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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Dec. 28) -- remember the Alamo Bowl

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
TCU’s comeback win over Stanford at San Antonio’s Alamo Bowl ranked as Thursday’s top TV attraction.

The 39-37 victory averaged 256,396 D-FW viewers on ESPN. CBS’ 7:30 p.m. rerun of Young Sheldon was a solid runner-up with 220,785 viewers.

Here are Thursday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 topped the 10 p.m. competitions in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 extended its long 6 a.m. winning streak with another sweep while NBC5 scored twin wins at 6 p.m.

The Peacock also led in total viewers at 5 p.m., and tied Fox4 for first place in total viewers.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

And to all a good night: D-FW's list of 2017 TV newsroom exits

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Throughout the year, unclebarky.com strives to keep track of all the arrivals and departures at D-FW’s four major TV news providers -- Fox4, NBC5, TEGNA8 and CBS11.

This latest annual compendium lists only the 2017 departures (in alphabetical order) of those who have left your local home screens.

Please remember, though. This is a compilation of on-camera personnel. No slights are intended to off-camera staffers, whose many contributions remain valuable and, in many cases, indispensable. But TV viewers develop long-lasting or fleeting relationships with the people they see in their living rooms -- or on other “platforms.” It’s the way it’s always been, and here we go once again.

ASHLEIGH BARRY -- She stayed just a year at NBC5 before leaving in October 2017 to be closer to her home state of Massachusetts. Barry had covered the police beat. She recently became Strategic Communications Advisor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

HOMA BASH -- She stayed for less than a year as a general assignments reporter for NBC5 before leaving in June 2017 and returning to the station she had left -- ABC affiliate WEWS-TV in Cleveland. An added impetus: her fiancé lives in Cleveland.

SGT. NICK BRISTOW -- D-FW’s first and so far only uniformed police traffic anchor signed off in January 2017 after initially joining TEGNA8’s Daybreak in August 2014 as “Corporal Nick.” He remains with the DeSoto PD.

ALEXA CONOMOS -- It’s turned out to be a l-o-o-ong goodbye for TEGNA8’s Daybreak fixture, who joined the program as a traffic reporter in 2002 before becoming co-news anchor in June 2014. Conomos originally announced her decision to leave in January 2017, but agreed to stay with Daybreak until her replacement was hired. She envisioned that happening by the end of the May “sweeps” ratings period, but management kept persuading her to stay on while the prolonged search continued. Her official last day will be on Jan. 4, 2018, but she’s basically out the door so we’ll include Comonos among the 2017 exits. Her intention is to have a more “normal” life with her husband and their three young children after enduring the pre-dawn grind for 15 years. Her Daybreak successor will be Cincinnati’s Kara Sewell.

CHRIS JOSE -- He joined NBC5’s reporting staff in September 2015 but didn’t stay long before leaving in February 2017 to join the news staff of Atlanta’s CBS affiliate, WSB-TV.

MARCUS MOORE -- Recruited by ABC News after his standout coverage of Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath, Moore joined the network’s Dallas bureau after leaving TEGNA8 in September 2017. He joined the station in January 2012 as a reporter in the Forth Worth bureau and toward the end of his tenure had been anchoring weekend editions of Daybreak while reporting on weekdays for various newscasts.

GABRIEL ROXAS -- After two-and-a-half years as a CBS11 reporter, he left the station in August 2017 to become director of consumer engagement for The Karahan Companies, whose corporate offices are in Collin County.

BRIAN SCOTT -- He spent four years at NBC5 as a Denton County-based reporter before leaving in March 2017. Scott then quickly joined the reporting staff at Orlando, FL’s Fox-owned station, WOFL-TV.

BRETT SHIPP -- After 22 years as a multi-award-winning TEGNA8 investigative reporter, Shipp stunned his colleagues in December by abruptly resigning to run as a Democrat against longstanding Republican congressman Pete Sessions. In April of last year, he had pledged his undying allegiance to TEGNA8, saying, “I will be rolled out of Channel 8 on a gurney -- dead or alive.”

JOEL THOMAS -- He left CBS11 in December 2017, ending a 14-year career as a reporter. Thomas has returned to Georgetown, TX to “take care of my real family,” he said in a Facebook post. “Some of my co-workers are like family to me. But there is only one family I’m born into.”

LISA VILLEGAS -- She joined CBS11’s meteorologist staff in October 2014 before being abruptly terminated without explanation in March 2017. Some of her social media postings reportedly had been problematic for station management. Villegas rebounded and in October 2017 became chief meteorologist for Tucson’s CBS affiliate, KOLD-TV.

DAVID WATKINS -- After five years as a sports reporter and fill-in anchor at NBC5, David Watkins left in early 2017 to become Director of Business at Dallas-based Elevate Brand Marketing, which he termed the “perfect landing spot.”

DIANA ZOGA -- A two-year tenure as a Fox4 reporter ended in March 2017 when the two sides couldn’t agree on a new contract. But the 1999 Plano East Senior High graduate stayed in the D-FW market, joining NBC5’s reporting staff in November 2017 as a full-time, Collin County-based reporter.

For those keeping score, it was a relatively quiet year on the departure front, with just 13 casualties in 2017 compared to 23 the previous year. NBC5 “led” this time around with five exits, followed by TEGNA8 (4), CBS11 (3) and Fox4 (1).

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues.-Wed., Dec. 26-27) -- Longhorns' win in Texas Bowl takes top spot

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Texas Longhorns’ 33-16 throttling of Missouri in Houston’s Texas Bowl ranked as Wednesday’s top draw on a night of repeats and a throwaway bowl game on Fox.

A total of 199,419 D-FW viewers tuned in for Texas-Mizzou on ESPN. That’s not much of a crowd, but good enough to beat the runner-up attraction, CBS’ repeat of a 50th anniversary special saluting The Carol Burnett Show (149,564 viewers).

Fox’s competing Foster Farms Bowl -- Purdue vs. Arizona -- trudged in with 64,099 viewers. But the game still towered over the Dallas Mavericks-Indiana Pacers face-off. The victory-starved Mavs surprisingly won for the second time in as many nights against a quality team, but continued to play before a near-empty house. Just 21,366 viewers were on hand for the Fox Sports Southwest telecast.

Tuesday’s top prime-time performer, CBS’ 7 p.m. NCIS rerun, had 199,419 viewers before the network’s two-hour Kennedy Center Honors deflated to 92,587 viewers. Both programs skewed north of Forest Lawn in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic, with NCIS luring 24,965 viewers and the Kennedy Center Honors, 3,121.

Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast won its time slot in both ratings measurements, with 170,930 total viewers and 28,085 in the 18-to-49 realm.

And now, here are the four-way local news derby results.

Tuesday -- TEGNA8 won at 10 p.m. in total viewers but Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 also again scored twin wins at 6 a.m. and tied with NBC5 for the 25-to-54-year-old gold at 6 p.m. The Peacock otherwise had the early evening spoils to itself, sweeping the 5 p.m. competitions and drawing the most total viewers at 6 p.m.

Wednesday -- TEGNA8 swept the 10 p.m. races and Fox4 did likewise at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. The two stations tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m. while Fox4 won outright among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs.-Mon., Dec. 21-25) -- Eve of destruction for Cowboys

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Gifted with earlier playoff-enhancing losses by the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons, the Dallas Cowboys responded by making the Seattle Seahawks merry with a give away Christmas Eve game at Jerry’s Palace.

The 21-12 loss on Fox’s featured mid-afternoon/early evening game was marked by a Dez the fumbler temper tantrum, inexplicably atrocious play-calling near the goal line, two killer interceptions by Dak Prescott and a pair of rare short field goal misses by Dan Bailey. Otherwise the offense looked great in a game Dallas needed to stay alive beyond the regular season.

Cowboys-Seahawks averaged 1,153,780 D-FW viewers during a season of notably declining ratings. A total of 402,557 were within the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old age range. This Sunday’s meaningless season-ender against the Philadelphia Eagles very likely will drop below the magic one million viewers mark and perhaps threaten the low point of 904,507 total viewers for the Dec. 10 win against the New York Giants.

Fox’s Sunday afternoon warmup act, the New Orleans Saints’ win over the Falcons, was the day’s second biggest draw with an average of 470,059 total viewers. CBS’ competing New England Patriots-Buffalo Bills game drew just 170,930 total viewers.

Christmas Day’s pacesetter, NBC’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Houston Texans game, had 327,617 total viewers. ABC’s afternoon Golden State Warriors-Cleveland Cavaliers face-off, also did well with 242,151 total viewers.

Meanwhile, TXA21 offered its annual Yule Log presentation from 8 p.m. Christmas Eve to noon Christmas Day. Burning to the tune of holiday music, The Log hit its ratings peak from 9 to 9:15 a.m. Monday, with 66,948 total viewers. That made it D-FW’s No. 2 attraction in that 15-minute segment, behind only ABC’s 9 to 9:15 a.m. portion of Disney’s Christmas parade (75,494 viewers). The Log even outdrew TBS’ annual A Christmas Story marathon (55,552 viewers) during that quarter-hour.

Saturday’s Green Bay Packers-Minnesota Vikings game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football easily led all TV attractions with 292,006 total viewers opposite a grab bag of reruns on ABC, CBS and Fox.

Here are the Thursday and Friday local news derby results, with all four combatants taking holiday exemptions on Christmas Day.

Thursday -- TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 ran first among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions and added twin wins at 6 p.m. The 5 p.m. total viewer golds were shared by Fox4 and NBC5, with Fox4 winning outright with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Friday -- NBC5 drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m. and Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 methodically ran the table at 6 a.m. and also swept the 6 p.m. races. NBC5 had a doubleheader win at 5 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Christmas merry-go-round -- 2017

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Merry Christmas to one and all from unclebarky.com world headquarters in Garland, TX. We again tag-teamed this year. My wife did the tree and your friendly content provider unpacked and arranged the Santas.

We both hope you’ll have a night and day of peace and joy at the close of a very eventful year. And as an extra added attraction, the finale of Uncle Barky’s Countdown to Christmas offers a double feature that you can watch right here.
Ed Bark

Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas -- finale

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
This year’s Countdown climaxes with a special Christmas Eve twofer.

First we have brief but memorable video from one of Dirk Nowitzki’s annual holiday visits to Dallas’ Children’s Medical Center. “Uncle Dirk,” whose heart remains bigger than his stature, makes these calls without fanfare or publicity. But in 2016, he allowed Dallas Morning News sports writer/columnist Brad Townsend to tag along. Brad’s Christmas Eve story this year reconnects with three of the families whose lives have been made brighter by Dirk’s kindness and generosity. You can read his account here.

And, as in the past, we end with Nat King Cole’s performance of “The Christmas Song.” No one will ever do it better, and this year’s video is a look at Nat in all his glory during a guest appearance in 1963 on The Danny Kaye Show.

Have yourself a very merry one, and enjoy.





Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas -- Episode Eight

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Oprah’s annual Christmas giveaways became renowned not so much for the lavish free gifts but for her audiences’ pee-in-the-pants pandemonium.

Here’s a compilation of six big reveals and the resultant mass hysteria.



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas -- Episode Seven

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
It’s 1989 on NBC’s Today show, and Mandy Patinkin has put his decidedly lilting voice in play for a piano-accompanied medley of “White Christmas” and “Jingle Bells.”

He beautifully sings his way through the Bing Crosby anthem before losing it down the stretch with “Jingle Bells.” But whatever your verdict, Mandy threw himself into these standards and dashed through the snow his way. You won’t see many if any other Christmas vocals quite like this one.



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed., Dec. 20) -- Survivor in charge

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS made merry with the gift that keeps on giving Wednesday night.

The latest season finale of CBS’ Survivor and its companion one-hour “reunion” hour easily paced all prime-time programming. Many more of both are sure to come.

The 7 to 9 p.m. edition of Survivor drew 199,419 D-FW viewers before the following get-together had 163,808. Advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds also bought in, with Survivor logging 93,618 before the kicker pulled in 49,930.

Led to the slaughter was ABC’s 9 p.m. return of Match Game, which nosedived with 56,977 total viewers and 12,482 in the 18-to-49 realm to rank fourth across the board in the Big Four broadcast network universe.

And now for Wednesday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 overcame the Match Game shortfall to rank first in total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. races and NBC5 did likewise at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. golds went to TEGNA8 in total viewers and the Peacock with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas -- Episode Six

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Miley Cyrus was just 16 and the year was 2008 when she performed this jet-propelled version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” during NBC’s annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center special.

Sorry, Brenda Lee, but it’s the best I’ve ever heard. And the guitar backing is sensational.

Open your mind and enjoy while also appreciating the fact that Miley has matured a lot since then while remaining a distinctive, innovative vocalist.



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues., Dec. 19) -- The Voice makes it a siletn night for rivals

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The latest season finale of NBC’s The Voice made merry in the D-FW ratings Tuesday, more than doubling the crowd for any competing program.

Won by Nashville’s Chloe Kohanski, The Voice drew 341,861 viewers in the 8 to 10 p.m. slot. The next closest competitor, CBS’ 8 p.m. repeat of NCIS, had 142,442 viewers.

The Voice also led all prime-time programming in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic, pulling in 99,859. In the 7 p.m. hour, a recap of The Voice’s final performances lured 199,419 total viewers to also run first. But ABC’s animated holiday combo of Olaf’s Frozen Christmas and Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice won the hour with 18-to-49-year-olds.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.

Feeding off the big lead-in advantage from The Voice, NBC5 coasted to 10 p.m. wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 logged twin wins at both 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. while TEGNA8 swept the 6 p.m. races.

LOCAL TV NEWS NOTE -- D-FW’s TXA21 again will burn off portions of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the return of the Yule Log. It fires up at 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and flames out on noon Christmas Day.

The Log has a history of winning its time slot in some of the wee hours.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas -- Episode Five

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Forty years ago, brothers Ray and Dave Davies outwardly were still getting along when The Kinks recorded the single “Father Christmas,” which Ray wrote.

“I love him, he loves me,” Dave told The Daily Mail in May of this year. “But when we’re in the same room, it doesn’t work . . . I like to say Ray was only happy for the first three years of his life -- until I came along. But he’s still my brother.”

A pity. But back in 1977, Ray and Dave still rocked and shared the stage. And in that spirit, we give you their unbridled “Father Christmas” video. It still holds up, with the group more or less in Santa suits. The song since has been covered by the likes of Green Day, Smash Mouth and Cheap Trick.



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 18) -- The Voice, Monday Night Football are prime-time's pacesetters

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Two networks again split the prime-time spoils Monday.

NBC’s The Voice ranked as the top total viewers draw in D-FW, drawing 306,250 from 7 to 9 p.m. The Peacock’s premiere of Ellen’s Game of Games then had enough juice to win the 9 p.m. hour, at least in the Big Four broadcast network universe. It pulled in 199,419 viewers.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football matchup, with the Atlanta Falcons edging the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, reigned throughout the night with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, averaging 109,221. Falcons-Bucs also was tops in total viewers from 9 p.m. until closing time, and had a full-game average of 270,640.

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 reigned with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 as usual swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 prospered in the early evening with twin wins at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas -- Episode Four

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Imagine the unbridled joy upon finding a durable Texaco Jet Fuel Truck under the Christmas tree.

And back in the 1970s, it could be all yours for just $4.98. The over-joyous parents in this vintage commercial are particularly worth watching. It looks as though Dad might have been sniffing a little Texaco premium before his son opened the day’s big gift.



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Dec. 15-17) -- Cowboys & end of Pats-Steelers game combine to shoot A Christmas Story Live! in the eye

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
A bizarre game decided by inches at the end -- and a piece of paper near the end -- ended with the Dallas Cowboys squeaking out a 20-17 win over the Oakland Raiders on the NFL’s biggest stage.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football presentation, which stretched to 10:48 p.m., averaged 1,274,856 D-FW viewers and 546,105 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age range. The Cowboys, who retained their slim but still viable post-season hopes, rebounded well past the magic one million viewers mark after registering a season low 904,507 for the previous week’s win over the lowly New York Giants.

Before the Cowboys got started, the dramatic and equally weird closing minutes of CBS’ titanic New England Patriots-Pittsburgh Steelers clash served to blunt the 6 p.m. start of Fox’s heavily promoted A Christmas Story Live! Ending at 6:19 p.m., Pats-Steelers drew 726,454 viewers for the 6 to 6:15 p.m. segment and upped that number to 740,698 for the closing minutes plus post-mortem.

Christmas Story, a rebooted musical version of the enduring 1983 feature film, actually hit its highest numbers in the first hour, with an average of 192,297 total viewers from 6 to 7 p.m. The Pats-Steelers game no doubt kept many other potential viewers away before the Cowboys game took over at 7:30 p.m. and chop-blocked Christmas Story’s audience to 106,832 viewers from 7:30 to 7:45 p.m. Overall the production averaged 135,320 viewers and 68,653 in the 18-to-49 realm.

ABC devoted its entire Sunday night to a reprise of The Sound of Music, which averaged 85,465 total viewers in the 6 to 10 p.m. slot. A piddling 18,724 of them were 18-to-49-year-olds.

On Friday, CBS’ 8 p.m. episode of Hawaii Five-0 led all prime-time TV attractions in total viewers with 213,663. The network’s 7 p.m. Macgyver set the pace with 18-to-49-year-olds (34,327).

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

NBC5 swept the 10 p.m. races in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming) while Fox4 did likewise at 6 a.m.

The Peacock had twin wins at 5 p.m. and tied CBS11 for the top spot in total viewers at 6 p.m. Fox4 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Thurs., Dec. 13-14) -- NBC still squeezes out a win with NFL lemon

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The biggest Thursday Night Football stinker of the season still had surprisingly fragrant ratings.

NBC strived to dress up the sub-meaningless Denver Broncos-Indianapolis Colts matchup with a “Sky Cam” motif that may have in part turned the trick. The Broncos’ 25-13 win at Indianapolis averaged 249,274 D-FW viewers on NBC and tacked on another 28,488 for the NFL Net’s simulcast. That was good enough to win every 15-minute segment from 8 to 10:30 p.m. after NBC’s portion of the game lost by a sliver from 7:30 to 8 p.m. opposite CBS’ Young Sheldon.

Broncos-Colts otherwise easily won from start to stop with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, with NBC pulling in an average of 87,377 and the NFL Net chipping in with a scant 9,362.

Fox’s pair of first-run Christmas specials, Taraji’s White Hot Holidays and Showtime at the Apollo: Christmas, came nowhere close to football in either ratings measurement. In fact, Fox4’s following 9 p.m. local newscast had bigger crowds in both cases -- while also losing out to Broncos-Colts.

In Wednesday’s prime-time proceedings, CBS’ 7 p.m. hour of Survivor was the top draw in total viewers (256,396) while Fox’s Empire drew the most 18-to-49-year-olds (87,377).

Here are the local news derby results.

Wednesday -- TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m., but Fox4 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 continued to run wild at 6 a.m. with dominant twin wins and also swept the 6 p.m. competitions. NBC5 ran the ratings table at 5 p.m.

Thursday -- TEGNA8 swept a downsized three-way race at 10 p.m. while NBC5 was blotted out by the Thursday Night Football run over.

Fox4 again logged two firsts at 6 a.m. and also won with 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 and 6 p.m. NBC5 had the most total viewers at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

NBC5 adds Minnesota's Jack Highberger to reporting staff

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Jack Highberger from Minneapolis’ Fox-owned KMSP-TV is the latest addition to Fort Worth-based NBC5’s reporting staff, sources confirm.

He’ll primarily cover Dallas after spending the last three years at KMSP. His first day at NBC5 will be Jan. 15th.

Highberger previously was a reporter for KGPE-TV and KSEE-TV in Fresno, CA. He’s a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

His KMSP station bio describes Highberger as an “old soul” who “loves classic movies and records and is always looking to add to his collection.” In a companion Q&A, Highberger says the “most beautiful film I’ve ever seen is (Bernardo Bertolucci’s) The Conformist.” Now that’s going deep.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas -- Episode Three

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Credit Johnny Cash for being open to offbeat entertainers on his Christmas specials. In 1979, with an assist from June Carter Cash, he welcomed Andy Kaufman as Santa Claus. Or “Sanny Claus,” as she put it.

Later in the show, Kaufman returned to do his killer Elvis impersonation after a little opening banter with Johnny. You can see that lengthier video right here. But below, here’s Andy’s first walk-on in semi-Santa attire.



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas -- Episode Two

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Not quite yet a full-blown country music deity, a 34-year-old George Strait lip synced “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas” with all the dexterity of a dog gumming peanut butter.

It was 1986, the last year in which ABC presented the late Perry Como’s annual Christmas special. Strait joined Como and guests Angie Dickinson, Julia Migenes-Johnson and then San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros in the Alamo City. Strait’s out of body contribution -- a piped-in vocal has never been quite this obvious -- came at an outdoor party where he interacted with guests and danced with some of them while gamely grinning his way through it all.

Your friendly content provider was in San Antonio for the first day of taping on All Saint’s Day. Como much more convincingly lip synced his trademark “Ave Maria” inside the historic San Fernando Cathedral before later taping a segment at the San Jose Mission. He had recorded his latest version of “Ave Maria” two days earlier in Los Angeles.

During a subsequent interview, Como was asked about his 1984 Christmas special from London, when he dared to substitute “O Holy Night” for “Ave Maria” as his traditional show closer.

“I caught hell for it,” Como said, pledging to never do this again.

Como didn’t shatter any illusions formed over the years by a kid who at first endured his annual Christmas specials before later coming to almost revere them. He proved to be as nice off-camera as on-, signing autographs, bantering with fans and remaining self-effacing.

“You’re my era,” a middle-aged woman getting around on crutches told him.

“I’m everybody’s era,” he said before signing a dollar bill for her.

Unfortunately, Como’s last performance of “Ave Maria” for ABC is not available for reprising here. So Episode 2 of The Countdown brings you this must-see-it-to-believe-it outing by Strait, whose “When It’s Christmas Time In Texas” wound up on his “Merry Christmas Strait to You!” album along with “For Christ’s Sake, It’s Christmas” among its nine other tracks.



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielen ratings snapshot (Tues., Dec. 12) -- CBS/NBC sweep prime-time golds

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS’ NCIS, Bull and NCIS: New Orleans all won their time slots in total D-FW viewers Tuesday while NBC’s The Voice, Gwen Stefani’s You Make It Feel Like Christmas and Chicago Med all did likewise with advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds.

NCIS was the overall top draw (327,617 total viewers), with Bull right behind (299,128) and NCIS: NO having just enough punch (192,297) to win the 9 p.m. hour over Med (185,175).

In the 18-to-49 realm, The Voice and You Make It Feel Like Christmas won their slots with 59,291 viewers each before Med mopped up (49,930).

The Middle paced ABC in both ratings measurements, as did Lethal Weapon for Fox.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.

NBC5 won in total viewers at 10 p.m., edging TEGNA8 and Fox4. But with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming), Fox4 routed the competition.

Fox4 as usual ran the table at 6 a.m. while NBC5 swept the 5 p.m. races. The Peacock and TEGNA8 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m., with Fox4 taking the 25-to-54 gold.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Uncle Barky's Countdown to Christmas -- Episode One

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
It’s back!

We begin our annual exercise in Christmas nostalgia and merriment with a seamlessly edited compilation reel of Darlene Love’s performances of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on David Letterman’s late nighters. You miss it. You know you do.

Love and Letterman, with ring-a-ding musical arrangements from Paul Shaffer, teamed annually until Dave’s final Christmas show in December 2014. Here’s the entire song in various guises, with Love’s voice always in full trumpet no matter what her age or hairstyles. I can’t think of a better or more rousing way to start The Countdown. Can you?



Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 11) -- NBC, MNF lead way

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
NBC again had Monday’s most-watched program with The Voice before getting decent mileage from the Season 2 premiere of Better Late Than Never.

The Voice drew 299,128 D-FW viewers to win its 7 to 9 p.m. slot before the infantile international misadventures of William Shatner, Henry Winkler, George Foreman and Terry Bradshaw took the 9 p.m. hour in the Big Four broadcast network universe with 185,190 viewers.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football, an upset 27-20 win by the Miami Dolphins over the New England Patriots, averaged 256,417 viewers for the entire game while beating everything in sight throughout the night among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds (an average of 96,739).

ABC’s 9 p.m. offering, The Bachelor: Countdown to Arie (Arie Luyendyk Jr.) counted for little with a fifth place showing in its time slot. It lured just 64,104 total viewers and 21,844 in the 18-to-49 realm.

And now here are Monday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 recovered nicely from the dinky Bachelor lead-in to win at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 again swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 enjoyed the early evening with twin wins at 5 and 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

TEGNA8 adds Buffalo's Jonah Javad to sports staff

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Dallas-based TEGNA8 is adding Jonah Javad to its sports staff as a reporter and fill-in anchor, sources confirm.

He’s been with Buffalo’s NBC affiliate, WGRZ-TV, since August 2012, where he’s anchored on weekends and reported on weekdays. WGRZ also is owned by TEGNA.

Javad previously worked at KOMU-TV in Columbia, MO and is a graduate of the University of Missouri. He fills a vacancy left by Ted Madden after he resigned from TEGNA8 in November of last year.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., Dec. 8-10) -- Cowboys are Giant killers in New York, but smallish on home screens

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
The Dallas Cowboys kept their slim post-season hopes alive Sunday with a late surge and 30-10 win over the plodding New York Giants.

But the D-FW Nielsen ratings fumbled again, with the Cowboys drawing a season-low 904,507 viewers for the noon starter on Fox. Just 321,422 were in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range, which is another lowest of the low.

Fox’s followup game, the marquee Philadelphia Eagles-Los Angeles matchup, averaged 655,233 total viewers, with 227,804 in the 18-to-49 realm. NBC’s Sunday Night Football attraction, the Pittsburgh Steelers vs the Baltimore Ravens, pulled in 363,227 total viewers and 134,186 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Saturday afternoon’s snowy Army-Navy game led all of that day’s TV attractions with 178,053 total viewers.

On Friday, CBS’ Blue Bloods drew the biggest crowd of total viewers (235,029) while the network’s Hawaii Five-0 was tops with 18-to-49-year-olds (37,447).

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

NBC5 ran first at 10 p.m. in total viewers and beat Fox4 by a sliver among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 remained dominant at 6 a.m. with twin wins and also drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 and 6 p.m. NBC5 won both of the early evening competitions in total viewers.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Reporter Joel Thomas ends long tenure at CBS11

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Veteran reporter Joel Thomas has ended a 14-year career at D-FW’s CBS11 and returned to Georgetown, TX for personal reasons.

“Some of my coworkers are like family to me,” he said in a Facebook post. “But there is only one family I’m born into and it is time for me to head back to Georgetown to take care of my real family. I love and will miss many of you, but as someone said before I carried my boxes of journalistic junk away from my desk, ‘We will always be part of the TV family, too.’ “

Thomas joined CBS11 in November 2003 after three years with Atlanta’s WXIA-TV. He is a graduate of the Texas State University journalism school.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Tues.-Thurs., Dec. 5-7) -- CBS gets last laughs with comedy combo

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CBS continued to light up Thursday’s prime-time ratings with its longstanding The Big Bang Theory and the new Young Sheldon followup act.

Big Bang led all TV attractions with 455,814 D-FW viewers before its first-year spinoff won the 7:30 p.m. slot with 341,861. Big Bang also ranked as Thursday’s top draw among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds with 140,427 before Sheldon lost its half-hour to NBC’s Thursday Night Football matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints.

TNF overall averaged 320,495 total viewers on NBC and another 56,977 for the NFL Net simulcast.

In the Big Four broadcast network universe, CBS’ S.W.A.T. reboot took the 9 p.m. hour in both ratings measurements.

Wednesday’s prime-time parade was paced by CBS’ Survivor in both total viewers (213,663) and 18-to-49-year-olds (68,653). And on Tuesday night, CBS’ NCIS rerun topped all TV attractions in total viewers with 235,029 while ABC’s The Middle took the 18-to-49 gold with 59,291.

OK, you’ve waited patiently for the local news derby results. Here they are:

Tuesday -- TEGNA8 reigned at 10 p.m. with wins in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 dominated at 6 a.m. with runaway twin wins while NBC5 swept the 5 p.m. competitions. The 6 p.m. firsts went to the Peacock in total viewers and Fox4 in the 25-to-54 realm.

Wednesday -- Fox4 ran the table at both 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. while adding a 6 p.m. win with 25-to-54-year-olds. NBC5 swept the 5 p.m. races and also ran first at 6 p.m. in total viewers.

Thursday -- In a downsized 10 p.m. competition, TEGNA8 and CBS11 shared first place in total viewers but CBS11 won outright among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 coasted to another pair of 6 a.m. wins while NBC5 again ruled in both ratings measurements at 5 p.m. The Peacock also was tops in total viewers at 6 p.m. while Fox4 won with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Award-laden investigator Brett Shipp quits TEGNA8, takes aim at Pete Sessions' congressional seat

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End of eras: Ex-TEGNA8 investigators Brett Shipp & Byron Harris. Photo: Ed Bark

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Mr. Shipp goes to Washington?

Investigative reporter Brett Shipp has abruptly ended a 22-year career at Dallas-based TEGNA8 by announcing he’ll be running for the 32nd District congressional seat held by Republican Pete Sessions since 2003.

Shipp, 59, would first have to survive a multi-candidate Democratic primary field. TEGNA8, which broke the news of his candidacy, said that Shipp resigned Tuesday.

“We are grateful for the many contributions Brett has made to WFAA and the field of journalism,” executive news director Carolyn Mungo said in a statement.

Just a little over two years ago, Shipp and Byron Harris (who retired in October 2015 from TEGNA8) formed the most formidable and award-winning investigative reporting duo in D-FW television news history. Both were honored with multiple national Peabody and duPont Columbia awards.

In an interview with unclebarky.com tied to his retirement, Harris said he expected Shipp to remain a fixture at TEGNA8 for many years to come.

“I don’t expect his zeal to subside at all,” Harris said of Shipp. “I expect him to be allowed to continue for another decade to come, two decades, whatever.”

Shipp himself also anticipated as much, telling unclebarky.com in April 2016, “I will be rolled out of Channel 8 on a gurney -- dead or alive.”

Instead he walked out under his own power. “I absolutely have reached my threshold of tolerance for negative discourse, toxic politics and the lack of civility,” Shipp told The Dallas Morning News Wednesday. “I’ve had enough. I cannot sit back and do nothing.”

Shipp hasn’t spoken to unclebarky.com since taking offense at admittedly being accurately quoted in October 2016 while hosting a Dallas VideoFest event titled “How the News Got Made.”

Shipp has made both a name for himself -- and more than a few enemies -- during his tenure at TEGNA8. One of his antagonists, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, quickly weighed in Wednesday, telling The News that Shipp has “an ice cube’s chance in hell” of being elected to Congress.

“Name recognition is not always what it’s about,” Price added. “One of my opponents had name recognition. But what are you known as?”

Shipp follows in the footsteps, although not along party lines, of former NBC5 reporter Grant Stinchfield. He unsuccessfully ran as a Republican congressional candidate against incumbent Kenny Marchant after initially leaving the station to take ownership of a Kwik Kar Auto Lube and Repair business.

Shipp, who was an investigative reporter for Dallas-based KDFW-TV (now known as Fox4) before joining TEGNA8, is the son of Bert Shipp, the late, longtime TEGNA8 assignments editor.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Dec. 4) -- The Voice & MNF share spoils

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Monday went as usual in the prime-time firmament.

NBC’s The Voice again drew the most D-FW viewers while ESPN’s Monday Night Football scored with 18-to-49-year-olds and ABC’s The Good Doctor continued to hold steady at 9 p.m.

The Voice pulled in 249,274 total viewers to comfortably win its 7 to 9 p.m. slot while the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals matchup, decided on a last second Pitt field goal, carried the night among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds with an average of 87,377.

Within the Big Four broadcast network universe, The Good Doctor otherwise took the 9 p.m. hour with 206,541 total viewers and 43,688 in the 18-to-49 realm.

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 had a prosperous day everywhere except the early morning. The station swept the 10 and 6 p.m. competitions in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming) while also tying Fox4 for the top spot at 5 p.m. in total viewers.

Fox4 won outright at 5 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, with TEGNA8 second. But at 6 a.m., Fox4 again ran the table while TEGNA8 fell to fourth in both ratings measurements behind runner-up NBC5 and third-place CBS11.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Wed.-Sun., Nov. 29-Dec. 3) -- Cowboys rout Redskins but still get that sinking feeling

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
A classic rivalry game in prime-time -- and also a big, slump-breaking Dallas Cowboys win -- failed to boost the team’s ratings stock Thursday night.

Running until 10:21 p.m., the Cowboys’ 38-14 domination of the Washington Redskins drew 911,629 D-FW viewers for the NBC presentation and added another 99,709 for the NFL Net simulcast. That barely inched the game past the one million mark with a not-at-all grand-total of 1,011,338 viewers.

Last season’s Game 12, also a Thursday night matchup on NBC/NFL Net, drew a combined 1,563,286 viewers. Dallas improved its record to 11-1 with a 17-15 win at Minnesota. This year’s Cowboys are now 6-6.

The win over Washington had what amounts to a measly 305,819 viewers in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range for NBC’s telecast and another 37,447 on NFL Net. How bad is that? Well, the combined 343,266 viewers in this key demographic are barely more than half the 651,042 viewers that tuned in for Cowboys-Vikes.

The novelty of last season’s two breakthrough rookies -- Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott -- certainly played a role in the 2016 ratings. As did the Cowboys’ return to dominance. This time around, Elliott continues to serve a six-game suspension while the team’s playoff hopes are basically on fumes. Still a year-to-year falloff of more than half a million total viewers is cause for considerable alarm -- not only for the Cowboys but for the NFL in general.

On Sunday, the slate of NFL games was topped by Seahawks-Eagles on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. It led all TV attractions with 505,712 total viewers and 184,115 in the 18-to-49 realm. Fox’s late afternoon game, Saints vs. Panthers, ran a solid second with 484,303 total viewers and 180,995 within the 18-to-49 motherlode.

CBS got strong returns -- at least in total viewers -- for its 7 to 9 p.m. 50th anniversary special in honor of The Carol Burnett Show. It pulled in 306,250 total viewers, but just 37,447 were of the 18-to-49 persuasion. But grandmas and grandpas gathered in force, and there’s still no law against that.

Saturday’s menu of four key college conference championship games was led by Fox’s late morning/early afternoon Oklahoma-TCU matchup, which averaged 341,861 total viewers. CBS’ afternoon Georgia-Auburn game likewise performed well with 327,617 viewers while Fox’s prime-time Ohio State-Wisconsin clash had 277,762 viewers. Clemson’s nighttime rout of Miami on CBS was the only lemon, with just 106,832 viewers.

Here are the local news derby results for Wednesday through Friday.

Wednesday -- It was a day of sweeps. TEGNA8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). Fox4 did likewise at 6 a.m. and NBC5 had twin wins at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Thursday -- TEGNA8 again topped the 10 p.m. competition for total viewers but Fox4 prevailed with 25-to-54-year-olds in a downsized three-way race opposite the close of the Cowboys game on NBC.

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m., drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m. and tied NBC5 for first in that measurement at 5 p.m. The early evening total viewer golds went to the Peacock at 5 p.m. and TEGNA8 at 6 p.m.

Friday -- CBS11 broke through for a total viewers win at 10 p.m. and beat Fox4 by a wisp for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 enjoyed another 6 a.m. sweep while NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m. and had the most total viewers at 6 p.m. Fox4 won among 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 p.m.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net