Jul 2008
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., July 30)
07/31/08 11:03 AM
By ED BARK
Fox's So You Think You Can Dance continued to click with the "right" audience Wednesday night as Fort Worth's Joshua Allen made his bid for the show's Final Four.
Dance ran just third in total D-FW homes at 8 p.m., drawing 116,909 to place well behind CBS' frontrunning repeat of Criminal Minds (168,056 homes). But Dance again took the top spot with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (78,835), edging NBC's competing Baby Borrowers (75,682).
CBS also had the top overall attraction at 9 p.m. with its CSI: NY repeat, which sagged to fourth with 18-to-49-year-olds. ABC's Wife Swap won the first hour of prime-time in both measurements.
Fox's often torturously flamboyant Wendy Williams Show, getting a daytime tryout in just four markets (including D-FW), perked up a bit at 11 a.m. with a second place finish in total homes behind CBS11's combo of Jeopardy! and the first half-hour of The Young and the Restless.
The 18-to-49 Nielsens showed a near-photo finish for first place among Williams, the CBS11 twosome, ABC's All My Children and Ch. 21's Judge Mathis. All were separated by roughly one-tenth of a rating point (3,153 viewers).
In the local news derby, WFAA8 nipped CBS11 for first place in total homes, but dipped to third among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC5 won that battle, with CBS11 close behind.
The Peacock won comfortably at 6 a.m. in both measurements. WFAA8 remained in a slump, so much so that CBS11 tied the ABC station for third place in total homes. That hasn't happened in forever and a day.
WFAA8 won the early morning May sweeps competition in both ratings measurements, but has seen its numbers swoon of late. A new day soon will dawn after lame-duck Daybreak co-anchor Justin Farmer heads for WSB-TV in Atlanta on a still undetermined date next month. Brad Hawkins, who's been co-anchoring WFAA8's weekend newscasts, then will join heavily promoted incumbent Cynthia Izaguirre for at least the rest of this year under the current plan.
The 6 p.m. news golds were shared by WFAA8 in total homes and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 also won in total homes at 5 p.m. and shared first place with Fox4 in the 25-to-54 demo.
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"Of course I call you the Hispanic Matt Lauer"
07/30/08 05:27 PM
Find out who's behind the above headline in this nicely done sendoff to NBC5 sports reporter/anchor Derek Castillo, whose official last day at the station is Friday (Aug. 1st).
The clip below, which runs 6 minutes, 20 seconds, includes an array of familiar on-camera faces and also many whose behind-the-scenes work at NBC5 helped to make Castillo shine. Hey, TV people are people, too. Here's proof:
Ed Bark
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., July 29)
07/30/08 04:03 PM
By ED BARK
Tuesday's prime-time ratings again were a tale of three networks, Fox excluded.
CBS' repeat of NCIS controlled the 7 p.m. hour in total homes (168,056) but was no match for ABC's Wipeout among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (107,216 of 'em).
NBC's America's Got Talent paced the 8 p.m. Nielsens in both measurements, drawing 202,155 D-FW homes and 151,363 viewers in the 18-to-49 demo. Each represented Tuesday's biggest haul.
At 9 p.m., ABC's Primetime: The Last Lecture: A Celebration of Life cleaned house with 158,314 total homes and 107,216 of the viewers that most advertisers are willing to pay more for.
The local news derby also netted three winners, with CBS11 the only eight-time loser.
WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast took the top spot in total homes (158,315) while NBC5 won the gold among 25-to-54-year-olds (117,780), the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
At 6 a.m., Fox4 and NBC5 tied for tops in total homes (70,632 apiece), but the Peacock again prevailed in the 25-to-54 demo (67,724).
Fox4 continued to impress at 5 p.m. with a two-pronged victory in homes (126,651) and among 25-to-54-year-olds (64,779).
The spoils were split at 6 p.m. WFAA8 ran first in total homes (136,394) while NBC5 notched its third win of the day in the 24-to-54 demo (61,835)
Tuesday's prime-time ratings again were a tale of three networks, Fox excluded.
CBS' repeat of NCIS controlled the 7 p.m. hour in total homes (168,056) but was no match for ABC's Wipeout among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (107,216 of 'em).
NBC's America's Got Talent paced the 8 p.m. Nielsens in both measurements, drawing 202,155 D-FW homes and 151,363 viewers in the 18-to-49 demo. Each represented Tuesday's biggest haul.
At 9 p.m., ABC's Primetime: The Last Lecture: A Celebration of Life cleaned house with 158,314 total homes and 107,216 of the viewers that most advertisers are willing to pay more for.
The local news derby also netted three winners, with CBS11 the only eight-time loser.
WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast took the top spot in total homes (158,315) while NBC5 won the gold among 25-to-54-year-olds (117,780), the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
At 6 a.m., Fox4 and NBC5 tied for tops in total homes (70,632 apiece), but the Peacock again prevailed in the 25-to-54 demo (67,724).
Fox4 continued to impress at 5 p.m. with a two-pronged victory in homes (126,651) and among 25-to-54-year-olds (64,779).
The spoils were split at 6 p.m. WFAA8 ran first in total homes (136,394) while NBC5 notched its third win of the day in the 24-to-54 demo (61,835)
Picky Picky (Vol. 15)
07/29/08 10:31 PM
By ED BARK
Thomas Ehlmann, incoming vice president and general manager at D-FW's NBC5, will be required to make his mark when he assumes those positions on August 11th.
But what can or should he do? And how independent can he be under the watchful eye of higher power Larry Wert, the Peacock kingpin with the elongated title of president, central & western region, NBC Local Media?
Ehlmann will report to Wert, who also announced his hiring after plucking him from Chicago's WGN-TV. The new guy now works for one of 10 stations owned and operated by Peacock corporate. He left Tribune-owned WGN just as layoffs were being ordered, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report.
NBC5 already has the smallest news staff in the market, so further downsizing probably isn't imminent. But there are numerous other ways that Ehlmann can make an imprint on a station that's had some significant ratings downturns in the past two years, particularly at 10 p.m. Here are four possibilities, none of which are possible without approval from on high:
A. Return long-form investigative reporting to NBC5 while also performing major surgery on a semi-tabloid newscast that mostly relies on short bursts of crime, tragedy and flimsy consumer reporting.
B. Shake up the featured news anchor team of Mike Snyder and Jane McGarry. Maybe there are other things they could do for the station. They've had a long tenure together, but the ratings meter hasn't been moving in the right direction for a while.
C. Make a major investment in a new studio that would put NBC5's newscasts in the heart of downtown Fort Worth instead of in the middle of nowhere off Barnett St. WFAA8's new glass-encased Victory Park digs have given that station a big jolt of visibility. NBC5 might be able to do the same for itself with a showy Sundance Square presence.
D. Do nothing and stay the course. The NBC network is in a ratings ditch, too. When it improves its position, NBC5 will do likewise. It's not all Snyder's and McGarry's fault. They're not the brainiacs behind NBC's prime-time schedule.
So which of these would be your highest priority? Or maybe you have other ideas.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., July 28)
07/29/08 09:21 AM
By ED BARK
North Texas-infused editions of NBC's Nashville Star and American Gladiators made semi-strong impressions in Monday's D-FW Nielsens.
On Star, Arlington mom-of-five Melissa Lawson made it to the competition's finals next Monday as one of three remaining twangers. The show drew 112,038 homes at 8 p.m. to rank second behind CBS' repeat comedy combo of Two and a Half Men (165,621 homes) and Old Christine (121,780 homes).
Star also took the silver among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, again behind CBS.
At 7 p.m., Gladiators saw the demise of Dallas financial advisor Jeff Davidson, who couldn't quite make it to the brawny show's finals. But his wife, Ally, qualified during last week's competition. Gladiators drew 114,473 homes to run second behind Fox's Bones rerun (129,087 homes), but took the gold in its first half-hour among 18-to-49-year-olds before being nipped from 7:30 to 8 p.m. by CBS' reprise of How I Met Your Mother.
ABC continued to run on near-empty from 7 to 10 p.m. with a first-run reality competition lineup of High School Musical: Get in the Picture (85,246 homes), Wanna Bet (56,019 homes) and The Mole (70,632 homes).
Musical and Bet ran fourth in their time slots in both total homes and in the 18-to-49 demo. Mole likewise finished fourth in total homes but narrowly placed first with 18-to-49-year-olds opposite runnerup Dateline NBC and CBS' CSI: Miami repeat, which otherwise easily won at 9 p.m. in total homes.
The big news in the local news derby was Fox4's 6 p.m. win among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. That brought an end to WFAA8's streak of 25 consecutive weekday sweeps. The ABC station did win again at that hour in total homes.
WFAA8 retaliated with twin wins at 10 p.m. and also ran first in both measurements at 5 p.m., with Fox4 a close second in both competitions.
The 6 a.m. golds went to Fox4 for a second straight weekday. WFAA8's waker upper, still a bit drowsy in the hot summertime Nielsens, had two bronzes behind runnerup NBC5.
Typical viewing patterns are out of whack, though, with school still out and many potential viewers on vacation.
North Texas-infused editions of NBC's Nashville Star and American Gladiators made semi-strong impressions in Monday's D-FW Nielsens.
On Star, Arlington mom-of-five Melissa Lawson made it to the competition's finals next Monday as one of three remaining twangers. The show drew 112,038 homes at 8 p.m. to rank second behind CBS' repeat comedy combo of Two and a Half Men (165,621 homes) and Old Christine (121,780 homes).
Star also took the silver among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, again behind CBS.
At 7 p.m., Gladiators saw the demise of Dallas financial advisor Jeff Davidson, who couldn't quite make it to the brawny show's finals. But his wife, Ally, qualified during last week's competition. Gladiators drew 114,473 homes to run second behind Fox's Bones rerun (129,087 homes), but took the gold in its first half-hour among 18-to-49-year-olds before being nipped from 7:30 to 8 p.m. by CBS' reprise of How I Met Your Mother.
ABC continued to run on near-empty from 7 to 10 p.m. with a first-run reality competition lineup of High School Musical: Get in the Picture (85,246 homes), Wanna Bet (56,019 homes) and The Mole (70,632 homes).
Musical and Bet ran fourth in their time slots in both total homes and in the 18-to-49 demo. Mole likewise finished fourth in total homes but narrowly placed first with 18-to-49-year-olds opposite runnerup Dateline NBC and CBS' CSI: Miami repeat, which otherwise easily won at 9 p.m. in total homes.
The big news in the local news derby was Fox4's 6 p.m. win among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. That brought an end to WFAA8's streak of 25 consecutive weekday sweeps. The ABC station did win again at that hour in total homes.
WFAA8 retaliated with twin wins at 10 p.m. and also ran first in both measurements at 5 p.m., with Fox4 a close second in both competitions.
The 6 a.m. golds went to Fox4 for a second straight weekday. WFAA8's waker upper, still a bit drowsy in the hot summertime Nielsens, had two bronzes behind runnerup NBC5.
Typical viewing patterns are out of whack, though, with school still out and many potential viewers on vacation.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., July 25-27)
07/28/08 01:44 PM
By ED BARK
D-FW's four major TV news providers continued to splurge on Cowboys training camp coverage Sunday night, with all four sports specials deploying their A-Team anchors at the team's Oxnard, CA training camp.
The Nielsen ratings say that NBC5's Newy Scruggs and WFAA8's Dale Hansen were the night's Big Tunas while Fox4's Mike Doocy and CBS11's Babe Laufenberg played backup. Scruggs, however, was a bigger tuna, dominating among advertiser-preferred 25-to-54-year-olds. Here are the numbers, with Doocy's Sports Sunday as usual starting a half-hour earlier at 10 p.m. while the others banged heads at 10:30 p.m.
TOTAL HOMES
Dale Hansen's Sports Special -- 92,553
Sports Extra with New Scruggs -- 90,117
Sports Sunday with Mike Doocy -- 73,068
The Score with Babe Laufenberg -- 51,148
25-to-54-YEAR-OLDS
Scruggs -- 94,224
Hansen -- 47,112
Laufenberg -- 35,334
Doocy -- 32,390
The Texas Rangers' late afternoon/early evening road loss in Oakland comparatively drew 73,068 D-FW homes and 29,445 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo on MY27.
Friday's local news numbers found WFAA8 nipping the Peacock in total homes at 10 p.m. But the two stations reversed those positions among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 had a gainful day at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., running the table in both audience measurements. It now has beaten the usually potent WFAA8 for three consecutive weekdays at 5 p.m. in total homes and two of the last three with 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 had no problems flexing at 6 p.m., though. It swept those number for an imposing 25th consecutive weekdays. Now that's domination.
D-FW's four major TV news providers continued to splurge on Cowboys training camp coverage Sunday night, with all four sports specials deploying their A-Team anchors at the team's Oxnard, CA training camp.
The Nielsen ratings say that NBC5's Newy Scruggs and WFAA8's Dale Hansen were the night's Big Tunas while Fox4's Mike Doocy and CBS11's Babe Laufenberg played backup. Scruggs, however, was a bigger tuna, dominating among advertiser-preferred 25-to-54-year-olds. Here are the numbers, with Doocy's Sports Sunday as usual starting a half-hour earlier at 10 p.m. while the others banged heads at 10:30 p.m.
TOTAL HOMES
Dale Hansen's Sports Special -- 92,553
Sports Extra with New Scruggs -- 90,117
Sports Sunday with Mike Doocy -- 73,068
The Score with Babe Laufenberg -- 51,148
25-to-54-YEAR-OLDS
Scruggs -- 94,224
Hansen -- 47,112
Laufenberg -- 35,334
Doocy -- 32,390
The Texas Rangers' late afternoon/early evening road loss in Oakland comparatively drew 73,068 D-FW homes and 29,445 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo on MY27.
Friday's local news numbers found WFAA8 nipping the Peacock in total homes at 10 p.m. But the two stations reversed those positions among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 had a gainful day at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., running the table in both audience measurements. It now has beaten the usually potent WFAA8 for three consecutive weekdays at 5 p.m. in total homes and two of the last three with 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 had no problems flexing at 6 p.m., though. It swept those number for an imposing 25th consecutive weekdays. Now that's domination.
Flocking to Oxnard 'cause you can't buck the Cowboys (updated)
07/25/08 02:23 PM
By ED BARK
Thursday marked the arrival of the Dallas Cowboys for their latest summer training camp in Oxnard, CA.
Do you know where all four of your Big Four D-FW television sports anchors were?
In Oxnard. It's one area where you just don't downsize, even if everyone pretty much had exactly the same Cowboys footage on their late night sports segments.
So much so that Fox4's Mike Doocy could be seen front and center with QB Tony Romo on two other stations besides his own. They were all following him on an airport tarmac after Air Force One, er, the Cowboys plane, made a safe touchdown. "It's exciting and fun," Romo told everybody.
NBC5's Newy Scruggs chose this bigger spotlight to introduce the station's "kinda cute" new fill-in sports anchor and reporter Matt Barrie to viewers.
"We're bringing sexy back in sports," Scruggs said of the spiky-haired Barrie, who's replacing the departing Derek Castillo. He hails from WLTX-TV in Columbia, S.C., but wasted no time in making it seem as though he's been covering the Cowboys since the Tom Landry era.
Barrie talked about the "buzz" around the Cowboys before adding, "I can tell you this. Forget about the disappointment. Wade Phillips said that was last year. And the wait is over. Football is here."
Doocy, not the new guy, was visible during NBC5's Romo interview snippet. Barrie otherwise was in sync with his new station, wearing a gray windbreaker with the NBC5 logo that matched Scruggs' attire.
Fox4 is dubbing its on-site coverage "Foxnard: Cowboys Camp 2008." But unlike his rivals, "The Dooc" had no help on opening night. He braved Foxnard alone, noting that it's "kinda chilly at night here." Kinda lonely, too.
Head coach Phillips "seemed a little defensive about that Giants' loss" in the Cowboys' opening playoff game last season, Doocy noted. But the subsequent sound bites from the Cowboys' "State of the Team" news conference showed no corroborating evidence, at least not on Thursday's 9 p.m. newscast.
On WFAA8 -- where there also was a Doocy/Romo sighting -- anchor Dale Hansen showed up "lookin' ugly" in another of his traditional road trip Hawaiian shirts.
At least that was the view of weathercaster Pete Delkus, who's given Hansen more stiff arms than former Cowboys coach Barry Switzer.
Hansen was just cold. And in case you didn't get that, he said so on three separate occasions, ending with a double shot of "I'm freezing out here!"
Hansen earlier noted that first round draft picks Felix Jones and Mike Jenkins still weren't signed, with "their agents doing the usual dance that some agents like to do. Apparently it justifies their check, but those two will be here soon enough."
He also opined that "President Bush" (apparently the current one) should play Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in any movie about him because "at least he has the voice mannerisms down pat already." Sorry, don't see it.
Reporter Ted Madden accompanied Hansen to Oxnard while CBS11's Babe Laufenberg used Steve Dennis as his wingman on coverage titled "Cowboys Training Camp -- It's On!"
They wore matching, short-sleeved, dark blue CBS11 logo'd knit shirts, although Laufenberg really didn't want to roll that way. Laufenberg noted, however, that Dennis was determined to go jacket-less and he therefore couldn't be seen as "less of a man."
The two sparred a bit over whether wide receiver Terry Glenn finally would sign with the Cowboys or be cut loose.
"Terry Glenn will be a Cowboy and on the practice field tomorrow (Friday)," Dennis declared. "That's what my gut says."
"My gut says the other way, but that's OK," said the Babe.
(Laufenberg turned out to be right. That's why they pay him the big bucks.)
Laufenberg also advised the team on how it can quickly sign those two top draft picks.
"It's real easy. Just give 'em a whole lot of money," he said.
(Both draft picks were signed later in the week.)
CBS11 had both the longest Cowboys segment Thursday and the only Doocy-less one save for a split-second glimpse of half his face.
Now that's how ya do it if you're a rival station.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., July 24)
07/25/08 09:34 AM
By ED BARK
A sluggish summer night in the D-FW Nielsens found a repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ranking as the most-watched program with a commonplace 148,572 homes.
Another vote-off edition of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance took the crown among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, with 78,835. Comfort Fedoke of Dallas was evicted for the second time (after being reinstated because of a dancer injury) while Joshua Allen of Fort Worth moved on to the show's Final Six.
The new CBS police drama Flashpoint, in its first Thursday outing, held most of its CSI lead-in to win in total homes at 9 p.m. with 129,087. It slipped to third place with 18-to-49-year-olds, though, behind ABC's Hopkins and Fox4's local newscast.
NBC's Fear Itself horror anthology series, which isn't bad, really, again registered as the least-watched program among the Big Four networks. It drew a frighteningly low 48,712 D-FW homes.
In the local news derby, chalk up another pair of 10 p.m. wins for WFAA8 in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 returned to the 6 a.m. winner's circle with golds in both ratings measurements. Also of note: CBS11 has been creeping a bit closer to third place in the summertime Nielsens. But will it fall back in the fall?
Fox4 continued to do solid business at 5 p.m. with wins in both total homes and in the 25-to-54 demo. And WFAA8 again imposed its will at 6 p.m., taking first in both measurements for a 24th consecutive weekday.
A sluggish summer night in the D-FW Nielsens found a repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ranking as the most-watched program with a commonplace 148,572 homes.
Another vote-off edition of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance took the crown among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, with 78,835. Comfort Fedoke of Dallas was evicted for the second time (after being reinstated because of a dancer injury) while Joshua Allen of Fort Worth moved on to the show's Final Six.
The new CBS police drama Flashpoint, in its first Thursday outing, held most of its CSI lead-in to win in total homes at 9 p.m. with 129,087. It slipped to third place with 18-to-49-year-olds, though, behind ABC's Hopkins and Fox4's local newscast.
NBC's Fear Itself horror anthology series, which isn't bad, really, again registered as the least-watched program among the Big Four networks. It drew a frighteningly low 48,712 D-FW homes.
In the local news derby, chalk up another pair of 10 p.m. wins for WFAA8 in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 returned to the 6 a.m. winner's circle with golds in both ratings measurements. Also of note: CBS11 has been creeping a bit closer to third place in the summertime Nielsens. But will it fall back in the fall?
Fox4 continued to do solid business at 5 p.m. with wins in both total homes and in the 25-to-54 demo. And WFAA8 again imposed its will at 6 p.m., taking first in both measurements for a 24th consecutive weekday.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., July 23)
07/24/08 09:11 AM
By ED BARK
TXA21's ballyhooed turnoff turned out to be a bit of a turn-on Wednesday night.
The buildup, however, drew a bigger audience than the station's brief analog signal shutdown at 8:15 p.m. during its nightly two-hour local newscast.
From 7 to 8 p.m., TXA21's "First in Prime" news averaged 73,068 D-FW homes, peaking at 97,424 between 7:15 to 7:30 p.m., according to Nielsen's numbers. That was good enough to outpoint both CBS' Big Brother 10 (70,632 homes) and NBC's Baby Borrowers rerun (31,663 homes) for the full hour.
(Side note: In other words, few in these parts saw 35-year-old rodeo competitor Steven Daigle of Dallas evicted from BB10 Wednesday.)
From 8 to 9 p.m., TXA21's news drew 56,019 total homes, with a peak audience of 75,504 from 8 to 8:15 p.m.
Those are both nice bumps from Tuesday night's numbers, when the news had just 24,356 homes from 7 to 8 p.m. and 38,970 in its second hour.
At Uncle Barky central, our non-digital, dinky little countertop kitchen TV set went to fuzz as anticipated during the 30-second test. The cable hookups all remained in play, as they should have.
TXA21 reporter Jay Gormley, live at the station's transmitter center, presided over the switchoff in a manner that at times made it seem as though he was stationed underground at the Los Alamos nuclear weapons complex.
Meanwhile, anchor Doug Dunbar reported from a phone bank of experts answering questions from perplexed TV watchers who wonder if they'll be ready for the big Feb. 17th FCC-mandated switch from analog to digital signals. The station supposedly was flooded with calls.
Back at the mothership, anchors Tracy Kornet and Chris Salcedo breezily set the table, with Kornet tongue-in-cheekily billing the switchoff as "a fun family event."
Well, it was kinda fun. But make no mistake. All of D-FW's broadcast stations are more than a little concerned about what could happen to their ratings in what would have been the heart of the February "sweeps" competition until Nielsen Media Research mercifully moved them to March for next year only.
Meanwhile, there are still plenty of analog-only sets in this market, and those $40 government-funded coupons toward the purchase of a digital converter box are only available "while supplies last."
Furthermore, as TXA21 reported, TV owners with coupons already in hand are finding it hard to find stores with those digital boxes in stock. So stay tuned, until you can't anymore.
In other ratings news, CBS' rerun combo of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY controlled the total homes ratings from 8 to 10 p..m.
The first hour of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance had the biggest overall audience from 7 to 8 p.m., but ran second among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. The respective winners in that key demographic were ABC's Wife Swap at 7 p.m. and NBC's first-run Baby Borrowers at 8 p.m.
In the local news derby, WFAA8's 10 p.m. edition nipped CBS11 in total homes, with the two stations tying for first among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The "Who's in First?" 6 a.m. competition had another different outcome. Fox4 took first in total homes and WFAA8 topped the 25-to-54 demo. NBC5, which had run the table on both Monday and Tuesday, tied for second in both measurements.
Fox4 had a total homes win at 5 p.m., but WFAA8 took the 25-to-54 gold.
WFAA8 once again swept the 6 p.m. competitions, running its weekday streak to 23.
TXA21's ballyhooed turnoff turned out to be a bit of a turn-on Wednesday night.
The buildup, however, drew a bigger audience than the station's brief analog signal shutdown at 8:15 p.m. during its nightly two-hour local newscast.
From 7 to 8 p.m., TXA21's "First in Prime" news averaged 73,068 D-FW homes, peaking at 97,424 between 7:15 to 7:30 p.m., according to Nielsen's numbers. That was good enough to outpoint both CBS' Big Brother 10 (70,632 homes) and NBC's Baby Borrowers rerun (31,663 homes) for the full hour.
(Side note: In other words, few in these parts saw 35-year-old rodeo competitor Steven Daigle of Dallas evicted from BB10 Wednesday.)
From 8 to 9 p.m., TXA21's news drew 56,019 total homes, with a peak audience of 75,504 from 8 to 8:15 p.m.
Those are both nice bumps from Tuesday night's numbers, when the news had just 24,356 homes from 7 to 8 p.m. and 38,970 in its second hour.
At Uncle Barky central, our non-digital, dinky little countertop kitchen TV set went to fuzz as anticipated during the 30-second test. The cable hookups all remained in play, as they should have.
TXA21 reporter Jay Gormley, live at the station's transmitter center, presided over the switchoff in a manner that at times made it seem as though he was stationed underground at the Los Alamos nuclear weapons complex.
Meanwhile, anchor Doug Dunbar reported from a phone bank of experts answering questions from perplexed TV watchers who wonder if they'll be ready for the big Feb. 17th FCC-mandated switch from analog to digital signals. The station supposedly was flooded with calls.
Back at the mothership, anchors Tracy Kornet and Chris Salcedo breezily set the table, with Kornet tongue-in-cheekily billing the switchoff as "a fun family event."
Well, it was kinda fun. But make no mistake. All of D-FW's broadcast stations are more than a little concerned about what could happen to their ratings in what would have been the heart of the February "sweeps" competition until Nielsen Media Research mercifully moved them to March for next year only.
Meanwhile, there are still plenty of analog-only sets in this market, and those $40 government-funded coupons toward the purchase of a digital converter box are only available "while supplies last."
Furthermore, as TXA21 reported, TV owners with coupons already in hand are finding it hard to find stores with those digital boxes in stock. So stay tuned, until you can't anymore.
In other ratings news, CBS' rerun combo of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY controlled the total homes ratings from 8 to 10 p..m.
The first hour of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance had the biggest overall audience from 7 to 8 p.m., but ran second among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. The respective winners in that key demographic were ABC's Wife Swap at 7 p.m. and NBC's first-run Baby Borrowers at 8 p.m.
In the local news derby, WFAA8's 10 p.m. edition nipped CBS11 in total homes, with the two stations tying for first among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The "Who's in First?" 6 a.m. competition had another different outcome. Fox4 took first in total homes and WFAA8 topped the 25-to-54 demo. NBC5, which had run the table on both Monday and Tuesday, tied for second in both measurements.
Fox4 had a total homes win at 5 p.m., but WFAA8 took the 25-to-54 gold.
WFAA8 once again swept the 6 p.m. competitions, running its weekday streak to 23.
Internet confidential: NBC5's bloggin' brigade
07/23/08 01:42 PM
By ED BARK
NBC5's full-time news staff is D-FW's smallest at last count, with a total of 27 anchors and reporters, including weather and sports.
But the station leads the local leagues in bloggers -- 17 to be exact. Maybe "Working with a Net" should be NBC5's new slogan. Clearly it's a priority with management.
Before looking at what NBC5ers have been blogging lately, let's check the specs for Fox4, WFAA8 and CBS11. All of these numbers are based on prolonged visits to their Web sites to see who's blogging and who's not.
Fox4 currently has a full-time newsroom staff of 32, with 14 of them contributing blogs as well. That makes the station a solid second to the Peacock.
WFAA8, with the market's largest staff of 37, has eight bloggers. But the station is the only D-FW news provider with face-to-the-camera video blogs. Anchor Gloria Campos calls hers the "Glo Cam." Aaron Chimbel's is the "Mojo Blog."
CBS11 is still barely in this game. Only anchor Tracy Kornet has her own individual blog among the station's 35 news staffers. CBS11 also has a sports blog called "The Bullpen" and a weather blog. But that still doesn't add up to much compared to the others.
NBC's bloggers are all still doing it the commendable old-school way, in print. And some of them really seem to be working at it.
Early morning traffic reporter Tammy Dombeck calls hers "Totally Tammy," and begins each post with a "Hey gang" greeting. Her most recent contribution, written on July 18th, is on the "Hot Batmobile's" arrival in North Texas.
She's also written lately on Christie Brinkley's divorce proceedings and some "Wonderful Viewer Encounters," which include pictures. But Dombeck hasn't been much of a busy bee of late. Just four posts in the past month. Unlike Uncle Barky, perhaps she has a life or went on vacation.
Reporter Grant Stinchfield ("Grant's Rant") in contrast has authored nine posts in the past two weeks, most of them with pictures included.
One of his two July 14th submissions is titled "Tony Romo Not Happy With Me." Stinchfield says he asked the Dallas Cowboys QB, "nicely I may add," about Jessica Simpson during a recent NBC5 Sports Extra program.
"He seemed to get annoyed," Stinchfield wrote. "Tony needs to realize the majority of viewers, not sports fans, want to know about Jessica. And the sports fans simply want to know if she is a distraction . . . Tony needs to learn how to just deal with it. He is a 'celebrity' quarterback, whether he likes it or not. I'm sorry for asking, but when you do an interview with Tony, it is the one question that has to be asked. If you don't ask it, the reporter looks like an idiot."
This particular post drew three comments, the first one being, "Leave his private life alone, stupid reporters!!!!!" Ya gotta love this blogging biz. But at least Stinchfield puts a little bite in his rants. In another one, he began, "I have long contended that many politicians are misguided fools."
Fellow NBC5 reporter Randy McIlwain -- "Big Man Bloggin' " is his title -- mixes it up with long and sometimes very dicey observations on subjects ranging from the "N-word" (which he prints in full as you'll see) to "The Pee-Pee man Cometh," a discourse on Mavericks' forward Josh Howard facing possible drug-testing after admitting to off-season marijuana use.
His n-word commentary emphasizes that "context" is key whenever that word is dropped. "Can you ever call me a Nigger?" McIlwain writes. "Yes, depending again on context, if you walk up to me, call me a Nigger and suddenly lose consciousness, sorry, you used it in the wrong context."
McIlwain, who signs off most of his posts with "It's a big man's world, it's a big man blogging," notes that he could never have a racially charged discussion like this on TV. Even on his blog it's gone relatively unnoticed, with no comments to date.
Other NBC5 bloggers aren't exactly hellraisers.
Anchor Mike Snyder to date has had six posts devoted to his ongoing efforts to lose -- dare it be said -- a considerable amount of weight. His desk partner, Jane McGarry, recently wrote about her diet, too.
Anchor/reporter Brian Curtis' latest dispatch -- on "The Sausage Factory" -- is about the ongoing renovations to his kitchen, including a picture.
Reporter Melissa Newton apologized for calling in sick for the first time in a July 16th post titled "I Love Our Viewers!" But her most recent dispatch is about the sometimes harsh realities of covering a police manhunt.
Veteran Ken Kalthoff ("On the Fence") sticks mostly to hard news updates, including his latest post on an early morning drive-by shooting, complete with two pictures.
Reporter Omar Villafranca ("What did Omar Say?") uses lots of pictures, too. His most recent post, on July 22, jokes about a possible Elvis sighting in Aledo, TX, which he visited last week. Not exactly a keeper, Omar.
Night Ranger Scott Gordon hasn't refreshed his "Gordon Gabs" blog since July 10th. But it was a helluva long post with pictures on "How the Great Cookie Caper Crumbled." He also got 11 reader comments, which is about 11 times as many as most of NBC5's bloggers are getting.
Reporter/anchor Scott Friedman, who's really been slacking off lately, has attracted just one comment for his last 10 posts. And he hasn't blogged since July 1st.
Then again, Friedman's on-air work continues to be mostly first-rate. You've got to make time for that, too, even at the risk of getting into a blog jam.
Meanwhile, maybe this will drive some traffic to these blogs. Any comments?
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., July 22)
07/23/08 10:42 AM
By ED BARK
NBC's America's Got Talent and ABC's Wipeout continued their summertime ratings rolls Tuesday.
Talent had prime-time's biggest overall audience, with 165,621 D-FW homes tuned in.
Wipeout dominated the ratings among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, drawing 126,136 of 'em.
At 9 p.m., Fox4's local newscast ran a competitive second to ABC News' Primetime: Family Secrets in both total homes and with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Post- prime time, though, WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast had Tuesday's biggest audience hauls in total homes, 18-to-49-year-olds and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. Its total homes Nielsens (202,155) easily more than doubled those for CBS' first-run episode of Big Brother 10 (73,068 homes).
But WFAA8 slumped to a weak third in the 6 a.m. news competition, won comfortably by NBC5 for the second straight weekday in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Then it was WFAA8's turn again. The ABC station ran the table at both 5 and 6 p.m., making it 22 straight weekdays in the later hour.
Fox4 interviews decidedly different forecaster for possible spot on weather team
07/22/08 09:58 AM
By ED BARK
Seemingly brainy, undeniably pretty and best known on youtube for a "yogacast" and other comedy weather spots, 37-year-old meteorologist Katrina Voss might be ready to take Dallas-Fort Worth by storm.
So far she's only been flown in for an interview at Fox4, which is still looking for a replacement for weathercaster Maria Sotolongo. Several informed sources say that Voss met with management Monday afternoon at the station's downtown Dallas offices.
Fox4, like most stations in D-FW and elsewhere, has a policy of not commenting on personnel it might hire. Voss likely would be a controversial newcomer, at least at first. But these are different times in TV news, and Voss also seems to have attributes beyond the merely physical and/or comical.
Her website says she's a native of Durham, NC with college degrees in Spanish literature, geosciences and meteorology. She lived in Spain for seven years, writing a column for women titled "The Venusisan Chronicles."
After returning to the United States, Voss worked for The Weather Channel from 1999 to 2003 before joining AccuWeather.com. Her website says she also can be seen on "numerous" English- and Spanish-speaking stations. Some of her accompanying photos might have tongues wagging in a variety of languages.
Voss's yogacast (below), which you'll have to see to believe, could be a big chill for weather purists, let alone an incumbent Fox4 weather staff headed by comparative traditionalists Dan Henry and Evan Andrews. But WFAA8 medical reporter Janet St. James joined in some on-air "tree yoga" a little while back, so there's something of a precedent.
For your edification or mortification, here's the yogacast:
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., July 21)
07/22/08 09:54 AM
By ED BARK
ABC's all-new Monday night reality lineup, particularly the new High School Musical: Get In the Picture, continued to scrape bottom while CBS and Fox set the pace with drama and comedy repeats.
Meanwhile, Arlington's Melissa Lawson entered the realm of Nashville Star's Final Four as the competition's ratings perked up a bit in these parts.
HSM: GITP, hosted by Nick Lachey, drew prime-time's smallest audience among the Big Four networks in both total homes and with advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-olds. It just goes to show that a hit movie franchise can't be cheapened to the point where the "winner" merely gets to appear in a closing credits music video after High School Musical 3: Senior Year, scheduled to open in theaters on Oct. 24th.
NBC's Nashville Star (114,473 D-FW homes) drew a bit more than twice the overall audience for HSM: GITP while still finishing just third at 8 p.m. in both total homes and among 18-to-49-year-olds.
CBS owned the night in both measurements from 8 to 10 p.m. with reruns of Two and a Half Men (158,314 homes); Old Christine (153,443 homes) and prime-time's top vote-getter, CSI: Miami (187,541 home).
Fox's Bones reprise won at 7 p.m. in total homes but dipped to third among 18-to-49-year-olds, where CBS' do-overs of The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother were tops.
The Texas Rangers' road win over the White Sox had a respectable haul of 85,246 homes on MY27. Over in the cable world, TNT's firstrun combo of The Closer and Saving Grace held steady with 80,375 homes apiece.
The local news ratings had something for everybody, particularly CBS11 and NBC5.
CBS11 took a pair of firsts at 10 p.m., winning in total homes (172,928) and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the principal advertiser target audience for news programming.
The Peacock won a doubleheader at 6 a.m., with a particularly strong showing in the key 25-to-54 demo.
WFAA8 cruised to another pair of wins at 6 p.m., stretching its streak to an imposing 21 straight weekdays.
Fox4 got on the board with a total homes win at 5 p.m., but WFAA8 took the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Latest moves on Fox & Friends could affect future of D-FW's Megan Henderson
07/21/08 01:13 PM
By ED BARK
Changes on Fox News Channel's early morning Fox & Friends show could have some bearing on Fox4 anchor Megan Henderson's future plans.
The TV Newser web site reports that FNC has moved the show's news reader, Alisyn Camerota, from weekdays to weekends while at the same expanding the Monday-Friday edition from two hours to three.
"Where this leaves F & F weekend fill-ins Ainsley Earhardt (who was on the couch this past weekend), or Megan Henderson, of Fox's Dallas station, remains to be seen," TV Newser concluded.
For at least the short term, Camerota will co-host on weekends with incumbents Dave Briggs and Clayton Morris. Gretchen Carlson, formerly a weekend anchor and reporter for NBC5 in D-FW, will be the weekday F&F's news reader, says TV Newser.
Henderson, who co-anchors Fox4's 5 to 9 a.m. Good Day with Tim Ryan, politely declined to comment Monday after being reached by telephone. She has guest-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend twice this year, fueling speculation that FNC is grooming her for a national spot.
As previously reported, Henderson's contract with Fox4 expires at the end of February. She has been with Good Day since August 2003.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., July 18-20)
07/21/08 10:02 AM
By ED BARK
The climactic round of the British Open, featuring leader Greg Norman's collapse, couldn't out putt-putt Sunday's Rangers-Twins game in the D-FW Nielsens.
Neither was a blockbuster on a tepid weekend for TV viewing. ABC's mostly morning telecast of the Open averaged a smallish 73,068 total homes, the same as Saturday's third-round coverage. The Rangers' 1-0 road win over the Twins Sunday afternoon drew 80,375 homes on MY27 while Saturday's blowout loss to Minnesota, also on MY27, had 75,504 homes.
Dale Hansen's Sunday, 10:30 p.m. local sports special on WFAA8 fared better, leading all competitors with 102,295 homes. Newy Scruggs' NBC5 show ran second with 73,068 homes while Babe Laufenberg trailed on CBS11 with 48,712. Earlier at 10 p.m., Mike Doocy's Fox4 sports show had 60,890 D-FW homes.
In prime-time Sunday, ABC mega-bombed with the premiere of High School Musical: Get In the Picture, hosted by Nick Lachey. It dug a Death Valley at 7 p.m. drawing a piddling 51,148 homes between episodes of the network's American's Funniest Home Videos (94,988 homes) and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (119,344 homes), both of which were repeats.
Get In the Picture fared even worse among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, where it ran sixth overall with just 18,920 viewers in that age group. Even TXA21's competing local newscast (25,227 viewers) drew a bigger crowd in this key demo.
On Friday night, the second episode of CBS' made-in-Canada Flashpoint cop series held pretty steady in the total homes Nielsens but drooped in the 18-to-49-year-old ratings.
Flashpoint pulled in 126,651 homes to win at 9 p.m. after drawing 148,572 with the previous Friday's premiere episode. But it ran fourth in the 18-to-49 demo behind Fox4's frontrunning 9 p.m. local newscast after topping the field in that measurement a week ago.
In Friday's four major local news combat zones, WFAA8 again set the pace at 10 p.m. with wins in total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 took first at 6 a.m. in total homes, with WFAA8 the gold medalist in the 25-to-54 demo.
The early evening Nielsens showed Fox4 running the table at 5 p.m. and WFAA doing likewise at 6 p.m. for its 20th straight set of weekday wins.
The climactic round of the British Open, featuring leader Greg Norman's collapse, couldn't out putt-putt Sunday's Rangers-Twins game in the D-FW Nielsens.
Neither was a blockbuster on a tepid weekend for TV viewing. ABC's mostly morning telecast of the Open averaged a smallish 73,068 total homes, the same as Saturday's third-round coverage. The Rangers' 1-0 road win over the Twins Sunday afternoon drew 80,375 homes on MY27 while Saturday's blowout loss to Minnesota, also on MY27, had 75,504 homes.
Dale Hansen's Sunday, 10:30 p.m. local sports special on WFAA8 fared better, leading all competitors with 102,295 homes. Newy Scruggs' NBC5 show ran second with 73,068 homes while Babe Laufenberg trailed on CBS11 with 48,712. Earlier at 10 p.m., Mike Doocy's Fox4 sports show had 60,890 D-FW homes.
In prime-time Sunday, ABC mega-bombed with the premiere of High School Musical: Get In the Picture, hosted by Nick Lachey. It dug a Death Valley at 7 p.m. drawing a piddling 51,148 homes between episodes of the network's American's Funniest Home Videos (94,988 homes) and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (119,344 homes), both of which were repeats.
Get In the Picture fared even worse among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, where it ran sixth overall with just 18,920 viewers in that age group. Even TXA21's competing local newscast (25,227 viewers) drew a bigger crowd in this key demo.
On Friday night, the second episode of CBS' made-in-Canada Flashpoint cop series held pretty steady in the total homes Nielsens but drooped in the 18-to-49-year-old ratings.
Flashpoint pulled in 126,651 homes to win at 9 p.m. after drawing 148,572 with the previous Friday's premiere episode. But it ran fourth in the 18-to-49 demo behind Fox4's frontrunning 9 p.m. local newscast after topping the field in that measurement a week ago.
In Friday's four major local news combat zones, WFAA8 again set the pace at 10 p.m. with wins in total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 took first at 6 a.m. in total homes, with WFAA8 the gold medalist in the 25-to-54 demo.
The early evening Nielsens showed Fox4 running the table at 5 p.m. and WFAA doing likewise at 6 p.m. for its 20th straight set of weekday wins.
Pulling their own weight -- but who should be D-FW television's biggest loser?
07/18/08 01:35 PM
By ED BARK
WFAA8 sports anchor Dale Hansen regularly calls attention to his poundage, and recently dropped about 60 of 'em on a regimen of Slim-Fast shakes and bananas.
But now he seems to be ballooning back up again.
NBC5 anchor Mike Snyder, appalled at his latter day girth, keeps blogging on nbc5i.com about his ongoing efforts to slim down to 190 pounds from an all-time high of 256. So far he's dropped nine, he says.
We also live in the era of NBC's The Biggest Loser, which will be trolling for heavy-set Dallas couples on Saturday (July 19th).
So clearly this is a topic whose time has come. And Hansen and Snyder aren't the only D-FW television news people whose health and appearance might be improved by a sizable weight reduction.
Television is, after all, a cosmetic industry for the most part. Snyder, for one, admits to feeling the sting of viewer emails aimed at his increasingly fleshy countenance.
There are others in this boat.
WFAA8 anchor/reporter Debbie Denmon is definitely getting up there.
Street reporter Randy McIlwain and sports anchor Newy Scruggs, both of NBC5, are showing they have a lot to lose.
Veteran CBS11 correspondent Bud Gillett has gotten too big for his old britches. And over at Fox4, anchor dean Clarice Tinsley, reporter Shaun Rabb and weatherman Ron Jackson seem to be growing on us.
Back here at unclebarky.com central, your friendly content provider has dropped 15 pounds off of a 200-pound frame in recent months. Lots of ass-sitting at a computer can be hazardous to one's waist line and overall life span.
But unlike Snyder, Hansen et. al., I'm not up for public consumption on an unforgiving television screen. You don't have to be -- nor should you be -- a stick figure. But if the camera indeed adds 10 pounds, then it's far better to shape up than let yourself blow way out of proportion.
Who of the above, then, would benefit the most from a sensible but considerable weight loss? Or maybe you have other D-FW anchors or reporters in mind. That is, if you care one way or the other about such things.
NBC5's Snyder has drawn considerable attention to this touchy topic with his repeated, some might say obsessive, blog updates. Now it's your turn to weigh in with your comments.
Good Day sing-a-long, first chapter and verse
07/18/08 08:29 AM
By ED BARK
Return with us now to the original 2002 rendition of Fox4's Good Day theme song. Tim Ryan's co-anchor at the time, Julia Somers, left the station in 2003 and was replaced in August of that year by Megan Henderson.
By the way, Julia Somers is now Julie Summers, an anchor at South Florida's ABC affiliate, WPLG-TV, since Sept. 2004. Also of note: A big-grinning Tom Cruise played along in 2002, amiably asking Fox4 viewers, "Have you had a good day lately?" A lot's happened since then. Here's the one-minute, vintage Good Day theme song, performed by Chris Ivey:
Return with us now to the original 2002 rendition of Fox4's Good Day theme song. Tim Ryan's co-anchor at the time, Julia Somers, left the station in 2003 and was replaced in August of that year by Megan Henderson.
By the way, Julia Somers is now Julie Summers, an anchor at South Florida's ABC affiliate, WPLG-TV, since Sept. 2004. Also of note: A big-grinning Tom Cruise played along in 2002, amiably asking Fox4 viewers, "Have you had a good day lately?" A lot's happened since then. Here's the one-minute, vintage Good Day theme song, performed by Chris Ivey:
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., July 17)
07/18/08 08:29 AM
By ED BARK
ABC's Hopkins hospital series continues to cut up the competition.
Thursday's latest non-fiction episode easily ranked as prime-time's top attraction, drawing 194,848 D-FW homes and also dominating the field among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
In contrast, NBC's summertime horror anthology series, Fear Itself, drew a scarily scant 41,405 homes at 9 p.m. opposite Hopkins. CBS' Swingtown (92,553 homes) ran a distant third in the time slot behind Fox4's local news (133,958 homes).
At 7 p.m., the second episode of CBS' Greatest American Dog edged Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in total homes. But the two shows traced places in the 18-to-49 demo.
It was the same story at 8 p.m. A repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation whipped Fox's So You Think You Can Dance results hour in total homes, but slipped to second with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Helped by a healthy Hopkins lead-in, WFAA's 10 p.m. newscast cruised to easy wins in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The early mornings remained up-and-down, with NBC5 taking first in total homes and WFAA8 tops with 25-to-54-year-olds. In a highly unusual occurrence, CBS11 nipped Fox4 for third place in the 25-to-54 demo.
Fox4 then saved a little face with twin wins at 5 p.m. And WFAA8 swept the 6 p.m. news competitions for an impressive 19th straight weekday.
ABC's Hopkins hospital series continues to cut up the competition.
Thursday's latest non-fiction episode easily ranked as prime-time's top attraction, drawing 194,848 D-FW homes and also dominating the field among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
In contrast, NBC's summertime horror anthology series, Fear Itself, drew a scarily scant 41,405 homes at 9 p.m. opposite Hopkins. CBS' Swingtown (92,553 homes) ran a distant third in the time slot behind Fox4's local news (133,958 homes).
At 7 p.m., the second episode of CBS' Greatest American Dog edged Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in total homes. But the two shows traced places in the 18-to-49 demo.
It was the same story at 8 p.m. A repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation whipped Fox's So You Think You Can Dance results hour in total homes, but slipped to second with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Helped by a healthy Hopkins lead-in, WFAA's 10 p.m. newscast cruised to easy wins in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The early mornings remained up-and-down, with NBC5 taking first in total homes and WFAA8 tops with 25-to-54-year-olds. In a highly unusual occurrence, CBS11 nipped Fox4 for third place in the 25-to-54 demo.
Fox4 then saved a little face with twin wins at 5 p.m. And WFAA8 swept the 6 p.m. news competitions for an impressive 19th straight weekday.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., July 16)
07/17/08 11:02 AM
By ED BARK
CBS continues to do just fine with crime series repeats -- at least in the total homes ratings -- while rivals load up on reality hours.
The Eye network's Criminal Minds (158,314 homes) and CSI: NY (163,185) controlled the 8 to 10 p.m. slot Wednesday, with the first hour of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance winning at 7 p.m. with 110,211 homes.
Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, Dance topped the 7 to 9 p.m. competition in that key demo before ABC's PrimeTime: Crime took over at 9 p.m. The latter hour's finale of NBC's Celebrity Circus tumbled into fourth place in both ratings measurements.
In the four-ring local news competitions, WFAA8 had win wins at 10 p.m. in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the favored audience for news programming.
Fox4 took the golds at 6 a.m. and also tied WFAA8 for the total homes lead at 5 p.m.
WFAA8 won at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo and swept the 6 p.m. Nielsens for the 18th straight weekday.
CBS continues to do just fine with crime series repeats -- at least in the total homes ratings -- while rivals load up on reality hours.
The Eye network's Criminal Minds (158,314 homes) and CSI: NY (163,185) controlled the 8 to 10 p.m. slot Wednesday, with the first hour of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance winning at 7 p.m. with 110,211 homes.
Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, Dance topped the 7 to 9 p.m. competition in that key demo before ABC's PrimeTime: Crime took over at 9 p.m. The latter hour's finale of NBC's Celebrity Circus tumbled into fourth place in both ratings measurements.
In the four-ring local news competitions, WFAA8 had win wins at 10 p.m. in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the favored audience for news programming.
Fox4 took the golds at 6 a.m. and also tied WFAA8 for the total homes lead at 5 p.m.
WFAA8 won at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo and swept the 6 p.m. Nielsens for the 18th straight weekday.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., July 15, All-Star baseball edition)
07/16/08 09:20 AM
By ED BARK
Going, going, going and finally gone at 12:37 a.m. Wednesday, baseball's 79th annual All-Star game still managed to outscore all competing programming during its four hours and 50 minutes on Fox.
That's not even counting the elongated pre-game show. Pocket calculator technology at unclebarky.com central says that the game itself, which started at 7:47 p.m. Tuesday, averaged 199,719 D-FW homes overall from opening pitch to 15th inning slide across home plate.
Attendance peaked from 8:45 to 9 p.m., with 263,045 homes tuned in. And the game remained on in 126,652 homes when Rangers shortstop Michael Young drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly.
Let's look at some of the night's other peak All-Star game audiences among viewers of varying ages, beginning with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds:
18-to-49-year-old men -- 105,190 from 9 to 9:15 p.m.
18-to-49-year-old women -- 53,428 from 9 to 9:15 p.m.
55 years and up -- 161,600 from 8:15 to 8:30 p.m., and 8:45 to 9 p.m.
12-to-17-year-olds -- 48,140 from 10 to 10:15 p.m.
The All-Star game in fact ran fourth overall in prime-time among 18-to-49-year-old women, for whom NBC's America's Got Talent (80,905 viewers) and ABC's PrimeTime: Family Secrets (74,799 viewers) were the top draws.
Us hairy beasts of the same age group knew better, making the All-Star game our runaway first choice throughout the night and into Wednesday's opening wee hour.
There was a brief lapse, though, between 7 and 8 p.m., when another edition of ABC's fall down/go boom Wipeout lured 67,353 men in the 18-to-49 demo opposite what was mostly the All-Star pre-game buildup (67,118 viewers).
Fox also squeezed in at least 11 promos for its new fall series Fringe, although I may have missed one or two. Just before the midnight hour, play-by-play dude Joe Buck dutifully told viewers, "They have built an all-new world of intrigue and adventure that will blow your mind."
He wasn't talking about the game, but of Fringe, helmed by Lost creator J. J. Abrams. By the time of its Sept. 9th premiere, you're likely to have seen a gazillion or two teases for it.
In the three-way 10 p.m. local news derby, WFAA8 took the gold with 194,848 total homes and also won among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 rose up at 6 a.m. to win in both ratings measurements, with the usually potent WFAA8 barely holding off longtime pipsqueak CBS11 to take the bronzes.
WFAA8 then controlled the 5 and 6 p.m. news competitions, running its streak at the later hour to 17 straight weekdays.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., July 14)
07/15/08 11:00 AM
By ED BARK
Paul Bunyan drew quite a crowd Monday night.
In the person of Texas Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton, he hit a record-setting 28 home runs -- including 13 in a row -- during the first round of baseball's All Star Game festivities. D-FW took notice, with 168,056 homes zeroed in on ESPN. That was good enough to beat all competing programming from 8:30 to 9 p.m.
Even more homes -- 180,234 -- then watched a swing-weary Hamilton fizzle out in his final duel with the Twins' victorious Justin Morneau. Only the second half of CBS' CSI: Miami repeat did better Monday night, drawing 188,759 homes.
Monday also brought the season premieres of TNT's The Closer and Saving Grace. They respectively drew 80,375 and 70,632 homes from 8 to 10 p.m. That wasn't quite good enough to beat either Big Josh or any of the competing programming on the four major broadcast networks. Instead, a pair of Fox drama reruns led the free TV parade, with Bones luring 141,265 homes and House, 143,700.
In daytime hours, the premiere of Fox's The Wendy Williams Show (airing only in D-FW and three other markets), ran fifth in total homes at 11 a.m. with just 29,227. It fared better among advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-olds, taking the bronze and slightly outpointing ABC's All My Children and a combination of the syndicated Jeopardy! and The Young and the Restless on CBS11.
The local news Nielsens gave CBS11 a total homes win at 10 p.m. and a first place tie with WFAA8 among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 and NBC5 tied at 6 a.m. in total homes. But the Peacock dipped to third in the 25-to-54 demo, behind Fox4 and WFAA8.
Fox4 notched a win at 5 p.m. in total homes and tied WFAA8 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 maintained its hammerlock on the 6 p.m. news ratings, running the table for the 16th straight weekday.
Paul Bunyan drew quite a crowd Monday night.
In the person of Texas Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton, he hit a record-setting 28 home runs -- including 13 in a row -- during the first round of baseball's All Star Game festivities. D-FW took notice, with 168,056 homes zeroed in on ESPN. That was good enough to beat all competing programming from 8:30 to 9 p.m.
Even more homes -- 180,234 -- then watched a swing-weary Hamilton fizzle out in his final duel with the Twins' victorious Justin Morneau. Only the second half of CBS' CSI: Miami repeat did better Monday night, drawing 188,759 homes.
Monday also brought the season premieres of TNT's The Closer and Saving Grace. They respectively drew 80,375 and 70,632 homes from 8 to 10 p.m. That wasn't quite good enough to beat either Big Josh or any of the competing programming on the four major broadcast networks. Instead, a pair of Fox drama reruns led the free TV parade, with Bones luring 141,265 homes and House, 143,700.
In daytime hours, the premiere of Fox's The Wendy Williams Show (airing only in D-FW and three other markets), ran fifth in total homes at 11 a.m. with just 29,227. It fared better among advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-olds, taking the bronze and slightly outpointing ABC's All My Children and a combination of the syndicated Jeopardy! and The Young and the Restless on CBS11.
The local news Nielsens gave CBS11 a total homes win at 10 p.m. and a first place tie with WFAA8 among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 and NBC5 tied at 6 a.m. in total homes. But the Peacock dipped to third in the 25-to-54 demo, behind Fox4 and WFAA8.
Fox4 notched a win at 5 p.m. in total homes and tied WFAA8 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 maintained its hammerlock on the 6 p.m. news ratings, running the table for the 16th straight weekday.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., July 11-13)
07/14/08 09:18 AM
By ED BARK
Sunday's rare Fox4 telecast of a Texas Rangers game wound up as much more than a bunt in the D-FW Nielsens.
The marathon 12-11 win over the White Sox dominated all daytime programming before peaking at 141,265 homes from 6 to 6:15 p.m., when Rangers' reliever C.J. Wilson finally got the save after his usual dance with death.
The game's high point fell just a bit short of the first 15 minutes of CBS' 60 Minutes (160,750 homes), but clubbed the news magazine and everything else among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. That's an eye-opener for those who think that baseball mostly is for old-timers.
Later in prime-time, the premiere of CBS' Big Brother 10 managed just 75,504 homes from 7 to 8 p.m. in running third. It also took the bronze with 18-to-49-year-olds.
NBC's two-hour Miss Universe Pageant, in which top 10 finalist Miss USA (Crystle Stewart of Missouri City, TX) fell down during the evening gown competition, fell pretty flat itself with 94,988 homes from 8 to 10 p.m. It was pounded in the 9 p.m. hour by Fox4's local newscast, which drew 170,492 homes while also easily winning the time period with 18-to-49-year-olds.
In the battle of the 10:30 p.m. local sports specials, WFAA8's Dale Hansen was tops (73,068 homes), with NBC5's Newy Scruggs and CBS11's Babe Laufenberg tying for second (48,712 homes). But Fox4's Mike Doocy again drew a bigger audience by starting a half-hour earlier. His 10 p.m. sports special had a league-leading 87,682 homes. (Note to readers: I don't know how many if any of the stations' sports first-stringers actually did their shows, which nonetheless bear their names anyway.)
On Friday, the 9 p.m. premiere of CBS' made-in-Canada Flashpoint cop drama ran a robust first in total homes with 148,572. That made it D-FW's most-watched prime-time program, with Flashpoint also winning big in the 18-to-49 demo.
In the local news derby, Flashpoint's success helped CBS11 to win at 10 p.m. in total homes (143,700). But WFAA8 narrowly took the gold among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Wins again were split at 6 a.m., with Fox4 taking first in total homes and NBC5 tops among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m., notching its 15th straight weekday sweep in the later hour.
Anchor Tracy Rowlett's last newscast for CBS11 finished fourth at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements. A total of 65,761 homes and 11,778 viewers in the 25-to-54 demographic watched co-anchor Karen Borta bid Rowlett a teary-eyed and heartfelt goodbye. There also were taped farewells from the likes of former WFAA8 weatherman Troy Dungan and current WFAA8 investigative reporter Byron Harris.
In contrast at 5 p.m., Rowlett's frontrunning old station, WFAA8, attracted 97,424 homes and 47,112 viewers in the 25-to-54 range.
Sunday's rare Fox4 telecast of a Texas Rangers game wound up as much more than a bunt in the D-FW Nielsens.
The marathon 12-11 win over the White Sox dominated all daytime programming before peaking at 141,265 homes from 6 to 6:15 p.m., when Rangers' reliever C.J. Wilson finally got the save after his usual dance with death.
The game's high point fell just a bit short of the first 15 minutes of CBS' 60 Minutes (160,750 homes), but clubbed the news magazine and everything else among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. That's an eye-opener for those who think that baseball mostly is for old-timers.
Later in prime-time, the premiere of CBS' Big Brother 10 managed just 75,504 homes from 7 to 8 p.m. in running third. It also took the bronze with 18-to-49-year-olds.
NBC's two-hour Miss Universe Pageant, in which top 10 finalist Miss USA (Crystle Stewart of Missouri City, TX) fell down during the evening gown competition, fell pretty flat itself with 94,988 homes from 8 to 10 p.m. It was pounded in the 9 p.m. hour by Fox4's local newscast, which drew 170,492 homes while also easily winning the time period with 18-to-49-year-olds.
In the battle of the 10:30 p.m. local sports specials, WFAA8's Dale Hansen was tops (73,068 homes), with NBC5's Newy Scruggs and CBS11's Babe Laufenberg tying for second (48,712 homes). But Fox4's Mike Doocy again drew a bigger audience by starting a half-hour earlier. His 10 p.m. sports special had a league-leading 87,682 homes. (Note to readers: I don't know how many if any of the stations' sports first-stringers actually did their shows, which nonetheless bear their names anyway.)
On Friday, the 9 p.m. premiere of CBS' made-in-Canada Flashpoint cop drama ran a robust first in total homes with 148,572. That made it D-FW's most-watched prime-time program, with Flashpoint also winning big in the 18-to-49 demo.
In the local news derby, Flashpoint's success helped CBS11 to win at 10 p.m. in total homes (143,700). But WFAA8 narrowly took the gold among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Wins again were split at 6 a.m., with Fox4 taking first in total homes and NBC5 tops among 25-to-54-year-olds.
WFAA8 ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m., notching its 15th straight weekday sweep in the later hour.
Anchor Tracy Rowlett's last newscast for CBS11 finished fourth at 5 p.m. in both ratings measurements. A total of 65,761 homes and 11,778 viewers in the 25-to-54 demographic watched co-anchor Karen Borta bid Rowlett a teary-eyed and heartfelt goodbye. There also were taped farewells from the likes of former WFAA8 weatherman Troy Dungan and current WFAA8 investigative reporter Byron Harris.
In contrast at 5 p.m., Rowlett's frontrunning old station, WFAA8, attracted 97,424 homes and 47,112 viewers in the 25-to-54 range.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., July 10)
07/11/08 09:52 AM
By ED BARK
Arf arf, yet another new summertime reality competition series entered the arena Thursday.
D-FW viewers threw CBS' Greatest American Dog a bone by making it the night's most-watched 7 p.m. attraction -- by a hair. Dog drew 133,958 D-FW homes to edge Fox's competing Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (131,522 homes).
Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, though, Smarter easily licked Dog, which nipped NBC's Last Comic Standing for second place.
At 8 p.m., Fox's So You Think You Can Dance results show niftily tapped to the top with 18-to-49-year-olds but ran second in total homes behind a repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
The results weren't so good for 20-year-old Comfort Fedoke of Dallas, who was eliminated. But Dancing's 10 finalists still include Joshua Allen of Fort Worth.
ABC's Hopkins then took over at 9 p.m. drawing the most total homes of the night (172,928) and also the biggest audience of 18-to-49-year-olds.
This helped propel WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast to comfortable wins in both total homes (155,878) and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser audience for news programming.
Fox4 prevailed in total homes at 6 a.m., with WFAA8 running first in the 25-to-54 demo. The ABC station swept the 5 and 6 p.m. news competitions. That's 14 weekday wins in a row at the later hour.
Arf arf, yet another new summertime reality competition series entered the arena Thursday.
D-FW viewers threw CBS' Greatest American Dog a bone by making it the night's most-watched 7 p.m. attraction -- by a hair. Dog drew 133,958 D-FW homes to edge Fox's competing Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (131,522 homes).
Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, though, Smarter easily licked Dog, which nipped NBC's Last Comic Standing for second place.
At 8 p.m., Fox's So You Think You Can Dance results show niftily tapped to the top with 18-to-49-year-olds but ran second in total homes behind a repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
The results weren't so good for 20-year-old Comfort Fedoke of Dallas, who was eliminated. But Dancing's 10 finalists still include Joshua Allen of Fort Worth.
ABC's Hopkins then took over at 9 p.m. drawing the most total homes of the night (172,928) and also the biggest audience of 18-to-49-year-olds.
This helped propel WFAA8's 10 p.m. newscast to comfortable wins in both total homes (155,878) and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser audience for news programming.
Fox4 prevailed in total homes at 6 a.m., with WFAA8 running first in the 25-to-54 demo. The ABC station swept the 5 and 6 p.m. news competitions. That's 14 weekday wins in a row at the later hour.
WFAA8 will make Brad Hawkins its early morning co-pilot for at least the near future
07/10/08 04:12 PM
By ED BARK
WFAA8 veteran Brad Hawkins has won at least the short-term competition to succeed Justin Farmer as co-anchor of the station's early morning Daybreak program.
Informed sources at the station confirmed that Hawkins, a fixture on WFAA8's weekend newscasts, will join incumbent Cynthia Izaguirre when Farmer leaves for WSB-TV in Atlanta at the end of July. The job will be his for at least the rest of this year while management gauges both his performance and the program's ratings.
News director Michael Valentine declined to comment on Hawkins' status, although sources say that WFAA8 staffers have been informed of his impending move to the weekday early morning shift. Hawkins rejoined WFAA8 in January 2000 after an earlier stint as a production assistant in the station's Austin bureau.
Farmer has been a lame duck early morning anchor since January 4th, when he informed WFAA8 of his decision to leave for WSB-TV. Earlier that same day, Izaguirre made her debut as his co-anchor, replacing the departed Jackie Hyland.
Farmer since has been dealt out of Daybreak promotions while serving out his contract with WFAA8. His father, Don Farmer, was a star anchor at WSB and also a charter member of Atlanta-based CNN's anchor corps when the all-news network signed on in 1980.
Daybreak ranked No. 1 in the May ratings "sweeps" among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. And the program tied with Fox4's Good Day for the top spot in the total homes Nielsens.
Also of note: Former WFAA8 news director David Duitch has been named news director of Dallas-based KDAF-TV (CW 33). He's expected to start in mid-July.
Duitch replaces Mark Shepherd, who had helmed the station's 9 p.m. local newscasts on a shoestring budget compared to rival D-FW news operations. Duitch earlier had gone from Belo-owned WFAA8 to vice president of the corporation's Washington bureau in October 2004. But recent budget cuts put him on the street.
CW 33 is rumored to be expanding its local news operation, including the possible launch of a morning show by this fall. Previously owned by Tribune Corp. the station now is under the private ownership of notoriously outspoken Chicago billionaire Sam Zell.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., July 9)
07/10/08 09:25 AM
By ED BARK
Unscripted competitions and concoctions filled the Big Four networks' prime-time lineups Wednesday, with only CBS dissenting in part.
Fox's latest two-hour edition of So You Think You Can Dance had prime-time's highest ratings among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. But a rerun of CBS' CSI: NY drew the biggest overall audience with 160,750 D-FW homes despite finishing fourth at 9 p.m. in the 18-to-49 demo.
A new episode of NBC's controversial Baby Borrowers ran fourth in total homes at 8 p.m., but moved up to the second spot in that time slot with 18-to-49-year-olds.
In the local news derby, WFAA8 notched another two wins at 10 p.m., prevailing in total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m., and WFAA8 did likewise in the 5 and 6 p.m. news competitions. Its twin wins at 6 p.m. extended the station's streak to 13 straight weekdays.
Unscripted competitions and concoctions filled the Big Four networks' prime-time lineups Wednesday, with only CBS dissenting in part.
Fox's latest two-hour edition of So You Think You Can Dance had prime-time's highest ratings among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. But a rerun of CBS' CSI: NY drew the biggest overall audience with 160,750 D-FW homes despite finishing fourth at 9 p.m. in the 18-to-49 demo.
A new episode of NBC's controversial Baby Borrowers ran fourth in total homes at 8 p.m., but moved up to the second spot in that time slot with 18-to-49-year-olds.
In the local news derby, WFAA8 notched another two wins at 10 p.m., prevailing in total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m., and WFAA8 did likewise in the 5 and 6 p.m. news competitions. Its twin wins at 6 p.m. extended the station's streak to 13 straight weekdays.
