Drill Bits: ‘Dallas’ Faces Tough Ratings Competition

No match

“Dallas” felt a ratings pinch on April 8, when TNT telecast back-to-back episodes against tough competition on the broadcast networks.

TNT showed the first hour, “A Call to Arms,” at 8 p.m., an hour earlier than usual. The episode drew 1.9 million viewers, including roughly 760,000 adults between ages 18 and 49, a group advertisers pay a premium to reach.

“Dallas’s” second hour, “Love and Family,” was shown in the 9 p.m. time slot, where it was seen by 2.4 million viewers, including more than 1 million people between 18 and 49. Through last week, “Dallas” has averaged about 2.7 million viewers in its Monday telecasts.

The April 8 “Dallas” double feature was seen opposite NBC’s two-hour “The Voice,” which drew 13.7 million viewers, including more than 6 million between 18 and 49, a season high for that series. Meanwhile, the second half of “Love and Family” faced CBS’s coverage of the NCAA basketball championship, which averaged 20.7 million viewers between 9:30 and 11 p.m.

“Dallas” continues to perform well with DVR users too. Last week’s telecast, “Let Me In,” attracted 2.6 million viewers on April 8, but during the next three days, DVR users boosted the audience to 3.6 million. This included 1.3 million adults between 18 and 49, a 16 percent increase over the previous week, and 1.5 million between 25 and 54, a 9 percent jump.

Et Cetera

• TNT has made no announcements, but Patrick Duffy says “Dallas” will return for a third season, according to a report in yesterday’s New York Daily News.

• “Lost” alum Sam Anderson will play Dr. David Gordon, Pam’s plastic surgeon, during the two-hour “Dallas” season finale, which will TNT will show Monday, April 15, from 9 to 11 p.m. Anderson replaces Josef Rainer, who played Gordon in 1988. Producers couldn’t locate Rainer to reprise the role, TV Guide reported yesterday.

• Dallas Divas Derby’s second brackets competition is down to its final two contestants: Sue Ellen Ewing (Linda Gray) and Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby). Vote for your favorite through April 15.

A Dallas Decoder Programming Note

I’ll be posting a little less regularly through the rest of this week. My goal is to post critiques for “A Call to Arms” and “Love and Family,” along with my selections for Scene of the Day, sometime between now and April 15. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific.

Until then, please keep the conversations going in the comments section of my recent posts. I’ll do my best to approve comments as they come in, but I probably will be unable to chime in as often as I’d like. Please know how much I appreciate your contributions, though. I hope things will get back to normal next week. Thanks for understanding.

“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.