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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., May 8-10) -- NBC5's split-screen golf/weather coverage infuriates some but still delivers the numbers

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
My Twitter feed became awash Sunday with people complaining about NBC5 offering split-screen coverage of the final holes of a gripping Players Championship golf tournament and a live rescue of two guys standing on a flood water-engulfed pickup truck.

NBC’s golf coverage got the silent treatment and a much smaller on-screen picture. Still, it was visible to viewers, although certainly not in an optimum way. The D-FW Nielsen ratings nonetheless show that NBC5 remained the runaway station of choice in the early evening opposite more conventional storm coverage on rival stations.

The ratings peaked between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m., when NBC5 drew 439,362 viewers. The station ended up easily winning every 15-minute increment from 6:15 to 7:45 p.m.

Regular network programming kicked back in on all four major TV news providers by 8 p.m., although commercial breaks often were filled by weather updates. CBS’ The Good Wife had the most total viewers in the 8 p.m. hour with 251,064. Fox4’s local 9 p.m. newscast then took over in a big way, dominating its hour with 362,648 viewers. Fox4’s news also crushed the opposition among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

On ABC, the 9 p.m. series finale of Revenge ran third in its time slot with 111,584 total viewers and moved up to a very distant second place with 18-to-49-year-olds.

Friday’s prime-time top draws were CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 in total viewers (181,324) and CBS’ The Amazing Race in the 18-to-49 demographic (72,537).

Here are Friday’s local news derby results for the 12th weekday of the May “sweeps,” which end on May 20th.

Gannett8 edged CBS11 for the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but NBC5 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions, added a doubleheader win at 5 p.m. and had the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m. CBS11 won in total viewers at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net