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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Mon., Nov. 14) -- uplifting trumps sordid

By ED BARK
ABC's long-promoted sit-down with inspirational congresswoman Garbrielle Giffords crushed NBC's competing and hastily arranged exclusive with accused child molester and former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

In fact, just about everything did, even though neither "big get" interview managed to outdraw CBS' Hawaii Five-0 in Monday's 9 p.m. hour.

Bob Costas' late-breaking phone interview with Sandusky, who denied all, drew just 60,967 D-FW viewers under the Rock Center with Brian Williams banner. Diane Sawyer's interview with the still recovering Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, had 325,157 viewers in running a bit behind Hawaii Five-0 (345,479 viewers). The 9 to 10 p.m. portion of ESPN's Monday Night Football, in which the Packers routed the Vikings, pulled in 304,835 viewers.

But MNF topped the 9 p.m. hour among advertiser-favored 18-to-49-year-olds, with Hawaii Five-0 and ABC's Giffords interview running second and third.

Earlier in prime-time, ABC drew a big crowd for its Dancing with the Stars performance show, which won from 7 to 9 p.m. in total viewers with 386,124. CBS crowed with 18-to-49-year-olds, though. Among the five major broadcast networks, its sitcom lineup of How I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men and Mike & Molly topped all four half-hours in the 18-to-49 demographic.

In Monday's local news derby results, CBS11 nipped WFAA8 at 10 p.m. in total viewers, with WFAA8 turning the tables by a slight margin among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

NBC5 took the 6 a.m. competition in total viewers and tied Fox4 for first with 25-to-54-year-olds. WFAA8 tied Fox4 for second in total viewers and was a close third in the 25-to-54 age range.

Fox4 otherwise had the first place spoils to itself, winning at 5 and 6 p.m. in both ratings measurements.