THE PROGRAMMING INSIDER
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:
Below Average American Idol Still Leads Fox to Victory
Ratings Box:
What’s Hot/What’s Not
National Ratings in Prime-Time:
Week of April 28, 2008
On the Air Tonight:
Prime-Time Programming Options
TV Tidbits:
Notes of Interest
TV Trivia Time:
Not the Leader of the Pack
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Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:
Below Average American Idol Still Leads Fox to Victory
Tuesday 5/06/08
HH
Rtg/Shr
Fox 10.0/15
ABC 8.6/13
CBS 6.8/11
NBC 4.6/ 7
CW 1.4/ 2
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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Tuesday, May 8, 2007):
ABC: +16, CBS: - 4, NBC: -25, Fox: -31, CBS: -39
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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 6, 2008.
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-Yesterday’s Winners:
American Idol (Fox), Dancing With the Stars (ABC), NCIS (CBS), Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
-Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):
Most Outrageous Moments (NBC), Beauty and the Geek (CW), Women’s Murder Club (ABC)
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-Ratings Breakdown:
Fox, as usual, took top-rated honors in the overnights on Tuesday. Second was ABC, followed by CBS, NBC and the CW. But powerhouse American Idol actually took a hit against of the first hour of an expanded Dancing With the Stars on ABC, with a 13.1 rating/21 share in the overnights from 8-9 p.m. Comparably, that was down by 16 percent from the 15.6/25 for Idol on May 8, 2007. The first hour of the 100th episode celebration of Dancing With the Stars was third behind American Idol and CBS’ NCIS (#2:8.7/14), with a 7.5/12.
My pick to depart on American Idol tonight is, of course, the horrific Jason Castro. But since nothing is ever a given on this show, don’t be too surprised if underrated Syesha is sent packing.
Also airing in the 8 p.m. hour were two episodes (original and repeat) of NBC’s low-rated Most Outrageous Moments (#4: avg. 2.5/ 4), and soon-to-depart Beauty and the Geek on the CW (#5: 1.3/ 2).
The regularly scheduled portion of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars dominated from 9-10 p.m., with a very healthy 12.5/19 in the overnights. How do you like survivor Marissa Jaret Winokur? No wonder why Sony Pictures Television has signed her to host a daytime talk show in fall 2009.
Second in the 9 p.m. hour was Hell’s Kitchen on Fox (7.0/11), which is expected to win the time period among adults 18-49, followed by CBS’ relocated Shark (21 percent below lead-in NCIS), a repeat of Law & Order: SVU on NBC (3.3/ 5), and the CW’s Reaper (1.6/ 2). While a 1.6/ 2 is nothing to boast about, Reaper did manage to build by 23 percent out of Beauty and the Geek. As for Shark’s chance of renewal, it is still 50/50 at present.
The regularly scheduled edition of NBC’s Law & Order: SVU won the 10 p.m. hour, with a 7.9/13. Second was ABC’s relocated Women’s Murder Club (6.0/10), followed by a repeat of CSI: Miami on CBS at a 4.9/ 8. Comparably, retention for Women’s Murder Club out of the second half of lead-in Dancing With the Stars (12.7/19 at 9:30 p.m.) was just 47 percent. Start packing, Angie Harmon!
Source: Nielsen Media Research data
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Ratings Box:
What’s Hot/What’s Not
-Hallmark Channel Finishes No. 8:
Based on ratings for the week of April 28, feel-good Hallmark Channel rose to No. 8 overall in primetime, with a 1.1 household rating and 1.2 million viewers. Of note was original movie The Shell Seekers with a 1.7 household rating, 1.4 million households and 2.7 million unduplicated total viewers.
-Above Average Keeping Up With the Kardashians on E!:
The Sunday, May 4th telecast of E!’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians rose to a season-high performance in households (1.47 rating), adults 18-34 (1.5), adults 18-49 (1.17), women 18-34 (2.05) and women 18-49 (1.62). It also ranked first among all basic cable networks in the 10 p.m. time period.
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-Top 10 Cable Rankers – Week of April 28:
What follows are the top 10 rated networks in cable based on total viewers, adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34 for the week of April 28, 2008:
Total Viewers:
TNT: 2.79 million, USA: 2.33, Fox News: 1.83, Nick-at-Nite: 1.71, TBS: 1.63, ESPN: 1.43, Discovery Channel: 1.31, Lifetime and Spike TV: 1.26 each, Hallmark Channel: 1.20
Adults 18-49:
TNT: 1.59 million, USA: 1.18 million, TBS: 951,000, Discovery Channel: 762,000, Comedy Central: 675,000, ESPN: 658,000, FX: 635,000, Spike TV: 621,000, Nick-at-Nite: 588,000, MTV: 575,000
Adults 25-54:
TNT: 1.46 million, USA: 1.09 million, TBS: 773,000, Discovery Channel: 713,000, ESPN: 647,000, Spike TV: 602,000, A&E: 576,000, Sci Fi Channel: 563,000, FX: 545,000, Lifetime: 524,000
Adults 18-34:
TNT: 838,000, USA: 630,000, TBS: 542,000, MTV: 469,000, Comedy Central: 453,000, Discovery Channel: 364,000, ESPN: 330,000, FX: 327,000, Nick-at-Nite: 320,000, Spike TV: 299,000
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-National Ratings in Syndication – Week of April 21, 2008:
Here are the top 10 rated programs in syndication based on households for the week of April 21, 2008:
Wheel of Fortune (CBS Television Distribution): 7.2 rating
Jeopardy (CBS): 5.9
Oprah (CBS): 5.1
Two and a Half Men (Warner Bros.): 5.0
Judge Judy (CBS): 4.7
Dr. Phil (CBS): 4.6
Entertainment Tonight (CBS): 4.3
Family Guy (Twentieth Television): 4.2
CSI: Miami (CBS): 4.1
Seinfeld (Sony Pictures Television): 3.7
Some highlights:
-Wheel of Fortune was the only game show to grow week-to-week, building by one percent in households and as much as eight percent in women 18-34 and women 25-54.
-Queen Oprah has extended her dominance in syndicated talk to 469 consecutive weeks.
-Judge Judy was the only first-run strip to improve year-to-year, with growth of four percent in households.
-CBS Television Distribution’s Judge Joe Brown hit its highest ratings in five weeks, with a 2.5 in households and week-to-week growth of as much as 29 percent among women 18-34.
-Two and a Half Men finished the week first among all off-network sitcoms in households, adults 25-54 (3.2), women 18-49 (3.1), women 25-54 (3.3) and men 25-54 (3.1), all without the benefit of a cable run.
-Warner Bros.’ TMZ topped all syndicated magazines for the third consecutive week in adults 18-34 (1.2), men 18-34 (0.9) and women 18-34 (1.2).
Source: Nielsen Media Research data
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National Ratings in Prime-Time:
Week of April 28, 2008
It was another week of mixed leadership, with CBS first in households and total viewers, and Fox No. 1 in the three key demos -- adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34. But the sad reality of this seven-day period was all five broadcast networks declining year-to-year in each of the surveyed categories. Only lowly MyNetworkTV was on the plus side and that, of course, is a reflection of the almost invisible ratings from one year earlier.
Excluding a third-place finish in total viewers, ABC finished second across-the-board, trailing American Idol-ignited Fox by 17 percent among adults 18-49. NBC, which suffered the largest year-to-year losses, came in an unimpressive fourth, followed by the CW. Although MyNetworkTV executives are hopeful the network will surpass the CW next season, even the arrival of Smackdown! is unlikely to push it out of sixth place. Right now, the gap between the CW and MyNetworkTV is still too large.
In series-premiere news, CW reality/competition Farmer Wants a Wife was off, but not necessarily running in the Wednesday 9 p.m. hour at 2.39 million viewers (#89 out of 96 shows) and a 1.0 rating/ 3 share among adults 18-49 (tied for #83). Comparably, retention out of lead-in America’s Next Top Model (Viewers: #70, 4.19 million; A18-49: #51t, 2.0/ 6) was just 57 percent in total viewers and 50 percent among adults 18-49.
Here are the final national ratings for the week of April 28, 2008 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago week in parentheses), followed by the top 20 ranked programs of the week. Keep in mind that this report included the first full week of the May 2008 sweep.
-Households:
CBS: 6.5 rating/11 share (-11), ABC: 6.0/10 (-14), Fox: 5.7/10 (- 7), NBC: 4.3/ 7 (-12), CW: 1.7/ 3 (-15), MNTV: 0.8/ 1 (+33)
-Total Viewers:
CBS: 9.99 million (-11), Fox: 9.42 (- 7), ABC: 9.17 (-14), NBC: 6.46 (-14), CW: 2.56 (-17), MNTV: 1.15 (+31)
-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 3.5 rating/10 share (-10), ABC: 2.9/ 8 (-22), CBS: 2.6/ 7 (-16), NBC: 2.0/ 6 (-23), CW: 1.1/ 3 (-15), MNTV: 0.5/ 1 (+67)
-Adults 25-54:
Fox: 3.9/11 (- 7), ABC: 3.5/ 9 (-17), CBS: 3.4/ 9 (-15), NBC: 2.5/ 6 (-17), CW: 1.0/ 3 (- 9), MNTV: 0.5/ 1 (+67)
-Adults 18-34:
Fox: 2.9/10 (-17), ABC: 2.3/ 7 (-26), CBS: 1.6/ 5 (-20), NBC: 1.5/ 5 (-29), CW: 1.2/ 4 (-20), MNTV: 0.4/ 1 (+33)
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Top 20 Rankings
-Total Viewers:
American Idol – Tuesday (Fox): 25.09 million, American Idol – Wednesday (Fox): 22.80, Dancing With the Stars – Monday (ABC): 18.22, CSI (CBS): 18.01, Dancing With the Stars – Tuesday (ABC): 17.06, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 16.76, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 15.31, NCIS (CBS): 14.76, House (Fox): 14.64, CSI: Miami (CBS): 13.88, Criminal Minds (CBS): 13.03, Two and a Half Men (CBS): 12.91, Without a Trace (CBS): 12.83, Survivor: Micronesia (CBS): 12.32, Law & Order: SVU (NBC): 12.31, Hell’s Kitchen (Fox): 11.94, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC): 11.57, Cold Case (CBS, season finale): 11.56, CSI: NY (CBS): 11.51, Lost (ABC) and 60 Minutes (CBS): 10.73 each
-Adults 18-49:
American Idol – Tuesday (Fox): 9.0 rating/24 share, American Idol – Wednesday (Fox): 8.4/21, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 6.3/16, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 6.1/13, House (Fox): 5.8/13, Hell’s Kitchen (Fox): 5.4/13, CSI (CBS): 5.1/13, Two and a Half Men (CBS): 4.8/11, Lost (ABC): 4.7/13, Dancing With the Stars – Monday (ABC): 4.5/11, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC): 4.2/12, Law & Order: SVU (NBC): 4.1/11, Dancing With the Stars – Tuesday (ABC): 4.1/10, Survivor: Micronesia (CBS): 4.0/12, The Office (NBC): 4.0/10, Rules of Engagement (CBS): 4.0/ 9, CSI: Miami (CBS) and Family Guy (Fox): 3.9/10 each, How I Met Your Mother (CBS) and Brothers & Sisters (ABC): 3.8/10 each
Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)
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On the Air Tonight:
Prime-Time Programming Options
Wednesday 5/07/08
Night 14 of the May 2008 Sweeps
ABC:
8:00 p.m. Wife Swap
9:00 p.m. Supernanny
10:00 p.m. ABC News – Audition: Barbara Walters’ Journey
CBS:
8:00 p.m. The Price is Right
9:00 p.m. Criminal Minds
10:00 p.m. CSI: NY
NBC:
8:00 p.m. Deal or No Deal (two hours)
10:00 p.m. Law & Order
Fox:
8:00 p.m. ‘Til Death
8:30 p.m. Back To You
9:00 p.m. American Idol
CW:
8:00 p.m. America’s Next Top Model
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. Magicians Code: Magic Secrets Finally Revealed 3
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TV Tidbits:
Notes of Interest
-Bringiton Partners with Nokia N-Gage on Play Us:
Swedish media company Bringiton has teamed up with Nokia’s N-Gage mobile gaming platform on a global scale for their youth-targeted series Play Us. The series, which features a team of young female contestants on a world tour where they tackle challenges to improve their gaming skills, has been sold by distributor ShineReveille International to nine countries to-date. For more on Play Us, visit
www.playus.tv.
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TV Trivia Time:
Not the Leader of the Pack
Which one of the following TV kids was not the oldest sibling in his or her family?
a) Mary Bradford
b) Mary Ingalls
c) Keith Partridge
d) Dorothy Jane Torkelson
e) John Boy Walton
The answer to yesterday’s question…
Remember Bob “Bulldog” Briscoe on Frasier? What was the name of the show he hosted at Frasier’s radio station?
a) At Bat with Bulldog
b) Game Night
c) Gonzo Sports Show
d) The Pulse
e) Seattle Fog Sports Show
Is: c) Gonzo Sports Show. All together now…
Hey baby, I hear the blues a-callin',
Tossed salad and scrambled eggs
Oh My
Mercy
And maybe I seem a bit confused,
Yeah maybe, but I got you pegged!
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!
But I don't know what to do with those tossed salads and scrambled eggs.
They're callin' again.
-Current kudos goes to:
Brian Carney, Audrey Davis, Sue Doron, Jerry Gibbons, Maureen Goldman, Sherrie Hentschel, David Jackino, Marie Lefevre Karp, Todd Koerner, Marc Miller, Michael Murphy, Michelle Stanton, Michelle Yarborough, Ted Zawislak
