Football preseason starts strong, but can the Cowboys keep it up?

Cowboys pre-season games were the No. 1 and No. 2 most-watched shows last week.

Michael Ainsworth/Staff Photographer

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) during practice in San Diego on Monday, August 20, 2012.

DALLAS — After a few weeks of Olympics, it is time for TV networks to regroup and capture audiences once again. As a quick reminder, during the weeks prior to the Olympics, Univisión was capturing a large chunk of Dallas audiences, mainly with their telenovelas “Abismo de Pasión ” and “La que no podía Amar.” Both telenovelas have now dissapeared from the top 10, but don’t count them out yet; the latter is at No. 11, and it would not be a surprise to see them regain some of the top spots in the coming weeks.

The football pre-season has started, and the audiences in the Dallas market are obviously paying attention to the Cowboys. Most markets had pre-season games as their most watched broadcasts last week. This is a trend that will most likely continue for the rest of the year but should get interesting as the fall TV season starts next month. Interesting to notice how strong Big Bang Theory is in the Dallas market, appearing constantly as the most watched comedy in the market even when showing re-runs.

Top 10 most watched shows in the Dallas market

1 – Cowboys Pre-Season – KTVT CBS – Saturday 8 PM (541K*)
2 – Cowboys Pre-Season – KTVT CBS – Monday 7 PM (445K*)
3 – NBC Pre Season – KXAS NBC – Sunday 7 PM (247K*)
4 – Rangers Baseball – KTXA IND – Friday 6 PM (246K*)
5 – Big Bang Theory – KTVT CBS – Thursday 7 PM (225K*)
6 – Eternos Rivales – KUVN UNI – Wednesday 6:30 PM (224K*)
7 – FSN Baseball – FSS – Tuesday 7 PM (209K*)
8 – America’s Got Talent – KXAS NBC – Tuesday 7 PM (206K*)
9 – The Closer – TNT – Monday 8 PM (204K*)
10 – Fox 4 News at 9 – KDFW FOX – Tuesday 9 PM (193K*)

Will the Cowboys be able to keep the audiences hooked? Of course, even if they are not winning, the audiences’ love/hate relationship with the Cowboys makes for good ratings. With the start of the fall season we may see some returning shows making appearances on the top 10 starting early September. On new shows, we would definitely have to wait and see since most of the new offerings don’t look too promising.

Source: Nielsen