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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Sun., Sept. 18-22) -- Sunday Night Football doubles up on Emmys while Cowboys roll on

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
A noon start on Fox against a joke of an opponent didn’t do the Dallas Cowboys any big ratings favors Sunday.

Still, the unbeaten Cowboys’ 31-6 Game 3 home win against the Miami Dolphins got past the one million viewers mark while easily ranking as the day’s top TV attraction.

Cowboys-Dolphins averaged 1,096,571 D-FW viewers and 419,669 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Both numbers were down from last year’s Game 3 road loss at Seattle, which ran from mid-afternoon to early evening on Fox. It drew 1,168,024 total viewers and 449,366 in the 18-to-49 realm.

In 2017, Game 3 on Monday Night Football -- a road win at Arizona -- drew more total viewers (1,236,087) than either of the above two, but not as many 18-to-49ers (416,923).

On to prime-time, where the host-less Emmy Awards on Fox again were dominated by cable networks and streaming services. Among the Big Four broadcast networks, only NBC’s Saturday Night Live broke through with two wins in the 27 categories. Amazon Prime’s comedy series Fleabag led all shows with four wins while HBO ranked first in total wins with nine, edging Amazon’s seven.

The three-hour telecast drew 231,967 total viewers and 75,480 in the 18-to-49 demographic. NBC’s competing Sunday Night Football matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns drew more than twice as many total viewers (513,139 total viewers) and three times the number of 18-to-49ers (238,517).

The first hour of the Emmys also ran behind CBS’ Big Brother (84,538 viewers) in the 18-to-49 age range.

Last year’s prime-time Emmys on NBC, hosted by Michael Che and Colin Jost, had 220,785 total viewers, with 90,497 of them of the 18-to-49 persuasion.

On Saturday, ABC’s prime-time Texas-Oklahoma State matchup led the college football parade with 344,438 total viewers while CBS’ competing Georgia-Notre Dame game was no match with 112,469 viewers. Fox’s late morning/early afternoon game between Wisconsin and Michigan also outdrew George-ND with an average of 119,498 viewers.

Friday’s prime-time attractions were mostly reruns, so let’s move back to Thursday, where the NFL Network’s Jacksonville Jaguars-Tennessee Titans game led all prime-time programming with 189,791 total viewers. In the Big Four broadcast network universe, ABC’s two-hour special on the death of Phil Hartman had 112,469 viewers while NBC’s one-hour Downton Abbey special clunked with 70,293.

On Wednesday night, NBC’s latest America’s Got Talent finale easily topped all programming with 288,201 total viewers. But the 18-to-49 crown went to CBS’ Big Brother with 72,461. As for who “won” these “reality-competition” concoctions, don’t know, don’t care.

OK, here are the local news derby results for Wednesday through Friday.

Wednesday -- WFAA8 won in total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

The two stations tied for the most total viewers at 6 a.m., but Fox4 had first place to itself among 25-to-54-year-olds.

NBC5 swept the 5 p.m competitions and added a 6 p.m. win in total viewers. Fox4 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m.

Thursday -- WFAA8 ran the table at 10 p.m. while also leading at 6 a.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 took the top spot at 6 a.m. in total viewers but tumbled to fourth place with 25-to-54-year-olds in the turbulent early morning Nielsens.

NBC5 scored twin wins at 6 p.m., with Fox4’s newscast rubbed out by its network’s pre-game baseball show. At 5 p.m., the golds went to WFAA8 in total viewers and Fox4 with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Friday -- CBS11 broke into the winner’s circle by leading at 10 p.m. in total viewers while Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 drew the most total viewers at 6 a.m. but WFAA8 again took the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 again was an unaccustomed also-ran, barely holding off CBS11 for third place in the 25-to-54 realm.

NBC5 took the 5 and 6 p.m. golds in total viewers, and Fox4 did likewise among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net