Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings: Baseball Leads Fox to Midweek Victory, Sluggish ABC
Wednesday 10/29/08
HH Rtg/Shr Fox 11.0/17 CBS 8.0/12 NBC 5.0/ 8 ABC 4.5/ 7 CW 2.3/ 4
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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, October 31, 2007): Fox: +255, NBC: +19, CW: +10, CBS: + 1, ABC: -30
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Note: The fast affiliate results for Wednesday 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 Wednesday, October 29, 2008.
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-Yesterday’s Winners: The World Series, Game 5: Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay (Fox), Criminal Minds (CBS), CSI: NY (CBS)
-Ratings Breakdown: Led by the fifth (and final) game of The World Series (Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay), Fox dominated Wednesday with a 3.0 overnight rating point advantage over second-place CBS. Third was NBC, followed by ABC and the CW.
Three networks -- CBS, NBC and Fox -- opened the evening with a half-hour paid political message from Presidential candidate Barack Obama, which fared as follows in the overnights:
In total, that came to an impressive 17.8 rating/29 share in the 8 p.m. half-hour. Although ABC was hoping facing Barack Obama on three networks would benefit Pushing Daisies, the struggling drama could only muster a fourth-place 4.2/ 7 in the overnights. Comparably, that was down by 29 percent from one year earlier (5.9/10 on Oct. 31, 2007). Fifth overall in the 8 p.m. hour was America’s Next Top Model on the CW, with a 3.0/ 5 -- seven percent above the year-ago clips edition (2.8/ 5).
Game 5 of The World Series (Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay) followed Barack Obama on Fox, delivering an estimated 13.1/20 in the overnights from 8:30-10 p.m. (results for Fox were not available in the 10 p.m. hour). Naturally, this was a solid increase from the network’s year-ago combination of ‘Til Death and Kitchen Nightmares. But the overall series still came in below the year-ago match-up between Boston and Colorado.
Airing on CBS at 8:30 p.m. was The New Adventures of Old Christine (#2, 5.0/ 8), which replaced the regularly scheduled Gary Unmarried. NBC went with a 90-minute edition of Deal or No Deal, which averaged an unimpressive 5.4/ 8 from 8:30-10 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown:
Deal or No Deal (NBC) 8:30 p.m. 4.5/ 7 (#3) 9:00 p.m. 5.3/ 8 (#3) 9:30 p.m. 6.5/10 (#3)
Despite facing The World Series, CBS’ Criminal Minds held up well, with a second-place 9.4/14 in the overnights from 9-19 p.m. But competing Private Practice on ABC could not compete with a series-low (and fourth-place) 5.0/ 7. Year-to-year, that was down by 34 percent. In week two news, CW reality/competition Stylista dipped to a 1.6/ 3 -- 50 percent below the second-half of lead-in America’s Next Top Model (3.2/ 6) and down by 16 percent from its already lackluster debut (1.9/ 3 on Oct. 22).
Second behind baseball in the 10 p.m. hour was CBS’ CSI: NY, at a solid 9.2/14. Next was ABC’s struggling Dirty Sexy Money (4.3/ 7: down 26 percent from the year-ago night), followed by NBC’s Friday-bound Lipstick Jungle (4.3/ 7). If Lipstick Jungle cannot compete on Wednesday, there is no reason to believe it will do any better on the lower HUT-level Friday. Sorry Brooke.
Source: Nielsen Media Research data ________________________________________________________________________________
Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not
-Record High Deal or No Deal: Based on ratings for the week of Oct. 13, NBC Universal’s Deal or No Deal rose to a record 1.8 household rating (up six percent from the previous week), with its largest audience to-date – 2.5 million viewers.
-Strong NBA Coverage on TNT: Games one and two of NBA Opening Night coverage on TNT (Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics) scored a solid 1.7 household rating (up 12 percent from one year earlier), with a 14 percent increase in households (1.91 million). The double-header was also up by 29 percent in total viewers (2.58 million) and as much as 36 percent among adults 18-34 (961,000).
-Greek Wraps Up on a High Note: The second midseason-finale of ABC Family’s Greek concluded on Tuesday, Oct. 28 with the series most-watched installment to-date in total viewers (965,000), adults 18-34 (621,000), women 18-34 (453,000), women 18-49 (575,000) and females 12-34 (731,000). Comparably, this was ABC Family’s second highest-rated series telecast ever.
-October Cable Rating Highlights:
-Comedy Central: Led by South Park, The Sarah Silverman Project and the debut of Chocolate News, Comedy Central had its most watched October to-date in households (870,000: plus 7 percent from Oct. 2007), total viewers (1.1 million: + 6 percent), adults 18-49 (680,000: + 4 percent), men 18-24 (170,000: + 8 percent) and men 18-34 (300,000: + 6 percent).
-History Channel: History Channel delivered its best October ever, with 1.04 million viewers and growth from one year earlier of eight percent in adults 25-54 (490,000), 11 percent in adults 18-49 (434,000), nine percent in men 25-54 (324,000) and 15 percent among men 18-49 (284,000).
Sci Fi Channel: Ignited by the 13 Days of Halloween themed programming stunt, Sci Fi Channel scored its most-watched October with 1.4 million viewers, building from one year earlier by 24 percent. Sci Fi was also up by 14 percent in adults 18-49 (680,000) and 24 percent in adults 25-54 (771,000). Of particular note was the Oct. 3rd debut of Sanctuary, with the best scripted series premiere in two years in total viewers (3 million), adults 18-49 (1.3 million) and adults 25-54 (1.7 million).
SOAPnet: The home of must see serials, SOAPnet, rose to its most-watched month in prime-time (364,000 viewers) since February 2007 and third most-watched in the cable net’s history. Results among key women 18-49 (120,000) were its best since September 2007, with the highest rated October in the demo on record.
-USA: USA reached a new zenith in October, with 2.09 million households, 2.78 million total viewers and growth of as much as 13 percent among both adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 from one year earlier.
Source: Nielsen Media Research data ________________________________________________________________________
On the Air Tonight: Prime-Time Programming Options
Thursday 10/30/08 Night One of the Nov. 2008 Sweeps
ABC: 8:00 p.m. Ugly Betty 9:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy 10:00 p.m. Life On Mars
-Fox Pulls ‘Til Death: Fox has removed Brad Garrett sitcom ‘Til Death from the schedule, and will replace it over the next two weeks with repeats of House in the Wednesday 9 p.m. hour. Earlier this month, the network canceled lead-out freshman sitcom Do Not Disturb after two low-rated telecasts.
-More Denise Richards on E!: E! Entertainment has renewed docudrama Denise Richards: It’s Complicated for a second season, with a simpler title (The Denise Richards Show) and new episodes scheduled to return in 2009.
-Freshman Series Update: Here is an updated status report of the freshman 2008 entries:
ABC Life on Mars: double-digit percent losses in episode two Opportunity Knocks: pulled from the schedule and not expected back
CBS The Ex List: pulled off scheduled after four episodes; six more episodes already completed Eleventh Hour: consistency in week three Gary Unmarried: slow growth after four episodes is promising The Mentalist: full season pick-up; the new hit of the season Worst Week: two more scripts have been ordered despite Gary Unmarried being tested in the Monday 9:30 p.m. time period
NBC America’s Toughest Jobs: gone and quickly forgotten Crusoe: minimal results and an old skew Kath & Kim: unlikely to survive past midseason Knight Rider: full season pick-up My Own Worst Enemy: more losses in episode three
Fox Do Not Disturb: first cancellation Fringe: full season pick-up Hole in the Wall: burning off unaired episodes
CW Easy Money (MRC): production temporarily halted In Harm’s Way (MRC): just 660,000 viewers and a 0.3/ 1 among adults 18-49 in most recent telecast 90210: full season pick-up Privileged: two more scripts have been ordered despite anemic ratings Stylista: just 2.35 million viewers and a 1.1/ 3 among adults 18-49 in debut telecast Valentine (MRC): production temporarily halted
What was the name of the feline occupant on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch?
a) Cleo b) Josie c) Noelle d) Pepper e) Salem
The answer to yesterday’s question…
What is the name of the town where recent ABC drama Men in Trees was set?
a) Anchorage b) Elmo c) Fort Yukon d) Heche e) Savooga
Is: b) Elmo. Had ABC not moved the quirky Men in Trees around so often, maybe viewers would have stuck with it.
-Current kudos goes to: Vanessa Baker, Gerry Bixenspan, Susan Brandes, Jocelyn Brandeis, Heidi Cavallaro, Larry Collins, James Davison, Janet Furneaux, Maureen Goldman, Geffrey Gordon, Brad Hight, David Jackino, Deb Kainer, Sarah Karam, Mary Ann McAleer, Kathy McClung, Sheila Mills, Beverly Morris, Francine Purcell, Tina Rolon, Dewayne Snype, Ca
Originally posted by Marc Berman: -Strong NBA Coverage on TNT: Games one and two of NBA Opening Night coverage on TNT (Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics) scored a solid 1.7 household rating (up 12 percent from one year earlier), with a 14 percent increase in households (1.91 million). The double-header was also up by 29 percent in total viewers (2.58 million) and as much as 36 percent among adults 18-34 (961,000).
Hole in the Wall: burning off unaired episodes
If anyone has any doubts at all why baseball will remain America's second highest rated/most liked sport, just look at the opening night game coverage.
Marc, Hole in the Wall has been pulled off the air too. I know Fox said it would return later on in the year but obviously, that's doubtful. Repeats of Kitchen Nightmares will air instead (I know, a waste).
Why would you think Pushing Daisies would suddenly do better. People in today's world have more than 3 channels. They turn on cable or go do something else for a while if they're nothing on. They're not automatically going to tune into another program. I'm sure some people tried it in the 8pm half hour but the key to all this nonsense was that by 8:30 they were all going elsewhere finding their other programs.
quote:
Originally posted by robert: Much better than i expected for Barack, much worse than i expected for PD
Originally posted by mushu_jj: Why would you think Pushing Daisies would suddenly do better. People in today's world have more than 3 channels. They turn on cable or go do something else for a while if they're nothing on. They're not automatically going to tune into another program. I'm sure some people tried it in the 8pm half hour but the key to all this nonsense was that by 8:30 they were all going elsewhere finding their other programs.
quote:
Originally posted by robert: Much better than i expected for Barack, much worse than i expected for PD
CW (WB in the past) usually does slightly better when they go against political adresses. I thought PD might get more attention going against the same program on the other major networks
ABC: PD held steady against increased competition. PP is the big loser of the night, falling like a rock.
CBS: business as usual. No real benefit or drop from anything.
NBC: Is the Lipstick Jungle number in error? That is a big increase vs. last week. I'm not sure DoND will even be able to recover its 'glory' on Monday night. NBC's new alternative programming group better find some new alternative programming soon.
CW: ANTM took a sizeable hit from Obama. If I had to guess, I'd guess that ANTM lost the 25% of its audience that is African American. Stylista has good challenges and good judging, but the contestants are a unworthy mess. It is a shame that they let the Project Runway style casting drag the show down.
FOX: baseball is now over. Weak as it was, it was still FOX's best option with the really week schedule they have until idol comes back.
Originally posted by mushu_jj: Why would you think Pushing Daisies would suddenly do better. People in today's world have more than 3 channels. They turn on cable or go do something else for a while if they're nothing on. They're not automatically going to tune into another program. I'm sure some people tried it in the 8pm half hour but the key to all this nonsense was that by 8:30 they were all going elsewhere finding their other programs.
quote:
Originally posted by robert: Much better than i expected for Barack, much worse than i expected for PD
CW (WB in the past) usually does slightly better when they go against political adresses. I thought PD might get more attention going against the same program on the other major networks
That is true but Cdub has not had much improvement recently against political stuff and it does appear that more people were watching TV at 8pm than usual last night.
Originally posted by Seth Plate: Marc, for Old Christine it's a same level from last week, right? Do you liked OC last Night??
I thought last night's Christine was the best of the season. Wanda was on, JLD was on, the brother and ex had great interaction for once, and no new Christine. A- episode.
PD and DSM were both awful. ABC just needs to dump them for November Sweeps and find something else to fill in. How many times can they put Charlie Brown on?
NBC has no reason to continue airing LJ. I'm convinced it's an exercise to see how low a NBC show can go. Any bets on whether it dips below 3 million before it gets cancelled?
DOND for being its 200th episode did really poorly. It lost ratings from the Barack Obama infomercial. In fact, Barack was the most watched show of the night for NBC.
I think it is an error. The sentence says DSM followed by LJ. It would have said tied if they had the same score. My guess is DSM's numbers by accident got copied twice.
quote:
Originally posted by Obveeus:
NBC: Is the Lipstick Jungle number in error? That is a big increase vs. last week.
It's a huge waste when one of their game shows could sit in the Thursday at 8 PM slot and produce higher ratings. Not sure what FOX was thinking on this one.
quote:
Originally posted by mushu_jj:
Marc, Hole in the Wall has been pulled off the air too. I know Fox said it would return later on in the year but obviously, that's doubtful. Repeats of Kitchen Nightmares will air instead (I know, a waste).
