Jun 2007
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., June 28)
06/29/07 09:41 AM
By ED BARK
Fox4 cleaned house in prime-time Thursday while the final episode of NBC's once trumpeted Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip barely drew air.
At the network level, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? controlled the 7 to 8 p.m. slot in both total homes and among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
Fox's following So You Think You Can Dance? also won with 18-to-49-year-olds and was a competitive second in homes to CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation repeat.
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast then placed first for the third straight night in both ratings measurements. The newscast's haul of 183,260 total homes contrasted with Studio 60 's 57,120. Even ABC's Men In Trees repeat (78,540 homes) beat it. Studio 60 also got drubbed in the 18-to-49-year-old Nielsens.
On cable, CNN's Larry King Live continued its rollercoaster week with another big-name guest. Tuesday night's live-from-Las Vegas sit-down with the two surviving Beatles draw a surprisingly small 16,660 homes before Wednesday's Paris Hilton appearance bounced up to 49,980. Thursday's one-on-one with Colin Powell dipped way back down to 9,520 homes.
In the local newscast derby, Belo8 won comfortably in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 re-took the 6 a.m. crowns with first place finishes in both ratings measurements.
Belo8 won in total homes at 5 and 6 p.m., and with 25-to-54-year-olds in the latter hour. But for the third straight day, an interloper prevented Belo8's usual clean sweep. This time the Peacock took the 5 p.m. faceoff among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 cleaned house in prime-time Thursday while the final episode of NBC's once trumpeted Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip barely drew air.
At the network level, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? controlled the 7 to 8 p.m. slot in both total homes and among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
Fox's following So You Think You Can Dance? also won with 18-to-49-year-olds and was a competitive second in homes to CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation repeat.
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast then placed first for the third straight night in both ratings measurements. The newscast's haul of 183,260 total homes contrasted with Studio 60 's 57,120. Even ABC's Men In Trees repeat (78,540 homes) beat it. Studio 60 also got drubbed in the 18-to-49-year-old Nielsens.
On cable, CNN's Larry King Live continued its rollercoaster week with another big-name guest. Tuesday night's live-from-Las Vegas sit-down with the two surviving Beatles draw a surprisingly small 16,660 homes before Wednesday's Paris Hilton appearance bounced up to 49,980. Thursday's one-on-one with Colin Powell dipped way back down to 9,520 homes.
In the local newscast derby, Belo8 won comfortably in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 re-took the 6 a.m. crowns with first place finishes in both ratings measurements.
Belo8 won in total homes at 5 and 6 p.m., and with 25-to-54-year-olds in the latter hour. But for the third straight day, an interloper prevented Belo8's usual clean sweep. This time the Peacock took the 5 p.m. faceoff among 25-to-54-year-olds.
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The ABCs of Belo8 investigating a competitor's primary national news program
06/28/07 02:05 PM
Dateline NBC is being stung hard by Belo8 investigator Byron Harris.
By ED BARK
Belo8 investigative reporter Byron Harris keeps pounding away at Dateline NBC and the Perverted Justice web site in connection with last November's televised arrests of alleged sexual predators in Murphy, TX.
But would the ABC station's longtime gumshoe be as vigorous if the program were named Dateline ABC ?
It seems like a fair question, particularly when the network in Harris's crosshairs owns Belo8's arch rival for local news supremacy -- Fort Worth-based NBC5. Not a problem, Harris said in an email reply.
"I don't worry about the 'perception problem,' " he said. "I don't think anybody has it except you, frankly."
Harris subsequently answered the central question in a telephone interview Thursday while on the way to cover a bank hostage situation. Namely, "Could you devote this much time and energy to this story if it were an ABC News program?"
"I don't know. I would try," Harris said. "It wouldn't keep me from trying. It's not my decision. If someone were to tell me not to do the story, it wouldn't be me . . . I think it's less probable certainly (that he could investigate an ABC news program)."
Harris said he expects his investigation of Dateline to be picked up around the country, and noted that Belo Corp. owns NBC stations in other markets outside North Texas.
"You never know where a story's going to end up when you start it," he said. "I didn't know. But the more I get into it, the more blameworthy I think NBC is. We think it's a national story and I'm going to go ahead with it."
In his earlier email response, Harris said, "I don't read your column, so I don't know what you've done. On that note, did you ever apologize or retract your mistake on your comments regarding my first story?"
As a matter of fact, yes, of which Harris was informed after an unclebarky.com critique of his first Dateline NBC expose on May 8th. Harris took a third swing at Dateline and Perverted Justice last Friday (June 22nd), duly noting that "News 8 broke the story on the problems with that case."
In Harris's first story, he reported that "not one case has gone to court" since 24 arrests were made by Murphy police while the Dateline cameras rolled. Why? Because of "poorly gathered" evidence and "botched" paperwork, Harris said.
I initially reported, erroneously, that one arrest and conviction in fact had been made. But after Harris complained, I re-checked my information and saw that the man, Ali Vagefi of Tyler, had been arrested in July of 2006, four months before Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" sting operation began in Murphy.
Perverted Justice, but not Dateline, aided Murphy police in the bust of Vagefi, who was sentenced in April of this year to five years in prison for attempting to solicit sex from a decoy posing online as a 14-year-old girl.
"That'll be time that at least kids are safe from that one person," Murphy city manager Craig Sherwood was quoted as saying in an April 19th Dallas Morning News Story that was posted on Belo8's web site next to Harris's first expose.
All of this was noted in the correction to my initial critique. I then wrote, "So there at least was precedent -- and maybe even good reason -- for the Murphy police department partnering with Perverted Justice, and by extension, Dateline NBC."
Harris hasn't mentioned the Vagefi conviction in either of his two stories. Instead he's gone hard after Dateline NBC and Perverted Justice, which he says won't talk to him. Murphy police chief Billy Myrick lately won't talk to him either, Harris told viewers in Friday's second story on the sting operation.
He instead showcased "an exclusive interview" with Collin County District Attorney John Roach, who said of the Murphy police department, "If they had been in control of this situation we could have good cases to present. They're a professional organization and they know what they're doing. What they did instead though is abdicate completely to outsiders, frankly, who don't know diddly squat frankly about law enforcement."
Harris says he's not finished.
"I've got one more Dateline story coming up, so that will give you a new hook," he said in his email reply.
Let's be blunt. There's less than a scant chance that Harris would be allowed to do four separate investigations of an ABC news magazine program such as 20/20 or Prime Time Live. This is after all The Belo Corp., whose Dallas Morning News has been banned from critiquing local TV news operations since February 2000.
Harris is allowed to run wild, however, when the prey is a rival network. His overall reporting isn't necessarily at issue, although it would seem that outing would-be sexual predators on camera might be a deterrent in itself whether they're eventually convicted or not.
"We're in a situation now where reality television, journalism and fiction have melded into one stream of consciousness," Harris said. "Is what Dateline and Perverted Justice do journalism? No. Does it serve some public interest? It may. Is it legal? Probably not."
In Harris's view, though, the perception of what he's doing is a non-issue with just about everybody except the guy who used to be the TV critic at The Dallas Morning News through good times and bad.
Maybe he's right. But seriously, what if it were Dateline ABC ?
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., June 27)
06/28/07 10:38 AM
By ED BARK
Wednesday night's meeting of the minds between Larry King and Paris Hilton managed to boost his CNN show's suspenders a bit.
Their one-hour one-on-one lured 49,980 D-FW homes to give King a decisive victory at 8 p.m. over Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes (21,420 homes). On the previous night, the two surviving Beatles' sit-down with King drew just 16,660 homes while H&C had 33,320.
King's Wednesday night followup act, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, spent its entire first hour analyzing Hilton's net worth to us all. The former host of ABC's Celebrity Mole kept insinuating she's a dummy while 33,320 homes stuck with him.
Hilton-King hardly set the 8 p.m. Nielsens on fire, though. The hour's top draw, Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, hauled in 164,220 homes. And ABC's American Inventor ran a competitive second with 140,420 homes. NBC's struggling Last Comic Standing limped in fourth at 8 p.m. with 90,400 homes, still good enough to handily beat Larry's liberation of Paris.
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast had another big night, tying CBS' CSI: NY repeat for first in total homes while winning outright with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. And the 7 to 8 p.m. portion of TXA21's local news did better than usual -- 73,780 homes -- on yet another storm-pocked night.
NBC5 and Belo8 tied for the top in the 10 p.m. newscast battle, with the Peacock again prevailing with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The 6 a.m. faceoff went to NBC5 in total homes and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 took first place at 6 p.m. in both ratings measurements and also topped the field at 5 p.m. in total homes. NBC5 won at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo.
Wednesday night's meeting of the minds between Larry King and Paris Hilton managed to boost his CNN show's suspenders a bit.
Their one-hour one-on-one lured 49,980 D-FW homes to give King a decisive victory at 8 p.m. over Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes (21,420 homes). On the previous night, the two surviving Beatles' sit-down with King drew just 16,660 homes while H&C had 33,320.
King's Wednesday night followup act, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, spent its entire first hour analyzing Hilton's net worth to us all. The former host of ABC's Celebrity Mole kept insinuating she's a dummy while 33,320 homes stuck with him.
Hilton-King hardly set the 8 p.m. Nielsens on fire, though. The hour's top draw, Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, hauled in 164,220 homes. And ABC's American Inventor ran a competitive second with 140,420 homes. NBC's struggling Last Comic Standing limped in fourth at 8 p.m. with 90,400 homes, still good enough to handily beat Larry's liberation of Paris.
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast had another big night, tying CBS' CSI: NY repeat for first in total homes while winning outright with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. And the 7 to 8 p.m. portion of TXA21's local news did better than usual -- 73,780 homes -- on yet another storm-pocked night.
NBC5 and Belo8 tied for the top in the 10 p.m. newscast battle, with the Peacock again prevailing with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
The 6 a.m. faceoff went to NBC5 in total homes and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 took first place at 6 p.m. in both ratings measurements and also topped the field at 5 p.m. in total homes. NBC5 won at 5 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., June 26)
06/27/07 10:12 AM
By ED BARK
NBC's America's Got Talent kept showing why it's summer's only juggernaut while Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast thrived in prime-time's final hour Tuesday night.
Got Talent lured 230,860 D-FW homes from 7 to 9 p.m. and also dominated among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds (195,300). Fox4's weather-spiced newscast then took over, winning from 9 to 10 p.m. in both homes (216,580) and with 18-to-49-year-olds (124,000).
At the opposite end of the ratings teeter-totter, Fox's On the Lot amateur film competition series drew just 45,220 homes and also flopped among 18-to-49-year-olds. On both counts it again had the smallest audiences of the night among the Big Four broadcast networks.
The premiere of Shaq's Big Challenge fared reasonably well on ABC, placing second at 8 p.m. in homes (126,140) and with 18-to-49-year-olds (96,100). It's a worthwhile series that deserves some ratings gains while six obese kids try to shed their excess weight.
On cable, Larry King Live fell well short despite an exclusive interview with Paul McCartney, Ringo Star and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison. Tied to the one-year anniversary of Cirque du Soleil's Beatles-driven Love, the show drew just 16,660 homes against the competing Hannity & Colmes on Fox News Channel (33,320 homes). King should do much better Wednesday night with Paris Hilton in his house.
In the local news derby, Belo8 won handily in total homes at 10 p.m. But NBC5 again took the bigger prize with a victory among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 also won in homes at 6 a.m. while tying for first with Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
The 5 and 6 p.m. ratings were surprises all around. Belo8, which usually wins across the board, didn't win anything Tuesday. NBC5 finished first at 5 p.m. in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The Peacock also topped the 6 p.m. field in homes, but Fox4 scored an unusual win among 25-to-54-year-olds.
NBC's America's Got Talent kept showing why it's summer's only juggernaut while Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast thrived in prime-time's final hour Tuesday night.
Got Talent lured 230,860 D-FW homes from 7 to 9 p.m. and also dominated among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds (195,300). Fox4's weather-spiced newscast then took over, winning from 9 to 10 p.m. in both homes (216,580) and with 18-to-49-year-olds (124,000).
At the opposite end of the ratings teeter-totter, Fox's On the Lot amateur film competition series drew just 45,220 homes and also flopped among 18-to-49-year-olds. On both counts it again had the smallest audiences of the night among the Big Four broadcast networks.
The premiere of Shaq's Big Challenge fared reasonably well on ABC, placing second at 8 p.m. in homes (126,140) and with 18-to-49-year-olds (96,100). It's a worthwhile series that deserves some ratings gains while six obese kids try to shed their excess weight.
On cable, Larry King Live fell well short despite an exclusive interview with Paul McCartney, Ringo Star and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison. Tied to the one-year anniversary of Cirque du Soleil's Beatles-driven Love, the show drew just 16,660 homes against the competing Hannity & Colmes on Fox News Channel (33,320 homes). King should do much better Wednesday night with Paris Hilton in his house.
In the local news derby, Belo8 won handily in total homes at 10 p.m. But NBC5 again took the bigger prize with a victory among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 also won in homes at 6 a.m. while tying for first with Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.
The 5 and 6 p.m. ratings were surprises all around. Belo8, which usually wins across the board, didn't win anything Tuesday. NBC5 finished first at 5 p.m. in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds.
The Peacock also topped the 6 p.m. field in homes, but Fox4 scored an unusual win among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., June 25)
06/26/07 09:44 AM
By ED BARK
Two Spanish language telenovelas ruled the 7 to 9 p.m. ratings Monday, a further sign that D-FW's viewership and viewing habits aren't what they once were.
Competing against a mix of network originals and repeats, Yo Amo a Juan Querendon (I Love Juan Querendon) and Destilando Amor (Distilling of Love) drew 178,500 D-FW homes in dominating the time period.
The two telenovelas scored even bigger with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, amassing 275,900 of them to squash all competing programming by a wide margin. The time period's second most-watched program among 18-to-49-year-olds, Fox's Hell's Kitchen, had a grande total of 130,200.
(Note: remember that total homes ratings do not show how many people per home were watching. That's why the 18-to-49-year-old numbers are larger, in this case at least, for the two telenovelas.)
Otherwise, NBC's Age of Love beat ABC's Ex-Wives Club at 8 p.m. in a battle of two new reality flops. And the premiere of NBC's Science of Love ran third in total homes at 9 p.m. and second with 18-to-49-year-olds, where Fox4's local newscast took first place among English language programs.
A firstrun episode of TNT's The Closer topped Monday night's cable attractions, with a haul of 76,160 homes.
In the local news derby, NBC5 barely beat runnerup Belo8 in homes at 10 p.m., but won comfortably among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
CBS11 failed to capitalize on a significant lead-in advantage from CSI: Miami, placing third in homes and fourth with 25-to-54-year-olds, where Univision's Noticias 23 local newscast moved ahead of Belo8 into second place.
Fox4 again had command of the 6 a.m. ratings, winning in both measurements. And Belo8 remained dominant at 5 and 6 p.m. with first-place finishes across the board.
Two Spanish language telenovelas ruled the 7 to 9 p.m. ratings Monday, a further sign that D-FW's viewership and viewing habits aren't what they once were.
Competing against a mix of network originals and repeats, Yo Amo a Juan Querendon (I Love Juan Querendon) and Destilando Amor (Distilling of Love) drew 178,500 D-FW homes in dominating the time period.
The two telenovelas scored even bigger with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, amassing 275,900 of them to squash all competing programming by a wide margin. The time period's second most-watched program among 18-to-49-year-olds, Fox's Hell's Kitchen, had a grande total of 130,200.
(Note: remember that total homes ratings do not show how many people per home were watching. That's why the 18-to-49-year-old numbers are larger, in this case at least, for the two telenovelas.)
Otherwise, NBC's Age of Love beat ABC's Ex-Wives Club at 8 p.m. in a battle of two new reality flops. And the premiere of NBC's Science of Love ran third in total homes at 9 p.m. and second with 18-to-49-year-olds, where Fox4's local newscast took first place among English language programs.
A firstrun episode of TNT's The Closer topped Monday night's cable attractions, with a haul of 76,160 homes.
In the local news derby, NBC5 barely beat runnerup Belo8 in homes at 10 p.m., but won comfortably among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
CBS11 failed to capitalize on a significant lead-in advantage from CSI: Miami, placing third in homes and fourth with 25-to-54-year-olds, where Univision's Noticias 23 local newscast moved ahead of Belo8 into second place.
Fox4 again had command of the 6 a.m. ratings, winning in both measurements. And Belo8 remained dominant at 5 and 6 p.m. with first-place finishes across the board.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., (June 22-24)
06/25/07 10:12 AM
By ED BARK
Summertime, and the ratings are puny -- most notably on Sunday.
The day's highest-rated program, Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast, drew a hardly earth-shaking 147,560 homes in edging NBC5's late night news (133,280 homes), Sunday's second most-watched program.
Belo8 also had Saturday's highest-rated attraction, with its 10 p.m. newscast reeling in 185,640 homes.
Friday's biggest draw was a newscast, too, this time at the network level. ABC's World News had 168,980 homes, crunching the runnerup NBC Nightly News (88,060 homes), which barely outdrew the CBS Evening News (83,300 homes).
In the local news derby, everyone except CBS11 feasted at least once.
Belo8 won at 10 p.m. in total homes, but NBC5 struck back with a victory among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 won in both measurements at 6 a.m., where it's clearly the station to beat again after a prolonged slump earlier this year.
Belo8 again dominated the 5 and 6 p.m. Nielsens, winning across the board.
Summertime, and the ratings are puny -- most notably on Sunday.
The day's highest-rated program, Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast, drew a hardly earth-shaking 147,560 homes in edging NBC5's late night news (133,280 homes), Sunday's second most-watched program.
Belo8 also had Saturday's highest-rated attraction, with its 10 p.m. newscast reeling in 185,640 homes.
Friday's biggest draw was a newscast, too, this time at the network level. ABC's World News had 168,980 homes, crunching the runnerup NBC Nightly News (88,060 homes), which barely outdrew the CBS Evening News (83,300 homes).
In the local news derby, everyone except CBS11 feasted at least once.
Belo8 won at 10 p.m. in total homes, but NBC5 struck back with a victory among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 won in both measurements at 6 a.m., where it's clearly the station to beat again after a prolonged slump earlier this year.
Belo8 again dominated the 5 and 6 p.m. Nielsens, winning across the board.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., June 21)
06/22/07 11:15 AM
By ED BARK
Sometimes all of the stars align just right for a station.
The Fox network and Fox4's late night newscasts both made big showings Thursday, with a new episode of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? setting the table at 7 p.m.
5th Grader drew 173,740 homes to smash NBC and ABC repeats plus the time slot's other first-run opponent, CBS' sinking Pirate Master (88,060 homes). The Jeff Foxworthy-hosted gamer also won among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, as did Fox's following So You Think You Can Dance. An 8 p.m. repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation narrowly beat Dancing in total homes, though.
At 9 p.m., Fox4's local newscast drew prime-time's largest audience in total homes (209,440). More impressively, it also was Thursday night's most-watched attraction with 18-to-49-year-olds and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4's 10 p.m. news won among 25-to-54-year-olds for the first time in many months and also finished an unaccustomedly close second in total homes to Belo8. And at 6 a.m., Fox4's Good Day notched wins in both ratings measurements.
Even Fox4's Thursday afternoon Rangers-Cubs game did a little bit of business, averaging 47,600 homes. That was good enough to beat some competing programming, including Guiding Light on CBS and Passions and Ellen on NBC.
Belo8 again claimed the other local newscast spoils, finishing first across the board at 5 and 6 p.m.
Sometimes all of the stars align just right for a station.
The Fox network and Fox4's late night newscasts both made big showings Thursday, with a new episode of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? setting the table at 7 p.m.
5th Grader drew 173,740 homes to smash NBC and ABC repeats plus the time slot's other first-run opponent, CBS' sinking Pirate Master (88,060 homes). The Jeff Foxworthy-hosted gamer also won among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, as did Fox's following So You Think You Can Dance. An 8 p.m. repeat of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation narrowly beat Dancing in total homes, though.
At 9 p.m., Fox4's local newscast drew prime-time's largest audience in total homes (209,440). More impressively, it also was Thursday night's most-watched attraction with 18-to-49-year-olds and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4's 10 p.m. news won among 25-to-54-year-olds for the first time in many months and also finished an unaccustomedly close second in total homes to Belo8. And at 6 a.m., Fox4's Good Day notched wins in both ratings measurements.
Even Fox4's Thursday afternoon Rangers-Cubs game did a little bit of business, averaging 47,600 homes. That was good enough to beat some competing programming, including Guiding Light on CBS and Passions and Ellen on NBC.
Belo8 again claimed the other local newscast spoils, finishing first across the board at 5 and 6 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., June 20)
06/21/07 11:12 AM
By ED BARK
Sammy Sosa's big blast Wednesday night lured 37,564 fans to the ballpark, including yours truly in the company of legendary media soft ball league Hall of Famer (in his mind) Rick Alm.
That came pretty close to equaling the number of D-FW homes watching the Texas Rangers on Fox Sports Southwest. The game averaged an overall 52,360 homes, according to Nielsen Media Research. A total of 66,640 homes had the Rangers in view between 9 and 9:15 p.m., when Sosa went deep with No. 600. Game ratings peaked at 69,020 homes between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m.
In contrast, the final hour of the AFI's 100 best movies special on CBS drew a league-leading 139,230 homes between 9 and 10 p.m., edging Fox4's local newscast (135,660 homes) and NBC's Dateline (133,280).
Fox's two-hour edition of So You Think You Can Dance was Wednesday's top draw among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, luring 89,900 of 'em.
Belo8 had a big day in the local newscast derby, barely falling short of a rare double grand slam. The ABC station swept the 6 a.m., and 5 and 6 p.m. races in total homes and with advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 also won in homes at 10 p.m., but narrowly lost the 25-to-54 battle to NBC5.
Sammy Sosa's big blast Wednesday night lured 37,564 fans to the ballpark, including yours truly in the company of legendary media soft ball league Hall of Famer (in his mind) Rick Alm.
That came pretty close to equaling the number of D-FW homes watching the Texas Rangers on Fox Sports Southwest. The game averaged an overall 52,360 homes, according to Nielsen Media Research. A total of 66,640 homes had the Rangers in view between 9 and 9:15 p.m., when Sosa went deep with No. 600. Game ratings peaked at 69,020 homes between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m.
In contrast, the final hour of the AFI's 100 best movies special on CBS drew a league-leading 139,230 homes between 9 and 10 p.m., edging Fox4's local newscast (135,660 homes) and NBC's Dateline (133,280).
Fox's two-hour edition of So You Think You Can Dance was Wednesday's top draw among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, luring 89,900 of 'em.
Belo8 had a big day in the local newscast derby, barely falling short of a rare double grand slam. The ABC station swept the 6 a.m., and 5 and 6 p.m. races in total homes and with advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 also won in homes at 10 p.m., but narrowly lost the 25-to-54 battle to NBC5.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., June 19)
06/20/07 12:54 PM
By ED BARK
NBC's ridiculous extreme, America's Got Talent, continued to punch out the opposition Tuesday night.
The latest two-hour dollop ruled the 7 to 9 p.m. slot in both total homes (185,640) and advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (148,800). Contrastingly, Fox's now all-but-invisible On the Lot amateur film competition drew just 33,320 homes and 21,700 viewers in the 18-to-49 demo. That put it last on both counts among the Big Four broadcast networks' prime-time attractions.
The local news derby saw NBC5 topping the 10 p.m. field for a second straight night in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 had another solid performance at 6 a.m., winning in both ratings measurements. CBS11 perked up a bit in the total homes race, though, where its fourth-place finish was just 11,900 homes behind runnerup NBC5. The Scott Sams-led broadcast remained a non-competitive fourth among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 continued its winning ways at 5 and 6 p.m., where it again ran the table.
NBC's ridiculous extreme, America's Got Talent, continued to punch out the opposition Tuesday night.
The latest two-hour dollop ruled the 7 to 9 p.m. slot in both total homes (185,640) and advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (148,800). Contrastingly, Fox's now all-but-invisible On the Lot amateur film competition drew just 33,320 homes and 21,700 viewers in the 18-to-49 demo. That put it last on both counts among the Big Four broadcast networks' prime-time attractions.
The local news derby saw NBC5 topping the 10 p.m. field for a second straight night in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 had another solid performance at 6 a.m., winning in both ratings measurements. CBS11 perked up a bit in the total homes race, though, where its fourth-place finish was just 11,900 homes behind runnerup NBC5. The Scott Sams-led broadcast remained a non-competitive fourth among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 continued its winning ways at 5 and 6 p.m., where it again ran the table.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., June 18)
06/19/07 11:29 AM
By ED BARK
Matt Lauer's exclusive interview with Princes William and Harry drove the Peacock to a dominant showing at 9 p.m. It also propelled NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast to a smashing win, as the Brits like to say.
NBC's Dateline special drew 259,420 homes, more than doubling the audience for the premiere of the preceding Age of Love (104,720 homes). Monday's third season premiere of TNT cable's The Closer hauled in a very impressive 126,140 homes opposite Age of Love but couldn't beat it among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
Following The Closer, TNT's new medical series Heartland lured a respectable 85,680 homes in D-FW.
NBC5 kept most of its princely lead-in at 10 p.m., drawing 228,840 homes in thumping runnersup Belo8 and CBS11 (both with 138,040 homes). The Peacock won even bigger among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main target audience for news programming. It amassed 215,250 of 'em, crushing runnerup Belo8 (71,750).
CBS11's special extended storm coverage got a nice ratings pop from 10 to 11:30 a.m., where it won the time period by drawing an average of 117,413 homes.
Fox4 again took the 6 a.m. slot in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds. And Belo8 ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m. in both measurements after absorbing a couple of little dents from NBC5 in the past two days.
Matt Lauer's exclusive interview with Princes William and Harry drove the Peacock to a dominant showing at 9 p.m. It also propelled NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast to a smashing win, as the Brits like to say.
NBC's Dateline special drew 259,420 homes, more than doubling the audience for the premiere of the preceding Age of Love (104,720 homes). Monday's third season premiere of TNT cable's The Closer hauled in a very impressive 126,140 homes opposite Age of Love but couldn't beat it among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
Following The Closer, TNT's new medical series Heartland lured a respectable 85,680 homes in D-FW.
NBC5 kept most of its princely lead-in at 10 p.m., drawing 228,840 homes in thumping runnersup Belo8 and CBS11 (both with 138,040 homes). The Peacock won even bigger among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main target audience for news programming. It amassed 215,250 of 'em, crushing runnerup Belo8 (71,750).
CBS11's special extended storm coverage got a nice ratings pop from 10 to 11:30 a.m., where it won the time period by drawing an average of 117,413 homes.
Fox4 again took the 6 a.m. slot in total homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds. And Belo8 ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m. in both measurements after absorbing a couple of little dents from NBC5 in the past two days.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun, June 15-17)
06/18/07 12:22 PM
By ED BARK
The audience kept building, remarkably so in the concluding half-hour.
A rainy Father's Day cooperated, sending ratings for the U.S. Open soaring as Tiger Woods took his last shots at catching eventual winner Angel Cabrera.
Luring just 47,600 D-FW homes for its noon start time on NBC, the final round of the Open ended with 268,940 homes between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m Sunday. That's when Woods missed two chances, on holes 17 and 18, to either win or force a Monday playoff. He ended up a single stroke behind while NBC cashed in with the weekend's most-watched program by a long shot.
Overall, the six-and-a-half hours of Open coverage averaged 173,100 homes while the Texas Rangers' Sunday afternoon win over Cincinnati managed 45,330 homes on MY27. Put Woods in contention or in the lead and you've got a guaranteed hit.
Saturday night's close-out of the Dallas mayoral race on 10 p.m. newscasts attracted a decent-sized 152,320 homes to Belo8, which also won comfortably among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. CBS11's laughable coverage (see below) ran second while NBC5 placed a distant third after getting a sub-puny lead-in audience from the last 15 minutes of NBC's Medium repeat (23,800 homes).
Fox4 had coverage during its 9 p.m. newscast, but Tom Leppert's victory speech came too late for the station, which yielded to its network's Mad TV at 10 p.m.
Friday's top draw, CBS' prime-time repeat of Bob Barker's last The Price Is Right, lured 176,120 homes while also winning easily among 18-to-49-year-olds, the advertiser-favored audience for entertainment programming. The daytime Emmy awards ceremony followed with 154,700 homes, but CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast again couldn't capitalize on a sizable lead-in advantage.
Belo8 instead edged NBC5 at 10 p.m. in total homes, but the Peacock prevailed with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 again notched twin victories at 6 a.m., with its Good Day also winning in both measurements from 7 to 9 a.m. against the three network morning shows.
Belo8 had two wins at 6 p.m. and also finished first at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 nipped Belo8 in total homes at 5 p.m.
The audience kept building, remarkably so in the concluding half-hour.
A rainy Father's Day cooperated, sending ratings for the U.S. Open soaring as Tiger Woods took his last shots at catching eventual winner Angel Cabrera.
Luring just 47,600 D-FW homes for its noon start time on NBC, the final round of the Open ended with 268,940 homes between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m Sunday. That's when Woods missed two chances, on holes 17 and 18, to either win or force a Monday playoff. He ended up a single stroke behind while NBC cashed in with the weekend's most-watched program by a long shot.
Overall, the six-and-a-half hours of Open coverage averaged 173,100 homes while the Texas Rangers' Sunday afternoon win over Cincinnati managed 45,330 homes on MY27. Put Woods in contention or in the lead and you've got a guaranteed hit.
Saturday night's close-out of the Dallas mayoral race on 10 p.m. newscasts attracted a decent-sized 152,320 homes to Belo8, which also won comfortably among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. CBS11's laughable coverage (see below) ran second while NBC5 placed a distant third after getting a sub-puny lead-in audience from the last 15 minutes of NBC's Medium repeat (23,800 homes).
Fox4 had coverage during its 9 p.m. newscast, but Tom Leppert's victory speech came too late for the station, which yielded to its network's Mad TV at 10 p.m.
Friday's top draw, CBS' prime-time repeat of Bob Barker's last The Price Is Right, lured 176,120 homes while also winning easily among 18-to-49-year-olds, the advertiser-favored audience for entertainment programming. The daytime Emmy awards ceremony followed with 154,700 homes, but CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast again couldn't capitalize on a sizable lead-in advantage.
Belo8 instead edged NBC5 at 10 p.m. in total homes, but the Peacock prevailed with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Fox4 again notched twin victories at 6 a.m., with its Good Day also winning in both measurements from 7 to 9 a.m. against the three network morning shows.
Belo8 had two wins at 6 p.m. and also finished first at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 nipped Belo8 in total homes at 5 p.m.
CBS11 bungles Dallas mayor's race
06/17/07 09:46 PM
By ED BARK
OK, the voter turnout was lousy and the margin of victory turned out to be pretty lopsided despite an earlier poll forecasting a photo finish.
It is, however, a pretty big deal when Dallas elects a new mayor. All of our local TV stations once thought so, too. In fact it used to be a competitive badge of honor to get the first live interviews with both the winning and losing candidates.
Saturday's election coverage showed how little it matters any more. Among the three stations with 10 p.m. newscasts -- Fox4 had a network commitment to Mad TV -- Only Belo8 even bothered to snag live one-on-one interviews with victorious Tom Leppert and vanquished Ed Oakley.
The station also cared enough to send seasoned veterans Brad Watson and Chris Heinbaugh to the candidates' respective campaign headquarters. They had the added advantage of actually knowing what they were talking about.
CBS11 in contrast deployed relative newcomer Kimberly Ball, whose report from Leppert's victory party got more inept by the second.
Ball began by blowing the name of the anchor who introduced her report. "Well, Kaushal," she began, referring to CBS11's Kaushal Patel. But it was Ginger Allen back in the studio.
"The energy in this room is absolutely electric right now," Ball then told viewers before proceeding to talk over Leppert's opening words to his supporters.
She just kept going, oblivious to the candidate behind her. Instead viewers got this word jumble: "He (Leppert) said he is ready to shed -- shake Ed Oakley's hand, as that he did admit defeat to him already this evening."
Ball had only a few more seconds of air time, so never mind Leppert's ongoing live remarks. Instead she concluded, "Again tonight, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Tom Leppert is the victory (sic)."
Back in the studio, anchor Allen hesitated briefly, resisting what must have been an overwhelming urge to ask, "What the hell was that?" She then threw it to CBS11 vet Steve Pickett, who did an OK job of rehashing what Oakley earlier had told his supporters. The station also ran a brief clip of Oakley speaking for himself, in the end giving the loser about twice as much air time as Leppert.
NBC5 sent the seasoned Ken Kalthoff to Leppert's HQ. He had the good sense to say, "Let's listen," when the mayor-elect began his live remarks. Reporter David Quinlan handled the Oakley side of the story.
Neither CBS11 or the Peacock bothered to get any fresh live interviews with the candidates during their 10 p.m. newscasts. Dallas' mayoral election outcome got prominent but notably abbreviated play. The stations then quickly segued to crime, tragedy and comedian D.L. Hughley, whose Saturday night performance in Fort Worth drew protests after his pointed remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team on a May edition of The Tonight Show.
Belo8's Watson, accustomed to fighting for position on past election nights, had Leppert all to himself this time out. Ditto Heinbaugh with Oakley.
It didn't used to be this way. Not so long ago, all of the local TV stations took pride in trying hard on election nights. On Saturday only Belo8 came armed with much more than a popgun. CBS11 countered with Silly String.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., June 14)
06/15/07 11:32 AM
By ED BARK
San Antonio's close-out of Cleveland, co-starring a very happy Michael Finley, also played like a champ in Thursday's D-FW ratings.
In fact, the NBA would kill for these kinds of numbers nationally. The game and its attendant trophy presentation averaged 254,660 homes, peaking at 395,080 from 10:30 to 10:45 p.m. It also dominated the advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-old ratings, predictably breaking sharply along gender lines. Here's a look at the disparity:
18-to-49-Year-Old Men -- 113,563
18-to-49-Year-Old Women -- 59,788
The pre-game 7 to 8 p.m. slot went to Fox's Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, which chalked up a nice-sized 178,500 homes in more than doubling the crowds for CBS' new Pirate Master reality series and ABC's parlay of Fast Cars & Superstars and a pre-game show.
Absent competition from Belo8 because of the game runover, NBC5's 10 p.m. news racked up wins in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 continued its strong run at 6 a.m., winning in both ratings measurements. CBS11's Scott Sams-led early show continued to run poorly, drawing less than one-fifth the crowd of Fox4, which had 107,100 homes. CBS11's 25-to-54-year-old numbers were equally dismal.
Belo8 won at 6 p.m. in both homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 finished first in homes at 5 p.m., but Belo8 had the edge with 25-to-54-year-olds.
San Antonio's close-out of Cleveland, co-starring a very happy Michael Finley, also played like a champ in Thursday's D-FW ratings.
In fact, the NBA would kill for these kinds of numbers nationally. The game and its attendant trophy presentation averaged 254,660 homes, peaking at 395,080 from 10:30 to 10:45 p.m. It also dominated the advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-old ratings, predictably breaking sharply along gender lines. Here's a look at the disparity:
18-to-49-Year-Old Men -- 113,563
18-to-49-Year-Old Women -- 59,788
The pre-game 7 to 8 p.m. slot went to Fox's Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, which chalked up a nice-sized 178,500 homes in more than doubling the crowds for CBS' new Pirate Master reality series and ABC's parlay of Fast Cars & Superstars and a pre-game show.
Absent competition from Belo8 because of the game runover, NBC5's 10 p.m. news racked up wins in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 continued its strong run at 6 a.m., winning in both ratings measurements. CBS11's Scott Sams-led early show continued to run poorly, drawing less than one-fifth the crowd of Fox4, which had 107,100 homes. CBS11's 25-to-54-year-old numbers were equally dismal.
Belo8 won at 6 p.m. in both homes and among 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 finished first in homes at 5 p.m., but Belo8 had the edge with 25-to-54-year-olds.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., June 13)
06/14/07 11:20 AM
By ED BARK
Dancers vs. impressionists vs. inventors vs. comedians vs. jump-up-and-down game show contestants.
All collided Wednesday night, with NBC's two-hour season premiere of Last Comic Standing faring the best in D-FW among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
Last Comic's 8 to 9 p.m. opening hour tied ABC's American Inventor for first place in the 18-to-49 demo before winning easily from 9 to 10 p.m. ABC's Next Best Thing (impressionists) won prime-time's opening hour, beating NBC's Deal or No Deal and the first hour of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance.
In the national Nielsens, though, Think You Can Dance dominated the competition among 18-to-49-year-olds. Go figure. We did, and the show is running third in D-FW.
In the total homes Nielsens, Deal won from 7 to 8 p.m. in D-FW. Last Comic placed first from 8 to 9 p.m. and Fox4's local newscast hit the winner's circle in the 9 to 10 p.m. slot. ABC's serial drama Traveler continued to lag in prime-time's closing hour, finishing a show-killing fourth in both ratings measurements.
Let's also look at the three network evening newscasts, and the basic futility of trying to tailor them in hopes of grabbing more younger viewers. Here are Wednesday's D-FW numbers for 18-to-34-year-olds and viewers 55 years of age and older:
18-to-34
ABC World News -- 24,097
NBC Nightly News -- 4,016
CBS Evening News -- "hashmarks" (no measurable audience)
55 Years and Older
ABC World News -- 155,520
NBC Nightly News -- 123,200
CBS Evening News -- 81,600
In the local newscast derby, NBC5 parlayed Last Comic's strong performance into wins at 10 p.m. in homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 took first in both measurements at 6 a.m. while also whipping the network morning shows during the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Good Day.
Belo8 won in total homes at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., and also in the 25-to-54 demo during the latter hour. But NBC had an uncommon win at 5 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Dancers vs. impressionists vs. inventors vs. comedians vs. jump-up-and-down game show contestants.
All collided Wednesday night, with NBC's two-hour season premiere of Last Comic Standing faring the best in D-FW among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.
Last Comic's 8 to 9 p.m. opening hour tied ABC's American Inventor for first place in the 18-to-49 demo before winning easily from 9 to 10 p.m. ABC's Next Best Thing (impressionists) won prime-time's opening hour, beating NBC's Deal or No Deal and the first hour of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance.
In the national Nielsens, though, Think You Can Dance dominated the competition among 18-to-49-year-olds. Go figure. We did, and the show is running third in D-FW.
In the total homes Nielsens, Deal won from 7 to 8 p.m. in D-FW. Last Comic placed first from 8 to 9 p.m. and Fox4's local newscast hit the winner's circle in the 9 to 10 p.m. slot. ABC's serial drama Traveler continued to lag in prime-time's closing hour, finishing a show-killing fourth in both ratings measurements.
Let's also look at the three network evening newscasts, and the basic futility of trying to tailor them in hopes of grabbing more younger viewers. Here are Wednesday's D-FW numbers for 18-to-34-year-olds and viewers 55 years of age and older:
18-to-34
ABC World News -- 24,097
NBC Nightly News -- 4,016
CBS Evening News -- "hashmarks" (no measurable audience)
55 Years and Older
ABC World News -- 155,520
NBC Nightly News -- 123,200
CBS Evening News -- 81,600
In the local newscast derby, NBC5 parlayed Last Comic's strong performance into wins at 10 p.m. in homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Fox4 took first in both measurements at 6 a.m. while also whipping the network morning shows during the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Good Day.
Belo8 won in total homes at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., and also in the 25-to-54 demo during the latter hour. But NBC had an uncommon win at 5 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., June 12)
06/13/07 10:04 AM
By ED BARK
ABC's Game 3 of the NBA Finals hit another double-digit ratings jackpot in D-FW, again performing far better here than nationally.
San Antonio's last-minute win over Cleveland peaked at a 15.6 rating (371,280 homes) in its closing quarter-hour, pushing Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast 45 minutes past its regular start time. Overall, the game averaged 246,870 homes from 8 to 10:45 p.m. But it placed second in the 8 to 9 p.m. time period to NBC's competing America's Got Talent (237,405 homes). The game tallied 229,670 homes in that hour.
Fox's amateur film competition, On the Lot, continued to do very little. It drew just 35,700 homes from 7 to 8 p.m., again running behind TXA21's local newscast and a host of other competing programs.
Charles Gibson's ABC World News continued to dominate in D-FW in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
It's a close contest nationally, with World News moving slightly past Brian Williams' NBC Nightly News in recent months. But World News is a world-beater here, drawing 166,600 homes Tuesday to rout Nightly News (88,060 homes) and Katie Couric's CBS Evening News (71,400 homes).
The gap is bigger among 25-to-54-year-olds, where World News (83,230 of 'em) more than doubled Nightly News (37,310). The CBS Evening News limped in seventh overall with a mere 17,220 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo.
On the local newscast front, NBC5 had twin wins at 10 p.m. absent competition from Belo8. Fox4 won in both ratings measurements at 6 a.m. And Belo8 had another easy time of it at 5 and 6 p.m., winning across the board.
ABC's Game 3 of the NBA Finals hit another double-digit ratings jackpot in D-FW, again performing far better here than nationally.
San Antonio's last-minute win over Cleveland peaked at a 15.6 rating (371,280 homes) in its closing quarter-hour, pushing Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast 45 minutes past its regular start time. Overall, the game averaged 246,870 homes from 8 to 10:45 p.m. But it placed second in the 8 to 9 p.m. time period to NBC's competing America's Got Talent (237,405 homes). The game tallied 229,670 homes in that hour.
Fox's amateur film competition, On the Lot, continued to do very little. It drew just 35,700 homes from 7 to 8 p.m., again running behind TXA21's local newscast and a host of other competing programs.
Charles Gibson's ABC World News continued to dominate in D-FW in both homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
It's a close contest nationally, with World News moving slightly past Brian Williams' NBC Nightly News in recent months. But World News is a world-beater here, drawing 166,600 homes Tuesday to rout Nightly News (88,060 homes) and Katie Couric's CBS Evening News (71,400 homes).
The gap is bigger among 25-to-54-year-olds, where World News (83,230 of 'em) more than doubled Nightly News (37,310). The CBS Evening News limped in seventh overall with a mere 17,220 viewers in the 25-to-54 demo.
On the local newscast front, NBC5 had twin wins at 10 p.m. absent competition from Belo8. Fox4 won in both ratings measurements at 6 a.m. And Belo8 had another easy time of it at 5 and 6 p.m., winning across the board.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., June 11)
06/12/07 11:22 AM
By ED BARK
Fox's Hell's Kitchen heated up the prime-time D-FW ratings Monday on a night when only CBS offered an alternative to unscripted reality programming. Then again, it was mostly only comedy repeats.
A new 8 p.m. episode of Kitchen, which followed a rerun, cooked as prime-time's runaway top draw among advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-olds. Still, it's first half-hour fell short of CBS' Two and a Half Men encore in the total homes Nielsens.
A new episode of CBS' critically praised Creature Comforts took no comfort in finishing fourth in both homes and with 18-to-49-year-olds. ABC's new Ex-Wives Club also was rejected again, burrowing a ratings valley between episodes of the network's Wife Swap and Supernanny.
In the local news derby, NBC5 and Belo8 tied at 10 p.m. in total homes, but the Peacock won easily among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 also won in homes at 6 a.m., with Fox4 logging a comfortable win in the 25-to-54 demo.
Belo8 continued to dominate at 5 and 6 p.m., winning across the board.
Fox's Hell's Kitchen heated up the prime-time D-FW ratings Monday on a night when only CBS offered an alternative to unscripted reality programming. Then again, it was mostly only comedy repeats.
A new 8 p.m. episode of Kitchen, which followed a rerun, cooked as prime-time's runaway top draw among advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-olds. Still, it's first half-hour fell short of CBS' Two and a Half Men encore in the total homes Nielsens.
A new episode of CBS' critically praised Creature Comforts took no comfort in finishing fourth in both homes and with 18-to-49-year-olds. ABC's new Ex-Wives Club also was rejected again, burrowing a ratings valley between episodes of the network's Wife Swap and Supernanny.
In the local news derby, NBC5 and Belo8 tied at 10 p.m. in total homes, but the Peacock won easily among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
NBC5 also won in homes at 6 a.m., with Fox4 logging a comfortable win in the 25-to-54 demo.
Belo8 continued to dominate at 5 and 6 p.m., winning across the board.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., June 8-10)
06/11/07 12:15 PM
By ED BARK
D-FW ratings for The Sopranos' Sunday finale aren't available yet, but Tony and company almost certainly came up no better than second to ABC's Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
San Antonio's easy win over Cleveland averaged 226,100 homes in trouncing CBS' competing Tony Awards ceremony (90,440 homes). The gap only increased with advertiser-craved younger viewers. Here's a telescoped look:
18-to-49-Year-Olds
Spurs-Cavaliers -- 158,100
Tonys -- 24,800
18-to-34-Year-Olds
Spurs-Cavaliers -- 75,506
Tonys -- 8,033
ABC's new Fast Cars & Superstars, preempted Thursday by Belo8's locally produced pre-Finals special, conked out with just 57,120 total homes for its second episode.
On Saturday afternoon, a thrilling Belmont Stakes lured only 59,500 homes, which is a shame. That finish was everything that The Sopranos wasn't, with Rags to Riches out-gutting favorite Curlin to become the first filly to win the Belmont since 1905.
Friday's prime-time ratings again showed that most D-FWians are otherwise occupied. The top network draw, a repeat of CBS' Numb3rs, drew a less than robust 126,140 homes.
Univision23's Noticias 23 local newscast had a bigger turnout than that, finishing second to Belo8 in homes with 133,280. But here's the bigger news. Noticias 23 was the No. 1 newscast among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. In fact it wasn't even close. Here's the Friday night breakdown with that key audience demographic:
Noticias 23 -- 132,020
Belo8 -- 77,490
NBC5 -- 68,880
CBS11 -- 54,530
Fox4 -- 48,790
Fox4 carried the day at 6 a.m., though, winning in both ratings measurements. Belo8 once again did likewise at 5 and 6 p.m.
D-FW ratings for The Sopranos' Sunday finale aren't available yet, but Tony and company almost certainly came up no better than second to ABC's Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
San Antonio's easy win over Cleveland averaged 226,100 homes in trouncing CBS' competing Tony Awards ceremony (90,440 homes). The gap only increased with advertiser-craved younger viewers. Here's a telescoped look:
18-to-49-Year-Olds
Spurs-Cavaliers -- 158,100
Tonys -- 24,800
18-to-34-Year-Olds
Spurs-Cavaliers -- 75,506
Tonys -- 8,033
ABC's new Fast Cars & Superstars, preempted Thursday by Belo8's locally produced pre-Finals special, conked out with just 57,120 total homes for its second episode.
On Saturday afternoon, a thrilling Belmont Stakes lured only 59,500 homes, which is a shame. That finish was everything that The Sopranos wasn't, with Rags to Riches out-gutting favorite Curlin to become the first filly to win the Belmont since 1905.
Friday's prime-time ratings again showed that most D-FWians are otherwise occupied. The top network draw, a repeat of CBS' Numb3rs, drew a less than robust 126,140 homes.
Univision23's Noticias 23 local newscast had a bigger turnout than that, finishing second to Belo8 in homes with 133,280. But here's the bigger news. Noticias 23 was the No. 1 newscast among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. In fact it wasn't even close. Here's the Friday night breakdown with that key audience demographic:
Noticias 23 -- 132,020
Belo8 -- 77,490
NBC5 -- 68,880
CBS11 -- 54,530
Fox4 -- 48,790
Fox4 carried the day at 6 a.m., though, winning in both ratings measurements. Belo8 once again did likewise at 5 and 6 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., June 7)
06/08/07 01:06 PM
By ED BARK
ABC's Game 1 of the NBA Finals between San Antonio and Cleveland dunked the competition Thursday night. Belo8's locally produced pre-game special did not.
The Spurs-Cavaliers matchup, which pushed Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast to 10:40 p.m., drew a league-leading 254,660 homes in D-FW. The station's 7 p.m. production, which preempted the premiere of ABC's Fast Cars & Superstars, lured just 76,160 homes to place fourth from 7 to 7:30 p.m.
Anchored by Dale Hansen, Belo8's hoops special preceded ABC's own pre-game show. That would have been OK had the Dallas Mavericks made the Finals. But they're long gone from the playoff scene, so really, what was the point?
Fox's 7 p.m. edition of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? won in both homes and among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds before the NBA took over.
In the local news derby, CBS11 held onto most of its Shark repeat lead-in to score a rare win in total homes at 10 p.m. But NBC5 won easily with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. As noted, it was a downsized field, with the NBA spillover occupying Belo8's time at that hour.
Fox4 romped to comfortable wins in both measurements at 6 a.m. while Belo8 did likewise at 5 and 6 p.m.
ABC's Game 1 of the NBA Finals between San Antonio and Cleveland dunked the competition Thursday night. Belo8's locally produced pre-game special did not.
The Spurs-Cavaliers matchup, which pushed Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast to 10:40 p.m., drew a league-leading 254,660 homes in D-FW. The station's 7 p.m. production, which preempted the premiere of ABC's Fast Cars & Superstars, lured just 76,160 homes to place fourth from 7 to 7:30 p.m.
Anchored by Dale Hansen, Belo8's hoops special preceded ABC's own pre-game show. That would have been OK had the Dallas Mavericks made the Finals. But they're long gone from the playoff scene, so really, what was the point?
Fox's 7 p.m. edition of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? won in both homes and among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds before the NBA took over.
In the local news derby, CBS11 held onto most of its Shark repeat lead-in to score a rare win in total homes at 10 p.m. But NBC5 won easily with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. As noted, it was a downsized field, with the NBA spillover occupying Belo8's time at that hour.
Fox4 romped to comfortable wins in both measurements at 6 a.m. while Belo8 did likewise at 5 and 6 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., June 6)
06/07/07 09:26 AM
By ED BARK
ABC remained on a reality ratings roll Wednesday, with newcomer The Next Best Thing again winning its time slot while the return of American Inventor also popped and crackled in the D-FW viewing area.
Next Best Thing, a $100 grand search for the country's best celebrity impressionist, lured 161,840 homes and also ruled from 7 to 8 p.m. among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. Inventor held most of the overall audience (152,320 homes) and did a bit better than Next Best Thing with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Both shows handily beat Fox's runnerup So You Think You Can Dance, which had a two-hour edition.
ABC's new serial drama Traveler then remained on a bad ratings trip. It placed third in both homes and with 18-to-49-year-olds, where it was beaten by CBS' CSI: NY repeat and Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast.
The second episode of The CW's new Hidden Palms teen drama remained in hiding with a measly 21,420 homes from 7 to 8 p.m. It bombed even worse with the network's 18-to-34-year-old target audience, drawing just 3,213 of 'em.
Meanwhile, NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts took another hockey puck in the neck, but it'll be the last one for a while.
The Peacock's telecast of Anaheim's closeout of Ottawa in the Stanley Cup Finals drew a piddling 24,990 homes in prime-time. Given a puddle-sized lead-in audience, NBC5's crime-paced 10 p.m. presentation finished fifth in total homes and third among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 finished first across-the-board at 10 p.m. and again did likewise at 5 and 6 p.m.
Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m., with the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of its Good Day also beating the three network morning shows among 25-to-54-year-olds.
ABC remained on a reality ratings roll Wednesday, with newcomer The Next Best Thing again winning its time slot while the return of American Inventor also popped and crackled in the D-FW viewing area.
Next Best Thing, a $100 grand search for the country's best celebrity impressionist, lured 161,840 homes and also ruled from 7 to 8 p.m. among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. Inventor held most of the overall audience (152,320 homes) and did a bit better than Next Best Thing with 18-to-49-year-olds.
Both shows handily beat Fox's runnerup So You Think You Can Dance, which had a two-hour edition.
ABC's new serial drama Traveler then remained on a bad ratings trip. It placed third in both homes and with 18-to-49-year-olds, where it was beaten by CBS' CSI: NY repeat and Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast.
The second episode of The CW's new Hidden Palms teen drama remained in hiding with a measly 21,420 homes from 7 to 8 p.m. It bombed even worse with the network's 18-to-34-year-old target audience, drawing just 3,213 of 'em.
Meanwhile, NBC5's 10 p.m. newscasts took another hockey puck in the neck, but it'll be the last one for a while.
The Peacock's telecast of Anaheim's closeout of Ottawa in the Stanley Cup Finals drew a piddling 24,990 homes in prime-time. Given a puddle-sized lead-in audience, NBC5's crime-paced 10 p.m. presentation finished fifth in total homes and third among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8 finished first across-the-board at 10 p.m. and again did likewise at 5 and 6 p.m.
Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m., with the 7 to 9 a.m. portion of its Good Day also beating the three network morning shows among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., June 5)
06/06/07 09:39 AM
By ED BARK
NBC's second season, two-hour launch of America's Got Talent, which originated from Dallas, took the prime-time Nielsen cake Tuesday night. Buried were ABC's competing Alma Awards. Boosted was NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast.
By the way, not one of Talent's featured contestants was from Dallas, and the great majority weren't even from Texas. No matter. The Peacock's carnival midway averaged 188,020 homes while also winning easily in D-FW among advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-olds. The Almas, hosted by Eva Longoria, ran fourth from 8 to 10 p.m. (80,920 homes), but did edge the Rangers-Tigers game on MY27.
Fox's heavily promoted On the Lot amateur film competition, co-produced by Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, had its worst night yet in the unforgiving Nielsens. The show drew a sub-piddling 30,940 homes from 7 to 8 p.m., tying for sixth in its time slot with CW's Gilmore Girls repeat. Even the first hour of TXA21's local newscast drew a bigger crowd.
On the Lot is supposed to run for much of the summer, but somebody at Fox soon will be yelling "Cut!"
In the local news derby, NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast went from the outhouse to the penthouse in just one night's time. Here's how important a lead-in program can be:
Monday night
Lead-in from 9:45 to 10 p.m. -- Stanley Cup playoff game (26,180 homes)
NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast -- 85,680 homes to finish 5th.
Tuesday night
Lead-in from 9:45 to 10 p.m. -- America's Got Talent (197,540 homes).
NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast -- 207,060 homes to finish 1st by a wide margin over CBS11.
The Peacock also cruised to an easy win with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8, a dominant winner in both measurements on Monday night, drooped to fourth place Tuesday in homes (behind Univision23's Noticias 23 local newscast) and third among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Inertia and the power of the cheesy prime-time newscast tease are still powerful reasons to stay tuned to the same channel rather than press a remote control button. But famine revisits NBC5 on Wednesday, when the Peacock will fill its night with another Stanley Cup game.
At the other end of the clock, the 6 a.m. spoils were split between NBC5, which won in homes, and Fox4, victor among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 as usual scored twin wins at 5 and 6 p.m.
NBC's second season, two-hour launch of America's Got Talent, which originated from Dallas, took the prime-time Nielsen cake Tuesday night. Buried were ABC's competing Alma Awards. Boosted was NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast.
By the way, not one of Talent's featured contestants was from Dallas, and the great majority weren't even from Texas. No matter. The Peacock's carnival midway averaged 188,020 homes while also winning easily in D-FW among advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-olds. The Almas, hosted by Eva Longoria, ran fourth from 8 to 10 p.m. (80,920 homes), but did edge the Rangers-Tigers game on MY27.
Fox's heavily promoted On the Lot amateur film competition, co-produced by Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, had its worst night yet in the unforgiving Nielsens. The show drew a sub-piddling 30,940 homes from 7 to 8 p.m., tying for sixth in its time slot with CW's Gilmore Girls repeat. Even the first hour of TXA21's local newscast drew a bigger crowd.
On the Lot is supposed to run for much of the summer, but somebody at Fox soon will be yelling "Cut!"
In the local news derby, NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast went from the outhouse to the penthouse in just one night's time. Here's how important a lead-in program can be:
Monday night
Lead-in from 9:45 to 10 p.m. -- Stanley Cup playoff game (26,180 homes)
NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast -- 85,680 homes to finish 5th.
Tuesday night
Lead-in from 9:45 to 10 p.m. -- America's Got Talent (197,540 homes).
NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast -- 207,060 homes to finish 1st by a wide margin over CBS11.
The Peacock also cruised to an easy win with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Belo8, a dominant winner in both measurements on Monday night, drooped to fourth place Tuesday in homes (behind Univision23's Noticias 23 local newscast) and third among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Inertia and the power of the cheesy prime-time newscast tease are still powerful reasons to stay tuned to the same channel rather than press a remote control button. But famine revisits NBC5 on Wednesday, when the Peacock will fill its night with another Stanley Cup game.
At the other end of the clock, the 6 a.m. spoils were split between NBC5, which won in homes, and Fox4, victor among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 as usual scored twin wins at 5 and 6 p.m.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., June 4)
06/05/07 10:39 AM
By ED BARK
Here's a can't-miss recipe for a ratings meltdown in D-FW and just about anyplace else: Put on a Stanley Cup hockey playoff game.
Monday's NBC telecast of Game 4 between Ottawa and Anaheim averaged a sub-miniscule 1.15 rating (27,370 homes) locally for an entire night of prime-time. That's well beyond abysmal and deep into the realm of cataclysmic. The Peacock's only upside is that the Ducks won, taking a 3-1 lead. So NBC could be put out of its misery after Wednesday's game.
CBS also had less than sterling results with the 7 p.m. premiere of its critically praised Creature Comforts. The half-hour animated animals series easily beat hockey but otherwise ran second in homes (barely outpointing a House repeat) and third with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
Hockey also sent NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast into a death spiral. Given a lead-in of just 26,180 homes from 9:45 to 10 p.m., the Peacock plunged to fifth place overall and fourth among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Meanwhile, Belo8 cleaned up at 10 p.m., comfortably beating runnerup CBS11 in both ratings measurements. Univision23's Spanish language Noticias 23 local newscast had an off-night, running fourth in homes and fifth in the 25-to-54 demo.
Belo8 again ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m. Fox4 continued to run strong at 6 a.m., with its Good Day scoring twin wins.
Here's a can't-miss recipe for a ratings meltdown in D-FW and just about anyplace else: Put on a Stanley Cup hockey playoff game.
Monday's NBC telecast of Game 4 between Ottawa and Anaheim averaged a sub-miniscule 1.15 rating (27,370 homes) locally for an entire night of prime-time. That's well beyond abysmal and deep into the realm of cataclysmic. The Peacock's only upside is that the Ducks won, taking a 3-1 lead. So NBC could be put out of its misery after Wednesday's game.
CBS also had less than sterling results with the 7 p.m. premiere of its critically praised Creature Comforts. The half-hour animated animals series easily beat hockey but otherwise ran second in homes (barely outpointing a House repeat) and third with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.
Hockey also sent NBC5's 10 p.m. newscast into a death spiral. Given a lead-in of just 26,180 homes from 9:45 to 10 p.m., the Peacock plunged to fifth place overall and fourth among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.
Meanwhile, Belo8 cleaned up at 10 p.m., comfortably beating runnerup CBS11 in both ratings measurements. Univision23's Spanish language Noticias 23 local newscast had an off-night, running fourth in homes and fifth in the 25-to-54 demo.
Belo8 again ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m. Fox4 continued to run strong at 6 a.m., with its Good Day scoring twin wins.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., June 1-3)
06/04/07 09:57 AM
By ED BARK
The D-FW Nielsens mostly snored over the weekend, with no single program coming close to a double-digit rating.
ABC has a modest little hit, though, in Friday night's interactive National Bingo Night. Its third episode tied CBS' Close to Home for first place in homes at 7 p.m. (97,580) while easily winning that time slot among both 18-to-49-year-olds and 18-to-34-year-olds.
That flies in the face of conventional wisdom that said the show would skew north of Forest Lawn. Bingo even beat The CW's competing Friday Night Smackdown! among these two advertiser-craved groups.
Sunday night's two-hour Democratic presidential candidate debate on CNN, easily the liveliest so far, managed just 11,900 homes. And Belo8's Dallas mayoral debate, which originated on the station's web site Friday, drew 19,040 homes at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Saturday's biggest prime-time draw came from cable, where TNT's coverage of the Cleveland Cavaliers' closeout of the Detroit Pistons averaged 139,468 homes. Contrast that with NBC's competing Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between Ottawa and Anaheim. It drew an ice cold 11,900 homes locally.
In Friday's local news derby, Belo8 came within a hair of a rare double grand slam. The ABC station won at 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. in total homes.
It also placed first at 6 a.m. and 5 and 10 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. But NBC5 edged Belo8 at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo.
CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast climbed to second in both audience measurements, with NBC5 slipping to an unaccustomed third.
The D-FW Nielsens mostly snored over the weekend, with no single program coming close to a double-digit rating.
ABC has a modest little hit, though, in Friday night's interactive National Bingo Night. Its third episode tied CBS' Close to Home for first place in homes at 7 p.m. (97,580) while easily winning that time slot among both 18-to-49-year-olds and 18-to-34-year-olds.
That flies in the face of conventional wisdom that said the show would skew north of Forest Lawn. Bingo even beat The CW's competing Friday Night Smackdown! among these two advertiser-craved groups.
Sunday night's two-hour Democratic presidential candidate debate on CNN, easily the liveliest so far, managed just 11,900 homes. And Belo8's Dallas mayoral debate, which originated on the station's web site Friday, drew 19,040 homes at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Saturday's biggest prime-time draw came from cable, where TNT's coverage of the Cleveland Cavaliers' closeout of the Detroit Pistons averaged 139,468 homes. Contrast that with NBC's competing Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between Ottawa and Anaheim. It drew an ice cold 11,900 homes locally.
In Friday's local news derby, Belo8 came within a hair of a rare double grand slam. The ABC station won at 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. in total homes.
It also placed first at 6 a.m. and 5 and 10 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. But NBC5 edged Belo8 at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demo.
CBS11's 10 p.m. newscast climbed to second in both audience measurements, with NBC5 slipping to an unaccustomed third.
Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., May 31)
06/01/07 11:45 AM
By ED BARK
Here's a puzzlement. Nielsen Media Research numbers say that more people watched the Dallas mayoral debate analysis program Thursday night than watched the debate itself.
Not that many watched either of 'em.
The half-hour, commercial-free debate, from 8 to 8:30 p.m. on TXA21 and KERA13, drew a combined 22,610 D-FW homes. The post-debate show from 8:30 to 9 p.m. had 29,750 homes.
Um, that's a really piss-poor turnout in both cases. Dallas might as well elect a hippopotamus as mayor. The outcry would be minimal if even measurable. Real-life Candidates Tom Leppert and Ed Oakley will have to do for now.
CBS' premiere of its splashy new reality series Pirate Master didn't make many ratings waves either, placing third from 7 to 8 p.m. with 92,820 homes. It sunk further with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, placing fourth overall.
ABC's live telecast of the annual Scripps-Howard Spelling Bee peaked at a nice-sized 171,360 homes in its final 10 minutes, which spilled past 9 p.m. Overall, the Bee averaged 114,240 homes.
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast was prime-time's biggest draw, though, pulling in an impressive 188,020 homes. That nearly tripled the audience for another burn-off episode of NBC's competing Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (64,260 homes).
Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast, delayed 10 minutes by a Grey's Anatomy spillover, narrowly won among 25-to-54-year-olds (the favored Madison Ave. audience for news programming), but came up a close second in total homes to NBC5.
Also of note: The first 15 minutes of CBS11's drastically retooled 10 p.m. newscast uncharacteristically improved on its lead-in from CBS entertainment programming (in this case a Shark repeat). Still, it finished third in homes and fourth with 25-to-54-year-olds, where it again ran behind Univision23's Spanish language Noticias23 local newscast.
NBC5 notched a lately rare win in total homes at 6 a.m. and tied Fox4 for first place among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 as usual took the 5 and 6 p.m. news races in both ratings measurements.
Here's a puzzlement. Nielsen Media Research numbers say that more people watched the Dallas mayoral debate analysis program Thursday night than watched the debate itself.
Not that many watched either of 'em.
The half-hour, commercial-free debate, from 8 to 8:30 p.m. on TXA21 and KERA13, drew a combined 22,610 D-FW homes. The post-debate show from 8:30 to 9 p.m. had 29,750 homes.
Um, that's a really piss-poor turnout in both cases. Dallas might as well elect a hippopotamus as mayor. The outcry would be minimal if even measurable. Real-life Candidates Tom Leppert and Ed Oakley will have to do for now.
CBS' premiere of its splashy new reality series Pirate Master didn't make many ratings waves either, placing third from 7 to 8 p.m. with 92,820 homes. It sunk further with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, placing fourth overall.
ABC's live telecast of the annual Scripps-Howard Spelling Bee peaked at a nice-sized 171,360 homes in its final 10 minutes, which spilled past 9 p.m. Overall, the Bee averaged 114,240 homes.
Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast was prime-time's biggest draw, though, pulling in an impressive 188,020 homes. That nearly tripled the audience for another burn-off episode of NBC's competing Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (64,260 homes).
Belo8's 10 p.m. newscast, delayed 10 minutes by a Grey's Anatomy spillover, narrowly won among 25-to-54-year-olds (the favored Madison Ave. audience for news programming), but came up a close second in total homes to NBC5.
Also of note: The first 15 minutes of CBS11's drastically retooled 10 p.m. newscast uncharacteristically improved on its lead-in from CBS entertainment programming (in this case a Shark repeat). Still, it finished third in homes and fourth with 25-to-54-year-olds, where it again ran behind Univision23's Spanish language Noticias23 local newscast.
NBC5 notched a lately rare win in total homes at 6 a.m. and tied Fox4 for first place among 25-to-54-year-olds.
Belo8 as usual took the 5 and 6 p.m. news races in both ratings measurements.
Ready for their closeups: Dallas mayoral finalists at last get a TV forum
06/01/07 08:40 AM
By ED BARK
Local TV stations are gladly taking the candidates' paid commercials. But until Thursday night, they otherwise had taken a pass on the ongoing Dallas mayoral campaign.
After all, isn't the public interest better served by smashups on 635, strip mall crime scenes or pant-pant "medical breakthroughs" on the skin wrinkle front?
Finally, with just over two weeks until election day, TXA21 in tandem with KERA13 gave mayoral finalists Tom Leppert and Ed Oakley a chance to flesh out their positions and personas. They sat on either side of CBS11 anchor Tracy Rowlett, an old-school TV newsman who moderated their half-hour, commercial-free, prime-time faceoff.
It was by far the best look at the two candidates for anyone who actually cared to take a look. Ratings are really beside the point, though. D-FW television stations owe the electorate at least this much, even if the electorate supposedly is apathetic. You think that might have something to do with the fact that the campaign to succeed Laura Miller has gotten less attention on newscasts than cellulite?
Rowlett conducted the debate as more of a conversation, with the candidates in padded chairs placed on a multi-colored throw rug. There were no prescribed time limits, but efforts were made to give each candidate a roughly equal say. Only their 30-second closing statements were completely pre-canned.
Luckily, in terms of lively TV at least, the barbecue grill had been pre-lit earlier Thursday by the campaign's first "attack ad." Oakley, a Dallas City councilman, basically branded Leppert an inept executive during his tenure as chairman and CEO of the Turner construction company.
Leppert, whose demeanor and appearance are reminiscent of Fred Rogers, responded as the legendary children's show host might have.
"Ed's company builds bars," he kept saying while touting Turner's allegiance to hospitals, schools and jails. Except that he used a more decorous term for the latter.
"Turner's the largest builder of justice institutions," Leppert said. "That's where police take bad guys. Ed's company builds bars. That's where the police go to get bad guys."
That's pretty sanctimonious, even more so when potential voters can see and hear a candidate say it over the public airwaves. Leppert obviously was responding to a still-fresh attack from his opponent, but should have stopped short of a blanket depiction of bars as crime hostels. After all, a lot of voters respond to candidates with whom they'd feel comfortable having a drink.
Rowlett for the most part did a very solid job of pressing the candidates, asking substantive questions and keeping the conversation rolling. Still, he was a bit prone to making declarations of his own before getting to a question. As when he needlessly declared without provocation, "Laura Miller is not a racist. I want to say that publicly."
Oakley also went unchallenged on a controversial pledge, in his first TV ad, to make Dallas safer by demolishing "2,000 crime-ridden apartments a year until the problem is solved."
Leppert made a passing reference to this Oakley linchpin, but Rowlett didn't follow up. He should have.
KERA's Sam Baker then took the reins to moderate a half-hour analysis program that easily could have been cut to 15 minutes in the interest of a longer debate.
Panelists made some interesting points, though, with dallasblogs.com's Scott Bennett nicely setting the table by noting that Oakley had a time-honored, pragmatic reason for authorizing an attack ad.
"You don't do that if you think you're winning," Bennett said.
Jim Washington of Dallas Weekly noted the debate bypass of Oakley's showy crime-fighting plan while veteran image maker Lisa LeMaster said that both candidates seemed like Energizer Bunnies on TV. "This was fun," she said.
Baker wondered, "If you're the news producer, what quote makes the newscast?"
Where's he been? Even CBS11, a partner in the debate, gave it short shrift on Thursday's 10 p.m. news. Crime and tragedy as usual called the tune, with reporter J.D. Miles offering viewers an update on a java-tossing "coffee bandit" whose "growing list of victims are burning mad."
A debate story, by Chris Salcedo, finally peeked through at 10:14 p.m. after the first commercial break. The "Ed's company builds bars" riff made the cut, as did Oakley's pointed criticism of Mayor Miller for squandering a chance to have the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium built in Dallas rather than Arlington.
All things considered, it was better than nothing. Which until Thursday night is what we've been getting.