-Friday’s Winners: Ghost Whisperer (CBS), Close To Home (CBS), Numb3rs (CBS)
-Honorable Mention: 1 vs. 100 (NBC), Las Vegas (NBC), Law & Order (NBC)
-Friday’s Losers (excluding repeats): Vanished (Fox), Men In Trees (ABC), 20/20 (ABC)
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-Ratings Breakdown: CBS remains the network to beat on Friday care of its underrated combination of Ghost Whisperer (HH: #1, 7.2 rating/13 share; Viewers: #1, 11.35 million; A18-49: #1, 3.4 rating/11 share), the older skewing Close To Home (HH: #1, 7.5/13; Viewers: #1, 11.33 million; A18-49: #2, 2.8/ 9) and Numb3rs (HH: #1, 7.7/14; Viewers: #1, 11.66 million; A18-49: #1t, 3.0/10). Considering how solid CBS’ overall prime time schedule is, here’s an idea: Move Close To Home to Saturday at 8 p.m. and pair it with a compatible female skewing drama at 9 p.m. as a lead-in to 48 Hours Mysteries; and slide Numb3rs into the Friday 9 p.m. slot and pair it with a similar appeal crime solving drama. That would keep Friday intact, while taking an aggressive stance on Saturday, a night that is in desperate need of attention from the Big 3. What do you think?
NBC finished second overall with its line-up of recent arrival 1 vs. 100 (HH: #2, 6.4/11; Viewers: #2, 9.88 million; A18-49: #2, 2.8/10), recent returnee Las Vegas (HH: #2, 5.5/ 9; Viewers: #2, 8.35 million; A18-49: #1, 2.9/ 9) and Law & Order (HH: #2. 6.6/12; Viewers: #2, 9.50 million; A18-49: #1t, 3.0/10). While NBC’s Friday schedule is not as strong as CBS, it is still worthy of an honorable mention given the notable improvement over year-ago occupants Dateline, Three Wishes and a repeat of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
ABC finished a distant third in each half-hour as a result of a repeat of Grey’s Anatomy (HH: 3.8/ 6; Viewers: 5.50 million; A18-49: 1.8/ 6), the soon-to-relocate Men In Trees (HH: 4.3/ 7; Viewers: 6.35 million; A18-49: 1.9/ 6) and 20/20 (HH: 4.5/ 8; Viewers: 6.34 million; A18-49: 2.1/ 7). Men In Trees will, no doubt, improve once it moves to Thursday at 10 p.m. out of Grey’s Anatomy on Nov. 30. The question, of course, is how much?
The positive news for the CW remains Friday Night Smackdown!, which is right on par with its year-ago performance on UPN with a 2.7/ 5 in households, 4.34 million viewers and a 1.4/ 4 among adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m. Fox’s Friday ratings woes continue, meanwhile, with Vanished (HH: #5, 2.0/ 4; Viewers: #5, 2.90 million; A18-49: #5, 0.9/ 3) and Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy (HH: #5, 2.3/ 4; Viewers: #5, 3.49 million; A18-49: #4t, 1.4/ 4). Growth for Trading Spouses out of Vanished of 15 percent in households, 590,000 viewers and 56 percent among adults 18-49 keeps it off the loser’s list.
FOX has a made a big mistake by moving Vanished and Justice from their original time slots. I mean look at Vanished (a good show in my opinion) has gone from 6.5 million viewers on monday to 2.9 on friday. Very bad year for FOX at least for now
I agree, Robert. And it also flipped Stand-off with House and look what happened to Stand-off. New shows need to remain in their time periods and not be shuffled around like this. I think this is the worst fall season I have ever seen for Fox.
Well, I think that moving Close to Home to Saturday would be a bad risk.
Why take a chance on an untested crime drama going up against Law and Order?
If CBS has a competitive crime drama sitting around, they should dump The Class and Old Christine, and run it in the powder-puff hour of 9:00 on Monday.
I think it will rank third in total viewers, but second in the key women demos. Even at 13 years, ER is still the show to beat. Shark is competitive with ER in total viewers, but a distant second among adults 18-49.
I actially hope Men In Trees does better than I think. It's a good show that deserves a spot on the schedule.
It might be, Cobo, but CBS has an embarrassment of riches and can afford to experiment. CBS will never air comedies again on Saturday, nor will any other network. At least not anytime in the near future.
quote:
Originally posted by Cobo: Well, I think that moving Close to Home to Saturday would be a bad risk.
Why take a chance on an untested crime drama going up against Law and Order?
If CBS has a competitive crime drama sitting around, they should dump The Class and Old Christine, and run it in the powder-puff hour of 9:00 on Monday.
Originally posted by Marc Berman: I think it will rank third in total viewers, but second in the key women demos. Even at 13 years, ER is still the show to beat. Shark is competitive with ER in total viewers, but a distant second among adults 18-49.
I actially hope Men In Trees does better than I think. It's a good show that deserves a spot on the schedule.
As long as MIT doesn't "bite" into Shark's ratings (pun intended), it's fine with me.
CBS remains the network to beat on Friday care of its underrated combination of Ghost Whisperer (HH: #1, 7.2 rating/13 share; Viewers: #1, 11.35 million; A18-49: #1, 3.4 rating/11 share), the older skewing Close To Home (HH: #1, 7.5/13; Viewers: #1, 11.33 million; A18-49: #2, 2.8/ 9) and Numb3rs (HH: #1, 7.7/14; Viewers: #1, 11.66 million; A18-49: #1t, 3.0/10).
Marc, when you say 'underrated combination', what exactly do you mean? Why do you consider it to be underrated?
And one more thing, how could FOX cancel Justice before Standoff? Shouldn't the latter have been axed first? Especially considering that, even paired with their biggest show, House, it still has been doing so poorly. Justice, which, out of all their new shows, is the one that had been doing the best, being canceled first is something that I really cannot understand. By the way, aside from House and Prison Break, is FOX having its worst season ever?
When I say underrated, I mean it does not get the attention it deserves. And why Fox axed Justice first is a mystery to me. Maybe there was budget problems or something. Of the three new Fox dramas, I thought that was the one with potential.
Considering that this combination consistently wins every hour on Fridays, I don't see how it doesn't get the attention it deserves. As a matter of fact, I think it gets more attention than it deserves, especially Ghost Whisperer.
I think there's a little miscommunication. TBurbank is talking about actual people watching the shows meaning they are being recognized, while Marc is talking about a lack of media recognition/attention for their performance in terms of their lack of attention.
I think in terms of what CBS might do next season, their lack of holes makes programming Saturday an option. Right now, 8:30 Monday and 10PM Tuesday are the only other major holes. We'll have to see how 3 lbs. does. Of course how much they want to spend to program the night is the question. Close to Home's older female skew might make it a natural fit.
Also, The Amazing Race is doing fine on Sunday's for them, but long term, am I the only one that thinks Ghost Whisperer would make a lot of sense there? Touched by an Angels old stomping ground, with similar appeal, though I think Whisperer could draw younger viewers in as well. Its demos, in comparison to the rest of the shows on Fridays, suggest it has potential to grow if it were on another night. I've thought about Numb3rs in that Tuesday 10PM slot before too. Not sure if CBS wants to mess with a lineup that is working on a very hard night to program, but Fridays hold 3 of CBS's newest dramas, I think they should look to see if there are other spots on the schedule that might provide them some longevity and growth.
Posts: 6 | Location: DC | Registered: 11 November 2006
