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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Sept. 21-23) -- down/up for Cowboys' Game 3 loss at Seattle while Fox's season premiere of 9-1-1 and NBC5's Friday night Senate debate score notably winning numbers

By ED BARK
@unclebarkcom on Twitter
Again smelling bad on offense while also committing too many penalties, the Dallas Cowboys’ 24-13 loss at Seattle dipped in total viewers Sunday while bumping up among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

Game 3, which ran from 3:25 to 6:29 p.m. on Fox, averaged 1,168,024 total D-FW viewers and 449,366 in the 18-to-49 realm. Last year’s third matchup, a 28-17 win at Arizona on Monday Night Football, drew more total viewers (1,236,087) but fewer 18-to-49-year-olds (416,923). The audience was split between TEGNA8, which had the local over-the-air telecast rights, and ESPN’s cable presentation. For the record, TEGNA8 had the lion’s share of total viewers (828,905) while ESPN pulled in 407,182. Among 18-to-49ers, it was TEGNA8 with 314,296 and ESPN with 102,627.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football, in which the previously winless Detroit Lions throttled the heavily favored New England Patriots, averaged 462,937 total viewers and 199,718 within the 18-to-49 motherlode.

Fox followed up the Cowboys’ loss with a monster second season opener for 9-1-1, which had 491,425 total viewers in the 7 p.m. hour and 140,427 of the 18-to-49 persuasion. Part 2, built around a California earthquake, airs Monday night.

In daytime hours on NBC, Tiger Woods’ first PGA tournament win in five years drew an average of 128,198 total viewers, with just 21,844 in the 18-to-49 age range. The climactic holes, which aired directly opposite Cowboys-Seahawks, nonetheless built to a high of 199,419 total viewers between 4:45 and 5 p.m. (Nielsen Media Research measures audiences in 15-minute increments.)

On Saturday, Texas’ convincing win over TCU easily led the college football parade with 434,448 total viewers on Fox. Among 18-to-49-year-olds, the game had 143,548 viewers.

Friday’s chart-topper was NBC5’s live one-hour debate (6 to 7 p.m.) between Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. It drew an impressive 284,884 total viewers and 59,291 in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic. And in the main advertiser target audience for news programming -- 25-to-54-year-olds -- the debate also led all Friday programming throughout the day and night with 94,122 viewers.

Here are Friday’s four-way local news derby numbers.

NBC5 won at 10 p.m. with both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds while also sweeping the 5 p.m. competitions.

Fox4 again dominated at 6 a.m. across the board. The station also had the most standard newscast viewers at 6 p.m., but ran well behind NBC5’s Senate debate.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon. net