THE PROGRAMMING INSIDER
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:
CBS Wins; Fox Poised for Victory Among Adults 18-49

Ratings Box:
What’s Hot/What’s Not

On the Air Tonight:
Prime-Time Programming Options

TV Tidbits:
Notes of Interest

TV Trivia Time:
Shazam!
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Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:
CBS Wins; Fox Poised for Victory Among Adults 18-49

Tuesday 5/27/08

HH
Rtg/Shr
CBS 5.7/ 9
NBC 5.3/ 8
Fox 5.3/ 8
ABC 3.3/ 5
CW 1.2/ 2

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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Tuesday, May 29, 2007):
CBS: +19, CW: no change, NBC: -12, Fox: -24, ABC: -31

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Note: The fast affiliate results for Tuesday will be posted at PIFeedback by 12 p.m. ET. Go to the website, click on Ratings Box (the first category), then Last Night’s Results, and Tuesday, May 27, 2008.

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
Hell’s Kitchen (Fox)

-Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):
According to Jim (ABC), Most Outrageous Moments (NBC)

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-Repeat Alert:
60 percent of last night’s schedule was encore telecasts.

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS won this lackluster pre-summer Tuesday in the overnights, followed by NBC and Fox tied for the No. 2 spot. Fourth overall was ABC, followed by the CW. Look for Fox to dominate the evening among adults 18-49 once the fast affiliate results are posted.

The second season-premiere of Fox game show Moment of Truth finished second behind a repeat of CBS’ NCIS, with a 4.7/ 8 in the overnights from 8-9 p.m. The NCIS encore averaged a 7.0/11. Although this should still be more than enough for Moment of Truth to win the hour among adults 18-49, this is down considerably from its recent overnight average.

Third overall in the 8 p.m. hour were two episodes (original and repeat) of NBC’s Most Outrageous Moments at an average 4.1/ 7, followed by two episodes of ABC’s According to Jim (avg. 3.5/ 6), and a repeat of Beauty and the Geek on the CW (1.3/ 2). Why ABC won’t cancel According to Jim is what you would call an unsolved TV mystery.

Fox moved into the 9-10 p.m. winner’s circle with Hell’s Kitchen at a solid 5.9/ 9 -- 13 percent above the 8:30 p.m. portion of Moment of Truth (5.2/ 8). Second in the hour was a repeat of NBC’s Law & Order: SVU (5.5/ 9), followed by a repeat of CBS’ The Unit (4.2/ 7), two repeat episodes of ABC’s Samantha Who? (avg. 3.3/ 5), and a repeat of the CW’s Reaper (1.2/ 2). Don’t forget: The Unit moves to Sundays at 10 p.m. this fall out of Cold Case.

The regularly scheduled encore telecast of NBC’s Law & Order: SVU led the 10 p.m. hour, with a 6.3/11. Second was a repeat of CBS’ 48 Hours Mystery (5.9/10), followed by a repeat of ABC’s Boston Legal at a 3.3/ 5. Also don’t forget: the final season of Boston Legal moves to Mondays at 10 p.m. out of Samantha Who? this fall.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data
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Ratings Box:
What’s Hot/What’s Not

-The Andromeda Strain Starts Strong on A&E:
Part one of miniseries The Andromeda Strain on A&E Monday, May 26 averaged a considerable 4.8 million viewers -- the cable network’s second most-watched telecast of all time. Demographically, The Andromeda Strain was seen by 2.5 million adults 18-49 and 2.7 million adults 25-54, which makes it the most-watched original miniseries or movie on cable this year to-date in both categories.

-Syndicated Game Show Ratings Update:
Based on national ratings through May 11, 2008, what follows is an updated track for all syndicated game shows in households and two key demos -- women 25-54 and adults 25-54. Change versus the comparable year-ago period appears in parentheses for all established series.

Households:
Wheel of Fortune (CBS Television Distribution): 7.8 rating (- 6), Jeopardy: 6.3 (- 5), Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC): 2.9 (-12), Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury): 1.9 (no change), Crosswords (Program Partners): 0.8, Temptation (Twentieth Television): 0.5

Women 25-54:
Wheel of Fortune (CBS): 2.9 (- 9), Jeopardy: 2.4 (- 4), Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC): 1.3 (-13), Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury): 0.9 (+13), Crosswords (Program Partners): 0.5 Temptation (Twentieth Television): 0.3

Adults 25-54:
Wheel of Fortune (CBS): 2.5(- 7), Jeopardy: 2.0 (- 9), Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC): 1.0 (-17), Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury): 0.7 (+17), Crosswords (Program Partners): 0.4 Temptation (Twentieth Television): 0.2

Source: Nielsen Media Research data
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On the Air Tonight:
Prime-Time Programming Options

Wednesday 5/28/08

ABC:
8:00 p.m. Wife Swap
9:00 p.m. Supernanny
10:00 p.m. Men in Trees (Return)

CBS:
8:00 p.m. The Price is Right
9:00 p.m. Criminal Minds (R)
10:00 p.m. CSI: NY (R)

NBC:
8:00 p.m. NHL Stanley Cups Finals, Game 3

Fox:
8:00 p.m. So You Think You Can Dance (two hours)

CW:
8:00 p.m. Farmer Wants a Wife (R)
9:00 p.m. Farmer Wants a Wife

MTNV
8:00 p.m. Under One Roof
8:30 p.m. In Living Color
9:00 p.m. Masters of Illusion: Impossible Magic 4 (R)

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TV Tidbits:
Notes of Interest

-Tori Spelling Heads Back to 90210:
Tori Spelling will reprise her role as Donna Martin on a recurring basis on the upcoming 90210 spin-off on the CW this fall. Tori’s Donna will now be the owner of a store in Beverly Hills that is frequented by the new cast of characters. Jennie Garth as Kelly Taylor has already confirmed her upcoming participation.

-Stand Up to Cancer on the Big 3:
ABC, CBS and NBC will simultaneously air Stand Up to Cancer, a one-hour commercial free fundraising special on Friday, Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. ET. Network evening news anchors Charles Gibson, Katie Couric and Brian Williams will all participate. For more information, click on http://www.standup2cancer.org.

-David E. Kelley Signs Deal with Warner Bros.:
Emmy winning producer David E. Kelley has signed a three-year development and production deal with Warner Bros. Television. Under the agreement, Kelley will develop new television programming and potential unscripted and digital series for the broadcast network and cable marketplace. All projects will be produced in association with either Warner Bros. Television or Warner Horizon Television, with Warner Bros. International Television acquiring global distribution rights.

-ER Marathon on ION Television:
ION will launch its off-network telecasts of ER (seasons 11 through 14) with three episodes from 8-11 p.m. on Monday, June 9 through Wednesday, June 11; and two episodes from 8-10 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 12. ER will air regularly on ION Monday through Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET, beginning on June 16.

-ABC Unveils Hosts for The Daytime Emmy Awards:
All My Children star Cameron Mathison and The View’s bubbly Sherri Shepherd have been named hosts of the upcoming 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on ABC. Look for the live telecast from Hollywood’s Kodak Theater on Friday, June 20 at 8 p.m. ET.

-More General Hospital: Night Shift:
SOAPnet has confirmed a second season of General Hospital: Night Shift, with the first of 13 new episodes expected to go into production in June. The sophomore season, which is scheduled Tuesdays at 10 p.m. beginning in July, will continue to offer storylines that coincide with General Hospital in daytime.

-G4 Announces Agreement with Microsoft:
Cable net G4, the destination for young men, has partnered with Microsoft to offer a selection of series on Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. This is the first time G4's content will be made available for download on a gaming console. Available for download immediately are animated comedy Code Monkeys, snowboarder reality series The Block, and a weekly episode of Attack of the Show.

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TV Trivia Time:
Shazam!!!

Which one of the following food choices made Gomer Pyle sleepwalk?

a) Chili Con Carne
b) Duck
c) Egg Foo Yung
d) Liver
e) Welsch Rarebit

The answer to yesterday’s question…

Which one of the following TV characters played the violin?

a) Fallon Carrington Colby
b) Vivian Harmon
c) Coco Hernandez
d) Claudia Salinger
e) Millie Swanson

Is: d) Party of Five. The littlest Salinger girl had a knack with the fiddle.

-Current kudos goes to:
Michelle Yarborough-Bauer, Sheila Berman (2x), Gerry Bixenspan, Shari Brandt, Vanessa Coates, Larry Collins (2x), Sue Doron, Holley Ford, Maureen Goldman, Keith Hopkins, Bob Ingersoll, Karen Kavanagh, Tom Kilgallon, Meg Kohr, Stephen LaRue, Michele McALeer, Debbie Milman, Jim O’Heir, Greg Phelan, Francine Purcell, Gordon Purcell, Michael Ratliffe, Joe Rubi, Joel Simon, Margaret Thomas, Maureen Winston