Crime pays in prime-time before WFAA8 scores with 10 p.m. payback in Dallas-Fort Worth ratings

by Ed Bark of UncleBarky.com

Paced by NCIS and its offspring, CBS again ruled the Tuesday prime-time domain while ABC's latest Dancing with the Stars had a Tom DeLay limp.

NCIS had the night's biggest audience -- 358,722 D-FW viewers in the 7 p.m. hour -- before NCIS: Los Angeles kept most of that haul (338,793 viewers).

The second episode of CBS' The Good Wife then mopped up with a timeslot-winning 285,649 viewers at 9 p.m. All three crime dramas also won among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds.

Dancing, with both DeLay and former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin moving on to another round, ran a competitive second at 8 p.m. with 292,292 total viewers. But it slid to third with 18-to-49-year-olds, behind the second hour of NBC's The Biggest Loser. For the record, ex-supermodel Kathy Ireland was voted off Dancing.

NBC's The Jay Leno Show finished third at 9 p.m. in total viewers. It took the runnerup spot, though, in the 18-to-49 demographic, with ABC's second episode of The Forgotten running fourth behind Fox4's local newscast.

CBS' powerful prime-time performance couldn't push CBS11's 10 p.m. edition to the No 1. spot in the daily local news derby. WFAA8 instead overcame a lead-in disadvantage to take first place in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

CBS11's late night news ran second in total viewers but dropped to fourth with 25-to-54-year-olds despite inheriting the night's biggest lead-in audience in that key demographic.

NBC5 maintained its ratings superiority at 6 a.m. with twin wins. WFAA8, rebounding from an across-the-board first-place shutout on Monday, took both golds at 6 p.m. while also winning at 5 p.m. in total viewers. Fox4 ran first at 5 p.m. with 25-to-54-year-olds.