station's 5 p.m. newscast Monday.
NBC5's phone calls to Badu "have not been returned," co-anchor Mike Snyder noted before McGarry again chimed in.
"Now, on the lighter side, a couple of people on my Facebook page wanted to know if it was you," she told Snyder. "And I said I was positive it wasn't because I know that you were at your girl's soccer game."
Snyder rejoined, "That's right. Look at my Facebook, and you'll be able to see where I was."
Snyder and the increasingly frisky McGarry have been tit-for-tat Facebook posting ever since she launched her "FanPage" earlier this month, spurring him to play catch-up. In this case, though, McGarry put a false face on the Snyder queries, which basically were non-existent.
She first teased fans with, "Who's the local celebrity in trouble with the law for stripping nude in downtown Dallas? The story -- at 5."
Her first Facebook commenter said, "I'm assuming it isn't you, or else you wouldn't be drawing attention to the story."
Another commenter asked "You?" She then amended that to, "Oh . . . somebody already guessed that . . . Mike?"
McGarry then rejoined, "How did you guess?"
That was the extent of it, but Snyder absorbed her on-air sucker punch anyway. Never let the facts get in the way of promoting your Facebook FanPage. But seriously, McGarry's been getting way too giddy with her new toy. Maybe someone at least could tell her to stop playing with it on newscasts.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., March 26-28) -- Baylor-Duke puts hops in NCAA hoops
03/29/10 10:22 AM
By ED BARK
Baylor's late afternoon/early evening "Elite 8" loss to Duke Sunday gave the NCAA tournament its biggest D-FW numbers to date.
Stretching from 4:06 to 6:21p.m., the game on CBS averaged 359,674 viewers, peaking at 475,041 between 6 and 6:15 p.m. Only CBS' Undercover Boss had a bigger overall audience Sunday. Delayed a half-hour by the basketball runover, it drew 380,033 viewers. But Baylor-Duke had a bigger peak audience.
ABC offered token resistance with wall-to-wall repeats, save for a new 6 p.m. edition of America's Funniest Home Videos, which ran second. A reprise of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition also took the silver at 7 p.m. before NBC's Celebrity Apprentice claimed second place from 8 to 10 p.m.
Faring worst among all of Sunday's prime-time shows was Fox's 8:30 p.m. new episode of Sons of Tucson. It drew just 33,932 viewers after the preceding Family Guy had 128,940 to lead all Fox network programming. Hello, cancellation corral.
CBS also beat all competing programming with Saturday's NCAA coverage and likewise controlled Friday's prime-time terrain with basketball.
ABC's two-hour Friday premiere of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution ran third at 7 p.m. behind basketball and NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? before tying Fox's Kitchen Nightmares for the bronze in the 8 p.m. hour. NBC's two-hour Dateline ran second from 8 to 10 p.m. in total viewers but was beaten by both 8 p.m. food shows in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
Friday's local news derby results saw NBC5 nipping WFAA8 at 10 p.m. in total viewers before WFAA8 turned the tables with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 continued its winning ways at 6 a.m. with a sweep of both ratings measurements. WFAA8 tied Fox4 for second place in total viewers and had the runnerup spot to itself among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 ran the table at 5 p.m. while tying NBC5 and WFAA8 for first at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo. The Peacock and WFAA8 tied for first place at 6 p.m. in total viewers.
Baylor's late afternoon/early evening "Elite 8" loss to Duke Sunday gave the NCAA tournament its biggest D-FW numbers to date.
Stretching from 4:06 to 6:21p.m., the game on CBS averaged 359,674 viewers, peaking at 475,041 between 6 and 6:15 p.m. Only CBS' Undercover Boss had a bigger overall audience Sunday. Delayed a half-hour by the basketball runover, it drew 380,033 viewers. But Baylor-Duke had a bigger peak audience.
ABC offered token resistance with wall-to-wall repeats, save for a new 6 p.m. edition of America's Funniest Home Videos, which ran second. A reprise of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition also took the silver at 7 p.m. before NBC's Celebrity Apprentice claimed second place from 8 to 10 p.m.
Faring worst among all of Sunday's prime-time shows was Fox's 8:30 p.m. new episode of Sons of Tucson. It drew just 33,932 viewers after the preceding Family Guy had 128,940 to lead all Fox network programming. Hello, cancellation corral.
CBS also beat all competing programming with Saturday's NCAA coverage and likewise controlled Friday's prime-time terrain with basketball.
ABC's two-hour Friday premiere of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution ran third at 7 p.m. behind basketball and NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? before tying Fox's Kitchen Nightmares for the bronze in the 8 p.m. hour. NBC's two-hour Dateline ran second from 8 to 10 p.m. in total viewers but was beaten by both 8 p.m. food shows in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
Friday's local news derby results saw NBC5 nipping WFAA8 at 10 p.m. in total viewers before WFAA8 turned the tables with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 continued its winning ways at 6 a.m. with a sweep of both ratings measurements. WFAA8 tied Fox4 for second place in total viewers and had the runnerup spot to itself among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 ran the table at 5 p.m. while tying NBC5 and WFAA8 for first at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo. The Peacock and WFAA8 tied for first place at 6 p.m. in total viewers.
NBC5's Wilcox gets weekend early morning anchor spot while station also adds a new reporter (updated)
03/25/10 11:32 AM
By ED BARK
NBC5 has named Lindsay Wilcox as its weekend morning news anchor after Scott Friedman moved to the weekday waker-upper shift, replacing the departed Brendan Higgins.
Wilcox, a graduate of Irving High School, joined the Fort Worth-based station in August 2007. She had previously been a reporter for KLTV7 in Tyler, and has a bachelor's degree in broadcast news from the University of North Texas.
NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry initially posted Wilcox's promotion on her Facebook Fanpage, exclaiming "Way to go Lindsay!" Wilcox later replied, "Thanks, Jane!"
NBC5 spokesman Brian Hocker confirmed Wilcox's promotion Thursday and also said the station has hired a new reporter, Julie Tam, who will join the station on April 19th.
"Tam is being hired as a general assignments reporter and not specifically for the mornings (as Wilcox's replacement). So she may show up anywhere," he said.
Tam comes from Fox affiliate WDRB-TV in Louisville, KY, where she had been an anchor/reporter since September 2005. She previously worked at KLTV-TV in Tyler and lists herself as president of The Application Masters, which she founded in May of last year. As described by Tam, it's designed to "help high school students and adults get into the college of their choice by presenting them at their best by editing their applications, which include creative, compelling essays without spelling or grammar errors."
Tam also has her own picture-heavy website, plus a Facebook FanPage. She's clearly not shy about getting the word out on her latest activities and past accomplishments.
Faces of WFAA8 sports: Verne, Dale ride again
03/24/10 01:18 PM
By ED BARK
They've spanned generations at Dallas-based WFAA8, Verne Lundquist from 1967 to '83 and Dale Hansen from '83 to the present.
That's 43 years of one or the other being the station's lead sports anchor. It's doubtful that can be duplicated in any or many other TV markets.
Frankly, there used to be a bit of bad blood between the two. But Hansen rose to the occasion when Lundquist was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in Spring, 2007.
Lundquist is "one of those special guys who is incredibly comfortable behind an anchor desk or in a booth at a football game," he told unclebarky.com back then. "And his call of the Tiger Woods chip in at The Masters will be replayed long after we're all gone. He is that good. And anybody who can go from Bowling for Dollars to The Masters should be in the Hall of Fame."
Hansen and Lundquist chummily reunited during a recent edition of WFAA8's Good Morning Texas. Their chat included clips ranging from the station's old bowling show, hosted by Lundquist, to his sharing a courtside perch with President Obama during a CBS telecast of a Duke-Georgetown basketball game. Lundquist's calls of two historic shots -- by Woods and earlier, Jack Nicklaus -- were also replayed.
Lundquist, who will resume doing NCAA basketball tournament games on Thursday of this week, has been a consummate jack of all sports trades during his long tenure with CBS Sports. And the always opinionated Hansen has put his own signature stamp on WFAA8 sportscasts since arriving from crosstown KDFW-TV (Channel 4). Here's the video of their entertaining, reminiscing chat:
Idol: North Texan laddies lashed hard by Simon
03/24/10 08:11 AM
By ED BARK
Duncanville's Tim Urban sustained more would-be lethal blows to his cute mug Tuesday night while Fort Worth's Casey James pretty much pleased everyone except -- drum roll -- judge Simon Cowell.
Until Wednesday's weekly vote-off, both North Texans are still standing amid American Idol's last 11 competitors. And the final 10 get to go on the show's annual moneymaking concert tour this summer.
Once again, here are excerpts from judges' actual comments, followed by Uncle Barky's palate-cleansing sorbets.
TIM URBAN, 20, DUNCANVILLE
Song: "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen
Randy Jackson -- "The 'dopest' thing that you did was the slide, dude. The vocals were so bo-r-r-r-ing."
Ellen DeGeneres -- "It felt like to me it was an audition for High School Musical . . . It was corny. It was pushed too hard. I just didn't get it."
Kara DioGuardi -- "It was Zac Efron in Hairspray. I don't know what. And little girls will love that . . . Grabbing at the audience like this, you're not at that place yet. You're not established. You haven't sold hundreds of millions of records. So you acted like you were (sic) already made it. And you haven't. You have a lot of work to do."
Simon Cowell -- "I don't think the sliding around was the problem. Because I think it distracted from the song. So I kind of understand why you did that. (big horse laugh from Randy). The problem was is (sic) that it was completely and utterly pointless and silly . . . You've got zero chance of winning right now."
Uncle Barky -- "The only review that probably mattered was the girl yelling 'I love you, Tim' while Kara shredded you. You're lucky that at least three competitors were even worse -- Andrew Garcia, Didi Benami and Paige Miles. And they can't compete with you in the cuddly wuddly looks department. I also have the feeling that the judges -- Simon in particular -- might be inadvertently positioning you as the next Sanjaya. The sympathy/sabotage vote in your favor could be formidable for weeks to come. And you definitely look the part of an Idol, which in your case is still trumping those substandard vocals. Taking punishment well is another attribute of yours. So I wouldn't unduly fret about making the Top 10. The Idol maestros definitely want you on that tour. Gotta have someone who makes the girls shriek and melt."
CASEY JAMES, 27, FORT WORTH
Song: "The power of Love" by Huey Lewis & The News
Randy -- "I wasn't a fan of the song choice . . . But you definitely did it well. I believed it."
Ellen -- "I think it was the best vocal of the night. I thought you sounded great."
Kara -- "You're just on another level . . . You're just ready to make an album. You're just there. It's all there. Everything. And it just keeps getting better and better and better. You're in a zone now. Stay in it."
Simon -- "I don't know what you're listening to, Kara. I genuinely don't. Because that song was old-fashioned 25 years ago when it came out. He didn't make it current . . . It was like watching and listening to an '80s cover band. There was no effort, no originality. Nothing different. Maybe it's just me."
Uncle Barky -- Gotta side with Simon here. I've never liked the song and I don't think you brought much to it. It'd be nice to see you without the guitar for a change, too. You're almost certainly a long distance runner and a strong candidate for the Final Four. But let that voice loose and then wail with it. This show desperately needs a Daughtry-like rocker with a gravelly edge. And you're the only possibility because big-voiced Lee Dewyze is basically Danny Gokey revisited."
Go directly to Saturday Night Live; do not change a thing!
03/22/10 04:38 PM
CW's fourth edition of The RC Project, this one on
waxing, featured a plus-sized, barebacked man
lying mute on a rubdown table and co-host Candice
Crawford revealing, "I come from a family with
bushy eyebrows."
Roni Proter is the other collaborator on these weeknightly SNL-ready segments, which close out CW33's fledgling 5 p.m. local newscasts. RC Project appears to be operating on a lower budget than the Dime Box, TX philharmonic. But hey, it's so bad it's riotously good. And if that's what they're going for in the country's No. 5 TV market, then all concerned have hit a bullseye.
Ed Bark
Roni Proter is the other collaborator on these weeknightly SNL-ready segments, which close out CW33's fledgling 5 p.m. local newscasts. RC Project appears to be operating on a lower budget than the Dime Box, TX philharmonic. But hey, it's so bad it's riotously good. And if that's what they're going for in the country's No. 5 TV market, then all concerned have hit a bullseye.
Ed Bark
Pete's winter wonderland
03/21/10 02:41 PM
By ED BARK
Tweeting like a mad man and as usual stripped to his shirtsleeves, WFAA8 weathercaster Pete Delkus again made his presence felt as spring snow fell fast and flurry-ous under Sunday's dark.
Delkus hit the air bright and early, making him the only marquee forecaster to do so Sunday. NBC5 deployed backup Samantha Davies while leading man David Finfrock hibernated. Fox4 and CBS11 don't have local waker uppers on Sundays, leaving their respective main meteorologists, Dan Henry and Larry Mowry, out of the picture.
"There's nothing like waking up Sunday to several inches of snow," Delkus declared. WFAA8 no doubt smells a fresh promotional opportunity. And Big Pete won't try to talk 'em out of it. Whatever you think of him, he loves this stuff.
CBS11's Burger survives 40 years of highs/lows
03/17/10 01:15 PM
By ED BARK
Four decades in broadcasting, principally as a weatherman, are nothing to sneeze at -- even when the pollen count is high.
So congratulations to CBS11/TXA21 forecaster Mike Burger, who recently reached this milestone while at the same time signing a new two-year contract with the stations.
"These are still the two best stations I've ever had the good fortune to be with," Burger said in an email.
He was Dallas-based Fox4's principal weathercaster from 1989 to 1996 before returning to his old Orlando, FL station to be an early morning news anchor. After four years, Burger returned to D-FW and has been here ever since. He began his broadcasting career at an Orlando radio station, working in the news department before agreeing to fill in at WDBO-TV (now WKMG) as a weekend forecaster. He grew up as an Iowa farm boy.
Burger was saluted on the air during CBS11's Sunday, March 7th late night newscast. Here's the video:
Idol: Two from North Texas on tepid Top 12 sing-off
03/17/10 08:28 AM
By ED BARK
It was Bing Crosby night on American Idol Tuesday.
Actually, the Top 12 finalists all had to do Rolling Stones songs, but few put any rock or sock in 'em.
Duncanville's Tim Urban, one of two remaining North Texans, made the preposterous choice of singing "Under My Thumb" to a reggae beat. Thumbs down.
Here's our weekly judges' blow-by-blow, with excerpts from the night's comments preceding Uncle Barky's play-offs.
CASEY JAMES, 27, FORT WORTH
Song: "It's All Over Now"
Randy Jackson -- "You're back to the Casey that I love. I loved it! You are back for me."
Ellen DeGeneres -- "Most women, their hearts are gonna start racing just lookin' at ya. But then for people like me -- blondes -- I thought it was fantastic."
Kara DioGuardi -- "Tonight you were a rock star. This shows your soul and the fact that you can riff and go off, and the best parts of your voice."
Simon Cowell -- "For me that was like an audition performance. When you watch this back, it's got to be more. Just be a star."
Uncle Barky -- "You at least brought some electricity -- along with your electric guitar. Most of the other performers seemed to think they were singing stuff from The Carpenters. Your rendition had both an edge and a big finish. And you went against type by not going country with 'Wild Horses.' It looks more and more like you're destined for the Final Four."
TIM URBAN, 20, DUNCANVILLE
Song: "Under My Thumb"
Randy -- "I didn't get that, dude. It was very bizarre."
Ellen -- "I felt like I was at a resort and drinking a pina colada . . . There was nothing wrong with it. It just didn't wow me."
Kara -- "I totally get what the guys are saying. The other side is I gotta applaud you for doing something so incredibly different with the song."
Simon -- "I have to applaud you for doing something different . . . Having said that, it didn't work. And actually a lot of people who are Rolling Stones fans would be turning their television sets off at that point. So I think it was a crazy decision."
Uncle Barky -- "Going reggae with 'Under My Thumb' was like doing 'Back in the USSR' to a calypso beat. Very bad move, and this time your pretty boy Zac Efron looks might not be enough to again save the day. I still think you might surprise people and get to the Top 10. But this could be your knockout punch. And if so, you left yourself wide open for it."
Also of note: Amarillo's resilient, likable preacher's daughter, 24-year-old Lacey Brown, did a decent job with "Ruby Tuesday," even if it was typical of the night's inclination to mush up the Stones' playlist. She might go a bit farther than initially anticipated, but still won't get anywhere near the promised land.
Bags fly free -- the prequel
03/16/10 03:31 PM
CW33's The RC Project proudly puts the vacu- in vacuous
03/16/10 09:09 AM
By ED BARK
Resembling a public access TV pilot from Poughkeepsie -- only infinitely worse -- CW33's The RC Project somehow premiered Monday in the nation's fifth-largest TV market.
"We're kinda like the dessert at the end of the meal -- the best part," bragged the C of the duo -- former Miss Missouri USA 2008 Candice Crawford.
RC Project, co-starring the station's Roni Proter, arrived at the close of CW33's new 5 p.m. local newscast, a companion to the existing 5:30 p.m. edition. The new half-hour was decidedly low on nutrients and production values but high on rip 'n' read content and the usual constant, hackneyed use of theme music.
Still, it looked like Avatar compared to the climactic daily segment presented by Crawford and Proter. Their guest, Victoria Torres, bubbled about "The Big Bag" phenomenon supposedly sweeping women's purses. She brought a few with her, but they were partially obscured behind a pot of flowers on a decidedly pedestrian-looking coffee table. No one apparently was bright enough to tell her, "Pick it up and let people see the damned thing."
"My favorite one. R-i-i-i-i-i-cola," Crawford cooed at one point, acting as though she'd just been given a free pass to see Hot Tub Time Machine.
While they talked -- mostly gibberish -- an intrusive hip-hop/pop background track threatened to drown out everything they were saying. Unfortunately it wasn't quite up to the task.
The multi-faceted Proter also helms CW33's weekly "Up All Night" feature and reported on spring bras and avoiding "smooshed boobs" during Monday's 9 p.m. newscast. For the purposes of The RC Project, she showed what I thought was a wrist bracelet but turned out to be a designer "cuff" made by Maggie Felicetti. A second cuff, which resembled a dead feather duster, would go great with a "boyfriend blazer," Proter added.
Look, these segments obviously aren't for old goats like your friendly content provider -- or perhaps even for anyone of sound mind and body. But the overall presentation here was dreadfully amateurish and self-important. And the content was of no import whatsoever. Color bars would have been more educational.
Viewers perhaps could watch RC Project for comic relief. Actually, though, it's depressing to see a hunk of local newscast time wasted on such a vacuous pursuit. Is there really a market -- in the fifth largest market -- for this kind of piffle?
Take a look for yourself and see if you can find any redeeming values. I've come up empty.
Idol seems out of step this season, says former producer and current mainstay of So You Think You Can Dance
03/15/10 11:39 AM
By ED BARK
Opinions run rampant about American Idol, particularly during a season in which Ellen DeGeneres has supplanted Paula Abdul while Simon Cowell is halfway through his departure flight.
Nigel Lythgoe's critique carries more weight than most. He was Idol's co-executive producer for the Fox blockbuster's first seven seasons before leaving in August 2008 to become fully engaged with the network's So You Think You Can Dance as both a producer and judge.
Season 9 of Idol so far is leaving him a bit cold, though, Lythgoe tells unclebarky.com during a break from last week's Dallas auditions for Dance. He still thinks four judges are one too many. And in his view, Cowell seems disengaged while DeGeneres needs a confidence boost as the show begins single eliminations of its final 12 contestants this week.
"I'm sort of watching it not work now," he says of the four-judge format, which was instituted after he left. "At this moment in time, I think Simon looks very bored. I don't think he's there. I think he's off and running and doing The X-Factor (which Cowell will bring to Fox as both a host and judge in fall 2011)."
Lythgoe has no problems, however, with adding DeGeneres as a judge. So he mounts a spirited defense of her, and thinks Cowell should be more supportive, too.
"I hope we'll see Ellen get more confidence and start to enjoy herself with it, because I love her to death," he says. "I think she's great.
"I don't know that Ellen needs to apologize for her opinions. As far as I'm concerned, Ellen is a really good spokesperson for the public. She knows what the public likes, she knows what she likes. That is what she's there for. The public are the ones who make the Idol and the public are the ones who buy the records. So she's in a perfect position to be their voice.
"She need not apologize for her lack of knowledge in music or anything else. She has more knowledge probably than the other three (judges) because she is a member of the public. She's got to get more confidence in herself and relax a lot more. It seems to me that Simon turns his back every time she talks. So it's frustrating to see some mistakes being made. I've never liked four judges, though. There's no time for it."
Lythgoe looks back fondly on the triumvirate of Cowell, Abdul and Randy Jackson.
"The judges are part of the show. They are not the show," he says. "The show is those talented kids. And when they don't work, then the judges come into play. And what was always there was the chemistry between Simon and Ryan (host Ryan Seacrest), or Simon and Paula, with Randy being the flux between the three of them. And that sort of chemistry has been lost now. And I'm very sad about that."
Part of the problem is this year's crop of talent, which has underwhelmed many Idol observers despite the show's annual pronouncement that it's the best group ever. Last week's eliminations of change-it-up stylists Lilly Scott and Todrick Hall didn't help matters.
"This year it's been tough," Lythgoe says, "because their voices were exposed a great deal at the beginning. The sound mix wasn't good, so the voices were out in the front and the band was in the back. And they're so nervous at this stage that they are not necessarily going to sing as well as they will in the future. And it taints your opinion of the talent the show's got. I think we'll see it grow in the future."
Lythgoe obviously will be keeping an eye on his old show during the ongoing nationwide auditions for So You Think You Can Dance. lt launches Season 7 on May 27th, just a few days after Idol ends its ninth.
"Obviously this is far more satisfying to the soul for me," says Lythgoe, a former dancer and choreographer. "I'm really, really happy, as I was for seven years on American Idol."
Fun with Mike & Jane (hmm, maybe this should be a recurring feature!?)
03/12/10 03:55 PM
By ED BARK
NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry, newly infatuated with her fledgling Facebook FanPage, has been posting tidbits and pictures like a maniac since opening shop this week.
Her longtime colleague, Mike Snyder, had his Facebook page up earlier, but now seems newly dedicated to the task of perhaps out-doing her.
Yeah, I know. I regularly found fault with them during their long run as NBC5's featured 10 p.m. anchor team. But absentia makes the heart grow a bit fonder perhaps. Snyder and McGarry have been shuttled aside to the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts to while away their days at lower rates of pay. It's the way of the TV news world, and it makes these old warhorses seem kinda poignant in their put-out-to-pasture years.
In turn, they either love to hate me or hate to love me. But oddly enough, we're all "friends" on Facebook now. Even more astonishingly, they did the invites.
What I'm trying to say is that almost everything is forgiven in time. Hell, even the cast of The Dukes of Hazzard yucked it up with their old antagonists a few years back while promoting a reunion movie amid a roomful of TV critics. Man, you really ripped on us. Yeah, we did. A good time was had by all.
The "Fun with Mike & Jane" angle here has to do with some of the wacky stuff they sometimes put on their respective Facebook pages. Mike just posted a picture of himself and his two daughters with Charo during one of his preparation stints in Los Angeles on behalf of Jerry's Kids. And Jane's "Texas Journalist" album finds her proudly posing with another Republican. Here's what we're talkin' about:
That's longtime GOP power player James A. Baker III with Jane. And Mike sure looks sun-kissed in that shot with the indomitable "cuchi-cuchi" girl, his kiddoes and an unidentified blonde (who turns out to be his wife, Lyn, readers tell me).
The fun-o-meter advantage here goes to Mike because, well, I never envisioned him in a picture with Charo but I did envision Jane with another Republican.
Jane fights back with this recent prose post: "Going to work and it feels like spring so I think I'll try a new orange jacket -- plus the ankle bracelet -- gotta have the ankle bracelet :)"
Mike can't match her of late. The best he has to offer is: "The weather is schizophrenic in North Texas today. First clouds, then sun so bright I had to haul out the shades to drive. Now, it is back to gray. Must be spring on the way." In other words, advantage, Jane.
Remember, now, "Fun with Mike & Jane" in fact is all in good fun. They're relatively harmless now, and seemingly happy together on the less visible 5 and 6 p.m. shows. So the least we can do is mess around with 'em a bit and perhaps drive a little traffic to their new homes away from home.
NBC5, with the usual strong-armed assist from NBC Corporate, likely will cut them loose soon enough. For now, though, they're still the "longest running anchor pair in Texas history," according to Mike's Facebook page. And you never know what either of them will show or tell.
NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry, newly infatuated with her fledgling Facebook FanPage, has been posting tidbits and pictures like a maniac since opening shop this week.
Her longtime colleague, Mike Snyder, had his Facebook page up earlier, but now seems newly dedicated to the task of perhaps out-doing her.
Yeah, I know. I regularly found fault with them during their long run as NBC5's featured 10 p.m. anchor team. But absentia makes the heart grow a bit fonder perhaps. Snyder and McGarry have been shuttled aside to the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts to while away their days at lower rates of pay. It's the way of the TV news world, and it makes these old warhorses seem kinda poignant in their put-out-to-pasture years.
In turn, they either love to hate me or hate to love me. But oddly enough, we're all "friends" on Facebook now. Even more astonishingly, they did the invites.
What I'm trying to say is that almost everything is forgiven in time. Hell, even the cast of The Dukes of Hazzard yucked it up with their old antagonists a few years back while promoting a reunion movie amid a roomful of TV critics. Man, you really ripped on us. Yeah, we did. A good time was had by all.
The "Fun with Mike & Jane" angle here has to do with some of the wacky stuff they sometimes put on their respective Facebook pages. Mike just posted a picture of himself and his two daughters with Charo during one of his preparation stints in Los Angeles on behalf of Jerry's Kids. And Jane's "Texas Journalist" album finds her proudly posing with another Republican. Here's what we're talkin' about:
That's longtime GOP power player James A. Baker III with Jane. And Mike sure looks sun-kissed in that shot with the indomitable "cuchi-cuchi" girl, his kiddoes and an unidentified blonde (who turns out to be his wife, Lyn, readers tell me).
The fun-o-meter advantage here goes to Mike because, well, I never envisioned him in a picture with Charo but I did envision Jane with another Republican.
Jane fights back with this recent prose post: "Going to work and it feels like spring so I think I'll try a new orange jacket -- plus the ankle bracelet -- gotta have the ankle bracelet :)"
Mike can't match her of late. The best he has to offer is: "The weather is schizophrenic in North Texas today. First clouds, then sun so bright I had to haul out the shades to drive. Now, it is back to gray. Must be spring on the way." In other words, advantage, Jane.
Remember, now, "Fun with Mike & Jane" in fact is all in good fun. They're relatively harmless now, and seemingly happy together on the less visible 5 and 6 p.m. shows. So the least we can do is mess around with 'em a bit and perhaps drive a little traffic to their new homes away from home.
NBC5, with the usual strong-armed assist from NBC Corporate, likely will cut them loose soon enough. For now, though, they're still the "longest running anchor pair in Texas history," according to Mike's Facebook page. And you never know what either of them will show or tell.
Footloose with Fox4's Fiona Gorostiza
03/12/10 09:45 AM
By ED BARK
Fox4's fun-seeking Fiona Gorostiza thinks she can dance -- and can.
Gorostiza's latest Good Day mini-adventure took her to Thursday's Dallas auditions for Fox's summertime shakedown, where she emerged relatively unscathed after showcasing her brand of "Cheerleader Pop."
"I'll be quite frank. I was expecting a lot worse than that," pronounced Nigel Lythgoe, head judge and co-executive producer of So You Think You Can Dance. Still, it had some typically "cheesy steps," he added.
Gorostiza, contestant 56789, took the stage at SMU's McFarlin Auditorium as part of a pre-planned bit for Good Day. But two CD malfunctions -- of Madonna's "Express Yourself" -- kept her bouncing and flouncing onstage far longer than expected. The venue was a bit overwhelming, too.
"I thought it was going to be a small room, Idol-esque, with the judges," she said. "And then I walk in there, and omigosh, there's an audience -- of actual dancers. And there's a stage. It looks very Broadway. Lights and everything. So I got really nervous before I went on. And then the CD skipped."
Lythgoe tacked on another layer by summoning two hip-hoppers from the audience to join Gorostiza in a three-way interpretation of The Black-Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling." Not bad, if he says so himself: "You looked really good doing that, sweetheart. Very sexy."
Gorostiza, who also does weathercasts for Fox4, said her immediate reaction afterward was, "I need water. I need a shower. I need a nap. Then I said, 'Whoa, whoa, no, no.' Water. Long, hot bath. Nap."
It presumably beat barefoot walking on hot coals, which Gorostiza, 31, did around this time last year during a Good Day segment from Fair Park conducted by the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education. She later was treated for second degree burns.
Her So You Think You Can Dance "tryout" taught her that "apparently under pressure I can pop and rock," Gorostiza said, laughing.
She otherwise does her dancing without cameras rolling.
"I've been known, every now and then, to cut the rug on the occasional disco ball dance floor," Gorostiza said. "Especially being from Vegas."
Gorostiza's So You Think You Can Dance segments will be saved until later this spring. The show will return for Season 7 on May 27th.
WFAA8 anchor Shelly Slater soon will be delivering more than the news (updated)
03/11/10 10:34 PM
By ED BARK
Several vigilant readers have asked whether WFAA8 anchor Shelly Slater is an expectant first-time mother.
"Yes, I am pregnant!" she replied via email to unclebarky.com. "Let me guess . . . the open suit jackets and the teenage acne are dead give aways?"
Slater, who joined Dallas-based WFAA8 in September 2006, said she is due in early August and "we find out the sex of the baby on St. Patrick's Day!" (It will be a boy, she announced on the appointed day's 5 p.m. newscast.)
"I haven't announced anything on-air about the baby," she added, "but my husband and I are thrilled, nervous and anxious all at the same time."
Congratulations to both of them. Slater currently is co-anchoring WFAA8's 5 p.m. weekday newscasts while continuing to report as well. She also regularly substitute anchors on the station's 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.
Idol voters slit show's throat (and not just by axing two North Texans)
03/11/10 09:03 PM
By ED BARK
American Idol's 12 finalists emerged Thursday night after viewers evicted two distinctive song stylists while also trimming the North Texas 4 in half.
The night's biggest surprise -- and one of the dumbest voting decisions ever -- was the elimination of 20-year-old Lilly Scott, who was born in Houston and raised in Colorado.
Scott and the equally much-praised Crystal Bowersox of Ohio had seemed like solid bets to make the Fox juggernaut's Final 4.
"A lot of incredible talent is going home tonight," a stunned Scott said after in-over-her-head Katie Stevens, 17, got the night's final Top 12 spot. "I don't know what America wants to hear. I don't." She has a point.
Toddrick Hall, 24, of Arlington, likewise took the gas. Like Scott, he brought something original to every performance. But judges more often than not deemed him too original, and he finally paid the price Thursday. That's a shame. He'll go a lot farther than most of these finalists.
Fellow North Texan Alex Lambert, 19, of North Richland Hills, also was voted off. "I wish I could've just broken out of my shell," he said in reference to judges' persistent criticisms that his voice was strong but his stage presence shaky. Katelyn Epperly of Iowa took the other knockout punch.
There's still ample North Texas flavor. Fort Worth's Casey James, the oldest contestant at 27, is in the Top 12. So is Tim Urban, 20, of Duncanville, who was re-inserted into the Top 24 after Chris Golightly of California belatedly was declared ineligible. Urban's the teen/tween-pleasing Zac Efron of the field; James is the last country boy, with "Cougar" Kara DioGuardi still judging him good enough to eat.
The six remaining women also include two with Texas ties. Lacey Brown, 24, is a native of Amarillo who still lives there. Paige Miles, 24, who was born in Florida, is now a Houstonian who auditioned for the show in Dallas.
As singers, the dozen remaining contestants are mostly a case of the bland leading the bland. Exceptions are Bowersox and plus-sized Michael Lynche of New York, who has a build reminiscent of Season 2 champ Ruben Studdard and seemingly a voice to match.
They'll all sing Rolling Stones songs next week, and it would have been intriguing to see how Hall and Scott changed them up. There's no satisfaction in knowing they'll never get the chance.
Idol: No Tex hex for Lone Star foursome
03/11/10 06:17 AM
By ED BARK
American Idol's four North Texas males, composing half the remaining field, received uniformly good reviews Wednesday, marking a first for Todrick Hall in particular.
Judge Simon Cowell as usual had his quibbles amid all the cooing. Just keepin' it real.
Here's our third edition of actual excerpts from judges' comments, followed by Uncle Barky's palate-cleansers. They're presented in order of Wednesday's appearances.
ALEX LAMBERT, 19, NORTH RICHLAND HILLS
Song: "Trouble" by Ray Lamontagne
Randy Jackson -- "I think it was a good song choice for you. I liked it."
Ellen DeGeneres -- "You're becoming a mushy banana, is what's happening to you. You are ripening so fast . . . Every single week you get better and better and better. You need more confidence, but don't get cocky. Don't become a cocky banana. No one likes that."
Kara DioGuardi -- "The only thing standing in the way of you winning is you right now . . . But you are still stiff and you're not in it and you're not letting go up there."
Simon Cowell -- "You are so still concentrating on trying to deliver the performance. We've never ever seen you relax or having a good time. You've kind of got to imagine Randy in a bikini or something . . . Let yourself go."
Uncle Barky -- "Randy in a bikini might be a bit over-baring. Instead envision Simon in a grass skirt at a luau. Unlike other contestants, though, you're still peaking. The voice is really starting to stand out. Looking semi-petrified won't cut it in the long run. But Ellen's right. It's getting better all the time."
TIM URBAN, 20, DUNCANVILLE
Song: Tim Buckley's version of "Hallelujah"
Randy -- "You walked in some pretty big shoes and I thought you did a pretty good job."
Ellen -- "That was fantastic!" (after running to the stage to hug him).
Kara --- "I thought you were going to be going home a few weeks ago. And now I actually think you're kind of in it, and you may just about be in the top of the boys right now."
Simon -- "I kind of feel responsible for you doing well tonight after what I said (in recent weeks). Because I gave you a confidence boost and you needed it. . . . It's not the best version I've ever heard. But for you, it was terrific."
Uncle Barky -- "You pulled a Jason Castro -- and to pretty good effect. The Rockwall kid did Leonard Cohen's version of 'Hallelujah' two seasons ago, with even Simon melting like buttah. Castro and his li'l ukulele made it all the way to the Final Four. Your Zac Efron/mag cover looks alone could be enough to carry you to this season's Top Ten. But with the voice kicking in, there's a chance you might go even farther."
CASEY JAMES, 27, FORT WORTH
Song: "You'll Think of Me" by Keith Urban
Randy -- "I think it was a little bit of a safe choice for me."
Ellen -- "I thought it was great . . . You're more comfortable sitting on a stool and playing guitar, and that feels like your vibe to me."
Kara -- "I'm kinda back on the Casey train . . . I'm missing that spark. I want to see a little bit more from you. But it's definitely a move in the right direction."
Simon -- "I would say it was your second best . . . I think it made you sincere. I don't think it's going to be something we're going to be remembering or raving about in 24 hours time as a performance. But you sounded great, I have to say."
Uncle Barky -- "You're savvily milkin' that country vein again after whippin' out an electric guitar last week and heavy metal-ing your voice into background noise. In the end, I see some of the kids blowin' by you, old-timer. You've got presence, though, with age and experience still on your side for at least several weeks to come."
TODRICK HALL, 24, ARLINGTON
Song: "Somebody to Love" by Queen
Randy -- "Todrick is back! What you did just there is you proved that you can really sing. That's why you're here. That was one of the best vocals I heard all night, all the last couple of weeks."
Ellen -- "You are a brave, brave young man . . . It was almost -- it sounded like a gospel song. I thought it actually worked like that."
Kara -- "You can't listen to that and say it wasn't good singing. It was really good singing. There were moments, though, when I didn't know whether to laugh at it or love it. 'Cause it was so dramatic. It was almost like 'Godspell' a little bit. And I don't know that that's bad or good."
Simon -- "I would say it was good in parts, not the whole way, though. Look, I think what you've done tonight is tell us who you are. You're a Broadway singer. That is 'American Idol: the Musical' doing Queen. Having said that, at least you made an attempt to perform. It was a good song choice, and it may have saved you."
Uncle Barky -- "I've been your biggest fan, throughout, Todrick, to coin a puke-worthy cliche. What I see in you is Al Jarreau meeting Lou Rawls, to date myself. You're easily the best song stylist of this bunch, making everything you do a uniquely singular event amid a lotta sound-alike performances. Keep rollin' it your way. It may not get you all the way to the promised land. But I think your knack for improvisation will really shine if you can make it to the 'Mentor' rounds. Then they'd all better watch out."
CBS11 names Miami's Adrienne Roark as news director (updated with official station confirmation)
03/10/10 03:12 PM
By ED BARK
CBS11 has a new news director, with Adrienne Roark of WFOR-TV in Miami getting the nod Wednesday afternoon.
Her scheduled start date is March 23rd, president and general manager Gary Schneider told staffers. The Fort Worth-based station hasn't officially announced her hiring yet, but it's a done deal. Roark also will oversee the newscasts on sister station TXA21.
Roark had joined Miami's CBS-owned station in January 2007 as assistant news director before being promoted to news director in June, 2008. She was identified as the front-runner for the CBS11 position in a Feb. 1st post on unclebarky.com.
Roark is an Ohio State graduate whose previous stops include WESH-TV in Orlando, WTVJ-TV in Miami and WKYC-TV in Cleveland. She also was a Poynter Ethics Fellow for the Class of 2008. Roark and her husband are the parents of two sons.
She replaces Scott Diener, who left CBS11 earlier this year to join his old CBS11 boss, Steve Mauldin, at KCBS/KCAL-TV in Los Angeles.
In a resultant news release confirming Roark's hiring, Schneider termed her "a natural fit for our news operation and stations . . . Adrienne also is a forward-thinking leader who is passionate about embracing new ideas and technologies."
Roark said in a statement, "I am honored to be given the opportunity to be a part of such a distinguished news team, and I have great respect for what KTVT and KTXA mean to the Dallas-Fort Worth community."
While still at WFOR, Roark also had this to say about how very seriously she says she takes her profession.
Reliable sources say that news director Kurt Davis of KENS-TV in San Antonio also was a finalist for the news director position. But that station is owned by Belo Corp., which also is the parent company of CBS11's arch rival, Dallas-based WFAA8.
Ultimately, a decision was made to hire from within the CBS corporate chain rather than go "outside," according to sources.
Friedman tabbed to co-anchor NBC5's waker-upper
03/10/10 02:38 PM
By ED BARK
It's official, and it's as expected.
NBC5 has named Scott Friedman as the co-anchor of its local early morning newscasts, teaming him with incumbent Deborah Ferguson.
The station parted ways with Brendan Higgins in January after his contract expired. NBC5 has remained No. 1 in the two months since, with Friedman, Kevin Cokely and others sitting in.
Friedman joined NBC5 in May 2006 after a decade with WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee. He's a Notre Dame graduate. Jane McGarry, co-anchor of NBC5's 5 and 6 p.m. newscast, earlier revealed Friedman's new assignment on her Facebook FanPage, where she also writes, "I'm in the attic looking for old work photos. Ed Bark is complaining that I'm only with Republicans. I can't FIND the other ones. And if you saw my attic you'd know why :)"
Actually, I think it was a reader who complained in the Comments section. But thanks for the mention anyway.
White vs. Perry: a view through the looker glass
03/09/10 05:32 PM
By ED BARK
What we have here, from a strictly visual standpoint, is a case of the farmer from American Gothic versus the Marlboro Man.
Or to put it another way, can a bald, decidedly plain-faced mayor from Houston confound the looks-are-everything television age and dethrone an almost criminally handsome incumbent topped with hair thicker than lasagna noodles?
The race for Texas governor, now settling in between Democrat Bill White and Republican Rick Perry, also will be a battle of have- and have-nots in the tele-genetic scheme of things.
On the surface it's a big edge for Perry, who certainly looks the part of the state's leading man. White simply wasn't blessed with such attributes. It's not his fault, but it may be ours for repeatedly electing people who "look" gubernatorial -- or presidential.
Television has been a national and local player for roughly 60 years now. In that time only one baldy has been elected president. But Dwight D. Eisenhower was a fabled war hero when he became the Republican presidential nominee in 1952. And his opponent, in both that year and 1956, was fellow chrome domer Adlai Stevenson, widely caricatured as an "egghead."
In the years since we've had one hair-challenged president, Gerald R. Ford. But he was never elected. Ford, who stepped in for Richard Nixon in 1974, lost to the abundantly coiffed Jimmy Carter in 1976. Carter then was beaten by one of the most abundantly haired presidents of all time, Ronald Reagan. And so on.
Bald, homely Texas senator Phil Gramm once upon a time thought he could be president. But five days before he even announced his candidacy in February 1995, Gramm sat down with Mike Wallace for a 60 Minutes piece that focused on his lack of good looks. Even Gramm termed himself "ugly" while the much older Wallace flaunted his comparative good looks and fetching full head of hair. Gramm's campaign was soon shoveling dirt on itself.
Texas governors mostly have been blessed with full plate pates -- at least in the television age. There's one notable exception, though. Democrat Preston Smith, who was pretty thin on top, served from 1969 to 1973 before the comparatively heavy-haired Dolph Briscoe succeeded him. It's been an unbroken string since then, with the late Ann Richards sporting the highest hair of all during her 1991-'95 tour of duty.
In the looks and hair department, Perry is the latter day equivalent of Texas governor John Connally (1963-'69), who rivaled even John F. Kennedy in those key areas. White seems to have the Paul Giamatti gene, which is good for playing mostly second bananas, albeit in some quality movies.
Down the homestretch of his demolishment of Kay Bailey Hutchison, Perry looked sturdier and studlier than than ever in an ad where strapped on his rust-colored Texas Rangers coat and preached Texas values before a Texas flag.
White lately has an ad in which he stands in light purple shirtsleeves before a mostly blank backdrop and pledges to give voters their "money's worth" if elected.
The challenger faces an uphill climb at best in his fight to unseat Perry. It'd probably help if he looked a lot more like a vintage James Garner than The Love Boat's Gavin MacLeod.
You never know, though. Maybe voters can find a way to disregard looks entirely and elect a man who otherwise might be mistaken as a botanist. For now, though, Perry is a veritable Yellow Rose of Texas while White more closely resembles a dandelion. May the best man win.
Here are those two aforementioned campaign ads:
NBC5's Jane McGarry launches Fanpage, gets word out
03/09/10 05:13 PM
By ED BARK
Unfair Park's quick-as-a-whip Robert Wilonsky, yours truly and no doubt many others got the same email Monday from NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry.
"Just wanted to let you know I'm putting up a Fanpage on Facebook . . . and would love to have you as a fan," she wrote. "I need all I can get :)."
But the veteran NBC5er, now co-anchoring weekday 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts with Mike Snyder, says she still can't divulge any more details "about my project :) Still working on that!"
Hmm, wonder if it just might have something to do with the Bushes, one of whom is pictured above in McGarry's "Texas Journalist" photo album?
Meanwhile, one of McGarry's maiden Fanpage dispatches says she's grossed out by the "breast milk cheese" being served at a New York City eatery. That's our Jane. Who can forget her classic riff on whether to shave or not to shave on NBC5's since scrapped anchor/reporter blog site?
Anyway, here's a link to her newborn Fanpage, in which you also can learn that Lindsay Lohan's getting out of the fashion design business. Love that hard-hitting stuff.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Insatiable fans of ABC's The Bachelor can get another dose Wednesday morning when Dallas pilot Jake Pavelka and his fiancee, Vienna Girardi, do their first local TV interview on WFAA8's Good Morning Texas (airing at 9 a.m.).
Pavelka, who's soft-shoeing over to the 10th edition of ABC's Dancing with the Stars (launching on March 22nd), also will bring along his pro dance partner, Chelsie Hightower.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., March 5-7) -- despite no surprises, Oscars soar above last year's total
03/08/10 09:50 AM
By ED BARK
In the end, predictability didn't matter.
Despite no surprise winners and the usual sluggish pace, Sunday night's Academy Awards on ABC virtually eclipsed last year's in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
Airing from 7:30 to 11:07 p.m. (when the final closing credit appeared), the Oscars averaged 1,024,731 viewers, way up from last year's total of 677,586. A little ratings inflation is involved, with each point equaling 1,433 more viewers than at this time last year. But that's nonetheless a remarkable surge.
This year's Oscars also drew 443,578 advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, substantially up from the 291,176 who watched the 2009 ceremony. So who says conventional TV viewing is dead? The 2010 Super Bowl and Grammy telecasts also went well beyond last year's totals both locally and nationally.
Barbara Walters' final Oscar pre-show had 285,025 viewers to easily win the 6 p.m. hour before ABC's incredibly lame half-hour red carpet preview vaulted up to 644,698 viewers. Has anybody started more fixedly at a TelePrompTer (or cue cards) than co-host Kathy Ireland?
Nothing else really mattered Sunday night. But for the record, CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast had the biggest audience opposite the Oscars in D-FW, drawing 196,803 total viewers.
In Friday's numbers, NBC's premiere of the celebrity-driven genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? drew 115,367 viewers to finish second at 7 p.m. behind CBS' venerable Ghost Whisperer (162,871 viewers). It was the same order of finish with 18-to-49-year-olds. Next Friday's subject on Think You Are? will be former Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith.
Meanwhile, the piping hot, short-handed Dallas Mavericks extended their winning streak to 11 games with Friday and Saturday night victories over Sacramento and Chicago. The games, both on Fox Sports Southwest, respectively drew 142,512 and 149,299 total viewers.
Jay Leno's NBC Tonight Show again easily bested David Letterman's CBS Late Show Friday, giving him a clean sweep for the week in both total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds.
Friday's local news derby numbers yielded golds for each of the four major TV news providers.
WFAA8 nipped NBC5 and CBS11 to win in total viewers at 10 p.m. But the Peacock took first place among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 won at 6 a.m. in total viewers while sharing first place with Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
CBS11 had an uncommonly big day in the early evening news numbers, running the table at 6 p.m. and also winning at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic. WFAA8 was tops at 5 p.m. in total viewers, just slightly ahead of CBS11.
Remarkable run: half of Idol's remaining eight guys are North Texans
03/05/10 08:01 AM
By ED BARK
Todrick Hall survived another undue burst of bullets from judges while Casey James remained in play despite a clawing from The Cougar.
They join fellow North Texans Alex Lambert and Tim Urban among the final eight males on Fox's American Idol, which in Season 9 is still prime-time's most-watched weekly series.
That's an amazing show of force for a region, let alone a state. It's also a local angle gold mine for Dallas-based Fox4, which may end up having to send its entire late night reporting team to Idol "watch parties" next week.
Hall, 24, is from Arlington, while James, 27, calls Fort Worth home. Lambert, the youngest of the quartet at 19, is from North Richland Hills. Urban, 20, is from Duncanville.
Hall's improvisational song stylings took another lashing on Tuesday night's performance edition while James was found wanting by judge Kara DioGuardi, who had been swooning in his presence. But Thursday night's viewer votes said otherwise. Lambert and Urban, virtually condemned to death by judges in the previous week, received much kinder assessments from an unlikely source -- Simon Cowell.
Two women with Texas ties also are still among Idol's living. Lacey Brown, 24, is from Amarillo and Florida-born Paige Miles, 24, currently lives in Houston.
Voted off Thursday night were John Park, Haeley Vaughn, Jermaine Sellers and Michelle Delamor.
Olympics-skewed Feb. sweeps yield asterisk-emblazoned golds for WFAA8, NBC5, Fox4
03/04/10 12:35 PM
By ED BARK
WFAA8 won the biggest local newscast prizes of the February "sweeps" with closely contested first place finishes at 10 p.m. in the two major audience categories.
But advertisers and stations, including WFAA8, generally are disregarding those results because of Olympics overruns that affected 11 of the 20 weeknight newscasts. On those nights, the Winter Games drew the lion's share of viewers while Fox4, WFAA8 and CBS11 fought a down-sized three-way battle.
It should be noted that on most Olympics nights, NBC5's late-starting late nighter generally had more viewers than the most-watched, regularly scheduled 10 p.m. newscast. But on the nine nights when all four major TV news providers went head-to-head, NBC5 could only claim the bronze.
The 6 a.m. newscast competitions, which were the least-affected by the Olympics, ended with narrow wins by NBC5 in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. Three of the four early evening news matchups resulted in first-place ties, with NBC5 benefiting somewhat from being sandwiched between afternoon and prime-time Olympics coverage.
Here are the results, without year-to-year comparisons because they don't carry that much weight this time out. The true test for all four stations will be the unfettered May "sweeps."
10 P.M.
Total viewers
WFAA8 -- 217,162
CBS11 -- 203,589
Fox4 -- 122,153
25-to-54-year-olds
WFAA8 -- 101,277
CBS11 -- 85,932
Fox4 -- 58,311
6 A.M.
Total viewers
NBC5 -- 142,512
Fox4 -- 122,153
WFAA8 -- 101,795
CBS11 -- 67,863
25-to-54-year-olds
NBC5 -- 79,794
Fox4 -- 70,587
WFAA8 -- 58,311
CBS11 -- 42,966
5 P.M.
Total viewers
NBC5/WFAA8 -- 128,940 apiece
Fox4 -- 115,367
CBS11 -- 88,222
25-to-54-year-olds
WFAA8 -- 52,173
Fox4 -- 49,104
NBC5 -- 46,035
CBS11 -- 30,690
6 P.M.
Total viewers
NBC5/WFAA8 - 162,871 apiece
CBS11 -- 142,512
Fox4 -- 115,367
25-to-54-year-olds
Fox4/NBC5/WFAA8 -- 58,311 apiece
CBS11 -- 49,104
WFAA8 won the biggest local newscast prizes of the February "sweeps" with closely contested first place finishes at 10 p.m. in the two major audience categories.
But advertisers and stations, including WFAA8, generally are disregarding those results because of Olympics overruns that affected 11 of the 20 weeknight newscasts. On those nights, the Winter Games drew the lion's share of viewers while Fox4, WFAA8 and CBS11 fought a down-sized three-way battle.
It should be noted that on most Olympics nights, NBC5's late-starting late nighter generally had more viewers than the most-watched, regularly scheduled 10 p.m. newscast. But on the nine nights when all four major TV news providers went head-to-head, NBC5 could only claim the bronze.
The 6 a.m. newscast competitions, which were the least-affected by the Olympics, ended with narrow wins by NBC5 in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. Three of the four early evening news matchups resulted in first-place ties, with NBC5 benefiting somewhat from being sandwiched between afternoon and prime-time Olympics coverage.
Here are the results, without year-to-year comparisons because they don't carry that much weight this time out. The true test for all four stations will be the unfettered May "sweeps."
10 P.M.
Total viewers
WFAA8 -- 217,162
CBS11 -- 203,589
Fox4 -- 122,153
25-to-54-year-olds
WFAA8 -- 101,277
CBS11 -- 85,932
Fox4 -- 58,311
6 A.M.
Total viewers
NBC5 -- 142,512
Fox4 -- 122,153
WFAA8 -- 101,795
CBS11 -- 67,863
25-to-54-year-olds
NBC5 -- 79,794
Fox4 -- 70,587
WFAA8 -- 58,311
CBS11 -- 42,966
5 P.M.
Total viewers
NBC5/WFAA8 -- 128,940 apiece
Fox4 -- 115,367
CBS11 -- 88,222
25-to-54-year-olds
WFAA8 -- 52,173
Fox4 -- 49,104
NBC5 -- 46,035
CBS11 -- 30,690
6 P.M.
Total viewers
NBC5/WFAA8 - 162,871 apiece
CBS11 -- 142,512
Fox4 -- 115,367
25-to-54-year-olds
Fox4/NBC5/WFAA8 -- 58,311 apiece
CBS11 -- 49,104
Schack shucks WFAA8 to take top meteorologist job in old Kentucky home
03/03/10 03:25 PM
By ED BARK
Jennifer Schack, weekend meteorologist at Dallas-based WFAA8, will be leaving the station after her last shift on March 7th to become the head forecaster at ABC station WTVQ-TV in Lexington, KY.
She sent news of her move via an email Wednesday to unclebarky.com.
"I know viewers always get frustrated when TV talent move on and they are not informed," Schack said. "So I wanted to quickly update you."
Schack, who joined WFAA8 in October, 2008, grew up in California, KY and graduated with a degree in Independent Studies: Meteorology from Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, KY. She came to WFAA8 after working four-plus years at 6 News, an independent TV station in Lawrence, Kansas.
"It has been an honor and a pleasure serving North Texas," Schack said. "I feel immensely blessed for my time here."
Tied to a whipping post: favorite son Casey James no longer unscathed among Idol's North Texas 4
03/03/10 10:34 AM
By ED BARK
"The Cougar" (Kara DioGuardi) clawed at her favorite hottie cub Tuesday night while fellow judge Simon Cowell head-patted two contestants he'd savaged the week before.
American Idol's contingent of four North Texas males -- among just 10 men still standing -- had another eventful go-around on the show's Tuesday performance edition. As before, we'll give you a condensation of the judges' actual comments before Uncle Barky chips in like a woodpecker among redwoods. Here we go again.
CASEY JAMES, 27, FORT WORTH
Song: "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw
Randy Jackson -- "I love you channeling like Hendrix. This is the kind of music I could see you making as an artist and winning."
Ellen DeGeneres -- "On paper everything is there . . . But there's just a stiffness about you."
Kara DioGuardi -- "We all got the memo. 'The Cougar's' a fan. But tonight, I gotta say, you took two steps backward for me . . . Tonight everything that was distinct about you -- upfront, center, honest -- went away. Still a fan, but tonight, two steps back, baby."
Simon Cowell -- "Did he not return your calls, darling? This week you turned into somebody you will see in any bar across America -- somebody trying to be a rock star."
Uncle Barky -- "Embarrassed by her previous slobbering, DioGuardi's just trying to distance herself from any Paula Abdul comparisons while also keeping her off-camera hubby at bay. But Casey's electric guitar riffs did tend to overwhelm his voice. Gargle with Southern Comfort and get those vocal chords re-tuned. Then either lose the guitar or downshift it to acoustic."
ALEX LAMBERT, 19, NORTH RICHLAND HILLS
Song: "Everybody Knows" by John Legend
Randy -- "This is such an improvement for me over last week. I really enjoyed that, actually."
Ellen -- "So much better than last week . . . You're gaining so much experience so quickly. I like it. I like it."
Kara -- "There isn't a person out there that isn't rooting for you . . . What you have is an incredible, recordable voice. People would die to have that tone."
Simon -- "That was a million times better than last week . . . Let me just give you some advice. The only time you should be nervous is if you're useless. And you're not. You've actually got a good voice . . . You have to have a killer, killer instinct now."
Uncle Barky -- "I dunno. I just don't see it. Definitely more relaxed this time, but still next to no stage presence. The voice is OK, but certainly not all that 'incredible' or 'recordable.' Or memorable."
TODRICK HALL, 24, ARLINGTON
Song: "What's Love Got to Do With It?" by Tina Turner
Randy -- "A great song doesn't need a different, wild arrangement. I didn't love this, right? I didn't love this at all . . . Just sing a nice song. Just sing. For once."
Ellen -- "I would say not 'just sing.' I would say sing and move. Because use your strength. You're a dancer . . . I don't think it was the right song. I don't think that song helped you get any votes."
Kara -- "I don't get it. What happened to Todrick with his unique spin on stuff that was not crazy, all over the place? I don't know where that Todrick went."
Simon -- "I would say, 'Tondrick (sic), move but don't sing.' Because this is not working out at all for you. It was just one of those performances I had the misfortune to see at a theme park. It was of that caliber . . . I don't know what's going through your head at the moment, but you are getting this completely and utterly wrong. Sorry."
Uncle Barky -- "WTF are you people talking about!? Todrick's interpretation of this Turner standard was nowhere near as 'off-message' as last week's rendition of Kelly Clarkson's 'Since U Been Gone.' In fact, he kept the melody completely intact while also making the song 'his own,' as you guys keep parroting. You demand originality, and then you try to stifle this kid's creativity. He needs to tune you out and stay in this groove. What're you trying to do to him? You're acting like a bunch of Lawrence Welks striving to rein in Miles Davis. Let's hope viewers are much, much smarter than this."
TIM URBAN, 20, DUNCANVILLE
Song: "C'mon, Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson
Randy -- "Tim, how was that for you, man? I didn't really get it. It was kind of very karaoke for me. There was nothing special about it. Nothing jumped out. Nothing made it unique."
Ellen -- "You should act. There's no charisma. There's no stage presence . . . But you're adorable. And if you act, you've got it made. Because you can also sing a little."
Kara -- "I actually liked the song choice . . . But you didn't make it your own. It's just frustrating with you. Because you look the part, you play the part, but it's not all there yet."
Simon -- "I think that was a marked improvement on last week . . . I thought you were more relevant tonight than a lot of the other singers we've seen before. I'm really impressed by your attitude and your work ethic."
Uncle Barky -- "Ellen's on to something. She mentioned Glee during the course of her discourse, and yeah, that'd be perfect for you. You've definitely got the heartthrob David Cassidy/Zac Efron package. And your vocals are decent enough. Don't write yourself off yet on Idol, though. Two words: Kris Allen. He's the cute 'n' cuddly defending champ, and no one every accused him of having a high-soaring vocal range. It's very unlikely you'll go the distance, but a Top 10 finish isn't inconceivable."
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., March 2) -- Leno wins again while CBS11/WFAA8 split late night election returns
03/03/10 09:22 AM
By ED BARK
Sarah Palin's visitation to Jay Leno's Tonight Show spurred him to a second lopsided win over David Letterman Tuesday.
Palin, who also contributed a hit 'n' miss comedy monologue, was not asked about her previous run-in with Letterman over a sexual joke he made about her daughter. In other words, it was a typically inconsequential Leno interview, but good enough to make the sale ratings-wise.
Tonight drew 162,871 D-FW viewers while Letterman had 67,863. For Monday's return to Tonight, Leno won by a score of 217,162 to 74,649 viewers.
Tuesday's Tonight also logged an easy win among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, with Leno luring 55,442 to Letterman's 16,308. On Monday night the margin was 75,017 to 13,046.
Tuesday's 10 p.m. local newscasts were driven by state and local election returns, with CBS11 nipping WFAA8 in total viewers by a Nielsen vote of 223,948 to 217,162. NBC5 (169,658) and Fox4 (156,085) trailed on a night when Gov. Rick Perry closed the deal early and made his victory speech from Driftwood at the start of the late night editions.
WFAA8's coverage had the largest audience among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. It drew 95,139 viewers in this age range, with NBC5 and CBS11 tying for second (82,863 viewers) and Fox4 running fourth (55,242).
In prime-time returns, the 9 p.m. premiere of NBC's Parenthood ran fourth in total viewers, drawing 203,589 opposite CBS' front-running The Good Wife (359,674 viewers). But Parenthood vaulted to first place among 18-to-49-year-olds, the target demographic for entertainment programming. So NBC will be giddy if those numbers hold up nationally.
Fox's American Idol again called the tune from 7 to 9 p.m., rolling up 495,400 total viewers and also winning among 18-to-49-year-olds. CBS' combo of NCIS/NCIS: Los Angeles ran a close second in total viewers but sagged among 18-to-49-year-olds. ABC's 8 p.m. new episode of Lost had the silver in that key demographic.
In other local news derby results, NBC5 again swept the 6 a.m. proceedings, with Fox4 close behind.
The 5 and 6 p.m. news numbers were mostly controlled by Fox4, which won at 5 p.m. in total viewers and ran the table at those hours among 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 notched a 6 p.m. win in total viewers.
Sarah Palin's visitation to Jay Leno's Tonight Show spurred him to a second lopsided win over David Letterman Tuesday.
Palin, who also contributed a hit 'n' miss comedy monologue, was not asked about her previous run-in with Letterman over a sexual joke he made about her daughter. In other words, it was a typically inconsequential Leno interview, but good enough to make the sale ratings-wise.
Tonight drew 162,871 D-FW viewers while Letterman had 67,863. For Monday's return to Tonight, Leno won by a score of 217,162 to 74,649 viewers.
Tuesday's Tonight also logged an easy win among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, with Leno luring 55,442 to Letterman's 16,308. On Monday night the margin was 75,017 to 13,046.
Tuesday's 10 p.m. local newscasts were driven by state and local election returns, with CBS11 nipping WFAA8 in total viewers by a Nielsen vote of 223,948 to 217,162. NBC5 (169,658) and Fox4 (156,085) trailed on a night when Gov. Rick Perry closed the deal early and made his victory speech from Driftwood at the start of the late night editions.
WFAA8's coverage had the largest audience among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. It drew 95,139 viewers in this age range, with NBC5 and CBS11 tying for second (82,863 viewers) and Fox4 running fourth (55,242).
In prime-time returns, the 9 p.m. premiere of NBC's Parenthood ran fourth in total viewers, drawing 203,589 opposite CBS' front-running The Good Wife (359,674 viewers). But Parenthood vaulted to first place among 18-to-49-year-olds, the target demographic for entertainment programming. So NBC will be giddy if those numbers hold up nationally.
Fox's American Idol again called the tune from 7 to 9 p.m., rolling up 495,400 total viewers and also winning among 18-to-49-year-olds. CBS' combo of NCIS/NCIS: Los Angeles ran a close second in total viewers but sagged among 18-to-49-year-olds. ABC's 8 p.m. new episode of Lost had the silver in that key demographic.
In other local news derby results, NBC5 again swept the 6 a.m. proceedings, with Fox4 close behind.
The 5 and 6 p.m. news numbers were mostly controlled by Fox4, which won at 5 p.m. in total viewers and ran the table at those hours among 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 notched a 6 p.m. win in total viewers.
The power of raw, mostly silent video
03/02/10 03:10 PM
Tuesday's early morning fires on Lower
Greenville Avenue leveled a quartet of popular
bar/restaurants. Fort Worth-based NBC5's website,
nbcdfw.com, has posted a two-and-a-half minute video
from the scene without any breathless reporter
additives.
The footage, shot first from ground level and then from above, has its own sad eloquence. The devastation is all too clear, with your own thoughts providing the narrative. Sometimes it just works better that way.
On the website, the video is accompanied by a print story that fills in the details, plus a headline reading, "4-Alarm Fire Devours Block of Greenville Avenue." All in all, it's a powerful combination. Take a look, with the proviso that you'll first have to experience a 15-second commercial.
Ed Bark
The footage, shot first from ground level and then from above, has its own sad eloquence. The devastation is all too clear, with your own thoughts providing the narrative. Sometimes it just works better that way.
On the website, the video is accompanied by a print story that fills in the details, plus a headline reading, "4-Alarm Fire Devours Block of Greenville Avenue." All in all, it's a powerful combination. Take a look, with the proviso that you'll first have to experience a 15-second commercial.
Ed Bark
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., March 1) -- seems like old times: Leno smacks Letterman
03/02/10 10:00 AM
By ED BARK
Jay Leno's first Tonight Show do-over Monday amounted to a rerun of his past battles with David Letterman's Late Show.
Leno drew nearly triple Letterman's audience in D-FW while annihilating him even worse among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. Of course it's early. And there was an obvious curiosity factor. But still . . .
Here are the numbers:
TOTAL VIEWERS
Tonight Show -- 217,162
Nightline -- 128,940
Late Show -- 74,649
18-to-49-YEAR-OLDS
Tonight Show -- 75,017
Nightline -- 52,186
Late Show -- 13,046
Letterman also was beaten in total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds by CW33's 10:30 to 11:30 p.m. repeats of Two and a Half Men and Friends. His featured guest was Bill Murray Monday night while Leno countered with Jamie Foxx and Olympic downhill skiing gold medalist Lindsey Vonn.
Elsewhere on Monday's landscape, ABC's climactic two-hour The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love, starring Dallas pilot Jake Pavelka, won the 7 p.m. hour in total viewers before finishing second from 8 to 9 p.m. behind new episodes of CBS' Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory.
But Bachelor beat all competing programming in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic and also ran first in that age range at 9 p.m. with its After the Final Rose recap. CBS' new hour of CSI: Miami tied After the Final Rose for first in total viewers.
Fox punted at 7 p.m. with a House rerun that ran fourth across the board before a new episode of 24 beat NBC's Law & Order for third place in both ratings measurements.
The 9 p.m. second hour of L&O, first of a wave of Jay Leno Show replacements, drew a respectable 217,162 total viewers. That was good enough to beat Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast, and a significantly better showing than Leno had been making on most nights.
NBC's Chuck continued to be its highest-rated Monday show, this time with 223,948 total viewers and an even better showing with 18-to-49-year-olds, where it ran second at 7 p.m.
On to the local news derby results, where WFAA8 rode a strong lead-in from After the Final Rose to a doubleheader win at 10 p.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the preferred advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 got off to a decent 10 p.m. restart by finishing second in total viewers before dipping to third with 25-to-54-year-olds behind runnerup CBS11.
The Peacock again ran the table at 6 a.m., with Fox4 taking the silvers.
WFAA8 controlled the 5 and 6 p.m. newscast ratings in total viewers, but Fox4 again won both matchups among 25-to-54-year-olds.
The February "sweeps" ratings period, which ends Wednesday night, will be written off as largely inconsequential at 10 p.m., where NBC's Olympics overruns skewed the numbers.
NBC5's early evening newscasts also benefited from being sandwiched between afternoon and prime-time Winter Games coverage. But the 6 a.m. Nielsens are relatively pure, and NBC5 looks like a winner there.
Jay Leno's first Tonight Show do-over Monday amounted to a rerun of his past battles with David Letterman's Late Show.
Leno drew nearly triple Letterman's audience in D-FW while annihilating him even worse among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. Of course it's early. And there was an obvious curiosity factor. But still . . .
Here are the numbers:
TOTAL VIEWERS
Tonight Show -- 217,162
Nightline -- 128,940
Late Show -- 74,649
18-to-49-YEAR-OLDS
Tonight Show -- 75,017
Nightline -- 52,186
Late Show -- 13,046
Letterman also was beaten in total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds by CW33's 10:30 to 11:30 p.m. repeats of Two and a Half Men and Friends. His featured guest was Bill Murray Monday night while Leno countered with Jamie Foxx and Olympic downhill skiing gold medalist Lindsey Vonn.
Elsewhere on Monday's landscape, ABC's climactic two-hour The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love, starring Dallas pilot Jake Pavelka, won the 7 p.m. hour in total viewers before finishing second from 8 to 9 p.m. behind new episodes of CBS' Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory.
But Bachelor beat all competing programming in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic and also ran first in that age range at 9 p.m. with its After the Final Rose recap. CBS' new hour of CSI: Miami tied After the Final Rose for first in total viewers.
Fox punted at 7 p.m. with a House rerun that ran fourth across the board before a new episode of 24 beat NBC's Law & Order for third place in both ratings measurements.
The 9 p.m. second hour of L&O, first of a wave of Jay Leno Show replacements, drew a respectable 217,162 total viewers. That was good enough to beat Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast, and a significantly better showing than Leno had been making on most nights.
NBC's Chuck continued to be its highest-rated Monday show, this time with 223,948 total viewers and an even better showing with 18-to-49-year-olds, where it ran second at 7 p.m.
On to the local news derby results, where WFAA8 rode a strong lead-in from After the Final Rose to a doubleheader win at 10 p.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the preferred advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 got off to a decent 10 p.m. restart by finishing second in total viewers before dipping to third with 25-to-54-year-olds behind runnerup CBS11.
The Peacock again ran the table at 6 a.m., with Fox4 taking the silvers.
WFAA8 controlled the 5 and 6 p.m. newscast ratings in total viewers, but Fox4 again won both matchups among 25-to-54-year-olds.
The February "sweeps" ratings period, which ends Wednesday night, will be written off as largely inconsequential at 10 p.m., where NBC's Olympics overruns skewed the numbers.
NBC5's early evening newscasts also benefited from being sandwiched between afternoon and prime-time Winter Games coverage. But the 6 a.m. Nielsens are relatively pure, and NBC5 looks like a winner there.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Feb. 26-28) -- Undercover Boss gets silver/gold opposite Olympics closing ceremony
03/01/10 12:58 PM
By ED BARK
CBS' Undercover Boss achieved above and beyond Sunday night by beating NBC's last gasp of the Olympics among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds and running a competitive second in total D-FW viewers.
The 8 to 9 p.m. slice of the Winter Games' closing ceremonies had 413,964 viewers in holding off Undercover Boss (339,315 viewers), which closed strong to beat the Olympics in the 8:45 to 9 p.m. segment. But Boss slid by among 18-to-49-year-olds, racking up 172,865 viewers in this age range for the full hour compared to the Olympics' 159,818.
A new episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives, also in the 8 p.m. mix, had to settle for third in both ratings measurements.
At 9:30 p.m. Sunday, the sneak preview of NBC's Jerry Seinfeld-produced The Marriage Ref won its time slot with 298,597 total viewers while also emerging as master of its domain among 18-to-49-year-olds. The series now moves to Thursdays at 9 p.m. as part of NBC's Jay Leno Show replacement parade.
Earlier Sunday, the gold medal overtime men's hockey final between the U.S. and victorious Canada had appreciably bigger ratings than the prime-time Olympics swan song. Peaking at 712,562 total viewers between 4:45 and 5 p.m., the 3-2 finale overall averaged 536,118.
Saturday's nighttime Olympics coverage cruised to an easy win with 468,255 viewers while Friday's averaged 536,118 (identical to the men's hockey final) in also decimating all competing programming.
In Friday's local news derby tallies, CBS11 edged WFAA8 in total viewers to win the 10 p.m. gold, but Fox4 made a rare trip to the top of the podium with a win among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. With the Olympics now out of the picture, it was the last downsized weeknight race in the showcase 10 p.m. hour.
Fox4 and NBC5 tied for first place in total viewers at 6 a.m., with the Peacock tops in the 25-to-54 demographic.
CBS11 triumphed at 6 p.m. in total viewers and tied Fox4 for first with 25-to-54-year-olds. The 5 p.m. golds were split between NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
CBS' Undercover Boss achieved above and beyond Sunday night by beating NBC's last gasp of the Olympics among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds and running a competitive second in total D-FW viewers.
The 8 to 9 p.m. slice of the Winter Games' closing ceremonies had 413,964 viewers in holding off Undercover Boss (339,315 viewers), which closed strong to beat the Olympics in the 8:45 to 9 p.m. segment. But Boss slid by among 18-to-49-year-olds, racking up 172,865 viewers in this age range for the full hour compared to the Olympics' 159,818.
A new episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives, also in the 8 p.m. mix, had to settle for third in both ratings measurements.
At 9:30 p.m. Sunday, the sneak preview of NBC's Jerry Seinfeld-produced The Marriage Ref won its time slot with 298,597 total viewers while also emerging as master of its domain among 18-to-49-year-olds. The series now moves to Thursdays at 9 p.m. as part of NBC's Jay Leno Show replacement parade.
Earlier Sunday, the gold medal overtime men's hockey final between the U.S. and victorious Canada had appreciably bigger ratings than the prime-time Olympics swan song. Peaking at 712,562 total viewers between 4:45 and 5 p.m., the 3-2 finale overall averaged 536,118.
Saturday's nighttime Olympics coverage cruised to an easy win with 468,255 viewers while Friday's averaged 536,118 (identical to the men's hockey final) in also decimating all competing programming.
In Friday's local news derby tallies, CBS11 edged WFAA8 in total viewers to win the 10 p.m. gold, but Fox4 made a rare trip to the top of the podium with a win among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. With the Olympics now out of the picture, it was the last downsized weeknight race in the showcase 10 p.m. hour.
Fox4 and NBC5 tied for first place in total viewers at 6 a.m., with the Peacock tops in the 25-to-54 demographic.
CBS11 triumphed at 6 p.m. in total viewers and tied Fox4 for first with 25-to-54-year-olds. The 5 p.m. golds were split between NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC reboots, NBC5 hopes to get a leg up
03/01/10 02:03 AM
By ED BARK
Now comes the inverse of many Winter Olympics competitions -- NBC's steep uphill climb back to what it hopes will be renewed ratings respectability. It all starts Monday.
Fort Worth-based NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts also potentially have much to gain. The station's new anchor duo of Brian Curtis and Meredith Land made their first appearance after the Games' opening ceremonies. And despite usually starting an hour or more later than their three rivals, they still drew more viewers than the 10 p.m. winner on most nights. It helps to have the Olympics as a feeding tube.
Curtis and Land will begin their regularly scheduled 10 p.m. shift without being bedeviled by The Jay Leno Show and its reliably low lead-in audiences. Instead they'll be preceded by a patchwork quilt of shows that are either new or notably long in the tooth.
The Monday-Friday 9 p.m. lineup, subject to change as winter yields to spring, will be Law & Order; the promising new drama series Parenthood; Law & Order: SVU; Jerry Seinfeld's comedy-panel show, The Marriage Ref and Dateline.
Leno, whose Olympics promotions were built around The Beatles' "Get Back," concurrently returns to The Tonight Show Monday armed with guests Lindsey Vonn, Jamie Foxx and Brad Paisley. His long-term goal is to regain the dominance he had over David Letterman's Late Show, which thumped Conan O'Brien's Tonight for much of their seven-month faceoff.
Letterman will counter Monday night with the reliably entertaining Bill Murray and Ludacris. On Tuesday, a pair of possible 2012 Republican presidential candidates square off, with Leno welcoming Sarah Palin and Letterman hosting Mitt Romney.
Letterman also has The Jay Leno Show's first guest, Jerry Seinfeld, on Wednesday, and O'Brien's last Tonightguest, Tom Hanks, on Thursday. Leno has Olympian Apolo Ono on Wednesday and Brett Favre on Thursday. They're obviously not messin' around.
NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts ran third in the November sweeps with Leno as their nightly place-setter. Late night news ratings for the February sweeps, which end Wednesday night, are largely discounted because of the Olympics factor. That makes the May sweeps of more than usual interest -- particularly for NBC.
Can Leno heal the Tonight Show ratings after opening all those gaping ratings wounds at 9 p.m.? Will NBC be able to give its owned and affiliated stations a much-needed boost with its hastily assembled quintet of Leno replacements?
Leno's return to Tonight almost assuredly will boost the show's overall ratings. And the curiosity over Monday night's first do-over should provide him with a larger audience than Letterman on that night.
Despite NBC's manifest screwups, it's still possible that Leno in time will resume his reign as late night king. In fact it might not take that much time at all. If so, that would be a tough pill for Letterman to choke down. So he'll be going all out -- save for another sex scandal -- to stay on top of a guy he unmercifully ridiculed until making peace of sorts with their surprise Super Bowl XLIV commercial.
The Peacock's prime-time problems are far more deep-seated across the board, even if its new 9 p.m. lineup can't help but do better than Leno did. In the immediate future, NBC5 and its brethren across the land will take whatever extra table scraps they can get. For the first time since September, things actually are looking up. Then again, how could they not?