Prime-Time Ratings:
Tuesday 4/29/08

The following results are based on the fast affiliate ratings (Live Plus Same Day data)

-Total Viewers:
Fox: 18.35 million, CBS: 10.83, ABC: 9.63, NBC: 6.27, CW: 2.08

-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 7.1 rating/19 share, ABC and CBS: 2.4/ 6 each, NBC: 2.1/ 6, CW: 0.9/ 2

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Note: Any prior rating results are based on the final nationals. Since the level of DVR penetration has increased from 13 percent at this same point last year to approximately 23 percent at present, the overall results may be negatively impacted.

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
American Idol (Fox), NCIS (CBS), Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):
According to Jim (ABC), Most Outrageous Moments (NBC), Beauty and the Geek (CW), Women’s Murder Club (ABC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Before I get into the rating results, let’s talk about American Idol for a moment. What on earth was with Paula Abdul? Is she really listening to these contestants perform? As bad as Jason Castro was (and he was just awful), did she really think his first performance was two separate songs? And should she really be basing her opinions on the rehearsals? While Jason does need to go, I have to agree with Simon. Underrated Syesha will probably be leaving tonight.

American Idol opened the evening for Fox with 24.44 million viewers and an 8.7 rating/24 share among adults 18-49 from 8-9 p.m., hands down the top-rated show of the evening. But CBS’ NCIS, as always, was a competitor, with a healthy (and second place) 14.61 million viewers and a 3.0/ 8 in the demo. Elsewhere, it was slim pickings, with two episodes (original and repeat) of ABC’s According to Jim at an average 4.08 million viewers and a 1.3/ 3 among adults 18-49, followed by NBC’s combination of Most Outrageous Moments (Viewers: #3, 4.12 million; A18-49: #3t, 1.2/ 3) and the first half-hour of a 90-minute edition of a Saturday Night Live encore (Viewers: #4, 2.67 million; A18-49: #4, 0.9/ 2), and the CW’s Beauty and the Geek (Viewers: #5, 1.64 million; A18-49: #5, 0.8/ 2). Word has it that Beauty and the Geek will be taking a much needed break next season.

ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen, which benefits no doubt by the lead-in support from American Idol, shared dominance in the 9 p.m. hour as follows:

Tuesday 9 p.m.
Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
Viewers: 16.67 million (#1), A18-49: 4.0/10

Hell’s Kitchen (Fox)
Viewers: 12.26 million (#2), A18-49: 5.5/15 (#1)

Retention for Hell’s Kitchen out of the second half of American Idol (Viewers: 26.22 million; A18-49: 9.4/25) was 47 percent in total viewers and 59 percent among adults 18-49.

Also in the 9 p.m. hour was the time period-premiere of CBS’ Shark at a third-place 10.29 million viewers and a 2.2/ 5 among adults 18-49, which is similar in viewers to former occupant The Unit, NBC’s aforementioned Saturday Night Live repeat (Viewers: #4, 3.36 million; A18-49: #4, 1.3/ 3), and the CW’s Reaper (Viewers: #5, 2.51 million; A18-49: #5, 1.1/ 3), which managed to build out of Beauty and the Geek by 870,000 viewers and 37 percent among adults 18-49. Overall, the SNL encore with Alec Baldwin did not impress at a mere 3.13 million viewers and a 1.2/ 3 among adults 18-49 from 8:30-10 p.m.

NBC moved into the 10 p.m. winner’s circle, with Law & Order: SVU at 12.06 million viewers and a 4.1/11 among adults 18-49. Tied for the No. 2 and 3 spots was the time period-premiere of ABC’s Women’s Murder Club (Viewers: #2, 8.14 million; A18-49: #3, 1.9/ 5) and a repeat of CBS’ CSI (Viewers: #3, 7.60 million; A18-49: #2, 2.0/ 5). Retention for Women’s Murder Club out of the second half of Dancing With the Stars (Viewers: 17.34 million; A18-49: 4.2/10) was just 47 percent in total viewers and 45 percent in the demo.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Where is Saturday Night Live encore in the losers list?

No matter where you put it WMC brings the same numbers. Which is very good beacause clearly it does not need a lead-in. The same goes for Shark

IMO both Shark and WMC should be renwed, these are 2 shows that didn't drop after the strike like most shows

So, Shark performed no differently than how it did on Sundays and WMC had a decent viewer total but skewed old and performed similarly to how Boston Legal performs without the DWtS lead-in.

What to make of that?

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:

Also in the 9 p.m. hour was the time period-premiere of CBS’ Shark at a third-place 10.29 million viewers and a 2.2/ 5 among adults 18-49, which is similar in viewers to former occupant The Unit,

when did the unit ever get a demo that was that low? in repeats it was getting 1.6-1.9 demos...

new episodes were in the high 2s - low 3s and it faced juggernaut "house"....big difference imo

Shall we all say it together?
Bye-bye WMC. We won't miss ya one bit!

I'm shocked that SVU didn't post higher than 12 mil. After all, Robin Williams is still a household name (even if I personally can't stand him!). Despite of his appearance, it was an excellent ep, with wonderful performances by Chris Meloni and the departing Diane Neal.

Two bubble shows doing okay, one of which will probably return to Fridays.

did Paula's *medication* kick just as it was her turn to give her comments?

Bye-bye WMC! No ifs, ands or buts about it.

As for robert's "spin" about WMC...According to Jim also brings the same horrible numbers no matter where you put it. Is that good too? (and a 1.9 is NOT good IMO)

FOX Overtakes ABC in A18-49 After Six Nights of 2008 May Sweep

After six nights of the May Sweep, FOX vaulted past ABC to take over the lead in A18-49 demo. CBS has now re-gained possession of the lead in households, and continues to lead in viewership as well.

With the exception of MyNetworkTV, all the networks are down year-over-year in A18-49 demo, ranging from 10% to 19%. Based on the first five nights of numbers, MyNetworkTV is showing impressive year-over-year gains, albeit from a relatively small number last season: up 46% in A18-49, up 32% in households and up 39% in viewers. Whereas a year ago, MNT was at about one-third of CW levels, this May it is trending in the one-half range.

 
				+/-	nights	nights
demo		demo	demo	%	won	won
rank	web	2008	2007	chg	2008	2007
1	FOX	3.31	3.69	-10%	3	2
2	ABC	3.02	3.44	-12%	2	3
3	CBS	2.61	3.03	-14%	1	1
4	NBC	1.91	2.34	-19%		
5	CW	0.97	1.15	-15%		
6	MNT	0.48	0.33	46%		
	total	12.29	13.98	-12%	6	6

				+/-	nights	nights
HH		HH	HH	%	won	won
rank	web	2008	2007	chg	2008	2007
1	CBS	6.4	7.1	-11%	3	3
2	ABC	6.3	6.7	-6%	2	2
3	FOX	5.4	5.6	-4%	1	1
4	NBC	4.1	4.8	-13%		
5	CW	1.5	1.9	-18%		
6	MNT	0.8	0.6	32%		
	total	24.6	26.8	-8%	6	6

				+/-	nights	nights
viewer		viewers	viewers	%	won	won
rank	web	2008	2007	chg	2008	2007
1	CBS	9.802	11.082	-12%	2	3
2	ABC	9.554	10.157	-6%	2	2
3	FOX	8.889	9.262	-4%	2	1
4	NBC	6.266	7.235	-13%		
5	CW	2.488	2.946	-16%		
6	MNT	1.300	0.933	39%		
	total	38.299	41.615	-8%	6	6

This years and last years numbers are based upon final Nielsen numbers except for Monday and last night which are based on FAST National data.

quote:

Originally posted by robert:
No matter where you put it WMC brings the same numbers. Which is very good beacause clearly it does not need a lead-in. The same goes for Shark

IMO both Shark and WMC should be renwed, these are 2 shows that didn't drop after the strike like most shows

both should be cancelled...both are losers

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
the CW’s Reaper (Viewers: #5, 2.51 million; A18-49: #5, 1.1/ 3), which managed to build out of Beauty and the Geek by 870,000 viewers and 37 percent among adults 18-49.

Similar numbers to GG, but with 1/100 of promotion. And the episode was excellent, this show is getting better and better. But since it is the CW, it is rumoured to be canceled soon.

(AiA is already canceled, that's two for two on the CW shows I was watching)

Reaper is good, The CW should renew it

quote:

Originally posted by CanadianTVFan:
Bye-bye WMC! No ifs, ands or buts about it.

As for robert's "spin" about WMC...According to Jim also brings the same horrible numbers no matter where you put it. Is that good too? (and a 1.9 is NOT good IMO)

What spin? WMC does those kinds of numbers on Fridays. ABC cannot find a show that pulls 8-9 million viewers on any day of the week let alone on Fridays. An WMC-BL-ES friday pairing would do wonders for ABC but that would be a too intellingent solution for ABC's execs. Instead they "love" big hits like Dirty Sexy Money or Pushing Daisies that will bring them around 6 million viewers, or Jim which brings them CW type of numbers. Good luck next year ABC

quote:

Originally posted by Zitrone:

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
the CW’s Reaper (Viewers: #5, 2.51 million; A18-49: #5, 1.1/ 3), which managed to build out of Beauty and the Geek by 870,000 viewers and 37 percent among adults 18-49.

Similar numbers to GG, but with 1/100 of promotion. And the episode was excellent, this show is getting better and better. But since it is the CW, it is rumoured to be canceled soon.

(AiA is already canceled, that's two for two on the CW shows I was watching)

And somehow, GG is considered a "hit" by D. Ostroff, while Reaper is a "failure".
But IMO, when you consider that even at its lowest Gilmore Girls posted higher number than OMFG "hit" show Gossip Girl - what does that tell you about Ostroff standards or the state of the CW?