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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Dec. 20) -- X Factor rules over Christmas specials, repeats

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Fox's Season 2 finale of The X Factor lured prime-time's biggest crowd Thursday before Fox4's 9 p.m. news gave that combo its second straight ratings sweep.

X Factor, won by 37-year-old country crooner Tate Stevens, had 296,021 D-FW viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. The news then drew 240,947 viewers. Both attractions also ran first among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

NBC's nicely done A White House Christmas: First Families Remember had a decent-sized 158,337 total viewers in the 7 p.m. hour. ABC's two-hour CMA Country Christmas then averaged 165,221 viewers from 8 to 10 p.m. CBS offered wall-to-wall series repeats, with The Big Bang Theory again its biggest scorer with 234,063 viewers.

The Dallas Mavericks' blowout home loss to the Miami Heat had 103,263 viewers on TNT.

Thursday's local news derby results featured loads of first-place ties.

WFAA8 won outright at 10 p.m. in total viewers while tying for first with Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and shared first place at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic with WFAA8. The total viewer golds at 6 p.m. were claimed by WFAA8 and CBS11.

At 5 p.m., NBC5 and WFAA8 tied for first in total viewers while WFAA8 had the top spot to itself among 25-to-54-year-olds.
unclebarky@verizon.net

And to all a good night: D-FW's list of 2012 TV exits

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
It's been a very busy year for departing flights from DFW's TV newsrooms.

In fact it's been the busiest since unclebarky.com birthed itself back in September of 2006.

As with past lists, we're giving you the names of on-camera news personalities who left by choice or otherwise in 2012. No slight is intended to off-camera personnel. whose work remains valuable and in many cases, indispensable. But TV viewers develop lasting or fleeting relationships with the people they see on their home screens. It will ever be thus.

The following roll call is in alphabetical order. And it's a long one.

CHARLES BASSETT -- He joined CW33's reporting staff in spring 2011, but was among the many who didn't survive the Nov. 1st transition to the station's oft-madcap Nightcap. On Dec. 17th, Bassett became senior public relations manager in the Dallas offices of AT&T.

DOUGLAS CABALLERO -- He briefly co-hosted CW33's early morning Eye Opener program before being replaced in March. He's currently bouncing among several projects.

CRAIG CIVALE -- He joined WFAA8 in January 2007 and left the station in June to take a public relations position with Baylor Health Care System in Dallas.

PETER DAUT -- After three years as a Fox4 reporter, he left the station on Jan. 26th to become a morning anchor at WSOC-TV, the ABC affiliate station in Charlotte, N.C.

DEBBIE DENMON -- The veteran anchor/reporter had sued WFAA8 for discrimination -- and lost. And on July 18th, the station let the hammer fall by not renewing her contract. Denmon, who joined WFAA8 in October 2000, now is director of communications for the Dallas County District Attorney's office while also making periodic appearances on KTXD-TV's (Ch. 47) The Texas Daily.

TAMMY DOMBECK -- After reaching a contract impasse with NBC5, the longtime early morning "Gridlock Buster" left the station on July 27th after a 12-and-a-half year tenure. A "non-compete" clause will keep her off the air until at least February. In the interim, Dombeck married Donnie Campbell on Dec. 16th.

TONI DUCLOTTNI -- She presented some of D-FW's curviest early morning traffic reports as part of CW33's Eye Opener program before the station showed her the curb in March. Duclottni also had worked as a lifestyles reporter on CW33's 9 p.m. newscasts. Relocated to Los Angeles, she remains the founder and principal personality of the House of Haute youtube channel.

ELLEN FOX -- She joined Caballero as one of the charter co-hosts of CW33's Eye Opener before both were ousted in March. She's now in Los Angeles working on various projects.

KEITH GARVIN -- He initially came to D-FW in November 2009 as a co-anchor of TXA21's now defunct First In Prime newscasts. Garvin then segued over to sister station CBS11, eventually joining Lisa Pineiro as co-anchor of the weekday early morning newcasts. Garvin left in late August to take an anchoring position with KPRC-TV, Houston's NBC affiliate.

BOB GOOSMANN -- After eight years at CW33, the veteran meteorologist resigned in July with an announced plan to get into the real estate business. But in early fall he instead took a position as chief meteorologist for KRLD radio (1080 AM), replacing Krista Villarreal. Before his CW33 years, Goosmann had a nine-year run as KTVT-TV's featured meteorologist before the station was bought by CBS and began branding itself as CBS11.

JAY GORMLEY -- One of the market's longest-lasting night side reporters left CBS11 on September 14th to become director of communications for the Dallas region of Time Warner cable. He joined the station in 1997.

KRYSTLE GUTIERREZ -- The early morning Good Day reporter left Fox4 in February to join her husband, Kris Gutierrez, who had been hired to co-anchor the waker-upper newscasts for CBS-owned WBBM-TV in Chicago. Krystle joined Fox4 in July 2007.

JENNIFER LOPEZ -- She was the main meteorologist for almost four years on NBC5's early morning news editions before leaving for undisclosed reasons in March. Lopez apparently is still looking for a new position and has kept an exceedingly low profile since her departure.

WALT MACIBORSKI -- He left CW33 in mid-August after co-anchoring the station's now defunct 9 p.m. newscast since February 2009. It since has been supplanted by the comedy-infused, locally produced Nightcap. Maciborski currently is with WXIN-TV, the Fox affiliate in Indianapolis. He co-anchors the station's "Live At Five" newscasts.

RONTINA McCANN -- She spent just a year at NBC5 as a sports anchor/reporter before departing for undisclosed reasons in February. Her website says she's currently a freelance anchor, reporter and host who reports for the ESPN "family of networks" in a variety of capacities.

JANE McGARRY -- In D-FW's highest profile exit, the longtime anchor "resigned" from NBC5 on July 10th after pleading no contest to driving while intoxicated and apologizing for "my irresponsible behavior" on her Facebook page. McGarry had a 30-year career at the station, much of it in tandem with Mike Snyder on the station's 6 and 10 p.m. weekday newscasts. She remains in North Texas and frequently posts on both her Facebook and Twitter pages.

REBECCA MILLER -- After close to four years as CW33's chief meteorologist, she did not survive the Nov. 1st transition to Nightcap. Her last day on-air day was in late October. Before being hired by CW33, Miller was the longstanding early morning meteorologist on NBC5's early morning newscasts. But the station declined to renew her contract in March 2008.

MELISSA NEWTON -- The early morning CBS 11 reporter left the station in late November to join her new husband, Damon Lane, in Oklahoma City, where he's chief meteorologist for KOCO-TV. Newton had joined CBS11 in June 2009 and earlier worked as a reporter for NBC5.

CASEY NORTON -- He ended a brief career as a WFAA8 anchor/reporter by leaving the station in September to be vice president of labor relations communications for Dallas-based Weber Shandwick's American Airlines account. Norton joined WFAA8 in March 2010.

GISELLE PHELPS -- She left a reporter position at CW33 in mid-August after arriving in March 2010. Phelps remains in Dallas.

LISA PINEIRO -- CBS11 declined to renew her contract last May after Pineiro joined the station in October 2010 as an early morning co-anchor with Scott Sams, who was let go in 2011 and now is with KRLD radio (1080 AM). She apparently is still looking for another position and earlier this year had an on-air audition with Fox-owned KTTV-TV in Los Angeles.

JANE SLATER -- She put a stop to her early evening traffic reporter stint at WFAA8 in late May and now is part of 105.3 FM radio's (THE FAN) Elf & Slater show with Mark Elfenbein.

JULIE TAM -- She left NBC5 on Jan. 22nd after less than two years as a reporter. Tam's Facebook page says she moved to Houston this month and is "currently making appearances on behalf of her businesses." They include The Application Masters and Lyn Realty.

DAWN TONGISH -- The veteran CW33 anchor/reporter was another of the casualties when the station replaced its somewhat conventional 9 p.m. newscast with the comedy-laced Nightcap. She was let go in October after joining the station in 1999 for the launch of its prime-time local news hour. Tongish is looking for a new position.

TY TREADWAY -- The veteran soap opera actor and game show emcee left WFAA8's Good Morning Texas in a hurry after less than two months as that show's co-host. He arrived in early January and had his last day on March 1st.

CYNTHIA VEGA -- Best known for her live street reporting on WFAA8's early morning Daybreak program, she left the station in August after first arriving in spring 2000. She is now Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's manager of media relations.

CHASE WILLIAMS -- He barely spent a year as a sports anchor/reporter for CW33 before leaving in July to become sports director at CBS affiliate KMTV-TV in Omaha.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Dombeck newly married and beaming in official wedding video

@unclebarkycom
Ex-NBC5 "Gridlock Buster" Tammy Dombeck is newly married to Donnie Campbell. And her former early morning colleague, meteorologist Rebecca Miller, made the wedding cakes.

Hubby works for an Internet radio company. And the festivities were on Dec. 16th at Fort Worth's Ashton Hotel. Dombeck has just posted their official wedding video to prove it. Our very best to both them. And here's the highlight reel.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Dec. 19) -- X Factor, Fox4 news take prime-time wreaths

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Fox's The X Factor hasn't exactly been a ratings steamroller in its second season. Still, Wednesday's final performance edition dominated the competition before Fox4's 9 p.m. news drew an even bigger crowd.

X Factor, already renewed for a Season 3, averaged 227,179 D-FW viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. Donald Trump's competing Miss Universe cheese fest on NBC had just 103,263 viewers during those same two hours while CBS' annual A Home for the Holidays special drew 137,684 viewers in its 7 to 8 p.m. slot.

WFAA8's locally produced Christmas special with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra had 75,726 viewers in the 7 p.m. hour, enough to edge the first half of Miss Universe (68,842 viewers).

Fox4's 9 p.m. news had a league-leading 240,947 viewers, whipping competition from CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation rerun (172,105), a new episode of NBC's Chicago Fire (117,031) and ABC's special edition of 20/20 (89,495).

X Factor and the Fox4 newscast also swept the prime-time Nielsens among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

In Wednesday's four-way local news derby results, WFAA8 ran first at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 likewise ran the table at 6 a.m. and added 5 and 6 p.m. wins in the 25-to-54 demographic.

The 5 and 6 p.m. golds in total viewers respectively went to NBC5 and CBS11.
unclebarky@verizon.net

CBS11 effectively wraps its early morning team in bright Christmas promo

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Although still stuck in fourth place, CBS11's revamped early morning news program gained a little ground on its competitors in the November "sweeps" ratings.

The station also is doing a better job of promoting the new team of Brendan Higgins, Adrienne Bankert, Garry Seith (the lone holdover) and Whitney Drolen. The below Christmas promo gets the spirit of the season across without being sappy about it. Instead it's winningly whimsical and might put quite a few viewers in the mood to give these guys a try in the coming weeks.

That's what it's all about -- effective salesmanship. WFAA8 scored big with its comedy "Corning in the Morning" promos and reportedly has another campaign ready to roll. CBS11 at last seems ready to get in this game, too -- and maybe in a big way during the coming year. This is a good start.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Dec. 18) -- big finishing kick for The Voice

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
NBC's Season 3 finale of The Voice controlled the last two hours of prime-time Tuesday after a repeat 7 p.m. warmup hour was thrashed by CBS' Christmas-themed NCIS.

The Voice, won by Cassadee Pope, averaged 392,399 D-FW viewers from 8 to 10 p.m. while CBS came in a solid second with its combo of NCIS: Los Angeles (323,557) and Las Vegas (254,715). But NCIS had the night's biggest overall audience, with 440,589 viewers in the 7 p.m. hour.

NCIS also won among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds before the live two hours of The Voice ruled in this key demographic during the 8 to 10 p.m. bloc.

ABC's Charlie Brown Christmas reprise made a decent third-place showing at 7 p.m. with 178,989 total viewers. Fox held down fourth place with its all-repeat lineup of sitcoms.

CW33's 9 p.m. Nightcap had one of its biggest audiences since the Nov. 1st premiere, thanks to a much better than usual lead-in from the CW network's It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. But Nightcap still had only 20,653 viewers after the Muppet movie averaged 55,074 (and 68,842 in its closing 8:45 to 9 p.m. segment).

Almost all of Nightcap's viewers were in the 18-to-49 age range, though. And after "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) in both measurements Monday night, Nightcap and its departing maestro, Larissa Hall, will happily smell the poinsettias.

In Tuesday's four-way local news derby results, NBC5 rode The Voice's bounteous lead-in sleigh to 10 p.m. wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Otherwise it was all Fox4, with the station running the table (by very narrow margins in some cases) at 6 a.m. and at 5 and 6 p.m.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Larissa Hall shifing responsibilities with Tribune-owned CW33 and its prime-time Nightcap news show (updated and clarified)

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
After four months in the position, CW33 director of content Larissa Hall will be charting a different course and splitting time between the Dallas-based, Tribune-owned station and the East Coast.

Her new husband, Rob Cartwright in Syracuse, NY, is news director for that market's ABC affiliate, WSYR-TV. Cartwright previously was an assistant news director at CW33.

According to a Chicago-based Tribune Broadcasting spokesman who sought to clarify matters Wednesday, Hall will remain with the company and in Dallas at least part of the time. She'll also be spending a good deal of time in Syracuse while additionally working on "a few other projects that we've basically asked her to take on," the spokesman said. The new time-sharing role takes effect on Dec. 28th.

Hall, who initially presided over CW33's early morning Eye Opener program, became director of content in mid-August. Her primary responsibility was to launch a 9 p.m. Nightcap hour modeled after Eye Opener. Both programs take a comedic approach to whatever is deemed to be the news of the day. Regular features on Nightcap include "Fat Guy Fitness, My Crappy Commute" and "Googlechondriac." Hall will remain involved with the future direction of Nightcap, according to Tribune.

In preparation for Nightcap, which debuted on Nov. 1st, the existing CW33 news staff was cut in half. Some younger replacements have been hired, with anchor Amanda Salinas and reporter Barry Carpenter the only veteran holdovers from the early days of former news director David Duitch. He's now the editor of The Dallas Morning News website page after a turbulent four-year tenure marked by firings, hirings, major content overhauls and sinking ratings.

Ratings for Nightcap likewise have been dismal so far, with the program averaging just 13,768 viewers during the recently concluded November "sweeps." Monday's edition registered "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) in both total viewers and advertiser-prized 18-to-49-yer-olds. On-air staffers now are called "Story Tellers" rather than reporters.

Denise Killian, who had been assisting Hall on Nightcap is expected to be the principal hands-on conductor of the program while also moving up to the director of content position. The Tribune spokesman emphasized that the company remains committed long-term to Nightcap and its decidedly different offbeat takes on the news.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 17) -- new White house comedy in outhouse

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
NBC hoped to get a large sampling for its new White House sitcom 1600 Penn after a bounteous Monday night lead-in from fall's last performance edition of The Voice.

But D-FW viewers for the most part impeached it.

The Voice dominated the 7 to 8:30 p.m. slot with 364,863 D-FW viewers before 1600 Penn plunged to 123,916 viewers. Worst yet, the first 15 minutes had 144,568 viewers before 1600 Penn's second half fell to 96,379. That's audience rejection in a big way.

The Peacock also whiffed with its last scheduled holiday episode of Howie Mandel's Take It All, which took in just 82,610 viewers in the 9 p.m. hour. In other words, it's no Deal or No Deal -- and almost assuredly won't be invited back.

Among the Big Four broadcast networks, CBS easily controlled the 8:30 to 10 p.m. time frame with new episodes of Mike & Molly (247,831 viewers) and Hawaii Five-0 (289,136). But ESPN averaged 254,715 viewers for its Monday Night Football punt-fest between the Tennessee Titans and the even more woeful New York Jets.

It was another sub-dismal night for CW33's comedy-flavored Nightcap newscast, which had "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) from 9 to 10 p.m. in both total viewers and advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. In contrast, Fox4's competing local newscast had 137,684 total viewers, with 44,652 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

In Monday's four-way local news derby results, WFAA8 led the way with 6 a.m. and 5 and 10 p.m. sweeps in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

CBS11 and Fox4 respectively thwarted an exceedingly rare double grand slam with 6 p.m. wins in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 ran second in both measurements.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Dec. 14-16) -- Cowboys-Steelers surprisingly slow on draw

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Despite a storied rivalry and a spine-tingling OT win by the Cowboys, Sunday afternoon's game against the Steelers came nowhere near being the season's top draw.

And that's even with a generous spot from your friendly content provider.

The CBS telecast began at 3:25 p.m. and lasted until kicker Dan Bailey's game-winning field goal at 6:50 p.m. Nielsen Media Research measures in 15-minute increments, so we'll start the clock at 3:30 p.m. instead of 3:15 p.m. Under those parameters, Cowboys-Steelers averaged 1,177,198 D-FW viewers with a peak audience of 1,349,303 for the final frenetic minutes. (If the clock is started at 3:15 p.m., the overall audience average falls a bit to 1,156,546 viewers).

The crowd for the Cowboys' 27-24 win exceeded the game-long average of 1,108,356 viewers for last Sunday's buzzer-beating win at Cincinnati. But Cowboys-Steelers surprisingly fell short of both the Thanksgiving Day loss to Washington (1,301,114 viewers) and the Dec. 2nd home win over Philadelphia (1,218,503).

Both of those opponents are longstanding East Division rivals. But the Cowboys and Steelers go way back, too, including match-ups in three Super Bowls. And Sunday's game was hugely important to both teams in terms of their chances to make the post-season.

The season high crowd is still the 1,348,046 who watched the Sept. 5th NFL "kickoff" game against the Giants in prime-time on NBC.
Cowboys-Steelers falls somewhere in the middle of the pack.

NBC's wintery mix, high-scoring, marquee matchup of the Patriots and 49ers ran second in football ratings with an average of 516,315 viewers Sunday night.

Fox's lone game, the noon-starting drubbing of the Giants by the Falcons, drew 330,442 viewers while CBS' competing Texans-Colts match-up had 261,600.

in Friday's ratings, CBS' 7 p.m. reprise of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer won its time slot with 144,568 viewers.

CBS11 director of communications Lori Conrad notes that the station had 1,930 "likes" on its Facebook page after posting a note to viewers that read: "After such a tragic day, CBS11 is proud to have some great holiday family programming you can watch with your whole family, starting with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at 7 p.m. Plus, we pledge you will not see any news messages or promos from CBS11 regarding today's shooting during this 7-9 p.m. block. So please hug your children extra tight tonight and join us for some quality family time on CBS11 tonight."

In Friday's four-way local news derby numbers, WFAA8 ran the table at 10 p.m. with wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The station likewise swept the 5 p.m. competitions.

Fox4 ran first at 6 a.m. in total viewers and tied WFAA8 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds. The 6 p.m. winners were CBS11 in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demographic.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., Dec. 12-13) -- NBC punched out

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Nights without the NFL or The Voice are tough sledding for NBC.

In D-FWs total viewer Nielsens, the Peacock's Wednesday and Thursday prime-time offerings ran fourth across the board among the Big Four broadcast networks. And among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, only NBC's 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday night showings of Up All Night climbed as high as third. They beat ABC's officially canceled Last Resort, which is playing out the string.

CBS won the first two hours in total viewers Thursday with its lineup of The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Person of Interest. But ABC's growingly popular Scandal edged CBS' Elementary to win at 9 p.m.

Thursday's 18-to-49 toppers sequentially were CBS' two comedies and ABC's serial drama combo of Grey's Anatomy/Scandal.

CBS swept Wednesday's total viewer competitions with Survivor: Philippines, Criminal Minds and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Survivor also won among 18-to-49-year-olds before Fox/Fox4 ran first from 8 to 10 p.m. with the second half of The X Factor and the nightly 9 p.m. local newscast.

Barbara Walters' annual 10 Most Fassssssssssssssssssssssscinating People special wasn't of all that much fascination. It trailed Criminal Minds and X Factor in total viewers from 8:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday before moving up to second place in the 9 p.m. hour behind CSI.

Babs replicated those finishes in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic, but ran behind Fox4's local news at 9 p.m. instead of CSI, which dropped to third. For the record, she put the disgraced David Petraeus at the top of this year's list.

Here are the local news derby results:

Wednesday -- Fox4 had a big day, winning at 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

The station also ran first in total viewers at 5 p.m. and tied WFAA8 for the top spot in that measurement at 6 a.m. The other total viewer wins went to CBS11 at 6 p.m. and WFAA8 at 10 p.m.

Thursday -- WFAA8 ran the table at 10 p.m. while Fox4 did likewise at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.

NBC5, WFAA8 and CBS11 tied for first in total viewers at 6 p.m., with Fox4 alone on top among 25-to-54-year-olds.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Dec. 11) -- CBS again triples down on crime

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
CBS again decked its halls with a Tuesday prime-time sweep in the total viewer D-FW Nielsens.

NCIS as usual had the night's biggest overall haul, drawing 454,357 viewers in the 7 p.m. hour to knock off NBC's competing edition of The Voice (357,978).

CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles (351,094 viewers) and Las Vegas (247,831) also comfortably won their time slots.

Advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds again fanned out, though. The Voice won at 7 p.m. before Fox's New Girl ran first in this key demographic from 8 to 8:30 p.m. The second halves of NCIS: L.A. and NBC's Take It All then tied for first, with Fox's 8:30 p.m. episode of The Mindy Project just a speck behind.

NBC's Christmas episode of Parenthood and Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast shared the 18-to-49 top spot from 9 to 10 p.m.

It was another tough day for KTXD's (Ch. 47) The Texas Daily and CW33's Nightcap. The latter registered "hashmarks" (no measurable audience) at 9 p.m. in the 18-to-49 Nielsens. And Texas Daily had no measurable audience among any audience group for both its 8 a.m. live edition and 6 p.m. repeat.

In Tuesday's four-way local news competitions, CBS11 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers and tied WFAA8 for first place among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 ran the table at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. WFAA8 did likewise at 6 p.m.
unclebarky@verizon.net

No more tongue-twisting surname for new NBC5 meteorologist

Lindsay-Riley-2012
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
In Old Hollywood times, ethnic or just plain dull given names routinely were changed to snappier star monikers.

Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch. Judy Garland used to be Frances Gumm. Tony Curtis entered the world as Bernard Schwartz. Etc.

NBC5's new weekend meteorologist was Lindsay Schwarzwaelder during her previous two-year stay at Lexington, KY's WLEX-TV. The Fort Worth-based station now lists her as Lindsay Riley on its nbcdfw.com website.

There's a little of this going around at NBC5.

In her early days as an on-air reporter, the station's Sara Story went by the name of Sara Loeffelholz. In an earlier email to unclebarky.com, Sara said her middle name is Story, which she decided would be easier on both anchors and viewers.

Early morning NBC5 reporter Kendra Lyn was Kendra Oestreich at her previous stop, Orlando, Florida's WESH-TV.

Former longstanding NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry, who "resigned" earlier this year after pleading no contest to a DWI charge, for awhile had the on-air name of Ann McGarry.

When she arrived at the station in 1982, McGarry rebooted to "Ann" in deference to incumbent Jane Jayroe, who became the 6 and 10 p.m. anchor two years earlier. When Jayroe left in 1984, McGarry reverted back to "Jane" after going by "Jane Ann" for a while during Alyce Caron's early months as Jayroe's replacement.

Or to put it another way, Shirley, Shirley bo Birley Bonana fanna fo Firley -- fee fy mo Mirley. Shirley.

And yes, you can call me Uncle Barky.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 10) -- Voice rings out before Peacock falters

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
NBC again rolled to a resounding win with The Voice before another Howie Mandel big-money greed-fest blew a tire and Michael Buble's Christmas special fell pretty flat, too.

Voice led off with 378,631 D-FW viewers to rank as Monday's most-watched prime-time attraction. The Howie Mandel-hosted Take It All game show then began a week-long holiday season run with 206,526 viewers. That put it third in the 8 p.m. hour behind ESPN's Monday Night Football (Patriots schooled the Texans) and CBS' double dip of 2 Broke Girls.

NBC's Buble Christmas show had 165,221 viewers for a No. 3 finish behind football and CBS' Hawaii Five-0. Fox's two-hour American Country Awards shebang drew 178,989 viewers from 7 to 9 p.m. while ABC was in the dumper all night with two Extreme Makeover: Home Edition specials and a Castle repeat.

Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, The Voice rolled at 7 p.m. before Monday Night Football took over from 8 to 10 p.m.

Over on Fox Sports Southwest, the Dallas Mavericks continued to play before comparatively empty houses. Monday's home win over Sacramento averaged just 41,305 total viewers. Without their rock star, Dirk Nowitzki, the team is mostly a collection of Pips. But they're playing hard and staying above water until his return.

In Monday's local news derby results, WFAA8 edged CBS11 at 10 p.m. in total viewers and won by a more comfy margin among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 swept both the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. competitions. At 6 p.m., WFAA8 and CBS11 tied for first in total viewers while Fox4 took the 25-to-54 gold.
unclebarky@verizon.net

CBS11 tabs Elizabeth Dinh for early morning shift

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Elizabeth Dinh, a University of Texas-Arlington grad who most recently worked at Seattle's KOMO-TV, has joined D-FW's CBS11 as a full-time early morning reporter. She started last week after two years with KOMO.

Dinh replaces Melissa Newton, who left CBS11 in late November to join her husband in Oklahoma City, where he's chief meteorologist for KOCO-TV.

In January of this year, Dinh made news with her self-publicized search for a kidney donor after being diagnosed with IgA nephropathy. At the time, her kidney function had dropped to 13 percent, according to reports.

"While I can still function daily, my doctors and I know that one day my kidneys will stop working," Dinh said. "I'd like to receive the transplant before my kidneys fail."

On her Twitter page, Dinh says she eventually received a kidney in June from her husband, Kevin.

Her Facebook page says she was born in Irving and raised in Arlington and Grand Prairie. Dinh worked for KAMR-TV in Amarillo and WFTS-TV Tampa, FL before joining KOMO, where she also was assigned to early mornings. In 2003 she was crowned Miss Asian American Texas. Her parents came to the United States in 1975 during the fall of Saigon.

Here's a brief clip of Dinh setting up one of her stories for KOMO.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Dec. 7-9) -- Cowboys stay above one mil, fall below previous two games

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Sunday's come-from-behind, walk-off Cowboys win at Cincinnati surpassed the one million viewer mark on Fox but fell below the previous two games against the Redskins and Eagles.

There were extenuating circumstances, though. Dallas played the Redskins on Thanksgiving Day and the Eagles on NBC's showcase Sunday Night Football. So 1,108,356 D-FW viewers for the early-starting 20-19 win over the Bengals is a decent turnout in that context. The match-ups with Washington and Philadelphia respectively had 1,301,114 and 1,218,503 viewers.

Two of this season's 13 regular-season games, against Carolina and Cleveland, have fallen below the magic one million mark.

Fox's Cowboys-Bengals followup act, the Giants' rout of the Saints, hauled in an extra-large 729,725 viewers for a non-Cowboys NFL attraction. CBS' competing 49ers-Dolphins game barely registered with 103,263 viewers.

NBC's prime-time game, the Packers' snowily picturesque win over Detroit, drew 495,662 viewers.

ABC's competing Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Christmas with Holly, had 192,758 viewers to finish third Sunday night behind football and CBS' regular series lineup.

On Saturday afternoon, the annual Army-Navy game averaged 137,684 viewers to top all afternoon attractions.

Friday night's Good Morning Texas prime-time special on WFAA8 had 34,421 viewers in the 8 p.m. hour. That made it prime-time's least-watched attraction on the Big Four broadcast networks. The top draw, CBS' 9 p.m. episode of Blue Bloods, had 261,600 viewers.

In the local news derby results, CBS11 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers while NBC5 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 swept both the 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. competitions. CBS11 had the most viewers at 6 p.m., but WFAA8 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Former NBC5 reporter/congressional candidate Grant Stinchfield replacing Janine Turner Saturday nights on KLIF

24.01-Grant-Stinchfield

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Former NBC5 reporter and Republican congressional candidate Grant Stinchfield will be replacing actress/commentator Janine Turner as host of KLIF radio's (570 AM) 9 p.m. Saturday show.

The Stinchfield Report will begin "taking the fight to the establishment," as he put it, on Sat., Dec. 8th. His first scheduled guest is Newt Gingrich.

"One of the problems with conservative talk radio today is we have a bunch of old, angry men," Stinchfield said in a telephone interview Friday. "And though I certainly have the ability to get angry, I also have the ability to have a lot of fun."

Earlier this year, Stinchfield unsuccessfully challenged Republican incumbent Kenny Marchant for the 24th District congressional seat. He received 37.6 percent of the vote in his first run for public office and hasn't ruled out trying again.

Turner's KLIF show launched on May 21, 2011. There was no immediate word on why the former Northern Exposure star is leaving. Stinchfield said he recently received a call from KLIF asking if he'd be interested in taking Turner's 9 p.m. slot. His show initially will be one hour, but likely will expand to two in January, he said.

Stinchfield continues to own and run the KWIK Kar Auto Care Center in Irving. He left NBC5 in April of 2011 after seven years as a reporter. While running for Congress, Stinchfield clashed with his old employer, accusing NBC5 of killing stories to protect special interests.

The station ran a 30-second spot in which Stinchfield made his allegations. It then denied them in an official statement to unclebarky.com.

Stinchfield, who is married to Amy Vanderoef of WFAA8's Good Morning Texas, said that his TV reporting career "taught me that the most important thing to do is to simplify the issues in an entertaining way."

"I hope to use the (KLIF) show as a place where we can interview guests and use my skills from my background in media to talk about important issues that are facing Texans."

A 15-minute demo tape that Stinchfield made for KLIF is currently posted on his website.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Dec. 6) -- CBS, ABC set prime-time pace

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
CBS again swept Thursday's prime-time Nielsens in total viewers before ABC's serial dramas did some demographic damage from 8 to 10 p.m.

The top overall draw, CBS' 8 p.m. episode of Person of Interest, had 378,631 D-FW viewers. And the network's Big Bang Theory was close behind with 357,978 viewers as the night's leadoff hitter.

CBS' Two and a Half Men and Elementary also easily won their time slots.

Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Scandal led the way from 8 to 10 p.m. Big Bang and Two and a Half won the 7 p.m. hour.

In the cable sports universe, the NFL Network drew 123,916 total viewers for its Denver Broncos-Oakland Raiders game. The Dirk-less Dallas Mavericks continued to breathe ratings fumes on Fox Sports Southwest. The Mavs' hard-fought, last-second win over Phoenix had just 34,421 total viewers.

In Thursday's local news derby results, CBS11 topped the 10 p.m. field in total viewers and tied WFAA8 for first place among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

WFAA8 ran first at 6 a.m. in total viewers; the 25-to-54 competition ended in a three-way tie among WFAA8, Fox4 and NBC5.

Fox4 ran the table at 5 p.m. and added a 6 p.m. win among 25-to-54-year-olds. CBS11 had the most viewers at 6 p.m.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Dec. 5) -- Dirk-less Mavs mostly a no-show

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
The basically dull Dallas Mavericks continued to draw scant interest in D-FW, with Wednesday's late night blowout loss to the Clippers barely drawing iron.

Still absent Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs drew just 41,305 viewers on Fox Sports Southwest while adding another 34,421 for ESPN's presentation. That equaled the D-FW audience for NBC's barely visible Whitney, which had 75,726 viewers from 7 to 7:30 p.m. while running a distant fourth in its time slot.

CBS' Survivor: Philippines and the first hour of Fox's The X Factor tied for first in total viewers from 7 to 8 p.m. with 261,600 apiece. CBS' Criminal Minds then won the 8 p.m. hour with 316,673 viewers before NBC's Chicago Fire and CBS' Grammy preview show tied at 9 p.m. with 172,105 viewers. ABC's "winter finale" of Nashville ran fourth at 9 p.m. with 144,568 viewers.

Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, X Factor and Survivor tied for first from 7 to 8 p.m., with the Fox sing-off nipping Criminal Minds in the 8 p.m. hour. CBS' Grammy preview drew the most 18-to-49-year-olds from 9 to 10 p.m.

In Wednesday's local news derby results, NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers while Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

WFAA8 stopped Fox4's 6 a.m. winning streak with a pair of victories at that hour.

Fox4 ran the table at 5 p.m. and tied NBC5 for the 25-to-54 lead at 6 p.m. CBS11 had the most total viewers at 6 p.m.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Taking the PR plunge: former CW33 reporter Charles Bassett joins the crowd

HEADSHOT

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Charles Bassett, formerly with D-FW's CW33, has joined the growing number of reporters opting for public relations positions.

Bassett, who joined the station in spring 2011, was dropped in October during a mass "transitioning" to the new comedy-laced Nightcap program, which launched on Nov. 1st.

"This is to let you know I have landed on my feet after being let go from CW33," Bassett said in an email this week. His new position, starting on Dec. 17th, will be senior public relations manager in the Dallas offices of AT&T. Bassett said he'll be "responsible for media relations in news markets throughout North Texas . . . I look forward to working with such a high-profile company. I'm excited about promoting the global brand and the products."

"After I saw the changes CW was making to the newscast, I had no desire to remain with the station," Bassett added. "I consider myself a serious journalist. I've been reporting and anchoring for 18 years and this was not the path I wanted for my career."

Since last December, WFAA8 reporters Chris Hawes, Craig Civale, Cynthia Vega and Casey Norton, and CBS11 reporter Jay Gormley all have dropped out of newsrooms and dropped into PR positions with North Texas-based employers.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon.-Tues., Dec. 3-4) -- shout outs for The Voice, Rudolph, lingerie

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
NBC's The Voice reigned as prime-time's top attraction on both Monday and Tuesday in the ratings battles among the Big Four broadcast networks. But Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer refused to go quietly into the night.

CBS' annual telecast of the North Pole's signature sleigh-puller drew 234,063 D-FW viewers in the 7 p.m. hour Tuesday while The Voice had 330,442 in the same slot.

Rudolph also ran second with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, with 79,735 viewers to The Voice's 149,902.

CBS finished first from 8 to 10 p.m. in total viewers with its NCIS repeat and the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The runway models also ran away with the 18-to-49 race, but Fox was tops in that demographic from 8 to 9 p.m. with New Girl and The Mindy Project.

In Monday's Nielsens, The Voice dominated the broadcast network Nielsens from 7 to 9 p.m. in both ratings measurements. CBS' Hawaii Five-0 won at 9 p.m. in total viewers while NBC's competing Blake Shelton's Not So Family Christmas drew the most 18-to-49-year-olds.

Cable's Monday Night Football game between the Redskins and Giants emerged as the night's most-watched attraction, though. It averaged 371,747 viewers on ESPN, with 175,417 in the motherlode 18-to-49 demographic.

Here are the local news derby results:

Monday -- NBC5 had one of its better days in recent memory, sweeping the 6 and 10 p.m. competitions in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The Peacock added a 5 p.m. in total viewers.

Fox4 had the other firsts, running the table at 6 a.m. and drawing the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.

Tuesday -- CBS11 was tops at 10 p.m. in total viewers, but WFAA8 won among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 again ruled the 6 a.m. Nielsens in both measurements. NBC5 swept the 5 p.m. competitions while the 6 p.m. golds went to CBS11 in total viewers and WFAA8 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Ratings ups and downs for Cowboys games against Redskins/Eagles

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
Some readers have noted the disparities in The Dallas Morning News and Unclebarky.com ratings reports for the Cowboys games against Washington and Philadelphia.

I'm here to help.

The DMN reported Tuesday that Sunday night's game against the Eagles was seen in 838,512 D-FW households compared to a season-low 639,236 for the Thanksgiving Day game against the Redskins.

Those figures are both correct -- and only part of the story.

As posted Monday on unclebarky.com, the Thanksgiving Day game in fact had significantly more total viewers than Sunday's prime-time matchup -- by a score of 1,301,114 to 1,218,503. How could this be? Pretty simple.

No. 1 -- and we'll say it again -- the household rating has long been an antiquated measurement in the view of all major networks. They emphasize audience demographics and total viewers in their ratings reports. Why? Because PEOPLE WATCH TV, NOT BUILDINGS.

In that context, it's no surprise that the household Nielsen number on Thanksgiving Day would be lower than that for Sunday's game against the Eagles. It was, after all, a day of travel. Many homes were vacated while other homes were more populated. And in many of those homes, families and friends gathered together in larger numbers to watch the Cowboys-Redskins game.

The D-FW Nielsen numbers reflect that basic fact. And you can bet that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is more interested in how many actual people watched the Thanksgiving Day game. So far it ranks second only to the Sept. 5th season opener against the Giants, which had 1,348,046 viewers in the D-FW market.

Nationally, the NFL put out a publicity release crowing about how 28.7 million viewers watched the Thanksgiving Day game between the Cowboys and Redskins. That made it the most-watched TV program of the entire fall season to date. Note that the NFL said viewers, not households.

The release also noted that CBS' Thanksgiving matchup between Houston and Detroit had 27.3 million viewers nationally while NBC's prime-time New England-New York Jets game drew 19.2 million.

So there you have it. Hope that helps.
unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Nov. 30-Dec. 2) -- fans flock in fewer and older numbers to Cowboys' win over low-flying Eagles

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
The Cowboys fluttered over the 1.2 million mark with their less than stellar 38-33 home win over the bedraggled Eagles.

Still, the prime-time stage on NBC's Sunday Night Football wasn't enough to power the game past the Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Redskins.

Cowboys-Eagles, which ran until 10:38 p.m., averaged 1,218,503 D-FW viewers, down from the 1,301,114 who watched Dallas lose to the RG III-led Redskins. This season's most-watched game is still the Sept. 5 opening night NFL kickoff win against the Giants, which drew 1,348,046 viewers on NBC.

Let's look a bit deeper into the audience composition for Sunday's game against Philadelphia. Because on that scorecard, the Cowboys are starting to skew alarmingly old in terms of the audiences that most advertisers want to reach.

Among D-FW viewers in the 18-to-34 demographic -- some of whom are too young to remember the Cowboys' last Super Bowl appearance in 1996 -- Sunday night's game proved to be something of a turn-off. It drew 172,607 viewers in this age range, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In contrast, the game had 599,576 viewers aged 50 years and over. And 263,640 of those viewers were 65+. Whether fair or not, older viewers are still written off as too set in their ways by many advertisers. Unlike an "impressionable" 18-to-34-year-old, they are more likely to resist an ad for -- let's make up a product name -- the new Pogo Stick brand 32-hour energy drink.

For Sunday's Cowboys-Eagles game, almost half the audience was in the 50+ range. That doesn't quite make Tony Romo and his mates the equivalent of Matlock. But they're getting there -- and seemingly in a pretty big hurry as time marches on and the Cowboys remain a clear and present danger to the team's storied legacy of 8 Super Bowl appearances and 5 Lombardi trophies.

Winning, of course, might well cure many of these demographic ills while pushing the Cowboys back into their accustomed ratings stratosphere. Drawing more than 1.2 million viewers for anything is still highly impressive.

But Jerry's Team increasingly seems to be out-of-sight, out-of-mind for many younger viewers. The D-FW market has 1,675,765 viewers in the 18-to-34 age group. Sunday's game barely drew 10 percent of them. The population of 50+ viewers is 1,978,768. Sunday's game lured 30 percent of them. And that's not even counting Jerry, who was in his usual Cowboys Stadium perch to watch the Cowboys cling to their longshot post-season hopes.

In Sunday's other NFL action, the valiant Green Bay Packers' early game win over Minnesota averaged 330,442 total viewers on Fox while CBS' competing Texans-Titans game had 227,179. CBS' followup Steelers-Ravens game then jumped to 447,473 viewers.

Saturday's Nielsens were paced by the big Alabama-Georgia game on CBS and ABC's prime-time matchup of Texas and Kansas State. Each game averaged 337,326 viewers. Meanwhile, Uncle Barky and a ragtag band of fellow Wisconsin natives watched the plucky li'l Badgers qualify for their third straight Rose Bowl appearance by destroying Nebraska. Fox had the game in prime-time, drawing a "crowd" of 61,958 viewers. NBC's annual reprise of It's A Wonderful Life had 110,147 viewers opposite the two college football games.

In Friday's local news derby derby results, CBS11 topped the 10 p.m. field in total viewers but WFAA8 again won among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and WFAA8 had a big day in the early evening, running the table at both 5 and 6 p.m.
unclebarky@verizon.net