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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Sept. 7-9) -- Numbers up for Peyton's return

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
NBC's Sunday Night Football, flexing with Peyton Manning's return to the NFL after a full season's absence, topped all weekend programming with nearly three-quarters of a million D-FW viewers.

Manning led the Denver Broncos to a 31-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers to the tune of 745,151 viewers.

Fox's pair of earlier NFL games also scored high. The Green Bay Packers' home loss to the San Francisco 49ers (put a long face on ol' Uncle Barky) averaged 627,991 viewers while the preceding Redskins win at New Orleans (which ran past the 3:25 Packers-Saints start time) pulled in 467,413 viewers.

CBS drew the short stick Sunday with a Houston Texans-Miami Dolphins matchup that drew 169,353 viewers. But that still easily out-pointed the competing Texas Rangers-Tampa Bay Rays game on Fox Sports Southwest. Just 94,837 viewers watched the first-place Rangers absorb a 6-0 shutout.

The Rangers fared much better Friday night on TXA21, even though they again were on the losing end. An extra inning Rays win, on a walk-off home run, easily paced all of that day's programming with 270,964 viewers. Saturday's game on FSS, an extra inning win for the Rangers, averaged 216,771 viewers. That also made it the day's most-watched program.

Friday's local news derby numbers were controlled by Fox4 and WFAA8.

WFAA8 ran first at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 likewise swept the 5 p.m. competitions while adding 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. wins with 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 had the most total viewers at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.