powered by FreeFind

Apple iTunes

Archives

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Jan. 30) -- nice night for The Bachelor

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Smelling like a rose again in the D-FW ratings, ABC’s The Bachelor led all prime-time programming Monday in both total viewers and advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

The total viewers haul was 167,235, with 70,556 in the 18-to-49 realm. Those are by no means blockbuster numbers, but wins are wins.

Fox4s local newscast then won the 9 p.m. hour in total viewers (152,693) while ABC’s competing Quantico led with 18-to-49-year-olds (48,107).

NBC’s latest two-hour dose of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Celebrity Apprentice again was a loss leader among the Big Four broadcast networks. It outdrew only Fox’s 7 p.m. episode of Gotham in total viewers while trailing everything except CBS’ 7:30 p.m. repeat of Kevin Can Wait in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Here are Monday’s local news derby numbers.

TEGNA8 won in total viewers at 10 p.m. and CBS11 had the most 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the top spot in total viewers at 6 a.m., but the Peacock had first place to itself with 25-to-54-year-olds.

NBC5 swept the 6 p.m. competitions and added a 5 p.m. win in the 25-to-54 measurement. Fox4 drew the most total viewers at 5 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Jan. 27-29) -- Pro Bowl beats all

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Any drumbeats to cancel the NFL’s Pro Bowl again were muted Sunday night when the artificial game comfortably outdrew all TV attractions.

The AFC’s 20-13 win over the NFC, shown on ESPN, averaged 312,657 D-FW viewers and 134,698 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age range.

CBS’ 7 p.m. episode of NCIS: Los Angeles was the runner-up in total viewers with 283,573. In the 18-to-49-year-old realm, Fox’s three-hour Miss Universe pageant ran a distant second among all programs with 60,935 viewers.

The highly politicized Screen Actors Guild awards, which aired from 7 to almost 9:15 p.m. on both TBS and TNT, went unseen and unheard in comparison. They drew 43,627 total viewers on TBS and 29,084 on TNT. The 18-to-49 numbers were 19,243 viewers apiece on TNT and TBS.

NBC’s afternoon NHL All-Star game averaged 43,627 total viewers and 28,864 in the 18-to-49 age range. Over on Fox Sports Southwest, the Dallas Mavericks’ upset road win at San Antonio Sunday night managed to pull in 36,356 total viewers and 12,828 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Insomniac sports fans also had a chance to watch the marathon Australian Open tennis final on ESPN, with Roger Federer winning in five sets over Rafael Nadel in a match between two all-time greats that began at 2:30 a.m. and lasted 3 hours, 37 minutes. It averaged 14,542 total viewers, but a very high percentage of them -- 12,828 -- were in the 18-to-49 motherlode.

Let’s move to Friday, where CBS had the most-watched prime-time programs in total viewers with Blue Bloods and Hawaii-Five-0 (174,506 viewers for each). ABC’s Shark Tank led among 18-to-49-year-olds with 57,728.

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

NBC5 was tops at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 ran first in total viewers at 6 a.m., but TEGNA8 won among 25-to-54-year-olds on the last day for traffic anchor Sgt. Nick Bristow.

NBC5 swept the 5 p.m. competitions and added a 6 p.m. win 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 (Tues.-Thurs., Jan. 24-26) -- ABC returns strong with Grey's and company

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
ABC has its own NCIS-like evergreen -- at least in D-FW -- with Grey’s Anatomy.

The resilient hospital drama, now in its 13th season, resumed with new episodes Thursday and led all prime-time programming with 247,217 viewers. The network’s Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, also back with fresh hours, likewise won their time slots.

Better yet for ABC, all three serial soaps likewise ruled with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. Grey’s again led all prime-time attractions with 134,698 viewers in this key demographic.

The CW’s 8 p.m. premiere of Riverdale, a decidedly “adult” version of the Archie comic book series, ran second in its time slot among 18-to-49-year-olds with 28,864 viewers. It didn’t hurt either ABC or The CW that CBS and NBC both offered repeats at that hour while Fox had a first-run episode of My Kitchen Rules.

On Wednesday, it was Fox’s turn to dominate prime-time with Lethal Weapon (the most-watched show in total viewers with 254,489) and Star, which led all programming in the 18-to-49 measurement. Star also won the 8 p.m. slot in total viewers and Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast then was No. 1 across the board. Lethal Weapon faltered among 18-to-49-year-olds, losing to the first hour of CBS’ new Hunted, which then sagged in its second hour.

The aforementioned NCIS was Tuesday’s top prime-time scorer in total viewers with 356,284 before the network’s Bull and NCIS: New Orleans took the 8 to 10 p.m. hours in that realm.

NBC’s 8 p.m. episode of This Is Us again topped all programing in the 18-to-49 age range with 131,491. NCIS: New Orleans also won at 9 p.m. in this measurement while the first half of NCIS and Fox’s The Mick split the golds from 7 to 8 p.m.

Here are the Tuesday through Thursday local news derby results.

Tuesday -- NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

The Peacock likewise swept the 6 a.m. competitions while TEGNA8 drew the most total viewers at 5 and 6 p.m. The 25-to-54 firsts at those hours went to NBC5 at 5 p.m. and Fox4 at 6 p.m.

Wednesday -- TEGNA8 ran first at 10 p.m. in total viewers and tied Fox4 and NBC5 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. CBS11 broke through for a 6 p.m. victory in total viewers, but NBC5 took the 25-to-54 gold. At 5 p.m., NBC5, TEGNA8 and CBS11 tied for the most total viewers while the Peacock was alone in first with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Thursday -- TEGNA8 swept the 10 p.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at 6 a.m. The 6 p.m. winners were TEGNA8 in total viewers and NBC5 in the 25-to-54 realm. The Peacock also crowed with 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m. while tying Fox4 for first place in total viewers.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Sgt. Nick signs off after nearly two-and-a-half years as Daybreak's's traffic anchor (updated)

IMG_1609

Co-anchor Ron Corning held Sgt. Nick’s goodbye cake while he said goodbye to viewers at the end of Friday’s Daybreak. Photo: Ed Bark

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
TEGNA8’s early morning traffic anchor, “Sgt. Nick,” officially hit the road at the end of Friday’s Daybreak program.

“It’s been a great run,” he said repeatedly after a fond farewell that included a chocolate cake and a clip reel of Sgt. Nick (full name Nick Bristow) clowning around by dancing, singing and wearing various wigs.

Unclebarky.com broke the news last week of the station’s decision to part ways with D-FW’s first uniformed traffic anchor after first reporting his hiring in August 2014. As also posted earlier this month, Daybreak likewise will be losing co-news anchor Alexa Conomos, who currently plans to remain with the station until her contract expires in June of this year.

Bristow, who remains with the DeSoto police department, was a corporal when TEGNA8 news director Carolyn Mungo hired him. He had no previous television experience and learned as best he could on the air. Depending on one’s viewpoint, making a man in uniform a part of the Daybreak team was either bold, foolish or puzzling. The program remained third in the overall Nielsen ratings during Bristow’s nearly two-and-a-half-year tenure, but in one “sweeps” period (May 2015) fell to fourth place for the first time ever in the key news demographic of 25-to-54-year-old viewers.

Mungo has long ignored emails from unclebarky.com asking for comment or confirmation of arrivals or departures. According to multiple sources, management also has strongly advised news staffers to do the same. In contrast, management and/or official spokespeople for Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11 generally reply to inquiries from unclebarky.com on personnel moves. They also usually announce on-air or significant management hirings via publicity releases, which TEGNA8 does not do. But the station regularly funnels confirmations and/or comments through its content-sharing partner, Fort Worth’s Star-Telegram, after reports initially are posted on unclebarky.com.

Bristow, who has not returned a message sent last week regarding his departure from TEGNA8, thanked Mungo at the end of Friday’s Daybreak for “having the faith in me to bring me on.”

(Freed from TEGNA8 management constraints, Bristow sent an email reply Saturday morning. “I couldn’t be more proud of my time at WFAA,” he said. “They gave me the opportunity to do something I never dreamed of doing, while having the patience to see me through a steep learning curve. Sorry I didn’t reply sooner.”)

Co-news anchor Ron Corning told viewers that the DeSoto police department has increased Bristow’s responsibilities while TEGNA8 at the same time intends to expand its traffic reporting in other day-parts.

“You just can’t do it all, folks,” he said. “And so it is a little bittersweet” to say goodbye to Bristow.

TEGNA8 has not yet hired a replacement for Bristow, who also was praised via solicited social media responses Friday in a continuous bottom-of-the-screen crawl that ran while he said goodbye. One of the last ones praised his dance moves and added, “You go, Sgt. Nick.”

And now he has. Travel safely.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

CBS11 tabs veteran Andrea Parquet-Taylor as new news director

Board_14_Andrea_Parquet_Taylor

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
After a five-month search, CBS11 has named Andrea Parquet-Taylor as the D-FW station’s new news director.

Incumbent assistant news director Laurie Passman had held that position in the interim after CBS11 dropped Mike Garber in August of last year. Passman will remain with the station, CBS11 communications director Lori Conrad says.

Parquet-Taylor, who is scheduled to join CBS11 in February, has been news director at WNCN-TV, the CBS affiliate in Raleigh-Durham, NC, since 2011. She also has been news director at Detroit’s WXYZ-TV, Baltimore’s WMAR-TV and Raleigh-Durham’s WRAL/WRAZ-TV. She’s been an assistant news director with Houston’s KHOU-TV as well.

“It is an honor to join the talented team at CBS11, which has an outstanding reputation for solid reporting,” Parquet-Taylor says in a CBS11 publicity release. “I’m looking forward to upholding the tradition of excellence by utilizing every asset and plaform to engage and serve the community.”

CBS11 president and general manager Gary Schneider, in announcing the hire, cited Parquet-Taylor’s “extensive experience as a news director and a depth of knowledge that will help further develop our team from a broadcast and digital perspective. She has expertise in producing investigative stories that have substantial impact in the community. She also understands the significant role weather plays in the lives of our viewers here in North Texas.”

Parquet-Taylor has much work to do. CBS11 ended the November “sweeps” ratings period with last place finishes at 6 a.m. and at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. in the key 25-to-54-year-old news demographic. The station’s best showing was third place at 10 p.m. in the total viewers measurement. The February “sweeps” begin on Thursday, Feb. 2nd.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Jan. 23) -- Celebrity Apprentice risks hearing "You will not be back"

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
President Trump’s obsession with crowd sizes can turn back to NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice if he chooses. And this time he won’t be stretching the truth -- at least in D-FW.

The Arnold Schwarzenegger version continued to struggle Monday opposite ABC’s The Bachelor, which comfortably won the 7 to 9 p.m. slot with 196,320 viewers while the two-hour Apprentice drew 130,880. Schwarzenegger and his band of B- and C-listers also were outdrawn by CBS’ 7 to 8:30 p.m. sitcom bloc of Kevin Can Wait, Man With a Plan and 2 Broke Girls but did beat an 8:30 p.m. repeat of The Big Bang Theory.

Celebrity Apprentice also had a bigger crowd than Fox’s Gotham while nipping the network’s 8 p.m. attraction, Lucifer.

Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Celebrity Apprentice beat only two competing shows on the Big Four broadcast networks -- the Big Bang rerun and Gotham.

At 9 p.m., CBS’ Scorpion had the most total viewers (189,049) while Fox4’s local newscast and NBC’s Timeless tied for the top spot with 18-to-49-year-olds (44,899). The Bachelor led all programming in the 18-to-49 demographic with 83,385 viewers.

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

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

The other major battlegrounds also were sweeps. Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. and NBC5 ran the table at both 5 and 6 p.m.

LOCAL TV NEWS NOTE: -- Fox4 Good Day co-anchor Lauren Przybyl, whose problematic pregnancy and subsequent arm fractures were noted earlier in these spaces, says on her Facebook page that she hopes to be back on the air by Feb. 6th if “all goes as planned” with her physical therapy.

“This has been quite a journey,” she writes. “But I’ve tried to look at the bright side of it. I feel more blessed than ever to have sweet friends, a loving family and viewers who put a smile on my face daily with their words of support.”

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Jan. 20-22) -- lopsided NFL championship games result in Nielsen ups/downs

IMG_1608

Former Cowboy Martellus Bennett got his pom poms out and is going to his first Super Bowl as a New England Patriot. Photo: Ed Bark

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
A pair of blowouts Sunday afternoon and evening didn’t put any big dents in the local ratings for both the NFC and AFC championship games. In fact, one of the games did slightly better than last year in D-FW.

The Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots will be going to Super Bowl LI in Houston after respectively pounding the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Falcons’ 44-21 rout of the Packers, which ran from 2:05 to 5:30 p.m. on Fox, averaged 1,141,563 viewers compared to 1,140,266 for the Carolina Panthers’ 49-15 pasting of the Arizona Cardinals in last year’s game. So that’s a very slight bump, even though the NFC had the generally more ratings-friendly late game last January.

On CBS, the Patriots qualified for their record ninth Super Bowl after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17. Running from 5:45 to 8:45 p.m., the game averaged 1,119,749 viewers compared to 1,232,338 for last year’s much closer 20-18 victory by the Denver Broncos over the Patriots.

CBS then waited until 9:08 p.m. to inflict its very contrived new “reality” series Hunted, on local viewers. It averaged roughly 232,675 viewers and lost audience in each 15-minute increment measured by Nielsen Media Research. In comparison, the return of The X-Files following the 2016 NFC championship game on Fox had 446,191 viewers.

On Saturday night, Lifetime’s remake of the 1988 tearjerker feature film Beaches drew 50,898 viewers in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot. But well over half of them -- 35,278 -- were in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age range, so Lifetime is smiling. The AFC/NFC championship games and Hunted all fell well short of the 50 percent mark with their percentages of 18-to-49-year-old viewers.

Much of Friday was devoted to the inauguration of Donald Trump as the nation’s 45th president. Here is the D-FW ratings breakdown in total viewers between 11 a.m. and noon D-FW, when the principal action occurred.

Fox News Channel -- 247,217 viewers
NBC -- 159,964 viewers
CBS -- 138,151 viewers
Fox 109,067 viewers
ABC -- 101,795 viewers
CNN -- 43,627 viewers
MSNBC/PBS -- 7,271 viewers each

Clearly, the “home team,” FNC, dominated compared to its rivals; left-leaning MSNBC barely registered.

In Friday’s prime-time ratings, CBS’ Blue Bloods as usual led in total viewers with 254,489 while BB and Fox4’s competing 9 p.m. local newscast tied for the top spot with 18-to-49-year-olds (48,107 each).

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

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

Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions and the Peacock had twin wins at 5 p.m. TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. while NBC’s extended edition of the network Nightly News ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

TEGNA8 will be waving off Sgt. Nick as traffic anchor

Corporal-Nick-Headshot_1462984163502_2220514_ver1.0

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Dallas-based TEGNA8 has decided to put a stop to the tenure of Sgt. Nick as Daybreak’s traffic anchor, sources tell unclebarky.com.

He’s been informed of the decision, but not of the date when he’ll go back to being a DeSoto police officer without a weekday early morning TV presence. It’s possible that will happen before the start of the February “sweeps” ratings period on Thursday, Feb. 2nd.

Sgt. Nick (full name, Nick Bristow) was a corporal when unclebarky.com broke the news of his surprise hiring by news director Carolyn Mungo in August 2014. He had no previous TV experience before becoming D-FW’s first uniformed traffic anchor. Bristow has not returned an email asking for comment and Mungo does not communicate with unclebarky.com on personnel decisions -- or anything else for that matter. She does, however, later confirm them to TEGNA8’s official “content sharing” partner, Fort Worth’s Star-Telegram.

Bristow had a steep learning curve and got better as he went along. But after nearly two-and-a-half years with Daybreak, he still wasn’t put in the same shot as the on-screen traffic maps. It gave his updates a somewhat disembodied look and feel compared to rival early morning traffic anchors on Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11.

As recently posted, Daybreak co-anchor Alexa Conomos, who earlier had been the program’s traffic anchor, is leaving the station to spend more time with her three young children, explore other business opportunities and have a more normal existence. Conomos has not returned an email asking for comment, but later told the Star-Telegram that she plans to stay until her contract expires in June rather than leave when a replacement is hired.

Daybreak, which currently ranks third in the early morning ratings, now faces the prospect of re-supplying half of its early morning team at hours when familiarity and viewer comfort levels are key.

Should TEGNA8 decide to look in-house, it may not have to look any further than Marie Saavedra, who regularly has filled in on Daybreak with incumbent co-anchor Ron Corning. Saavedra currently is the station’s weekend evening news anchor. But Conomos told the Star-Telegram that she intends to help with the transition to a new Daybreak anchor, indicating for the time being at least that TEGNA8 plans to hire from outside. There would be no need to groom Saavedra.

In terms of Bristow, there are two traffic anchors available who already are known to D-FW viewers. Tammy Dombeck is the most familiar of the two after traffic anchor tours at both NBC5 and CBS11, where she was let go for a younger blonde, Chelsey Davis, who since has left the station and been replaced by another young blonde (Madison Adams).

Shane Allen was TEGNA8’s interim traffic anchor and spent five months with Daybreak before Bristow was hired to replace him.

Fox4, an island of stability in comparison, has long been No. 1 in the early morning ratings with a longstanding team of news anchors Tim Ryan and Lauren Przybyl, meteorologist Evan Andrews and traffic anchor Chip Waggoner. Przybyl remains on the mend from a broken shoulder and wrist suffered in a fall at home.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Jan. 19) -- comedy's king for CBS

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Again paced by The Big Bang Theory, CBS all but ruled the 7 to 9 p.m. roost Thursday.

BB piled up 458,079 D-FW viewers before the inevitable sharp fall-offs for the network’s The Great Indoors, Mom (196,320 viewers apiece) and Life In Pieces (189,049). Still, all of them had enough ratings juice to win their time slots in total viewers. And among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, only Great Indoors stumbled, losing by a small margin to NBC’s competing second half of The Good Place.

At 9 p.m., Fox4’s local newscast comfortably won in both total viewers (181,778) and 18-to-49-year-olds (80,178).

Here are Thursday’s local news derby results.

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

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. The 25-to-54 firsts went to NBC5 at 5 p.m and Fox4 at 6 p.m., both by narrow margins over runner-up TEGNA8.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Jan. 18) -- Fox still has a one-two punch

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Wednesday remains the one night of the week where Fox can still flex a little.

It again won the first two hours of prime-time in both key ratings measurements with Lethal Weapon and Star.

Weapon opened at 7 p.m. with 232,675 D-FW viewers and 57,728 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old age range. Star followed with 196,320 total viewers and 83,385 in the 18-to-49 realm. Those aren’t overwhelming numbers by any means. But still good enough to prevail.

CBS’ annual two-hour People’s Choice Awards, where it’s still trophy time for the Big Four broadcast networks, averaged 159,964 total viewers 44,899 in the 18-to-49 demographic. The concluding 9 to 10 p.m. hour gained viewers but still lost to NBC’s competing Chicago P.D. in both measurements.

ABC’s 9 p.m. attraction, Match Game, continued to struggle with a pair of distant fourth place finishes.

Further proving this is a Death Valley for college basketball, the Texas-Texas Tech men’s hoops matchup on Fox Sports Southwest registered “hashmarks” (no measurable audience) in both ratings barometers Wednesday night.

Here are the local news derby results.

TEGNA8 impressively rebounded from the lowly Match Game lead-in to win at 10 p.m in total viewers while also nipping both Fox4 and NBC5 among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

The other major battlegrounds also were sweeps. Fox4 scored twin wins at 6 a.m., NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m. and TEGNA8 took both golds at 6 p.m., marking the station’s best single-day performance in quite a while.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Jan. 17) -- another crimetime trifecta for CBS

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS rolled to wall-to-wall prime-time prosperity Tuesday while also making a solid showing among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

The network’s 7 p.m. lead-off hitter, NCIS, again set the pace with a night’s best 399,912 D-FW viewers. Bull (298,115 viewers) and NCIS: New Orleans (276,302) also won their time slots.

NCIS held serve at 7 p.m. with 18-to-49-year-olds while Bull and NCIS: New Orleans logged solid second place finishes. The 18-to-49 winners from 8 to 10 p.m. were NBC’s This Is Us and Fox4’s local newscast.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.

CBS11 decisively won in total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 prevailed by a small margin with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 as usual ran the table at 6 a.m. and NBC5 remained strong at 5 and 6 p.m. with a pair of sweeps.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Challenging times for Fox4 Good Day co-anchor Lauren Przybyl

przybyl_web_1438029552302_57588_ver1.0

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
It’s been a rough several months for Lauren Przybyl, veteran co-anchor of Fox4’s Good Day.

Last fall she delivered her second child, a boy named Beck, under extreme duress after being diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome. He was born via C-section six weeks prematurely because of the risk to the mother’s life. Przybyl and her husband, Shane, also have a daughter, Landry, who was born in April 2013.

She interviewed her doctor, Hampton Richards, about the procedure shortly after returning to on air-duty at Fox4. The video is below. But then came another bad break -- actually two of them.

“Started off 2017 with a bang -- literally!!” Przybyl posted Jan. 5th on her Facebook page. “Tripped on a box and broke my arm in two spots (shoulder and wrist). Good news: Don’t need surgery. Bad news: I’ve been told not to move much the next few weeks. (Hard task with an infant and 3-year-old!).”

She remains on the mend as the February “sweeps” ratings period nears (it starts on Thursday, Feb. 2nd). With and without her, Good Day remains No. 1 in the Dallas-Fort Worth Nielsens. Przybyl joined the morning program in Sept. 2009, replacing Megan Henderson after she took an anchoring job in Los Angeles.

Judging from her ongoing Facebook posts, Przybyl remains amazingly resilient and upbeat through all of this. The staff here at unclebarky.com (that would be me) wishes her a speedy, safe and prudent recovery.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Jan. 16) -- Celebrity Apprentice still playing into Trump's hands

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
It’s not quite the “disaster” that Donald Trump proclaims it to be on Twitter.

But Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Celebrity Apprentice is still struggling to be somebody in the Monday night Nielsens.

NBC’s collection of has-beens and a groper who’s not Trump drew 152,693 D-FW viewers in the 7 to 9 p.m. slot. It was beaten throughout those two hours by ABC’s competing The Bachelor (203,591 viewers) and also lost to CBS’ Kevin Can Wait (232,675), which was the top overall draw from 7 to 7:30 p.m.

Celebrity Apprentice otherwise outpointed CBS’ other three sitcoms, bested Fox’s Gotham and edged that network’s Lucifer.

In the important, advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic, though, Celebrity Apprentice was outdrawn by The Bachelor, Kevin Can Wait and Gotham while being tied by Lucifer and CBS’ Man With a Plan. That’s not very muscular.

Fox4’s local newscast then won the 9 p.m. hour in both ratings measurements while NBC’s competing Timeless (minus a big lead-in from The Voice) ran last among the Big Four broadcast networks.

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

Fox4 and TEGNA8 tied for the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 narrowly won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). CBS11 forfeited a first place tie in total viewers and a second place tie with 25-to-54-year-olds by being the only station to take a Martin Luther King Day holiday exemption at 10 p.m. So its ratings officially don’t count.

Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added twin wins at 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., TEGNA8 drew 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 (Fri.-Sun., Jan. 13-15) -- Cowboys finale blasts off

IMG_1606

A tough one to take for Cowboys and their fans. Photo: Ed Bark

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
From 3:40 to 7 p.m. Sunday on Fox, nothing else mattered in the TV firmament except the Dallas Cowboys-Green Bay Packers post-season showdown at Jerry’s Palace.

Green Bay survived a furious Cowboys comeback to win 34-31 at the buzzer on Mason Crosby’s 51-yard field goal. On the previous play, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers rolled to his left and completed a near-miraculous 35-yard sideline throw to tight end Jared Cook on a third down and 20 play. For the record, former Dallas newspaper columnist, radio host and loathsome longtime Rodgers hater Skip Bayless termed it an “easy pitch and catch.” Fans of both teams are unanimous that he should be spread-eagled, coated with house brand dog food and left out somewhere in the freezing Green Bay cold for a night before being devoured by a pack of jackals. But I digress.

Cowboys-Packers averaged a super-sized 2,254,041 D-FW viewers and 891,574 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 age range. Not surprisingly, audiences peaked in the closing 6:45 to 7 p.m. segment, when the game had 2,850,271 total viewers and 1,144,935 in the 18-to-49 realm. Imagine what an overtime would have brought.

Two years ago, the Cowboys’ equally crushing post-season road loss at Green Bay (highlighted by Dez Bryant’s overruled “catch”), came up a bit short in total viewers with an overall average of 2,210,758 but drew more 18-to-49-year-olds with 983,986. That one was also on Fox.

In comparison, the Dallas Mavericks’ home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Fox Sports Southwest, moved up earlier to avoid a head-on collision with the Cowboys game, averaged 29,084 total viewers and 12,828 in the 18-to-49 realm.

Sunday’s other NFL playoff game, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 18-16 win over the Chiefs at Kansas City, was moved for weather purposes to prime-time on NBC.
It surpassed the one million viewers mark (1,032,496), with 416,923 in the 18-to-49 motherlode.

On Saturday, the New England Patriots’ playoff win over the Houston Texans in prime-time on CBS pulled in 945,243 total viewers. Earlier on Fox, the Atlanta Falcons’ postseason rout of the Seattle Seahawks averaged 916,159 total viewers.

A non-football Friday was topped in prime-time by CBS’ 9 p.m. episode of Blue Bloods with 232,675 total viewers. ABC’s 20/20, which aired opposite Blue Bloods, led all programming among 18-to-49-year-olds (48,107).

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

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

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 ran the table at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Jan. 12) -- sleepy night

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Nothing jumped off the prime-time ratings charts Thursday. While North Texas braces for the invasion of the Green Bay Packers, a 7 p.m. repeat of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory led all programming with just 203,591 D-FW viewers.

That’s likely less than one-tenth the predicted TV crowd for Sunday’s big game on Fox, which almost assuredly will draw more than 2 million viewers locally.

Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, NBC’s 7:30 p.m. episode of its first-year series The Good Place ranked No. 1 Thursday with 64,142 viewers.

Here are the local news derby results.

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

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and the Peacock had twin wins at 5 p.m.

The 6 p.m. golds went to TEGNA8 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic, where it beat NBC5 by a paper-thin margin.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Jan. 11) -- Fox/Fox4 from start to stop

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Fox and Fox4 ruled the prime-time terrain Wednesday with a triple header of Lethal Weapon, Star and the 9 p.m. local newscast.

Weapon led all programming in total D-FW viewers (269,031) while Star was tops with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds (99,420). Fox4’s 9 p.m. news capped the night with twin wins while both Weapon and Star likewise won across the board.

The night’s biggest loser among the Big Four broadcast networks, ABC’s 9 p.m. hour of Match Game, sunk to 65,440 total viewers and 16,036 in the 18-to-49 realm after the network’s preceding black-ish drew twice the number of viewers in both ratings measurements. When a show plays dead in the Nielsen numbers, it gets _________.

Here are Wednesday’s local news derby results.

NBC5 had a big day, sweeping the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. competitions in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). But Fox4 maintained its 6 a.m. stronghold with twin wins while the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of its Good Day also outdrew all three competing network morning shows in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Jan. 10) -- big score for return of This Is Us

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The ongoing TV season’s biggest new hit, NBC’s This Is Us, returned Tuesday night after coverage of President Obama’s farewell speech on an array of networks.

It didn’t miss a beat after a holiday hiatus. The 9 p.m. airing easily ranked as prime-time’s most-watched program on a single network, drawing 327,200 D-FW viewers and 147,527 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

Obama’s Chicago speech consumed most of the 8 to 9 p.m. hour. The biggest audience was on NBC, with 210,862 total viewers tuned in. Among the three cable news networks, CNN ranked No. 1 with 101,795 total viewers.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.

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

Fox4 scored twin wins at 6 a.m. and NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. firsts went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Daybreak co-anchor Alexa Conomos will soon be leaving

Alexa-Conomos_1454023927525_126233_ver1.0

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Alexa Conomos, co-anchor of Dallas-based TEGNA8’s early morning Daybreak program, has decided to leave both the program and the station.

Conomos officially informed staffers of her decision Wednesday morning, according to sources. She cited the oft-unforgiving work hours, other opportunities outside the TV news business and the desire to spend more “normal” time with her husband, Bradley, and their three young children. Conomos also has offered to stay with Daybreak, which airs from 4:30 to 7 a.m. weekdays, until TEGNA8 finds a replacement.

Raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Conomos was an anchor for the now defunct Texas Cable News network (TXCN) before moving across the street to become Daybreak’s early morning traffic anchor in 2002. She became the program’s co-anchor, with incumbent Ron Corning, in June 2014 after regularly filling in.

She began her television career with NBC affiliate KMIR-TV in Palm Springs, CA. Conomos has degrees from both Santa Clara University and the Institute of European Studies in Vienna, according to her TEGNA8 biography.

Conomos so far has not returned a message asking for comment. Daybreak ranked third in the November “sweeps” ratings in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (the main advertiser target audience for news programming).

TEGNA8 ended 2016 with the most on-camera departures (10) among D-FW’s four major TV news providers. The station now has logged the first exit of 2017, although it could be a month or two before Conomos officially signs off.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Jan. 9) -- another drop for college football capper

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Monday’s Clemson-Alabama rematch, a down-to-the-last second thriller, nonetheless fell a bit short of last year’s high-scoring Crimson Tide win in the D-FW ratings.

Clemson’s 35-31 victory, avenging a 45-40 loss in the 2016 national college championship game, stretched from 7:18 to 11:28 p.m. on ESPN. Maybe that again was part of the problem. College football games, particularly the post-season ones, seem to last from here to eternity. So the audience began dropping at the midsection Monday night, with the game finally averaging an overall 647,128 D-FW viewers and 259,775 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

Last year’s game drew 658,663 total viewers and 279,462 in the 18-to-49 age range. In comparison, Sunday’s Green Bay Packers-New York Giants playoff game on Fox drew twice as many total viewers in D-FW as either Clemson-Alabama championship match.

The 2015 finale, staged at Jerry’s Palace in Arlington as the first championship game under the current “Final Four” format, dwarfed both Alabama-Clemson games. Ohio State’s rout of Oregon averaged 850,828 total viewers and 400,533 in the key 18-to-49-year-old realm. Local audiences obviously were pumped up somewhat by the North Texas locale for the game.

Elsewhere in prime-time, Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast ranked as Monday’s second biggest TV attraction with 167,235 total viewers. ABC’s two-hour edition of The Bachelor was the runner-up among 18-to-49-year-olds (70,556).

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

Fox4 won at 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

TEGNA8 swept the 6 p.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m.

TV NEWS NOTE -- In a downsizing that further diminishes the overall product, CBS is eliminating its regional Newspath offices in Dallas, Chicago and Charlotte. It will mean an overall loss of about 10 full-time jobs, according to sources. Most are veteran staffers. Expenses were cited. Operations now will be centralized out of New York.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Jan. 6-8) -- Packers/Giants trump Trump-pocked Golden Globes

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC easily won prime-time Sunday with its annual Golden Globes ceremony. But Fox’s preceding Green Bay Packers-New York Giants playoff game, which ended just three minutes before the Globes began at 7 p.m., drew more than twice the number of D-FW viewers.

The Packers routed New York 38-13 and now will journey to Jerry’s Palace to meet the Dallas Cowboys in what should be an epic encounter. The game averaged 1,323,340 viewers, which is close to the total of some early Cowboys games this season. Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Packers-Giants averaged 532,379 viewers.

Next Sunday’s Cowboys-Packers game, scheduled to start at 3:40 p.m. on Fox, assuredly will top 2 million viewers in D-FW and could well exceed 2.5 million, depending on the closeness.

The Globes, which ran from 7 p.m. until shortly after 10 p.m., had 581,688 total viewers and 205,254 in the 18-to-49 age range. Jimmy Fallon hosted and was largely nondescript. But Meryl Streep’s acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement reverberated into Monday’s news after her pointed tear-down of president-elect Donald Trump, whom she never named. Trump later tweeted back, calling her “one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood” despite her three Oscar wins and record 19 nominations, seven more than anyone else.

Also notable: FX topped the TV awards with two Globes apiece for The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story and Atlanta while AMC collected three for The Night Manager, which also was the night’s surprise winner. HBO uncommonly was shut out.

Earlier Sunday, CBS’ Pittsburgh Steelers-Miami Dolphins playoff game, another one-sided romp, also outdrew the Globes with 712,568 total viewers and 256,568 in the 18-to-49-year-old realm.

On Saturday, the top draw was NBC’s prime-time Seattle Seahawks-Detroit Lions game, which drew 836,177 total viewers.

NBC launched Emerald City with a two-hour premiere Friday night. The dark take on The Wizard of Oz had few people following its yellow brick road. Emerald City had 138,151 total viewers and ran fourth in its 9 p.m. second hour. CBS’ competing Blue Bloods in comparison had 290,844 viewers from 9 to 10 p.m. Emerald City also fared poorly with 18-to-49-year-olds, drawing just 28,864 of ‘em. But the return of NBC’s preceding Grimm did appreciably worse with a puny 9,621 viewers in this key demographic.

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 nipped CBS11 for the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 won by a comparatively comfortable margin with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

TEGNA8 also logged a rare win in total viewers at 6 a.m., but Fox4 managed a narrow first place finish among 25-to-54-year-olds.

NBC5 swept the 5 p.m. competitions. At 6 p.m., Fox4 and TEGNA8 tied for the most total viewers and Fox4 had first place to itself in the 25-to-54 demographic.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Jan. 5) -- still boom times for Big Bang

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS still has the two most durable leadoff hitters in major league TV.

On Tuesdays it’s NCIS. And on Thursdays, The Big Bang Theory continues to blow up the competition.

A new 7 p.m. episode of Big Bang again ranked as prime-time’s most-watched D-FW show last night, both in total viewers (421,724) and advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (157,148).

CBS’ following The Great Indoors typically fell off sharply, but still had enough juice to win from 7:30 to 8 p.m. in both ratings measurements.

The network’s sitcom combo of Mom and Life In Pieces held serve with total viewers in the 8 p.m. hour. The first half-hour of Fox’s competing Hell’s Kitchen was tops with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds from 8 to 8:30 p.m. before Life In Pieces took the next half-hour in this key demographic. Fox4’s local newscast then swept the 9 p.m. hour while outdrawing both of the Fox network attractions with 218,133 total viewers and 76,970 in the 18-to-49-year-old motherlode.

ABC’s 8 to 10 p.m. offering easily had the longest title of the season. Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers -- American Sons, American Murderers performed decently (if not honorably) with an average of 189,049 total viewers and 60,935 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Over on Fox Sports Southwest, a check of the Dallas Mavericks ratings shows they’re still close to comatose. Losing at home to the lowly Phoenix Suns, the Mavs had just 58,169 total viewers and a sub-puny 12,828 in the 18-to-49 realm. It’s been a really tough year all-around.

Here are Thursday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 nipped NBC5 for the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while the Peacock won fairly comfortably with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 remained in control at 6 a.m. with twin wins and NBC5 ran the table at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. golds went to Fox4 in total viewers and NBC5 in the 25-to-54 age range.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Jan. 4) -- Fox flexes

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
A new episode of Fox’s potent Lethal Weapon and a serviceable showing from its new Star series added up to a nice Wednesday night.

Airing in the 7 p.m. hour, Lethal Weapon ranked as prime-time’s most-watched attraction with 276,302 D-FW viewers. Star then fell to 210,862 viewers in the 8 p.m. hour but still beat everything in its time slot except for ABC’s Modern Family (232,675 viewers from 8 to 8:30 p.m.).

Fox4’s local newscast trampolined upward to 232,675 viewers in winning at 9 p.m. It was the same story among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, with only Modern Family breaking through to beat Fox/Fox4.

Here are Wednesday’s local news derby results.

NBC5 won by a comfy margin at 10 p.m. in total viewers and edged Fox4 and TEGNA8 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and NBC5 did likewise at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Jan. 3) -- the unstoppable NCIS

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
In pure tonnage at least, few shows in TV history have been as durable as CBS’ NCIS.

Now in its 14th season, Mark Harmon’s brand of uniform justice once again was Tuesday’s top draw with 407,182 D-FW viewers in the 7 p.m. hour. CBS’ Bull (298,115) and NCIS: New Orleans (247,217) also won their time slots in total viewers.

NCIS also continues to do OK with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old viewers. It won from 7 to 7:30 p.m. in that key demographic before Fox’s new The Mick took over from 7:30 to 8 p.m. While Fox’s New Girl fades away (it ran fourth at 7 p.m. in both ratings measurements), The Mick looks like a potential midseason hit.

Bull held serve with 18-to-49-year-olds at 8 p.m. before NBC’s Chicago P.D. won the 9 p.m. hour in that realm.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results as the four major competitors start the new year in earnest and begin preparing for the February “sweeps.”

NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions while the 6 p.m. golds went to Fox4 in total viewers and TEGNA8 with 25-to-54-year-olds in a very close three-way fight with Fox4 and NBC5.

NBC5 had the most total viewers at 5 p.m. and Fox4 led among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Dec. 30-Jan. 2) -- foot-bowl palooza, plus the Cowboys

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Hmm, where do we begin? Well, let’s start with the Dallas Cowboys on a 2016-2017 weekend that also was packed with prominent college bowl games and other significant pro pigskin match ups.

The Cowboys’ less than aggressive approach to their season finale resulted in a 27-13 loss on an afternoon when the lowly Philadelphia Eagles were gifted with Mark Sanchez at quarterback for most of the game after brief sightings of Dak Prescott and -- wonder of wonders -- Tony Romo.

Running until 3:05 p.m. on Fox, Cowboys-Eagles averaged 1,526,931 D-FW viewers and 622,177 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range. Although falling more than 400,00 short short of the Dec. 11th season high in total viewers (Cowboys at the Giants), that’s still a very impressive crowd for a noon-starting game. The Romo factor obviously didn’t hurt.

Dallas finished the regular season with a 13-3 record and now awaits its next foe -- likely either the Green Bay Packers or New York Giants.

The Packers, whom the Cowboys whipped handily early in the season, are a team to be feared again after winning their last six games. They won the NFC’s North division on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, beating the Detroit Lions to the tune of 603,501 total viewers in D-FW. Fox’s Sunday Cowboys followup, the Giants win over the Washington Redskins, did appreciably better than that with 814,363 viewers. Over on CBS, the noon-starting New England Patriots-Miami Dolphins matchup barely registered with a puny 43,627 viewers.

On Monday, Uncle Barky’s alma mater Wisconsin Badgers beat previously unbeaten Western Michigan 24-16 in the Cotton Bowl at Jerry’s Palace. A noon start didn’t help, but c’mon people. The game averaged just 109,067 viewers on ESPN, barely better than ABC’s competing Outback Bowl (101,795 viewers), in which Florida blew out Iowa 30-3.

Then came ESPN’s crazily entertaining, marathon Rose Bowl, won 52-49 by USC over Penn State on a last second field goal. The game stretched all the way to 8:25 p.m. and averaged 305,386 viewers. The Orange Bowl, sent to ESPN2 for most of the first quarter, emerged on ESPN at about 8:30 p.m. Oklahoma’s rout of Auburn ended at 11:24 p.m. From 8:30 p.m. until closing, the game drew an average of 290,844 viewers.

On Saturday, college football’s pair of Final Four games were both one-sided and also on ESPN. Alabama’s 24-7 win over Washington came first, averaging 341,742 total viewers after kicking off a little after 2 p.m.. Clemson’s 31-0 plastering of Ohio State came up a bit bigger audience-wise with 392,639 viewers. Alabama and Clemson will square off Jan. 9th on ESPN for the national championship.

There also were some notable entertainment series premieres. Fox fared the best with Sunday’s 7 p.m. sneak-preview of The Mick, which had a very nice-sized 421,724 total viewers and 189,219 in the 18-to-49 demographic. The sitcom now moves to its regular Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. slot.

Over on CBS, the Sunday 7:30 p.m. premiere of Ransom had 145,422 total viewers and 41,692 in the 18-to-49 realm. The multi-country co-production will take its crime-busting to 7 p.m. Saturdays.

On Monday, NBC offered the two-hour 8 p.m. launch of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Celebrity Apprentice, which drew 138,151 total viewers and just 38,485 in the 18-to-49 age range. It was whipped in both measurements by ABC’s competing two-hour return of The Bachelor, which had respective totals of 159,964 and 83,385 viewers.

Here are Friday’s local news derby results. (All four combatants took holiday exemptions on Monday.)

CBS11 won in total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net