May 2014
Reporter Demond Fernandez stays in state while joining WFAA8 news staff
05/29/14 11:57 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Demond Fernandez is leaving Houston’s ABC affiliate, KTRK-TV, to join Dallas-based WFAA8 as a full-time reporter.
He spent three years at KTRK and also previously worked at WOAI-TV in San Antonio. WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo said Thursday that Fernandez’s first day at the station will be on June 23rd. His hiring was first reported by Houston blogger Mike McGuff.
Earlier this year, Fernandez had a gun pulled on him by a 73-year-old accused child molester after he attempted to question the man at his home. Here is KTRK’s raw video of the incident.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., May 28) -- CBS/Fox split spoils among Big 4 broadcast nets
05/29/14 11:09 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS hit the rerun button and still swept Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsens in the total viewers measurements for broadcast networks.
Reprises of Hawaii Five-0 (149,127 viewers), Criminal Minds (213,039) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (170,431) set the pace from 7 to 10 p.m. As usual, though, advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds went elsewhere, giving Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast the wins versus competition from CBS, ABC and NBC.
From 9 p.m. to conclusion, the entire TV universe’s biggest draw among total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds was Indiana’s down-to-the-wire win over Miami in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference championship series. ESPN had the game.
Brian Williams’ exclusive interview with Edward Snowden in a 9 p.m. NBC news special drew 134,925 total viewers to rank third at that hour among the Big 4 broadcast networks behind CSI and ABC’s Motive. Williams-Snowden moved up to second among 18-to-49-year-olds, trailing Fox4’s news.
The Texas Rangers’ 1-0 win at Minnesota averaged 134,925 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest. Over on cable’s NBC Sports Net, 56,810 viewers witnessed the Chicago Blackhawks winning goal in their late night Stanley Cup playoff double overtime game against the Los Angeles Kings. The game in its entirety averaged 28,405 viewers.
Here are Wednesday’s local news derby results:
CBS11 nipped Fox4 and WFAA8 for the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but Fox4 dominated among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
NBC5 won at 6 a.m. in total viewers and shared the lead with Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
Fox4 ran the table at 6 p.m., won at 5 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds and tied NBC5 for the most total viewers at 5 p.m.
LOCAL NEWS NOTE -- The Texas Association of Broadcasters has named NBC5 president/general manager Tom Ehlmann its Broadcaster of the Year.
Ehlmann joined NBC5 in 2008 and was principally cited for overseeing the Fort Worth station’s move to new studios after 65 years in its original building. The station also had a strong performance in the May “sweeps” ratings, making significant year-to-year audience gains with its local newscasts while winning at both 5 and 6 p.m. in the total viewer Nielsens.
He’ll accept the award at an Aug. 7th event in Austin.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS hit the rerun button and still swept Wednesday’s D-FW Nielsens in the total viewers measurements for broadcast networks.
Reprises of Hawaii Five-0 (149,127 viewers), Criminal Minds (213,039) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (170,431) set the pace from 7 to 10 p.m. As usual, though, advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds went elsewhere, giving Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast the wins versus competition from CBS, ABC and NBC.
From 9 p.m. to conclusion, the entire TV universe’s biggest draw among total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds was Indiana’s down-to-the-wire win over Miami in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference championship series. ESPN had the game.
Brian Williams’ exclusive interview with Edward Snowden in a 9 p.m. NBC news special drew 134,925 total viewers to rank third at that hour among the Big 4 broadcast networks behind CSI and ABC’s Motive. Williams-Snowden moved up to second among 18-to-49-year-olds, trailing Fox4’s news.
The Texas Rangers’ 1-0 win at Minnesota averaged 134,925 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest. Over on cable’s NBC Sports Net, 56,810 viewers witnessed the Chicago Blackhawks winning goal in their late night Stanley Cup playoff double overtime game against the Los Angeles Kings. The game in its entirety averaged 28,405 viewers.
Here are Wednesday’s local news derby results:
CBS11 nipped Fox4 and WFAA8 for the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but Fox4 dominated among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
NBC5 won at 6 a.m. in total viewers and shared the lead with Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
Fox4 ran the table at 6 p.m., won at 5 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds and tied NBC5 for the most total viewers at 5 p.m.
LOCAL NEWS NOTE -- The Texas Association of Broadcasters has named NBC5 president/general manager Tom Ehlmann its Broadcaster of the Year.
Ehlmann joined NBC5 in 2008 and was principally cited for overseeing the Fort Worth station’s move to new studios after 65 years in its original building. The station also had a strong performance in the May “sweeps” ratings, making significant year-to-year audience gains with its local newscasts while winning at both 5 and 6 p.m. in the total viewer Nielsens.
He’ll accept the award at an Aug. 7th event in Austin.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Tues., May 23-27) -- sluggish start to Season 9 of Talent
05/28/14 12:32 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s longest lasting summertime hit, America’s Got Talent, went so-so for starters with Tuesday night’s Season 9 premiere.
Luring 234,343 D-FW viewers from 7 to 9 p.m., it ran second to competing repeats of CBS’ NCIS (291,153) and NCIS: Los Angeles (234,343 vs. 227,242 for AGT’s lower-rated second hour).
AGT won its time slot among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, though, with NCIS ranking No. 2 from 7 to 8 p.m. and ABC’s second hour of Extreme Weight Loss taking the silver during the 8 p.m. hour in competition among the Big 4 broadcast networks.
The Peacock’s new medical drama, The Night Shift, had 142,026 total viewers at 9 p.m., tying Fox4’s local newscast and CBS’ Person of Interest for the top spot in that time period. Fox4’s news won among 18-to-49-year-olds, with Night Shift a solid second.
TNT’s Game 4 of the Oklahoma City Thunder/San Antonio Spurs Western Conference championship series topped all cable offerings with 220,140 total viewers while the Texas Rangers’ road loss at Minnesota averaged 149,127 viewers. Spurs-Heat, which started at 8 p.m., easily topped all of Tuesday’s programming in the key 18-to-49 measurement.
On Memorial Day night, Fox’s 24: Live Another Day won its 8 p.m. hour with 184,634 total viewers. It helps to have both ABC’s The Voice and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars out of the way. CBS won from 7 to 8 p.m. with 2 Broke Girls and the canceled Friends with Better Lives while Fox4’s news took the 9 p.m. hour. The winners among 18-to-49-year-olds were ABC’s two-hour helping of The Bachelorette and Fox4’s newscast.
On Sunday, Fox’s nighttime running of NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 edged ABC’s daytime, tradition-rich Indy 500. The score was 177,533 to 163,330 in the total viewer Nielsens for the full races. Things also went better with Coke -- by an almost two-to-one margin -- among 18-to-49-year-olds.
CBS’ Colonial PGA championship, originating from North Texas, peaked at 198,836 total viewers during the three-hole playoff between winner Adam Scott and Jason Dufner. But Colonial’s average audience amounted to far less than either auto race’s. Both also drew bigger peak crowds, with NASCAR hitting a high of 213,039 viewers and the Indy 500 maxing out at 241,444 viewers.
Sunday night’s Mad Men episode on AMC drew just 28,405 total viewers, even though it was the seventh and last episode of a two-tiered final season. Mad Men won’t be back for its concluding seven episodes until spring of next year.
Friday’s season finale of NBC’s Hannibal was a ratings corpse with a Mad Men-sized 28,405 total viewers. That put it a distant fourth in the 9 p.m. hour among attractions on the Big 4 broadcast networks. Hannibal ran a much closer fourth with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Here are the four-way local news derby results, with all of the combatants opting out by taking holiday knees on Memorial Day.
Friday -- CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but WFAA8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox 4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and NBC5 did likewise at 6 p.m. The Peacock also had the most total viewers at 5 p.m. while Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Tuesday -- CBS11 again won at 10 p.m. in total viewers; Fox4 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The other golds went to NBC5, with a doubleheader sweep at 5 p.m. and the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s longest lasting summertime hit, America’s Got Talent, went so-so for starters with Tuesday night’s Season 9 premiere.
Luring 234,343 D-FW viewers from 7 to 9 p.m., it ran second to competing repeats of CBS’ NCIS (291,153) and NCIS: Los Angeles (234,343 vs. 227,242 for AGT’s lower-rated second hour).
AGT won its time slot among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, though, with NCIS ranking No. 2 from 7 to 8 p.m. and ABC’s second hour of Extreme Weight Loss taking the silver during the 8 p.m. hour in competition among the Big 4 broadcast networks.
The Peacock’s new medical drama, The Night Shift, had 142,026 total viewers at 9 p.m., tying Fox4’s local newscast and CBS’ Person of Interest for the top spot in that time period. Fox4’s news won among 18-to-49-year-olds, with Night Shift a solid second.
TNT’s Game 4 of the Oklahoma City Thunder/San Antonio Spurs Western Conference championship series topped all cable offerings with 220,140 total viewers while the Texas Rangers’ road loss at Minnesota averaged 149,127 viewers. Spurs-Heat, which started at 8 p.m., easily topped all of Tuesday’s programming in the key 18-to-49 measurement.
On Memorial Day night, Fox’s 24: Live Another Day won its 8 p.m. hour with 184,634 total viewers. It helps to have both ABC’s The Voice and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars out of the way. CBS won from 7 to 8 p.m. with 2 Broke Girls and the canceled Friends with Better Lives while Fox4’s news took the 9 p.m. hour. The winners among 18-to-49-year-olds were ABC’s two-hour helping of The Bachelorette and Fox4’s newscast.
On Sunday, Fox’s nighttime running of NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 edged ABC’s daytime, tradition-rich Indy 500. The score was 177,533 to 163,330 in the total viewer Nielsens for the full races. Things also went better with Coke -- by an almost two-to-one margin -- among 18-to-49-year-olds.
CBS’ Colonial PGA championship, originating from North Texas, peaked at 198,836 total viewers during the three-hole playoff between winner Adam Scott and Jason Dufner. But Colonial’s average audience amounted to far less than either auto race’s. Both also drew bigger peak crowds, with NASCAR hitting a high of 213,039 viewers and the Indy 500 maxing out at 241,444 viewers.
Sunday night’s Mad Men episode on AMC drew just 28,405 total viewers, even though it was the seventh and last episode of a two-tiered final season. Mad Men won’t be back for its concluding seven episodes until spring of next year.
Friday’s season finale of NBC’s Hannibal was a ratings corpse with a Mad Men-sized 28,405 total viewers. That put it a distant fourth in the 9 p.m. hour among attractions on the Big 4 broadcast networks. Hannibal ran a much closer fourth with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Here are the four-way local news derby results, with all of the combatants opting out by taking holiday knees on Memorial Day.
Friday -- CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but WFAA8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox 4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and NBC5 did likewise at 6 p.m. The Peacock also had the most total viewers at 5 p.m. while Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Tuesday -- CBS11 again won at 10 p.m. in total viewers; Fox4 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The other golds went to NBC5, with a doubleheader sweep at 5 p.m. and the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., May 22) -- decent first impression for return of Last Comic Standing
05/23/14 11:58 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC just won’t quit on Last Comic Standing. Its eighth edition, and the first since 2010, returned Thursday night and made a pretty nice comeback.
Airing from 8 to 10 p.m., LCS drew 127,823 D-FW viewers with its new host, JB Smoove, plus new judges Keenen Ivory Wayans, Roseanne Barr and Russell Peters. On the first night since the end of TV’s so-called “regular season,” that was good enough to outdraw everything except CBS’ 8 p.m. repeat episode of Two and a Half Men and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast.
Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, LCS beat every competing program except Fox4’s news.
The Fox network’s premiere of Gang Related didn’t fare as well from 8 to 9 p.m. It had 99,418 total viewers for a third-place finish in its time slot and was beaten by LCS and ABC’s Modern Family rerun among 18-to-49-year-olds.
CBS won the 7 p.m. hour in total viewers with repeats of The Big Bang Theory and The Millers. But Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen had the most 18-to-49-year-olds.
Part one of the CW miniseries Labyrinth languished with just 21,304 total viewers and 13,027 in the 18-to-49 demographic. That ranked it fifth in both measurements from 7 to 9 p.m. before CW33’s new Nightcap successor, NewsFix, fell even further off the ratings map with respective totals of 14,203 and 9,770 viewers.
Here are Thursday’s local news derby numbers on the day after the end of the May “sweeps” ratings competition.
Two stations collected all the golds. Fox4 ran first at 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC5 ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC just won’t quit on Last Comic Standing. Its eighth edition, and the first since 2010, returned Thursday night and made a pretty nice comeback.
Airing from 8 to 10 p.m., LCS drew 127,823 D-FW viewers with its new host, JB Smoove, plus new judges Keenen Ivory Wayans, Roseanne Barr and Russell Peters. On the first night since the end of TV’s so-called “regular season,” that was good enough to outdraw everything except CBS’ 8 p.m. repeat episode of Two and a Half Men and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast.
Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, LCS beat every competing program except Fox4’s news.
The Fox network’s premiere of Gang Related didn’t fare as well from 8 to 9 p.m. It had 99,418 total viewers for a third-place finish in its time slot and was beaten by LCS and ABC’s Modern Family rerun among 18-to-49-year-olds.
CBS won the 7 p.m. hour in total viewers with repeats of The Big Bang Theory and The Millers. But Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen had the most 18-to-49-year-olds.
Part one of the CW miniseries Labyrinth languished with just 21,304 total viewers and 13,027 in the 18-to-49 demographic. That ranked it fifth in both measurements from 7 to 9 p.m. before CW33’s new Nightcap successor, NewsFix, fell even further off the ratings map with respective totals of 14,203 and 9,770 viewers.
Here are Thursday’s local news derby numbers on the day after the end of the May “sweeps” ratings competition.
Two stations collected all the golds. Fox4 ran first at 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC5 ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
WFAA8 retains 10 p.m. crowns while Fox4 and NBC5 reap the other newscast harvests in May "sweeps" ratings
05/22/14 10:01 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
WFAA8 held off two strong challenges to remain in first place at 10 p.m. while Fox4 and NBC5 claimed the other major local newscast prizes in D-FW’s May ratings “sweeps.”
The biggest change from a year ago was NBC5’s jump from third to first place at 6 p.m. in the total viewers Nielsens. The Peacock also won at 5 p.m. in total viewers, defending its title from last May. Overall NBC5 showed the most year-to-year growth among the four major combatants.
Fox4 had the most first place finishes, though. It continued to rule the 6 a.m. roost, particularly among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The station also notched 5 and 6 p.m. wins in that key demographic.
CBS11 came up empty and dipped to fourth place across the board among 25-to-54-year-olds. But WFAA8 experienced even heavier bleeding at 5 and 6 p.m. For the first time in memory, WFAA8 ran last in total viewers at both of those hours.
Here are the complete results for the four-week May sweeps, which ended on Wednesday, May 21st. All totals are extended to three digits to separate the stations in exceedingly close races. For example, WFAA8 had a 2.457 rating in total viewers at 10 p.m., with each rating point worth 71,013 viewers. Year-to-year audience gains or losses are in parentheses.
10 P.M.
Total Viewers
WFAA8 -- 174,479 (minus 44,507)
CBS11 -- 160,986 (minus 41,685)
NBC5 -- 143,091 (plus 47,125)
Fox4 -- 123,705 (minus 14,599)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
WFAA8 -- 71,998 (minus 21,251)
Fox4 -- 68,494 (minus 7,047)
NBC5 -- 68,037 (plus 20,608)
CBS11 -- 36,563 (minus 26,159)
Comments: Although WFAA8 won, a resurgent NBC5 is the only station jumping for joy with major audience increases in both measurements. Improved NBC prime-time lead-ins helped after NBC5 received no help at all from its network in May 2013. But the Peacock, now firmly housed in its spanking new studios, lately is on a roll that also has something to do with the presentation of its product. The Dallas Morning News may well have picked the right horse by becoming NBC5’s “content sharing” partner after ditching its long association with WFAA8.
Both WFAA8 and CBS11 heavily bled viewers from year-to-year. This was WFAA8’s first ratings “sweeps” period with Cynthia Izaguirre anchoring in place of the retired Gloria Campos. CBS11, which will have a new news director by the time the November “sweeps” fire up, remains in contention in the total viewers race but has fallen completely off the map with 25-to-54-year-olds. That’s going to be a very tough one to fix.
6 A.M.
Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 122,639 (minus 12,360)
NBC5 -- 111,206 (plus 33,759)
WFAA8 -- 81,452 (minus 4,119)
CBS11 -- 61,639 (minus 3,348)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 77,026 (plus 591)
NBC5 -- 51,554 (plus 7,881)
WFAA8 -- 38,360 (minus 2,093)
CBS11 -- 23,309 (minus 2,537)
Comments: NBC5 again is the only station with real momentum, although Fox4 slightly “youthified” its audience while at the same losing more than 12,000 total viewers from year to year. This was WFAA8’s first sweeps period in which Alexa Conomos shifted from the traffic reporter slot to join incumbent Ron Corning at the anchor desk while Shane Allen took her spot.
But the co-anchor spot with Corning is still not definite, according to WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo. A different replacement for Izaguirre might yet come from within or outside the station. Or it could be Conomos after all. Whatever the case, WFAA8 is running in place at 6 a.m., as is CBS11. Neither station made any real inroads this May. But NBC5 certainly did.
6 P.M.
Total Viewers
NBC5 -- 147,352 (plus 32,661)
CBS11 -- 128,036 (minus 29,406)
Fox4 -- 117,812 (plus 13,792)
WFAA8 -- 115,822 (minus 38,109)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 54,783 (plus 5,416)
NBC5 -- 47,684 (plus 10,092)
WFAA8 -- 42,687 (minus 6,442)
CBS11 -- 23,674 (minus 5,958)
Comments: This is getting a bit redundant, but again NBC5 is the station with the most momentum while Fox4 also has upped its audience by lesser amounts in both measurements. WFAA8 dropped from second to last in total viewers and from second to third in the 25-to-54 demographic. NBC5 in contrast vaulted from third to first in total viewers and from third to second among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Last May’s total viewers champ, CBS11, fell well behind the Peacock this time out. And its finish among 25-to-54-year-olds remained well behind its three competitors.
5 P.M.
Total Viewers
NBC5 -- 132,581 (plus 25,187)
Fox4 -- 118,024 (plus 19,098)
CBS11 -- 103,963 (plus 12,541)
WFAA8 -- 86,565 (minus 16,905)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 45,368 (plus 5,988)
NBC5 -- 34,917 (minus 1,154)
WFAA8 -- 26,691 (minus 5,565)
CBS11 -- 22,456 (minus 826)
Comments: Fox4 had its sturdiest year-to-year performance here, showing sizable increases in both ratings measurements. NBC5 kept its crown in total viewers while also increasing its lead from May 2013. But Peacock hiccuped a bit among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 had a disastrous sweeps showing at this hour. It’s hard to remember the last time the station ran fourth in total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. But that’s what the numbers say, and WFAA8 wasn’t even all that close to third-place CBS11.
In other May sweeps ratings highlights:
*** One of the reasons for WFAA8’s dismal showing at 5 p.m. is the station’s even worse showing with its 4 p.m. local newscast. NBC5 easily won that three-way battle, with CBS11 second and WFAA8 third in both ratings measurements. Even with remote controls at the ready, programming still tends to live or die based on the strength of its lead-in. And WFAA8’s 5 p.m. newscasts inherited very little from the 4 p.m. show.
***Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast had a big May “sweeps,” running second in total viewers behind a variety of CBS entertainment programs in that hour and first among both 25-to-54-year-olds and 18-to-49-year-olds (the main advertiser target for entertainment programming). That’s highly impressive.
***At 5:30 p.m., the NBC Nightly News comfortably won in total viewers with an average of 168,869. But Fox4’s local newscast beat Nightly News by a smidgen among 25-to-54-year-olds (49,482 to 48,872).
***Some things never seem to change. CBS11’s syndicated 6:30 p.m. airings of Wheel of Fortune again rolled over the rag mags on Fox4, NBC5 and WFAA8. Wheel had more than twice as many total viewers -- 248,546 -- as NBC5’s runner-up Extra (106,520). Although running third among 25-to-54-year-olds, skew-old Wheel held its own in a much more tightly bunched race. The results: Extra (54,844); Access Hollywood (45,704); Wheel (42,657); Entertainment Tonight (39,610).
***KTXD-TV’s (Ch. 47) homegrown The Broadcast remained consistent. It averaged 71 total viewers for both the 9 to 11 a.m. live edition and the 4 to 6 p.m. repeat. And the rating had to be rounded off to three digits -- 0.001 -- to get even that. We try to be fair.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
WFAA8 held off two strong challenges to remain in first place at 10 p.m. while Fox4 and NBC5 claimed the other major local newscast prizes in D-FW’s May ratings “sweeps.”
The biggest change from a year ago was NBC5’s jump from third to first place at 6 p.m. in the total viewers Nielsens. The Peacock also won at 5 p.m. in total viewers, defending its title from last May. Overall NBC5 showed the most year-to-year growth among the four major combatants.
Fox4 had the most first place finishes, though. It continued to rule the 6 a.m. roost, particularly among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The station also notched 5 and 6 p.m. wins in that key demographic.
CBS11 came up empty and dipped to fourth place across the board among 25-to-54-year-olds. But WFAA8 experienced even heavier bleeding at 5 and 6 p.m. For the first time in memory, WFAA8 ran last in total viewers at both of those hours.
Here are the complete results for the four-week May sweeps, which ended on Wednesday, May 21st. All totals are extended to three digits to separate the stations in exceedingly close races. For example, WFAA8 had a 2.457 rating in total viewers at 10 p.m., with each rating point worth 71,013 viewers. Year-to-year audience gains or losses are in parentheses.
10 P.M.
Total Viewers
WFAA8 -- 174,479 (minus 44,507)
CBS11 -- 160,986 (minus 41,685)
NBC5 -- 143,091 (plus 47,125)
Fox4 -- 123,705 (minus 14,599)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
WFAA8 -- 71,998 (minus 21,251)
Fox4 -- 68,494 (minus 7,047)
NBC5 -- 68,037 (plus 20,608)
CBS11 -- 36,563 (minus 26,159)
Comments: Although WFAA8 won, a resurgent NBC5 is the only station jumping for joy with major audience increases in both measurements. Improved NBC prime-time lead-ins helped after NBC5 received no help at all from its network in May 2013. But the Peacock, now firmly housed in its spanking new studios, lately is on a roll that also has something to do with the presentation of its product. The Dallas Morning News may well have picked the right horse by becoming NBC5’s “content sharing” partner after ditching its long association with WFAA8.
Both WFAA8 and CBS11 heavily bled viewers from year-to-year. This was WFAA8’s first ratings “sweeps” period with Cynthia Izaguirre anchoring in place of the retired Gloria Campos. CBS11, which will have a new news director by the time the November “sweeps” fire up, remains in contention in the total viewers race but has fallen completely off the map with 25-to-54-year-olds. That’s going to be a very tough one to fix.
6 A.M.
Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 122,639 (minus 12,360)
NBC5 -- 111,206 (plus 33,759)
WFAA8 -- 81,452 (minus 4,119)
CBS11 -- 61,639 (minus 3,348)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 77,026 (plus 591)
NBC5 -- 51,554 (plus 7,881)
WFAA8 -- 38,360 (minus 2,093)
CBS11 -- 23,309 (minus 2,537)
Comments: NBC5 again is the only station with real momentum, although Fox4 slightly “youthified” its audience while at the same losing more than 12,000 total viewers from year to year. This was WFAA8’s first sweeps period in which Alexa Conomos shifted from the traffic reporter slot to join incumbent Ron Corning at the anchor desk while Shane Allen took her spot.
But the co-anchor spot with Corning is still not definite, according to WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo. A different replacement for Izaguirre might yet come from within or outside the station. Or it could be Conomos after all. Whatever the case, WFAA8 is running in place at 6 a.m., as is CBS11. Neither station made any real inroads this May. But NBC5 certainly did.
6 P.M.
Total Viewers
NBC5 -- 147,352 (plus 32,661)
CBS11 -- 128,036 (minus 29,406)
Fox4 -- 117,812 (plus 13,792)
WFAA8 -- 115,822 (minus 38,109)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 54,783 (plus 5,416)
NBC5 -- 47,684 (plus 10,092)
WFAA8 -- 42,687 (minus 6,442)
CBS11 -- 23,674 (minus 5,958)
Comments: This is getting a bit redundant, but again NBC5 is the station with the most momentum while Fox4 also has upped its audience by lesser amounts in both measurements. WFAA8 dropped from second to last in total viewers and from second to third in the 25-to-54 demographic. NBC5 in contrast vaulted from third to first in total viewers and from third to second among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Last May’s total viewers champ, CBS11, fell well behind the Peacock this time out. And its finish among 25-to-54-year-olds remained well behind its three competitors.
5 P.M.
Total Viewers
NBC5 -- 132,581 (plus 25,187)
Fox4 -- 118,024 (plus 19,098)
CBS11 -- 103,963 (plus 12,541)
WFAA8 -- 86,565 (minus 16,905)
25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 45,368 (plus 5,988)
NBC5 -- 34,917 (minus 1,154)
WFAA8 -- 26,691 (minus 5,565)
CBS11 -- 22,456 (minus 826)
Comments: Fox4 had its sturdiest year-to-year performance here, showing sizable increases in both ratings measurements. NBC5 kept its crown in total viewers while also increasing its lead from May 2013. But Peacock hiccuped a bit among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 had a disastrous sweeps showing at this hour. It’s hard to remember the last time the station ran fourth in total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. But that’s what the numbers say, and WFAA8 wasn’t even all that close to third-place CBS11.
In other May sweeps ratings highlights:
*** One of the reasons for WFAA8’s dismal showing at 5 p.m. is the station’s even worse showing with its 4 p.m. local newscast. NBC5 easily won that three-way battle, with CBS11 second and WFAA8 third in both ratings measurements. Even with remote controls at the ready, programming still tends to live or die based on the strength of its lead-in. And WFAA8’s 5 p.m. newscasts inherited very little from the 4 p.m. show.
***Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast had a big May “sweeps,” running second in total viewers behind a variety of CBS entertainment programs in that hour and first among both 25-to-54-year-olds and 18-to-49-year-olds (the main advertiser target for entertainment programming). That’s highly impressive.
***At 5:30 p.m., the NBC Nightly News comfortably won in total viewers with an average of 168,869. But Fox4’s local newscast beat Nightly News by a smidgen among 25-to-54-year-olds (49,482 to 48,872).
***Some things never seem to change. CBS11’s syndicated 6:30 p.m. airings of Wheel of Fortune again rolled over the rag mags on Fox4, NBC5 and WFAA8. Wheel had more than twice as many total viewers -- 248,546 -- as NBC5’s runner-up Extra (106,520). Although running third among 25-to-54-year-olds, skew-old Wheel held its own in a much more tightly bunched race. The results: Extra (54,844); Access Hollywood (45,704); Wheel (42,657); Entertainment Tonight (39,610).
***KTXD-TV’s (Ch. 47) homegrown The Broadcast remained consistent. It averaged 71 total viewers for both the 9 to 11 a.m. live edition and the 4 to 6 p.m. repeat. And the rating had to be rounded off to three digits -- 0.001 -- to get even that. We try to be fair.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., May 21) -- Idol vs. Survivor in final season finale showdown
05/22/14 09:14 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
TV’s so-called “regular season” and the May “sweeps” ratings race both ended Wednesday with a closing showdown between the finales of Fox’s American Idol and CBS’ Survivor.
Idol won in both key ratings measurements in their 7 to 9 p.m. face-off. With the Meat Loaf-ian Caleb Johnson crowned as its 13th champ, Idol drew 241,444 D-FW viewers, with 97,701 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 motherlode.
Survivor, which awarded Tony Vlachos its 28th $1 million grand prize, had 213,039 total viewers with 68,391 in the 18-to-49 age range. Both shows were beaten from 8 to 8:30 p.m. in the 18-to-49 demographic by the season finale of ABC’s Modern Family (136,781 viewers), which featured the same-sex wedding of Mitch and Cam. Modern Family also nipped Survivor from 8 to 8:30 p.m. in total viewers.
Wednesday’s 9 p.m. hour went to Fox4’s local newscast, which had 220,140 total viewers and also won among 18-to-49-year-olds (87,931). Survivor’s reunion special ran second in both measurements while the summer season return of ABC’s detective drama Motive ended up last across the board among the Big Four broadcast networks.
In the local news derby results, Fox4 had a big final day of the “sweeps” by sweeping the 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. competitions in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). The station also won at 5 and 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 took the other two golds, drawing the most total viewers at 5 and 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
TV’s so-called “regular season” and the May “sweeps” ratings race both ended Wednesday with a closing showdown between the finales of Fox’s American Idol and CBS’ Survivor.
Idol won in both key ratings measurements in their 7 to 9 p.m. face-off. With the Meat Loaf-ian Caleb Johnson crowned as its 13th champ, Idol drew 241,444 D-FW viewers, with 97,701 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 motherlode.
Survivor, which awarded Tony Vlachos its 28th $1 million grand prize, had 213,039 total viewers with 68,391 in the 18-to-49 age range. Both shows were beaten from 8 to 8:30 p.m. in the 18-to-49 demographic by the season finale of ABC’s Modern Family (136,781 viewers), which featured the same-sex wedding of Mitch and Cam. Modern Family also nipped Survivor from 8 to 8:30 p.m. in total viewers.
Wednesday’s 9 p.m. hour went to Fox4’s local newscast, which had 220,140 total viewers and also won among 18-to-49-year-olds (87,931). Survivor’s reunion special ran second in both measurements while the summer season return of ABC’s detective drama Motive ended up last across the board among the Big Four broadcast networks.
In the local news derby results, Fox4 had a big final day of the “sweeps” by sweeping the 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. competitions in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). The station also won at 5 and 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 took the other two golds, drawing the most total viewers at 5 and 6 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., May 20) -- firing the big "reality competition" guns
05/21/14 10:27 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The seemingly bottomless country music well ran dry while most viewers also divorced themselves from Tuesday’s premiere of I Wanna Marry “Harry”.
Both competed against much bigger fish -- the season finales of NBC’s The Voice and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.
The Voice as usual won their 8 to 10 p.m. matchup, averaging 369,268 D-FW viewers to 326,660 for DTWS. It was no contest at all among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, with The Voice running up the score by thrashing DWTS 162,835 to 78,161. For the record, Josh Kaufman of “Team Usher” won The Voice while Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy took the Mirror Ball Trophy.
The two finals left little breathing room for CBS’ competing ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute to the Troops, featuring performances from country music luminaries such as Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, George Strait, Miranda Lambert and husband Blake Shelton competing against himself on The Voice. All-Star Salute drew just 63,912 total viewers and a piddling 9,770 in the key 18-to-49 demographic.
Over on Fox, the 8 p.m. premiere of I Wanna Marry “Harry” also fell flat with 78,114 total viewers and 45,594 in the 18-to-49 range.
Another “reality competition” attraction, Fox’s season-ending performance edition of American Idol, won the 7 p.m. hour with 234,343 total viewers. A smallish number of them -- 97,701-- were within the 18-to-49 motherlode. CBS’ 7 p.m. Judge Judy special ran fourth in both ratings measurements opposite Idol and warmup hours for The Voice and DWTS.
In Tuesday’s local news derby results, NBC5 enjoyed its second straight weekday sweep at 10 p.m. with wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
The 6 a.m. golds went to the Peacock in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 ran the table at 5 p.m. and added a 6 p.m. win in the 25-to-54 demographic. NBC5 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
Just one day remains in the May “sweeps” ratings period. We’ll have complete results on Thursday.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The seemingly bottomless country music well ran dry while most viewers also divorced themselves from Tuesday’s premiere of I Wanna Marry “Harry”.
Both competed against much bigger fish -- the season finales of NBC’s The Voice and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.
The Voice as usual won their 8 to 10 p.m. matchup, averaging 369,268 D-FW viewers to 326,660 for DTWS. It was no contest at all among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, with The Voice running up the score by thrashing DWTS 162,835 to 78,161. For the record, Josh Kaufman of “Team Usher” won The Voice while Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy took the Mirror Ball Trophy.
The two finals left little breathing room for CBS’ competing ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute to the Troops, featuring performances from country music luminaries such as Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, George Strait, Miranda Lambert and husband Blake Shelton competing against himself on The Voice. All-Star Salute drew just 63,912 total viewers and a piddling 9,770 in the key 18-to-49 demographic.
Over on Fox, the 8 p.m. premiere of I Wanna Marry “Harry” also fell flat with 78,114 total viewers and 45,594 in the 18-to-49 range.
Another “reality competition” attraction, Fox’s season-ending performance edition of American Idol, won the 7 p.m. hour with 234,343 total viewers. A smallish number of them -- 97,701-- were within the 18-to-49 motherlode. CBS’ 7 p.m. Judge Judy special ran fourth in both ratings measurements opposite Idol and warmup hours for The Voice and DWTS.
In Tuesday’s local news derby results, NBC5 enjoyed its second straight weekday sweep at 10 p.m. with wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
The 6 a.m. golds went to the Peacock in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 ran the table at 5 p.m. and added a 6 p.m. win in the 25-to-54 demographic. NBC5 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
Just one day remains in the May “sweeps” ratings period. We’ll have complete results on Thursday.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., May 19) -- NBC/Fox4 are tops in Big 4 broadcast net arena
05/20/14 09:47 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s season-ending performance edition of The Voice again made the biggest prime-time noise Monday before Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast outdrew two heavily promoted premieres in the Big 4 broadcast network arena.
The Voice averaged 426,078 D-FW viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. to again outpace ABC’s competing Dancing with the Stars (319,559 viewers). The Voice had an even easier time among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, more than doubling the total for DWTS.
Fox’s 8 p.m. episode of 24: Live Another Day ran third in total viewers but moved up to second among 18-to-49-year-olds with its 8:30 to 9 p.m. portion by beating the first half-hour of ABC’s 90-minute season premiere of The Bachelorette.
Fox4’s 9 p.m. news then stepped up with 205,938 total viewers and 107,471 in the 18-to-49 demographic. ABC’s competing closing hour of The Bachelorette edged NBC’s The Maya Rudolph Show for second place in total viewers but Maya took the silver among 18-to-49-year-olds.
Outside the broadcast arena, TNT’s Game 1 of the San Antonio Spurs-Oklahoma City Thunder Western Conference final averaged 205,938 total viewers and 110,728 in the 18-to-49 age range. The 9 to 10 p.m. portion of the game had more total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds than any broadcast network attraction in that hour.
CBS was missing in action all night with a motley mix of reruns and new episodes of Mike & Molly and the canceled Friends with Better Lives. All five attractions ran fourth across the board under the broadcast network tent. Make that fifth from 8 to 10 p.m. when TNT weighed in with Spurs-OKC.
In Monday’s local news derby results, NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. competitions in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The Peacock added a 5 p.m. win in total viewers.
Fox4 otherwise dominated, running the table at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. while also winning at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic.
Just two weekdays remain in the May “sweeps” ratings. And the only certainty is that Fox4 again will win at 6 a.m. in both ratings measurements.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s season-ending performance edition of The Voice again made the biggest prime-time noise Monday before Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast outdrew two heavily promoted premieres in the Big 4 broadcast network arena.
The Voice averaged 426,078 D-FW viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. to again outpace ABC’s competing Dancing with the Stars (319,559 viewers). The Voice had an even easier time among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, more than doubling the total for DWTS.
Fox’s 8 p.m. episode of 24: Live Another Day ran third in total viewers but moved up to second among 18-to-49-year-olds with its 8:30 to 9 p.m. portion by beating the first half-hour of ABC’s 90-minute season premiere of The Bachelorette.
Fox4’s 9 p.m. news then stepped up with 205,938 total viewers and 107,471 in the 18-to-49 demographic. ABC’s competing closing hour of The Bachelorette edged NBC’s The Maya Rudolph Show for second place in total viewers but Maya took the silver among 18-to-49-year-olds.
Outside the broadcast arena, TNT’s Game 1 of the San Antonio Spurs-Oklahoma City Thunder Western Conference final averaged 205,938 total viewers and 110,728 in the 18-to-49 age range. The 9 to 10 p.m. portion of the game had more total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds than any broadcast network attraction in that hour.
CBS was missing in action all night with a motley mix of reruns and new episodes of Mike & Molly and the canceled Friends with Better Lives. All five attractions ran fourth across the board under the broadcast network tent. Make that fifth from 8 to 10 p.m. when TNT weighed in with Spurs-OKC.
In Monday’s local news derby results, NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. competitions in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The Peacock added a 5 p.m. win in total viewers.
Fox4 otherwise dominated, running the table at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. while also winning at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic.
Just two weekdays remain in the May “sweeps” ratings. And the only certainty is that Fox4 again will win at 6 a.m. in both ratings measurements.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Jenny Doren joins WFAA8's reporting staff
05/19/14 06:05 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
WFAA8’s latest reporter hire is Jenny Doren, who joins the Dallas-based station from WJLA-TV, Washington, D.C.’s ABC affiliate.
A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Doren is described on WJLA’s website as a “one-woman show” who shoots, writes and edits her own reports. She spent two years at WJLA and also has worked for NBC Washington Nonstop and CBS station WCIA-TV in Champaign, Illinois.
Doren originally announced her impending move to “the Big D” on her Facebook page.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., May 16-18) -- Babs, Billboard, hoops spur ABC to big weekend
05/19/14 09:56 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
ABC had its biggest weekend of the season, other than the Oscars, by mostly keeping its weekly series out of the picture.
The network averaged 269,849 D-FW viewers Sunday night for its three-hour Billboard Music Awards special. CBS’ 7 to 8 p.m. season finale of The Amazing Race outdrew the first hour of Billboard, which otherwise swept the entire night among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos also won from 6 to 7 p.m. in this key demographic.
Earlier Sunday, ABC’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat ruled the afternoon hours in both ratings measurements. Pacers-Heat averaged 177,533 total viewers in easily besting the final round of the Byron Nelson golf championship (71,013 viewers) and the Texas Rangers’ home win over the Toronto Blue Jays (78,114 viewers on Fox Sports Southwest).
On Friday night, ABC’s two-hour Barbara Walters farewell special cruised to an easy win from 8 to 10 p.m. with 234,343 total viewers opposite token resistance from a pair of Blue Bloods repeats on usually formidable CBS. Babs and ABC’s preceding Shark Tank also won among 18-to-49-year-olds while Blue Bloods shockingly had “hashmarks” (no measurable audience) for its 8 p.m. rerun and just 1,954 viewers in the 18-to-49 age range for the 9 p.m. do-over. Wow.
Saturday’s Nielsens were paced by NBC’s telecast of The Preakness, in which California Chrome won the second leg of the Triple Crown in a race that began at 5:21 p.m. and was over roughly two minutes later. For the 5:15 to 5:30 p.m. increment, the Preakness had 248,546 total viewers. Nothing else came close -- not even the season finale of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. It drew 149,127 viewers. SNL outran the Preakness among 18-to-49-year-olds, though.
Here are Friday’s local news derby results, with just three weekdays now remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings.
WFAA8 cashed in on the big Babs lead-in advantage by rolling to dominant wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programs). In both instances, WFAA8 had more than twice as many viewers as its nearest rival. This could prove to be the difference maker for WFAA8 in tight 10 p.m. races in both ratings measurements.
Fox4 notched another doubleheader win at 6 a.m. and also swept the 5 p.m. competitions. At 6 p.m., Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the most total viewers while the Peacock prevailed with 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 had a polar opposite ratings performance at 6 p.m. placing fourth in both measurements before rising to that 10 p.m. pinnacle. CBS11 ran fourth across the board at 5 p.m. and was the only station without any wins Friday.
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@unclebarkycom on Twitter
ABC had its biggest weekend of the season, other than the Oscars, by mostly keeping its weekly series out of the picture.
The network averaged 269,849 D-FW viewers Sunday night for its three-hour Billboard Music Awards special. CBS’ 7 to 8 p.m. season finale of The Amazing Race outdrew the first hour of Billboard, which otherwise swept the entire night among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos also won from 6 to 7 p.m. in this key demographic.
Earlier Sunday, ABC’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat ruled the afternoon hours in both ratings measurements. Pacers-Heat averaged 177,533 total viewers in easily besting the final round of the Byron Nelson golf championship (71,013 viewers) and the Texas Rangers’ home win over the Toronto Blue Jays (78,114 viewers on Fox Sports Southwest).
On Friday night, ABC’s two-hour Barbara Walters farewell special cruised to an easy win from 8 to 10 p.m. with 234,343 total viewers opposite token resistance from a pair of Blue Bloods repeats on usually formidable CBS. Babs and ABC’s preceding Shark Tank also won among 18-to-49-year-olds while Blue Bloods shockingly had “hashmarks” (no measurable audience) for its 8 p.m. rerun and just 1,954 viewers in the 18-to-49 age range for the 9 p.m. do-over. Wow.
Saturday’s Nielsens were paced by NBC’s telecast of The Preakness, in which California Chrome won the second leg of the Triple Crown in a race that began at 5:21 p.m. and was over roughly two minutes later. For the 5:15 to 5:30 p.m. increment, the Preakness had 248,546 total viewers. Nothing else came close -- not even the season finale of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. It drew 149,127 viewers. SNL outran the Preakness among 18-to-49-year-olds, though.
Here are Friday’s local news derby results, with just three weekdays now remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings.
WFAA8 cashed in on the big Babs lead-in advantage by rolling to dominant wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programs). In both instances, WFAA8 had more than twice as many viewers as its nearest rival. This could prove to be the difference maker for WFAA8 in tight 10 p.m. races in both ratings measurements.
Fox4 notched another doubleheader win at 6 a.m. and also swept the 5 p.m. competitions. At 6 p.m., Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the most total viewers while the Peacock prevailed with 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 had a polar opposite ratings performance at 6 p.m. placing fourth in both measurements before rising to that 10 p.m. pinnacle. CBS11 ran fourth across the board at 5 p.m. and was the only station without any wins Friday.
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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., May 15) -- Big Bang, Grey's are heaviest hitters
05/16/14 10:06 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The season finales of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy came up biggest on an active Thursday night in which the conclusion of NBC’s Rosemary’s Baby re-do capped the Peacock’s biggest bust of the season.
Big Bang amassed 497,091 D-FW viewers to easily rank as the night’s most-watched program. Grey’s, which said farewell to charter cast member Sandra Oh’s Dr. Cristina Yang, won its 8 p.m. hour in a close battle with Fox’s American Idol results hour. Grey’s had 262,748 viewers to Idol’s 241,444.
CBS’ Elementary season-ender won at 9 p.m. with 248,546 viewers.
Among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, the 7 to 10 p.m. winners were Big Bang, the second half of Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen, Grey’s and Elementary.
NBC’s 8 to 10 p.m. closeout of Rosemary’s Baby drew a paltry 49,709 total viewers, with just 19,540 in the 18-to-49 age range. That ranked it last among the Big Four broadcast networks in total viewers and it also ran behind The CW’s 8 p.m. episode of Reign among 18-to-49-year-olds. For NBC, Rosemary’s sat at the bottom end of a remake teeter totter whose high point was a holiday season live telecast of The Sound of Music.
In Thursday’s local news derby results, CBS11 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers while WFAA8 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
NBC5 edged Fox4 for first place in total viewers at 6 a.m.; the two stations tied for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 swept the 6 p.m. competitions, with the total viewers portion a tight fight involving all four stations. At 5 p.m., the golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The season finales of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy came up biggest on an active Thursday night in which the conclusion of NBC’s Rosemary’s Baby re-do capped the Peacock’s biggest bust of the season.
Big Bang amassed 497,091 D-FW viewers to easily rank as the night’s most-watched program. Grey’s, which said farewell to charter cast member Sandra Oh’s Dr. Cristina Yang, won its 8 p.m. hour in a close battle with Fox’s American Idol results hour. Grey’s had 262,748 viewers to Idol’s 241,444.
CBS’ Elementary season-ender won at 9 p.m. with 248,546 viewers.
Among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, the 7 to 10 p.m. winners were Big Bang, the second half of Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen, Grey’s and Elementary.
NBC’s 8 to 10 p.m. closeout of Rosemary’s Baby drew a paltry 49,709 total viewers, with just 19,540 in the 18-to-49 age range. That ranked it last among the Big Four broadcast networks in total viewers and it also ran behind The CW’s 8 p.m. episode of Reign among 18-to-49-year-olds. For NBC, Rosemary’s sat at the bottom end of a remake teeter totter whose high point was a holiday season live telecast of The Sound of Music.
In Thursday’s local news derby results, CBS11 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers while WFAA8 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
NBC5 edged Fox4 for first place in total viewers at 6 a.m.; the two stations tied for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 swept the 6 p.m. competitions, with the total viewers portion a tight fight involving all four stations. At 5 p.m., the golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., May 14) -- Fox/Fox4 make most of the prime-time noise
05/15/14 09:39 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Although in steep decline from what it once was, Fox’s American Idol can still be a player, particularly with its Wednesday night performance shows.
The latest two-hour edition averaged 269,849 D-FW viewers, winning from 7 to 8 p.m. opposite CBS’ Survivor before losing to CBS’ Criminal Minds (347,964 viewers) in the 8 p.m. hour.
But Idol had a clean sweep among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. And Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast kept the ball rolling by edging CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in total viewers and romping with 18-to-49-year-olds while ABC’s competing season finale of Nashville placed a distant second in that key demographic.
The injury-ravaged Texas Rangers’ 5-4 loss at Houston had 106,520 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest.
KTXD-TV’s (Ch.47) The Broadcast, enjoying a wealth of online attention and some exposure on Fox News Channel after Tuesday’s spat over Michael Sam’s live kiss of his boyfriend during the NFL draft, continued to be an empty-handed panhandler in the D-FW Nielsens. Thursday’s 9 to 11 a.m. live edition and the 4 to 6 p.m. repeat again registered “hashmarks” (no measurable audience). The Broadcast has been nothing but hashmarks since the Monday, May 5th morning airing of the show averaged 710 viewers for the full two hours by showing a slight ratings pulse in just one 15-minute increment.
In contrast, KTXD’s most-watched program Wednesday, an 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. episode of Cold Case Files, drew 21,304 viewers.
Here are Wednesday’s local news derby results, with five weekdays now remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 won among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. WFAA8 fell to an uncommonly distant fourth in the 25-to-54 measurement.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 had its fourth straight doubleheader win at 5 p.m. The Peacock also had the most total viewers at 6 p.m., but Fox4 won with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Although in steep decline from what it once was, Fox’s American Idol can still be a player, particularly with its Wednesday night performance shows.
The latest two-hour edition averaged 269,849 D-FW viewers, winning from 7 to 8 p.m. opposite CBS’ Survivor before losing to CBS’ Criminal Minds (347,964 viewers) in the 8 p.m. hour.
But Idol had a clean sweep among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. And Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast kept the ball rolling by edging CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in total viewers and romping with 18-to-49-year-olds while ABC’s competing season finale of Nashville placed a distant second in that key demographic.
The injury-ravaged Texas Rangers’ 5-4 loss at Houston had 106,520 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest.
KTXD-TV’s (Ch.47) The Broadcast, enjoying a wealth of online attention and some exposure on Fox News Channel after Tuesday’s spat over Michael Sam’s live kiss of his boyfriend during the NFL draft, continued to be an empty-handed panhandler in the D-FW Nielsens. Thursday’s 9 to 11 a.m. live edition and the 4 to 6 p.m. repeat again registered “hashmarks” (no measurable audience). The Broadcast has been nothing but hashmarks since the Monday, May 5th morning airing of the show averaged 710 viewers for the full two hours by showing a slight ratings pulse in just one 15-minute increment.
In contrast, KTXD’s most-watched program Wednesday, an 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. episode of Cold Case Files, drew 21,304 viewers.
Here are Wednesday’s local news derby results, with five weekdays now remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 won among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. WFAA8 fell to an uncommonly distant fourth in the 25-to-54 measurement.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 had its fourth straight doubleheader win at 5 p.m. The Peacock also had the most total viewers at 6 p.m., but Fox4 won with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
No one watched at the time, but it's been a nice after-party for KTXD's The Broadcast
05/14/14 03:50 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
If a co-host walks off a TV show that the Nielsen ratings say nobody in D-FW watched, then does it actually count as a walk-off?
In today’s media world, it indeed does count for something when various national websites, including Huffington Post and Gawker, happily hop on the controversy and replay the dust-up on KTXD-TV’s Tuesday, May 13th edition of The Broadcast.
Co-host Amy Kushnir, the one who left the building, did so after arguing that the brief, celebratory NFL draft day kiss between openly gay Michael Sam and his boyfriend should not have been shown live on ESPN. Co-host Suzie Humphreys agreed it was not for public consumption while co-hosts Courtney Kerr and Lisa Pineiro just as emphatically lined up on the side of Sams and ESPN.
Kushnir, who had made the same case on Monday’s The Broadcast (with co-host Dawn Neufeld in studio instead of Pineiro), abruptly decided she’d heard enough. She unhooked her microphone, got up and essentially let Kerr and Pineiro know they could kiss off. Particularly Kerr, the histrionic party girl of Bravo’s Most Eligible Dallas and Courtney Loves Dallas, both of which have been canceled.
“Thanks everyone for the sweet feedback about this,” Kerr later tweeted. “I will always stand up for love & equality.”
Kushnir, who describes herself as a “Foodie, Mom and Girlfriend” on her My Texas Today website, hasn’t fared quite as well on her Twitter page. “Get over your pompous bigoted self,” @Warpedauthor (Patrick Wendling) tweeted before labeling Kushnir a “stupid cow.”
Right about now, KTXD should be encouraging Kerr and Kushnir to physically mud-wrestle soon on The Broadcast in the spirit of settling their differences. Because this is publicity money can’t buy for a show that still can’t get arrested in the weekday D-FW ratings. Humphreys, for her part, might want to go along with the idea of chasing Pineiro with a frying pan. Rockin’ it old school.
Otherwise reality sets in. Tuesday’s 9 to 11 a.m. live telecast of The Broadcast registered “hashmarks” (no measurable audience), according to Nielsen data. So did that day’s 4 to 6 p.m. repeat.
Monday’s The Broadcast, during which the reliably cantankerous Humphreys bluntly denounced “The Kiss,” also had no measurable audience in either time slot. This is the long-established norm for The Broadcast, which hasn’t gotten beyond “hashmarks” since the Monday, May 5th morning edition averaged 710 viewers in a market of 7.1 million. No, that’s not a misprint.
KTXD’s most-watched program on Tuesday, May 13th, when The Broadcast flared up, was the 6 to 8 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos bloc. It averaged 12,072 viewers. Not exactly a juggernaut, but 17 times the audience drawn by The Broadcast on the most recent day it drew any audience at all.
Still, there’s this. The Broadcast in fact does sometimes show a pulse during its chat segments. It’s all genuinely unscripted, which seems like the way to go if you have any hopes of differentiating yourself.
The host conflagrations, on both the Monday and Tuesday editions, at least were not the equivalent of Jerry Springer or professional wrestling fakery. Kushnir’s huffy exit clearly wasn’t staged either. And even if technically no one watched at the time, the reverberations are very good vibrations for a show such as this. Now if only Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien or anyone else in network TV’s late night firmament will take the bait, show a clip and make fun of The Broadcast.
That would be a beautiful thing for a program whose continued flatline Nielsen ratings give it nowhere to go but straight up.
Update: Fox News Channel took notice and has scheduled Kushnir as a guest on the Thursday, May 15th edition of The Kelly File, hosted by Megyn Kelly. It airs from 8 to 9 p.m. (central).
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
NBC5's latest newcomer is reporter Johnny Archer
05/14/14 01:42 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC5’s comings and goings continue at a rapid rate.
As recently reported, the Fort Worth-based station has gained reporter Ellen Bryan for its early morning shift but will be losing veteran Randy McIlwain, one of its most prominent general assignment reporters.
Now comes another new hire -- reporter Johnny Archer (pictured above) from WHAS-TV in Louisville, KY. He joined NBC5 this month and is no relation to The Green Arrow. Archer’s NBC5 bio says he anchored weekends and reported on weekdays for WHAS-TV, an ABC affiliate station. He spent just over three years there.
Archer, a Temple University graduate, also has worked at KPVI-TV, the NBC station in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., May 13) -- CBS/NBC set prime-time pace
05/14/14 12:58 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ season finales of three crime hits led from start to stop in Tuesday’s prime-time total viewer Nielsens while rivals again sprung to life among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
NCIS was the night’s most-watched attraction with 461,585 D-FW viewers while NBC’s competing The Voice as usual ran a strong second with 369,268.
NCIS: Los Angeles (362,166 viewers) and Person of Interest (291,153) then had easier times winning from 8 to 10 p.m.
Among 18-to-49-year-olds, NBC took the 7 to 9 p.m. golds with The Voice (198,659 viewers) and two episodes of About a Boy (94,444 and 97,701 viewers). Fox4’s local newscast then ran first at 9 p.m. with 84,674 viewers in the 18-to-49 range despite scant help from Fox’s preceding premiere of the improv comedy/quiz show Riot. It was buried in fourth place at 8 p.m. with just 49,709 total viewers and dipped to fifth (behind CW’s Supernatural) among 18-to-49-year-olds.
The Texas Rangers’ 8-0 road loss at Houston also continued the injury-pocked team’s ratings slump. The game had 85,216 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest.
In Tuesday’s local news derby results, WFAA8 overcame a weak-kneed lead-in from ABC’s Wife Swap to tie CBS11 at 10 p.m. for first place in total viewers. Fox4 edged WFAA8 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m. for the third straight weekday. The 6 p.m. golds went to CBS11 in total viewers and WFAA8 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Six weekdays now remain in the May “sweeps” ratings competition, which climaxes the so-called “regular” TV season.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ season finales of three crime hits led from start to stop in Tuesday’s prime-time total viewer Nielsens while rivals again sprung to life among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
NCIS was the night’s most-watched attraction with 461,585 D-FW viewers while NBC’s competing The Voice as usual ran a strong second with 369,268.
NCIS: Los Angeles (362,166 viewers) and Person of Interest (291,153) then had easier times winning from 8 to 10 p.m.
Among 18-to-49-year-olds, NBC took the 7 to 9 p.m. golds with The Voice (198,659 viewers) and two episodes of About a Boy (94,444 and 97,701 viewers). Fox4’s local newscast then ran first at 9 p.m. with 84,674 viewers in the 18-to-49 range despite scant help from Fox’s preceding premiere of the improv comedy/quiz show Riot. It was buried in fourth place at 8 p.m. with just 49,709 total viewers and dipped to fifth (behind CW’s Supernatural) among 18-to-49-year-olds.
The Texas Rangers’ 8-0 road loss at Houston also continued the injury-pocked team’s ratings slump. The game had 85,216 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest.
In Tuesday’s local news derby results, WFAA8 overcame a weak-kneed lead-in from ABC’s Wife Swap to tie CBS11 at 10 p.m. for first place in total viewers. Fox4 edged WFAA8 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m. for the third straight weekday. The 6 p.m. golds went to CBS11 in total viewers and WFAA8 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Six weekdays now remain in the May “sweeps” ratings competition, which climaxes the so-called “regular” TV season.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Gannett adds to TV holdings with six Texas stations but London Broadcasting holds onto the big one in Dallas
05/14/14 10:50 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Gannett Co., Inc. added to its growing Texas TV empire Wednesday by announcing an intent to purchase six stations from London Broadcasting for a price of $215 million.
But London’s biggest Texas fish by far, Dallas-based KTXD-TV (Ch. 47), remains in the hands of London.
“We did not want to sell Dallas,” London senior vice president and COO Phil Hurley said in an email reply Wednesday. “We are pleased with our progress in Dallas and the development of our shows.”
Hurley, who is in New York meeting with Gannett officials, said the company was not barred by Federal Communications Commission regulations from owning a second station in Dallas, the country’s fifth-largest TV market. Late last year, Gannett took control of Dallas-based WFAA8, ending more than 60 years of local ownership by Belo Corp.
Under the new deal, expected to be finalized this summer, Hurley will continue to “lead the six stations,” according to a Gannett publicity release. He’ll also be guiding the fortunes of KTXD, which in March canceled its locally produced The Texas Daily while continuing to originate The Broadcast from its Dallas studios. Modeled after The View, the two-hour program airs live from 9 to 11 a.m. weekdays and is repeated from 4 to 6 p.m.
The View also has been syndicated to London’s six Texas stations, and that won’t change under Gannett ownership, Hurley said Wednesday.
Gannett’s Texas purchases are NBC affiliate KCEN-TV in Waco-Temple-Bryan; KYTX-TV (CBS) in Tyler-Longview; KIII-TV (ABC) in Corpus Christi; KBMT-TV (ABC) and its digital sub-Channel KJAC (NBC) in Beaumont-Port Arthur; KXVA-TV (Fox) in Abilene-Sweetwater; and KIDY-TV (Fox) in San Angelo.
“The purchase of these stations further deepens Gannett’s broadcasting presence in the high-growth state of Texas without any overlap of Gannett’s current
portfolio,” the company’s announcement says.
Gannett’s other Texas holdings, besides WFAA8, are KHOU-TV (CBS) in Houston; KENS-TV (CBS) in San Antonio; and KVUE-TV (ABC) in Austin. All were previously owned by Belo until the Dallas-based corporation sold off all of its TV properties.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Solid, seasoned NBC5 reporter Randy McIlwain leaving for L.A. post at NBC-owned KNBC-TV
05/13/14 06:49 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Randy McIlwain, a stalwart and standout general assignment reporter for the past 11-and-a-half years at Fort Worth-based NBC5, is heading West to join NBC-owned KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.
He’ll be a member of the station’s I-Team, specializing in consumer reporting.
McIlwain joined NBC5 in October 2003 after a six-year stint at KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City. Besides being one of the D-FW market’s most capable street reporters, oftentimes on the night side, he has filled in as a sports anchor at NBC5. His TV career began in 1990 as a photographer for WSEE-TV in Erie, PA before McIlwain became a reporter six months later.
McIlwain tweeted the news of his new job Tuesday and immediately was deluged with well-wishes. In response to a Twitter query from unclebarky.com, he said his last day at NBC5 will be on June 20th and he’ll start at KNBC on July 7th. His NBC5 colleagues were informed in-house of the move on Tuesday.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., May 12) -- NBC blasts off while 24 hangs in
05/13/14 01:50 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Mondays are rise and shine for NBC, which again crunched the opposition with The Voice and the Season 1 finale of The Blacklist.
The Voice hummed along happily from 7 to 9 p.m. with 411,858 D-FW viewers, including 218,199 within the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 motherlode.
Blacklist then amassed respective totals of 404,774 and 162,835 viewers, both easily enough to whip ABC’s Castle and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast, which took the silvers.
Fox’s 8 p.m. third hour of 24: Live Another Day drew a very respectable 262,748 total viewers while still falling short of The Voice and ABC’s second hour of Dancing with the Stars (326,660). But 24 moved up to the No. 2 spot with 18-to-49-year-olds while DWTS fell to a distant third.
Over on Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers’ road win against the doormat Houston Astros drew 113,621 total viewers.
In Monday’s local news derby results, NBC5 capitalized in a big way on The Blacklist lead-in. The Peacock ran first in total viewers with 269,849 in comfortably beating runner-up WFAA8’s 198,836. Among 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming), NBC5 doubled the total of second-place WFAA8 (140,157 to 70,079).
Fox4 flexed with twin wins at 6 a.m. and NBC5 again did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 measurement.
There are now seven weekdays remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings period. And the end results could be very interesting in terms of potential power shifts at 10 p.m. in particular.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Mondays are rise and shine for NBC, which again crunched the opposition with The Voice and the Season 1 finale of The Blacklist.
The Voice hummed along happily from 7 to 9 p.m. with 411,858 D-FW viewers, including 218,199 within the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 motherlode.
Blacklist then amassed respective totals of 404,774 and 162,835 viewers, both easily enough to whip ABC’s Castle and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast, which took the silvers.
Fox’s 8 p.m. third hour of 24: Live Another Day drew a very respectable 262,748 total viewers while still falling short of The Voice and ABC’s second hour of Dancing with the Stars (326,660). But 24 moved up to the No. 2 spot with 18-to-49-year-olds while DWTS fell to a distant third.
Over on Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers’ road win against the doormat Houston Astros drew 113,621 total viewers.
In Monday’s local news derby results, NBC5 capitalized in a big way on The Blacklist lead-in. The Peacock ran first in total viewers with 269,849 in comfortably beating runner-up WFAA8’s 198,836. Among 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming), NBC5 doubled the total of second-place WFAA8 (140,157 to 70,079).
Fox4 flexed with twin wins at 6 a.m. and NBC5 again did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 measurement.
There are now seven weekdays remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings period. And the end results could be very interesting in terms of potential power shifts at 10 p.m. in particular.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., May 9-11) -- no vital signs for NBC's Rosemary's Baby re-do
05/12/14 12:29 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC may not want to bother rocking the cradle for Thursday’s Part 2 of its Rosemary’s Baby remake.
Sunday’s two-hour Part 1 flopped from 8 to 10 p.m. in the D-FW Nielsens, drawing just 56,810 viewers to run fourth from start to stop. Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Babylikewise ran fourth with its second hour but managed a second place finish from 8 to 9 p.m. ahead of CBS’ The Good Wife and Fox’s Cosmos. Still, the audience totals were strikingly low in both measurements.
Saturday’s prime-time ratings were led by ABC’s Miami Heat-Brooklyn Nets playoff game, which averaged 106,520 total viewers.
On Friday night, viewers flocked to the closing minutes of Texas Rangers’ pitcher Yu Darvish’s bid for a no-hitter against the Red Sox. David “Big Papi” Ortiz busted it up with a ground ball single after two were out in the ninth inning. During that time, Rangers-Red Sox drew 298,255 viewers, making that increment Friday’s most-watched TV attraction. The game overall averaged 170,431 viewers.
Here are Friday’s local news derby results, with eight weekdays now remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings competition.
WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. golds went to CBS11 in total viewers and NBC5 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC may not want to bother rocking the cradle for Thursday’s Part 2 of its Rosemary’s Baby remake.
Sunday’s two-hour Part 1 flopped from 8 to 10 p.m. in the D-FW Nielsens, drawing just 56,810 viewers to run fourth from start to stop. Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Babylikewise ran fourth with its second hour but managed a second place finish from 8 to 9 p.m. ahead of CBS’ The Good Wife and Fox’s Cosmos. Still, the audience totals were strikingly low in both measurements.
Saturday’s prime-time ratings were led by ABC’s Miami Heat-Brooklyn Nets playoff game, which averaged 106,520 total viewers.
On Friday night, viewers flocked to the closing minutes of Texas Rangers’ pitcher Yu Darvish’s bid for a no-hitter against the Red Sox. David “Big Papi” Ortiz busted it up with a ground ball single after two were out in the ninth inning. During that time, Rangers-Red Sox drew 298,255 viewers, making that increment Friday’s most-watched TV attraction. The game overall averaged 170,431 viewers.
Here are Friday’s local news derby results, with eight weekdays now remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings competition.
WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. golds went to CBS11 in total viewers and NBC5 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Ellen Bryan reports to NBC5 for early morning reporting duties (updated)
05/09/14 04:19 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Fort Worth-based NBC5 has hired Ellen Bryan as a reporter for its early morning newscasts.
Bryan’s bio was posted Friday, May 9th, on the station’s website. She arrives from ABC 36 in Lexington, KY and is a former Miss Ohio 2011 who competed in the 2012 Miss America pageant.
The Ball State University grad also received a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Medal Award after riding a bike 850 miles to raise money for children’s hospitals, NBC5 says.
NBC5 has two full-fledged Miss Americas in its past. The pageant’s 1967 winner, Jane Jayroe, was the station’s featured 6 and 10 p.m. woman anchor from 1980 to 1984. The station was better known as KXAS-TV back then.
Miss America 1989, Gretchen Carlson, was a weekend anchor and reporter for the station in the late 1990s. She currently has her own show on Fox News Channel.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Adrienne Roark leaving CBS11 as news director, heading to Portland, OR
05/09/14 11:47 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Adrienne Roark, who joined CBS11 as news director on March 23, 2010, resigned Friday and will be joining CBS affiliate KOIN-TV in Portland, Oregon as that station’s general manager.
Roark arrived in D-FW from CBS-owned WFOR-TV in Miami, FL, where she also had been news director. Roark, 39 at the time, became CBS11’s fourth news director in a little over three years.
“Yes, there was a bit of a feeling of being unsettled here, of people not being sure what was going to happen,” Roark said in an April 2010 interview with unclebarky.com at CBS11’s Fort Worth studios. “And yes, they definitely need stability, and I’m not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. I want to be able to put my children in a good public school system and see it through. I can do that here.”
In that context, Roark’s four-year stay at CBS11 was something of an eternity. During her tenure, the station regularly won ratings “sweeps” competitions at both 6 and 10 p.m. in the total viewer Nielsen ratings. But CBS11’s percentage of 25-to-54-year-old viewers (the main advertiser target audience for news programming) has badly sagged of late.
In the ongoing May sweeps, the station likely will end up running a distant fourth across the board in that key demographic for the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. local newscast competitions.
CBS11 director of communications Lori Conrad confirmed Roark’s departure early Friday afternoon. She will remain with the station through the end of May, with assistant news director Michael McCardel then heading the news department “until a permanent replacement is named,” Conrad said.
Roark could not immediately be reached for comment via an email sent late Friday morning. Until the end of this month at least, all four major D-FW television news providers will still have women as news directors. Roark’s counterparts are Robin Whitmeyer at Fox4, Susan Tully at NBC5 and Carolyn Mungo at WFAA8.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., May 8) -- feeling a draft
05/09/14 09:42 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The NFL draft ran roughshod through prime-time and beyond Thursday, beating everything in its path except CBS’ The Big Bang Theory in total D-FW viewers and outscoring all programming among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.
Round 1 of pro football’s meat market ran from 7 to 10:45 p.m., with live coverage on ESPN (which relegated two NBA playoff games to ESPN2) and the NFL Network.
Interest peaked locally between 8:45 to 9 p.m., when the Dallas Cowboys bypassed Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and instead chose guard Zack Martin from Notre Dame. During that 15-minute increment, the draft drew 411,875 viewers on ESPN and added another 142,026 on NFL Net. The grand total of 553,901 viewers is the highest for anything telecast so far in the May “sweeps” ratings period (April 24-May 21).
More than half the audience from 8:45 to 9 p.m. was in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 age range. ESPN racked up 201,915 viewers in this key demographic and NFL Net had 94,444.
For the entire 3 hours and 45 minutes, the draft averaged 305,360 total viewers on ESPN and 106,520 on NFL Net. Among 18-to-49-year-olds, the totals were 146,552 for ESPN and 74,904 for NFL Net.
Rival sports programming barely mattered. The Texas Rangers’ 5-0 home win against Colorado drew just 49,709 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest. On ESPN2, Miami’s Round 2 NBA playoff win against Brooklyn drew 92,317 viewers before San Antonio’s latest demolition of Portland had 56,810.
In the Big Four broadcast network arena, CBS’ 7 p.m. episode of The Big Bang Theory led all programming with 447,382 total viewers. The NFL draft had a combined 383,470 viewers from 7 to 7:30 p.m. before steamrollering everything else in its path. Even Big Bang couldn’t match the draft’s pulling power with 18-to-49-year-olds, drawing 153,065 viewers in this age range compared to the draft’s 7 to 7:30 p.m. haul of 188,889.
Elsewhere in prime-time, NBC’s two-hour American Comedy Awards special managed only 78,114 viewers from 8 to 10 p.m. During those hours, it was beaten by all rival programming on ABC, CBS and Fox.
Here are Thursday’s local news derby numbers, with 11 weekdays days now accounted for and 9 left to go.
WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming), edging Fox4 in both measurements.
NBC5 continued to mount a challenge to defending champ Fox4 in the 6 a.m. total viewers race. The Peacock won that one while Fox4 again countered with a solid first place finish among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 also had the most total viewers at 5 and 6 p.m., with Fox4 taking both golds in the 25-to-54 demographic.
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@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The NFL draft ran roughshod through prime-time and beyond Thursday, beating everything in its path except CBS’ The Big Bang Theory in total D-FW viewers and outscoring all programming among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.
Round 1 of pro football’s meat market ran from 7 to 10:45 p.m., with live coverage on ESPN (which relegated two NBA playoff games to ESPN2) and the NFL Network.
Interest peaked locally between 8:45 to 9 p.m., when the Dallas Cowboys bypassed Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and instead chose guard Zack Martin from Notre Dame. During that 15-minute increment, the draft drew 411,875 viewers on ESPN and added another 142,026 on NFL Net. The grand total of 553,901 viewers is the highest for anything telecast so far in the May “sweeps” ratings period (April 24-May 21).
More than half the audience from 8:45 to 9 p.m. was in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 age range. ESPN racked up 201,915 viewers in this key demographic and NFL Net had 94,444.
For the entire 3 hours and 45 minutes, the draft averaged 305,360 total viewers on ESPN and 106,520 on NFL Net. Among 18-to-49-year-olds, the totals were 146,552 for ESPN and 74,904 for NFL Net.
Rival sports programming barely mattered. The Texas Rangers’ 5-0 home win against Colorado drew just 49,709 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest. On ESPN2, Miami’s Round 2 NBA playoff win against Brooklyn drew 92,317 viewers before San Antonio’s latest demolition of Portland had 56,810.
In the Big Four broadcast network arena, CBS’ 7 p.m. episode of The Big Bang Theory led all programming with 447,382 total viewers. The NFL draft had a combined 383,470 viewers from 7 to 7:30 p.m. before steamrollering everything else in its path. Even Big Bang couldn’t match the draft’s pulling power with 18-to-49-year-olds, drawing 153,065 viewers in this age range compared to the draft’s 7 to 7:30 p.m. haul of 188,889.
Elsewhere in prime-time, NBC’s two-hour American Comedy Awards special managed only 78,114 viewers from 8 to 10 p.m. During those hours, it was beaten by all rival programming on ABC, CBS and Fox.
Here are Thursday’s local news derby numbers, with 11 weekdays days now accounted for and 9 left to go.
WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming), edging Fox4 in both measurements.
NBC5 continued to mount a challenge to defending champ Fox4 in the 6 a.m. total viewers race. The Peacock won that one while Fox4 again countered with a solid first place finish among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC5 also had the most total viewers at 5 and 6 p.m., with Fox4 taking both golds in the 25-to-54 demographic.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., May 7) -- NBC comes up short but NBC5 news still rolling
05/08/14 04:37 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The prime-time ratings offered a piece of the pie for everyone except NBC, but NBC5’s local newscasts fared far better at the midpoint of the May “sweeps” ratings period.
In D-FW’s total viewer Nielsens, CBS’ Survivor had 227,242 in the 7 p.m. hour to nip the first half of Fox’s competing American Idol. CBS also won from 8 to 10 p.m. with Criminal Minds (298,255 viewers) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (255,647).
Advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds mostly went in different directions. Idol won from 7 to 8 p.m. before ABC’s Modern Family took the 8 to 8:30 p.m. gold. The second half-hour of Criminal Minds and ABC’s Nashville then ran first in the 8:30 to 10 p.m. slot.
In contrast, NBC’s leadoff hitter, Revolution, placed fourth at 7 p.m. in total viewers while the Peacock’s 9 p.m. episode of Chicago P.D. was the least-watched Big Four broadcast network attraction at that hour in both ratings measurements.
In Wednesday’s local news derby results, CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. But NBC5 overcame its network’s lousy lead-in to win comfortably with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at both 5 and 6 p.m. to give it five wins compared to NBC’s total of none in prime-time.
WFAA8 had no first place finishes for the second straight weekday. And the station ran fourth across the board at 6 a.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The prime-time ratings offered a piece of the pie for everyone except NBC, but NBC5’s local newscasts fared far better at the midpoint of the May “sweeps” ratings period.
In D-FW’s total viewer Nielsens, CBS’ Survivor had 227,242 in the 7 p.m. hour to nip the first half of Fox’s competing American Idol. CBS also won from 8 to 10 p.m. with Criminal Minds (298,255 viewers) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (255,647).
Advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds mostly went in different directions. Idol won from 7 to 8 p.m. before ABC’s Modern Family took the 8 to 8:30 p.m. gold. The second half-hour of Criminal Minds and ABC’s Nashville then ran first in the 8:30 to 10 p.m. slot.
In contrast, NBC’s leadoff hitter, Revolution, placed fourth at 7 p.m. in total viewers while the Peacock’s 9 p.m. episode of Chicago P.D. was the least-watched Big Four broadcast network attraction at that hour in both ratings measurements.
In Wednesday’s local news derby results, CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. But NBC5 overcame its network’s lousy lead-in to win comfortably with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at both 5 and 6 p.m. to give it five wins compared to NBC’s total of none in prime-time.
WFAA8 had no first place finishes for the second straight weekday. And the station ran fourth across the board at 6 a.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., May 6) -- CBS/NBC are prime-time pacesetters
05/07/14 09:50 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Tuesday again brought a tale of two demographics, with CBS’ crime hours sweeping D-FW’s total viewer Nielsens while NBC’s snack mix almost ran the table among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.
CBS’ new 7 p.m. episode of NCIS won its time slot with 397,673 total viewers, holding off strong competition from NBC’s The Voice (340,862 viewers). Nothing else was in the vicinity.
NCIS: Los Angeles (362,166) and Person of Interest (248,546) then easily carried the 8 to 10 p.m. hours in total viewers.
Only the first half of NCIS: L.A. won among 18-to-49-year-olds, though, barely beating NBC’s competing About A Boy. The Peacock otherwise prevailed in this key demographic with The Voice, Growing Up Fisher and Chicago Fire. In contrast, ABC’s lineup of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Goldbergs, Trophy Wife and Celebrity Wife Swap ran fourth across the board with 18-to-49-year-olds.
In Tuesday’s local news derby results, NBC5 flexed with total viewer wins at 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m. The Peacock also was No. 1 at 6 and 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming) and tied Fox4 for the top spot in that measurement at 6 a.m.
The day’s other golds went to CBS 11, which ran first at 10 p.m. in total viewers, and Fox4 with a 5 p.m. win among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Tuesday again brought a tale of two demographics, with CBS’ crime hours sweeping D-FW’s total viewer Nielsens while NBC’s snack mix almost ran the table among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.
CBS’ new 7 p.m. episode of NCIS won its time slot with 397,673 total viewers, holding off strong competition from NBC’s The Voice (340,862 viewers). Nothing else was in the vicinity.
NCIS: Los Angeles (362,166) and Person of Interest (248,546) then easily carried the 8 to 10 p.m. hours in total viewers.
Only the first half of NCIS: L.A. won among 18-to-49-year-olds, though, barely beating NBC’s competing About A Boy. The Peacock otherwise prevailed in this key demographic with The Voice, Growing Up Fisher and Chicago Fire. In contrast, ABC’s lineup of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Goldbergs, Trophy Wife and Celebrity Wife Swap ran fourth across the board with 18-to-49-year-olds.
In Tuesday’s local news derby results, NBC5 flexed with total viewer wins at 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m. The Peacock also was No. 1 at 6 and 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming) and tied Fox4 for the top spot in that measurement at 6 a.m.
The day’s other golds went to CBS 11, which ran first at 10 p.m. in total viewers, and Fox4 with a 5 p.m. win among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Former Fox4 weathercasters Ron Jackson, Fiona Gorostiza find new Texas venues
05/06/14 07:12 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Ron Jackson and Fiona Gorostiza, both of whom used to be weathercasters at Dallas-based Fox4, have new deals that will keep them in Texas.
Jackson, who abruptly announced his “retirement” in February after 32 years at Fox4, will be a part-time meteorologist at CBS-owned KRLD-AM (1080) in Dallas. He’ll “contribute to KRLD’s severe weather coverage, working with chief meteorologist Bob Goosmann (formerly of CW33) and meteorologist Dan Brounoff as needed,” according to the station. Jackson also will “provide fill-in weather coverage for KRLD and Texas State Networks.”
Jackson told viewers on Fox4’s Feb. 9th Sunday newscast that knee surgery and a kidney stone removal convinced him that “time is a little bit short. I’d better retire at an early age of 57 years.” He thanked the station for a “great, great retirement package” and said, “I’m just gonna take it easy the rest of my life.”
Gorostiza joined Fox4 as a weathercaster in December 2008, jumping all the way from the No. 144 TV market -- Palm Springs, CA -- to No. 5 D-FW. She later became a full-time out-and-about feature reporter for Fox4’s early morning Good Day program before resigning after her contract expired in December of last year.
Gorostiza had returned to her hometown of Las Vegas, but has been lured back to Texas to host the new SA Live show this fall on San Antonio’s KSAT-TV. The hire was reported Tuesday by veteran media reporter Jeanne Jakle on mySA.com.
“It feels so good to be able to return to Texas, and to fufill my dream of hosting a new program for such a powerful station,” said Gorostiza, who was offered a new deal by Fox4 but declined it.
SA Live will originate from San Antonio’s Buckhorn saloon and museum in downtown San Antonio. It’s scheduled to replace KSAT’s syndicated Katie, which has been canceled.
The story on Gorostiza’s hiring describes the new show as a “variety, game, interview and entertainment show rolled into one.”
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., May 5) -- 24 gives Fox some badly needed hours of power
05/06/14 09:44 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Fox’s 2-hour return of world-saver Jack Bauer, after four seasons in hiding, gave Fox a solid one-two punch opposite formidable foes Monday night.
24: Live Another Day couldn’t quite subdue NBC’s The Voice. But it did throttle ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and CBS’ quartet of comedies during the heart of the May “sweeps” ratings period.
The Voice led from 7 to 9 p.m. with 312,457 D-FW viewers, edging 24’s 291,153. Dancing came up third with 262,748 viewers while CBS ran a distant fourth with new episodes of 2 Broke Girls (142,026), Friends with Better Lives (106,520), Mike & Molly (170,431) and a Mom repeat (99,418).
Among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, The Voice ruled with 169,348 viewers and 24 managed a solid second (107,471). Dancing’s first hour ran fourth behind the CBS comedies. From 8 to 9 p.m., Dancing tied Mike & Molly for a distant third in this key demographic before beating Mom outright.
NBC’s The Blacklist easily controlled the 9 p.m. hour in both total viewers (298,255) and 18-to-49-year-olds (104,214).
In Monday’s local news derby results, NBC5 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. but Fox4 again won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). It was the fifth straight weekday that Fox4 has either won or tied for first with 25-to-54-year-olds. With 12 weekdays remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings period, the station has emerged as a legitimate threat to win at this hour in the 25-to-54 demographic for the first time ever under Fox ownership. It has never won in total viewers since Fox took over in 1995.
At 6 a.m., Fox4 beat WFAA8 by paper thin margins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 also swept the 5 p.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m., edging NBC5.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Fox’s 2-hour return of world-saver Jack Bauer, after four seasons in hiding, gave Fox a solid one-two punch opposite formidable foes Monday night.
24: Live Another Day couldn’t quite subdue NBC’s The Voice. But it did throttle ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and CBS’ quartet of comedies during the heart of the May “sweeps” ratings period.
The Voice led from 7 to 9 p.m. with 312,457 D-FW viewers, edging 24’s 291,153. Dancing came up third with 262,748 viewers while CBS ran a distant fourth with new episodes of 2 Broke Girls (142,026), Friends with Better Lives (106,520), Mike & Molly (170,431) and a Mom repeat (99,418).
Among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, The Voice ruled with 169,348 viewers and 24 managed a solid second (107,471). Dancing’s first hour ran fourth behind the CBS comedies. From 8 to 9 p.m., Dancing tied Mike & Molly for a distant third in this key demographic before beating Mom outright.
NBC’s The Blacklist easily controlled the 9 p.m. hour in both total viewers (298,255) and 18-to-49-year-olds (104,214).
In Monday’s local news derby results, NBC5 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. but Fox4 again won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). It was the fifth straight weekday that Fox4 has either won or tied for first with 25-to-54-year-olds. With 12 weekdays remaining in the May “sweeps” ratings period, the station has emerged as a legitimate threat to win at this hour in the 25-to-54 demographic for the first time ever under Fox ownership. It has never won in total viewers since Fox took over in 1995.
At 6 a.m., Fox4 beat WFAA8 by paper thin margins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 also swept the 5 p.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m., edging NBC5.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri., May 2-4) -- closing out the Mavs
05/05/14 12:14 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
From a gutty, last-second home win to a blowout loss in San Antonio, the Dallas Mavericks were a case study in contrasts during their final two games of the season.
Sunday’s deciding Game 7 of the Mavs-Spurs first round playoff series aired mostly on ABC after three-quarters of the first quarter got shoved over to ESPN2 in favor of the down-to-the-wire finish between the victorious Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.
Tipping off at 2:40 p.m. instead of the scheduled 2:30 start time, Mavs-Spurs had just 35,507 D-FW viewers on ESPN2 before the game moved to ABC at 2:58 p.m. Almost all of those viewers -- 32,567 -- were within the 18-to-49-year-old advertiser-prized motherlode, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
The Spurs’ 119-96 demolition of Dallas mercifully ended at 5:19 p.m. ABC’s portion, with the game picked up with 3:10 left in the first quarter, averaged 468,686 total viewers. That included 237,739 in the coveted 18-to-49 age range.
Friday night’s game, a pulsating 113-111 Mavs win, was shown on both TXA21 and ESPN. It started at 7:10 p.m. and ended at 9:48 p.m.
TXA21’s homegrown telecast averaged 298,255 total viewers while ESPN drew just 78,114. Among 18-to-49-year-olds, it was TXA21 with 127,011 viewers and ESPN with 52,107.
Which means that despite the blowout, Sunday’s Mavs-Spurs game easily outdrew Friday’s in total viewers by a score of 468,686 (for ABC’s portion) to 376,369 (on TXA21/ESPN). In the 18-to-49 demographic, Sunday’s game averaged 237,739 viewers to Friday’s 179,118.
TXA21, which had its last Mavs post-season telecast on Friday, likewise soundly outdrew ESPN in both ratings measurements. ABC and ESPN used the same announcing team -- Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy -- for both games. TXA21 as always went with Mark Followill and Derek Harper.
On Fox Sports Southwest Sunday afternoon and evening, the Texas Rangers’ 14-3 rout of the Angels averaged 106,520 total viewers. The game ran all the way until 6:36 p.m., drawing its biggest crowd -- 149,127 viewers -- between 5:45 and 6 p.m.
Fox’s Sunday afternoon Talladega NASCAR Sprint Cup race, which mostly aired before the Mavs-Spurs began, averaged 149,127 viewers.
Sunday’s prime-time programs were paced by CBS’ 60 Minutes in total viewers (227,242) and ABC’s America’s Funniest Videos among 18-to-49-year-olds (100,958).
Saturday’s big sports attraction, the Kentucky Derby, had the usual marathon buildup on NBC before the horses finally broke from the gate at 5:33 p.m. Nielsen measures ratings in 15-minute increments. And from 5:30 to 5:45 p.m., the Derby drew a very nice-sized 340,862 total viewers to easily ranked as Saturday’s most-watched TV attraction.
Other than the Mavericks game, Friday’s biggest draw was CBS’ Blue Bloods with 255,647 total viewers.
Here are Friday’s local news derby numbers, with seven of the 20 weekdays now in the books during the ongoing May “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 was tops in total viewers at 10 p.m. but again fell to fourth place with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). Fox4 and WFAA8 tied for first in that key demographic.
NBC5 nipped Fox4 by a paper-thin margin in the 6 a.m. total viewers race; Fox4 won comfortably among 25-to-54-year-olds.
CBS11 ran first at 6 p.m. in total viewers while WFAA8 had the 25-to-54 gold.
At 5 p.m., NBC5 and CBS11 shared first place in total viewers but Fox4 won easily with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
From a gutty, last-second home win to a blowout loss in San Antonio, the Dallas Mavericks were a case study in contrasts during their final two games of the season.
Sunday’s deciding Game 7 of the Mavs-Spurs first round playoff series aired mostly on ABC after three-quarters of the first quarter got shoved over to ESPN2 in favor of the down-to-the-wire finish between the victorious Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors.
Tipping off at 2:40 p.m. instead of the scheduled 2:30 start time, Mavs-Spurs had just 35,507 D-FW viewers on ESPN2 before the game moved to ABC at 2:58 p.m. Almost all of those viewers -- 32,567 -- were within the 18-to-49-year-old advertiser-prized motherlode, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
The Spurs’ 119-96 demolition of Dallas mercifully ended at 5:19 p.m. ABC’s portion, with the game picked up with 3:10 left in the first quarter, averaged 468,686 total viewers. That included 237,739 in the coveted 18-to-49 age range.
Friday night’s game, a pulsating 113-111 Mavs win, was shown on both TXA21 and ESPN. It started at 7:10 p.m. and ended at 9:48 p.m.
TXA21’s homegrown telecast averaged 298,255 total viewers while ESPN drew just 78,114. Among 18-to-49-year-olds, it was TXA21 with 127,011 viewers and ESPN with 52,107.
Which means that despite the blowout, Sunday’s Mavs-Spurs game easily outdrew Friday’s in total viewers by a score of 468,686 (for ABC’s portion) to 376,369 (on TXA21/ESPN). In the 18-to-49 demographic, Sunday’s game averaged 237,739 viewers to Friday’s 179,118.
TXA21, which had its last Mavs post-season telecast on Friday, likewise soundly outdrew ESPN in both ratings measurements. ABC and ESPN used the same announcing team -- Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy -- for both games. TXA21 as always went with Mark Followill and Derek Harper.
On Fox Sports Southwest Sunday afternoon and evening, the Texas Rangers’ 14-3 rout of the Angels averaged 106,520 total viewers. The game ran all the way until 6:36 p.m., drawing its biggest crowd -- 149,127 viewers -- between 5:45 and 6 p.m.
Fox’s Sunday afternoon Talladega NASCAR Sprint Cup race, which mostly aired before the Mavs-Spurs began, averaged 149,127 viewers.
Sunday’s prime-time programs were paced by CBS’ 60 Minutes in total viewers (227,242) and ABC’s America’s Funniest Videos among 18-to-49-year-olds (100,958).
Saturday’s big sports attraction, the Kentucky Derby, had the usual marathon buildup on NBC before the horses finally broke from the gate at 5:33 p.m. Nielsen measures ratings in 15-minute increments. And from 5:30 to 5:45 p.m., the Derby drew a very nice-sized 340,862 total viewers to easily ranked as Saturday’s most-watched TV attraction.
Other than the Mavericks game, Friday’s biggest draw was CBS’ Blue Bloods with 255,647 total viewers.
Here are Friday’s local news derby numbers, with seven of the 20 weekdays now in the books during the ongoing May “sweeps” ratings period.
CBS11 was tops in total viewers at 10 p.m. but again fell to fourth place with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). Fox4 and WFAA8 tied for first in that key demographic.
NBC5 nipped Fox4 by a paper-thin margin in the 6 a.m. total viewers race; Fox4 won comfortably among 25-to-54-year-olds.
CBS11 ran first at 6 p.m. in total viewers while WFAA8 had the 25-to-54 gold.
At 5 p.m., NBC5 and CBS11 shared first place in total viewers but Fox4 won easily with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., May 1) -- May day for new series Bad Teacher, Black Box
05/02/14 12:19 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Another two new series are on life support after their second episodes pretty much flat-lined in Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings.
American Idol also took another hard punch when NBC’s three-hour iHeart Radio Music Awards easily outdrew it among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds during the 8 to 8:30 p.m. portion opposite Fox’s onetime unbeatable force.
Let’s start with CBS’ new Bad Teacher, which drew 127,823 total viewers between 8:30 and 9 p.m. to dig a death valley between the network’s Two and a Half Men (241,444) and Elementary (220,140). Even worse, Bad Teacher tied CW’s competing last half-hour of Reign for a distant fourth place with 18-to-49-year-olds.
At 9 p.m., ABC’s second episode of the medical drama Black Box ran fourth in both ratings measurements, with its 106,520 total viewers a sharp falloff from the network’s preceding Grey’s Anatomy (234,343).
The 8 p.m. Idol results show had 170,431 total viewers to finish third in that measurement by a thin margin over NBC’s iHeart. But Idol was no match for iHeart among 18-to-49-year-olds, trailing by a score of 78,161 to 48,851 viewers from 8 to 8:30 p.m. The first half of Grey’s Anatomy took the gold in that half-hour while Idol tied Two and a Half Men for third place.
CBS’ 7 p.m. episode of The Big Bang Theory as usual led all Thursday programming in both total viewers (497,091) and 18-to-49-year-olds (182,375).
In the local news derby results, WFAA8 won a tight four-way battle for the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 and NBC5 also shared the 6 a.m. lead in total viewers, but Fox4 won outright with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The Peacock had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. Fox4 otherwise prevailed with a 5 p.m. sweep and the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Dallas Mavericks TV play-by-play man Mark Followill would very much like you to know that TXA21 will be telecasting Friday’s Game 6 of the Mavs-San Antonio Spurs playoff series.
He’s irked that some programming guides haven’t had the correct listings for TXA21, which he blames in part for TNT’s ratings edge over TXA21 for Wednesday’s Game 5. He thought this website should have mentioned the programming guide situation in Wednesday’s ratings “snapshot” instead of “editorializing” (in his view) about a “reversal in viewing choices” after TXA21 had more viewers for Monday’s Game 4 than TNT did.
ESPN, not TNT, will be the cable network home for Friday’s Game 6, which starts at 7 p.m. But TXA21 will be the homegrown home. So let me repeat in bold-face capital letters: CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE IN SOME PROGRAMMING GUIDES, TXA21 WILL HAVE THE MAVS-SPURS GAME FRIDAY NIGHT.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers will be shifted over to Fox Sports Southwest for their late-starting game against the Angels.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Another two new series are on life support after their second episodes pretty much flat-lined in Thursday’s D-FW Nielsen ratings.
American Idol also took another hard punch when NBC’s three-hour iHeart Radio Music Awards easily outdrew it among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds during the 8 to 8:30 p.m. portion opposite Fox’s onetime unbeatable force.
Let’s start with CBS’ new Bad Teacher, which drew 127,823 total viewers between 8:30 and 9 p.m. to dig a death valley between the network’s Two and a Half Men (241,444) and Elementary (220,140). Even worse, Bad Teacher tied CW’s competing last half-hour of Reign for a distant fourth place with 18-to-49-year-olds.
At 9 p.m., ABC’s second episode of the medical drama Black Box ran fourth in both ratings measurements, with its 106,520 total viewers a sharp falloff from the network’s preceding Grey’s Anatomy (234,343).
The 8 p.m. Idol results show had 170,431 total viewers to finish third in that measurement by a thin margin over NBC’s iHeart. But Idol was no match for iHeart among 18-to-49-year-olds, trailing by a score of 78,161 to 48,851 viewers from 8 to 8:30 p.m. The first half of Grey’s Anatomy took the gold in that half-hour while Idol tied Two and a Half Men for third place.
CBS’ 7 p.m. episode of The Big Bang Theory as usual led all Thursday programming in both total viewers (497,091) and 18-to-49-year-olds (182,375).
In the local news derby results, WFAA8 won a tight four-way battle for the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 and NBC5 also shared the 6 a.m. lead in total viewers, but Fox4 won outright with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The Peacock had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. Fox4 otherwise prevailed with a 5 p.m. sweep and the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Dallas Mavericks TV play-by-play man Mark Followill would very much like you to know that TXA21 will be telecasting Friday’s Game 6 of the Mavs-San Antonio Spurs playoff series.
He’s irked that some programming guides haven’t had the correct listings for TXA21, which he blames in part for TNT’s ratings edge over TXA21 for Wednesday’s Game 5. He thought this website should have mentioned the programming guide situation in Wednesday’s ratings “snapshot” instead of “editorializing” (in his view) about a “reversal in viewing choices” after TXA21 had more viewers for Monday’s Game 4 than TNT did.
ESPN, not TNT, will be the cable network home for Friday’s Game 6, which starts at 7 p.m. But TXA21 will be the homegrown home. So let me repeat in bold-face capital letters: CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE IN SOME PROGRAMMING GUIDES, TXA21 WILL HAVE THE MAVS-SPURS GAME FRIDAY NIGHT.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers will be shifted over to Fox Sports Southwest for their late-starting game against the Angels.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Last whiffs of CW33's Nightcap, with remaining on-air talent let go in preparaton for NewsFix
05/02/14 11:38 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Tribune-owned, Dallas-based CW33 has taken some of its final steps toward implementing the narrator-driven NewsFix.
Sources say that veteran reporter Barry Carpenter and latter day anchor Amanda Fitzpatrick were dropped this week. As previously reported on unclebarky.com, NewsFix will be replacing CW33’s current 9 p.m. program, Nightcap, at some point this year. But a start date still hasn’t been announced.
NewsFix, currently in full view on Tribune’s Houston-owned KIAH-TV, is described as a “unique, anchorless format” in a January job ad seeking a “NewsFix narrator” for CW33. “It has an attitude and a POV you don’t see (and hear) on traditional newscasts.”
The ad also asks prospective applicants, “Do you have a ‘voice’ for a new generation of news? A tone and quality that avoids the traditional ‘in your face, over the top’ stuff you may hear on a radio or TV station near you?”
Nightcap was launched in November 2012 on CW33 as “A Different Kind of News” with a comedic veneer. It never really clicked in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.
CW33’s early morning Eye Opener, the precursor to Nightcap, apparently is here to stay, though. The show has been making progress in the ratings, particularly in its 5 to 6 a.m. hour among younger viewers. It’s produced out of CW33’s Dallas studios and syndicated to other Tribune-owned stations.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Gannett engineers first layoffs as new owner of WFAA8, other former Belo TV stations
05/02/14 10:41 AM
By ED BARK
Some layoffs of off-camera WFAA8 personnel were announced last week at a station meeting. It marked the first such actions on the part of Gannett Co., Inc., which assumed ownership of the Dallas-based station late last year from Belo Corp.
I had been tipped to this, but probably erred in giving WFAA8 management not one, not two, but three opportunities to confirm, deny or simply issue a “no comment.” But news director Carolyn Mungo did not respond to any of the three email inquiries, and now the word is out in other quarters.
It’s still sketchy, though. Several sources say that the layoffs affected directors, engineers and production and graphic personnel. So far no on-camera staffers have been let go at WFAA8.
Earlier this week, Houston blogger Mike McGuff reported on rumored layoffs at Houston’s KHOU-TV, which also used to be owned by Belo until Gannett bought all of its TV stations. No one at KHOU would talk to him either, but McGuff said “multiple sources” told him that “possibly editors, master control operators, truck engineers, Great Day Houston staffers and the art department have all been affected.”
The national industry website TVSpy then reported Thursday that “some Gannett stations have been hit with layoffs” that affect a “small number of positions.”
TVSpy named WFAA8 and KHOU (based on McGuff’s post) and also quoted a Gannett spokesperson as saying, “We’re continually taking advantage of new technology to reallocate resources to our journalism and put more feet on the street. Occasionally, these efforts result in staffing adjustments.”
That’s a novel way of putting it.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Michigan judge issues new arrest warrant for WFAA8 anchor Shon Gables, with bond now set at $100,000
05/02/14 08:36 AM
Shon Gables in wfaa.com bio photo
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The price on her head keeps getting higher for WFAA8 anchor-reporter and fugitive Shon Gables.
The honorable Shalina D. Kumar on Wednesday became the latest Michigan judge to cite Gables for contempt of court for failure to appear in connection with a successful judgement against her by Gables’ former husband, Peter Klamka. Another bench warrant has been issued for her arrest, with the “bond necessary to release this warrant” now at $100,000, according to the official court document signed by judge Kumar.
It’s the third bench warrant issued against Gables, and the bond now is more than triple the last amount. As previously reported, Gables was first cited for contempt of court on March 4, 2011 by Michigan district judge Jeanne Stempien.
WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo declined to comment on the record in an email reply Thursday night. The Dallas-based station’s only public comment on the ongoing Gables situation came in March of 2011, when Mungo’s predecessor, Michael Valentine, said, “I am in constant communication with Shon and she has kept me up to date on the issue.”
Valentine, currently vice president of content for Gannett-owned TV stations (including WFAA8), hired Gables in January 2010. WFAA8 since has renewed her contract, and she continues to anchor the station’s weekend morning newscasts while also reporting several days a week.
Peter Klamka, the second of Gables’ three husbands, is represented in court by his brother, Richard Klamka. They have won numerous legal judgments against Gables, who now lives in Frisco, TX. Some of them, of a more private nature, have not been reported here.
The latest contempt of court document in the case says that on October 23, 2013, “this Court found that Defendant, Shondella Morton, also known as ‘Shon Gables,’ maliciously contacted the police about Plaintiff, Peter Klamka, and provided them with false information which led to his arrest.”
A $250,000 judgement against the defendant was rendered and the case was closed, the document says. “However, Defendant has not paid Plaintiff anything towards the $250,000 judgment, nor has she sought an Order to pay Plaintiff in Installments. Therefore, on March 13, 2014, this Court signed an Order ordering Defendant to appear and testify as to her assets and financial ability to pay the judgment.” But Gables failed to appear, as ordered, on April 20th of this year, the document said.
Gables has failed to appear on numerous occasions in connection to various judgments against her. The court has denied three motions by her attorneys that she be allowed to testify via telephone or Skype. In a June 2011 “Motion to Permit Telephone Testimony,” Gables’ attorneys argued that should she appear in Michigan at an evidentiary hearing, “It is almost a certainty that either Plaintiff or his brother, or both of them, will take all steps to assure that Defendant is arrested and incarcerated.”
Attorneys representing Gables also said that “significant custody proceedings” in both Texas and New York also have caused her to incur “substantial additional attorney fees with attorneys in both cases. This makes it important for her to conserve her financial resources as much as possible to be able to pay the fees and costs incurred in those proceedings and, accordingly, she does not want to incur the airfare and hotel charges that would be incurred to testify at this Evidentiary Hearing.”
Judge Stempien rejected those arguments, citing an earlier ruling by a Washtenaw County, Mich. circuit court judge who said Gables and her lawyers were asking that court to “undermine one of the major tools of enforcement of judicial authority in this state.”
One of Gables’ first stories for WFAA8, headlined “Warrant Roundup under way in Dallas County,” was reported in August 2010 and remains on the station’s website as of this writing.
Gables told viewers that arrests can be avoided if “offenders simply pay their fines or obey the law.”
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., April 30) -- deflating loss, deflated numbers for Mavs
05/01/14 09:14 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Wednesday’s early starting Game 5 of the Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs playoff series ended up being something of a ratings air ball as well as a second straight tough loss for the Mavs.
Running from 6:10 to 8:45 p.m., the 109-103 Spurs win averaged 163,330 D-FW viewers on TNT and 134,924 on TXA21. Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, TNT had 97,701 viewers and TXA21, 61,877.
The grand totals of 298,254 and 159,578 viewers were a sharp drop-off from Monday’s Game 4, which drew a combined 475,787 total viewers and 283,333 in the 18-to-49 demographic on TNT and TXA21.
That’s not too surprising. Monday’s game didn’t start until 8:48 p.m., giving potential viewers ample time to get home, have dinner, etc. It also was a home game for the Mavs, and those usually deliver better numbers.
Wednesday also marked a reversal in viewing choices. TXA21’s homegrown coverage outdrew TNT in both ratings measurements for Game 4, but the opposite was true for Game 5. The next Mavs-Spurs encounter is Friday night, with San Antonio now holding a 3-2 lead in the series. It’s scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. on TXA21 and ESPN.
Elsewhere in prime-time Wednesday, the first hour of Fox’s American Idol won with 227,242 total viewers from 7 to 8 p.m., with CBS’ competing Survivor running second (184,634).
CBS then controlled the 8 to 10 p.m. hours with Criminal Minds (262,748 viewers) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (291,153). Among 18-to-49-year-olds, Idol won the 7 p.m. hour, ABC’s Modern Family ran first from 8 to 8:30 p.m., Idol returned to the top for its closing half-hour and Fox4’s local newscast took the gold from 9 to 10 p.m.
Here are Wednesday’s local news derby numbers for the fifth weekday of the 20-day May “sweeps.”
CBS11 narrowly ran first in total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 won for the second straight day with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 also swept both ends of the 6 a.m. race and added a 6 p.m. win in the 25-to-54 demographic.
NBC5 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m. The Peacock ran the table at 5 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Wednesday’s early starting Game 5 of the Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs playoff series ended up being something of a ratings air ball as well as a second straight tough loss for the Mavs.
Running from 6:10 to 8:45 p.m., the 109-103 Spurs win averaged 163,330 D-FW viewers on TNT and 134,924 on TXA21. Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, TNT had 97,701 viewers and TXA21, 61,877.
The grand totals of 298,254 and 159,578 viewers were a sharp drop-off from Monday’s Game 4, which drew a combined 475,787 total viewers and 283,333 in the 18-to-49 demographic on TNT and TXA21.
That’s not too surprising. Monday’s game didn’t start until 8:48 p.m., giving potential viewers ample time to get home, have dinner, etc. It also was a home game for the Mavs, and those usually deliver better numbers.
Wednesday also marked a reversal in viewing choices. TXA21’s homegrown coverage outdrew TNT in both ratings measurements for Game 4, but the opposite was true for Game 5. The next Mavs-Spurs encounter is Friday night, with San Antonio now holding a 3-2 lead in the series. It’s scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. on TXA21 and ESPN.
Elsewhere in prime-time Wednesday, the first hour of Fox’s American Idol won with 227,242 total viewers from 7 to 8 p.m., with CBS’ competing Survivor running second (184,634).
CBS then controlled the 8 to 10 p.m. hours with Criminal Minds (262,748 viewers) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (291,153). Among 18-to-49-year-olds, Idol won the 7 p.m. hour, ABC’s Modern Family ran first from 8 to 8:30 p.m., Idol returned to the top for its closing half-hour and Fox4’s local newscast took the gold from 9 to 10 p.m.
Here are Wednesday’s local news derby numbers for the fifth weekday of the 20-day May “sweeps.”
CBS11 narrowly ran first in total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 won for the second straight day with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).
Fox4 also swept both ends of the 6 a.m. race and added a 6 p.m. win in the 25-to-54 demographic.
NBC5 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m. The Peacock ran the table at 5 p.m.
Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net