Feb 2019
WFAA8 anchor John McCaa now in final day of his rehearsals for retirement
02/28/19 02:23 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
IRVING -- WFAA8 has orchestrated a long goodbye for anchor John McCaa while the honoree and his wife, Nora, seem more than content to just count the days.
During an interview last Friday, they give every indication of happily turning this page and beginning new chapters. Nora and John’s art-festooned home is already on the market, with a move out of the D-FW market coming soon. The McCaas plan to relocate to the McAllen, TX area, where much of her family still lives. The idea is to have either a new home built from scratch or an existing one custom-fitted to their specifications. And if Nora has her way, her husband of nearly 20 years will be marrying one of her passions -- bird-watching -- with one of his -- photography. Whatever happens, he won’t be anchored to a desk anymore.
The impetus came during the Christmas season of 2015. McCaa, who’d had a pair of back teeth extracted, was healing before having them replaced with implants. But while eating a piece of french break “with the teeth on the opposite side of my mouth, I heard something that sounded similar to the cracking of ice underfoot in the winter,” he told unclebarky.com at the time. “I immediately experienced some of the worst pain I have ever had.”
He was off the air for more than a month. “That’s when I started thinking, ‘You know, you’re getting up there,” McCaa recalls. “I need to slow down.”
“I wasn’t going to push him one way or the other,” Nora McCaa says. “But I saw him make a change in his attitude. We just slowly started weeding things out of the house and making plans to move eventually.”
McCaa, who turned 65 on Sunday, Feb. 24th, has spent 35 of those years at WFAA8 after arriving in 1984 from an Omaha, Nebraska TV station. On Friday, March 1st, he’ll sign off at the end of the 10 p.m. newscast. D-FW’s longest standing African-American male anchor is a trailblazer in no small part. But he’s never been a self-aggrandizer, letting others shine spotlights on themselves in various ways while McCaa plays the rock-steady straight man. Or as he puts it, “the Ward Cleaver” of WFAA8’s newscasts amid the two resident Eddie Haskells -- sports anchor Dale Hansen and weathercaster Pete Delkus.
“If you want to be the newscast of record, so to speak, there has to be somebody who tries to keep the ship straight,” he says.
His father, Johnnie, a career military man, viewed rectitude as a virtue and instilled it in his son and John’s late sister, Debra, who passed away in August 2017. John still marvels at his now 88-year-old father’s “29-inch waist” and his workout regimen of two hours daily. And yes, Johnnie McCaa will be there Friday night for his son’s farewell newscast.
“Military families tend to be very private. And in Nebraska, people kind of hold you at a distance until they get to know you. That probably has a lot to do with it,” McCaa says of his less than effusive demeanor.
At Omaha’s WOWT-TV, where he spent seven-and-a-half years as an anchor, reporter and photographer, McCaa couldn’t help standing out because of the color of his skin. The city wasn’t exactly teeming with non-whites. Nor was television in terms of news anchors or reporters.
I’ve always had black and brown folk come up to me and say, ‘Look, we appreciate that you are where you are, but please don’t embarrass us,” McCaa says. “And I’ve taken that seriously.”
He’s long had a picture of orator/activist Frederick Douglass on his desk at WFAA8. This prompts him to bring up Empire co-star Jussie Smollett and his alleged staging of a hate crime in order to bring further attention to himself in hopes of getting a pay raise in the bargain.
“I’m so offended by this Jussie Smollett thing,” McCaa says. “Because I think that we all are where we are because other people have sacrificed to put us there. And when you cast that aside, it really hurts everybody. So do I think of myself in that sense as a trailblazer? I hope I’ve carried that banner the way people wanted me to. Have there been times when I’ve wanted to act like a fool? Oh yeah! But I won’t.”
Nora McCaa sees her husband’s trailblazing in a different way. They met while she worked in WFAA8’s publicity department. Both had previously been married and divorced, with neither wanting to risk going through it all again. But after their first date -- on Jan. 2, 1999, she specifically remembers -- they knew it wouldn’t be long before a second time for both. They made it official on March 15th of that same year.
“You know, I think his modesty really makes him a trailblazer as well,” Nora says. “Because in these times where everybody wants to say, ‘Look at me! Look at me!,’ John has never been like that. His modesty -- I think people appreciate that. People in our generation look at him and say this is the way it used to be, and this is the way it should be. They look at these younger kids and see that they just want to be on television. They don’t want to do the work -- and you can tell. John has always done his homework. He’s not only interesting, but interested. And that’s what sets him apart, I think.”
The two other women in John McCaa’s life have been Gloria Campos and Cynthia Izaguirre.
Campos, who retired from WFAA8 in March of 2014, began anchoring with McCaa in 1999 (first in a rotating threesome with Scott Sams before they made it just a twosome in 2002). Izaguirre eventually became Campos’ successor.
“I’ve known John my entire life,” Izaguirre says. “As a child I remember watching him on WFAA. Then I had the great honor of working with him. Sometimes I still can’t believe it. I’ve learned a lot from John, but mainly it’s his humility and kindness that will stay with me.”
Campos, who recently moved to a new home in Blanco County with her husband, Lance, joined WFAA8 in the same year McCaa did, 1984. She also co-anchored with two of the station’s earlier mainstays, Tracy Rowlett and the late Chip Moody.
“Tracy accepted me as a peer and Chip helped me bring out my own personality,” Campos says. “At first I was kind of afraid to do that. But with John, I feel he was the only one where we had a true partnership, where we were equals. I have great respect for Tracy and Chip, but John is special in that regard -- that we were partners.”
So much so that Gloria once confided to John that she was “receiving some really hateful, racist mail. I mean, it was really ugly. And it turned out that he was getting the same kind of letters, but had never said anything.”
Their nemesis, who turned out to be the same guy, then decided to send Faxes instead of letters. “And I run into John’s office, waving this Fax, because I knew we could now find him. And yep, we did. He was some guy living in a trailer in Glenn Heights. I called the police and they found him. And I still remember the gleam in John’s eye when he was tracking this guy down on his computer.”
Campos, who will be in WFAA8 studios on Friday night to help send McCaa off, says she’ll always cherish him as a “great mentor and journalist, but more importantly, a man of integrity. And I don’t know that I can say anything better about a person I’ve worked with, because it’s very important to me.”
McCaa regrets the day he let his standards slip, if only for a brief minute or two. In May of 2018, he was asked if he’d like to join early morning anchor Ron Corning in a picture where two young women staffers at WFAA8 were wearing t-shirts emblazoned with “Go to Bed With John, Wake Up With Ron.”
On the spur of the moment he did so, with the picture briefly becoming part of a cheeky promotional campaign. It was completely out of character, and McCaa says he almost immediately knew it.
“That’s certainly not how I would want a seventh grader to see me,” he says in retrospect. “Yeah, it’s cute, it’s funny, that sort of thing. But that’s not the part of Channel 8 I want to be known for. If I’m looking back 35 years, that’s going to be way, way down the list in terms of things I would remember fondly.”
“It was demeaning, I thought,” Nora McCaa adds. “I was offended by it -- really offended. Because it took away from my husband. That’s not the kind of person that he is.”
John McCaa feels likewise about ABC’s longest-running “reality-competition” show, The Bachelor. Everyone at the station knows “i’m not a fan,” he says. “They make it sound as if marriage is swapping slobber for a couple of dates and then you live happily ever after. Marriage is work. It’s a lot of work. And you don’t see that addressed anywhere on that program. You’re kind of belittling a really important institution.”
John and Nora have put in the hard work. And now it’s her turn to spend nights as well as days with him. She’d like to see him develop some other interests -- such as the aforementioned bird-watching. And as the youngest of eight children whose parents are still alive, she also wants him to “experience a large family” by living in close proximity rather than 460-some miles away.
“It’s a family decision to have a career like this, because it’s a public job” John says. “So you really have to pay attention to what your spouse is telling you.”
After earning a PhD in Humanities-History of Ideas from the University of Texas at Dallas,, McCaa also hopes to teach a single course in either media ethics or documentary editing. But there’s no big rush, and no plans to enter a classroom until at least the spring of 2020.
His successor at WFAA8, Chris Lawrence, will join Izaguirre on Monday, March 4th after a heavy promotional campaign heralding his arrival.
McCaa says he’ll most miss “getting up in the morning and trying to grasp what’s important to that night’s newscasts. But it’s OK,” he quickly adds. “I think I’ve done my share.”
Note to readers: For a closer look at John McCaa’s long-ago moonlighting as a standup comic, his love for playing the drums and much, much more, you can read an extended profile written a decade ago by yours truly for D CEO magazine. Here’s the link.
Email comments or questions to: uncleebarky@verizon.net
Doocy gets a desk mate on Fox4's late night Free 4 All
02/28/19 01:09 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Fox4 finally has followed through on what it planned to do in the first place -- hire a co-host for its late night Free 4 All program.
The station announced Thursday that Samantha “Sam” Gannon will be joining incumbent Mike Doocy in mid-March while also reporting and producing for the half-hour program, which airs weeknights at 10:30 p.m.
Gannon arrives from Oklahoma City’s KOKH-TV, where she’s been a weekend sports anchor and producer for the past six years. The University of Connecticut graduate previously has worked at KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, Louisiana and with NBC Connecticut.
“As someone who understands passionate fan bases, it is an honor to have the opportunity to work here in one of the best sports markets in the country,” Gannon said in a publicity release.
Fox4 vice president and news director Robin Whitmeyer lauded Gannon as an addition who is “not shy about giving her opinion. We can already tell that as a former competitive swimmer, she plays to win.”
Doocy, who also is Fox4’s main sports anchor, has been soloing on Free 4 All since its premiere last September. Relying on a steady diet of personalities from KTCK-AM (1310 “The Ticket”), the program has held its own in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
In the just concluded February “sweeps,” Free 4 All ran a close fourth in total viewers behind the first half hours of the Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel network talk shows. It fared better among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, running second to Kimmel, and won from 10:30 to 11 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Firsts for all in February "sweeps," but Fox4 sweeps the key newscast demographic
02/28/19 09:21 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Fox4 won the overall February “sweeps” war with winning numbers across the board in the key 25-to-54-year-old newscast demographic. Competitors NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 all saved some face by winning one battle apiece.
CBS11 repeated as the 10 p.m. champ in total viewers, WFAA8 ran first in that measurement at 6 p.m. after a winless November across the board and NBC5 chipped in by drawing the biggest crowd at 5 p.m. Fox4 was the big dog, though, particularly at 6 a.m., where it was the only station to score twin wins.
Here are the complete February 2019 sweeps results. (Note to readers: The February 2018 finishes weren’t reported on unclebarky.com because NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage significantly skewed the results, particularly at 10 p.m. So the plus and minus audience differences date back two years ago to the February 2017 sweeps.)
10 P.M.
Total Viewers
CBS11 -- 154,645 (plus 23,765)
WFAA8 -- 133,557 (minus 26,407)
Fox4 -- 119,498 (plus 17,703)
NBC5 -- 112,469 (minus 25,682)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 45,816 (plus 3,722)
WFAA8 -- 42,953 (plus 3,866)
CBS11 -- 31,499 (plus 4,439)
NBC5 -- 25,772 (minus 22,335)
Comments: Anchor John McCaa’s heavily celebrated last month on the air, dovetailing with a big promotional push for his successor, Chris Lawrence, weren’t enough to propel WFAA8 to a 10 p.m. win in either ratings measurement. Instead, in stark contrast, Doug Dunbar continued his solo flight, propelling CBS11 to a 10 p.m. win in total viewers while the station presumably still searches for someone to join him. It’s now been 10 months and counting since anchor Kaley O’Kelley left CBS11 and headed to Phoenix, where she’s now anchoring early morning newscasts.
CBS11 benefited from the best 9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in from CBS entertainment programming while WFAA8 inherited the overall smallest audiences from ABC. Still, two sweeps wins in a row with Dunbar alone in “The Chair” is a significant turn of events. Two Februarys ago, CBS11 ran a fairly distant third in total viewers behind WFAA8. This time around, the station had the most significant gain in viewers while WFAA8 lost the most among the four competing stations.
Meanwhile, NBC5 has dug a big ditch for itself, running last in both ratings measurements while also losing 20,000+ viewers two times around. Fox4 climbed from second to first place with 25-to-54-year-olds and also improved a notch, from last to third place in the total viewer Nielsens.
6 A.M.
Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 126,527 (plus 39,274)
WFAA8 -- 63,264 (minus 2,176)
NBC5 -- 56,234 (minus 16,477)
CBS11 -- 35,147 (minus 8,480)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 65,861 (plus 20,760)
WFAA8 -- 28,635 (plus 1,575)
NBC5 -- 17,181 (minus 21,906)
CBS11 -- 11,454 (minus 573)
Comments: Fox4 is still Gulliver while the rest are Lilliputians. The station drew twice as many viewers as runner-up WFAA in both ratings measurements. As in November, Fox4 again won each and every one of the 20 weekdays (although it took a President’s Day holiday exemption). The station hasn’t lost a single skirmish since March 30th of last year. That’s unprecedented dominance.
Two years ago, a competitive NBC5 notched two second-place finishes while running less than 6,000 viewers behind Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds. In the February sweeps, the gap between Fox4 and third-place NBC5 was nearly 50,000 viewers in the 25-to-54 realm.
NBC5 made co-anchor Marc Fein the sacrificial lamb earlier in February by not renewing his contract. Whether that was a wise move remains to be seen. For now, NBC5 isn’t a factor at all at 6 a.m. while WFAA8 at least has climbed from third to second place in both ratings measurements from where it was two years ago.
6 P.M.
Total Viewers
WFAA8 -- 154,645 (plus 16,494)
NBC5/CBS11 -- 133,557 (minus 11,865/plus 31,762)
Fox4 -- 119,498 (plus 24,974)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 45,816 (plus 12,738)
WFAA8 -- 40,089 (plus 7,011)
NBC5 -- 31,499 (minus 13,602)
CBS11 -- 22,908 (minus 4,152)
Comments: McCaa at least got a consolation prize, with WFAA8 winning in total viewers and running a solid second among 25-to-54-year-olds. In February 2017, the station respectively finished second and third. Fox4 remained in charge of the 25-to-54 demo after a November win. Not to beat a dead Peacock, but NBC5 again hemorrhaged viewers after winning both 6 p.m. battles two Februarys ago.
5 P.M.
Total Viewers
NBC5 -- 133,557 (plus 24,490)
Fox4 -- 126,527 (plus 24,732)
WFAA8 -- 98,410 (plus 3,886)
CBS11 -- 77,322 (plus 4,611)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 37,226 (plus 4,148)
NBC5 -- 28,635 (minus 4,443)
WFAA8 -- 17,181 (minus 3,866)
CBS11 -- 14,318 (minus 716)
Comments: NBC’s lone bright spot is a 5 p.m. win in total viewers, plus a sizable increase from two years ago, when the station also led at 5 p.m.
Interestingly, all four stations showed increases in total viewers from two years ago. The 5 p.m. newscasts have long been considered the least consequential, but perhaps there’s a bit of a growth spurt in play.
Bottom line: NBC5 clearly had the worst of it in February while Fox4 again flexed its strength in the news demographic of most interest to advertisers. But WFAA8 and CBS11 can cite their strong winning performances in the 6 and 10 p.m. total viewers races. They’d rather be No. 1 with 25-to-54-year-olds, but that’s still Fox4’s strength and their weakness.
In Other Ratings of Note --
*** Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast remained a formidable ratings draw, running second by a sliver to CBS entertainment programming in total viewers at that hour but notching comfortable wins with both 18-to-49-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for entertainment programming) and 25-to-54-year-olds.
***NBC5’s 4 p.m. newscast continued to outdraw its WFAA8 and CBS11 rivals in total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds. The only non-news programming among the four stations, Fox4’s syndicated double dose of Judge Judy, ran a very close second in total viewers while beating NBC5 in the 25-to-54 realm.
*** CBS11’s syndicated Wheel of Fortune is still decimating the competing three 6:30 p.m. rag mags in total viewers but also won its time slot among both 18-to-49ers and 25-to-54-year-olds. Skewing old? Not in this market.
***Besides trampling the competition at 6 a.m., the 7 to 10 a.m. extension of Fox4’s Good Day remained on a big roll, beating all competing network and local programming in total viewers and the two audience groups preferred by most advertisers. Fox4 laps up all of the advertising revenue from Good Day while NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 collect comparative peanuts from the small advertising windows available to them on Today, Good Morning America and CBS This Morning.
***Fox4’s locally produced Free 4 All, airing from 10:30 to 11 p.m and hosted by sports anchor Mike Doocy, ran fourth in total viewers (but not that far behind) the first half-hours of the late night talkers on CBS, ABC and NBC. CBS’ Late Show with Stephen Colbert led the way.
But Free 4 All perked up to No. 1 among 25-to-54-year-olds and ran a strong second to ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Those are the numbers of most interest to Fox4, and any other station for that matter.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Fox4 won the overall February “sweeps” war with winning numbers across the board in the key 25-to-54-year-old newscast demographic. Competitors NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 all saved some face by winning one battle apiece.
CBS11 repeated as the 10 p.m. champ in total viewers, WFAA8 ran first in that measurement at 6 p.m. after a winless November across the board and NBC5 chipped in by drawing the biggest crowd at 5 p.m. Fox4 was the big dog, though, particularly at 6 a.m., where it was the only station to score twin wins.
Here are the complete February 2019 sweeps results. (Note to readers: The February 2018 finishes weren’t reported on unclebarky.com because NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage significantly skewed the results, particularly at 10 p.m. So the plus and minus audience differences date back two years ago to the February 2017 sweeps.)
10 P.M.
Total Viewers
CBS11 -- 154,645 (plus 23,765)
WFAA8 -- 133,557 (minus 26,407)
Fox4 -- 119,498 (plus 17,703)
NBC5 -- 112,469 (minus 25,682)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 45,816 (plus 3,722)
WFAA8 -- 42,953 (plus 3,866)
CBS11 -- 31,499 (plus 4,439)
NBC5 -- 25,772 (minus 22,335)
Comments: Anchor John McCaa’s heavily celebrated last month on the air, dovetailing with a big promotional push for his successor, Chris Lawrence, weren’t enough to propel WFAA8 to a 10 p.m. win in either ratings measurement. Instead, in stark contrast, Doug Dunbar continued his solo flight, propelling CBS11 to a 10 p.m. win in total viewers while the station presumably still searches for someone to join him. It’s now been 10 months and counting since anchor Kaley O’Kelley left CBS11 and headed to Phoenix, where she’s now anchoring early morning newscasts.
CBS11 benefited from the best 9:45 to 10 p.m. lead-in from CBS entertainment programming while WFAA8 inherited the overall smallest audiences from ABC. Still, two sweeps wins in a row with Dunbar alone in “The Chair” is a significant turn of events. Two Februarys ago, CBS11 ran a fairly distant third in total viewers behind WFAA8. This time around, the station had the most significant gain in viewers while WFAA8 lost the most among the four competing stations.
Meanwhile, NBC5 has dug a big ditch for itself, running last in both ratings measurements while also losing 20,000+ viewers two times around. Fox4 climbed from second to first place with 25-to-54-year-olds and also improved a notch, from last to third place in the total viewer Nielsens.
6 A.M.
Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 126,527 (plus 39,274)
WFAA8 -- 63,264 (minus 2,176)
NBC5 -- 56,234 (minus 16,477)
CBS11 -- 35,147 (minus 8,480)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 65,861 (plus 20,760)
WFAA8 -- 28,635 (plus 1,575)
NBC5 -- 17,181 (minus 21,906)
CBS11 -- 11,454 (minus 573)
Comments: Fox4 is still Gulliver while the rest are Lilliputians. The station drew twice as many viewers as runner-up WFAA in both ratings measurements. As in November, Fox4 again won each and every one of the 20 weekdays (although it took a President’s Day holiday exemption). The station hasn’t lost a single skirmish since March 30th of last year. That’s unprecedented dominance.
Two years ago, a competitive NBC5 notched two second-place finishes while running less than 6,000 viewers behind Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds. In the February sweeps, the gap between Fox4 and third-place NBC5 was nearly 50,000 viewers in the 25-to-54 realm.
NBC5 made co-anchor Marc Fein the sacrificial lamb earlier in February by not renewing his contract. Whether that was a wise move remains to be seen. For now, NBC5 isn’t a factor at all at 6 a.m. while WFAA8 at least has climbed from third to second place in both ratings measurements from where it was two years ago.
6 P.M.
Total Viewers
WFAA8 -- 154,645 (plus 16,494)
NBC5/CBS11 -- 133,557 (minus 11,865/plus 31,762)
Fox4 -- 119,498 (plus 24,974)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 45,816 (plus 12,738)
WFAA8 -- 40,089 (plus 7,011)
NBC5 -- 31,499 (minus 13,602)
CBS11 -- 22,908 (minus 4,152)
Comments: McCaa at least got a consolation prize, with WFAA8 winning in total viewers and running a solid second among 25-to-54-year-olds. In February 2017, the station respectively finished second and third. Fox4 remained in charge of the 25-to-54 demo after a November win. Not to beat a dead Peacock, but NBC5 again hemorrhaged viewers after winning both 6 p.m. battles two Februarys ago.
5 P.M.
Total Viewers
NBC5 -- 133,557 (plus 24,490)
Fox4 -- 126,527 (plus 24,732)
WFAA8 -- 98,410 (plus 3,886)
CBS11 -- 77,322 (plus 4,611)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 37,226 (plus 4,148)
NBC5 -- 28,635 (minus 4,443)
WFAA8 -- 17,181 (minus 3,866)
CBS11 -- 14,318 (minus 716)
Comments: NBC’s lone bright spot is a 5 p.m. win in total viewers, plus a sizable increase from two years ago, when the station also led at 5 p.m.
Interestingly, all four stations showed increases in total viewers from two years ago. The 5 p.m. newscasts have long been considered the least consequential, but perhaps there’s a bit of a growth spurt in play.
Bottom line: NBC5 clearly had the worst of it in February while Fox4 again flexed its strength in the news demographic of most interest to advertisers. But WFAA8 and CBS11 can cite their strong winning performances in the 6 and 10 p.m. total viewers races. They’d rather be No. 1 with 25-to-54-year-olds, but that’s still Fox4’s strength and their weakness.
In Other Ratings of Note --
*** Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast remained a formidable ratings draw, running second by a sliver to CBS entertainment programming in total viewers at that hour but notching comfortable wins with both 18-to-49-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for entertainment programming) and 25-to-54-year-olds.
***NBC5’s 4 p.m. newscast continued to outdraw its WFAA8 and CBS11 rivals in total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds. The only non-news programming among the four stations, Fox4’s syndicated double dose of Judge Judy, ran a very close second in total viewers while beating NBC5 in the 25-to-54 realm.
*** CBS11’s syndicated Wheel of Fortune is still decimating the competing three 6:30 p.m. rag mags in total viewers but also won its time slot among both 18-to-49ers and 25-to-54-year-olds. Skewing old? Not in this market.
***Besides trampling the competition at 6 a.m., the 7 to 10 a.m. extension of Fox4’s Good Day remained on a big roll, beating all competing network and local programming in total viewers and the two audience groups preferred by most advertisers. Fox4 laps up all of the advertising revenue from Good Day while NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 collect comparative peanuts from the small advertising windows available to them on Today, Good Morning America and CBS This Morning.
***Fox4’s locally produced Free 4 All, airing from 10:30 to 11 p.m and hosted by sports anchor Mike Doocy, ran fourth in total viewers (but not that far behind) the first half-hours of the late night talkers on CBS, ABC and NBC. CBS’ Late Show with Stephen Colbert led the way.
But Free 4 All perked up to No. 1 among 25-to-54-year-olds and ran a strong second to ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Those are the numbers of most interest to Fox4, and any other station for that matter.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Feb. 26) -- CBS crime hours top prime-time tote board
02/27/19 02:29 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS ruled the overall prime-time ratings Tuesday with new episodes of its crime-time trifecta.
NCIS led off with a night’s best of 323,348 D-FW viewers, followed by FBI (295,231) and NCIS: New Orleans (231,967).
As usual, it was a different story among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. The winners in that key demographic were NBC’s The Voice (48,307 viewers), the first hour of the Peacock’s World of Dance (42,269) and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast (45,288).
Here are the local news derby results for the second-to-last weekday of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added 5 and 6 p.m. firsts among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 drew the most total viewers at 6 p.m. while NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS ruled the overall prime-time ratings Tuesday with new episodes of its crime-time trifecta.
NCIS led off with a night’s best of 323,348 D-FW viewers, followed by FBI (295,231) and NCIS: New Orleans (231,967).
As usual, it was a different story among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. The winners in that key demographic were NBC’s The Voice (48,307 viewers), the first hour of the Peacock’s World of Dance (42,269) and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast (45,288).
Here are the local news derby results for the second-to-last weekday of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added 5 and 6 p.m. firsts among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 drew the most total viewers at 6 p.m. while NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Feb. 25) -- another shoutout to The Voice
02/26/19 12:01 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Fortified with new judge John Legend, NBC’s The Voice had its latest season premiere Monday and as usual locked down the 7 to 9 p.m. slot.
The Voice led all prime-time attractions with 274,143 D-FW viewers and 63,403 within the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range.
The Peacock’s 9 p.m. launch of the new spy drama The Enemy Within then drooped to 119,498 total viewers, falling to third place at that hour among the Big Four broadcast networks behind CBS’ Bull and Fox4’s local newscast. Enemy Within inched up to second place among 18-to-49ers (33,211), with Bull taking the top spot.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results, with just two weekdays now remaining in the February “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 had the upper hand with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 cruised to two more 6 a.m. wins and added 5 and 6 p.m. firsts with 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 led in total viewers at 6 p.m. and NBC5 won at 5 p.m. in that measurement.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Fortified with new judge John Legend, NBC’s The Voice had its latest season premiere Monday and as usual locked down the 7 to 9 p.m. slot.
The Voice led all prime-time attractions with 274,143 D-FW viewers and 63,403 within the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range.
The Peacock’s 9 p.m. launch of the new spy drama The Enemy Within then drooped to 119,498 total viewers, falling to third place at that hour among the Big Four broadcast networks behind CBS’ Bull and Fox4’s local newscast. Enemy Within inched up to second place among 18-to-49ers (33,211), with Bull taking the top spot.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results, with just two weekdays now remaining in the February “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 had the upper hand with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 cruised to two more 6 a.m. wins and added 5 and 6 p.m. firsts with 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 led in total viewers at 6 p.m. and NBC5 won at 5 p.m. in that measurement.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Achor John McCaa's successor takes a Twitter tumble after Sunday night's Oscar-cast
02/25/19 02:52 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Commercial breaks during Sunday night’s Oscars on ABC were loaded with promotions for what was supposed to be an immediately following full-hour “sneak preview” of Whiskey Cavalier, a new tongue-in-cheek spy series.
But in D-FW, affiliate station WFAA8 gummed up the network’s master plan by instead airing a local newscast that started at 10:25 p.m. and pushed Whiskey Cavalier’s start time to 10:57 p.m. Even more surprisingly, the news opened with incoming anchor Chris Lawrence gushily presiding over Twitter reaction to the Oscars.
Lawrence, who will be succeeding longstanding anchor John McCaa on Monday, March 4th, has been heavily promoted during a ratings “sweeps” month that has doubled as a long goodbye for McCaa after his 35-year career at WFAA8. This was Lawrence’s first time to lead off a newscast, though. And it proved to be problematic at best for a guy whose impressively serious news credentials were lauded in a November publicity release announcing his hiring.
Still, what Lawrence did on Sunday night is something McCaa never did and emphatically never would do on WFAA8. He’s been a case study in sobriety during his distinguished, trailblazing tenure, leaving sports anchor Dale Hansen and weathercaster Pete Delkus to do most of the clowning.
This isn’t to say that Lawrence should be a McCaa clone. He’ll have his own style, and it’s bound to be considerably looser than McCaa’s. But why would station management turn him into something of a circus act before he even officially starts?
Lawrence began by noting Spike Lee’s politically charged acceptance speech after winning his first Oscar. Some “loved” it, others were turned off, he said generically before quickly turning to one of the featured events of the night. Namely, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga performing the Oscar-nominated (and eventually Oscar-winning) “Shallow” from their remake of A Star Is Born. Lawrence initially stood in front of an official ABC News tweet (@ABC) lauding their duet.
”You can see. I mean, they are into it,” Lawrence trilled. “They got really, really emotional. Everybody in our news room was thinking like, ‘Hey, what’s goin’ on here?’ And in fact, Leanne writes (on Twitter), ‘I’m not the only one who thinks Lady Gaga got caught up in the moment and leaned in to kiss #BradleyCooper right.”
Well, there was no evidence of that during their performance, and the excitable Leanne probably meant to put a question mark after “right” (as well as a comma after Cooper).
Lawrence then leaned in hard: “Uh, Leanne, he is not married but has a partner and a very beautiful one at that. And they’ve got a little girl as well.”
McCaa, who was sitting nearby at the anchor desk with Cynthia Izaguirre, could not be seen reacting to any of this. So one can only imagine. But it didn’t get any better.
Lawrence next displayed a Tweet saying, “Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and @MayaRudolph BROUGHT IT! #TheOscars are LIVE now on ABC!” Note that this little dollop also is from ABC’s official Twitter feed and not from an actual WFAA8 viewer. Lawrence ran with it anyway: “A lot of people saying, ‘Look, the producers need to be on the phone with them right now, getting them locked for next year’s show.’ ” Except that he didn’t show any tweets other than the one generated by ABC itself.
Lawrence wound up by giving his “best supporting an actor” Oscar to “my man, Chris Evans.” Seated near Regina King, he helped her to the stage after she was announced as the winner of the best supporting actress trophy for If Beale Street Could Talk.
“My man, Captain America!” Lawrence enthused. “Showing us all chivalry is not dead.”
Hopefully this was an aberration, although WFAA8 management’s obsession with social media engagement, spiked by its corporate owner TEGNA, could signal a sea change between what Lawrence is willing to do -- and what McCaa clearly wasn’t.
To his credit, Lawrence has directly addressed some of his critics on social media, including even your friendly content provider. “I just think folks who stayed up till 10:20 were clearly into the Oscars,” he tweeted Monday afternoon. “Having watched the news here, last night was probably the exception not the rule.”
McCaa has just five days left before he signs off on Friday, March 1st. The baton then goes to Chris Lawrence. It’s hoped he won’t drop it, although management could force his hand.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Feb. 22-24) -- Oscars still fading
02/25/19 11:33 AM
Spike Lee wore the color purple while accepting his first Oscar. Sunday’s ceremony went host-less for the first time since 1989. Photo: Ed Bark
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Oscars continued to downshift in the D-FW ratings Sunday night after going host-less for the first time in three decades.
ABC’s three hour, 21 minute ceremony, which was a half-hour shorter than last year’s, averaged 674,813 D-FW viewers, with 253,613 of them in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old age range.
The 2018 Oscar-cast, delayed until March 4th to avoid direct competition with NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage, drew 726,454 total viewers and 308,939 in the 18-to-49 realm. Two years ago, the Oscars had 763,466 viewers and 339,953 in the 18-to-49 demographic. Both of those ceremonies were hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
The last Oscar ceremony to hit the one million viewers mark in D-FW came in 2015, with Neil Patrick Harris presiding. It averaged 1,004,256 viewers, with 428,197 in the 18-to-49 motherlode.
ABC trumpeted a full one-hour “sneak preview” of its new series Whiskey Cavalier throughout the Oscars. It was supposed to air immediately following the ceremony. But in D-FW, WFAA8 (the only Big Four broadcast entity not owned by its parent network) instead went to its late night local newscast, which started at 10:25 p.m. That pushed Whiskey back to a 10:57 p.m. start in the country’s fifth largest TV market. ABC doesn’t like it when local stations disturb what it sees as the natural order of things. Fox-owned Fox4, NBC-owned NBC5 and CBS-owned CBS11 wouldn’t be allowed to make such a move.
Anyway, the WFAA8 newscast drew 295,231 total viewers before Whiskey dropped way off to 98,410. For those who care all that much, the same episode of Whiskey will be repeated in its regular 9 p.m. Wednesday slot on Feb. 27th, which is the final day of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
Elsewhere Sunday night, Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast easily fared the best opposite the Oscars, drawing a sizable crowd of 182,762 total viewers.
In Friday’s prime-time festivities, CBS’ 8 p.m. hour of Hawaii Five-0 paced all programming in total viewers with 246,026 while NBC’s 7 p.m. episode of The Blacklist drew the most 18-to-49ers (45,288).
Here are Friday’s local news derby results on the 17th weekday of the February sweeps.
CBS11 swept the 10 p.m. competitions in total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). Barring a big stumble down the stretch, CBS11 will repeat as the 10 p.m. champ in the total viewers measurement after the station’s upset win in the November sweeps.
Fox4 again ran the table at 6 a.m. and NBC5 had twin wins at 5 p.m. The Peacock and WFAA8 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m., with WFAA8 alone on top with 25-to-54-year-olds in a tight three-way race with Fox4 and NBC5.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., Feb. 20-21) -- two old-timers rule Thursday while The Masked Singer again dominates Wednesday
02/22/19 02:18 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, nearing the end of its 12th and final season, and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, now in its 15h, continued to light up Thursday’s ratings charts.
Big Bang ranked No. 1 for the night in total D-FW viewers with 302,260 while Grey’s had prime-time’s biggest haul of advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (69,442).
In Wednesday’s prime-time festivities, Fox’s The Masked Singer piled up bigger numbers in both ratings measurements, leading all programming with 337,406 total viewers and 117,749 within the 18-to-49 motherlode. Capitalizing on Masked Singer’s lead-in strength, Fox4’s following local newscast then dominated the 9 p.m. hour with 238,996 total viewers and 93,595 in the 18-to-49-year-old realm.
Here are the local news derby results for the 15th and 16th weekdays of the February “sweeps” ratings period, which ends Wednesday.
Wednesday -- 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 also ran first at 5 and 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 won in total viewers at 5 p.m. and WFAA8 took the 6 p.m. top spot in that measurement.
Thursday -- CBS11 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers, with Fox4 first with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 again ran roughshod over the opposition at 6 a.m. with another pair of not-even-close wins.
The 6 p.m. golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 and the Peacock tied for the 5 p.m. lead in total viewers while Fox4 had first place to itself with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, nearing the end of its 12th and final season, and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, now in its 15h, continued to light up Thursday’s ratings charts.
Big Bang ranked No. 1 for the night in total D-FW viewers with 302,260 while Grey’s had prime-time’s biggest haul of advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (69,442).
In Wednesday’s prime-time festivities, Fox’s The Masked Singer piled up bigger numbers in both ratings measurements, leading all programming with 337,406 total viewers and 117,749 within the 18-to-49 motherlode. Capitalizing on Masked Singer’s lead-in strength, Fox4’s following local newscast then dominated the 9 p.m. hour with 238,996 total viewers and 93,595 in the 18-to-49-year-old realm.
Here are the local news derby results for the 15th and 16th weekdays of the February “sweeps” ratings period, which ends Wednesday.
Wednesday -- 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 also ran first at 5 and 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 won in total viewers at 5 p.m. and WFAA8 took the 6 p.m. top spot in that measurement.
Thursday -- CBS11 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers, with Fox4 first with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 again ran roughshod over the opposition at 6 a.m. with another pair of not-even-close wins.
The 6 p.m. golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 and the Peacock tied for the 5 p.m. lead in total viewers while Fox4 had first place to itself with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Tues., Feb. 15-19) -- catchup round
02/20/19 01:51 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Let’s first rewind back to Sunday night’s NBA All-Star game, in which the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki hit all three of his three-point attempts before sitting out the second half and not tempting fate.
Team LeBron’s comeback win over Team Giannis, carried on both TNT and TBS, ran from 7:34 to 9:53 p.m. The game averaged 175,733 D-FW viewers on TNT and tacked on another 14,059 for the TBS coverage. That’s a grand total of 189,792 viewers, which is a substantial increase over last year’s 135,320 viewers.
Asterisk alert: The 2018 All-Star game aired opposite NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage. So let’s go back to 2017, when the NBA’s high-scoring playground game shot air balls with just 116,338 total viewers.
But there’s this, too. The 2014 NBA All-Star game, which also went directly against the Winter Olympics, soared with 220,140 total viewers. Through that prism, the 2019 game wasn’t so hot after all -- although it did outdraw the 2017 and 2018 games.
However one looks at it, the NBA is still professional sports’ golden boy -- percentage-wise -- among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. Sunday’s game drew 72,461 viewers in this age range on TNT and another 9,058 on TBS. That’s a combined 81,519, up from the 76,970 for 2017’s game. On the other hand, the percentage of 18-to-49-year-olds for the 2019 game is a notable drop-off from 2017. I know. My head’s swimming, too.
Saturday night’s All-Star preliminaries -- skills, 3-point contest, dunks -- drew 133,557 total viewers for the TNT presentation. The 18-to-49-year-old count was 57,365 viewers. Both Dirk and the Mavs’ Luka Doncic were participants, but neither made the finals.
OK, let’s fast-forward to Tuesday’s prime-time numbers, in which CBS’ NCIS as usual hauled in the most total viewers with 316,319. The network’s FBI and NCIS: New Orleans also won their time slots in this measurement.
Among 18-to-49ers, the 7 to 10 p.m. winners were Fox’s Lethal Weapon, NBC’s This Is Us and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast.
Monday’s prime-time parade was paced by NBC’s America’s Got Talent: The Champions in total viewers (302,260), with CBS’ 9 p.m. episode of Bull coming in second for the night with 224,938. The top draw in the 18-to-49 realm, ABC’s 7 to 9 p.m. edition of The Bachelor, smelled like a rose with 60,384.
On to Friday night, where CBS’ 9 p.m. hour of Blue Bloods again led all attractions in total viewers (253,055) while Fox’s 9 p.m. local news took the 18-to-49 crown with 42,269.
Fox’s 8 p.m. premiere of Proven Innocent ran second in its time slot among the Big Four broadcast networks with 18,115 viewers of the 18-to-49 persuasion. It likewise took the runner-up spot in total viewers with 119,498. The 8 to 9 p.m. winners were CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 in total viewers and NBC’s Blacklist among 18-to-49-year-olds.
OK, whaddya say, let’s move on to the local news derby results for the 12th, 13th and 14th weekdays of the February “sweeps,” which end on Wednesday, Feb. 27th.
Friday -- CBS11 won in total viewers at 10 p.m. while WFAA8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions while NBC5 had twin wins at 5 p.m and WFAA8 ran the table at 6 p.m.
Monday -- Just two stations, WFAA8 and CBS11, played for keeps while Fox4 and NBC5 opted for President’s Day exemptions that “throw out” their local news ratings for this day only.
In this two player field, WFAA8 outdrew CBS11 in everything except total viewers at 10 p.m., where the latter station is on a roll and likely to repeat as the sweeps champ after an upset win in November.
Tuesday -- CBS11 again led in total viewers at 10 p.m., with Fox4 winning among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. while also taking the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m. NBC5 and WFAA8 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Let’s first rewind back to Sunday night’s NBA All-Star game, in which the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki hit all three of his three-point attempts before sitting out the second half and not tempting fate.
Team LeBron’s comeback win over Team Giannis, carried on both TNT and TBS, ran from 7:34 to 9:53 p.m. The game averaged 175,733 D-FW viewers on TNT and tacked on another 14,059 for the TBS coverage. That’s a grand total of 189,792 viewers, which is a substantial increase over last year’s 135,320 viewers.
Asterisk alert: The 2018 All-Star game aired opposite NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage. So let’s go back to 2017, when the NBA’s high-scoring playground game shot air balls with just 116,338 total viewers.
But there’s this, too. The 2014 NBA All-Star game, which also went directly against the Winter Olympics, soared with 220,140 total viewers. Through that prism, the 2019 game wasn’t so hot after all -- although it did outdraw the 2017 and 2018 games.
However one looks at it, the NBA is still professional sports’ golden boy -- percentage-wise -- among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. Sunday’s game drew 72,461 viewers in this age range on TNT and another 9,058 on TBS. That’s a combined 81,519, up from the 76,970 for 2017’s game. On the other hand, the percentage of 18-to-49-year-olds for the 2019 game is a notable drop-off from 2017. I know. My head’s swimming, too.
Saturday night’s All-Star preliminaries -- skills, 3-point contest, dunks -- drew 133,557 total viewers for the TNT presentation. The 18-to-49-year-old count was 57,365 viewers. Both Dirk and the Mavs’ Luka Doncic were participants, but neither made the finals.
OK, let’s fast-forward to Tuesday’s prime-time numbers, in which CBS’ NCIS as usual hauled in the most total viewers with 316,319. The network’s FBI and NCIS: New Orleans also won their time slots in this measurement.
Among 18-to-49ers, the 7 to 10 p.m. winners were Fox’s Lethal Weapon, NBC’s This Is Us and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast.
Monday’s prime-time parade was paced by NBC’s America’s Got Talent: The Champions in total viewers (302,260), with CBS’ 9 p.m. episode of Bull coming in second for the night with 224,938. The top draw in the 18-to-49 realm, ABC’s 7 to 9 p.m. edition of The Bachelor, smelled like a rose with 60,384.
On to Friday night, where CBS’ 9 p.m. hour of Blue Bloods again led all attractions in total viewers (253,055) while Fox’s 9 p.m. local news took the 18-to-49 crown with 42,269.
Fox’s 8 p.m. premiere of Proven Innocent ran second in its time slot among the Big Four broadcast networks with 18,115 viewers of the 18-to-49 persuasion. It likewise took the runner-up spot in total viewers with 119,498. The 8 to 9 p.m. winners were CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 in total viewers and NBC’s Blacklist among 18-to-49-year-olds.
OK, whaddya say, let’s move on to the local news derby results for the 12th, 13th and 14th weekdays of the February “sweeps,” which end on Wednesday, Feb. 27th.
Friday -- CBS11 won in total viewers at 10 p.m. while WFAA8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions while NBC5 had twin wins at 5 p.m and WFAA8 ran the table at 6 p.m.
Monday -- Just two stations, WFAA8 and CBS11, played for keeps while Fox4 and NBC5 opted for President’s Day exemptions that “throw out” their local news ratings for this day only.
In this two player field, WFAA8 outdrew CBS11 in everything except total viewers at 10 p.m., where the latter station is on a roll and likely to repeat as the sweeps champ after an upset win in November.
Tuesday -- CBS11 again led in total viewers at 10 p.m., with Fox4 winning among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. while also taking the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m. NBC5 and WFAA8 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., Feb. 13-14) -- still a big Wheel
02/15/19 01:55 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Nothing stood out much in prime-time Thursday, in large part because CBS punted with repeats of The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon during the heart of the February “sweeps.”
But in the 6:30 p.m. warmup half-hour, CBS11’s syndicated Wheel of Fortune continued to roll as no game show ever has. Wheel ranked No. 1 in total D-FW viewers among all TV attractions with an audience of 253,055. The combined crowd for the competing rag mags on Fox4, NBC5 and WFAA8 was 182,762 viewers.
In prime-time, the No. 1 draws were CBS’ Mom and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast, each with 154,645 viewers. That’s almost 100,00 fewer than Wheel’s.
Wheel also easily won its 6:30 p.m. slot among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds with 45,288 of ‘em. Only one network prime-time show did better, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy with 54,346.
On Wednesday, Fox’s The Masked Singer kept humming in the ratings, drawing more total viewers (316,319) and 18-to-49-year-olds (109,066) than any other show in sight during the day or night. (Hey, I made a rhyme!) LaToya Jackson was the latest to be revealed.
Here are the local news derby results for the 10th and 11th weekdays of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
Wednesday -- NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. competitions in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 ran the table at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. while WFAA8 enjoyed twin wins at 6 p.m.
Thursday -- CBS11 ran first in total viewers at 10 p.m. and WFAA8 won among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. races. At 6 p.m., WFAA8 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers while Fox4 was alone on top with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Nothing stood out much in prime-time Thursday, in large part because CBS punted with repeats of The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon during the heart of the February “sweeps.”
But in the 6:30 p.m. warmup half-hour, CBS11’s syndicated Wheel of Fortune continued to roll as no game show ever has. Wheel ranked No. 1 in total D-FW viewers among all TV attractions with an audience of 253,055. The combined crowd for the competing rag mags on Fox4, NBC5 and WFAA8 was 182,762 viewers.
In prime-time, the No. 1 draws were CBS’ Mom and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast, each with 154,645 viewers. That’s almost 100,00 fewer than Wheel’s.
Wheel also easily won its 6:30 p.m. slot among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds with 45,288 of ‘em. Only one network prime-time show did better, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy with 54,346.
On Wednesday, Fox’s The Masked Singer kept humming in the ratings, drawing more total viewers (316,319) and 18-to-49-year-olds (109,066) than any other show in sight during the day or night. (Hey, I made a rhyme!) LaToya Jackson was the latest to be revealed.
Here are the local news derby results for the 10th and 11th weekdays of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
Wednesday -- NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. competitions in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 ran the table at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. while WFAA8 enjoyed twin wins at 6 p.m.
Thursday -- CBS11 ran first in total viewers at 10 p.m. and WFAA8 won among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. races. At 6 p.m., WFAA8 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers while Fox4 was alone on top with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Feb. 12) -- CBS & NBC do the splits
02/13/19 11:01 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Crime paid for CBS, as it always does on Tuesday nights. But also as always, not with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
The network’s NCIS led off as the night’s highest scorer in total D-FW viewers, pulling in 344,436. New episodes of CBS’ FBI and NCIS: New Orleans also won from 8 to 10 p.m. with respective hauls of 281,172 and 238,996 viewers. Over on TBS, the 9:30 p.m. premiere of Miracle Workers, starring Steve Buscemi as God and Daniel Radcliffe as a schlepper, drew just 21,088 total viewers.
Tuesday’s 18-to-49 spoils mostly went to NBC, with This Is Us (57,365 viewers) and New Amsterdam (51,926) taking the 8 to 10 p.m. hours. But Fox’s Lethal Weapon snuck in with a 7 p.m. win, drawing 36,230 viewers in this key demographic. Fox’s The Gifted then plunged to a meager 7,548 viewers in the 18-to-49 realm to easily rank as the night’s lowest draw among the Big Four broadcast networks.
Here are the local news derby results for the ninth weekday of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 stayed strong at 10 p.m., cruising to a third straight weekday win in total viewers and uncommonly adding a first place finish with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). CBS11 anchor Doug Dunbar remained alone in the saddle at this hour while the station continues to leave the other seat vacant after Kaley O’Kelley departed back in May of last year. Maybe they don’t need a traditional “boy-girl” team? CBS11 won the November sweeps in total viewers with Dunbar at the reins without a desk mate.
Fox4 racked up another sweep at 6 a.m. and WFAA8 won in both ratings measurements at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. firsts went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Crime paid for CBS, as it always does on Tuesday nights. But also as always, not with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
The network’s NCIS led off as the night’s highest scorer in total D-FW viewers, pulling in 344,436. New episodes of CBS’ FBI and NCIS: New Orleans also won from 8 to 10 p.m. with respective hauls of 281,172 and 238,996 viewers. Over on TBS, the 9:30 p.m. premiere of Miracle Workers, starring Steve Buscemi as God and Daniel Radcliffe as a schlepper, drew just 21,088 total viewers.
Tuesday’s 18-to-49 spoils mostly went to NBC, with This Is Us (57,365 viewers) and New Amsterdam (51,926) taking the 8 to 10 p.m. hours. But Fox’s Lethal Weapon snuck in with a 7 p.m. win, drawing 36,230 viewers in this key demographic. Fox’s The Gifted then plunged to a meager 7,548 viewers in the 18-to-49 realm to easily rank as the night’s lowest draw among the Big Four broadcast networks.
Here are the local news derby results for the ninth weekday of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 stayed strong at 10 p.m., cruising to a third straight weekday win in total viewers and uncommonly adding a first place finish with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). CBS11 anchor Doug Dunbar remained alone in the saddle at this hour while the station continues to leave the other seat vacant after Kaley O’Kelley departed back in May of last year. Maybe they don’t need a traditional “boy-girl” team? CBS11 won the November sweeps in total viewers with Dunbar at the reins without a desk mate.
Fox4 racked up another sweep at 6 a.m. and WFAA8 won in both ratings measurements at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. firsts went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Feb. 11) -- AGT & The Bachelor divide & conquer
02/12/19 01:20 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s America’s Got Talent: The Champions as usual led all prime-time attractions in total D-FW viewers Monday while ABC’s The Bachelor got the rose from advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
AGT pulled in a night’s best 267,113 total viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. while The Bachelor drew 189,791 viewers in that same slot. Fox’s The Resident tied the first hour of The Bachelor in the total viewers measurement.
Among 18-to-49ers, The Bachelor and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast were Monday’s top performers with 66,422 viewers each. The news and CBS’ Bull fought to a draw in total viewers at 9 p.m. with 217,908 apiece.
Here are the local news derby results for the eighth weekday of the ongoing February “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 won comfortably at 10 p.m. in total viewers but was edged by WFAA8 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. races. The 6 p.m. firsts went to WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s America’s Got Talent: The Champions as usual led all prime-time attractions in total D-FW viewers Monday while ABC’s The Bachelor got the rose from advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
AGT pulled in a night’s best 267,113 total viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. while The Bachelor drew 189,791 viewers in that same slot. Fox’s The Resident tied the first hour of The Bachelor in the total viewers measurement.
Among 18-to-49ers, The Bachelor and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast were Monday’s top performers with 66,422 viewers each. The news and CBS’ Bull fought to a draw in total viewers at 9 p.m. with 217,908 apiece.
Here are the local news derby results for the eighth weekday of the ongoing February “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 won comfortably at 10 p.m. in total viewers but was edged by WFAA8 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. races. The 6 p.m. firsts went to WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Feb. 8-10) -- Grammys are up & down
02/11/19 01:10 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The 2019 Grammy Awards, which more than ever embodied the #MeToo movement, moved up in total viewers from last year’s ceremony while dropping off among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
Starting at 7 p.m. and running until nearly 10:45 p.m. on CBS, the Alicia Keys-hosted 61st annual Grammys averaged 485,022 D-FW viewers in outpointing the 2018 total of 455,814. Among 18-to-49ers, though, the audience dipped from 202,839 viewers to 178,133.
Both ceremonies ran far behind the 2017 Grammys, which drew 661,670 total viewers and 288,639 in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
This year’s 6 p.m. Grammy pre-show on CBS had 210,879 total viewers, with ABC’s competing America’s Funniest Videos a solid second (168,703). The Grammys also prevailed over AFV in the 18-to-49 realm.
In Saturday’s prime-time Nielsens, the debut of the Alliance of American Football on CBS had 105,440 total viewers to outdraw everything except Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast (154,645). Among 18-to-49-year-olds, the AAF and ABC’s Oklahoma Thunder-Houston Rockets game tied for prime-time honors with 33,211 viewers apiece.
Friday night’s pacesetters were CBS’ Blue Bloods in total viewers (231,967) and the network’s preceding two-hour Big Brother: Celebrity Edition in the 18-to-49 demographic (57,365).
Here are Friday’s local news derby results for the seventh weekday of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 topped the 10 p.m. competition in total viewers while Fox4 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 again cruised to twin wins at 6 a.m. and added 5 and 6 p.m. firsts among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 had the most total viewers at 5 p.m. and WFAA8 won on that scorecard at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The 2019 Grammy Awards, which more than ever embodied the #MeToo movement, moved up in total viewers from last year’s ceremony while dropping off among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
Starting at 7 p.m. and running until nearly 10:45 p.m. on CBS, the Alicia Keys-hosted 61st annual Grammys averaged 485,022 D-FW viewers in outpointing the 2018 total of 455,814. Among 18-to-49ers, though, the audience dipped from 202,839 viewers to 178,133.
Both ceremonies ran far behind the 2017 Grammys, which drew 661,670 total viewers and 288,639 in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic.
This year’s 6 p.m. Grammy pre-show on CBS had 210,879 total viewers, with ABC’s competing America’s Funniest Videos a solid second (168,703). The Grammys also prevailed over AFV in the 18-to-49 realm.
In Saturday’s prime-time Nielsens, the debut of the Alliance of American Football on CBS had 105,440 total viewers to outdraw everything except Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast (154,645). Among 18-to-49-year-olds, the AAF and ABC’s Oklahoma Thunder-Houston Rockets game tied for prime-time honors with 33,211 viewers apiece.
Friday night’s pacesetters were CBS’ Blue Bloods in total viewers (231,967) and the network’s preceding two-hour Big Brother: Celebrity Edition in the 18-to-49 demographic (57,365).
Here are Friday’s local news derby results for the seventh weekday of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 topped the 10 p.m. competition in total viewers while Fox4 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 again cruised to twin wins at 6 a.m. and added 5 and 6 p.m. firsts among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 had the most total viewers at 5 p.m. and WFAA8 won on that scorecard at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Feb. 7) -- CBS, ABC and Fox4 share prime-time spoils; NBC5 anchor Marc Fein makes his departure official
02/08/19 09:21 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ The Big Bang Theory was Thursday’s top prime-time scorer in both total D-FW viewers and advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds before ABC and Fox4’s local newscast stepped in to log some wins of their own.
Big Bang led off by drawing 351,465 total viewers and 85,538 in the 18-to-49 age range. CBS’ Young Sheldon and Big Brother: Celebrity Edition then won the 7:30 to 9 p.m. slot in total viewers.
ABC’s second half-hour of Grey’s Anatomy edged Young Sheldon for the most 18-to-49-year-olds from 7:30 to 8 p.m., and the network’s A Million Little Things took the 8 p.m. hour in that key demographic. Fox4’s local news then had twin wins from 9 to 10 p.m.
Here are Thursday’s local news derby results for the sixth weekday of the February “sweeps.”
WFAA8 swept the 10 p.m. competitions, winning in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 did likewise at 6 a.m. and also had the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 and 6 p.m.
CBS11 scored a 6 p.m. win in total viewers while Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the 5 p.m. lead in that measurement.
LOCAL TV NEWS REPORT -- NBC5 early morning co-anchor Marc Fein made it official Friday, announcing via social media that Friday was his last day at the station. “That’s a wrap! Today was my last day on NBC5Today,” Fein said. “It’s been a great 5 years with the morning crew and a great 8 years with the best in the business. Thanks for watching!”
Unclebarky.com first reported on Jan. 2nd that NBC5 was not renewing Fein’s contract. Station management has declined to comment in any way. It can be a cold business.
Below is the farewell picture Fein posted with his on-air colleagues -- Samantha Davies, Deborah Ferguson and Grant Johnston.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ The Big Bang Theory was Thursday’s top prime-time scorer in both total D-FW viewers and advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds before ABC and Fox4’s local newscast stepped in to log some wins of their own.
Big Bang led off by drawing 351,465 total viewers and 85,538 in the 18-to-49 age range. CBS’ Young Sheldon and Big Brother: Celebrity Edition then won the 7:30 to 9 p.m. slot in total viewers.
ABC’s second half-hour of Grey’s Anatomy edged Young Sheldon for the most 18-to-49-year-olds from 7:30 to 8 p.m., and the network’s A Million Little Things took the 8 p.m. hour in that key demographic. Fox4’s local news then had twin wins from 9 to 10 p.m.
Here are Thursday’s local news derby results for the sixth weekday of the February “sweeps.”
WFAA8 swept the 10 p.m. competitions, winning in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 did likewise at 6 a.m. and also had the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 and 6 p.m.
CBS11 scored a 6 p.m. win in total viewers while Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the 5 p.m. lead in that measurement.
LOCAL TV NEWS REPORT -- NBC5 early morning co-anchor Marc Fein made it official Friday, announcing via social media that Friday was his last day at the station. “That’s a wrap! Today was my last day on NBC5Today,” Fein said. “It’s been a great 5 years with the morning crew and a great 8 years with the best in the business. Thanks for watching!”
Unclebarky.com first reported on Jan. 2nd that NBC5 was not renewing Fein’s contract. Station management has declined to comment in any way. It can be a cold business.
Below is the farewell picture Fein posted with his on-air colleagues -- Samantha Davies, Deborah Ferguson and Grant Johnston.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Feb. 6) -- Masked Singer takes down World's Best
02/07/19 09:35 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Ratings for CBS’ The World’s Best came back down to Earth Wednesday night after Sunday’s post-Super Bowl showcase for its premiere hour.
Airing from 7 to 9 p.m., the James Corden-hosted “reality competition” series limped in with 154,645 D-FW viewers to run well behind the latest episode of Fox’s The Masked Singer, which lured 281,172 voyeurs in the 8 p.m. hour. Ricki Lake was the latest to reveal herself during the show’s continued downshift to C- and D-listers after an opening night splurge with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ embattled star receiver, Antonio Brown.
World’s Best best also was outdrawn by NBC’s 7 to 9 p.m. tandem of Chicago Med (253,055 viewers) and Chicago Fire (238,996).
Masked Singer likewise logged Wednesday night’s high in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic, with 90,576 viewers. World’s Best took the runner-up spot with 42,269 viewers in this realm, edging Med and Fire in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot.
At 9 p.m., Fox4’s local newscast won in both ratings measurements.
Here are the local news derby results for the fifth weekday of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
Fox4 topped the 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. competitions in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m. while the 6 p.m. winners were WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Ratings for CBS’ The World’s Best came back down to Earth Wednesday night after Sunday’s post-Super Bowl showcase for its premiere hour.
Airing from 7 to 9 p.m., the James Corden-hosted “reality competition” series limped in with 154,645 D-FW viewers to run well behind the latest episode of Fox’s The Masked Singer, which lured 281,172 voyeurs in the 8 p.m. hour. Ricki Lake was the latest to reveal herself during the show’s continued downshift to C- and D-listers after an opening night splurge with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ embattled star receiver, Antonio Brown.
World’s Best best also was outdrawn by NBC’s 7 to 9 p.m. tandem of Chicago Med (253,055 viewers) and Chicago Fire (238,996).
Masked Singer likewise logged Wednesday night’s high in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic, with 90,576 viewers. World’s Best took the runner-up spot with 42,269 viewers in this realm, edging Med and Fire in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot.
At 9 p.m., Fox4’s local newscast won in both ratings measurements.
Here are the local news derby results for the fifth weekday of the February “sweeps” ratings period.
Fox4 topped the 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. competitions in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m. while the 6 p.m. winners were WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Feb. 5) -- prime-time for Trump's SOU
02/06/19 10:30 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Pushed back into February by the government shutdown, President Trump’s State of the Union speech arrived Tuesday night early in a ratings “sweeps” period.
All of the Big Four broadcast networks carried it (cable news network ratings were not immediately available), with CBS in particular paying a steep price for losing its potent regular Tuesday prime-time lineup of NCIS, FBI and NCIS: New Orleans.
Trump’s elongated speech, which ran from 8:07 to 9:29 p.m., nosedived on CBS with 112,469 D-FW viewers. That put the network fourth behind Fox (210,879), NBC (140,586) and ABC (133,557).
Fox’s SOU coverage also led among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds with 72,4651 viewers in that realm. ABC, CBS and NBC tied for a distant second place with 27,173 viewers apiece.
The Democratic response, from Stacey Abrams, aired from 9:39 to 9:50 p.m. Since Nielsen measures in 15-minute increments (starting at the top of each hour), the audience for her speech can’t be gauged precisely. But from 9:30 to 10 p.m., in which coverage mostly was a mix of analysis/interviews and Adams’ rebuttal, Fox led with 147,615 total viewers, followed by ABC (91,381), NBC (84,352) and CBS (just 28,117). Note: Fox4 cut to its local newscast immediately after Adams had finished while ABC, CBS and NBC finished out the hour with more post-game coverage.
Finally, here are Tuesday’s local news derby results for the fourth weekday of the sweeps.
WFAA8 topped the 10 p.m. field in total viewers while Fox4 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. races and added first place finishes with 25-to-54-year-olds at both 5 and 6 p.m.
WFAA8 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. and shared first place in that measurement at 5 p.m. with NBC5 and CBS11.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Pushed back into February by the government shutdown, President Trump’s State of the Union speech arrived Tuesday night early in a ratings “sweeps” period.
All of the Big Four broadcast networks carried it (cable news network ratings were not immediately available), with CBS in particular paying a steep price for losing its potent regular Tuesday prime-time lineup of NCIS, FBI and NCIS: New Orleans.
Trump’s elongated speech, which ran from 8:07 to 9:29 p.m., nosedived on CBS with 112,469 D-FW viewers. That put the network fourth behind Fox (210,879), NBC (140,586) and ABC (133,557).
Fox’s SOU coverage also led among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds with 72,4651 viewers in that realm. ABC, CBS and NBC tied for a distant second place with 27,173 viewers apiece.
The Democratic response, from Stacey Abrams, aired from 9:39 to 9:50 p.m. Since Nielsen measures in 15-minute increments (starting at the top of each hour), the audience for her speech can’t be gauged precisely. But from 9:30 to 10 p.m., in which coverage mostly was a mix of analysis/interviews and Adams’ rebuttal, Fox led with 147,615 total viewers, followed by ABC (91,381), NBC (84,352) and CBS (just 28,117). Note: Fox4 cut to its local newscast immediately after Adams had finished while ABC, CBS and NBC finished out the hour with more post-game coverage.
Finally, here are Tuesday’s local news derby results for the fourth weekday of the sweeps.
WFAA8 topped the 10 p.m. field in total viewers while Fox4 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. races and added first place finishes with 25-to-54-year-olds at both 5 and 6 p.m.
WFAA8 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. and shared first place in that measurement at 5 p.m. with NBC5 and CBS11.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Feb. 4) -- AGT still flexing
02/05/19 01:26 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s latest two-hour dose of America’s Got Talent: The Champions continued to perform like a champ Monday.
It led all prime-time programming in both total D-FW viewers (281,172) and with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (69,442). ABC’s The Bachelor and CBS’ The Neighborhood tied for a close second in the latter demographic with 66,422 viewers each.
In the 9 p.m. hour, CBS’ Bull took over the lead in total viewers with 203,850 while NBC’s Manifest, ABC’s The Good Doctor and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast shared the spoils among 18-to-49ers with 42,269 apiece.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results for the third weekday of the February “sweeps”
CBS11 kept its 10 p.m. lead in total viewers with another win, but Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 as usual/always ran the table at 6 a.m.; NBC5 did likewise at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. spoils in total viewers were shared by Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11. Fox4 was alone on top with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s latest two-hour dose of America’s Got Talent: The Champions continued to perform like a champ Monday.
It led all prime-time programming in both total D-FW viewers (281,172) and with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (69,442). ABC’s The Bachelor and CBS’ The Neighborhood tied for a close second in the latter demographic with 66,422 viewers each.
In the 9 p.m. hour, CBS’ Bull took over the lead in total viewers with 203,850 while NBC’s Manifest, ABC’s The Good Doctor and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast shared the spoils among 18-to-49ers with 42,269 apiece.
Here are Monday’s local news derby results for the third weekday of the February “sweeps”
CBS11 kept its 10 p.m. lead in total viewers with another win, but Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 as usual/always ran the table at 6 a.m.; NBC5 did likewise at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. spoils in total viewers were shared by Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11. Fox4 was alone on top with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Feb. 1-3) -- slight uppers for Super Bowl LIII
02/04/19 10:52 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The lowest-scoring Super Bowl in history did not sink to new depths ratings-wise. Nor was it a blockbuster.
The New England Patriots’ 13-3 Super Bowl LIII win over the Los Angeles Rams on CBS averaged 2,305,610 D-FW viewers and 954,067 within the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range.
That’s a slight uptick from last year’s high-scoring Supie between the Patriots and the victorious Philadelphia Eagles. That one drew 2,214,973 total viewers, with 889,371 in the 18-to-49 realm.
Neither game came close to the 2017 Super Bowl, which featured the Patriots’ dramatic overtime comeback win against the Atlanta Falcons after trailing by 25 points in the second half. That one pulled in 2,679,765 total viewers, with 1,154,556 in the 18-to-49 motherlode.
Since unclebarky.com came into existence in September 2006, the least-watched Super Bowl in D-FW remains the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2009 win over the Arizona Cardinals. It averaged 2,125,760 total viewers. The highest is still the 2011 game from Jerry’s Palace, in which the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers. That one drew 2,791,057 total viewers.
CBS’ followup act, the premiere of The World’s Best “reality-competition” show, fired up shortly after 9:30 p.m. and averaged 611,549 total viewers and 262,670 in the 18-to-49 realm. But the audience fell off in each quarter-hour measured by Nielsen Media Research. Last year’s post-Super Bowl attraction, NBC’s This Is Us, did better business with 719,332 total viewers and 402,557 in the 18-to-49 age range. It had an extra enticement, though. Viewers finally learned how Milo Ventimiglia’s Jack Pearson died.
On Saturday, CBS’ two-hour NFL Honors special, hosted by Steve Harvey, led all prime-time programming in total viewers with 154,645 total viewers. That was almost double the crowd for last year’s show, which had just 78,343 viewers. Among 18-to-49ers, though, this year’s Honors ran a distant second to ABC’s competing Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Lakers game, even though L.A.’s LeBron James sat it out.
Let’s move to Friday, where the prime-time pacesetters were CBS’ Blue Bloods in total viewers (231,967) and (in a tie), ABC’s Last Man Standing and CBS’ MacGyver in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic (39,250 viewers apiece).
Here are the local news derby results for the second weekday of the February “sweeps.”
CBS11 drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 and WFAA8 shared the lead among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions and also won at 5 and 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. The total viewer golds went to NBC5 at 5 p.m. and CBS11 at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The lowest-scoring Super Bowl in history did not sink to new depths ratings-wise. Nor was it a blockbuster.
The New England Patriots’ 13-3 Super Bowl LIII win over the Los Angeles Rams on CBS averaged 2,305,610 D-FW viewers and 954,067 within the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range.
That’s a slight uptick from last year’s high-scoring Supie between the Patriots and the victorious Philadelphia Eagles. That one drew 2,214,973 total viewers, with 889,371 in the 18-to-49 realm.
Neither game came close to the 2017 Super Bowl, which featured the Patriots’ dramatic overtime comeback win against the Atlanta Falcons after trailing by 25 points in the second half. That one pulled in 2,679,765 total viewers, with 1,154,556 in the 18-to-49 motherlode.
Since unclebarky.com came into existence in September 2006, the least-watched Super Bowl in D-FW remains the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2009 win over the Arizona Cardinals. It averaged 2,125,760 total viewers. The highest is still the 2011 game from Jerry’s Palace, in which the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers. That one drew 2,791,057 total viewers.
CBS’ followup act, the premiere of The World’s Best “reality-competition” show, fired up shortly after 9:30 p.m. and averaged 611,549 total viewers and 262,670 in the 18-to-49 realm. But the audience fell off in each quarter-hour measured by Nielsen Media Research. Last year’s post-Super Bowl attraction, NBC’s This Is Us, did better business with 719,332 total viewers and 402,557 in the 18-to-49 age range. It had an extra enticement, though. Viewers finally learned how Milo Ventimiglia’s Jack Pearson died.
On Saturday, CBS’ two-hour NFL Honors special, hosted by Steve Harvey, led all prime-time programming in total viewers with 154,645 total viewers. That was almost double the crowd for last year’s show, which had just 78,343 viewers. Among 18-to-49ers, though, this year’s Honors ran a distant second to ABC’s competing Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Lakers game, even though L.A.’s LeBron James sat it out.
Let’s move to Friday, where the prime-time pacesetters were CBS’ Blue Bloods in total viewers (231,967) and (in a tie), ABC’s Last Man Standing and CBS’ MacGyver in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic (39,250 viewers apiece).
Here are the local news derby results for the second weekday of the February “sweeps.”
CBS11 drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 and WFAA8 shared the lead among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions and also won at 5 and 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. The total viewer golds went to NBC5 at 5 p.m. and CBS11 at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues.-Thurs., Jan. 29-31) -- Young Sheldon is top scorer on opening night of Feb. "sweeps"
02/01/19 12:29 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS uncommonly got a bigger ratings bang out of Young Sheldon than The Big Bang Theory on opening night of the February “sweeps.”
The BBT spinoff led all prime-time programming in both total D-FW viewers (323,348) and with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (60,384).
On Wednesday, Episode 5 of Fox’s The Masked Singer continued its ratings mastery with No. 1 prime-time scores in total viewers (302,260) and among 18-to-49ers (114,730). The show has been picked up for a second season and Tori Spelling was the latest to be exposed. Please don’t blame the messenger.
Tuesday’s prime-time spoils went to CBS’ Best Super Bowl Commercials special in total viewers (217,908) and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast in the 18-to-49 motherlode (48,307).
Here are the four-way local news derby results.
Tuesday -- Fox4 swept the 10 p.m. competitions, winning in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
The station also continued what’s approaching a year-long unbeaten streak with twin wins at 6 a.m.
In a rarity, NBC5 and WFAA8 tied for first at 6 p.m. in both ratings measurements. At 5 p.m., the Peacock had the most total viewers while Fox4 won among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Wednesday -- Fox4 again ran the table at both 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. while NBC5 enjoyed a 5 p.m. sweep. The 6 p.m. winners were WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
Thursday -- OK, here’s where it starts to get more serious. On the first day of the February “sweeps,” WFAA8 and CBS11 shared the total viewers lead at 10 p.m. while WFAA8 was alone on top with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 notched twin wins at 6 a.m. and NBC5 did likewise at 6 p.m. The Peacock won in total viewers at 5 p.m., with Fox4 No. 1 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS uncommonly got a bigger ratings bang out of Young Sheldon than The Big Bang Theory on opening night of the February “sweeps.”
The BBT spinoff led all prime-time programming in both total D-FW viewers (323,348) and with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (60,384).
On Wednesday, Episode 5 of Fox’s The Masked Singer continued its ratings mastery with No. 1 prime-time scores in total viewers (302,260) and among 18-to-49ers (114,730). The show has been picked up for a second season and Tori Spelling was the latest to be exposed. Please don’t blame the messenger.
Tuesday’s prime-time spoils went to CBS’ Best Super Bowl Commercials special in total viewers (217,908) and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast in the 18-to-49 motherlode (48,307).
Here are the four-way local news derby results.
Tuesday -- Fox4 swept the 10 p.m. competitions, winning in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
The station also continued what’s approaching a year-long unbeaten streak with twin wins at 6 a.m.
In a rarity, NBC5 and WFAA8 tied for first at 6 p.m. in both ratings measurements. At 5 p.m., the Peacock had the most total viewers while Fox4 won among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Wednesday -- Fox4 again ran the table at both 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. while NBC5 enjoyed a 5 p.m. sweep. The 6 p.m. winners were WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
Thursday -- OK, here’s where it starts to get more serious. On the first day of the February “sweeps,” WFAA8 and CBS11 shared the total viewers lead at 10 p.m. while WFAA8 was alone on top with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 notched twin wins at 6 a.m. and NBC5 did likewise at 6 p.m. The Peacock won in total viewers at 5 p.m., with Fox4 No. 1 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
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