Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri., Nov. 4 to Sun., Nov. 13) -- abbreviated catchup round
11/14/16 12:16 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ rousing 35-30 last-second win over the Pittsburgh Steelers also had just enough juice to rank as this season’s overall most-watched game to date.
Capped by Ezekiel Elliott’s 32-yard touchdown run on the Steelers’ home turf, the “America’s Game of the Week” presentation on Fox averaged 1,592,371 D-FW viewers and 641,420 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old age range.
That inched past the 1,585,100 total viewers for the Cowboys’ Game 6 win at Green Bay on Fox. But among 18-to-49-year-olds, Cowboys-Steelers ranks third on this season’s charts behind two NBC Sunday Night Football match ups -- Game 3 against the Chicago Bears (698,654) and Game 7 versus the Philadelphia Eagles (644,627).
The Cowboys-Steelers game, which made Dallas 8-1 this season, was a ratings behemoth, though, compared to the team’s 35-10 thrashing of the lowly Cleveland Browns in the previous Sunday’s game on Fox. That one, which had a ratings-deflating noon start, averaged 1,163,376 total viewers and 452,201 in the 18-to-49 demographic.
Your friendly content provider was in Europe for both games, and also for Donald Trump’s stunning election to the American presidency over the heavily favored Hillary Clinton. Hey, it was a long-planned trip, so sorry for not tweeting while the returns unfolded throughout some very wee hours on CNN International, which was available in our room while a Viking River Cruise boat made its way down the Rhine.
A look at the D-FW ratings returns shows that Fox News Channel averaged the most total viewers, with a peak crowd of 508,977 between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m.
NBC was the election night runner-up, drawing a high of 487,164 viewers between both 9:45 and 10 p.m. and 10 and 10:15 p.m. CNN came in third, hitting a high of 363,555 viewers between 10:45 and 11 p.m. ABC ran fourth with a peak audience of 312,657 between 10:45 and 11 p.m. Then came the Fox broadcasting network (highs of 290,844 viewers between 9 to 9:15 and 9:15 to 9:30 p.m.) and CBS (a comparatively smallish peak of 196,320 viewers from 10:15 to 10:30 p.m.).
Meanwhile, Fox4, NBC5, TEGNA8 and CBS11 continued to compete during the mid-portion of the November ratings “sweeps,” which end on the day before Thanksgiving.
Here are the chronological weekday local news derby results.
Friday, Nov. 4th -- CBS11 drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while also edging NBC5 for the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and TEGNA8 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Monday -- NBC5 ran the table at 10 p.m. and Fox4 added another pair of twin wins at 6 a.m.
TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. while Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5’s local news was delayed to 6:30 p.m. by its parent network’s extended election eve edition of the NBC Nightly News. Fox4 had the most total viewers at 5 p.m. and tied NBC5 for the lead with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Tuesday -- The 6 and 10 p.m. local newscasts were mostly rubbed out by network election day coverage.
At 5 p.m., Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the top spot in total viewers while Fox4 won outright with 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 also again swept the 6 a.m. races.
Wednesday -- NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers while Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The tables were turned at 6 a.m., with Fox4 winning in total viewers and NBC5 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 swept the 6 p.m. races, with NBC5 again giving way to NBC’s extended election-themed Nightly News. The Peacock won at 5 p.m. in total viewers, but Fox4 took the 25-to-54 gold.
Thursday -- NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. races in both ratings measurements.
Fox4 had the most total viewers at 6 a.m., but NBC5 again won with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The 6 p.m. golds went to TEGNA8 in total viewers and Fox among 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m.
Friday -- CBS11 won in total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 took the 25-to-54 gold.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions while NBC5 rolled to twin wins at both 5 and 6 p.m.
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