The rerun numbers are high. probably beacause it was the last season. But actually 20 millions isn't all that much for such overhyped show. I wasn't very interested in ratings back then so i've always had the impression Friends were doing much better. After all CSI was being watched by 10 millions more viewers
Friend's highest rated season averaged 29 million viewers. CSI's highest rated season was 26 million viewers. 52 million people according to wikipedia watched the finale and the post-Superbowl episode. I don't see CSI ever getting that sort of viewer level (to be fair, no show may ever again) but still. I'd say Friends is still slightly bigger.
In the defense of Friends, its ratings did decline bit by bit each season, seasons 4-7 were the higher rated ones, probably due to a stronger lead in or just a stronger night in general (with other shows people care about: Frasier, Just Shoot Me, Seinfeld in the early years, etc.)
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The rerun numbers are high. probably beacause it was the last season. But actually 20 millions isn't all that much for such overhyped show. I wasn't very interested in ratings back then so i've always had the impression Friends were doing much better. After all CSI was being watched by 10 millions more viewers
Friend's highest rated season averaged 29 million viewers. CSI's highest rated season was 26 million viewers. 52 million people according to wikipedia watched the finale and the post-Superbowl episode. I don't see CSI ever getting that sort of viewer level (to be fair, no show may ever again) but still. I'd say Friends is still slightly bigger.
In the defense of Friends, its ratings did decline bit by bit each season, seasons 4-7 were the higher rated ones, probably due to a stronger lead in or just a stronger night in general (with other shows people care about: Frasier, Just Shoot Me, Seinfeld in the early years, etc.)
Friends started at 8 for most of it's run. I think the 1st season it ran at 8:30, then in the summer the reruns were what got people hooked. And they moved it to 8.
The rerun numbers are high. probably beacause it was the last season. But actually 20 millions isn't all that much for such overhyped show. I wasn't very interested in ratings back then so i've always had the impression Friends were doing much better. After all CSI was being watched by 10 millions more viewers
Friend's highest rated season averaged 29 million viewers. CSI's highest rated season was 26 million viewers. 52 million people according to wikipedia watched the finale and the post-Superbowl episode. I don't see CSI ever getting that sort of viewer level (to be fair, no show may ever again) but still. I'd say Friends is still slightly bigger.
Depends. I'd say for the money NBC invested in Friends, the free promotion it got all over the media, the sometimes obnoxious buzz that surrounded the show the numbers seem actually to give CSI the edge. Look i'm not saying Friends wasn't a big hit but those season averages aren't so impressive as i thought they were. I mean GA was getting the same kind of viewing numbers a couple of years ago, AI still bets them now when the audinces are way down on past years
The rerun numbers are high. probably beacause it was the last season. But actually 20 millions isn't all that much for such overhyped show. I wasn't very interested in ratings back then so i've always had the impression Friends were doing much better. After all CSI was being watched by 10 millions more viewers
Friend's highest rated season averaged 29 million viewers. CSI's highest rated season was 26 million viewers. 52 million people according to wikipedia watched the finale and the post-Superbowl episode. I don't see CSI ever getting that sort of viewer level (to be fair, no show may ever again) but still. I'd say Friends is still slightly bigger.
Depends. I'd say for the money NBC invested in Friends, the free promotion it got all over the media, the sometimes obnoxious buzz that surrounded the show the numbers seem actually to give CSI the edge. Look i'm not saying Friends wasn't a big hit but those season averages aren't so impressive as i thought they were. I mean GA was getting the same kind of viewing numbers a couple of years ago, AI still bets them now when the audinces are way down on past years
It's tough to compare Friends and CSI. Friends was more a pop-phenomenon while CSI defined a network.
Looking at raw numbers you would have to side with Friends (its demos at one point averaged above 12.0), CSI never reached that plateau. In viewers Friends was also stronger but the margins are smaller. With these numbers alone it would be easy to say "Friends was stronger" but since TV has changed in the last 5 - 7 years I would say that such a comparrison cannot be accurate.
Viewership has been declining for years on all the nets (with the biggest drops around 2003), CSI was only 2-3 years old then and not at its strongest yet. The comparrison is impossible. All we can say is that both shows were HUGE (in CSI's case it is still huge)
Although I would venture to say that the biggest thing (bigger then both shows that spun so many duplicates) is reality TV. Survivors first season finale' matched the "Friends Series Finale" and also went toe to toe with the huge comedy and still managed to beat it (season 2 only) and was competitive with it until the very end. The reality shows then came out crushing everything in their paths, there victims were (for the most part) comedies. Joe Millionaire rocked Everybody Loves Raymond (the number 2 comedy at the time), Extreme Makeover has dominated its slot for years now & DWTS was so strong that wherever you moved it other shows would seem to collapse. American Idol has been so strong that it brought down even strong shows (Lost) and no shows (Even Friends & CSI) could not match its viewers and (especially) demos.
Today reality is retreating though. DWTS is weakening so much that it can no longer win its demos, Extreme Makeover is averaging even lower demos then DWTS. Survivor (while still dominant in its timeslot) is much weaker, strange how this show is still winning its slot and still holds the title as 2nd strongest reality show (demos). American Idol is the big test, will it fall again? My guess is yes (and by a lot too). Funny how the big winners from the weakening of reality programming are comedies. Hopefully they will make a comeback
The rerun numbers are high. probably beacause it was the last season. But actually 20 millions isn't all that much for such overhyped show. I wasn't very interested in ratings back then so i've always had the impression Friends were doing much better. After all CSI was being watched by 10 millions more viewers
Friend's highest rated season averaged 29 million viewers. CSI's highest rated season was 26 million viewers. 52 million people according to wikipedia watched the finale and the post-Superbowl episode. I don't see CSI ever getting that sort of viewer level (to be fair, no show may ever again) but still. I'd say Friends is still slightly bigger.
Depends. I'd say for the money NBC invested in Friends, the free promotion it got all over the media, the sometimes obnoxious buzz that surrounded the show the numbers seem actually to give CSI the edge. Look i'm not saying Friends wasn't a big hit but those season averages aren't so impressive as i thought they were. I mean GA was getting the same kind of viewing numbers a couple of years ago, AI still bets them now when the audinces are way down on past years
The viewers weren't the part that was most impressive about Friends. It was the giant demos. Many times it brought in a 12 in the demo. A 12! And as much as we all complain about the demo being important, it still is. I'd even bet that it still repeats better than CSI, especially in the demos although since CSI airs on Spike for repeats, its hard to tell.
Originally posted by mushu_jj: The viewers weren't the part that was most impressive about Friends. It was the giant demos. Many times it brought in a 12 in the demo. A 12! And as much as we all complain about the demo being important, it still is. I'd even bet that it still repeats better than CSI, especially in the demos although since CSI airs on Spike for repeats, its hard to tell.
Yes, but the fact that 10 millions more were watching CSI remains. 5 years ago all i was hearing was Friends, Friends, Friends and to know that show was getting 70% of what CSI was getting in viewers surprises me a lot. OK, it got a 12 in demos, that's why NBC was paying those outrageous money to mediocre actors, i get it. but 20 million in viewers isn't all that impressive. That's all
Originally posted by mushu_jj: The viewers weren't the part that was most impressive about Friends. It was the giant demos. Many times it brought in a 12 in the demo. A 12! And as much as we all complain about the demo being important, it still is. I'd even bet that it still repeats better than CSI, especially in the demos although since CSI airs on Spike for repeats, its hard to tell.
Yes, but the fact that 10 millions more were watching CSI remains. 5 years ago all i was hearing was Friends, Friends, Friends and to know that show was getting 70% of what CSI was getting in viewers surprises me a lot. OK, it got a 12 in demos, that's why NBC was paying those outrageous money to mediocre actors, i get it. but 20 million in viewers isn't all that impressive. That's all
Well, to be fair, on Wikipedia, apparently Seinfeld from seasons 4-9 which it was entering its prime, never averaged more than 22 million for a season. So, if you take the viewers numbers alone, CSI was more successful than Seinfeld. I think the main point is that comedies are the absolute gold mine in syndication and are generally very young skewing. Friends and Seinfeld defined comedy at that time. CSI defined CBS but with all the changes in the TV landscape, I guess we can just say that all three shows were number one at some point in their run and were all highly successful.
Originally posted by mushu_jj: The viewers weren't the part that was most impressive about Friends. It was the giant demos. Many times it brought in a 12 in the demo. A 12! And as much as we all complain about the demo being important, it still is. I'd even bet that it still repeats better than CSI, especially in the demos although since CSI airs on Spike for repeats, its hard to tell.
Yes, but the fact that 10 millions more were watching CSI remains. 5 years ago all i was hearing was Friends, Friends, Friends and to know that show was getting 70% of what CSI was getting in viewers surprises me a lot. OK, it got a 12 in demos, that's why NBC was paying those outrageous money to mediocre actors, i get it. but 20 million in viewers isn't all that impressive. That's all
10 million more were never watching CSI. According to wikipedia its highest rated season had 26 million viewers. Friend's highest rated season had 29 million viewers on average. CSI may have had more viewers when they were both on the air but Friends was past its prime by that point and CSI was hitting its prime. The fact that you ignore the 12 in the demos points out how much you don't know about how TV works. That 12 in the demo allowed NBC to charge outrageous prices for that day and time and pay those actors what they paid them. At least the actors on Friends had real lives in their shows and weren't cardboard cut outs that do the exact same thing week and week, year after year. I'm not saying CSI isn't a hit. It is and it will be around for quite a while yet, but it isn't as successful as Friends was and still is in syndication. It never will be.
