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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-Saturday’s Winners: Elitexc Saturday Night Fights (CBS: among the male audience only), America’s Most Wanted (Fox)
-Saturday’s Losers: The night overall
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-Ratings Breakdown: CBS got some mileage among the male audience from of the debut of Elitexc Saturday Night Fights, but it was not enough for the Eye net to win the evening overall in total viewers or adults 18-49. Fox was the most-watched network (with not even 5 million viewers), while NBC and Fox were tied for No. 1 in the demo, with a mere 1.6 rating/6 share.
The debut of Elitecx Saturday Night Fights on CBS averaged 4.30 million viewers from 9-11 p.m., with a first-place finish among adults 18-49 (1.9 rating/6 share), adults 25-54 (1.9/ 6), adults 18-34 (1.9/ 7), men 18-49 (2.5/ 8), men 25-54 (2.6/ 8) and men 18-34 (2.6/10) from 9-11 p.m. Compared to regularly scheduled program in the block this season, that was an improvement of 36 percent among adults 18-49 (from a 1.4/ 4) and as much as a whopping 271 percent among men 18-34 (from a 0.7/ 3). Earlier in the evening on CBS was a repeat of CSI at 4.46 million viewers (#1) and a third-place 0.9/ 4 among adults 18-49 from 8-9 p.m.
Fox’s perennial combination of Cops (#2: 4.05 million; A18-49: #2: 1.4/ 6) and America’s Most Wanted (Viewers: #1: 5.44 million; A18-49: #1: 1.7/ 6) remained valid options on the evening, with double-digit gains for AMW at 9 p.m. a positive to make note of.
A repeat of theatrical The Rookie on ABC finished fourth overall for the evening, with just 4.23 million viewers and a 1.1/ 4 among adults 18-49 from 8-11 p.m. And game four of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on NBC averaged 4.31 million viewers (#2) and a 1.6/ 6 in the demo (#1t) in prime-time.
Interesting, CBS even gets winners now by gender audience. Any way to get those CBS shows on the winners list.
But no mention that on the comparable evening 1 year ago (Saturday 6/2/07) NBC had 1.73 million and a 0.5 18-49 rating for the Stanley Cup Finals. Which would be almost a 150% increase in audience, and more than a 300% increase in 18-49 rating. No mention of that.
And how about comparing the 9-11 portion of the NHL with the Saturday Night Fights on CBS. Only you have the numbers broken down, but I guarantee the 9-11 portion of the NHL on NBC beat CBS in all of the ratings categories you mentioned.
Marc, come on now. And you are supposed to be a professional? Please. We all know you have a lot of love towards CBS and hatred to NBC, but at least keep that to yourself and be professional in your work.
I was predicting 6 million overall for EliteXC, so the overall numbers are a bit disappointing. However, the male demo was strong, and CBS should be pleased with that.
I read somewhere that the planned July show for CBS has been postponed -- it's going to be difficult for EliteXC and CBS to do monthly shows without name talent. Going into the show (and I'm a very casual MMA fan), I only heard of three of the fighters -- Phil Baroni (who lost in the first round of his fight), Gina Carano (who reportedly had to surrender part of her purse for failing to make weight) and Kimbo Slice (who looked very lackluster).
EliteXC will need to create a new star or woo a "free agent" with UFC/PRIDE ties (Tito Ortiz?) if they want to keep their target audience interested in the coming shows.
As far as the NHL goes, it's good to see ratings improve this season after reaching "how low can you go" levels post-lockout. And if Sidney Crosby can make the finals on a regular basis, ratings can only improve more.
CBS was hoping for 3-4 million, so I think they're pretty happy with it- I believe I also read somewhere the ratings went up every half-hour, despite the fact most of the fights were lackluster and the last half-hour didn't count in the ratings (It went till about 11:45 Eastern)
The first 2 fights lasted less than 90 seconds each, the Carano fight was great I thought, but she did have to give 12.5% of her purse to her opponent for not making weight (she's still hot though- and she managed to get a AG plug in too), the fourth fight was stopped because of an accidental finger poke in the eye and was ruled a no contest (it was a shame too, because it was a great fight to that point), and the Kimbo Slice fight wasn't good at all (some people thought it should have been stopped in the 2nd round and Kimbo should have lost)...
Originally posted by AL: Interesting, CBS even gets winners now by gender audience. Any way to get those CBS shows on the winners list. .
Damn, people are still going on about Marcs "pro-CBS bias". One would think if they had such a problem with a columnist's perspective they wouldn't bother to continue reading his work.
quote:
But no mention that on the comparable evening 1 year ago (Saturday 6/2/07) NBC had 1.73 million and a 0.5 18-49 rating for the Stanley Cup Finals. Which would be almost a 150% increase in audience, and more than a 300% increase in 18-49 rating. No mention of that. .
This is worthy of mention. But tomorrow no will care.
quote:
And how about comparing the 9-11 portion of the NHL with the Saturday Night Fights on CBS. Only you have the numbers broken down, but I guarantee the 9-11 portion of the NHL on NBC beat CBS in all of the ratings categories you mentioned.
Well, I have not seen this reported anywhere else, and you imply you don't have access to the numbers, so I assume you are basing this on your own gut. I am not saying your gut is wrong, just baseless.
quote:
Marc, come on now. And you are supposed to be a professional? Please. We all know you have a lot of love towards CBS and hatred to NBC, but at least keep that to yourself and be professional in your work.
Marc, I hope you continue to enjoy your well paying job and credibility with anyone who actually matters in the business.
Posts: 1543 | Location: NY | Registered: 17 November 2006
Marc, I'm sorry but even if it did well in the demo, those are pathetic numbers for CBS on Saturday. I know we weren't expecting anything more but its still terrible. Not to mention, the star of the show got his butt whooped.
I think the real story here (to the extent there is one) is that a broadcast of a sport basically nobody follows did similar numbers to a championship game in a sport that was once one of the "big four" sports in the United States. This says more about the weakness of the NHL than it does the strength of Mixed Martial Arts. Hockey has become a fringe sport in the United States.
The NHL was never that popular and I would never call it a big four. The most popular sports in the country are football, basketball, nascar, and baseball. Golf at times could be subbed I suppose for Nascar. Hockey isn't in it. MMA is on that second tier level along with hockey, wrestling, tennis, etc.
Originally posted by RoyBoyCF: Only a .51 difference in viewers and .5 difference in demo. I wouldn't call anybody a winner.
Especially since Nascar, which pulls in nearly twice the amount of viewers at times and better 18-49 demos never gets labeled a winner when it airs on Saturday nights.
CBS has to be happy with the demo result. It matched Million Dollar Password and wasn't too far off from a first-run episode of any of CBS' Friday night lineup.
Posts: 1487 | Location: Brookline, MA | Registered: 25 September 2006
Since the increase in ratings came from the shows runover past primetime, I wonder if the show's sponsors benefitted from any of those extra viewers?
Some news reports have stated that the show will be restructured to take out the incredibly slow pace of the show and make sure it airs completely during primetime in its next outing.
