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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., Feb. 12-13) -- CBS continues to let Olympics slide

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Only Fox fought NBC’s Olympics in full battle dress on Wednesday and Thursday nights while CBS holstered its major weapons and settled for reruns.

Thursday’s 7 to 10:30 p.m. Winter Games coverage averaged 518,395 D-FW viewers with 224,712 of them within the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 demographic.

Fox’s 7 to 8 p.m. edition of American Idol put up the most resistance on both fronts, scoring respective totals of 269,849 and 149,808 viewers.

On Wednesday night, Fox won a lone gold medal opposite the Olympics. That came during the first hour of Idol, which drew 166,092 viewers in the 18-to-49 range while NBC’s 7 to 8 p.m. portion of the Olympics had 153,065.

But the Games ran No. 1 throughout the night in total viewers, averaging 426,078 in the 7 to 10:30 p.m. slot. That marked the lowest D-FW viewers total for NBC’s first eight nights of coverage. Idol ran a solid second from 7 to 9 p.m. with 319,559 total viewers. CBS’ 7:30 to 10 p.m. repeat of its 50th anniversary Beatles special drew 99,418 viewers. ABC mixed reruns and first-run programming on both nights, running last for the most part among the Big Four broadcast networks.

Here are the local news derby results:

Wednesday -- In another downsized three-way 10 p.m. race, Fox4 rolled to twin wins in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 as usual ran the table at 6 a.m., likewise swept the 5 p.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. gold in the 25-to-54 measurement. For the second time in recent weeks, that put the station within just one win of an exceedingly rare double grand slam. But CBS11 spoiled the party with a 6 p.m. first in total viewers while Fox4 ran fourth.

Thursday -- The three-way 10 p.m. race went to WFAA8 this time in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 scored doubleheader wins at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. while also notching a 6 p.m. victory among 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m.

Although it had no wins, CBS11 celebrated a pair of bronze medals at 6 a.m., where it’s been a doormat since Captain Kangaroo walked the earth. WFAA8 fell to fourth place in both measurements, which is starting to happen with more frequency. But the station should still have enough early morning juice to keep CBS11 at the bottom for another ratings sweeps period. Barring any miraculous turn of events, neither station is a serious threat this time around to either kingpin Fox4 or runner-up NBC5.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net