Rangers’ loss wins prime-time ratings in DFW

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., June 26-28)

by Ed Bark of UncleBarky.com

People want to believe that this season's Texas Rangers really are contenders, not pretenders.

So Sunday night's dispiriting 2-0 home loss to the San Diego Padres nonetheless ranked as prime-time's most-watched attraction, drawing 132,860 D-FW viewers on MY27.

The Rangers didn't only beat reruns. They topped two competing episodes of NBC's new Merlin series and part two of ABC's first-run Impact miniseries. Those aren't blockbusters, but still ...

FYI, Sunday's free-for-all on MY27 is the last one scheduled on that station until Sept. 5. From now 'til that date, all games (other than the Fox broadcast network's August 8 road tilt against the Los Angeles Angels) will be on cable/satellite's Fox Sports Southwest. That includes this week's key three-game series against the now first-place Halos, which begins Monday in Arlington.

In Friday's prime-time ratings, the new Fox intergalactic movie Virtuality drew just 59,787 viewers. In comparison, the network's Saturday night staples of COPS (152,789 viewers), another COPS (186,004 viewers) and America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back (139,503 viewers) all easily won their time slots.

Friday's local news derby results put WFAA8 atop the 10 p.m. pack in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

NBC5 swept the 6 a.m. competitions, with Fox4's American Idol-infused Good Day running third before also taking the 7 to 9 a.m. bronzes opposite the network morning shows. WFAA8 ran fourth across the board in the 6 a.m. hour.

Fox4 rolled in the early evening, sweeping the 5 and 6 p.m. faceoffs.