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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Aug. 30) -- splitting the prime-time spoils

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
It was a three-way in prime-time Wednesday, with NBC, CBS and Fox all on top at various points.

NBC’s America’s Got Talent led all programming in total D-FW viewers, amassing 283,573 in the 7 p.m. hour. But CBS’ competing Big Brother easily bested AGT among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, pulling in 102,627.

Fox’s 8 p.m. hour of Masterchef couldn’t come close to matching either of those numbers, but still won its time slot with 123,609 total viewers and 51,314 in the 18-to-49 age range.

Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast, still devoted to coverage of Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath, then trampolined to 247,217 total viewers and 102,627 in the 18-to-49 realm. In the key 18-to-49 demographic, that more than tripled the total for any competing 9 p.m. program.

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

TEGNA8 won in total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 also swept the 6 a.m. competitions and narrowly drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.

NBC5 won in total viewers at 5 p.m. and added a 6 p.m. first with 25-to-54-year-olds. TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon.-Tues., Aug. 28-29) -- NBC reality competitions, Fox4 news split prime-time spoils

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s “reality competition” regulars, American Ninja Warrior and America’s Got Talent, controlled the first two hours of prime-time on Monday and Tuesday before audiences shifted to Fox4’s Hurricane Harvey-infused 9 p.m. local newscasts.

AGT hit Tuesday’s high with 312,657 D-FW viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. while also leading those two hours with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (70,556).

Fox4 was tops in total viewers at 9 p.m. with 189,048 and scored Tuesday’s prime-time high among 18-to-49-year-olds (76,970) before the station’s late-night 10 p.m. news took it up a notch to 83,385 viewers in the key 18-to-49 age range.

The Texas Rangers, transplanted to Tampa Bay for their 10-2 win against the Houston Astros, drew a deflated crowd of 87,253 total viewers on Fox Sports Southwest.

In Monday’s prime-time Nielsens, the Peacock network’s Ninja Warrior drew the most total viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. (159,964) and also won among 18-to-49-year-olds with 76,970 viewers.

Fox4’s 9 p.m. news then set the prime-time high in total viewers (203,591) while also again winning its time slot with 18-to-49-year-olds (60,935).

Over on Bravo, the third episode of Real Housewives of Dallas’s second season again drew little attention in the 9 p.m. hour. It had 40,718 total viewers, falling from the 48,716 for Bravo’s preceding dollop of Real Housewives of Orange County. Among 18-to-49-year-olds, RHOD had 19,884 viewers and Orange County, 26,298.

Here are the local news derby results.

Monday -- TEGNA8 scored twin wins at 10 p.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. firsts went to TEGNA8 in total viewers and NBC5 with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Tuesday -- Fox4 and TEGNA8 tied for the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but Fox4 dominated among 25-to-54-year-olds.

The 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. sweeps again respectively went to Fox4 and NBC5. At 6 p.m., NBC5 led in total viewers and Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 25-27) -- Cowboys' "dress rehearsal" dresses down

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ “dress rehearsal” game, in which a majority of starters played the first half, hit a wrinkle in Saturday night’s D-FW Nielsen ratings.

Running until 10:11 on CBS11, Dallas’ 24-20 win over the visiting Oakland Raiders averaged 479,893 viewers and 131,491 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range. That’s a sizable dip from the 559,875 total viewers and 192,416 in the 18-to-49 demographic for the previous weekend’s home win against the Indianapolis Colts.

CBS’ official nationally televised game, the Los Angeles Rams vs the newly transplanted Los Angeles Chargers, was sent over to sister station TXA21 with predictable results. It drew a sub-measly 7,271 total viewers and 3,207 in the 18-to-49 realm.

On Sunday, Dallasite Jordan Spieth’s big stumble in the final round of the Northern Trust Open peaked between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m. on CBS. The lone overtime hole featuring premiere players Spieth and Dustin Johnson had 159,964 total viewers. Johnson overcame a five-stroke lead by Spieth to win with a closing birdie.

Earlier Sunday, ABC’s Little League World Series championship game between victorious Japan and U.S. finalist Lufkin, Texas averaged 87,253 total viewers. Japan overcame a 2-0 first inning deficit to “run rule” Lufkin 12-2.

Also of note: TEGNA8’s extended 10 p.m. local newscast, devoted to storm-ravaged Houston and surrounding areas, led all Sunday programming with 283,573 total viewers. Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast drew the day’s second largest audience with 239,946 viewers.

In Friday’s prime-time Nielsens, Fox4’s storm-heavy 9 p.m. news topped all programming with 247,217 total viewers. It also drew the most 18-to-49-year-olds (80,178).

Here are Friday’s four-way local news derby results.

TEGNA8 placed first at 10 p.m. in total viewers while Fox4 won with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 also had the most total viewers at 6 a.m. but was narrowly beaten by NBC5 among 25-to-54-year-olds.

The Peacock ran the table at 5 p.m. and drew the most total viewers at 6 p.m. Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Aug. 24) -- more Brother-ly love

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ Big Brother made the competition cry uncle Thursday by easily pacing the prime-time Nielsens.

Airing in the 8 p.m. hour, BB drew 218,133 D-FW viewers and 99,429 in the sainted 18-to-49-year-old age range, which most advertisers covet.

CBS also won from 7 to 8 p.m. in both ratings measurements with repeats of The Big Bang Theory and Kevin Can Wait. Fox4’s local newscast then stormed into view at 9 p.m., with its Hurricane Harvey-centric coverage handily winning the hour with 152,693 total viewers and 44,899 in the 18-to-49 realm. That doubled the audience for any competing program on the Big Four broadcast networks.

Another Thursday night BB, ABC’s Boy Band, again bombed as the network’s lead-off hitter with a pair of fourth place finishes. But it was a Goliath compared to CW33’s 9 p.m. hour of NewsFix, which explored new vistas in teeny tiny with 727 total viewers and 641 in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

Here are Thursday’s four-way local news derby results.

TEGNA8 led at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 likewise swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 flexed with twin wins at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Aug. 23) -- AGT, Big Bro are prime-time's top draws

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Summertime’s “reality-competition” kings, NBC’s America’s Got Talent and CBS’ Big Brother traded blows Wednesday in their 7 p.m. face-off.

AGT had prime-time’s biggest haul of total D-FW viewers with 247,217 while BB topped all TV attractions in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old age range with 93,006.

Fox’s Masterchef cooked the competition in the 8 p.m. hour with dual time slot wins in total viewers (152,693) and 18-to-49-year-olds (57,728). Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast then came up bigger, sweeping the hour with 225,404 total viewers and 70,556 in the 18-to-49 realm.

CBS’ 8 p.m. entry, the disaster series Salvation, again lost the bulk of BB’s lead-in crowd, particularly among 18-to-49-year-olds. Salvation’s paltry 6,414 viewers in this key demographic amounted to barely one-fifteenth the size of its inherited audience.

And now for Wednesday’s local news derby results.

Fox4 cruised to easy wins at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). The station also swept the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. races.

At 6 p.m., TEGNA8 had the most total viewers and NBC5 won with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Aug. 22) -- AGT, Trump speech are prime-time pacesetters

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s two-hour America’s Got Talent as usual drew prime-time’s biggest crowd Tuesday before President Trump took over with a histrionic, free-form speech before thousands of his acolytes in Phoenix.

AGT weighed in with 305,386 D-FW viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. and also topped all programming among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds with 76,970 viewers.

The President’s speech, in which he at length branded almost all media as evil-doers (save for Fox News Channel), was most-watched on -- Fox News Channel. During the 9 to 10 p.m. closing hour of prime-time, Trump had 145,422 viewers for FNC’s live coverage, which easily outdrew rivals CNN and MSNBC. His speech began shortly after 9 p.m. and stretched into the 10 p.m. hour. Trump named FNC as the lone network that had been “fair” to him while singling out Sean Hannity and Fox and Friends for special praise.

The aggregate audience on FNC, CNN and MSNBC also made Trump the 9 p.m. winner with 18-to-49-year-olds. But Fox4’s local 9 p.m. newscast had the largest crowd for any single channel with 41,692 viewers in this key demographic.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but Fox4 dominated with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 additionally swept the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 ran first in total viewers at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 21) -- RHOD takes a dip

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The local numbers for last week’s Season 2 premiere weren’t anything to toast with “Jesus juice.” But Episode 2 of Real Housewives of Dallas’ sophomore year might give both the show’s stars and media cheerleaders a reason to scratch their eyes out.

Airing at 9 p.m. on Bravo, RHOD lured just 13,815 D-FW viewers and 6,414 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range. Those are steep drops from the Aug. 14th season opener, which had 43,627 total viewers and 19,243 in the 18-to-49-year-old realm.

The season premiere of RHOD matched the numbers for Bravo’s preceding Real Housewives of Orange County in both ratings measurements. Not so with Episode 2, although Orange County wasn’t much of an attraction either with 21,813 total viewers and 10,904 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

In contrast, Monday’s prime-time leader among entertainment programs, NBC’s American Ninja Warrior, had 167,235 total viewers and 67,349 within the 18-to-49 motherlode.

The Big Four broadcast networks all aired President Trump’s 8 p.m. live speech on Afghanistan, as did CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. Here’s the order of finish in total viewers from 8 to 8:30 p.m.

NBC -- 174,506
ABC/Fox News Channel -- 109,067 each
Fox -- 79,982
CBS -- 72,711
MSNBC -- 43,627
CNN -- 36,356

Finally, let’s look at Monday’s four-way local news derby results.

Fox4 won a downsized 10 p.m. race in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). NBC’s delayed Midnight, Texas bled into NBC5’s late nighter.

Fox4 also had twin wins at 6 a.m. while NBC5 drew the most total viewers at 5 and 6 p.m. The 25-to-54-year-old winners at those hours were Fox4 at 5 p.m. and TEGNA8 at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

NBC5 weather team puts some clever spins on accuracy in notable departure from recent spots

Weather-Team-2017

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Over the years, NBC5’s news and weather promos have tended to be more than a little “countrified,” including the past spring’s big rig/CB radio “Convoy” spot for the station’s meteorology team.

But the Fort Worth-based station’s latest drumbeat might also be its most contemporary. Put together by an in-house creative team headed by Gary Wann, it re-invigorates the D-FW market’s ever-combative weather wars with a deftly orchestrated newsroom spot featuring NBC5’s entire team of temperature takers. They’re variously caught in the acts of precision dart-throwing, ping-pong playing, basketball-spinning and paper wad shooting into a trash can. All six -- Rick Mitchell, David Finfrock, Samantha Davies, Grant Johnston, Brian James and newcomer Keisha Burns -- capably play their parts.

Comedic elements aside, the 30-second ad otherwise touts NBC5’s “Most Accurate” designation by WeatheRate, which touts itself as “the only independent weather forecast verification company in the United States, perhaps even the world.” After comparing a market’s local TV weather forecasts with the resultant actual “observed conditions,” Phoenix-based WeatheRate picks an overall winner -- in this case, NBC5. Results are based on data compiled over a full year, with new results released each June, according to a FAQ section on the WeatheRate website.

The firm also notes that it’s “not affiliated with any TV stations or the companies that own them.” But WeatheRate’s president, meteorologist Bruce A. Fixman, says the company does contact individual winning stations and offers a licensing fee deal allowing them to use WeatheRate’s logo and data in promotional spots. NBC5’s spot mentions WeatheRate and uses its logo at the end. NBC5 vice president of news Mark Ginther confirms that the station did pay WeatherRate a fee for such use.

Early in its existence (the company was created in 2003), WeatheRate was accused of moving on to another station and soliciting a licensing deal if the designated “most accurate” station didn’t want to sign up. But such charges haven’t been made since 2009, and WeatheRate insists that “the second most accurate station is NOT offered the WeatheRate seal of approval. WeatheRate only certifies the station that is truly the most accurate in each city.”

According to WeatherRate’s website, its 2015 and 2016 winner for most accurate forecasts was CBS11. The company did not include D-FW in its surveys before that.

Anyway, now that you’re armed with all of these further details, enjoy the below spot.



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 18-20) -- Cowboys again pony upward

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys’ third preseason game, at home against the Indianapolis Colts, crested past the half-million viewers mark in D-FW Saturday night.

Dallas’ 24-19 win on CBS11 averaged 559,875 viewers and 192,426 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range. That easily surpassed the numbers for Game 2, a 13-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. It pulled in 407,182 total viewers and 121,870 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Playing opposite the Cowboys (and across the street) on Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers’ Saturday night bashing of the Chicago White Sox toiled in relative obscurity with 123,609 total viewers and 25,657 in the 18-to-49 realm.

On Sunday night, CBS’ 7 p.m. episode of Big Brother lead all prime-time attractions with 210,862 total viewers and 105,834 within the 18-to-49 motherlode.

Notice that BB’s haul of 18-to-49-year-olds is right at the 50 percent mark of the show’s total audience while the Cowboys’ crowd continues to be considerably older percentage-wise. Barely one-third of the TV audience for Cowboys-Colts was in the 18-to-49 age range.

In Friday’s Nielsens, a “special” edition of Big Brother again led the prime-time way with 123,609 total viewers and an unusually low 41,692 in the 18-to-49 age range.

And now, here are Friday’s local news derby results.

NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. competitions in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). The Peacock also scored twin wins at 6 a.m.

Fox4 chimed in with 5 and 6 p.m. firsts among 25-to-54-year-olds and tied NBC5 for the total viewers top spot at 5 p.m. NBC5 won outright in total viewers at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Aug. 17) -- a CBS island unto itself

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ Big Brother again towered over the D-FW prime-time ratings Thursday -- and pretty amazingly so.

Here are the network’s decidedly up-and-down Nielsen numbers.

In total viewers, CBS’ opening rerun of The Big Bang Theory drew 116,338 before a Kevin Can Wait repeat slipped to 101,795.

BB then pole vaulted to 225,404 viewers before a new episode of CBS’ Zoo burrowed into last place among the Big Four broadcast networks with just 43,627 viewers.

The disparities were even more pronounced among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, a demographic that CBS has long found elusive.

Big Bang had 35,278 viewers in the 18-to-49 realm, with Kevin Can Wait falling to 19,243. Bang-zoom, BB then skyrocketed to 109,041 viewers in this bread-buttering measurement before Zoo fizzled out with 12,828.

ABC continued to scrape bottom in the 7 to 8 p.m. hour with Boy Band, which had a puny 36,356 total viewers and a sub-speck of 18-to-49-year-olds (1,604). Even The CW’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us, which is quite entertaining actually, squashed the competing Boy Band with 16,036 viewers of the 18-to-49 persuasion.

NBC’s The Wall won from 7 to 8 p.m. in both ratings barometers, as did Fox4’s local 9 p.m. newscast among the Big Four broadcasters.

In the cable universe on Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers’ marathon win over the Chicago White Sox grew in strength as the night wore on, peaking at 196,320 viewers in every quarter-hour between 10 and 11 p.m.

Here are Thursday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 swept the 10 p.m. competitions with wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

NBC5 ran the table at 6 a.m. and Fox4 did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. firsts were split between NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Show runner Matt Nix wanted to stay, but in the end Fox nixed Dallas and turned to Atlanta as the future home of The Gifted (updated)

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Mom, dad & their Marvel-ized mutant kids in The Gifted. Fox photo

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
It’s not as if the world needs yet another movie or series bearing the Marvel brand.

But D-FW and the Dallas Film Commission certainly could have used Fox’s The Gifted as both an economy- and morale-booster.

Instead, despite show runner Matt Nix’s best efforts, the mutant-rich drama series has relocated to Georgia (specifically Atlanta) for future episodes after the pilot was filmed earlier this year in Dallas. The culprit? Mainly tax incentives. Georgia has them in abundance. Texas lately does not -- and increasingly is paying a price while the nearby Peach state is now a mecca for film and TV production.

In an interview with unclebarky.com following Fox’s Beverly Hills-based “press tour” panel for The Gifted, Nix said that incentives were “certainly a factor. I don’t know all of the details of the decision to move the show out of Dallas. They (Fox) said, ‘Look at the numbers’ blah blah blah. When they say ‘look at the numbers,’ a lot of that is taxes.” (Fox Television co-chair and CEO Dana Walden earlier said economics were the overriding reason for The Gifted’s evacuation.)

Nix said it was his idea to film in Dallas after a far lengthier stay in the city for Fox’s 2010 comedy cop series The Good Guys, which co-starred Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks. It got canceled after 20 episodes, but originated entirely from North Texas.

“I love shooting in Dallas,” he said. “It’s not an over-shot city. It’s really an underrated location.”

Many local crew members from The Good Guys were re-gathered by Nix for The Gifted. “The Good Guys was such a great experience,” he said. “The first day (on the set of The Gifted), the second catering assistant came up and gave me a big hug. Everybody was wearing their Good Guys gear. Dallas is such a fun, friendly city, and the crews are great. And I really loved it.”

The pilot for The Gifted, screened earlier this month during press tour, has been virtually scrubbed clean of all things North Texas. Remaining, though, is a reference to Garland and a few scenes from the “Garland Detention Center.” Nix said that an earlier “alt-version” tried Lubbock on for size, but “we figured more people would know that’s in Texas.”

Via email Wednesday, longtime Dallas Film Commissioner Janis Burklund said, “It was indeed VERY disappointing to lose them. We felt like we had a really good thing going given that Matt very much likes (Dallas) and wanted to be here.”

Before The Gifted’s post-Dallas destination was known, Burklund had told The Dallas Observer that “the show was not only going to spend more than $25 million in six months, but it was going to potentially last for years.”

Fox was on a “very tight timeline,” though, Burklund said. “It’s a big show. They had lots of sets to build and things to get ready. They also had an air date, and they delayed it as long as they could. But they had to make a decision because the (state) legislature wasn’t done doing their stuff” (regarding both any approval of tax incentives and a then pending “bathroom bill” which finally was killed this week).

Fox initially has ordered 10 episodes of The Gifted, which is scheduled to premiere on Monday, Oct. 2nd in tandem with the network’s returning Lucifer.

The series will have plenty of company in a bullish state where film and TV production reportedly had a record tax incentive-driven “economic impact” of $7.2 billion in fiscal year July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.

Besides The Gifted, upcoming new series being filmed in Georgia include Fox’s The Resident, NBC’s Good Girls, The CW’s Valor, Black Lightening and its Dynasty reboot, ABC’s retitled Kevin (Probably) Saves the World and Netflix’s Insatiable and The Haunting.

Georgia also is home to a wealth of returning series, including AMC’s The Walking Dead, FX’s Atlanta, CBS’ Macgyver, Fox’s Star and CW’s The Originals.

Additionally, at least 17 feature films and 11 “reality” series have set up shop in Georgia.

For now, the Dallas Film Commission mostly is licking wounds from series that got away or pilots that never made it to the next level. That includes the Reese Witherspoon-produced Broken, which was filmed in the city last year with an imposing cast that included Anna Paquin (as a “ruthless” Dallas divorce attorney), Blair Underwood and Penelope Ann Miller.

But ABC took a pass after seeing the pilot for Broken. And now The Gifted has gone thataway to deepen a slump that began when TNT abruptly canceled its new version of Dallas in 2014 after a three-season run that ended with an unresolved cliffhanger.

Burklund notes at least one bright spot beneath these otherwise gloomy skies. The first two seasons of USA network’s Queen of the South were filmed in Dallas and surrounding areas. USA recently picked up Queen for a third season, but it’s “yet to be seen,” Burklund said, whether the show will remain here or be lured elsewhere.

Given the state legislature’s intransigence when it comes to increasing tax incentives for filmmakers, just about everything is anything but a done deal these days.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Aug. 16) -- Big Bro keeps reigning while NBC enjoys solid start for Marlon

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ latest hour of Big Brother again dominated in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic Wednesday by nearly doubling the audience for NBC’s competing America’s Got Talent.

The network’s annual summertime collection of bickering, mostly empty-headed “houseguests” drew 105,834 D-FW viewers in the 18-to-49 realm while AGT ran a distant second in the 7 p.m. hour with 54,521.

AGT edged BB in total viewers, though, by a score of 269,031 to 239,946. But networks of all sizes would much rather load up with 18-to-49-year-olds in pursuit of “premium” advertising rates. And close to half of BB’s viewership hit that sweet spot compared to barely 20 percent for AGT.

NBC’s 8 to 9 p.m. double-shot premiere of Marlon Wayans’ new sitcom, Marlon, won both half-hours in both audience measurements in competition among the Big Four broadcast networks. And despite falling substantially from AGT in total viewers, Marlon nearly equaled its lead-in’s 18-to-49-year-old numbers. The first half-hour of Marlon fared the best in total viewers with 174,506; both episodes performed equally among 18-to-49-year-olds with 51,314.

ABC’s three-hour CMA Festival lagged with 94,524 total viewers and just 22,450 in the 18-to-49 demographic. But this was still good enough to whip CBS’ two-hour episode of Salvation, which fell to 65,440 total viewers and a paltry 12,828 within the 18-to-49 motherlode.

Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast continued to hold up decently in the summertime heat, beating ABC, CBS and NBC in total viewers with 123,609 and tying NBC’s Law & Order: SVU with 18-to-49-year-olds (28,864 each).

In the cable universe, the rallying Texas Rangers’ pursuit of a post-season wild card spot continued to bolster the numbers for Fox Sports Southwest. The hometown nine’s win over the Detroit Tigers averaged a solid 167,235 total viewers and 35,278 in the 18-to-49 realm. The 8 to 10 p.m. portion of the game topped all prime-time programming in total viewers and also won the 9 p.m. hour among 18-to-49-year-olds.

Lastly, here are Wednesday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but NBC5 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 scored twin wins at 6 a.m. and the Peacock did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. golds went to TEGNA8 in total viewers and NBC5 among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Aug. 15) -- NBC crunches all but one

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC’s America’s Got Talent again ruled two-thirds of the prime-time landscape Tuesday before the Peacock’s Hollywood Game Night almost finished the deal.

AGT averaged a league-leading 334,471 D-FW viewers in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot while also ranking as the night’s top draw with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds (86,592).

Game Night then topped the 9 p.m. field with 174,506 total viewers but was edged by Fox4’s competing local newscast in the 18-to-49 realm (51,314 viewers to 44,899).

Sent to Fox Sports 1 rather than their usual Fox Sports Southwest home, the lately resurgent Texas Rangers’ home win over Detroit averaged 116,338 total viewers. Texas remains in the wild card race while Joey Gallo continues to deliver big bops in pursuit of the American League home run crown. He now has 34 in a hot August for him while slumping Aaron Judge (did he screw up his swing in the All-Star game’s home run derby?) is now just two ahead of Gallo.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 and NBC5 shared the lead among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

It was another split decision at 6 a.m., with Fox4 tops in total viewers but the Peacock winning in the 25-to-54 demographic.

NBC5 recorded Tuesday’s only sweep with twin wins at 6 p.m. Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the most total viewers at 5 p.m. while Fox4 narrowly had first place to itself in the 25-to-54 mix.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Catching up on D-FW's TV news developments

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In the news: Jean-Jacques Taylor, Gabriel Roxas & Ron Corning.

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Your friendly content provider has just returned from 16 days worth of the Television Critics Association “press tour” in Southern California. And boy, are my mental faculties tired.

Still, it’s time to catch up on local TV news developments while also urging readers to check out the entire press tour collection of 14 stories right here on tvworthwatching.com. OK, here we go:

***NBC5 has added Jean-Jacques Taylor to its sports staff, where he’ll be the designated “Cowboys Insider” in time for the team’s Sept. 10th regular season opener at home against the New York Giants.

In a social media post, the former sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News says he’s “pumped” to be included “on all of Ch. 5’s platforms, whether I”m writing columns, news or on-air.”

Taylor said he’ll continue co-hosting J Dub City with Will Chambers from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays on ESPN Dallas radio (103.3 FM).

“Six great years of working with a collection of talented reporters and editors at ESPN positioned me to land a fantastic opportunity like this,” Taylor said. He’l be joining longtime head sports anchor Newy Scruggs and reporter/anchor Pat Doney and “making it do what it do,” as Taylor put it.

***CBS11 and reporter Garbriel Roxas have parted ways after his two-and-a-half-year stint with the station. Roxas’ last day was on Sunday, July 23rd, director of communications Lori Conrad confirms.

Roxas since has joined Plano-based The Karahan Companies as director of consumer engagement, he said via a Twitter message. Karahan specializes in real estate development, property management and investments.

There’s no word yet on a replacement for Roxas at CBS11. He joined the station in December 2014 from Sacramento’s ABC affiliate station, KXTV-TV (News 10) after earlier stints at TV stations in Yakima, WA and Lexington, KY.

***This is the opposite of a lucky break. Ron Corning, co-anchor of TEGNA8’s early morning Daybreak program since April 2011, recently “wiped out on a slippery concrete deck” during a house tour in Santa Fe, NM.

As Corning further reports on an August 13th Facebook post, he “came down squarely on my left knee.” Three hours of surgery later, he found himself in a full straight leg cast for a minimum of six weeks.

“No driving, months of rehab, out of work for the week, all travel canceled -- that’s the long and short of it,” Corning writes. “You just never know how quickly life can throw us a curve ball. Thanks to my friends here (in Santa Fe) who gave up all their plans to see me through this, my WFAA family for their support , and everyone back home who has stepped up to help me when I get back.”

In a text message Tuesday, Corning said, “Yeah, it was a nasty fall. And life-halting for now. Probably a long road ahead of rehab. Trying not to get too down about it.”

We wish him a full and quick recovery here at unclebarky.com.

***”HD Chopper 8” is no more, at least as a separate entity. Sources tell unclebarky.com that TEGNA8 is selling its helicopter as the result of a corporate budget-trimming mandate. The station is now time-sharing a Robinson R66 flying machine with Fox4 and CBS11 via Sky Helicopters at the Garland/DFW Heliport. NBC5 continues to lease a Robinson 44 chopper through Sky Helicopters.

TEGNA8 president and general manager Mike Devlin has a standing “no comment” policy with unclebarky.com. Sources say he had to make the tough choice to bid adieu to HD Chopper 8, ending the station’s long run as the only D-FW TV news station with its own, independently owned helicopter.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Aug. 14) -- return of RHOD registers a pulse (updated)

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Bravo’s Season 2 premiere of Real Housewives of Dallas lit a little ratings flame Monday night in the D-FW Nielsens.

The 9 p.m. return drew 43,627 viewers, matching its lead-in audience from Bravo’s Real Housewives of Orange County. Both shows also replicated one another with 19,243 viewers in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic. And on little Bravo, the numbers in both ratings measurements were good enough to lead all of the network’s Monday programming.

Monday’s overall top draw, the Texas Rangers-Detroit Tigers game on Fox Sports Southwest, averaged 152,693 total viewers and 167,235 during the 9 to 10 p.m. hour opposite RHOD.

The top scorer with 18-to-49-year-olds was NBC’s 7 to 9 p.m. edition of American Ninja Warrior, which had 67,349 viewers in this key demographic.

All four of the Big Four broadcast networks’ 9 p.m. attractions drew more total viewers than RHOD. But Bravo’s collection of six catty, acidic North Texas posers (four of them returnees from the low-rated Season 1) beat both ABC’s The Gong Show and CBS’ CBSN on Assignment in the 9 p.m. fight for 18-to-49-year-olds.

(The national ratings for RHOD turned out to be pretty grim in comparison. Monday’s Season 2 premiere drew just 843,000 viewers and logged a .3 rating in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic. That’s basically half the crowd for Bravo’s preceding Real Housewives of Orange County, which had 1.656 million viewers and a .6 rating among 18-to-49-year-olds.)

Also within the Big Four broadcast net universe, NBC’s 9 p.m. attraction, the new Midnight, Texas, continued to perform decently with solid second place finishes in both ratings measurements. Excluding that portion of the Rangers game, Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast was the 9 p.m. winner in total viewers and with 18-to-49-year-olds.

And now here we go with Monday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 stayed strong at 10 p.m. with wins in total viewers and among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and also won at 5 and 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 realm. NBC5 was tops in total viewers for both early evening newscasts.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Aug. 11-13) -- it's the Cowboys as always

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Hello, unclebarky.com readers. I’m newly returned from the annual summer TV critics “press tour” to discover that nothing has changed. A meaningless Dallas Cowboys pre-season game very easily led the weekend ratings parade.

Airing on CBS11 from 8:08 to 11:09 p.m. Saturday, the Cowboys’ 13-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams averaged 407,182 D-FW viewers, with 121,870 of them in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

The day’s next highest overall scorer, NBC5’s 10 p.m. local newscast, had 181,778 total viewers and 54,521 in the 18-to-49-year-old measurement.

Sunday’s final round of the PGA championship on CBS found young Texan Justin Thomas winning his first major while Dallasite Jordan Spieth finished far back. It averaged just 87,253 total viewers and 22,450 in the 18-to-49-year-old age range. In contrast, Fox4’s 9 p.m. news drew 159,964 total viewers and 38,485 in the 18-to-49 realm.

In Friday’s prime-time Nielsens, CBS’ 9 p.m. jailhouse interview with “Son of Sam” killer David Berkowitz bombed with 43,627 total viewers following CBS’ repeat of Blue Bloods (prime-time’s highest scorer with 109,067 viewers). Just 3,207 of the SOS viewers were 18-to-49-year-olds, giving Berkowitz the time slot lows in both measurements among the Big Four broadcast networks.

Here are Friday’s four-way local news derby results.

TEGNA8 had a nice time at 10 p.m. with wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 ran first at 6 a.m. in total viewers while tying NBC5 for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds.

The Peacock swept the 5 p.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. win in total viewers. Fox4 logged the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net