Dec 2014
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Dec. 30) -- CBS leads way with NCIS repeat, Kennedy Center Honors
12/31/14 10:33 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
On the eve of a heavy menu of big bowl games, CBS brushed aside the competition with its NCIS reprise and the network’s annual telecast of the Kennedy Center Honors.
NCIS led all prime-time programming with 251,064 D-FW viewers before the Kennedy Center Honors, with Sting, Tom Hanks and Lily Tomlin among those on the receiving end, won from 8 to 10 p.m. with 181,324 viewers. CBS also ran the table among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds opposite repeats on ABC, NBC and Fox.
NBC’s three-pronged Chicago Fire “marathon” topped out with 69,740 total viewers for the 8 p.m. episode. ABC’s three-peat of Forever scored highest with the 9 p.m. episode (76,714 viewers).
ESPN’s trio of college football games was led by Georgia’s win over Louisville in the Belk Bowl. It averaged 153,428 viewers.
In Tuesday’s local news derby results, Gannett8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 otherwise ruled with sweeps of the 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m. competitions.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
On the eve of a heavy menu of big bowl games, CBS brushed aside the competition with its NCIS reprise and the network’s annual telecast of the Kennedy Center Honors.
NCIS led all prime-time programming with 251,064 D-FW viewers before the Kennedy Center Honors, with Sting, Tom Hanks and Lily Tomlin among those on the receiving end, won from 8 to 10 p.m. with 181,324 viewers. CBS also ran the table among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds opposite repeats on ABC, NBC and Fox.
NBC’s three-pronged Chicago Fire “marathon” topped out with 69,740 total viewers for the 8 p.m. episode. ABC’s three-peat of Forever scored highest with the 9 p.m. episode (76,714 viewers).
ESPN’s trio of college football games was led by Georgia’s win over Louisville in the Belk Bowl. It averaged 153,428 viewers.
In Tuesday’s local news derby results, Gannett8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 otherwise ruled with sweeps of the 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m. competitions.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 29) -- Texas/Oklahoma drubbings top charts
12/30/14 09:53 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Both Texas and Oklahoma were on the receiving ends of one-sided whippings Monday in bowl games that were over almost before they started.
Nonetheless, both ESPN presentations dominated their late afternoon/early evening/late night time slots on a day when the Big Four broadcast networks punted with holiday season reruns.
The climactic Texas Bowl, with Arkansas smacking Texas 31-7, ranked as the biggest draw with 285,934 D-FW viewers. ESPN’s preceding Russell Athletic Bowl, in which Clemson thumped Oklahoma 40-6, averaged 202,246 viewers and was outdrawn only by CBS11’s 6:30 p.m. edition of Wheel of Fortune (still rolling with 292,908 viewers).
Earlier Monday, Texas A&M’s 45-37 win over West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl had 153,428 viewers on ESPN.
In contrast, NBC filled its three hours of prime-time with a “marathon” of State of Affairs repeats. Each episode drew progressively smaller crowds, with the 7 p.m. hour pulling in 97,636 viewers before audiences fell to 62,766 and 55,792 viewers. Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast, the only fresh product at that hour other than football, easily won its time slot among the Big Four broadcast networks with 146,454 viewers and 53,615 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
Here are Monday’s four-way local news derby results.
Gannett8 and CBS11 tied for the most viewers at 10 p.m. but Fox4 reigned with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 also swept the 6 a.m. races and added a 6 p.m. win among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m. CBS11 won in that measurement at 5 p.m. while the 25-to-54 golds at that hour were shared by Fox4 and NBC5.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Both Texas and Oklahoma were on the receiving ends of one-sided whippings Monday in bowl games that were over almost before they started.
Nonetheless, both ESPN presentations dominated their late afternoon/early evening/late night time slots on a day when the Big Four broadcast networks punted with holiday season reruns.
The climactic Texas Bowl, with Arkansas smacking Texas 31-7, ranked as the biggest draw with 285,934 D-FW viewers. ESPN’s preceding Russell Athletic Bowl, in which Clemson thumped Oklahoma 40-6, averaged 202,246 viewers and was outdrawn only by CBS11’s 6:30 p.m. edition of Wheel of Fortune (still rolling with 292,908 viewers).
Earlier Monday, Texas A&M’s 45-37 win over West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl had 153,428 viewers on ESPN.
In contrast, NBC filled its three hours of prime-time with a “marathon” of State of Affairs repeats. Each episode drew progressively smaller crowds, with the 7 p.m. hour pulling in 97,636 viewers before audiences fell to 62,766 and 55,792 viewers. Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast, the only fresh product at that hour other than football, easily won its time slot among the Big Four broadcast networks with 146,454 viewers and 53,615 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
Here are Monday’s four-way local news derby results.
Gannett8 and CBS11 tied for the most viewers at 10 p.m. but Fox4 reigned with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 also swept the 6 a.m. races and added a 6 p.m. win among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m. CBS11 won in that measurement at 5 p.m. while the 25-to-54 golds at that hour were shared by Fox4 and NBC5.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues.-Sun., Dec. 23-28) -- Cowboys/Yule Log edition
12/29/14 11:24 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ 44-17 trouncing of the Washington Redskins had predictably underwhelming ratings compared to other games while still blotting out everything else in its path Sunday.
Running from noon until 3:17 p.m. on Fox, Cowboys-Redskins averaged 1,255,320 D-FW viewers, with 520,377 of them in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age range. That puts the regular season-ender in the lower half of the 16 games played, although Dallas had already clinched the NFC East title and was playing for the slim chance to get a first round post-season bye. That didn’t happen, meaning the Cowboys will square off against the Detroit Lions Sunday at 3:40 p.m. on Fox.
The most-watched attraction opposite the Cowboys, CBS’ Chiefs-Charges game, drew just 62,766 viewers.
Six of this season’s Cowboys games drew more than 1.5 million viewers and just one fell below the 1 million mark. Last year, three games averaged few than 1 million viewers and three drew in excess of 1.5 million. The significant improvement is due largely to the Cowboys’ own improvement, from 8-8 to 12-4. But in the 2013 season, each ratings point was worth 71,013 total viewers while this year’s point value declined to 69,740, according to the new Nielsen Media Research estimates of homes with TV sets in the D-FW viewing area.
The Cowboys’ followup act Sunday, Fox’s telecast of the Green Bay Packers win over the Detroit Lions for the North Division title, racked up a very nice-sized 829,906 viewers. That demolished CBS’ competing Carolina Panthers-Atlanta Falcons game, which had 83,688 viewers.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals easily paced all prime-time programming with 446,336 viewers.
OK, let’s rewind to the second annual joint presentation of the flaming, fireplace Yule Log by TXA21 with music from KLUV (98.7 FM). The Log took on expanded responsibilities this season, airing from 7 p.m. Christmas Eve to 5 p.m. Christmas Day. Last year’s inaugural Log fired up on 10 p.m. Christmas Eve before flickering out at 9 a.m. on Christmas Day.
The Yule Log burned brightest in the D-FW Nielsens from 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. on Christmas Day. It attracted 48,818 viewers in that increment. And that was enough to outdraw competition from the Queen Latifah talk show on parent station CBS11 (20,922 viewers from 2:15 to 2:30 p.m.); NBC5’s The Steve Harvey Show (34,870); Fox4’s Dr. Oz (20,922); CW33’s Steve Wilkos Show (13,948); and MY27’s Dish Nation (20,922).
That’s not bad for an unchanging burning stack of wood accompanied by Christmas carols. The Yule Log met its match, though, with ABC’s 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. portion of the San Antonio Spurs-Oklahoma City Thunder game, which had 202,246 viewers.
For its entire running time, the Yule Log started slowly but then drew more than 20,000 viewers in 19 separate 15-minute segments on Christmas Day. And it saved some of its best for last, pulling in 41,844 viewers during its concluding 4:30 to 5 p.m. half-hour. TXA21’s 5 to 5:30 p.m. edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire then fell to 20,922 viewers.
By the way, last year’s Yule Log peaked at 28,405 viewers in its closing half-hour. So this year’s final flickers showed an increase of 13,439 viewers while the 48,818 high point from 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. marked an increase of 20,413 viewers over last season’s ratings peak. The public knows what it wants.
In local news derby results, the four major combatants all took holiday knees from Wednesday through Friday. So those numbers aren’t officially counted.
Here’s Tuesday’s scorecard:
CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. but Gannett8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions while CBS11 had the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. The 25-to-54 golds in those hours went to NBC5 at 5 p.m. and Gannett8 at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ 44-17 trouncing of the Washington Redskins had predictably underwhelming ratings compared to other games while still blotting out everything else in its path Sunday.
Running from noon until 3:17 p.m. on Fox, Cowboys-Redskins averaged 1,255,320 D-FW viewers, with 520,377 of them in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age range. That puts the regular season-ender in the lower half of the 16 games played, although Dallas had already clinched the NFC East title and was playing for the slim chance to get a first round post-season bye. That didn’t happen, meaning the Cowboys will square off against the Detroit Lions Sunday at 3:40 p.m. on Fox.
The most-watched attraction opposite the Cowboys, CBS’ Chiefs-Charges game, drew just 62,766 viewers.
Six of this season’s Cowboys games drew more than 1.5 million viewers and just one fell below the 1 million mark. Last year, three games averaged few than 1 million viewers and three drew in excess of 1.5 million. The significant improvement is due largely to the Cowboys’ own improvement, from 8-8 to 12-4. But in the 2013 season, each ratings point was worth 71,013 total viewers while this year’s point value declined to 69,740, according to the new Nielsen Media Research estimates of homes with TV sets in the D-FW viewing area.
The Cowboys’ followup act Sunday, Fox’s telecast of the Green Bay Packers win over the Detroit Lions for the North Division title, racked up a very nice-sized 829,906 viewers. That demolished CBS’ competing Carolina Panthers-Atlanta Falcons game, which had 83,688 viewers.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals easily paced all prime-time programming with 446,336 viewers.
OK, let’s rewind to the second annual joint presentation of the flaming, fireplace Yule Log by TXA21 with music from KLUV (98.7 FM). The Log took on expanded responsibilities this season, airing from 7 p.m. Christmas Eve to 5 p.m. Christmas Day. Last year’s inaugural Log fired up on 10 p.m. Christmas Eve before flickering out at 9 a.m. on Christmas Day.
The Yule Log burned brightest in the D-FW Nielsens from 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. on Christmas Day. It attracted 48,818 viewers in that increment. And that was enough to outdraw competition from the Queen Latifah talk show on parent station CBS11 (20,922 viewers from 2:15 to 2:30 p.m.); NBC5’s The Steve Harvey Show (34,870); Fox4’s Dr. Oz (20,922); CW33’s Steve Wilkos Show (13,948); and MY27’s Dish Nation (20,922).
That’s not bad for an unchanging burning stack of wood accompanied by Christmas carols. The Yule Log met its match, though, with ABC’s 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. portion of the San Antonio Spurs-Oklahoma City Thunder game, which had 202,246 viewers.
For its entire running time, the Yule Log started slowly but then drew more than 20,000 viewers in 19 separate 15-minute segments on Christmas Day. And it saved some of its best for last, pulling in 41,844 viewers during its concluding 4:30 to 5 p.m. half-hour. TXA21’s 5 to 5:30 p.m. edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire then fell to 20,922 viewers.
By the way, last year’s Yule Log peaked at 28,405 viewers in its closing half-hour. So this year’s final flickers showed an increase of 13,439 viewers while the 48,818 high point from 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. marked an increase of 20,413 viewers over last season’s ratings peak. The public knows what it wants.
In local news derby results, the four major combatants all took holiday knees from Wednesday through Friday. So those numbers aren’t officially counted.
Here’s Tuesday’s scorecard:
CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. but Gannett8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions while CBS11 had the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. The 25-to-54 golds in those hours went to NBC5 at 5 p.m. and Gannett8 at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 22) -- Monday Night Football blasts reruns, Christmas fare, new State of Affairs
12/23/14 10:37 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
ESPN’s Monday Night Football ran up the score with its matchup between the victorious Cincinnati Bengals and a faltering Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos.
MNF ruled prime-time from start to stop, averaging 460,284 D-FW viewers and 195,536 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
The next biggest attraction, CBS’ 7 p.m. repeat of The Big Bang Theory, had 216,194 total viewers while NBC’s annual Saturday Night Live Christmas reprise was runner-up among 18-to-49-year-olds with 72,537.
The Peacock’s followup new episode of State of Affairs drooped with 90,662 total viewers and 28,384 in the 18-to-49 measurement. That left State of Affairs with a pair of fourth place finishes.
From 7 to 9 p.m., ABC’s last chapter of The Great Christmas Light Fight was an overall dim bulb with 111,584 total viewers and 40,999 in the 18-to-49 realm.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results.
Gannett8 topped the total viewers charts at 10 p.m. while NBC5 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
At 6 a.m., NBC5 had the most total viewers and Fox4 ranked first with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 took both golds at 5 and 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic. NBC5 won in total viewers at 5 p.m. and CBS11 reigned at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
ESPN’s Monday Night Football ran up the score with its matchup between the victorious Cincinnati Bengals and a faltering Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos.
MNF ruled prime-time from start to stop, averaging 460,284 D-FW viewers and 195,536 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
The next biggest attraction, CBS’ 7 p.m. repeat of The Big Bang Theory, had 216,194 total viewers while NBC’s annual Saturday Night Live Christmas reprise was runner-up among 18-to-49-year-olds with 72,537.
The Peacock’s followup new episode of State of Affairs drooped with 90,662 total viewers and 28,384 in the 18-to-49 measurement. That left State of Affairs with a pair of fourth place finishes.
From 7 to 9 p.m., ABC’s last chapter of The Great Christmas Light Fight was an overall dim bulb with 111,584 total viewers and 40,999 in the 18-to-49 realm.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results.
Gannett8 topped the total viewers charts at 10 p.m. while NBC5 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
At 6 a.m., NBC5 had the most total viewers and Fox4 ranked first with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 took both golds at 5 and 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic. NBC5 won in total viewers at 5 p.m. and CBS11 reigned at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Dec. 19-21) -- Cowboys clinch but blowout keeps numbers at bay
12/22/14 08:48 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ division-winning, playoff-clinching win over the Indianapolis Colts fell a bit short of joining this season’s exclusive 1.5 million D-FW viewers mark.
A 42-7 blowout will do that to you on a Sunday when late Christmas shopping excursions also might have factored in. Running from 3:25 to 6:15 p.m. on CBS, Cowboys-Colts still averaged a jumbo-sized 1,450,592 viewers. Six of this season’s 15 regular season games have drawn 1.5 million viewers or more.
Among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, the game pulled in 611,837 viewers. The highest-scoring game of the season, the Cowboys’ big Dec. 14th road win over the Philadelphia Eagles on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, had respective totals of 1,666,786 and 791,604 viewers.
NBC’s latest Sunday Night Football matchup, the Seahawks’ demolition of the injury-riddles Cardinals, had 543,972 total viewers.
Earlier Sunday, Fox’s Lions-Bears game averaged 376,660 viewers to take the bronze among the day’s locally televised NFL match ups.
On Saturday, the lowly Washington’s Redskins’ upset of the Philadelphia Eagles had 271,986 viewers on the NFL Network. The Eagles’ 27-24 loss gave Dallas the chance to clinch, which they did.
Saturday night brought Rajon Rondo’s debut as a Dallas Maverick on TXA21 while Fox Sports Southwest had a commitment to high school football championship games. The Mavs’ narrow win against a rag tag bag of San Antonio Spurs reserves averaged a decent-sized 181,324 viewers, beating the Allen-Cypress Ranch game but narrowly losing to CBS’ prime-time San Diego Chargers-San Francisco 49ers game, which also was carried on NFL Net.
TXA21 also inherited a Friday night Dallas Stars game from Fox Sports Southwest. But the home hockey team’s fourth straight win, 6-5 over Edmonton, drew just 48,818 viewers while ABC’s competing Shark Tank ranked as prime-time’s biggest draw with 174,350 viewers.
Here are Friday’s local news derby numbers.
CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 ran first among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept both the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. competitions, and added a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds. CBS11 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Gannett8 adds Philip Townsend to reporting staff
12/19/14 06:17 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Dallas-based Gannett8’s newest reporter/multi-media journalist is Philip Townsend, who arrives from Norkfolk, VA’s , ABC affiliate, WVEC-TV.
Townsend spent four years at the station before leaving in early December. He’s already on the job at Gannett8, and recently filed a report on Arlington’s longstanding Interlochen Christmas light display. On his Twitter page, he describes himself as “mostly news with an opinion littered in from time to time.”
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
CBS11 naming Phoenix's Kaley O'Kelley as Karen Borta's 5, 6 and 10 p.m. anchor successor
12/19/14 12:56 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
For starters, she should be a big hit on St. Patrick’s Day.
Sources at D-FW-based CBS11 have disclosed that veteran anchor Karen Borta’s successor on the station’s 5, 6 and 10 p.m. weekday newscasts will be Kaley O’Kelley from Phoenix’s KTVK-TV. She’s set to join the station on Jan. 19th and will begin anchoring with incumbent Doug Dunbar a bit later but in time for the February ratings “sweeps.”
CBS11 management declined to confirm O’Kelley’s hiring pending a Friday afternoon meeting with newsroom staffers.
O’Kelley, who also has been a weather anchor at Phoenix’s KNXV-TV, joined KTVK in 2009 as “co-anchor, reporter and host” of Good Morning! Arizona, according to her station bio. KTVK is owned by Meredith Corporation as part of a duopoly with the market’s CBS affiliate, KPHO-TV.
The Pepperdine University graduate also previously hosted The Emmitt Zone with former Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, whose last two years in the NFL were with the Arizona Cardinals.
A native of East Wenatchee, Washington, O’Kelley is a member of the Native American Journalists Association. She also has filled in as a weekend weather anchor on ABC’s Good Morning America, hosted the daily magazine show Sonoran Living Live and was the climate expert on History Channel’s Life After People.
CBS11 news director Mike Garber praises O’Kelley’s “rare ability to connect with just about everyone” in official comments obtained by unclebarky.com before the station held its newsroom gathering. “She has some big shoes to fill, but we are confident that the Dallas-Fort Worth community will soon embrace Kaley and her unique style.”
O’Kelley, in her station-approved statement, says that “my husband and I have always felt right at home in Texas, whether spending time with family in Dallas-Fort Worth or vacationing in the Hill Country. We’re proud to make our home in North Texas and raise our kids here.” O’Kelley’s husband lived in Dallas before moving to Phoenix and meeting her.
In a surprise shakeup Thursday, CBS11 confirmed that Borta would be re-locating to the early morning shift after 19 years of late night and early evening newscast anchoring. On Jan. 12th she’ll be replacing Adrienne Bankert, who has decided to “purse other opportunities” and will leave CBS11 on New Year’s Eve, according to the station.
Borta didn’t actively lobby for the move, but told station staffers in a since-posted video that she has enthusiastically embraced it after feeling guilty for the past several years about not spending more time with her three children, who are all now in junior high or high school.
“It’s been very challenging for the last several years . . . I knew right away that this was a blessing,” Borta said of the big switch.
CBS11 has long ranked fourth in the early morning ratings race and also is looking for a second news anchor to pair with Borta as well as a traffic reporter after the departures of Brendan Higgins and Whitney Drolen. The station additionally has a 4 p.m. weekday newscast vacancy following the recent departure of anchor Tracy Kornet.
O’Kelley’s departure from KTVK and pending move to CBS11 was first reported by the national media website FTVLIVE, which posts “Gossip And News From Inside TV Newsrooms Around The Country,” according to its masthead. The site later speculated that O’Kelley could be Borta’s successor in a post headlined, “Taking Over the Main Chair in Dallas?”
Here’s video of O’Kelley’s tearful goodbye to her Good Morning! Arizona co-anchor, Scott Pasmore, who offered some parting gifts.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., Dec. 17-18) -- people who need People magazine's awards show are mostly not from North Texas
12/19/14 12:05 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Television’s latest self-congratulatory extravaganza, People magazine’s first annual awards show, ended up a relative non-person in D-FW’s Thursday night Nielsen ratings.
Airing from 8 to 10 p.m. on NBC, the show drew just 97,636 viewers in falling short of CBS’ competing Two and a Half Men, The McCarthys and Elementary and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast. The People awards otherwise edged ABC’s second hour of The Taste and also outdrew reruns of Fox’s Bones and ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder.
Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, The Taste, Fox4’s news, Two and a Half Men and Elementary all beat the People awards, which in turn knocked off The McCarthys, Bones and Murder. The awards show drew far less than 50 percent of its viewers in this key demographic, though. Specifically, 34,692.
CBS’ 7 p.m. repeat of The Big Bang Theory had the night’s biggest hauls of total viewers (258,038) and 18-to-49-year-olds (66,230).
Wednesday’s biggest prime-time draw, CBS’ two-hour finale of Survivor: Blood and Water, had 230,142 total viewers in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot while also ranking No. 1 for the night among 18-to-49-year-olds (88,306). NBC’s new 8 to 10 p.m. edition of The Sing-Off drew roughly half as many total viewers (118,558) and fared worse with 18-to-49-year-olds (34,692).
Here are the local news derby results.
Wednesday -- Gannett8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
The two stations also split the golds at 6 a.m., with Gannett8 tops in total viewers and Fox4 reigning in the 25-to-54 demographic. It was the same story in the 6 p.m. competitions.
At 5 p.m., NBC5 had the most total viewers and CBS11 took the 25-to-54 gold.
Thursday -- Fox4 swept the 10 p.m. Nielsens in both competitions and had the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m.
NBC5 won in total viewers at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. while Gannett8 and CBS11 shared the 6 p.m. golds in that measurement.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Television’s latest self-congratulatory extravaganza, People magazine’s first annual awards show, ended up a relative non-person in D-FW’s Thursday night Nielsen ratings.
Airing from 8 to 10 p.m. on NBC, the show drew just 97,636 viewers in falling short of CBS’ competing Two and a Half Men, The McCarthys and Elementary and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast. The People awards otherwise edged ABC’s second hour of The Taste and also outdrew reruns of Fox’s Bones and ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder.
Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, The Taste, Fox4’s news, Two and a Half Men and Elementary all beat the People awards, which in turn knocked off The McCarthys, Bones and Murder. The awards show drew far less than 50 percent of its viewers in this key demographic, though. Specifically, 34,692.
CBS’ 7 p.m. repeat of The Big Bang Theory had the night’s biggest hauls of total viewers (258,038) and 18-to-49-year-olds (66,230).
Wednesday’s biggest prime-time draw, CBS’ two-hour finale of Survivor: Blood and Water, had 230,142 total viewers in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot while also ranking No. 1 for the night among 18-to-49-year-olds (88,306). NBC’s new 8 to 10 p.m. edition of The Sing-Off drew roughly half as many total viewers (118,558) and fared worse with 18-to-49-year-olds (34,692).
Here are the local news derby results.
Wednesday -- Gannett8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
The two stations also split the golds at 6 a.m., with Gannett8 tops in total viewers and Fox4 reigning in the 25-to-54 demographic. It was the same story in the 6 p.m. competitions.
At 5 p.m., NBC5 had the most total viewers and CBS11 took the 25-to-54 gold.
Thursday -- Fox4 swept the 10 p.m. Nielsens in both competitions and had the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m.
NBC5 won in total viewers at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. while Gannett8 and CBS11 shared the 6 p.m. golds in that measurement.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Cuban on hand for Colbert Report finale, but screened out of his closeup
12/19/14 09:45 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Count Mark Cuban among the mega-gaggle of celebrities on hand for the amazing closing sing-off on Thursday night’s finale of The Colbert Report.
But most viewers likely missed him. Accompanied on piano by Randy Newman, the celebs sang “We’ll Meet Again” in sequential groups of four to six. But Cuban’s close-up was inadvertently blocked by Charlie Rose. Cuban stood to his left on home screens, but the cameraman only went as far as Rose. So in effect Cuban was screened out -- basketball style. Even on your friendly content provider’s 60-inch HD screen.
The Dallas Mavericks owner later could be seen from afar in the back row of a bigger group shot (see above), with Rose and Bryan Cranston standing close-by. But his visibility lasted for only for a second or two as the camera panned the entire stage.
“Bumped. Bummer,” Cuban said via email Friday when informed of this.
I watched the finale as it happened, but also would have missed Cuban had fellow participant Keith Olbermann not tweeted, “@MarkCuban finalized Rondo deal in green room sitting w/Waterston, Daniels, me + dismaying UN Amb. Samantha Powell.”
That would be Sam Waterston and Jeff Daniels, whose The Newsroom recently had its HBO finale. And the deal was for Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who now is a Maverick.
Cuban clarified and elaborated in his email message to unclebarky.com: “I didn’t finalize it. The trade was finalized. In the NBA, a deal isn’t done until it’s done. So I was on pins and needles waiting on the trade call to finish -- all in the green room. Surrounded by these huge celebs and I was head down and then people started hearing about the trade and asking me.”
It may have been the most eclectic, out-sized group of celebs in TV history. So much so hat the gathering reminded me of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band cover, where the images ranged from Marilyn Monroe to Bob Dylan to Oscar Wilde.
In addition to Cuban and the others mentioned above, here’s just a partial list of those on hand in The Colbert Report studio: Willie Nelson, Henry Kissinger, Katie Couric, Ken Burns, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Barry Manilow, George Lucas, Cyndi Lauper, Tim Meadows, Alan Alda, Patrick Stewart, Bob Costas, Christiane Amanpour, James Franco, Mike Huckabee, Gloria Steinem, Michael Stipe, Tom Brokaw, Ariana Huffington, Andrew Young, Mandy Patinkin, Big Bird, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Ric Ocasek and Doris Kearns Goodwin.
And here’s the video itself. Catch Cuban if you can.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Veteran CBS11 anchor Karen Borta moving to early mornings as part of surprise station shakeup
12/18/14 03:25 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
In a surprise shift at D-FW-based CBS11, veteran 5, 6 and 10 p.m. co-anchor Karen Borta will be moving to early mornings while incumbent Adrienne Barnkert is leaving the station.
The changes were confirmed Thursday by CBS11, which issued an announcement that Borta will make the move on Monday, Jan. 12th. No mention was made of Bankert, but CBS11 director of communications Lori Conrad later said, “Adrienne has told us that she is leaving to pursue other opportunities. We wish her all the best. Her last day will be Dec. 31.”
Conrad also said that CBS11 will “announce a new co-anchor for 5, 6 and 10 p.m. soon. But there will likely be a short period of time when Doug (Dunbar) will single-anchor those newscasts until the new anchor joins us.”
Interestingly, Dunbar began at CBS11 as an early morning news anchor before eventually succeeding Tracy Rowlett as the 6 and 10 p.m. leading man.
Borta said in a statement that after nearly 20 years at CBS11, the offer to anchor in the A.M. “seemed almost too good to be true. Professionally, it’s an exciting challenge which will allow me to spread my wings a bit. But more important to me personally is that this is incredibly awesome for my family life. My three children are now in high school and junior high. This new schedule will finally allow me to do the things that so many people take for granted, such as eating dinner with my family and attending my kids’ weeknight games -- all things I often missed when working nights.”
CBS11 president and general manager Gary Schneider said the station is “thrilled to have our viewers start their day with the information they need from someone they know and trust . . . Karen knows North Texas. She was born here, grew up here and is raising her family here.”
CBS11 has long ranked fourth in the early morning ratings race in times when the 4:30 to 7 a.m. newscasts have become second only to the 10 p.m. editions in terms of revenues and importance. The station’s early morning program has been in flux since co-news anchor Brendan Higgins was dismissed in August and traffic reporter Whitney Drolen resigned in October. CBS11 staffer Jason Allen and freelancer Tammy Dombeck respectively have been filling in and will continue to do so in the short term.
Bankert joined CBS11 in June 2012, replacing Lisa Pineiro. She originally partnered with Higgins as the station’s new morning news anchor duo.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
And to all a good night: D-FW's list of 2014 TV newsroom exits
12/18/14 10:51 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Where did the year go? And how many D-FW TV news personalities have also departed your home screens?
We’ve checked our list, checked it twice and again are ready to roll with the annual alphabetical countdown of those who were part of your “family” -- until they became part of someone else’s family.
As always, this is a compilation of on-camera personnel. No slight is meant to off-camera staffers, whose work remains valuable and, in many instances, indispensable. But TV viewers develop lasting or fleeting relationships with the people they see in their living rooms -- or on mobile devices. And that’s the way it is. Here we go.
SHANE ALLEN -- He had been serving as Gannett8’s interim Daybreak traffic reporter until the station opted for a “new direction” in early August. Gannett8 subsequently hired a uniformed DeSoto cop, Corporal Nick Barstow, to succeed Allen, who currently is running his own consulting firm.
ADRIENNE BANKERT -- In a surprise shakeup, she is leaving CBS11 to “pursue other opportunities” after co-anchoring the station’s early morning newscasts since June 25, 2012. Bankert’s last scheduled day is Dec. 31st. Her replacement, on Jan. 12th, will be longtime 5, 6 and 10 p.m. co-anchor Karen Borta.
LARI BARAGER -- A solid and seasoned Fox4 reporter since 1999, Barager left the station in September to start a “new and exciting chapter” with the Duncanville ISD.
GLORIA CAMPOS -- The market’s first 6 and 10 p.m. Hispanic anchor signed off on March 7th, ending a 30-year tenure at WFAA-TV, most of it under Belo ownership before Gannett took over at the first of the year. “I know this for sure,” she said at the time. “I don’t ever want to work full-time again, in the news business or any other business.” In June she joined the Dallas-based Mary Collins Agency in a part-time capacity.
BARRY CARPENTER -- The veteran CW33 reporter was dropped in May to make room for the station’s anchor/reporter-free NewsFix. He since has worked for North-Texas based Talent Dynamcs, which provides TV coaching and media training.
JOANGEL CONCEPCION --She lasted less than a year as a Fox4 reporter before deciding to leave around Thanksgiving time. Concepcion joined the station from Rochester, NY’s WHEC-TV and is now heading back to New York.
STEVE DENNIS -- The loquacious sports reporter spent 16 years at CBS11 before the station abruptly decided not to renew his contract. “They just up and took my ball away from me and told me to go home,” he told unclebarky.com in June. Dennis quickly found new work as an in-house broadcaster for the Dallas Cowboys and also is frequently heard on the radio.
WHITNEY DROLEN -- CBS11’s “Rollin’ with Drolen” early morning traffic reporter changed lanes and resigned from the station In October after a little more than two years in that position. Drolen told unclebarky.com that she was “grateful for the opportunities I have been given” but is “really looking forward to the next chapter. A chapter that I feel will be much more healthy for me emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally.” So far the next chapter has yet to unfold.
AMANDA FITZPATRICK -- The CW33 anchor also was dropped as part of the station’s NewsFix purge. She since has done some fill-in traffic reporting for Gannett8’s early morning Daybreak program.
SHON GABLES -- After joining Gannett8 in January 2010, Gables was dismissed in early June following a series of legal difficulties -- and bench warrants for her arrest -- connected to an ongoing dispute with an ex-husband. Gables was best known for anchoring the station’s weekend morning editions of Daybreak. “Thank you, Dallas . . . I am grateful for the opportunity,” she said on her Facebook page on the day Gannett8 let her go. Gables continues to be active on Twitter, regularly touting various physical fitness and dietary regimens and also posting pictures of her children.
MARK HAYES -- NBC’s weekday early morning co-anchor was abruptly let go in early January after less than two years at the station. He later worked part-time at CW33 before that station switched to its current anchor-less NewsFix format. “After careful consideration and discussion with NBC5 management, we have mutually decided to part ways,” Hayes told unclebarky.com at the time. In September, Hayes landed back on his feet as the early morning weekday co-anchor at Cincinnati’s WLWT-TV.
BRENDAN HIGGINS -- An August arrest in Aspen, Colo. on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, prompted CBS11 to dismiss him as the station’s weekday early morning news co-anchor. He had joined CBS11 in June 2012 and earlier anchored the early morning news at NBC5. Higgins issued a statement of apology and later reached an out of court resolution with Aspen authorities.
RON JACKSON -- The longtime Fox4 meteorologist signed off on the air after 32 years at the station. He told viewers that a combination of knee surgery and a kidney stone removal had persuaded him that “time is a little bit short. I’d better retire at an early age of 57 years.” But in May of this year, Jackson joined Dallas-based KRLD radio (1080 AM) as a part-time meteorologist. In late September he was seriously injured in a single vehicle crash after reportedly losing control of his motorized scooter. Jackson continues to recover.
NERISSA KNIGHT -- She left CW33’s Eye Opener program, where she anchored “Need to Know” segments, to take a reporting position with KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. Both stations are owned by Tribune Broadcasting. Knight, who left CW33 in late May, earlier had been an anchor/reporter for CBS11.
TRACY KORNET -- After a total of eight years at CBS11 and earlier, sister station TXA21, she left in early September and headed for Nashville to be closer to her family and son, Luke, a 7-foot sophomore forward for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Her husband, Frank Kornet, previously played for Vanderbilt before graduating to the NBA for a few seasons as a forward for the Milwaukee Bucks. They first met on Vanderbilt’s Nashville campus. Once in Nashville, Kornet quickly joined WSMV-TV as a 5 p.m. news anchor.
KENDRA LYN -- She called it a wrap in March after two years of early morning reporting on NBC5. Lyn opted to join her husband in Orlando, FL, where he recently had been promoted to National Catastrophe Manager with Esurance. She has been freelance reporting for Orlando’s WFTV-TV under the name Kendra Oestreich, the name she used at the city’s WESH-TV before joining NBC5.
DOUG MAGDITCH -- He left CW33 in late March after a three-year stint as a reporter. Magditch is now working for AT&T.
RANDY MCILWAIN -- In the trenches for 11-and-half-years as one of the market’s most capable general assignment reporters, he left NBC5 in May to join the I-Team at Los Angeles’ NBC-owned KNBC-TV. McIlwain is now specializing in consumer reporting.
MAX MORGAN -- The longtime Fox4 sports anchor/reporter, who joined the station in 1993, died in September of congestive heart failure.
LINDSAY RILEY -- After two years as NBC5’s weekend morning meteorologist, she left in November to join WTTV-TV in Indianapolis as the new 5 a.m. and noon weekday forecaster.
AMANDA SALINAS -- In January she became the last anchor to leave CW33’s dismantled 9 p.m. newscast. Salinas then quickly joined Austin’s KTBC-TV as part of the station’s Good Day Austin morning team. She’s also co-anchoring the station’s noon newscasts.
JANE SLATER -- She joined the Austin-based Longhorn Network in September as a studio host and reporter after working as a freelance news reporter at CBS11, a traffic reporter at Gannett8 and, most recently, a sports anchor/reporter at CBS11 and TXA21.
SUSY SOLIS -- After three-and-a-half years as a reporter for CBS11, she left in August to join Real News PR, which is headed by former Fox4 reporter Jeff Crilley. Solis earlier had spent four years with NBC5.
OMAR VILLAFRANCA -- The former NBC5 reporter was the first departure of 2014, leaving the station after a six-year stint to join CBS News as the Dallas-based corespondent for the network’s Newspath.
ALEX WEHRLEY -- Formerly a co-host of CW33’s early morning Eye Opener program, she left in June and has been hosting various programs in Los Angeles.
LINDSAY WILCOX -- After nearly six years with NBC5, she resigned in June to spend more time with her family. Wilcox and her husband, Raymond, have three young children. She was best known for anchoring the station’s weekend early morning newscasts.
SHARRIE WILLIAMS -- The CBS11 weekend anchor/weekday reporter left in February to take a more prominent anchoring position at Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV. She spent three years at CBS11.
TERESA WOODARD -- After two-and-a-half years as a reporter for Gannett8, she left in August to take a position with an educational software company, Istation.
THE TEXAS DAILY -- The entire thing went under on March 21st, a little less than 18 months after being launched on KTXD-TV as a news-information program aimed at an older baby-boomer audience. Numerous prominent former D-FW news personalities participated during the program’s short run, including Tracy Rowlett, Troy Dungan, Scott Murray, Iola Johnson, John Criswell, Gary Cogill, Debbie Denmon, Rebecca Aguilar, Midge Hill, Phyllis Watson and Jeff Brady (who also served as host/moderator).
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Dec. 16) -- NCIS & Voice finale split spoils
12/17/14 09:45 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ NCIS as usual drew Tuesday night’s biggest crowd and its New Orleans spinoff also whipped the first half of NBC’s two-hour season finale of The Voice.
The Voice retaliated, though, with the night’s best numbers among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. The show built to its high point in the closing 15-minute segment, when Mesquite, TX native Craig Wayne Boyd got crowned.
NCIS amassed 439,362 D-FW viewers in the 7 p.m. hour, easily repelling competition from Fox’s MasterChef Junior (160,402), ABC’s reprise of A Charlie Brown Christmas (111,584) and NBC’s new Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas (104,610).
NCIS: New Orleans then won from 8 to 9 p.m., drawing 348,700 viewers to The Voice’s 320,804.
The Voice dominated the 9 to 10 p.m. charts, pulling in an average of 376,596 viewers and ballooning to 439,362 from 9:45 to 10 p.m.
The 18-to-49 winners were NCIS and both hours of The Voice.
Tuesday’s smallest draw among the Big Four broadcast networks, an 8:30 p.m. repeat of Fox’s The Mindy Project, had 34,870 total viewers and a sub-scant 3,154 in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast then spring boarded as usual to respective totals of 153,428 and 66,230 viewers.
Here are Tuesday’s four-way local news derby results.
Basking in The Voice’s after-draft, NBC5 cruised to dominant wins at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
The 6 a.m. firsts were split between Gannett8 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5, Gannett8 and CBS11 tied for the most viewers at 6 p.m. while Gannett8 nipped Fox4 and NBC5 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
The 5 p.m. wreaths went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ NCIS as usual drew Tuesday night’s biggest crowd and its New Orleans spinoff also whipped the first half of NBC’s two-hour season finale of The Voice.
The Voice retaliated, though, with the night’s best numbers among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. The show built to its high point in the closing 15-minute segment, when Mesquite, TX native Craig Wayne Boyd got crowned.
NCIS amassed 439,362 D-FW viewers in the 7 p.m. hour, easily repelling competition from Fox’s MasterChef Junior (160,402), ABC’s reprise of A Charlie Brown Christmas (111,584) and NBC’s new Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas (104,610).
NCIS: New Orleans then won from 8 to 9 p.m., drawing 348,700 viewers to The Voice’s 320,804.
The Voice dominated the 9 to 10 p.m. charts, pulling in an average of 376,596 viewers and ballooning to 439,362 from 9:45 to 10 p.m.
The 18-to-49 winners were NCIS and both hours of The Voice.
Tuesday’s smallest draw among the Big Four broadcast networks, an 8:30 p.m. repeat of Fox’s The Mindy Project, had 34,870 total viewers and a sub-scant 3,154 in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast then spring boarded as usual to respective totals of 153,428 and 66,230 viewers.
Here are Tuesday’s four-way local news derby results.
Basking in The Voice’s after-draft, NBC5 cruised to dominant wins at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
The 6 a.m. firsts were split between Gannett8 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5, Gannett8 and CBS11 tied for the most viewers at 6 p.m. while Gannett8 nipped Fox4 and NBC5 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
The 5 p.m. wreaths went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 15) -- Monday Night Football edges The Voice as overall top draw
12/16/14 11:30 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The New Orleans Ain’ts’ win over Chicago’s Bad News Bears was not at all pretty. But it was enough to propel ESPN’s Monday Night Football to the top of the prime-time Nielsens.
The game averaged 306,856 total viewers, finishing a chip shot field goal ahead of NBC’s two-hour performance finale of The Voice (299,882 viewers). But among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, MNF won more convincingly by a score of 119,844 to 88,306 viewers.
A pair of concocted two-hour specials kept Fox and ABC at bay in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot. Fox’s American Country Countdown Awards beat ABC’s competing Great Christmas Light Fight in total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds. But both were outdrawn in that measurement by The Voice and CBS’ regular lineup of 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly and Scorpion.
Country Countdown edged ahead of Mike & Molly among 18-to-49-year-olds to finish second among the Big Four broadcast networks from 7:30 to 8 p.m. The concluding hour then tied Scorpion for the silver from 8 to 9 p.m.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results.
CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Gannett8 and Fox4 traded golds at 6 a.m., with Gannett8 winning in total viewers and Fox4 topping the 25-to-54 charts.
Fox4 dominated the early evening newscast competitions with twin wins at both 5 and 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The New Orleans Ain’ts’ win over Chicago’s Bad News Bears was not at all pretty. But it was enough to propel ESPN’s Monday Night Football to the top of the prime-time Nielsens.
The game averaged 306,856 total viewers, finishing a chip shot field goal ahead of NBC’s two-hour performance finale of The Voice (299,882 viewers). But among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, MNF won more convincingly by a score of 119,844 to 88,306 viewers.
A pair of concocted two-hour specials kept Fox and ABC at bay in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot. Fox’s American Country Countdown Awards beat ABC’s competing Great Christmas Light Fight in total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds. But both were outdrawn in that measurement by The Voice and CBS’ regular lineup of 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly and Scorpion.
Country Countdown edged ahead of Mike & Molly among 18-to-49-year-olds to finish second among the Big Four broadcast networks from 7:30 to 8 p.m. The concluding hour then tied Scorpion for the silver from 8 to 9 p.m.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results.
CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Gannett8 and Fox4 traded golds at 6 a.m., with Gannett8 winning in total viewers and Fox4 topping the 25-to-54 charts.
Fox4 dominated the early evening newscast competitions with twin wins at both 5 and 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Dec. 12-14) -- Cowboys fly/falter/fly to new season high
12/15/14 11:18 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ up and down clutch win at Philadelphia on NBC’s Sunday Night Football registered super-big in the D-FW Nielsens, vaulting the game to the top of this season’s charts through 14 games of the regular season.
Running from 7:31 to 10:40 p.m., the Cowboys’ 38-27 victory over the Eagles in a battle of two 9-4 teams averaged 1,666,786 viewers, with 791,604 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
That unseated the previous top draw, when 1,604,020 viewers and 747,451 in the 18-to-49 realm watched Dallas upset the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks on their home field. Fox had that game. Six of this season’s Cowboys match-ups have now surpassed the 1.5 million viewers mark. Last season, only three of the regular season’s 16 games drew 1.5 million or more viewers. Success breeds ratings contentment, and the Cowboys now are alone atop the NFC’s East division.
Rival networks might as well have put up test patterns Sunday night. The top draw opposite Cowboys-Eagles, CBS’ 8 p.m. episode of The Mentalist, had 125,532 total viewers. On ABC from 8 to 10 p.m., Barbara Walters annual “10 Most Fas-s-s-s-s-s-s-scinating People” special languished with 97,636 viewers.
Earlier Sunday, Johnny Manziel’s colossal flop in his first starting game for the Cleveland Browns averaged 467,258 total viewers on Fox. The network’s following Seahawks-49ers game then bumped up to 697,400 viewers.
On Saturday, the annual Army-Navy football game on CBS easily led all daytime programming with 132,506 viewers. NBC’s prime-time reprise of Peter Pan Live! barely registered with 27,896 viewers opposite CBS’ flotilla of holiday evergreens from 7 to 9 p.m. A second helping of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer drew 104,610 viewers before Frosty the Snowman (160,402 viewers) and Frosty Returns (118,558 viewers) both scored higher.
Friday’s most-watched prime-time attraction was CBS’ Blue Bloods in both total viewers (258,038) and with 18-to-49-year-olds (50,461).
Here are Friday’s local news derby results.
Gannett8 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and also had twin wins at 5 p.m.
CBS11 ran first in total viewers at 6 p.m.; Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ up and down clutch win at Philadelphia on NBC’s Sunday Night Football registered super-big in the D-FW Nielsens, vaulting the game to the top of this season’s charts through 14 games of the regular season.
Running from 7:31 to 10:40 p.m., the Cowboys’ 38-27 victory over the Eagles in a battle of two 9-4 teams averaged 1,666,786 viewers, with 791,604 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
That unseated the previous top draw, when 1,604,020 viewers and 747,451 in the 18-to-49 realm watched Dallas upset the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks on their home field. Fox had that game. Six of this season’s Cowboys match-ups have now surpassed the 1.5 million viewers mark. Last season, only three of the regular season’s 16 games drew 1.5 million or more viewers. Success breeds ratings contentment, and the Cowboys now are alone atop the NFC’s East division.
Rival networks might as well have put up test patterns Sunday night. The top draw opposite Cowboys-Eagles, CBS’ 8 p.m. episode of The Mentalist, had 125,532 total viewers. On ABC from 8 to 10 p.m., Barbara Walters annual “10 Most Fas-s-s-s-s-s-s-scinating People” special languished with 97,636 viewers.
Earlier Sunday, Johnny Manziel’s colossal flop in his first starting game for the Cleveland Browns averaged 467,258 total viewers on Fox. The network’s following Seahawks-49ers game then bumped up to 697,400 viewers.
On Saturday, the annual Army-Navy football game on CBS easily led all daytime programming with 132,506 viewers. NBC’s prime-time reprise of Peter Pan Live! barely registered with 27,896 viewers opposite CBS’ flotilla of holiday evergreens from 7 to 9 p.m. A second helping of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer drew 104,610 viewers before Frosty the Snowman (160,402 viewers) and Frosty Returns (118,558 viewers) both scored higher.
Friday’s most-watched prime-time attraction was CBS’ Blue Bloods in both total viewers (258,038) and with 18-to-49-year-olds (50,461).
Here are Friday’s local news derby results.
Gannett8 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and also had twin wins at 5 p.m.
CBS11 ran first in total viewers at 6 p.m.; Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., Dec. 10-11) -- Big Bang bonanza
12/12/14 10:19 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ The Big Bang Theory drew one of its biggest crowds of the season Thursday, easily pacing all prime-time programming.
TV’s most popular sitcom racked up 488,180 D-FW viewers as CBS’ lead-off hitter. It also was Thursday’s most-watched program among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (167,151).
CBS likewise won from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. among the Big Four broadcast networks with Mom and Two and a Half Men. But the second half of Fox’s Gracepoint whipped CBS’ new The McCarthys from 8:30 to 9 p.m.
Fox4’s local newscast won the 9 p.m. slot in total viewers, besting CBS’ runner-up Elementary. The 18-to-49 winners from 7:30 to 10 p.m. were Mom, the full hour of Gracepoint and Fox4’s news.
Over on the NFL Network, the Thursday Night Football game between the Cardinals and Rams averaged 216,194 total viewers and 72,537 in the 18-to-49 demographic.
Wednesday’s biggest overall prime-time draw, ABC’s Modern Family, had 265,012 total viewers. It also led all prime-time programming among 18-to-49-year-olds.
Here are the local news derby results.
Wednesday -- CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 prevailed with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 and Gannett8 tied for first in total viewers at 6 a.m., with Gannett8 nipping second place Fox4 in the 25-to-54 realm.
CBS11 ran first in total viewers at 6 p.m. and NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m. But both of the 25-to-54 golds went to Fox4.
Thursday -- NBC5 was tops at 10 p.m. among total viewers; Gannett8 won with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and the Peacock had twin wins at 5 p.m.
Gannett8 and CBS11 tied for first in total viewers at 6 p.m., with Gannett8 winning outright among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ The Big Bang Theory drew one of its biggest crowds of the season Thursday, easily pacing all prime-time programming.
TV’s most popular sitcom racked up 488,180 D-FW viewers as CBS’ lead-off hitter. It also was Thursday’s most-watched program among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (167,151).
CBS likewise won from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. among the Big Four broadcast networks with Mom and Two and a Half Men. But the second half of Fox’s Gracepoint whipped CBS’ new The McCarthys from 8:30 to 9 p.m.
Fox4’s local newscast won the 9 p.m. slot in total viewers, besting CBS’ runner-up Elementary. The 18-to-49 winners from 7:30 to 10 p.m. were Mom, the full hour of Gracepoint and Fox4’s news.
Over on the NFL Network, the Thursday Night Football game between the Cardinals and Rams averaged 216,194 total viewers and 72,537 in the 18-to-49 demographic.
Wednesday’s biggest overall prime-time draw, ABC’s Modern Family, had 265,012 total viewers. It also led all prime-time programming among 18-to-49-year-olds.
Here are the local news derby results.
Wednesday -- CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 prevailed with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 and Gannett8 tied for first in total viewers at 6 a.m., with Gannett8 nipping second place Fox4 in the 25-to-54 realm.
CBS11 ran first in total viewers at 6 p.m. and NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m. But both of the 25-to-54 golds went to Fox4.
Thursday -- NBC5 was tops at 10 p.m. among total viewers; Gannett8 won with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and the Peacock had twin wins at 5 p.m.
Gannett8 and CBS11 tied for first in total viewers at 6 p.m., with Gannett8 winning outright among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Dec. 9) -- Rudolph the red-nosed reigning deer
12/10/14 03:56 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Celebrating 50 years at the head of the sled, the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer animated special continues to run strong in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
Airing from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday on CBS, it placed second among all prime-time programs in both total viewers and advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. Not bad at all for an artifact.
Rudolph drew 271,986 total viewers, losing its time slot by a smidgen to NBC’s competing The Voice (278,960 viewers). The No. 3-rated attraction for the night, CBS’ 9 p.m. Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, had 251,064 viewers.
Among 18-to-49-year-olds, Rudolph soundly lashed The Voice by a score of 88,306 to 59,922 viewers. But Victoria’s Secret led the way with a dominant 122,998 viewers in this key demographic. Super models in bras and panties are the ratings gifts that keep on giving. Rudolph knew that going in.
Another holiday season chestnut, ABC’s Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, had a rough go in the 7 p.m. hour. It tied for fourth place in total viewers (with CW’s The Flash) and sunk to fifth with 18-to-49-year-olds. The respective ratings totals for Comin’ to Town were 83,688 and 31,538 viewers.
Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.
Fox4 and Gannett8 tied for the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but Fox4 had the top spot to itself among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
In another split decision, Gannett8 ran first in total viewers at 6 a.m. while Fox4 took the 25-to-54 gold.
NBC5 swept the 5 p.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds. CBS11 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Celebrating 50 years at the head of the sled, the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer animated special continues to run strong in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
Airing from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday on CBS, it placed second among all prime-time programs in both total viewers and advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. Not bad at all for an artifact.
Rudolph drew 271,986 total viewers, losing its time slot by a smidgen to NBC’s competing The Voice (278,960 viewers). The No. 3-rated attraction for the night, CBS’ 9 p.m. Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, had 251,064 viewers.
Among 18-to-49-year-olds, Rudolph soundly lashed The Voice by a score of 88,306 to 59,922 viewers. But Victoria’s Secret led the way with a dominant 122,998 viewers in this key demographic. Super models in bras and panties are the ratings gifts that keep on giving. Rudolph knew that going in.
Another holiday season chestnut, ABC’s Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, had a rough go in the 7 p.m. hour. It tied for fourth place in total viewers (with CW’s The Flash) and sunk to fifth with 18-to-49-year-olds. The respective ratings totals for Comin’ to Town were 83,688 and 31,538 viewers.
Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.
Fox4 and Gannett8 tied for the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but Fox4 had the top spot to itself among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
In another split decision, Gannett8 ran first in total viewers at 6 a.m. while Fox4 took the 25-to-54 gold.
NBC5 swept the 5 p.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds. CBS11 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 8) -- football freezes out competition
12/09/14 09:17 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
An array of reruns, first-run series episodes and a two-hour holiday special weren’t enough to deter ESPN’s Monday Night Football from its appointed ratings rounds.
The high-scoring Packers-Falcons matchup at Green Bay’s chilly Lambeau Field led all prime-time programming with 341,726 D-FW viewers and 160,844 in the advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-old range.
NBC’s two-hour edition of The Voice otherwise made the strongest showing with respective totals of 285,934 and 69,384 viewers. The low percentage of 18-to-49-year-old viewers has to be worrisome for NBC, which risks having The Voice gradually approach the older-skewing audience for ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. Fair or not -- and it’s not -- too many “mature” viewers is still considered poisonous in the wide world of advertiser-dictated network TV.
Airing opposite The Voice, ABC’s The Great Christmas LIght Fight drew 132,506 total viewers in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot, with 40,999 in the 18-to-49 age range.
CBS’ biggest overall draw, a new episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, ran second to football in the 9 p.m. hour with 230,142 total viewers. But its 7:30 p.m. episode of Mike & Molly scored biggest with 18-to-49-year-olds (72,537). Fox punted with repeats of Gotham and Sleepy Hollow, which put the network in fifth place from 7 to 9 p.m.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results.
CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Gannett8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
NBC5 uncommonly swept the 6 a.m. competitions by solid margins and also ran the table at 6 p.m.
The 5 p.m. golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and Gannett8 in the 25-to-54 realm.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
An array of reruns, first-run series episodes and a two-hour holiday special weren’t enough to deter ESPN’s Monday Night Football from its appointed ratings rounds.
The high-scoring Packers-Falcons matchup at Green Bay’s chilly Lambeau Field led all prime-time programming with 341,726 D-FW viewers and 160,844 in the advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-old range.
NBC’s two-hour edition of The Voice otherwise made the strongest showing with respective totals of 285,934 and 69,384 viewers. The low percentage of 18-to-49-year-old viewers has to be worrisome for NBC, which risks having The Voice gradually approach the older-skewing audience for ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. Fair or not -- and it’s not -- too many “mature” viewers is still considered poisonous in the wide world of advertiser-dictated network TV.
Airing opposite The Voice, ABC’s The Great Christmas LIght Fight drew 132,506 total viewers in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot, with 40,999 in the 18-to-49 age range.
CBS’ biggest overall draw, a new episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, ran second to football in the 9 p.m. hour with 230,142 total viewers. But its 7:30 p.m. episode of Mike & Molly scored biggest with 18-to-49-year-olds (72,537). Fox punted with repeats of Gotham and Sleepy Hollow, which put the network in fifth place from 7 to 9 p.m.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results.
CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Gannett8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
NBC5 uncommonly swept the 6 a.m. competitions by solid margins and also ran the table at 6 p.m.
The 5 p.m. golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and Gannett8 in the 25-to-54 realm.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Katy Blakey is NBC5's new weekend morning news anchor
12/08/14 12:28 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
During unclebarky.com’s recess last week, NBC5 announced the hiring of Katy Blakey as the Fort Worth-based station’s new weekend morning anchor.
The McKinney native and SMU grad arrives from Oklahoma City’s ABC affiliate, KOCO-TV, where she spent three years. She lately has co-anchored KOCO’s weekday morning newscasts after arriving in 2011 and quickly becoming the “go-to reporter tracking the state’s extreme weather and covering the market’s big stories,” according to her station bio.
Blakey is scheduled to join NBC5 on Jan. 5th and begin her on-air anchoring duties shortly thereafter. She earlier worked at KTEN-TV, the NBC station in Denison, TX.
NBC5 also will be hiring a new weekend morning meteorologist to join Blakey, but a decision hasn’t been made yet, says station spokesman Brian Hocker.
Blakey replaces Lindsay Wilcox, who left NBC5 last summer after she and her husband had their third child. Wilcox had been at NBC5 since August 2007. Meteorologist Lindsay Riley resigned from NBC5 in November, after a two-year stint, to join WTTV-TV in Indianapolis as a weekday weathercaster.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs.-Sun., Dec. 4-7) -- Cowboys pummel Peter Pan but rout of Bears otherwise ranks in lower rung
12/08/14 10:50 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
No amount of fairy dust could give NBC’s Peter Pan Live a lift opposite the Dallas Cowboys’ 41-28 win over the Bears Thursday night.
Still, the game came up well short of the 1.5 million viewers mark with a dual presentation on CBS11 and cable’s NFL Network.
Cowboys-Bears had 1,046,100 D-FW viewers on CBS11 and tacked on another 202,246 for the NFL Net’s presentation. The grand total of 1,248,346 puts the game 8th among this season’s 13 regular season matchups. The biggest draw -- 1,604,020 -- was for Fox’s telecast of the Cowboys’ upset win at Seattle. Just one game, Dallas’ comeback road win versus the St. Louis Rams, has lured fewer than one million viewers locally (943,135 on Fox).
Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Cowboys-Bears had 432,071 viewers on CBS11 and 91,602 on NFL Net for a total of 523,673.
Over on NBC, the three-hour Peter Pan Live ran a distant second in prime-time with 104,610 total viewers and 44,153 in the 18-to-49 motherlode.
Sunday’s NFL ratings were paced by Fox’s Seahawks-Eagles game, which drew 767,140 total viewers. NBC’s Sunday Night Football attraction, the Patriots versus the Chargers, came in second with 495,154 viewers. In the early afternoon games, Fox’s Colts-Browns beat CBS’ Steelers-Bengals by a score of 369,622 to 258,038.
CBS’ colorized I Love Lucy Christmas special, shown from 7 to 8 p.m. Sunday., had a nice-sized 223,168 viewers.
Saturday’s college football parade was paced by Baylor’s prime-time win over Kansas State. It drew 244,090 viewers on ESPN while TCU’s early bird crunching of Iowa State had 209,220 viewers for the ABC telecast.
ABC’s prime-time game, Florida State versus Georgia Tech, drew 174,350 viewers to easily beat Fox’s competing Ohio State-Wisconsin matchup (62,766 viewers). My humiliated alma mater Badgers, on the receiving end of a 59-0 wipeout, will now play in the Dayton Dainty Doily Bowl against Southwestern Bell State, which is a two-touchdown favorite. (OK, they’re actually playing Auburn in the Outback Bowl. That likely won’t be pretty either.)
Also on Saturday, NBC’s annual prime-time showing of It’s a Wonderful Life showed signs of petering out. It drew 76,714 total viewers with a scant 12,615 in the 18-to-49 demographic.
Here are the Thursday and Friday local news derby results.
Thursday -- Opposite the closing stages of the Cowboys game, NBC5 won a downsized three-way race in total viewers while Gannett8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. and Gannett8 swept the 6 p.m. competitions. NBC5 had the most total viewers at 5 p.m. but was nipped by Gannett8 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Friday -- Gannett8 ran the table at 10 p.m. in another three-way competition while Fox was occupied with the Oregon-Arizona college football game.
NBC5 swept the 6 a.m. races and CBS11 had the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. Fox4 ran first at 5 and 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
No amount of fairy dust could give NBC’s Peter Pan Live a lift opposite the Dallas Cowboys’ 41-28 win over the Bears Thursday night.
Still, the game came up well short of the 1.5 million viewers mark with a dual presentation on CBS11 and cable’s NFL Network.
Cowboys-Bears had 1,046,100 D-FW viewers on CBS11 and tacked on another 202,246 for the NFL Net’s presentation. The grand total of 1,248,346 puts the game 8th among this season’s 13 regular season matchups. The biggest draw -- 1,604,020 -- was for Fox’s telecast of the Cowboys’ upset win at Seattle. Just one game, Dallas’ comeback road win versus the St. Louis Rams, has lured fewer than one million viewers locally (943,135 on Fox).
Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Cowboys-Bears had 432,071 viewers on CBS11 and 91,602 on NFL Net for a total of 523,673.
Over on NBC, the three-hour Peter Pan Live ran a distant second in prime-time with 104,610 total viewers and 44,153 in the 18-to-49 motherlode.
Sunday’s NFL ratings were paced by Fox’s Seahawks-Eagles game, which drew 767,140 total viewers. NBC’s Sunday Night Football attraction, the Patriots versus the Chargers, came in second with 495,154 viewers. In the early afternoon games, Fox’s Colts-Browns beat CBS’ Steelers-Bengals by a score of 369,622 to 258,038.
CBS’ colorized I Love Lucy Christmas special, shown from 7 to 8 p.m. Sunday., had a nice-sized 223,168 viewers.
Saturday’s college football parade was paced by Baylor’s prime-time win over Kansas State. It drew 244,090 viewers on ESPN while TCU’s early bird crunching of Iowa State had 209,220 viewers for the ABC telecast.
ABC’s prime-time game, Florida State versus Georgia Tech, drew 174,350 viewers to easily beat Fox’s competing Ohio State-Wisconsin matchup (62,766 viewers). My humiliated alma mater Badgers, on the receiving end of a 59-0 wipeout, will now play in the Dayton Dainty Doily Bowl against Southwestern Bell State, which is a two-touchdown favorite. (OK, they’re actually playing Auburn in the Outback Bowl. That likely won’t be pretty either.)
Also on Saturday, NBC’s annual prime-time showing of It’s a Wonderful Life showed signs of petering out. It drew 76,714 total viewers with a scant 12,615 in the 18-to-49 demographic.
Here are the Thursday and Friday local news derby results.
Thursday -- Opposite the closing stages of the Cowboys game, NBC5 won a downsized three-way race in total viewers while Gannett8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. and Gannett8 swept the 6 p.m. competitions. NBC5 had the most total viewers at 5 p.m. but was nipped by Gannett8 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Friday -- Gannett8 ran the table at 10 p.m. in another three-way competition while Fox was occupied with the Oregon-Arizona college football game.
NBC5 swept the 6 a.m. races and CBS11 had the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. Fox4 ran first at 5 and 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net