Prime Time Ratings:
Tuesday 5/08/07

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

-Total Viewers:
Fox: 23.02 million, CBS: 10.93, ABC: 10.48, NBC: 7.62, CW: 2.92

-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 8.9 rating/25 share, ABC and CBS: 2.8/ 8 each, NBC: 2.4/ 7, CW: 1.4/ 4

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
American Idol (Fox), House (Fox)

-Down but Still Dominant:
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

-Honorable Mention:
NCIS (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
George Lopez (ABC), Dateline (NBC), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC), Veronica Mars (CW)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Led by American Idol and House, Fox roared past the Tuesday competition as usual. CBS was a distant second in total viewers, while tying ABC for No. 2 among adults 18-49. Fourth was struggling NBC, followed by an uneventful The CW.

American Idol opened the evening with 24.49 million viewers and an 8.9 rating/27 share among adults 18-49 from 8-9 p.m. Comparably, that beat CBS’ still potent NCIS (Viewers: 13.73 million; A18-49: 3.1/ 9) by 10.76 million viewers and 187 percent among adults 18-49. For those wondering how Idol stacks up to one year earlier, the final national performance on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 was a more lucrative 28.85 million viewers and an 11.6/31 in the demo.

Also in the 8 p.m. hour was NBC’s overused Dateline (Viewers: #3, 5.02 million; A18-49: #5, 1.4/ 4), the second-to-last episode of The CW’s Gilmore Girls (Viewers: #5, 3.96 million; A18-49: #3, 1.8/ 5), and two episodes (including the season or series finale) of ABC’s George Lopez. Take a look at the lackluster results for George Lopez:

ABC/Wednesday
8:00 p.m. Viewers: 4.42 million (#4), A18-49: 1.5/ 5 (#4)
8:30 p.m. Viewers: 4.97 million (#4), A18-49: 1.7/ 5 (#4)

As for the future of George Lopez, is there any point of renewing the comedy after falling short of 5-million viewers last night? The series-finale of Gilmore Girls, meanwhile, will air next Tuesday. Sadly, there will not be an “official” last episode.

Fox’s House led the 9-10 p.m. troops, with a stellar 21.55 million viewers and an 8.9/23 among adults 18-49 (with full retention in the demo from lead-in American Idol). ABC’s live Dancing With the Stars finished a solid second (Viewers: 16.47 million; A18-49: 4.1/11), followed by CBS’ The Unit (Viewers: #3, 10.80 million; A18-49: #3, 3.1/ 8), NBC’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Viewers: #4, 6.94 million; A18-49: #4, 2.0/ 5), and The CW’s waiting-to-be axed Veronica Mars (Viewers: #5, 1.88 million; A18-49: #5, 0.9/ 2). No matter how you try to spin it, Veronica Mars needs to be put out of its misery at this point. As for Criminal Intent, parent Law & Order’s rumored move to TNT in originals next season could mean there will be a reprieve. But is it really worth saving at this point?

Top honors at 10 p.m. went to Law & Order: SVU (Viewers: 10.90 million; A18-49: 3.7/10), which year-to-year was down by a hefty 1.98 million viewers and 23 percent among adults 18-49 (Viewers: 12.88 million; A18-49: 4.8/13 on May 9, 2006, based on the final nationals). Next was ABC’s Boston Legal (Viewers: 10.29 million; A18-49: 2.7/ 7), followed by a repeat of CBS’ Without a Trace (Viewers: 8.26 million; A18-49: 2.2/ 6). And there you have it – that’s Tuesday.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Low ratings for The CW. Can you post the breakdowns of Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars?

Is The Unit going to be renewed? I thought below 10 million and it's gone. Just cancel it.

VM had around 2.5mil viewers in the first half hour last week, and around 2.3 in the second half hour.

As big a market as L.A. is, can anyone really believe it constitutes THAT big a chunk of a broadcast network series' audience?

People are walking away in disgust. The show has gone from disappointing to mediocre to flat-out LOUSY. I watched a bit last night. There is absolutely nothing there to save.

If you love good television, root for this once-promising drama to finally be allowed to die.

quote:

As for the future of George Lopez, is there any point of renewing the comedy after falling short of 5-million viewers last night? The series-finale of Gilmore Girls, meanwhile, will air next Tuesday. Sadly, there will not be an “official” last episode.

I wish the last episode of GG was going to be good (I've heard that I'm going to like at least one plot development in it), but I've always been half and half about 'official finales', because I don't think most shows really need them.

What GG needed was to end a lot sooner, officially or otherwise.

quote:

As big a market as L.A. is, can anyone really believe it constitutes THAT big a chunk of a broadcast network series' audience?

Am I right that fast nationals don't take preemptions into account, and this number will almost certainly go down when the LA sets are discounted?

Well, a while back I read somewhere that L.A. is one of VM's biggest markets.

According to Nielsen DMA data, Los Angeles accounts for just a little over 5% of all US households.

Even if the LA affiliate numbers are included in the Nielsen roll-up, I would expect the fire coverage garnered lower viewership than Veronica Mars.

Question, did the fire/pre-emption begin before or during Gilmore Girls?

quote:

Originally posted by patsgirl:

quote:

As big a market as L.A. is, can anyone really believe it constitutes THAT big a chunk of a broadcast network series' audience?

Am I right that fast nationals don't take preemptions into account, and this number will almost certainly go down when the LA sets are discounted?

quote:

Well, a while back I read somewhere that L.A. is one of VM's biggest markets.

558,000 people big?

quote:

558,000 people big?

Not for anything on CW.

Least of all Veronica Mars.

quote:

Originally posted by patsgirl:

quote:

As big a market as L.A. is, can anyone really believe it constitutes THAT big a chunk of a broadcast network series' audience?

Am I right that fast nationals don't take preemptions into account, and this number will almost certainly go down when the LA sets are discounted?

Yes and yes.

Did AI run over last night? That would partly explain the equal demo with House. I guess we will see when the final numbers come out.

I don't like the original L/O to TNT, but oh well, it probably makes finacial sense.

ABC and CBS tied in the demo two nights in a row?

quote:

The CW’s waiting-to-be axed Veronica Mars (Viewers: #5, 1.88 million; A18-49: #5, 0.9/ 2).

Under 2 million! That's beyond sad. And there pretty much goes my last hope that Veronica Mars will continue (at least in its present form).

quote:

Originally posted by StephNC:

quote:

Well, a while back I read somewhere that L.A. is one of VM's biggest markets.

558,000 people big?

I really don't know...I would assume that the L.A. preemption accounts for a loss of roughly 100.000 - 200.000 viewers.

It seems that when VM is without a big mystery-there goes the viewers.