DFW television ratings show that baseball is still favored over basketball by elder audiences

by Ed Bark of UncleBarky.com

The Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers went head-to-head in prime-time Monday night. Which team you watched greatly depends on how old you are and, of course, whether you're a sports fan.

If you're an addled, gray-haired old-schooler like Mike Rhyner on The Ticket, you likely had the Rangers in view. If you're south of your mid-30s and think Lefty Grove is a trendy, liberal suburb, then the Mavs probably had your attention. Let's break down the two games into four basic food groups:

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Total D-FW Homes

Mavs-Clippers (Fox Sports Southwest) -- 97,580

Rangers-Tampa Bay (Ch. 27) -- 59,500

18-to-34-Year-Olds

Mavs-Clippers -- 48,195

Rangers-Tampa Bay -- 17,672

18-to-49-Year-Olds

Mavs-Clippers -- 99,200

Rangers-Tampa Bay -- 24,800

55 Years and Older

Mavs-Clippers -- 27,200

Rangers-Tampa Bay -- 54,400

In the non-sports arena, the two-hour premiere of NBC's improvisational Thank God You're Here ran third overall in homes from 8 to 10 p.m. Notably, It beat Fox's 24 in both homes and with advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. ABC's Dancing with the Stars performance show again was the night's top draw in both measurements.

The return of CBS' The King of Queens with its 200th episode tied for first in homes at 8:30 p.m. with Thank God You're Here while placing second to the Peacock among 18-to-49-year-olds.

The local news derby went like this:

Belo 8 won in homes at 10 p.m. but ran second to NBC5 with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Those finishes were reversed at 6 a.m., with the Peacock on top in homes and Belo8 prevailing in the 25-to-54 demo.

Belo8 placed first in both measurements at 5 and 6 p.m.

For more local television coverage, check out Uncle Barky's blog