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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., Aug. 27-28) -- dominant, deficient Cowboys

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Still a broken toy on the field, the Dallas Cowboys wrapped up their winless pre-season with another easy win on the D-FW ratings charts.

The 27-3 Game 4 home loss to Denver, which ran from 7:07 to 9:53 p.m. on CBS11, averaged 468,686 viewers in edging Game 1’s 454,483 viewers. The Game 3 “dress rehearsal” topped the local charts this month with 603,611 viewers while Game 2 took the runner-up spot with 536,858.

Thursday’s Cowboys-Broncos game, which left Dallas with zero wins in the pre-season for the first time since 2000, drew 136,781 viewers in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic. All four games scored well under 50 percent in this key audience measurement. That’s a trend worth watching when the Cowboys’ regular season kicks off on Sept. 7th with a home game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Thursday’s biggest draw opposite the Cowboys, an 8 p.m. edition of Big Brother, had 113,621 total viewers and 71,647 in the 18-to-49 range. CBS’ most dependable summertime draw was re-routed to CBS11’s sister station, TXA21, along with Two and a Half Men, The Millers and Elementary.

On Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers remained all but dead and buried opposite the Cowboys game. The last-place team’s 4-2 road loss to the Astros had 63,912 total viewers with just 9,770 in the 18-to-49 motherlode. It’s been a very disappointing year for the injury-riddled Rangers, both on the field and at the local ratings box office.

Texas A&M’s dominant upset win over South Carolina on the brand new SEC network likely drew more viewers than the Rangers. But the network isn’t being rated in its inaugural football season, so it’s pretty much anyone’s guess right now.

Wednesday’s prime-time Nielsens were paced by NBC’s 8 p.m. episode of America’s Got Talent, which pulled in 241,444 total viewers. But the demographic darling again was Big Brother, whose 7 p.m. hour ranked a dominant No. 1 with 18-to-49-year-olds (100,958) while AGT dipped to 58,621.

Here are the local news derby results.

Wednesday -- Fox4 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming). The station added a 6 a.m. sweep and also had the most total viewers at 5 p.m.

CBS11 won in total viewers at 6 p.m. while Gannett8 ranked No. 1 with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 had the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.

Thursday -- Gannett8 ran the table at 10 p.m. and Fox4 again did likewise at 6 a.m.

NBC5 scored a doubleheader win at 6 p.m. while also drawing the most total viewers at 5 p.m. The Peacock and Gannett8 tied for the 25-to-54 gold at 5 p.m.

It was a three-way competition at 6 p.m., with CBS11 airing its one-hour Countdown to Kickoff Cowboys special. It won from 6:30 to 7 p.m. in both ratings measurements, but the first half-hour ran third in total viewers and second among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

So long "Spirit of Texas," hello Gannett8

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Anchors Jason Wheeler and Shelly Slater tout Gannett-mandated new look during WFAA8’s Wednesday, 6 p.m. newscast. Photos: Ed Bark

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Dallas-based WFAA8, which will be re-christened Gannett8 later in this post, touted its new “Graphics” during Wednesday’s newscasts.

Like them or not, it marks a further homogenization of local newscasts around the country. That’s because the changes are mandated by WFAA8’s new owner, Gannett Company, Inc., which is implementing the same basic look on most if not all of its TV stations with newscasts. The latest total count of Gannett-owned stations is 46. That’s a lot of homogenization.

As you’ll see in the video at the bottom of this post, Gannett-owned WHAS-TV, the ABC affiliate station in Louisville, KY, touted identical graphics in a recent viewer preview. Gannett officially took ownership of WFAA8 and 20 other Belo stations late last year. Layoffs of some off-camera personnel quickly kicked in after Gannett got acclimated. The new graphics look, including a revamp of the wfaa.com website, is another big shoe dropping.

On Wednesday’s 6 p.m. newscast, anchors Jason Wheeler and Shelly Slater walked viewers through what he termed “the brand new look here at News 8.”

There’s a brief new opening visual that’s replicated throughout the country on Gannett stations before the local news logo is shown. But the biggest changes are bottom-of-the-screen alerts that inform viewers of what they’re watching -- via the dominant “Information Bar” -- and the next three stories in line. They’re all color-coded, Wheeler noted. He then elaborated.

Blue is for news.
Yellow is for weather.
Bright red is for breaking news.
Dark red is for sports.
Purple is for “life” stories.
Green is for money.
Orange is for technology.

“You’ll learn it as we go,” Wheeler added before Slater quipped, “Kind of all-new looks all around. I feel like I need to dye my hair blonde or something to fit all the changes.”

Weathercaster Ashton Altieri then joined in, telling viewers that his forecasts now will be 20 percent more accurate.

After he finished, Slater asked sports anchor Dale Hansen, “Are you going to be 20 percent nicer?”

“Nah, there’s no chance of that,” he assured her.

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Gannett-owned news stations begin with graphic on the left before customizing a bit (right) using the same basic blue-hued visual.

WFAA8’s new look is taking a beating on the station’s Facebook page, although it should be noted that change is not always welcome at first sight.

It can be perilous, though, to alert viewers to what’s coming next. Those who are turned off by the subject matter might well be tempted to switch somewhere else. More on-screen clutter can also be a detriment.

It remains to be seen whether the Gannett-mandated new look will affect other ways in which WFAA8 promotes and presents itself. Under Belo ownership, the station had some of the most distinctive promo campaigns in recent years, including the Boston Legal-style spots featuring Hansen and weathercaster Pete Delkus, and the comedy campaign launching Ron Corning as the new co-anchor of Daybreak.

NBC-owned NBC5 was briefly shackled in 2009 by its network’s cost-cutting, one-size-fits-all local promotions before all concerned seemed to wise up and see what a disaster it was. The station currently has a homegrown campaign with the slogan “Texas Connects Us.”

One more thing: WFAA8 management used to complain about being called Belo8 during the early years of unclebarky.com. So it was changed to WFAA8 while rivals Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11 are still identified by the network ownerships they prefer.

But now that WFAA8 is fully locked and loaded with Gannett, it seems time to make another change. So from here on forward, it’s no longer WFAA8 in these spaces. It’s Gannett8.

Here’s the WHAS-TV graphics video as further evidence of Gannett’s latest local news footprint:



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Aug. 26) -- a super-rare double grand slam for Fox4 news

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
WFAA8 used to be the only D-FW station capable of doing this. In fact, it had three double grand-slams in January 2008 alone, the last on Jan. 28th of that year.

Fox4 and NBC5 now are the most likely to accomplish such a rare feat -- a sweep of the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscast ratings in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming). And on Tuesday, Aug. 26th, Fox4 finally turned this trick with wins across the board.

It’s become an exceedingly difficult mountain to climb. And I can’t remember it happening at all in the past six-and-a-half years. Once the news spreads, Fox4 management should be laying out an ice cream sundae spread for the entire on- and off-camera news staff. Or maybe a pre-Labor Day grilled hot dog/tofu extravaganza? Hey, your friendly content provider can only do so much at this end.

Here’s how it looked on Tuesday, with the runner-up station’s viewer totals also listed.

10 p.m.

Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 165,461
NBC5 -- 144,156

25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 98,110
NBC5 -- 74,649

6 a.m.

Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 134,925
NBC5 -- 101,549

25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 63,680
NBC5 -- 48,141

5 p.m.

Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 158,359
NBC5 -- 132,084

25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 55,758
NBC5 -- 28,031 (WFAA8 was barely behind NBC5 with 27,727)

6 p.m.

Total Viewers
Fox4 -- 151,968
NBC5 -- 135,635

25-to-54-Year-Olds
Fox4 -- 60,329
NBC5 -- 32,907

In prime-time, NBC’s 8 to 10 p.m. edition of America’s Got Talent was the overall top draw with 255,647 viewers. AGT also lead all comers among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for entertainment programming). The haul was 78,161 viewers in this key demographic.

(In case you’re wondering, the 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts on Fox4 also ranked No. 1 with 18-to-49-year-olds.)

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers again toiled in late night hours on Fox Sports Southwest. The team’s latest loss, 5-0 at Seattle, drew just 49,709 total viewers, with 13,027 in the 18-to-49 age range.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

CBS11 anchor/reporter Tracy Kornet leaving after eight-year stay (updated with farewell comments from her

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS11 anchor Tracy Kornet, an eight-year veteran in the D-FW market, has decided to leave the station.

Kornet’s last day is Thursday, Sept. 4th, when she’ll sign off after co-anchoring the station’s 4 p.m. newscast. “She is going to Nashville to be closer to her family,” CBS11 director of communications Lori Conrad confirmed Tuesday.

Kornet also confirmed her departure, but didn’t want to comment further until her final week on the air. She arrived here in 2006, initially to anchor the now defunct “News First in Prime” on CBS11’s sister station, TXA21. Kornet since has co-anchored CBS11’s weekday 4 p.m. newscasts and filled in on the 5, 6 and 10 news programs.

Kornet also is a vocalist who has fronted several area bands. She and her husband Frank Kornet, a former Milwaukee Bucks forward, have two sons and a daughter, who all have played or are playing college basketball.

Their son, Luke, a 7-foot sophomore forward on the Vanderbilt Commodores basketball team, is the principal reason why the Kornets have chosen to be close by in Nashville. Frank Kornet previously starred on the school’s varsity basketball team, and they met on the Nashville campus almost 25 years ago, Tracy noted. Now it’s time to cheer on their son, with Frank Kornet recently resigning his high school basketball coach position at Argyle’s Liberty Christian School.

“A year ago I would have never imagined this move,” Tracy said in an email to unclebarky.com. “But in the last several months it became increasingly clear that I would not feel peace or true joy without the firm foundation of family nearby. I’ve always been the super-independent, ambitious adventure-seeker in my circle. But I’ve come to realize that work is way less rewarding without the robust laughter and life-blood of my kids.”

Kornet said she feels an “incredible connection with our viewers at CBS11, and I love living in North Texas. So this decision to leave was tumultuous. But it is the right one for me. For our family. When I’m on my death bed, I know I won’t regret it . . . Life is short. We are not promised tomorrow.”

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 25) -- Emmys in a walk

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The first prime-time Emmys on a Monday since 1976 had more than enough punch to dominate from start to stop.

Hosted by Seth Meyers and running precisely on time from 7 to 10 p.m., the NBC telecast averaged 440,281 D-FW viewers with a peak crowd of 482,888 between 8 and 8:15 p.m.

Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Emmy averaged 198,659 viewers, hitting a high of 221,456 between 7:45 and 8 p.m.

Emmy’s closest challenger in total viewers was CBS’ 9 p.m. episode of Under the Dome (198,836). Dome also ran second for the night with 18-to-49-year-olds (71,647).

NOTE TO READERS: I have a cnn.com commentary on the Emmys -- and you can find it right here.

Over on TNT, a new 8 p.m. episode of Dallas drew 120,722 total viewers and 35,824 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Here are Monday’s local news derby numbers.

NBC5 capitalized on its big Emmy lead-in advantage to cruise at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 again topped the 6 a.m. competitions while all four waker-uppers breathlessly recounted the first day back at school for most of the viewing area’s kids.

NBC5 swept the 6 p.m. competitions; at 5 p.m., Fox4 had the most total viewers while tying WFAA8 for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Top bosses at DFW's four major TV news providers demand "social media" visibility while barely participating themselves

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News directors Carolyn Mungo (left) of WFAA8 and Robin Whitmeyer of Fox4 are the only ones with active Twitter accounts among the top eight members of management at D-FW television stations.

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Follow their leads? Aspire to have as many or more Followers as they do?

That wouldn’t be much of a challenge if you’re an anchor or foot soldier at one of D-FW’s four major television news operations. The big bosses tend to strongly encourage -- if not outright demand -- that the troops establish an active “social media” presence. And of course the newscasts at Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 increasingly incorporate Twitter or Facebook segments and reactions.

So let’s look at the examples being set by president/general managers and news directors at the four stations.

Only two of these eight -- Fox4 news director Robin Whitmeyer and WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo -- have active Twitter accounts. WFAA8 president and general manager Mike Devlin joined Twitter in February of 2009. But he doesn’t seem to be that into it. Devlin has a single, solitary Tweet, posted on Feb. 9, 2009. It reads, “bud, I just signed up.” Somehow he has 22 Followers.

NBC5 and CBS11 are even behind Devlin.

Susan Tully and Thomas Ehlmann, respectively the news director and president/GM at NBC5, are not on Twitter. Nor are CBS11’s top two managers, president/GM Gary Schneider and news director Mike Garber, who just joined the station but has no record of tweeting during his previous tenure at a West Palm Beach, FL station.

Fox4 president/GM Kathy Saunders also has yet to join Twitter.

It’s even more barren on the Facebook front. A search of the Web turns up only Mungo and Tully as users among these big bosses. Mungo remains active on this front but Tully doesn’t seem to be doing much with Facebook. She’s posted just six pictures since joining in fall of 2009 (some of which have been removed since this article was posted). None have anything to do with TV news.

Mungo emerges as the overall social media champ among these eight, although it’s not much of a contest. She has 1,025 Followers on Twitter compared to Whitmeyer’s 296. But Whitmeyer tends to tweet with more frequency of late and appears to have more fun with it while using the handle “tvbossy.” On Aug. 22nd, for instance, she posted a picture of Aerosmith in concert with the comment, “Aerosmith. Rocking it.”

In contrast, Mungo hasn’t tweeted since Aug. 15th. And before that, July 25th.

Meanwhile, many of those who sit behind the anchor desks and/or hit the bricks are practicing what their bosses no doubt preach.

WFAA8 in recent months has lost three of its best and most active Tweeters in Monika Diaz, Teresa Woodard and Gloria Campos (who had been the best and most outspoken anchor Tweeter at any of the four stations).

But WFAA8 investigative reporter Brett Shipp continues to speak his mind. And among his WFAA8 colleagues, John McCaa, Cynthia Izaguirre, Ron Corning, Jason Whitely, Shelly Slater, Jobin Panicker, Carla Wade, Pete Delkus and David Schechter are among the many at the station who continue to fly their Twitter flags.

NBC5 also has a host of frequent Tweeters, including Brian Curtis, Meredith Land, Rick Mitchell, Newy Scruggs, Bianca Castro, Amanda Guerra, Remeisha Shade, Pat Doney, Julie Fine, Kristi Nelson and the “Night Ranger” himself, Scott Gordon.

Over at Fox4, Clarice Tinsley merits a gold star for her proclivity on both Twitter and Facebook. That’s in part because her two weeknightly “Your Turn” segments on the station’s 9 p.m. newscasts are solely about social media feedback. Whether or not you like them, Tinsley can’t be accused of not participating. Other dutiful Fox4 tweeters include Calvert Collins, Mike Doocy, Jenny Anchondo, Dan Henry, Steve Eagar, Heather Hays, Saul Garza, Steve Noviello and Natalie Solis.

Among CBS11’s faithful Tweeters are Doug Dunbar, Karen Borta, Ginger Allen, Adrienne Bankert, Jane Slater, Mireya Villarreal, Larry Mowry and Jack Fink.

There’s no intention to leave anyone out here. And no matter how frequently or infrequently they tweet, anchors and reporters at Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 can virtually be assured that they’re more diligent about this aspect of the job than their top bosses are. It would be hard not to be.

For the record, your friendly content provider as of this writing has 16.3K tweets and 5,332 Followers on Twitter at @unclebarkycom after joining in November 2009. I’m my own worst boss in that respect.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 22-24) -- Cowboys lose again but blast past Game 3 of 2013 preseason (updated with MTV Video Music Awards numbers)

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys logged another loss Saturday night but rolled up their biggest preseason ratings of the summer.

Running from 6:08 to 9:21 p.m. on CBS11, the 25-20 defeat in Miami averaged 603,611 D-FW viewers compared to last year’s comparatively puny 347,653 viewers for a Game 3 Saturday afternoon loss in Arizona.

Cowboys-Dolphins, a “dress rehearsal” game in which many of the starters played the full first half, also moved to the top of 2014’s preseason charts ahead of Game 2 vs. the Baltimore Ravens (536,858 viewers).

Not so hot is the Cowboys’ continued sluggish performance among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. The loss at Miami averaged 218,199 viewers in this key demographic. That’s far less than half of the 603,611 total. But it was a Saturday night, so many of the viewers in this age range may have been otherwise occupied.

If this percentage persists in the regular season, there’ll be trouble in Jerry’s paradise. Ideally, you’d like to have at least half the viewing audience made up of viewers that most advertisers are willing to pay a premium to reach. The CBS network’s Big Brother is a heavyweight in that respect, with last week’s Wednesday and Thursday editions both drawing well in excess of 50 percent of their audience from the 18-to-49 motherlode.

CBS11’s homegrown presentation of Saturday night’s Cowboys game shifted the CBS network’s Saints-Colts game to sister station TXA21 for a 7 p.m. start. The battle of marquee quarterbacks -- Drew Brees vs. Andrew Luck -- drew scant interest with just 42,608 total viewers.

In Sunday’s prime-time Nielsens, CBS’ 7 p.m. episode of Big Brother outdrew the first hour of NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Bengals vs. Cardinals) by a score of 198,836 to 170,431 total viewers. The 18-to-49 victory margin was better for BB, which beat SNF 97,701 viewers to 55,364.

Sunday night’s bump ’n’ grind flesh-fest -- MTV’s annual Music Video Awards -- averaged 165,460 total viewers, with 85,651 in the 18-to-49 demographic for the initial live showing.

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

A run over of CBS’ Packers-Raiders game, which swept prime-time from start to finish, made it a three-way competition at 10 p.m. NBC5 had the most total viewers and also ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 again ran the table at 6 a.m. while NBC5 did likewise at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. golds went to CBS11 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Thurs., Aug. 20-21) -- Big Brother still making rivals cry uncle while Fox4's 9 p.m. news again knocks off nets

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Two TV durables jumped out on both the Wednesday and Thursday Nielsen ratings reports.

CBS’ Big Brother continues to punch out all competing programming and Fox4’s 9 p.m. news again was more than a match for whatever the networks are offering at that hour.

BB easily won its Wednesday 7 p.m. slot with 213,039 D-FW viewers while also ranking No. 1 among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (120,498). It was the same story on Thursday with BB cruising at 8 p.m. with 184,634 viewers and 97,701 in the key 18-to-49 demographic. In each case, the 18-to-49 haul amounted to more than 50 percent of the total audience. That’s gold.

Wednesday’s 9 p.m. edition of Fox4’s news tied the second hour of CBS’ heavily hyped Extant for first in total viewers with 142,026. It dominated with 18-to-49-year-olds, though, drawing 58,621 viewers to ABC’s runner-up Motive’s 35,824. Extant slid to fourth.

Thursday’s Fox4 news won outright at 9 p.m. in both ratings measurements, with 142,026 total viewers and 52,107 in the 18-to-49 age range. It’s also worth noting that Fox4 collects all of the ad revenue for its local newscasts while network shows offer only a couple of minutes per hour to their affiliation stations. In the case of CBS’ 9 p.m. Elementary rerun Thursday, that was barely a pittance. It drew just 56,810 total viewers and a sub-puny 1,954 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

On the sports front, the Texas Rangers have been having a very bad season both on the field and in the D-FW ratings. And it only gets worse when a game starts at 11:30 a.m., as did Wednesday’s uncommon win at Miami. The game averaged just 28,405 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest, with 6,514 of them 18-to-49-year-olds.

Thursday night’s pre-season NFL game between the Eagles and Steelers drew 78,114 viewers on NFL Net; 19,540 were in the 18-to-49 demographic. The network hardly went the extra mile, announcing the game from its Los Angeles studios. Guess they wanted the NFL Net’s “voice” rather than carrying the Philadelphia home station’s feed. But it came off as disembodied.

Here are the four-way local news derby results.

Wednesday -- CBS11 notched a 10 p.m. win in total viewers while Fox4 had the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 also swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. first in total viewers. WFAA8 won at 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.

The 5 p.m. golds very narrowly went to NBC5 in total viewers and CBS11 in the 25-to-54 demographic.

Thursday -- WFAA8 ran first at 10 p.m. in total viewers; NBC5 had the most 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 scored another doubleheader win at 6 a.m. while ranking No. 1 at 5 and 6 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds.

NBC5 had the most total viewers at 5 p.m. and CBS11 ran first in that measurement at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Aug. 19) -- Talent still on top

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s America’s Got Talent continued to run strong down the backstretch of the summer TV season, controlling the 8 to 10 p.m. hours in dominating fashion Tuesday.

AGT averaged 262,748 D-FW viewers and also won its time slot among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (94,443).

The 7 p.m. hour went to CBS’ NCIS repeat in total viewers (213,039) and the Peacock’s Food Fighters in the 18-to-49 demographic (52,107).

Here are the local news derby results.

NBC5 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while WFAA8 ended a three weekday winless drought with a No. 1 finish among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

WFAA8 added a double header win at 6 p.m. and Fox4 as usual ran the table at 6 a.m.

NBC5 ranked first in total viewers at 5 p.m. and tied WFAA8 for the most 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

"Corporal Nick" still a bumper car as Daybreak's new traffic reporter

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”Corporal Nick” cross-talks with Daybreak anchors Wednesday. Photos: Ed Bark

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The man they call “Corporal Nick” navigated his way through a second day as Daybreak’s traffic reporter Wednesday.

The roly poly DeSoto cop, again in full uniform, still tends to skid in and out of his segments for WFAA8’s No. 3-rated early morning program. Whether he’ll emerge as an authority figure with a guy next door appeal remains to be seen. His most notable on-camera misdemeanor at the moment is a tendency to dart his eyes to the left (and viewers’ right) at the close of his segments. He’s still a bit stiff, too. But eye contact and body language can be learned if viewers are willing to play along with the D-FW market’s first full-time uniformed roads warrior.

WFAA8’s cop-on-the-beat gambit, first disclosed Aug. 2nd on unclebarky.com, puts a raw rookie on display in terms of television experience. “Corporal Nick” -- full name Nick Bristow -- is a 20-year veteran of the DeSoto police force but had no previous TV training until the station began grooming him earlier this month.

On Wednesday’s Daybreak, news anchors Ron Corning and Alexa Conomos twice informed viewers that “Corporal Nick” would be reporting for duty at 8 a.m. after finishing his 4:30 to 7 a.m. Daybreak shift.

“These are two separate jobs, people,” Corning said before Corporal Nick agreed he’d soon be “on the streets” as a DeSoto police officer. Maybe a little groggy, though, later in his shift?

During the 5 to 5:30 a.m. segment, Conomos and Corporal Nick had a little anchor desk chat about Tuesday’s Day One.

“Ya came back, we like to say,” she said. “We didn’t scare ya off yet.”

“It was good yesterday,” Corporal Nick said. “It came out a lot better than I thought it would. I was concerned a few times, but you know what, we pulled it off.”

You pulled it off,” she said.

We pulled it off,” he said again.

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Corporal Nick during one of his Daybreak segments Wednesday.

Corporal Nick corrected himself on a couple of his traffic segments and also tripped over “George Bush Turnpike.”

But Corning had his back, noting that “at this early hour, Corporal Nick, your tongue doesn’t always work. Take it from us.”

Corporal Nick’s police expertise also prompted the anchors to include him in conversations about emergency preparedness and “chasing down hoaxes” that basically waste an officer’s valuable time. He sits at his traffic central post under such circumstances, appearing to be more at ease.

All of this can be a lot to process for a TV novice, and Corporal Nick could be an old smoothie in due time. For now, his recitation of traffic stops and go’s can be rigid at times. And after he’s survived another segment, Corporal Nick’s abrupt eyeball detours make it seem as though he sees a bad guy approaching fast.

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Corporal Nick still tends to end his traffic reports this way.

As previously posted and shown in a promotional video, San Antonio’s KSAT-TV uses a pair of younger, trimmer and conventionally handsomer cops for its traffic reports on Good Morning San Antonio.

Corporal Nick is built more along the lines of a Mavs Maniaacs dancer, with a mug that’s far closer to Willard Scott’s than Scott Bakula’s. But WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen, now in his 31st year at the station, has gotten mega-mileage out of loudly proclaiming himself an “old, fat, bald white guy.” So there’s that.

It seems like a long shot, though, for viewers to associate “authority” and “experience” with Corporal Nick’s traffic reports. He may have helped to clean up a few freeway wrecks in his time. But in the end he’s parroting basically the same information as his outwardly more telegenic civilian competitors at Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11.

Still, Corporal Nick may seem like someone with whom to have a donut, a beer or, in Wednesday morning’s case, a fried Sriracha Ball at show’s end. Corning and Conomos insisted that he gulp one down before heading off to his other day job. So that’s what he did before giving a look that said he would have much preferred a pastry.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

CBS11 anchor Brendan Higgins is dropped from station, issues statement about his arrest in Aspen

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Brendan Higgins in CBS11 photo & Aspen police dept. mug shot.

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS11 early morning co-anchor Brendan Higgins issued a statement late Tuesday afternoon about his arrest earlier this month by the Aspen police department. He plans to have no further comment on the matter, Higgins said.

It was expansive compared to CBS11’s official response early Tuesday evening. “Brendan Higgins is no longer with the station,” CBS11 director of communications Lori Conrad said in an email reply.

Here is Higgins’ statement, posted on his Facebook page:

“If my email is any indication, many of you are wondering about a recent incident in Aspen, Colo., that resulted in my arrest. Sorry it took so long to issue a post as I’ve been dealing with the related matters.

“First, I need to apologize for the negative attention this incident has brought to my wife and our family, our friends and the many wonderful people I’ve worked with over the years. I’m also sorry to the authorities in Aspen, who do a great job every day. I simply put myself and others in a bad situation, which will not happen again. My plan is to answer the legal charges against me. Thanks to all of you who have sent your support.”

As first reported Friday on unclebarky.com, Higgins, 46, was arrested shortly after midnight on Aug. 6th and eventually charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. A representative of CBS11 at the time said the station was looking into the matter and would have no further comment until learning more about the incident.

Before the CBS11 confirmation of Higgins’ dismissal, D Magazine FrontBurner blogger Tim Rogers posted that “word comes” Higgins has been “fired” by CBS11 for his “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night in Aspen. Gotta say, though, not a bad mugshot.”

While the snark settled, we waited for official word from CBS11. It only seemed fair. Because to Higgins, this is certainly no joking matter.

Higgins began co-anchoring CBS11’s early morning newscasts with fellow newcomer Adrienne Bankert on June 25, 2012. He previously had been NBC5’s early morning co-anchor from December 2003 to January 2010, when Higgins and the station parted ways over what they said was a contract impasse.

There’s no word yet on who will replace Higgins. CBS11’s Jason Allen has been filling in so far this week.

CBS11’s early morning newscasts currently rank fourth in the D-FW Nielsen ratings, behind Fox4, NBC5 and WFAA8 in that order.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Corporal Nick officially enters WFAA8's early morning traffic flow

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Veteran DeSoto police officer Nick Bristow made his Daybreak debut on Tuesday, Aug. 19th. The station’s new traffic anchor is pictured with anchors Ron Corning and Alexa Conomos. WFAA Facebook page photo

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
WFAA8’s very own Officer Friendly is on the air.

A week after unclebarky.com reported his hiring, DeSoto police Cpl. Nick Bristow joined the station’s Daybreak team on Tuesday, Aug.19th as the D-FW market’s first uniformed traffic anchor. WFAA8 management had declined to confirm its decision to go with Bristow. But Daybreak’s Facebook page pictured Bristow Tuesday and touted his “serious experience on the North Texas roads.”

Unfortunately, unclebarky.com central was still in the midst of a full-blown cable/Internet outage at the time of Bristow’s debut. So a review of his performance will have to wait until Wednesday’s show.

Bristow, a nearly 20-year veteran of the DeSoto police force, replaces Shane Allen, who was dropped earlier this month. As posted previously, San Antonio’s KSAT-TV also uses cops as traffic reporters on its early morning news program. It’s apparently supposed to connote authority and expertise beyond that of rival roads scholars Chip Waggoner (Fox4), Samantha Davies (NBC5) and Whitney Drolen (CBS11).

Daybreak currently ranks third in the early morning ratings race, behind front-runner Fox4 and second place NBC5.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Sun.-Mon., Aug. 17-18) -- Johnny F a Grade A draw

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Johnny “Football” Manziel’s Monday Night Football battle with Brian Hoyer for the Cleveland Browns’ starting QB slot tore through the prime-time ratings even though neither guy played very well.

The game averaged 262,749 D-FW viewers, with almost half -- 127,011 -- within the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 motherlode. CBS’ Under the Dome took the runner-up spot in prime-time with 163,330 total viewers in the 9 p.m. hour. Fox’s 7 p.m. episode of Masterchef ran second among 18-to-49-year-olds with 78,161.

TNT’s latest season premiere of Dallas had 134,925 total viewers in the 8 p.m. hour; 29,310 were in the 18-to-49 age range.

In Monday’s local news derby results, CBS11 ranked No. 1 in total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 ran comfortably ahead among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 also swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added 5 and 6 p.m. wins with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 had the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. That made it three winless weekdays in a row for WFAA8 in the four major local news battlegrounds.

In Sunday’s prime-time festivities, Fox and CBS split the spoils.

CBS ran first in total viewers from 6 to 8 p.m. with 60 Minutes (213,039) and Big Brother (191,735). Fox’s pre-season NFL game between the Carolina Panthers and Kansas Chiefs then took over with an average of 198,836 viewers from 8 to 10 p.m.

Big Brother and the 8 to 10 p.m. portion of football also topped their time slots among 18-to-49-year-olds. Fox’s American Dad repeat won from 6 to 6:30 in that demographic; the second half-hour of ABC’s America’s Funniest Videos had the edge from 6:30 to 7 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sat., Aug. 15-16) -- Cowboys up, but again with an asterisk

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Saturday night’s second Dallas Cowboys pre-season game, a 37-30 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens, soared in the D-FW Nielsen ratings compared to last year’s Pretend Game 2 against Oakland.

But year-to-year comparisons, as they were with the Cowboys’ Aug. 7th pre-season opener, again are basically meaningless.

Cowboys-Ravens, which ran from 6:09 to 9:26 p.m. on CBS11, averaged 525,496 D-FW viewers. That’s a huge jump from the 316,673 viewers for last year’s second pre-season game against Oakland.

But the 2013 game was played during a Time Warner blackout that affected roughly 400,000 homes in the D-FW viewing area. Also, part of the 2013 Cowboys-Raiders game faced direction competition from the red-hot, playoff-contending Texas Rangers, whose game with the Houston Astros drew 213,410 viewers on TXA21. The CBS11 sister station also was affected by the Time Warner blackout.

The Cowboys-Ravens matchup likewise competed in part against the Rangers. But the injury-ravaged, last-place team’s latest loss -- 5-4 to the Angels -- provided next to no resistance this time around. An average of just 49,709 viewers watched on Fox Sports Southwest. That’s less than one-quarter the audience for last August’s Rangers-Astros matchup against Game 2 of the Cowboys pre-season.

Saturday night’s Cowboys-Ravens game, which marked the return of quarterback Tony Romo, will increase its overall audience when ratings for Telemundo’s Spanish language telecast become available. We hope to add them in on Monday. (Note: the Telemundo ratings in D-FW on Ch. 39 turned out to be basically negligible, with the game averaging just 11,362 total viewers. That brings the grand total for Cowboys-Ravens up to 536,858 viewers.)

Other footnotes of note for the Cowboys-Ravens game:

***The audience peaked at 639,117 total viewers for both the 7 to 7:15 and 7:15 to 7:30 p.m. increments. By the final half-hour, when the Cowboys still had a chance to win or tie the game, the audience had dropped to 497,091 viewers. But that’s still close to the overall average of 525,496 viewers.

***Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Cowboys-Ravens averaged 188,889 viewers for the entire game. That’s well less than half the audience and remains a cause for concern for both the NFL and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. In comparison, the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals both had far larger percentages of 18-to-49-year-olds, although the total hockey audience was paltry compared to what the Cowboys draw.

***In accordance with local broadcast restrictions, the Cowboys-Ravens game was blacked out in D-FW on the NFL Network -- except for a smidgen. NFL Net very briefly joined the game in progress and carried about 90 seconds of it, including Romo’s early 22-yard pass completion to Dez Bryant. The picture then abruptly shifted, without explanation, to an in-progress replay of the Patriots-Eagles pre-season game. Someone obviously got their wires crossed.

***The biggest draw opposite the Cowboys, NBC’s two-hour Dateline, averaged 92,317 viewers from 7 to 9 p.m.

Friday’s prime-time parade was led by CBS’ 9 p.m. rerun of Blue Bloods, which drew 156,229 total viewers. The Rangers-Angels game on TXA21 had 71,013 viewers.

Among 18-to-49-year-olds, CBS’ 8 p.m. Hawaii Five-0 led the way with 39,080 viewers. The downtrodden Rangers barely registered with 9,770 viewers in this key demographic. What a difference a year makes is a mega-understatement in this case.

Here are Friday’s local news derby numbers.

NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. competitions, winning in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and added a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 had the most total viewers at both 6 p.m. and 5 p.m.

The 5 p.m. top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds was shared by Fox4 and CBS11.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

CBS11 weekday early morning anchor Brendan Higgins charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest after incident in Aspen

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Brendan Higgins, CBS11’s weekday early morning co-anchor, has been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest following an incident earlier this month in Aspen, Colo. in which he allegedly was severely intoxicated and both physically and verbally abusive.

He has a Sept. 10th court date in Aspen, according to detailed police reports obtained by unclebarky.com.

A CBS11 representative said Friday that the station is looking into the matter but won’t comment further until more is known.

Three Aspen police officers filed reports on the incident, which began shortly after midnight on Aug. 6th. They responded to a call about a disturbance at the Residences of the Little Nell (a hotel at the base of the Aspen Mountains), where it “was reported that a male guest had punched a driver and was being violent with the staff.”

The guest turned out to be Higgins, 46, who reportedly first responded “I was an asshole” when police asked what had happened.

Informed he was being placed under arrest before being handcuffed, Higgins then began cursing officers, according to the reports. Officer Greggory Cole said in his report that Higgins “became angry and began calling Officer (Jeff) Fain and I names. Higgins said, ‘You f***ing pieces of shit’ and ‘I’m going to beat you until you’re dead.’ Higgins then attempted to strike me using a swiping motion with his hands. I pushed Higgins towards the elevator doors, which he was standing a few inches from. Higgins hit the elevator with his head and then pretended to pass out and slumped to the floor. I could tell that Higgins had not actually passed out because he was giggling.”

A companion report, by Aspen Officer Adam Loudon, said that a man who had driven Higgins and a woman companion from the Hotel Jerome to the Little Nell reported being punched in the face by Higgins. This occurred, according to the report, after the driver and a member of Little Nell’s security satff “were helping carry Higgins from the car to the elevator because of Higgins’ extreme intoxication.”

Loudon said he looked at the driver’s face and “saw that his left cheek was red and beginning to swell. Asked if he wanted to press charges, the man “said he did not,” Loudon reported.

The woman with Higgins, identified in Loudon’s report as Jenna Turner Alexander, told police “this was not the first time this sort of incident has occurred with Higgins,” according to the officer.

Higgins, who had a “small cut on the bridge of his nose” after apparently falling, later kicked at officers before being placed in a “hobble restraint,” Loudon said.

He also was “extremely uncooperative” with Aspen Ambulance Paramedics, Loudon said, “telling them that he was ‘going to beat them till they die.’ Higgins also attempted to bite a medic that was putting a bandage on his nose.”

A third officer on the scene, Dave Rosselot, said in his report that Higgins’ “eyes were watery” and he “appeared to be having trouble forming complete sentences.”

Higgins was transported to Aspen Valley Hospital, evaluated and discharged at about 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 6th, according to police reports. He was then taken to the Pitkin County Jail, where Officer Cole said he “attempted to serve Higgins with a Summons, but he was still too intoxicated to provide me with his basic biographical information.”

Higgins was eventually charged at approximately 11:45 a.m. and given his court date, according to Cole’s report.

Higgins and Adrienne Bankert became CBS11’s new early morning team on June 25, 2012. Before that he was NBC5’s early morning co-anchor from December 2003 to January 2010, when Higgins and the station parted ways over what they said was a contract impasse.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

CBS11 reporter Susy Solis latest to take PR position

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The public relations field remains fertile for D-FW television reporters seeking new career paths.

CBS11’s Susy Solis, who joined the station in January 2011 after a four-year stay with NBC5, has now opted to join Real News PR, which is run by former Fox4 reporter Jeff Crilley. Her last day at CBS11 will be on Aug. 29th, Solis and the station’s director of communications, Lori Conrad, confirmed Friday.

“Along with pitching clients, we plan to eventually expand the business and launch a Hispanic Division,” Solis told unclebarky.com in an email reply. “We see an opportunity and as journalists understand the differences and nuances of general market vs. Spanish television news. We hope to one day be a reliable resource for journalists who need bilingual sources.”

Solis, a graduate of the University of Texas El Paso, says that leaving the TV news business “was not an easy decision,” although she has plenty of company in recent years. As previously posted, WFAA8 reporter Teresa Woodard likewise is leaving her station this month for a PR position. She’ll be joining former WFAA8 reporters Brad Watson, Chris Hawes, Cynthia Vega, Craig Civale, Steve Stoler and Casey Norton. All resigned from the station to become on- and off-camera spokespeople and/or story pitchers.

“It is bittersweet for me,” Solis said. “I will miss having the privilege of telling people’s stories, facilitating change through journalism and the hustle and bustle of the business. But I feel being a reporter for the past 10 years has prepared me for the next chapter in my career.”

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Aug. 14) -- Big Brother still doing big business

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Big Brother continues to roll through the summer, giving CBS a demographic as well as a broad-based hit.

The 16th edition easily won its 8 p.m. slot in total D-FW viewers Thursday with 170,431. Better yet, well over half of those viewers -- 107,741 -- were advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

It usually works the other way around for CBS, whose biggest hits tend to droop demographically whether they’re first-runs or re-runs. A 7 p.m. repeat of The Big Bang Theory, for instance, ranked as Thursday’s biggest overall prime-time draw with 234,343 total viewers. It also ran first in its time slot among 18-to-49-year-olds, but with just 39,080 viewers in that age range.

NBC’s two-hour season finale of Last Comic Standing won its 9 to 10 p.m. second hour with 149,127 total viewers. It also led the way with 18-to-49-year-olds at that hour, drawing 61,877 of ‘em.

ABC’s 7 p.m. third episode of The Quest continued to slump at that hour with 56,810 total viewers and 22,797 in the 18-to-49 demographic. Those were good for third place finishes among the Big 4 broadcast networks, beating only Fox’s repeat of Sleepy Hollow.

ESPN’s prime-time pre-season football game between the Bears and Jaguars averaged a small-sized 78,114 viewers, with 42,337 of them in the 18-to-49 range. In direct competition on Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers’ latest loss cratered to 56,810 total viewers and 13,027 in the 18-to-49 measurement.

Here are Thursday’s local news derby results.

CBS11 drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

It was otherwise a day of doubleheader wins. Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and CBS11 did likewise at 6 p.m. NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues.-Wed., Aug. 12-13) -- Talent still propelling NBC

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Live editions of NBC’s America’s Got Talent continue to prop up the Peacock’s late summer ratings.

AGT emerged as prime-time’s biggest draw on both Tuesday and Wednesday in D-FW.

The 8 p.m. Wednesday results hour drew 284,052 viewers while Tuesday’s 8 to 10 p.m. performance edition had 262,748 viewers to easily top that night’s field.

Tuesday’s AGT also ranked No. 1 in prime-time among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. Wednesday’s hour won its time slot in that key demographic but the overall heavyweight among 18-to-49-year-olds was CBS’ 7 p.m. hour of Big Brother. It drew 100,958 viewers in that age range. By 9 p.m., though, CBS’ latest episode of Extant had plunged to 29,310 viewers.

Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast easily won that hour with 61,877 viewers in the 18-to-49 motherlode while tying Extant for first in total viewers with 163,330.

Here are Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s four-way local news derby results.

Tuesday -- NBC5 and WFAA8 tied for the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but WFAA8 was narrowly alone in first place among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

NBC5 won at 6 a.m. in total viewers while Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds. It was all Fox4 otherwise, with the station running the table at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Wednesday -- Fox4 had a big day, winning among 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 a.m. and at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. The station added total viewer firsts at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The other newscast golds went to CBS11 at 10 p.m. in total viewers and WFAA8 at 6 p.m. in that measurement.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 11) -- four-way split in prime-time spoils

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC all carved out at least one piece of the pie in Monday’s two major prime-time ratings measurements.

CBS had the biggest overall draw in D-FW with a 9 p.m. episode of Under the Dome that lured 205,938 viewers to edge Fox4’s competing local newscast (191,735). Fox4’s news drew the most 18-to-49-year-olds at 9 p.m. with 78,161 while Dome dipped to second with a smallish haul of 58,621.

NBC had the night’s most advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds in winning the 7 p.m. slot with 100,958 viewers. But Fox’s 7 p.m. episode of Masterchef had the most total viewers at that hour (184,634).

The second hour of ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise broke through with an 8 to 9 p.m. win in total viewers (149,127). Fox’s Hotel Hell took the 18-to-49 prize in that slot with 74,904 viewers.

In the have-not realm, ABC’s 9 p.m. episode of Mistresses again dragged bottom with the fewest total viewers (56,810) and 18-to-49-year-olds (16,284) of any prime-time attraction on the Big Four broadcast networks.

Meanwhile, here’s a small howdy to TXA21’s 7 p.m. repeat of Bonanza, which easily led all of that station’s prime-time programs with 35,507 total viewers. That also was enough to outdraw The CW network’s back-to-back episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (3,551 and 7,101 viewers). Bonanza also beat CW in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

NBC5 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. but Fox4 easily topped the four-way field among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 added a 6 a.m. sweep and also had the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m.

NBC5 was tops at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds while Fox4 and WFAA8 shared first place in that measurement at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

It's a go for "Corporal Nick" as WFAA8's new and uniformed Daybreak traffic reporter

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Veteran DeSoto police officer Nick “Corporal Nick” Bristow (far right) will be WFAA8’s new early morning traffic reporter. He’s shown here in an August 2013 AP photo from a news conference on the fatal shootings of four people in two separate North Texas homes.

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo won’t comment, and the station also has since pulled down two “Corporal Nick” audition videos that were posted on youtube and embedded Sunday on unclebarky.com.

But several sources confirm that veteran DeSoto police officer Nick Bristow, referred to only as “Corporal Nick” in WFAA8 rehearsals with Daybreak co-anchor Alexa Conomos, has won the job to succeed Shane Allen as the program’s weekday early morning traffic reporter. We try to stay ahead of the curve, so to speak, even though WFAA8 management has done its best to put up barricades.

Bristow’s start date is not yet known. But he’s continued to rehearse this week at WFAA8’s Victory Park studios for his debut as the D-FW market’s first uniformed traffic reporter. Bristow had a bit of a bumpy ride in his nuts-and-bolts traffic trouble spots audition but came off as an amiable regular guy in a second Q&A tape with Conomos. He’ll celebrate his 20th anniversary with the DeSoto police force in November, Bristow said. He also is the father of three sons, including 15-year-old twins, and occasionally moonlights as an Elvis impersonator. He performed a few bars of “Suspicious Minds” for Conomos. But Bristow has no previous television experience.

San Antonio’s KSAT-TV uses two uniformed cops for its early morning traffic reports. Its slogan is “Real Officers. Real Experience. Real Traffic Reports.” WFAA8 soon will be taking this same U-turn after dropping Allen on Aug. 1st. In his subsequent Facebook post, Allen cited the station’s intention to move in a “different direction.” Indeed.

No. 1-rated Fox4’s Good Day, No. 2 NBC5 and No. 4 CBS11 all use civilians as traffic reporters. Chip Waggoner is Fox4’s principal roads scholar while NBC5 and CBS11 respectively feature Samantha Davies and Whitney Drolen. None have ever been with law enforcement but all know how to drive.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 8-10) -- dramatic, rain-delayed, star-studded PGA gives CBS biggest prime-time draw

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Rory McIlroy’s one-stroke win over Phil Mickelson, with popular Rickie Fowler also in contention, gave golf’s rain-delayed PGA championship a big Tiger Woods-less boost Sunday night.

Playing until near-dark, McIlroy’s winning putt came at 7:43 p.m. on CBS. D-FW’s TV audience also peaked at that point, with 255,647 viewers tuned to the final minutes. The closing hour of this year’s last of four Majors averaged 227,242 viewers. Nielsen Media Research measures in 15-minute increments.

CBS didn’t begin its regular prime-time programming until 8 p.m., with 60 Minutes pulling in 163,330 viewers before a 9 p.m. episode of Big Brother also drew 163,330 viewers. That gave CBS a 6 to 10 p.m. prime-time sweep.

The closing hour of the PGA championship also won with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, averaging 61,877. But that’s a low percentage of the overall 227,242 total viewers from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. And it was no match for Big Brother, which had Sunday’s biggest haul of 18-to-49-year-olds (97,701).

Saturday night’s Cleveland-Detroit NFL pre-season game, which featured QB Johnny Manziel’s debut with the Browns, averaged 92,317 total viewers on the NFL Network. A smallish 29,310 were in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Friday’s top prime-time performers were ABC’s 20/20 in total viewers (144,867) and ABC’s What Would You Do? in the 18-to-49 measurement (42,337).

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

The day featured a quartet of double-header wins. WFAA8 swept the 10 p.m. competitions in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. And CBS11 took both golds at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

DeSoto PD's "Corporal Nick" among auditioners for uniformed traffic reporter vacancy on WFAA8's Daybreak

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Could “Corporal Nick” be the one?

This much is certain. The veteran DeSoto police officer -- full name Nick Bristow -- has auditioned with Daybreak co-anchor and former traffic reporter Alexa Conomos for the role of D-FW television’s first uniformed roads scholar.

As previously posted, WFAA8 plans to go this route after recently dropping Shane Allen from its early morning team. San Antonio’s KSAT-TV, also an ABC affiliate, currently has two police officers on the traffic beat for the station’s Good Morning San Antonio.

Two of Bristow’s audition tapes have surfaced on youtube. The bald, chunky beat cop is in full uniform for both. He’ll mark his 20th anniversary with the DeSoto police department this November, Bristow told Conomos.

His traffic summations are a little rough in spots. Collin County is twice pronounced “Colon County” and Bristow also loses his place at one point while relying on a piece of paper as a cheat sheet. “Sorry. Damn!” he says. He signs off with “That’s Good Day traffic. Back to you, Alexa.” She then giggles at the mistaken reference to Daybreak’s No. 1-rated early morning competitor, Fox4’s Good Day.

Bristow is steadier on the draw during a Q&A with Conomos. He amiably talks about the travails of raising three sons, including 15-year-old twin boys. After noting that Bristow is an Elvis Presley impersonator, Conomos requests “Blue Suede Shoes.” Bristow instead opts to sing a few bars of “Suspicious Minds” after noting that he moonlights as Elvis for extra money and performed at the DeSoto police department’s Christmas party.

WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo has declined to answer an email inquiry about the station’s traffic reporter plans. Weekend traffic reporter Marlene Hilton filled in last week on the Monday-Friday editions of Daybreak.

Here are “Corporal Nick’s” two video auditions in WFAA8 studios. (NOTE TO READERS: WFAA8 SINCE HAS PULLED BOTH VIDEOS DOWN.)





Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

"Real Officers. Real Experience. Real Traffic Reports"

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
As previously posted based on several sources, WFAA8 is planning to hire a police officer -- or perhaps officers -- to anchor the Dallas-based station’s early morning traffic segments.

It turns out this wouldn’t be a first -- not even in Texas. San Antonio’s KSAT-TV, the market’s ABC affiliate, already is in uniform and promoting “Real Officers. Real Experience” on the part of its Good Morning San Antonio traffic beat cops -- Marcus Trujillo and Robert Dart.

WFAA8 recently dropped Shane Allen as its Daybreak roads scholar. He noted in his farewell Facebook message that the station has chosen to go in a “different direction.” Weekend traffic reporter Marlene Hilton has filled in during this week’s Monday through Friday Daybreak programs.

WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo so far has declined to comment.

In the meantime, here’s a look at KSAT’s promo for its uniformed traffic watchers.

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Aug. 7) -- Cowboys' numbers peak early in first pre-season game

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Absent four star offensive players, the Dallas Cowboys rolled out their 2014 version Thursday night for a game that started late and peaked early in the D-FW ratings.

Kicking off shortly after 9 p.m., the 27-7 loss at San Diego in the first pre-season game averaged 454,483 viewers on CBS11. That’s a big dip from the 2013 opener, although the circumstances were quite different. The Cowboys were on NBC’s Sunday night stage for their Hall of Fame game against Miami, a down-to-the-wire 24-20 Dallas win that drew 695,304 viewers.

Thursday’s game approached that viewing level with a peak crowd of 667,522 viewers between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. From that point on, the audience steadily declined in each 15-minute increment measured by Nielsen Media Research. By the last quarter hour -- 11:45 to midnight -- only 205,938 viewers remained. How many had fallen asleep is an open question.

Cowboys-Chargers still clobbered all competing programming from start to finish. CBS11’s one-hour 8 p.m. pre-game show also won its time slot with 177,533 viewers. CBS’ Big Brother, moved to sister station TXA21, ran second from 8 to 9 p.m. with 113,621 viewers. But BB edged the Cowboys pre-game show among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds by a score of 71,647 viewers to 68,391.

The entire three-hour Cowboys game averaged 198,659 viewers in the key 18-to-49 demographic. That’s less than half the 454,483 total.

Thursday night’s second episode of ABC’s medieval competition show, The Quest, had the advantage of being in a Cowboys-free zone at 7 p.m. But it still fell on its sword with a measly 42,608 total viewers and 19,540 in the 18-to-49 age range. Among the Big Four broadcast networks, that ranked The Quest last in total viewers and third with 18-to-49-year-olds (ahead of Fox’s Sleepy Hollow repeat).

Here are Thursday’s local news derby results.

In a downsized three-way 10 p.m. competition, WFAA8 ran first in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 otherwise celebrated with sweeps at 6 a.m. and at 5 and 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues.-Wed., Aug. 5-6) -- Extant slips, slides; America's Got Talent outduels CMA Festival

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ hopes for a second summertime “Big Event” miniseries are being dashed by diminishing returns for its Halle Berry drama Extant.

Wednesday’s latest episode ran second overall in its 9 p.m. slot with 120,722 D-FW viewers while Fox4’s competing local newscast took the gold (156,229 viewers).

But among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Extant drooped to fourth in the 9 p.m. hour with just 19,540 viewers. That’s a smaller haul in this key demographic than even The CW’s 7 p.m. episode of Penn & Teller: Fool Us, a recycled British production that was canceled two summers ago. No fooling, Penn & Teller had 22,797 viewers in the 18-to-49 age range.

The 7 p.m. episode of CBS’ Big Brother made the night’s best showing among 18-to-49-year-olds with 81,418. That’s more than four times as many as Extant managed. NBC’s 8 p.m. hour of America’s Got Talent finished close behind Big Brother with 78,161 viewers in the 18-to-49 measurement.

On Tuesday night, AGT and the closing two hours of ABC’s CMA Festival squared off from 8 to 10 p.m. The NBC talent competition won both rounds, drawing 248,546 total viewers vs. CMA’s 205,938 while also winning the 18-to-49 war by a score of 94,443 to 65,134.

The CMA’s opening 7 to 8 p.m. hour won across the board, though, beating CBS’ NCIS repeat in total viewers and NBC’s Food Fighters with 18-to-49-year-olds. The respective audience totals for the country music singalong were 234,343 and 78,161 viewers before America’s Got Talent cut into those totals from 8 to 10 p.m.

Here are the local news derby results.

Tuesday -- WFAA8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming).

The Peacock also took the No. 1 spot at 6 a.m. in total viewers, but Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 ran the table at 6 p.m. and added a 5 p.m. win in total viewers. NBC5 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.

Wednesday -- In a repeat of Tuesday, WFAA8 ran first at 10 p.m. in total viewers but NBC5 ranked No. 1 among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. competitions. The 5 p.m. firsts went to CBS11 in total viewers and NBC5 in the 25-to-54 measurement.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 4) -- sleepy summertime in prime-time

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The prime-time ratings dozed off in D-FW Monday, with no show surpassing the 200,000 viewers mark in a market of 7.1 million.

CBS’ 9 p.m. episode of Under the Dome made the best overall showing with 170,431 viewers. Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Fox’s 7 p.m. hour of Masterchef ranked No. 1 with 61,877 viewers.

The 7 to 9 p.m. premiere of ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise drew 113,621 total viewers, with 39,080 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Over on FX, the two-episode launch of Partners, starring Kelsey Grammer and Martin Lawrence as squabbling lawyers, drew 28,405 and 21,304 total viewers from 8 to 9 p.m. Subsequent repeats pretty much held those audiences. But Partners did better business with 18-to-49-year-olds with its midnight to 1 a.m. showings than with its initial 8 to 9 p.m. run.

The biggest prime-time bomb among the Big Four broadcast networks, ABC’s 9 p.m. episode of Mistresses, had just 42,608 total viewers and 6,513 in the 18-to-49 measurement.

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m., surpassing Under the Dome with 177,533. NBC5 won among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 otherwise rolled, sweeping the 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m. competitions in both ratings measurements.

Here’s something else. The total viewers for the 10 p.m. newscasts on NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 all surpassed their networks’ highest-rated programs. NBC5 and WFAA8 also drew more 18-to-49-year-olds at 10 p.m. than any of the prime-time offerings on either NBC or ABC.

News directors can always use a little extra ammunition when it comes to local ratings pictures. Monday provided it.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 1-3) -- Cowboys Blue/White scrimmage sacked in Sunday numbers

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
It used to be the Dallas Cowboys could collectively burp and draw a sizable TV crowd in D-FW. Not so on Sunday.

TXA21’s 5 to 7 p.m. live telecast of the team’s Blue/White scrimmage from training camp ranked as the station’s most-watched program of the day. But that’s not saying much when just 49,709 viewers tune in for the play-by play from Babe Laufenberg and Bill Jones.

It didn’t help when CBS’ Bridgestone Invitational moved into the path of the Cowboys after a storm delay pushed it to a 6:07 p.m. finish time. For its full hour opposite the Cowboys, Bridgestone averaged 85,216 viewers.

But the Cowboys also were outdrawn from 6 to 7 p.m. by ABC’s 6 p.m. edition of America’s Funniest Videos (134,925 viewers) and NBC’s 5 p.m. Wrestlemania 30 (78,114). And in the 5 to 6 p.m. hour, the Cowboys also ran behind Fox4’s local newscast (99,418), ABC’s network newscast (63,912), WFAA8’s local newscast (99,418) and NBC’s 5:30 p.m. newscast (92,317).

Sunday’s biggest sports draw, by a wide margin, was NBC’s prime-time Hall of Fame pre-season game between the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills. It won its time slot from 7 to 10 p.m. with an average of 213,039 viewers.

The Cowboys’ scrimmage also fared poorly among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, with just 9,770 viewers in this key demographic. TXA21’s Sunday afternoon movie, Seven Pounds, fared better with 13,029 viewers in this age range. So did the station’s 10 p.m. rerun of King of Queens and 11:30 repeat of Rules of Engagement. Both drew 19,540 viewers in the 18-to-49 measurement.

NBC’s Giants-Bills game led all Sunday programming among 18-to-49-year-olds with 100,958 of ‘em. For those keeping score, that’s more than 10 times the number the Cowboys had.

In Friday’s Nielsens, Cleveland’s blowout of the increasingly inept Texas Rangers averaged 92,317 total viewers on TXA21, with 26,054 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

In an extreme rarity, the 10 p.m. competition in total viewers ended in a four-way tie for first place among Fox4, NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11. Fox4 nipped NBC5 for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 ran the table at both 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and WFAA8 with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

WFAA8 reporter Teresa Woodard is latest to join PR world

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Teresa Woodard, who quickly established herself as one of WFAA8’s standout reporters after joining the station in March 2012, will be leaving to take a public relations position with an educational software company.

In an email to WFAA8 staffers obtained by unclebarky.com, news director Carolyn Mungo said that Woodard’s last day will be August 22nd.

Mungo praised Woodard as “one of the best storytellers in the business.”

“It’s a loss for us and for our viewers,” she added. “Her stories informed, inspired, and on so many occasions, moved us to tears. All signs of a great storyteller.”

Woodard, a Dallas native and Texas A&M grad, joined WFAA8 from Fox affiliate KTVI-TV in St. Louis, where she had worked since 2005.

Numerous WFAA8 reporters have quit the station in recent year to take public relations posts. They include Brad Watson, Craig Civale, Chris Hawes, Steve Stoler, Cynthia Vega and Casey Norton.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

WFAA8 puts up stop sign for Daybreak traffic reporter Shane Allen (updated with information on a surprise "different direction" he referenced)

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
It’s a no-go for Shane Allen.

WFAA8 has dropped him as its early morning Daybreak traffic reporter after a stint that began in March when incumbent Alexa Conomos joined Ron Corning at the program’s anchor desk and eventually was named to that position full-time.

Allen, who also has worked as a researcher on NBC5’s investigative team, posted the news on his Facebook page, saying that Friday was “my last day on air at WFAA.”

“The station has decided to go (in) a different direction for traffic reports, and I have to respect that,” Allen said. “I hope you’ll welcome the new person with the same kind words you did me. I wish WFAA nothing but the best.”

WFAA8 news director Carolyn Mungo has not responded to an email asking who the new person will be. That’s not unusual, but this time there may be another reason beyond management’s overall disinclination to share information with unclebarky.com.

Several sources say -- and this is not a joke -- that WFAA8 plans to replace Allen as traffic reporter with a “uniformed cop” with no previous television experience. Several applicants have auditioned for the position, but it’s not known whether a decision has been made yet. Some WFAA8 staffers are more than a little apprehensive about what this might do to the station’s reputation. But it’s always best to wait and see how it all comes off on the air.

Weekend traffic reporter Marlene Hilton filled in on the Monday, Aug. 4th Daybreak.

Daybreak ranked third in the early morning ratings in the May “sweeps,” behind Fox4 and NBC5.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., July 30-31) -- The Quest's a bust while Fox4's 9 p.m. news keeps flexing

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
ABC’s The Quest, a medieval fanboy/girl version of Survivor, suffered the slings and arrows of crummy ratings with Thursday’s debut.

It drew 71,013 D-FW viewers in the 7 p.m. hour, trailing CBS’ competing repeat comedy combo of The Big Bang Theory (220,140 viewers) and The Miller (134,928).

Still, ABC might have been buoyed a bit by an overall distant second place finish in the 7 p.m. hour were it not for The Quest’s dismal showing among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. It drooped to fourth in this key measurement, trailing the CBS sitcoms, NBC’s Hollywood Game Night and Fox’s Sleepy Hollow rerun. In fact, The Quest’s total haul of 18-to-49-year-olds -- 16,284 -- wasn’t that much better than TXA21’s 7 p.m. rerun of The Wild, Wild West (9,770).

CBS’ Big Brother won at 8 p.m. in both ratings measurements before Fox4’s local newscast swept the 9 p.m. hour and drew more viewers than BB in both ratings measurements.

It continues to be a profitable summer for Fox4’s prime-time newser, which also won its 9 p.m. slot in impressive fashion on Wednesday night. In that case it faced new drama series episodes on ABC, NBC and CBS, including the latter network’s heavily promoted, Halle Berry-starring Extant. Here are the four-way scorecards:

Total Viewers

Fox4’s news -- 184,634
Extant -- 177,533
Motive (ABC) -- 127,823
Taxi Brooklyn (NBC) -- 120,722

18-to-49-Year-Olds

Fox4’s news -- 84,674
Motive -- 35,824
Extant -- 32,567
Taxi Brooklyn -- 49,709

D-FW ratings were not available for SyFy’s Sharknado 2: The Second One, which averaged 3.9 million total viewers nationally Wednesday and 1.6 million in the 18-to-49 demographic. Those are nice numbers for SyFy, but almost assuredly not big enough for the Twitter phenom to beat Fox4’s news locally in either measurement.

Wednesday’s biggest prime-time draw, NBC’s 8 p.m. hour of America’s Got Talent, had close to three times as many total viewers nationally as Sharknado 2 did while also outdrawing it by a comfortable margin among 18-to-49-year-olds. But Fox4’s 9 p.m. news still had more 18-to-49-year-olds in D-FW than AGT.

Also of note: CBS11’s syndicated Wheel of Fortune, which airs at 6:30 p.m. before prime-time kicks in, led all D-FW programming in total viewers on both Wednesday and Thursday. And even though its ratings droop considerably among 18-to-49-year-olds, it also handily beat the three competing rag mags -- ET, Extra, Access Hollywood -- in that key measurement.

WFAA8 willingly coughed up Wheel in fall 2005, citing its older audience demographics as the primary reason for inserting Entertainment Tonight in the 6:30 p.m. slot. Nine years later, Wheel may well be the primary reason why CBS11’s 6 p.m. newscasts continue to be competitive in the total viewers measurement. “Lead-outs” sometimes can be as important as “lead-ins.” And while waiting for Wheel to air, a sizable number of D-FW viewers likely are still “warming up” their sets by watching CBS11 news. They may be mostly older, but they’re still warm bodies. And nine years after moving from WFAA8 to CBS11, Wheel shows absolutely no signs of rolling over and playing dead.

OK, here are the four-way local news derby results:

Wednesday -- CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 led among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions. At 6 p.m., CBS11 won in total viewers but was edged among 25-to-54-year-olds by Fox4 and NBC5 (which tied for the top spot).

The 5 p.m. golds went to NBC5 in total viewers and WFAA8 in the 25-to-54 demographic.

Thursday -- Fox4 ran the table at both 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. while CBS11 notched twins at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. firsts went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.

LOCAL TV NOTE: The departing flights continue at KTXD-TV (Ch. 47). As previously reported, the station’s flagship locally produced program, The Broadcast, is losing firecracker Suzie Humphreys, who signed off on the Friday, Aug. 1st edition. Another charter member of The Broadcast’s initial quartet of women, Courtney Kerr, will be leaving sometime in August, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Robert Philpot.

The Broadcast also will be cut in half to its original one-hour length to make room for new syndicated programming coming this fall. Whether anyone will notice is debatable. Currently airing from 9 to 11 a.m. weekdays and repeated from 4 to 6 p.m., The Broadcast almost always registers “hashmarks” (no measurable audience) in the daily Nielsen ratings reports.

KTXD, which abruptly laid off at least 10 off-camera staffers last month, also will be losing vice president and general manager Brian Joyce in August. He’ll join his old London Broadcasting boss, Phil Hurley, at Gannett Company, Inc., which earlier this year bought six London stations in smaller markets throughout Texas. London continues to own KTXD, but for how long is an open question.

Late last year, Gannett also took control of Dallas-based WFAA8. Hurley, who’s now a senior vice president with Gannett, is managing the six Texas stations purchased from London. Hurley said he’s still headquartered in the old downtown “Belo Tower,” but soon will relocate to WFAA8 offices after remodeling is finished. Belo had owned WFAA8 for virtually the station’s entire existence, but unloaded all of its TV properties to Gannett in a surprise deal last year.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net