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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., June 19-21) -- Spieth powers U.S. Open and makes Fox a Father's Day/Night powerhouse

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Played on a butt-ugly course and further marred by some bogey-quality coverage, the U.S. Open nonetheless had Dallas native Jordan Spieth and an astonishing finish going for it.

The D-FW ratings built accordingly during Fox coverage that stretched from 1 to 9:19 p.m., when Dustin Johnson missed a short putt to give the 21-year-old Spieth his second straight Major win. It was Fox’s inaugural U.S. Open tournament, and the network hit the rough on a number of occasions. But all concerned can learn from that and use a better set of clubs (a k a commentators) the next time around.

The closing minutes of Sunday’s final round pulled in a peak crowd of 418,440 viewers, with 129,306 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Overall, Sunday’s complete coverage averaged 195,272 total viewers and 53,615 in the 18-to-49 age range. That’s a pedestrian percentage of “desirable” viewers, especially compared to the NBA Finals. Each of those six games drew more than half their audience from the 18-to-49 motherlode.

Sunday’s coverage made just one ratings slip opposite competing programming. From 7 to 8 p.m., the premiere of ABC’s Celebrity Family Feud, hosted by Steve Harvey, tied that portion of the U.S. Open with 258,038 total viewers. Feud otherwise won comfortably among 18-to-49-year-olds by a score of 100,922 viewers to 72,537.

Saturday’s U.S. Open coverage started at 1 p.m. on Fox and ended just before 9:45 p.m. It outdrew every competing program throughout the day and night, averaging 139,480 total viewers and 40,999 in the 18-to-49 realm.

Fox offered only prime-time coverage on Friday, drawing 125,532 total viewers, with 47,307 in the 18-to-49 demographic. Ratings were diminished in D-FW largely because Spieth had already finished his round when Fox took over from sister network Fox Sports 1. ABC’s regular 9 p.m. Friday edition of 20/20 beat golf in both ratings measurements during that hour. From 9 to 9:45 p.m., the closing portion of the Texas Rangers-White Sox game on Fox Sports Southwest also edged the U.S. Open in total viewers and 18-to-49-year-olds.

Here are Friday’s local news derby numbers.

Gannett8 swept the 10 p.m. competitions with wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and added a 6 p.m. first with 25-to-54-year-olds.

NBC5 had the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m. while Gannett8 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net