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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., March 9 to Thursday, March 16) -- master blaster catchup round

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Nielsen’s lengthy, storm-related ratings delays presumably are in the past at this point. But we’ve got a lot of catching up to do after the full eight days of local numbers finally arrived late this week.

Thursday marked the tip-off the NCAA basketball tourney, with Uncle Barky’s alma mater Wisconsin Badgers capping off CBS’ nighttime coverage with a gritty win over Virginia Tech. It was the most-watched of CBS’ four games, but with just 79,982 total D-FW viewers and 25,657 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic. That put Wisconsin-Virginia Tech well behind other prime-time and late night attractions. NBC’s 8 p.m. episode of Chicago Med ranked No. 1 in total viewers with 203,591 while ABC’s 7 p.m. hour of Grey’s Anatomy (which ended before Wisconsin-Virginia Tech began) was tops with 18-to-49-year-olds (67,349 opposite the closing portion of CBS’ Villanova-Mt. St. Mary’s matchup).

TNT, TBS and truTV also aired four tournament games apiece Thursday. Puny tru isn’t included so far in the local Nielsen reports, but stay tuned. Otherwise, the games on TNT and TBS haven’t been “titled” yet. But judging from published start times, TNT’s Xavier-Maryland game drew its biggest crowd and TBS scored highest with Northwestern vs. Vanderbilt.

Let’s move along at a quicker pace now.

Wednesday’s prime-time menu was led by Fox’s Lethal Weapon in total viewers (239,946) and NBC’s The Voice among 18-to-49-year-olds (76,970).

On Tuesday, NBC rolled to twin wins in prime-time with the 8 p.m. season finale of This Is Us. The season’s biggest first-year hit had 370,826 total viewers and 176,391 in the 18-to-49 realm. The Peacock’s double-pronged premiere of the “true crime” spoof Trial & Error then fell off a cliff with 18-to-49-year-olds. Each half-hour episode drew just 25,657 viewers in this key demographic. Even so, it was good enough for a second place finish from 9 to 10 p.m. behind Fox4’s local newscast (32,071 viewers).

The Monday night Nielsen parade was led by NBC’s 7 to 9 p.m. edition of The Voice in both total viewers (305,386) and 18-to-49-year-olds (96,213).

Sunday night brought the Season 3 premiere of ABC’s challenging but first-rate American Crime, which predictably crashed with a measly 65,440 total viewers to run fourth in its 9 p.m. slot in the Big Four broadcast network universe. It got worse with 18-to-49-year-olds, with American Crime luring just 12,828 of ‘em.

Let’s skip Saturday, because there’s nothing to see.

Friday’s overall top prime-time draw, CBS’ 8 p.m. episode of Hawaii Five-0, had 225,404 total viewers while NBC’s two-hour Dateline pulled in the most 18-to-49-year-olds (41,692).

Finally, the Thursday, March 9th prime-time Nielsens were led by CBS’ The Big Bang Theory in both total viewers (363,555) and 18-to-49ers (109,041).

Let’s wrap up with six weekdays’ worth of local news derby results.

Thursday, March 9 -- TEGNA8 ran first at 10 p.m. in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 had the most total viewers at 6 a.m., but NBC5 took the 25-to-54-year-old gold. The Peacock ran the table at 6 p.m. and also drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m. Fox4 and NBC5 shared the total viewers lead at 5 p.m.

Friday -- NBC5 won at 10 p.m. in both ratings measurements and Fox4 did likewise at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. The Peacock took both golds at 6 p.m.

Monday -- TEGNA8 swept the 10 p.m. competitions while Fox4 scored twins at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. NBC5 stayed strong at 6 p.m. by running the table.

Tuesday -- CBS11 broke through with a 10 p.m. in total viewers, ending a prolonged drought. NBC5 had the most 25-to-54-year-olds at that hour.

Fox4 led in total viewers at 6 a.m. while the Peacock was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.

NBC5 won in total viewers at 6 p.m. and shared the lead among 25-to-54-year-olds with Fox4 and TEGNA8. It was another split decision at 5 p.m., with NBC5 running first in total viewers but Fox4 narrowly taking the 25-to-54 gold.

Wednesday -- NBC5 came within a sliver of pulling off a very rare double grand slam. The Peacock swept the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. competitions and also won at 6 a.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds. But Fox4 edged NBC5 for the top spot at 6 a.m. in total viewers.

Thursday -- TEGNA8 ran the table at 10 p.m. while Fox4 and NBC5 divided the spoils at 6 a.m. and at 5 and 6 p.m. The Peacock had the most total viewers at 5 and 6 p.m., but Fox4 led both times with 25-to-54-year-olds. Things were reversed at 6 a.m., with Fox4 on top in total viewers and NBC5 winning with 25-to-54-year-olds. CBS11’s 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts were punched out by CBS’ basketball tournament coverage.

And that’s all, folks.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net