NBC5/WFAA8 split newscast spoils in DFW ratings

by Ed Bark of UncleBarky.com

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NBC5 and WFAA8 assumed their usual positions atop the early morning and late night local news ratings.

NBC5 and WFAA8 assumed their usual positions atop the early morning and late night local news ratings while sharing the wealth in the early evenings.

In Wednesday's 10 p.m. newscast competition, WFAA8 had 219,219 D-FW viewers to edge CBS11's 205,933. But WFAA8 romped among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

The Peacock again ruled the 6 a.m. roost in both measurements while also notching twin wins at 5 p.m. WFAA8 then swept the 6 p.m. competitions.

In prime-time, NBC's America's Got Talent again dominated from 7 to 9 p.m. A repeat in the earlier hour drew 205,933 total viewers in rubbing out ABC's competing Wipeout (172,718 viewers). AGT then grew its audience to 252,434 viewers with a new episode at 8 p.m. Fox's competing two-hour edition of So You Think You Can Dance again was pretty much a wallflower in D-FW, drawing just 79,716 viewers.

CBS won at 9 p.m. with a repeat of CSI: NY while NBC's new The Philanthropist nipped Fox4's local newscast and ABC's Primetime Crime for second place. But the Peacock drooped to fourth place in that hour with 18-to-49-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for entertainment programming. In that key demographic, Fox4's news tied CSI: NY for first place.

Also of note: Paul McCartney's first-ever appearance on CBS' Late Show with David Letterman drew 106,288 total viewers to edge NBC's Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (99,645 viewers). But both shows were beaten by ABC's Nightline (146,146 viewers) in their first half-hours.

Tonight called the tune among 18-to-49-year-olds, though, more than doubling Letterman's audience in that age group. Fox4's syndicated Beyond Twisted almost had the last laugh, however, running a close second from 11 to 11:30 p.m. (48,618 viewers in the 18-to-49 demo) to Tonight's 51,859 viewers.

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Check out Uncle Barky's blog for his thoughts on the 2009 Emmy nominations.