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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs.-Mon., Aug. 8-12) -- catchup round with additional notes on WFAA8 naming a new news director while the station's Daybreak continues its sudden slide

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Monday’s prime-time ratings were paced by Fox4’s ever-potent 9 p.m. local newscast, which continues to punch out most of summer’s mix of reruns and “reality” concoctions.

The news drew a night’s best 168,703 D-FW viewers while running a close second to Fox’s 7 p.m. attraction, Beat Shazam, among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

Sunday’s prime-time festivities were led in total viewers by ABC’s 7 p.m. hour of Celebrity Family Feud (175,733), with Fox4’s 9 p.m. news the runner-up (161,674). Among 18-to-49ers, Family Feud dominated with 60,384 viewers, which was four times the crowd for Fox’s 7 to 9 p.m. Teen Choice Awards (15,096).

On Saturday night, the Dallas Cowboys’ pre-season, snooze-inducing 17-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers nonetheless crushed everything else in sight. Airing on CBS11 and running until 11:18 p.m., the game averaged 400,671 total viewers and 126,806 in the 18-to-49 age range. Over on Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers-Milwaukee Brewers game never had a chance, drawing just 28,117 viewers and 3,019 in the 18-to-49 realm despite starting two hours earlier than the Cowboys-49ers did.

Friday’s prime-time pacesetters were Fox4’s 9 p.m. news and CBS’ Blue Bloods repeat, each with 98,410 total viewers. NBC’s 9 p.m. edition of Dateline led among 18-to-49-year-olds with 21,134.

And in Thursday’s prime-time Nielsens, Fox4’s 9 p.m. news and Fox’s Masterchef tied for the most total viewers with 182,762. Masterchef edged the 9 p.m. news as the top draw among 18-to-49ers by a score of 57,365 to 54,346.

Here are the weekday local news derby results.

Thursday -- Fox4 had a big day, sweeping the 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. competitions in total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). The station added 5 and 6 p.m. wins with 25-to-54-year-olds while WFAA8 drew the most total viewers at both of those hours.

Friday -- WFAA8 won in total viewers at 10 p.m. and Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds.

At 6 a.m., Fox4 as usual won in total viewers but was tied for first among 25-to-54-year-olds by up-and-coming NBC5. That hasn’t happened in a kindergartener’s lifetime -- which is only a slight exaggeration.

The Peacock also won in total viewers at 5 p.m., with WFAA8 on top in that measurement at 6 p.m. Fox4 took the 25-to-54 top spots at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Monday -- Friday’s results were replicated, with WFAA8 on top in total viewers and Fox4 taking the 25-to-54 gold.

Fox4 ran the table at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. winners were WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Of Note: NBC5 has now finished second in both of these audience demographics for six consecutive weekdays, with WFAA8 falling into third for at least the time being. School starts in the DISD on Monday, Aug. 19th, meaning that audience levels should go up. And if NBC5 remains in the runner-up position, that’s quite a story for a station that had been moribund until teaming newcomer Laura Harris with veteran holdover Deborah Ferguson while accelerating its “Tell Me Something Good” campaign.

WFAA8 also has a new news director. Vice-president/station manager Carolyn Mungo, who recently was promoted to that post, has named Leslie McCardel to succeed her.

McCardel initially joined WFAA8 in 2006 before leaving in 2015 to be a “stay-at-home mom,” according to Mungo. She returned after the July 7, 2016 police ambush in downtown Dallas. Before being promoted, McCardel had been the station’s director of content and strategy.

“Her ability to embrace change, instill a positive culture, and manage unique content on multiple platforms made her the best choice to take WFAA8 to the next level,” Mungo said in a publicity release.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net