THE PROGRAMMING INSIDER Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings: CBS Wins; Fox Expected to Dominate Among Adults 18-49
Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not
National Ratings in Prime-Time: Week of October 13, 2008
On the Air Tonight: Prime-Time Programming Options
TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest
TV Trivia Time: It’s Osmond Week ______________________________________________________________________
Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings: CBS Wins; Fox Expected to Dominate Among Adults 18-49
Tuesday 10/21/08
HH Rtg/Shr CBS 9.1/14 ABC 8.2/13 Fox 6.8/10 NBC 5.1/ 8 CW 1.2/ 2
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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Tuesday, October 23, 2007): CBS: +14, ABC: + 1, NBC: -18, Fox: -19, CW: -45
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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, October 21, 2008.
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-Yesterday’s Winners: NCIS (CBS), House (Fox), The Mentalist (CBS)
-Yesterday’s Losers: Privileged (CW), Eli Stone (ABC)
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-Ratings Breakdown: CBS scored another Tuesday overnight victory with its combination of NCIS (#1: 10.1 rating/16 share), bona fide freshman success The Mentalist (#2: 9.6/14) and relocated Without a Trace (#1: 7.7/13), which increased by 33 percent from failed year-ago occupant Cane (5.8/10 on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007). But Fox duo House (#2: 7.7/12) and full season-renewed Fringe (#3: 5.9/ 9) should be more than enough to reign supreme among adults 18-49.
ABC stopped the bleeding at 8 p.m. with a Dancing With the Stars Recap hour (in place of game show Opportunity Knocks) at a third-place 7.0/12 in the overnights. Comparatively, that was an increase of a hefty 94 percent from the 3.6/ 6 for Opportunity Knocks one week earlier. The live Dancing With the Stars Results Show finished first overall for the evening, with an 11.2/17 at 9 p.m. So long, Toni Braxton. And relocated Eli Stone capped off the evening for ABC with a third-place 6.3/10 at 10 p.m. Although the retention for Eli Stone out of the second half of Dancing With the Stars (11.4/17 at 9:30 p.m.) was just 55 percent, equally concerning was the loss of 20 percent in the second half-hour (7.0/11 to 5.6/10).
Over at NBC was another two-hour edition of The Biggest Loser (#4: 4.4/ 7 from 8-10 p.m.), which built in every half hour and is expected to generate some interest among adults 18-49, and deteriorating veteran Law & Order: SVU (#2: 6.4/11 at 10 p.m.), which is expected to win the 10 p.m. hour among adults 18-49. Even so, sharp year-to-year losses for SVU keeps it off the winner’s list.
Last, and least, was a repeat of the CW’s 90210 (#5: 1.2/ 2) and episode six of Privileged (#5: 1.3/ 2), which the CW just ordered two additional scripts for. While Privileged did manage to maintain the 90210 lead-in, a 1.3/ 2 in the overnights still makes it a loser. . Source: Nielsen Media Research data
-Ladies of the House Scores on Hallmark Channel: Hallmark Channel’s latest original movie, Ladies of the House, averaged a 1.9 rating in households with 2.9 million viewers on Saturday, Oct. 18 -- the cable net’s highest rated original movie in October and best ever fourth-quarter non-holiday movie performance.
Source: Nielsen Media Research data _______________________________________________________________________________
National Ratings in Prime-Time: Week of October 13, 2008
CBS’ winning streak continued in households, total viewers, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54, building by margins of three to seven percent in the five surveyed categories from one year earlier. Fox finished first among adults 18-34 (and fourth elsewhere) for the week of Oct. 13. But year-to-year, the network dipped by as much as 44 percent (in households) with only two games of the National League Championship Series (on Monday and Wednesday) versus five for the comparable year-ago week.
Excluding a third-place finish among adults 18-34, deteriorating ABC ranked second, with NBC one notch behind and also on the downside (with the exception of a second-place finish in adults 18-34). The good news for the CW is continued success on Monday care of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill, but the absence of Friday Night Smackdown! and virtually no results for the Media Rights Capital programming on Sunday has been detrimental. The CW’s loss has been MyNetworkTV’s gain, meanwhile, with the new home of Smackdown! increasing by margins of 50 to 100 percent. Needless to say, MyNetworkTV has narrowed the gap opposite the CW.
This week featured the series-premieres of NBC’s My Own Worst Enemy and Crusoe (which were off but not necessarily running – see chart below), the move of America’s Toughest Jobs on NBC to Saturday, and the third (and final) Presidential Debate (which aired on Wednesday).
Here are the final national ratings for the week of October 13, 2008 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago week in parentheses), followed by a listing of the new series results (in order of total viewers), the sophomore series report card, and the top 30 rated programs of the week.
Better than one week earlier, but retention out of Two and a Half Men of just 66 percent in total viewers and 60 percent among adults 18-49 should be enough (or not enough, actually) to kill it.
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Life on Mars (ABC) – Thursday 10 p.m. Viewers: 8.22 million (#38), A18-49: 2.5/ 7 (#41t)
Erosion in the second episode is nothing out of the ordinary, but when it is a significant 3.11 million viewers and 32 percent among adults 18-49 that could be a problem.
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Gary Unmarried (CBS) – Wednesday 8:30 p.m. Viewers: 7.53 million (#46), A18-49: 2.3/ 6 (#49t)
Total viewer growth, albeit minor, for the third consecutive week means The King of Queens-like Gary Unmarried is inching closer to a full season renewal.
Knight Rider is the fourth freshman series to receive a back-end nine episode order. (The others are CBS’ The Mentalist, Fox’s Fringe and 90210 on the CW)
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Crusoe (NBC) – Friday 8 p.m. (premiere, two hours) Viewers: 7.38 million (#49t), A18-49: 1.6/ 5 (#69t)
Given the massive promotion, this is a sluggish (and considerably older skewing) start for NBC’s Crusoe. But there is nothing wrong with 50+ viewers, is there?
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My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) – Monday 10 p.m. (premiere) Viewers: 7.27 million (#51), A18-49: 3.0/ 8 (#33t)
Fading lead-in support from Heroes (Viewers: 8.75 million; A18-49: 4.3/10) is certainly not beneficial for this confusing hour of nonsense.
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The Ex List (CBS) – Friday 9 p.m. Viewers: 6.29 million (#59), A18-49: 2.0/ 6 (#57t)
Up slightly from one week earlier, but still not worth keeping.
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Kath & Kim (NBC) – Thursday 8:30 p.m. Viewers: 6.10 million (#62), A18-49: 2.5/ 7 (#41t)
Week to week, episode two of Kath & Kim dipped by 1.42 million viewers and 22 percent in the demo. That’s significant.
Life (NBC) – Friday 10 p.m. Viewers: 5.89 million (#63), A18-49: 1.5/ 5 (#73t)
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Top 30 Rankings
-Total Viewers: CSI (CBS): 19.27 million, NCIS (CBS): 18.04, Dancing With the Stars – Monday (ABC): 17.77, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 15.49, The Mentalist (CBS): 14.94, Dancing With the Stars – Monday (ABC): 14.82, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 14.80, Two and a Half Men (CBS): 14.72, 60 Minutes (CBS): 14.53, House (Fox): 13.27, CSI: Miami (CBS): 13.22, Survivor: Gabon (CBS): 12.81, Eleventh Hour (CBS): 11.91, Samantha Who? (ABC, season premiere): 11.45, Cold Case (CBS): 11.29, Without a Trace (CBS): 11.05, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC): 10.91, The Amazing Race (CBS): 10.29, Sunday Night Football (NBC, Seattle at Tampa Bay): 10.01, Brothers & Sisters (ABC): 9.82, Worst Week (CBS): 9.75, Law & Order: SVU (NBC): 9.51, The Big Bang Theory (CBS): 9.34, How I Met Your Mother (CBS): 9.25, Fringe (Fox): 9.16, Presidential Debate #3 Analysis (NBC): 9.09, Family Guy (Fox): 9.01, Ghost Whisperer (CBS): 8.97, ER (NBC): 8.96, Presidential Debate #3 Analysis (ABC): 8.88
-Adults 18-49: Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 5.9 rating/15 share, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 5.7/13, House (Fox): 5.3/15, Two and a Half Men (CBS): 5.3/12, CSI: 5.2/13, Family Guy (Fox): 4.7/10, The Office (NBC): 4.3/11, Heroes (NBC): 4.3/10, Survivor: Gabon (CBS): 4.2/12, SNL – Weekend Update (NBC): 4.2/10, Dancing With the Stars – Monday (ABC) and Fringe (Fox): 4.0/10 each, NCIS (CBS): 3.9/11, The Simpsons (Fox): 3.9/10, How I Met Your Mother (CBS), CSI: Miami (CBS) and The Simpsons (Fox): 3.9/10 each, Sunday Night Football (NBC, Seattle at Tampa Bay): 3.9/ 9, Law & Order: SVU (NBC): 3.7/10, The Big Bang Theory (CBS) and ER (NBC): 3.6/10 each, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC): 3.6/ 9, King of the Hill (Fox): 3.5/ 8, Brothers & Sisters (ABC) and The Mentalist (CBS): 3.4/ 8 each, 60 Minutes (CBS): 3.3/ 9, Dancing With the Stars – Tuesday (ABC): 3.3/ 8, American Dad (Fox): 3.3/ 7, Eleventh Hour (CBS): 3.2/ 9, Worst Week (CBS): 3.2/ 7, The Biggest Loser (NBC) and Presidential Debate #3 Analysis (NBC): 3.1/ 8 each, The Amazing Race (CBS): 3.1/ 7
Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) ______________________________________________________________________________
On the Air Tonight: Prime-Time Programming Options
CBS: 8:00 p.m. The New Adventures of Old Christine 8:30 p.m. Gary Unmarried 9:00 p.m. Criminal Minds 10:00 p.m. CSI: NY
NBC: 8:00 p.m. Knight Rider 9:00 p.m. Deal or No Deal 10:30 p.m. Lipstick Jungle
Fox: 8:00 p.m. 2008 World Series Pre-Game 8:30 p.m. World Series, Game 1
CW: 8:00 p.m. America’s Next Top Model 9:00 p.m. Stylista (Premiere)
MTNV 8:00 p.m. Funniest Moments 9:00 p.m. Tony Rock Project 9:30 p.m. Under One Roof
ION 8:00 p.m. Boston Legal (R) 9:00 p.m. Boston Legal (R) 10:00 p.m. Boston Legal (R)
New Series Descriptions
Stylista (CW) This new reality/competition from America’s Next Top Model creator Tyra Banks will feature 11 aspiring fashion hopefuls as they compete for a $100,000 prize package, including a paid lease on an apartment in Manhattan, a clothing allowance, and a paid editorial job with Elle magazine. Eight episodes have been ordered.
-More Private Practice: Despite year-to-year losses, ABC has picked-up sophomore drama Private Practice for the remainder of the season, with an order for nine additional episodes.
-Vote of Confidence for Two Struggling Freshman Series: It is not a full season renewal, but two additional scripts have been ordered for CBS’ Worst Week, which continues to lose about one-third of the Two and a Half Men lead-in, and CW serial Privileged. Privileged, of course, airs out of 90210, which has been granted a full season order.
-Dexter Snags a Two-Season Renewal: Showtime drama Dexter has been green-lit by Showtime for two additional years, with 12 episodes apiece for the upcoming fourth and fifth seasons. Production on season four is scheduled to begin next spring for a fall 2009 premiere.
-Flintstones Fans, Take Note: Boomerang, the cable home of classic animation, will a day-long marathon of the best of The Flintstones musical episodes on Sunday, Oct. 26 from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET. In honor of this event, all together now…
Flintstones... Meet the Flintstones, They're a modern stone age family. From the town of Bedrock, They're a page right out of history. Let's ride with the family down the street. Through the courtesy of Fred's two feet. When you're with the Flintstones, have a yabba dabba doo time, a dabba doo time, we'll have a gay old time _________________________________________________________________________
TV Trivia Time: It’s Osmond Week
Who gave the Osmonds their first official TV job?
a) Dick Clark b) Garry Moore c) Ed Sullivan d) Lawrence Welk e) Andy Williams
The answer to yesterday’s question…
When ABC variety hour Donny and Marie premiered on Jan. 16, 1976 it faced sitcoms Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man on NBC, and it improved the time period performance significantly. What short-lived drama did it replace?
a) Alias Smith & Jones b) Get Christie Love c) Kodiak d) Mobile One e) Toma
Is: d) Mobile One, which featured former Our Gang kid Jackie Cooper as a veteran TV news reporter.
-Current kudos goes to: Barbara Berman, Gerry Bixenspan, Larry Collins, John Ferlazzo, Bob Ingersoll, Alan Perris (2x), Gordon Purcell, Bob Rall, Anthony Salerno
Although the retention for Eli Stone out of the second half of Dancing With the Stars (11.4/17 at 9:30 p.m.) was just 55 percent, equally concerning was the loss of 20 percent in the second half-hour (7.0/11 to 5.6/10).
Originally posted by lopez: Wow, people love DWTS. a 7.0 for a RECAP show!?!?
This week had some of the best dancing of the season, so I'm not surprised. I am disappointed in the send-off of Toni Braxton, though I expected it: the judges have done this several times so far in the series, where they are far too generous with the worst dancer (in this case Cloris), giving them scores close to other, better dancers, and because of the way the voting takes place, often those middle of the pack dancers get booted before their time. Judges, please give side-show Cloris a reality break and boot her off before we suffer another case of Sabrina Bryan, the best dancer getting booted off: I can see it happening to Brooke Burke if they're not too careful...
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Originally posted by Obveeus: Nice gain for DwtS due to the better lead-in.
Another reason was the 'Stars of Dance' performance was incredible -- by far the best I've seen in the entire series for a results show! But the compatible lead-in absolutely helped.
7.0 for a recap is really good. ABC might want to keep those going. It's better than what they are going to get with most of their shows.
Both Eli Stone and Samantha Who yesterday are having terrible retentions out of DWTS. ABC needs to find something that can hold the audience better. 55% for Eli Stone? That's bad.
Biggest Loser seems to be down. L&O: SVU is down because it has a lower lead in. If it stays there, the numbers won't perk up much.
Originally posted by vlis: is the dropoff exaggerated by the DwtS run-over?
quote:
Although the retention for Eli Stone out of the second half of Dancing With the Stars (11.4/17 at 9:30 p.m.) was just 55 percent, equally concerning was the loss of 20 percent in the second half-hour (7.0/11 to 5.6/10).
Yes it is -- I made the same point last week. If the overall numbers for Eli Stone are close to last week, I don't think I'd be concerned. And I think they will be--the show seems to have developed a loyal following, despite being a relative newcomer. I hope ABC exercises patience with it.
Both Eli Stone and Samantha Who yesterday are having terrible retentions out of DWTS. ABC needs to find something that can hold the audience better. 55% for Eli Stone? That's bad.
I disagree on both counts.
For SW, 11 million viewers is good regardless of lead-in, and SW got that both weeks so far. What they need to figure out is how to sustain that when DWTS is over, not how to replace SW.
11 million for SW would be better, but SW didn't get that.
When the finals were released, it got 9.36 million and a 2.7 in the demo. You aren't factoring in the overrun. Those numbers are too low for the lead in and a huge drop from its premiere. It'll only get worse when it doesn't have DWTS to rely on.
ES will have a similar drop when the finals are released.
quote:
Originally posted by Chimera:
I disagree on both counts.
For SW, 11 million viewers is good regardless of lead-in, and SW got that both weeks so far. What they need to figure out is how to sustain that when DWTS is over, not how to replace SW.
I'll take your word on SWs final numbers--but I was comparing apples to apples: in other words, SW got 11 million in overnights both week 1 and week 2, so there wasn't much of a drop off week to week.
Same with ES--I'm not sure what drop off you are anticipating in finals, but my point is that ES's overnights are similar to week 1, and in fact similar to its average from its truncated season 1.
quote:
Originally posted by WlcmLAPD: 11 million for SW would be better, but SW didn't get that.
When the finals were released, it got 9.36 million and a 2.7 in the demo. You aren't factoring in the overrun. Those numbers are too low for the lead in and a huge drop from its premiere. It'll only get worse when it doesn't have DWTS to rely on.
ES will have a similar drop when the finals are released.
quote:
Originally posted by Chimera:
I disagree on both counts.
For SW, 11 million viewers is good regardless of lead-in, and SW got that both weeks so far. What they need to figure out is how to sustain that when DWTS is over, not how to replace SW.
Originally posted by WlcmLAPD: 11 million for SW would be better, but SW didn't get that.
When the finals were released, it got 9.36 million and a 2.7 in the demo. You aren't factoring in the overrun. Those numbers are too low for the lead in and a huge drop from its premiere. It'll only get worse when it doesn't have DWTS to rely on.
ES will have a similar drop when the finals are released.
quote:
Originally posted by Chimera:
I disagree on both counts.
For SW, 11 million viewers is good regardless of lead-in, and SW got that both weeks so far. What they need to figure out is how to sustain that when DWTS is over, not how to replace SW.
And for ES, see my post above...
Some of the drop off was due to football on the ABC Boston affilite.
