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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., March 26-27 ) -- ABC comes alive while hoops clank

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
ABC paced Thursday’s prime-time ratings with its one-two melodrama punch of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal.

The network got a boost from basketball on CBS instead of the network’s Big Bang Theory-led quartet of sitcoms and Elementary.

Grey’s ranked No. 1 among all prime-time programming in total D-FW viewers (262,748) and advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds (140,038). Scandal then won its 9 p.m. hour in both ratings measurements opposite a strong runner-up showing by Fox4’s local newscast.

Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen swept the 7 p.m. hour but the network’s half-hour 8 p.m. American Idol results show drew bigger crowds despite running a distant second to the first half-hour of Grey’s. The 8:30 p.m. premiere of Fox’s Surviving Jack sitcom had 113,621 total viewers and 35,824 in the 18-to-49 demographic. Those numbers respectively ranked it second and fourth in its time slot, with CW’s Reign tying for second with 18-to-49-year-olds from 8:30 to 9 p.m. in competition with Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS.

CBS bombed with its opening Dayton-Stanford NCAA tournament matchup, which had 71,013 total viewers. It was outdrawn from 7 to 8 p.m. in both ratings measurements by CW’s Vampire Diaries and beat only ABC’s Once Upon a Time in Wonderland in that hour among 18-to-49-year-olds.

The night’s second CBS game, between Florida and UCLA, perked up a bit to 92,317 total viewers. Over on TBS cable, the Wisconsin Badgers’ destruction of the Baylor Bears drew 49,709 viewers while the Dallas Mavericks’ deflating home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers had 63,912 viewers on Fox Sports Southwest. The Texas Rangers’ prime-time pre-season game on TXA21 also averaged 63,912 viewers.

Wednesday’s prime-time Nielsens were dominated by American Idol and Fox4’s following local newscast. Idol pulled in 262,748 viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. before the news impressively held steady with the same total. Both attractions also won among 18-to-49-year-olds, with Fox4’s news outdrawing Idol in this key demographic by a score of 120,498 viewers to 117,241.

Here are the local news derby results.

Wednesday -- Fox4 topped off its big night with 10 p.m. wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). The station as usual added another 6 a.m. sweep.

NBC5 had a strong showing in the early evening, running the table at 5 p.m. and also nipping WFAA8 by a paper-thin margin in total viewers at 6 p.m. The two stations tied for first at 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Thursday -- CBS’ basketball over-run made it a three-way race at 10 p.m., with WFAA8 on top in total viewers and Fox4 winning with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 dominated both ends of the 6 a.m. competitions, likewise ran the table at 5 p.m. and added a 6 p.m. win in the 25-to-54 demographic. WFAA8 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m., with CBS11 again rubbed out by NCAA basketball.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net