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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 15 to Tuesday, Aug. 23) -- catchup round featuring numbers for Cowboys-Chargers and Most Eligible Dallas

By ED BARK
How big a bomb is Bravo's Most Eligible Dallas?

So big that the Cowboys' lackluster pre-season loss to San Diego had more viewers locally than the second episode of MED had nationally.

Showcased on NBC's Sunday Night Football, the Chargers' 20-7 win over Dallas in Jerry's Palace fell just short of the one million mark with 969,598 D-FW viewers. That's up from the 789,370 viewers who watched the Cowboys edge Denver in the Thurs., Aug. 11th pre-season opener on CBS11.

Nationally the Cowboys-Chargers game had 10.7 million viewers, making it the third most-watched NFL pre-season matchup in the last five years, according to NBC. Cowboys-Chargers also was the most-watched network prime-time attraction of the past week in the national Nielsens.

In stark contrast, Monday's second episode of Most Eligible Dallas had a sub-meager 860,000 viewers nationally in the 9 p.m. (central) hour, making it the least-watched basic cable "reality" series of the night. Even truTV's Lizard Lick Towing was a behemoth in comparison, with 2.25 million viewers for its 8:30 p.m. episode. And History Channel's Pawn Stars had 3.46 million viewers in direct competition with Most Eligible Dallas.

Bravo came up even emptier with its Mon., Aug. 15th launch of MED, which had 784,000 viewers nationally. So the overall acute embarrassment of watching six self-absorbed posers prance around Big D will almost certainly be put to an end after Season One stumbles to a close. KLUV-FM morning drive personality Jody Dean also should be relieved that hardly anyone saw him on his Episode 2 bowling date with one of the show's aggressively vacuous stars, blonde Tara Harper.

(Note: Bravo is not included in the available D-FW Nielsen data, so local ratings for Most Eligible Dallas will have to be anyone's guess for the time being. But with national ratings like these, the show basically is DOA anyway.)

OK, here's a quick chronological recap of other D-FW ratings highlights during the time I very happily participated in my daughter's wedding in Florida:

MON., AUG. 15th
Fox cooked with its 7 to 9 p.m. combo of Hell's Kitchen and Masterchef, which dominated in both total viewers and advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. Hell's led all prime-time programming with 263,177 viewers. NBC's competing Bachelor Pad, featuring Dallas flyboy Jake Pavelka and his estranged former fiancee, Vienna Girardi, finished second from 7 to 9 p.m. on both Nielsen scorecards. CBS' repeat of Hawaii Five-0 had the 9 p.m. wins.

In local news derby results, Fox4 came within an eyelash of a very rare double grand slam. It swept the 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m. competitions in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. Fox4 also took the 10 p.m. gold among 25-to-54-year-olds, but ran in a third place tie at that hour in total viewers, with WFAA8 finishing first.

TUES., AUG. 16th
Fox continued to burn brightly with two hours of Masterchef, both of which swept the 7 to 9 p.m. slot in total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds. NBC's closing hour of America's Got Talent then dominated the 9 p.m. hour.

The news derby numbers were all over the place. WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers while NBC5 had the edge with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Golds were split at 6 a.m. between NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic. Fox4 again won at both 5 and 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 and CBS11 tied for the total viewers lead at 6 p.m. while the 5 p.m. firsts in that measurement were shared by NBC5 and CBS11.

WED., AUG. 17th
Fox cooled way down without its kitchenettes, bombing with Mobbed and a House repeat on a night when prime-time's biggest overall draw was CBS' 7 p.m. hour of Big Brother 13 (186,994 total viewers as well as Wednesday's best showing with 18-to-49-year-olds).

NBC5 dominated the news derby results with doubleheader wins at 10 p.m., 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Fox4 broke through with twin wins at 6 p.m.

THURS., AUG. 18th
Fox returned to the prime-time winner's circle by claiming the whole night with its Eagles-Steelers pre-season matchup. The game averaged 290,879 total viewers while likewise romping with 18-to-49-year-olds.

WFAA8 took both 10 p.m. news derby golds while NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m. The Peacock also notched a 6 a.m. win in total viewers, but lost by less than an eyelash to Fox4 in the 25-to-54 Nielsens. The 6 p.m. spoils were split between CBS11 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.

FRI., AUG. 19th
TXA21 averaged 180,068 viewers for its Texas Rangers-Chicago White Sox game, winning the last two hours of prime-time (8 to 10 p.m.) in total viewers as the audience built to a high of 297,805 viewers between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. CBS' new episode of Flashpoint controlled the 7 p.m. hour with 193,920 viewers while Fox's night-long Falcons-Jaguars pre-season yawner managed 138,514 viewers.

In news derby returns, WFAA8 scored a 10 p.m. win in total viewers but NBC5 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds. The Peacock also swept the 6 a.m. Nielsens. Fox4 and CBS11 tied for first at 6 p.m. in total viewers, with Fox4 alone in first with 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 won at 5 p.m. in total viewers, while Fox4 took the 25-to-54 gold.

SAT., AUG. 20th
Fox Sports Southwest's prime-time Rangers-White Sox game and CBS' 9 p.m. episode of 48 Hours Mystery averaged the biggest overall crowds with 200,845 viewers apiece. But the Rangers had a higher peak audience of 283,954 in the game's closing 15-minute segment.

MON., AUG. 22nd
Post-Cowboys, Fox returned to the top of the prime-time heap with a pair of Hell's Kitchen hours. Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast then made it a prime-time sweep in the broadcast network universe. In cable terrain, FSS's opening game of the Rangers-Red Sox series came up big with an average of 249,325 total viewers. But its first hour fell just short of Hell's Kitchen.

WFAA8 ran the table in the four-way 10 p.m. local news competition while NBC5 did likewise at 6 p.m. The Peacock added total viewers wins at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Fox4 claimed the other spoils with firsts at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic.

TUES., AUG. 23rd
The Rangers-Red Sox game averaged a solid 207,771 total viewers but CBS' 7 p.m. rerun of NCIS was tops in that league with 221,622 viewers.

In local news derby results, the Peacock crowed loudest by running the table at 10 p.m. and at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. WFAA8 won at 6 p.m. in total viewers while Fox4 took first place with 25-to-54-year-olds.