Studio 60 finale fizzles in DFW ratings

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., June 28)

by Ed Bark of UncleBarky.com

Fox4 cleaned house in prime-time Thursday while the final episode of NBC's once trumpeted Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip barely drew air.

At the network level, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? controlled the 7 to 8 p.m. slot in both total homes and among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.

Fox's following So You Think You Can Dance? also won with 18-to-49-year-olds and was a competitive second in homes to CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation repeat.

Fox4's 9 p.m. local newscast then placed first for the third straight night in both ratings measurements. The newscast's haul of 183,260 total homes contrasted with Studio 60 's 57,120. Even ABC's Men In Trees repeat (78,540 homes) beat it. Studio 60 also got drubbed in the 18-to-49-year-old Nielsens.

On cable, CNN's Larry King Live continued its rollercoaster week with another big-name guest. Tuesday night's live-from-Las Vegas sit-down with the two surviving Beatles draw a surprisingly small 16,660 homes before Wednesday's Paris Hilton appearance bounced up to 49,980. Thursday's one-on-one with Colin Powell dipped way back down to 9,520 homes.

In the local newscast derby, Belo8 won comfortably in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

Fox4 re-took the 6 a.m. crowns with first place finishes in both ratings measurements.

Belo8 won in total homes at 5 and 6 p.m., and with 25-to-54-year-olds in the latter hour. But for the third straight day, an interloper prevented Belo8's usual clean sweep. This time the Peacock took the 5 p.m. faceoff among 25-to-54-year-olds.

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