Prime-Time Ratings:
Thursday 3/05/09

-Total Viewers:
Fox: 15.94 million, CBS: 14.98, NBC: 7.21, ABC: 5.51, CW: 2.09

-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 6.1 rating/16 share, CBS: 4.0/11, NBC: 3.2/ 9, ABC: 1.6/ 4, CW: 0.8/ 2

----------

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

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Ugly Betty (ABC), My Name is Earl (NBC), Kath & Kim (NBC)

-American Idol Top 13:
In a surprise twist, the judges on American Idol picked four contestants (instead of three) in the Wild Card Show last night: Megan Corkrey, Jasmine Murray, Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai. They join Chris Allen, Danny Gokey, Alexis Grace, Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, Scott MacIntyre, Jorge Nunez, Lil Rounds and Michael Sarver in the top 13. My pick to take it all: Danny Gokey. In other Idol news, look for the return of season one winner Kelly Clarkson on Wednesday, March 11.

----------

-Ratings Breakdown:
Led by the American Idol Wild Card Show, Fox dominated this first night of the Feb. 2009 sweeps, beating second-place CBS by 960,000 viewers and 52 percent among adults 18-49. In the distant No. 3 spot was NBC, followed by ABC and the CW. Yes, this is now the February sweeps. Nielsen Media Research moved it into March to minimize the disruption surrounding the digital TV transition. Even so, no one seems to care about these “sweep” periods anymore.

American Idol opened the evening for Fox with 21.24 million viewers and a 7.5 rating/20 share among adults 18-49 at 8 p.m., which was a massive improvement over regularly scheduled occupant Bones. Second in the time period was Survivor: Tocantins on CBS (Viewers: 11.98 million; A18-49: 3.8/10 -- go Taj!), followed by ABC’s Ugly Betty and NBC sitcoms My Name is Earl and Kath & Kim tied for the No.3 and 4 spots as follows:

Thursday 8 p.m.
Ugly Betty (ABC)
Viewers: 6.36 million (#3); A18-49: 1.7/ 5 (#4)

My Name is Earl (NBC) – 8 p.m.
Viewers: 5.55 million (#4); A18-49: 2.2/ 6 (#3)

Kath & Kim (NBC) – 8:30 p.m.
Viewers: 4.16 million (#4), A18-49: 1.8/ 5 (#4)

Needless to say, all three shows qualify as “losers.” Kath & Kim wraps up its unsuccessful run next Thursday.

Capping off the 8 p.m. was a repeat of the CW’s Smallville at 2.18 million viewers and a 0.8/ 2 in the demo.

CBS’ aforementioned CSI moved into the 9 p.m. winner’s circle, with a hefty 20.80 million viewers and a 5.3/13 among adults 18-49. Keep in mind, however, that competing Grey’s Anatomy on ABC (Viewers: #3, 5.68 million; A18-49: #4, 1.6/ 4) was a repeat. Next was Hell’s Kitchen on Fox at an estimated 10.64 million viewers and a 4.6/12 in the demo (and I stress approximate because the last few minutes of American Idol bled into the show). By 9:30 p.m., Hell’s Kitchen was down to 8.93 million viewers and a 4.1/10 in the demo. In the No. 3 spot were NBC sitcoms The Office (Viewers: 8.63 million; A18-49: 4.5/11) and 30 Rock (Viewers: 7.35 million; A18-49: 3.8/ 9), which had improved retention out of The Office this week, followed by the aforementioned encore of Grey’s Anatomy on ABC, and a repeat of Supernatural on the CW (Viewers: 1.93 million; A18-49: 0.7/ 2). Worth noting for The Office, of course, was the significant growth out of Kath & Kim.

Freshman CBS drama Eleventh Hour and NBC’s soon-to-conclude ER shared leadership at 10 p.m. as follows:

Thursday 10 p.m.
Eleventh Hour (CBS)
Viewers: 12.15 million (#1), A18-49: 3.0/ 8 (#2)

ER (NBC)
Viewers: 8.79 million (#2), A18-49: 3.5/10 (#1)

Last, and very least, was a repeat of ABC’s Private Practice at 4.50 million viewers and a 1.3/ 4 in the demo.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Folks...I will be traveling back from Florida to New York tomorrow by car and will not be able to post the Friday fast affiliate results until late Sunday.

Impressive 30 Rock retention out of The Office (as these things go).

CSI got a big bump from the heavily promoted Taylor Swift guest spot.

Ugly Betty is whimpering into its hiatus.

Marc - calling Idol an improvement over "regular occupant" Bones is a bit false, isn't it? Idol has aired as many episodes this season on Thursday at 8pm as Bones has. Of course, Idol's ratings are an improvement over it, but the show hasn't really had a change to claim the "regular occupant" title...

Well the overnights were misleading again. But anyway didn't expect that for CSI. Maybe i'm ot of touch, but why on earth would Taylor Swift bring those numbers. She's not Madonna

Fair enough, and I always say Bones never gets the attention it deserves.

quote:

Originally posted by TravisYanan:
Impressive 30 Rock retention out of The Office (as these things go).

CSI got a big bump from the heavily promoted Taylor Swift guest spot.

Ugly Betty is whimpering into its hiatus.

Marc - calling Idol an improvement over "regular occupant" Bones is a bit false, isn't it? Idol has aired as many episodes this season on Thursday at 8pm as Bones has. Of course, Idol's ratings are an improvement over it, but the show hasn't really had a change to claim the "regular occupant" title...

quote:

Originally posted by TravisYanan:
Marc - calling Idol an improvement over "regular occupant" Bones is a bit false, isn't it? Idol has aired as many episodes this season on Thursday at 8pm as Bones has. Of course, Idol's ratings are an improvement over it, but the show hasn't really had a change to claim the "regular occupant" title...

Agreed, if I were a Bones fan (which I'm not) I'd be a little irked at how rarely the show has actually aired on Thursday since it got moved there. The next two weeks will be the first time ever that the show has aired originals on back to back Thursdays, and by then it will have made the move like two months ago!

FOX First in A18-49, While ABC Gifts Second to CBS With Encores-During-Sweep Strategy

After four nights of Week 24, FOX is first in A18-49 with a 6.03 average, while CBS has taken over second place thanks to ABC's bizarre encores-during-Sweep strategy. Second-place CBS is averaging 3.20 in A18-49, while ABC is third with a 3.13 A18-49 average. NBC is behind in fourth with 2.63, Univision is fifth with 1.60, while The CW is sixth with a 0.94 average in A18-49s and MyNetworkTV is seventh with a 0.46 average.

In viewers, FOX leads with an average of 16,970,000 viewers, while CBS is second, ABC third, NBC fourth, Univision fifth, The CW in sixth, and MyNetworkTV in seventh spot.

CBS and ABC are both showing good year over year growth while the other nets are showing mixed trend patterns. Overall, the seven networks are up from last season, with A18-49 up +4% and viewers up +4% from the same week last season.

Week 24, Four Nights (3 Finals, 1 FASTnats)
# Network A18-49 (%YOY) Millions of Viewers (%YOY)
====================================================
1. FOX 6.03   (-5%)  16.970  (-1%)
2. CBS 3.20  (+32%)  12.155 (+44%)
3. ABC 3.13  (+23%)   8.788 (+14%) 
4. NBC 2.63   (-3%)   6.934 (-15%)
5. UNI 1.60   (-9%)   3.945  (+3%)
6. CW  0.94   (-3%)   2.180  (+4%) 
7. MNT 0.46  (-20%)   1.240 (-27%) <- 3 nights only

YOY = Year-Over-Year increase/decrease to same week last year.

Year-Over-Year 7-Network Demo/Viewer Growth(+)/Erosion(-)
Night A18-49 +/- Viewers +/-
=========================================================
Week 24:
--------
Monday:       A: +29% V: +23% final
Tuesday:      A:  +8% V: +17% final
Wednesday:    A: -10% V: -11% final
Thursday:     A:  -8% V: -12% preliminary

Week-to-Date: A:  +9% V: +10%
  

I can't believe how many nights IDOL is on FOX.

One can only wonder what their future holds come the day the show finally runs out of steam and they can't build their whole network around it.

I think it was less about Taylor Swift and more about CBS hinting that it would be a "special" episode.

It was more character-driven than the usual episode focusing on Nick and flash-backing over the past year on several incidents that involved Taylor Swift's character and Nick's involvement and his eventual emotional attachment to her character. It was pretty good and haunting.

quote:

Originally posted by robert:
Well the overnights were misleading again. But anyway didn't expect that for CSI. Maybe i'm ot of touch, but why on earth would Taylor Swift bring those numbers. She's not Madonna

In the continuing story of me being completely out of synch with the viewing public, I am surprised that 30 Rock seems to be actually improving its retention lately. While a long time (and lonely) proponent of this program since its debut, I have found the show really spotty this season. Some very good episodes to be sure, but something just seems off-stride for me lately with the Rock.

*Awaits snide Pisher comment.

Although, let me edit this to add, that the lithgow cameo last night was very funny. I like this quick shot much better than the gust stars who have beocme so dominant on this show this season.

quote:

Originally posted by TravisYanan:
Impressive 30 Rock retention out of The Office (as these things go).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PaulC,

quote:

Originally posted by robert:
Well the overnights were misleading again. But anyway didn't expect that for CSI. Maybe i'm ot of touch, but why on earth would Taylor Swift bring those numbers. She's not Madonna

It could be Swift, it could be that it was a Nick-centered episode, and/or it could be that it was billed as a "very special episode." Or could be the lack of Grey's. Or a combination of those.

Swift has a huge album out - no.1 for 10 weeks now.

quote:

Originally posted by robert:
Well the overnights were misleading again. But anyway didn't expect that for CSI. Maybe i'm ot of touch, but why on earth would Taylor Swift bring those numbers. She's not Madonna

lol. Yes, robert, you are out of touch.
She is more popular than madonna or even Britney Spears, at this time, I would say, especially among the young crowds. And she actually seems like a nice girl. The demo went up one whole point from last week. That was sorely needed by CSI.

quote:

In the continuing story of me being completely out of synch with the viewing public, I am surprised that 30 Rock seems to be actually improving its retention lately. While a long time (and lonely) proponent of this program since its debut, I have found the show really spotty this season. Some very good episodes to be sure, but something just seems off-stride for me lately with the Rock.

*Awaits snide Pisher comment.

I welcome your partial return to the realm of good taste and sanity, and hope you may someday become a fully naturalized citizen of this happy land. How's that?

I watched a fair bit of last night's 30 Rock, and can I say that it seems even more pointless and unfunny after such a fine episode of The Office? I guess I can, because I just did.

As to the ratings, they suck, particularly in relation to the nonstop hoopla around this mediocre piece of goods--but they don't suck enough for NBC to cancel it. It's got tenure now, and it will take a major misstep--or a weak lead-in--to take it down.

Taylor Swift's album is huge. She is a big deal currently.

Wasn't last weeks Grey's Anatomy an encore? Did ABC not want to fight her?

Clealy i'm out of touch. Is country music so popular with young crowds?