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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., April 24) -- Yu tube all the way

By ED BARK
Yu Darvish's mastery of the New York Yankees mesmerized D-FW viewers in the Rangers' 2-0 win Tuesday night.

The Fox Sports Southwest presentation, which ran from shortly after 7 p.m. to 9:49 p.m., out-scored all competing programming in both total viewers and advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

The only asterisk: CBS' hit lineup of crime dramas, including NCIS, was in repeats. But Yu and the Rangers otherwise whipped live results shows for two potent reality competition hours -- ABC's Dancing with the Stars and NBC's The Voice. The only other network repeat in Tuesday's mix was Fox's 8:30 p.m. episode of New Girl, which followed an 8 p.m. newbie.

Rangers-Yanks overall averaged 386,124 total viewers, with peak crowds of 440,317 in both the 9 to 9:15 and 9:15 to 9:30 segments. The biggest competing draw, Dancing at 8 p.m., had 331,931 viewers while The Voice drew 257,416 at the same hour.

Baseball also shellacked both shows in the key 18-to-49 demographic, with an average of 150,508 viewers in this age range. Fox's new 7 p.m. hour of Glee was second-best for the night with 124,890 while The Voice took the bronze with 121,687.

Yu tube likewise dominated the 9 p.m. hour, even though FSS's post-game show took up the majority of the 9:45 to 10 p.m. segment.

These are enormous numbers for the now 14-4 Rangers and of course a windfall for FSS, too. In contrast it's a headache for D-FW's broadcast network stations, with the TV season's climactic May "sweeps" ratings period beginning this Thursday.

Also of brief note: the 8 p.m. premiere of The CW's critically praised L.A. Complex drama series arrived DOA in D-FW, with a scant 27,096 total viewers and just 12,809 in the 18-to-49 age range.

In Tuesday's local news derby results, WFAA8 nipped CBS11 at 10 p.m. in total viewers, but Fox4 ran a comfy first among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main target audience for news programming.

Fox4 also took the 6 a.m. competition in total viewers while WFAA8 continued to run strong in the 25-to-54 demographic with its third first-place finish in the last four weekdays.

Fox4 won at 5 and 6 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds; the respective golds in total viewers went to NBC5 and WFAA8.