The Mentalist plays mind games in Dallas-Fort Worth ratings

Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Thurs., Sept. 3)

by Ed Bark of UncleBarky.com

Jay Leno can expect the worst on Thursday nights this fall, when CBS' The Mentalist gets into his head.

For now, reruns are enough to dominate competing 9 p.m. programming. Thursday's Mentalist reprise had the day's biggest audience (259,077 D-FW viewers), with Fox4's local newscast a game but distant second with 152,789 viewers.

CBS also controlled the 8 p.m. slot, luring 239,148 viewers for a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation rerun. Both crime hours likewise topped the field among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds. Fox4's Bones narrowly took the 7 p.m. hour in both measurements, edging CBS' Big Brother 11.

The local news derby left just one station in the dust. WFAA8 came up empty all around after a bountiful Wednesday that saw the ABC station log a very rare early morning win.

CBS11 took Thursday's 10 p.m. competition in total viewers, but Fox4 had the edge with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

NBC5 resumed its winning ways at 6 a.m. by comfortably running the table. The Peacock also swept the 5 p.m. competitions and won at 6 p.m. in total viewers. Fox4 and NBC5 tied at 6 p.m. in the 25-to-54 demographic.