Prime-Time Ratings:
Monday 3/01/10

-Total Viewers:
ABC: 14.75 million, CBS: 12.79, Fox: 7.63, NBC: 7.38, CW: 1.66

-Adults 18-49:
ABC: 5.3 rating/14 share, CBS: 4.3/11, Fox: 2.3/ 6, NBC: 2.1/ 6, CW: 0.7/ 2

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love (ABC), How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Two and a Half Men (CBS), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love – After the Final Rose (ABC)

-Honorable Mention:
Rules of Engagement (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Life Unexpected (CW)

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Note: The fast affiliate results for Monday 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 Monday, March 1, 2010.

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-Ratings Breakdown:
ABC led this first Monday in March, beating second-place CBS by 1.96 million viewers and 23 percent among adults 18-49. In the distant No. 3 spot was Fox, followed by NBC and The CW, which aired a double does (repeat and original) of Life Unexpected.

ABC’s victory was a result of the season-finale of The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love, which closed with a hefty 14.98 million viewers and a 5.2 rating/13 share among adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m., building by half-hour as follows:

The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love (ABC)
8:00 p.m. – Viewers: 13.89 million (#1), A18-49: 4.7/13 (#1)
8:30 p.m. – Viewers: 14.68 million (#1), A18-49: 5.0/13 (#1)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 14.87 million (#1), A18-49: 5.2/13 (#2)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 16.48 million (#1), A18-49: 5.9/14 (#1t)

While I have personally poked fun at The Bachelor for years, I was one of the many people who tuned into see Jake choose Vienna. Leading out of the season finale was special The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love – After the Final Rose at a dominant 14.30 million viewers and a 5.4/15 in the demo from 10-11 p.m.

In season-premiere news, the return of benchwarmer CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement finished second at 8:30 p.m., with a very respectable 9.81 million viewers and a 3.5/ 9 among adults 18-49. Comparably, retention out of lead-in How I Met Your Mother (Viewers: #2, 10.48 million; A18-49: #2, 3.9/11) was 94 percent in total viewers and 90 percent among adults 18-49 (which was better than former occupant Accidentally on Purpose). CBS moved into the winner’s circle at 9 p.m. care of veteran Two and a Half Men at 16.75 million viewers and a 5.7/14 among adults 18-49 -- the most-watched show of the evening. Next was The Big Bang Theory (Viewers: #2, 15.61 million; A18-49: #1t, 5.9/14 at 9:30 p.m.), followed by CSI: Miami (Viewers: #2, #2, 12.01 million; A18-49: #2, 3.4/ 9 at 10 p.m.), which took a backseat to The Bachelor special.

The question at NBC, of course, was if The Winter Olympics would have a positive impact on the network’s schedule. Although relocated Law & Order was an improvement over former 9-11 p.m. occupants Heroes and The Jay Leno Show, the network still finished in fourth-place for the night. Chuck opened the evening with an uneventful 6.70 million viewers (#3) and a 2.5/ 7 among adults 18-49 (#3) at 8 p.m., followed by a two-hour installment of Law & Order at 7.72 million viewers and a 2.1/ 5 in the demo from 8-10 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Law & Order (NBC)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 7.05 million (#4), A18-49: 1.8/ 4 (#4)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 8.12 million (#4), A18-49: 2.1/ 5 (#4)
10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 7.60 million (#3), A18-49: 2.0/ 5 (#3)
10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 8.12 million (#3), A18-49: 2.2/ 6 (#3)

Next was Fox care of a repeat of House (Viewers: #4, 6.70 million; A18-49: #4, 2.2/ 6) and 24 (Viewers: #3, 8.56 million; A18-49: #3, 2.6/ 6). The CW opened with a repeat of Life Unexpected (Viewers: #5, 1.44 million; A18-49: #5, 0.6/ 2), followed by an original installment of the drama at 1.88 million viewers and a 0.8/ 2 among adults 18-49 at 9 p.m. (which was also, of course, No. 5). Life Unexpected will air in originals beginning next Monday, followed by the return of Gossip Girl.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

It looks like the competition hurt CSI Miami more than the CBS comedies. It will be interesting to see if the drop for CSI Miami was due to the increased competition from ABC yesterday or if it is a permanent decrease due to some crime fans watching Law & Order.

There has to be more overlap between CSIM and L&O than there was with Leno and CSIM.

A brand new Chuck ties with a House repeat in viewers and barely outpoints House in the demo. This in spite of the Winter Olympics promos. And, ya know, the show having had two and a half years to find an audience.

NBC, just how desperate are you?

Marc, do you think Life Unexpected is a keeper?

It's better than One Tree Hill.

Congrats to The Bachelor. Not my cup of tea, but can't deny that so many people are fascinated by it.
I find it almost comical in noting the half hour breakdowns for L&O that people would only tune in to the last half hour.
I admit to being an NBC viewer all night last night, and I was not disappointed.
Not sure what happened to CSI:Miami. It was a highly promoted episode that should have appealed to the younger demo.

I am kind of disappointed with the ROE return numbers. Once House comes back the retention numbers will be in the 80% range. Remember AOP always had better retention when House was out of the time slot. Lots of people seem to watch HIMYM and then switch over to FOX for the second half of House. ROE's numbers are okay for this first week, but I see trouble ahead.

quote:

Originally posted by saraday:
Congrats to The Bachelor. Not my cup of tea, but can't deny that so many people are fascinated by it.
I find it almost comical in noting the half hour breakdowns for L&O that people would only tune in to the last half hour.
I admit to being an NBC viewer all night last night, and I was not disappointed.
Not sure what happened to CSI:Miami. It was a highly promoted episode that should have appealed to the younger demo.

Absolutely correct on CSI: Miami. CBS ran more promotion for that episode than any other episode this season. I couldn't believe the amount of promos they ran. I think they were afraid of what L&O would do to it. Retaining less than 60% of BBT's demo is rather weak.

Well getting a 2.5 in the demo is not that bad these days - so I wouldn't say keeping/promoting it is desperate. ABC would be happy with a 2.5 and I think so would Fox in certain contexts. (See 24 only got a 2.6, and Castle was regularly getting 2.5 etc). It's certainly not great given the show has had time to build and audience AND the Olympic promos but I'd hardly call them desperate for rolling with it (especially given the 18-34 numbers for Chuck are excellent which may make it more profitable than say as show like CSI: Miami which got a 3.4 in the 18-49).

Absolutely loved HIMYM last night. This show in my opinion just keeps getting better. Tackling the "Hooked" issue last night was a fresh concept that really hits home with their target audience. These kind of episodes is where Ted is at his best in my opinion. Solid viewership and demo numbers as well. I think having Rules after it will help it going forward as well.

BBT was solid as well last night, I must say I'm still surprised Penny and Leonard are still together this late into the season. Sheldon telling the inmate that he was in his spot was priceless.

In a dream world next season, I'd like to see BBT and HIMYM paired together at the 9PM slot. I think collectively viewership would go down as a result of losing Men but I really do believe the demo would be higher. This is for selfish purposes though, as I miss watching the two shows back to back, and I'm relatively certain Men will be in that 9PM slot until the end of its run.

HIMYM was really good, loved teacup pig. I think Penny and Leonard work because the show is not fixated on it. Its like they're dating but the show is not just about them. Very impressed that it tied the bachelor in the demo and expect it to hold up very well going up against DWTS in a few weeks

quote:

Originally posted by Smooty:
Absolutely loved HIMYM last night. This show in my opinion just keeps getting better. Tackling the "Hooked" issue last night was a fresh concept that really hits home with their target audience. These kind of episodes is where Ted is at his best in my opinion. Solid viewership and demo numbers as well. I think having Rules after it will help it going forward as well.

BBT was solid as well last night, I must say I'm still surprised Penny and Leonard are still together this late into the season. Sheldon telling the inmate that he was in his spot was priceless.

In a dream world next season, I'd like to see BBT and HIMYM paired together at the 9PM slot. I think collectively viewership would go down as a result of losing Men but I really do believe the demo would be higher. This is for selfish purposes though, as I miss watching the two shows back to back, and I'm relatively certain Men will be in that 9PM slot until the end of its run.

why is house in repeats during sweeps month??? It's not helping 24.

Marc -- don't you think it's time to eat some crow -- since you have repeatedly said in years past that the bachelor should be cancelled a long time ago?

How did jay leno do at late night?

Is that a season high for two and a half men?

Pretty decent numbers for L&O, and I expect those numbers to grow a bit over time. As for the eps, I caught the 10pm "Boy on Fire" which featured an outstanding, if subtle and understated, performance by Debra Winger.

I think Miami was more affected by ABC than L&O. I think there is plenty of room in the hour for Miami to get its numbers and L&O to do these and slightly better numbers. I see Castle getting clipped a bit eventually.

Loved HIMYM, as the writers magnificently plied this "hooked" concept. Proof you can make alot out of a little and you don't need to go all over the map to make a good ep.

Yes...I am eating a big plate right now! As for Leno, from today's PI:

NBC is playing down the initial overnight results for the return of Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show. But based on Monday’s results, Leno dominated with a 5.4/14 from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., the best overnight performance for The Tonight Show since Conan O’Brien stepped in on June 1, 2009. CBS’ The Late Show With David Letterman trailed with a 3.0/ 8, while ABC’s combination of Nightline (3.4/ 8) and Jimmy Kimmel Live (2.1/ 6) ranked third overall.

quote:

Originally posted by filmkr27:
why is house in repeats during sweeps month??? It's not helping 24.

Marc -- don't you think it's time to eat some crow -- since you have repeatedly said in years past that the bachelor should be cancelled a long time ago?

How did jay leno do at late night?

No

quote:

Originally posted by filmkr27:
Is that a season high for two and a half men?