Prime-Time Ratings:
Thursday 5/22/08

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

-Total Viewers:
ABC: 14.78 million, Fox: 8.60, NBC: 8.08, CBS: 6.19, CW: 1.95

-Adults 18-49:
ABC: 5.5 rating/16 share, Fox: 3.4/10, NBC: 2.4/ 7, CBS: 1.5/ 4, CW: 0.7/ 2

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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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-Yesterday’s Winners:
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

-Honorable Mention:
Deal or No Deal (NBC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):
Last Comic Standing (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
A night of season-finales led ABC to Thursday victory, with an advantage of a hefty 6.18 million viewers and 2.1 rating points over second-place Fox. Next was NBC, followed by repeats on CBS and the CW.

Season two of ABC’s Ugly Betty closed with 8.75 million viewers (#2) and a 2.8 rating/9 share among adults 18-49 (#2) from 8-9 p.m., followed by the two-hour Grey’s Anatomy season-ender at 17.82 million viewers and a 6.9/18 from 9-11 p.m. Take a look at Grey’s Anatomy by half-hour:

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
9:00 p.m. Viewers: 15.65 million (#1), A18-49: 6.0/16 (#1)
9:30 p.m. Viewers: 17.45 million (#1), A18-49: 6.6/17 (#1)
10:00 p.m. Viewers: 18.82 million (#1), A18-49: 7.3/19 (#1)
10:30 p.m. Viewers: 19.37 million (#1), A18-49: 7.6/21 (#1)

Both Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy (despite the dominance) were down considerably from their year-ago season-finales on Thursday, May 17, 2007 (when there was more original programming present). Take a look:

Season Finales

Ugly Betty (ABC)
May 17, 2007 - Viewers: 10.50 million; A18-49: 3.6/11
May 22, 2008 – Viewers: 8.75 million, A18-49: 2.8/ 9
Percent Change – Viewers: -17, A18-49: -22

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
May 17, 2007 – Viewers: 22.57 million, A18-49: 9.1/23
May 22, 2008 – Viewers: 17.82 million, A18-49: 6.9/18
Percent Change – Viewers: -21, A18-49: -24

In season-premiere news, a two-hour edition of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance finished second overall for the night, with 8.60 million viewers and a 3.4/10 among adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m. Compared to its year-ago 90-minute opener (Viewers: 9.51 million; A18-49: 3.7/12 on May 24, 2007), that was a decline of just 910,000 viewers and eight percent among adults 18-49. In other words: that’s a good start for this must see dance competition.

Third for the night was NBC, care of a 90-minute edition of Deal or No Deal (Viewers: 10.27 million; A18-49: 2.5/8 from 8-9:30 p.m.) and the 90-minute season-premiere of Last Comic Standing (Viewers: 5.90 million; A18-49: 2.4/ 6 million; A18-49: 2.9/ 8 from 9:30-11 p.m.). Comparably, Last Comic Standing declined by 1.04 million viewers and 17 percent among adults 18-49 from its two-hour season-opener on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 (Viewers: 6.94 million; A18-49: 2.9/ 8). And it dipped from the last half-hour of lead-in Deal or NO Deal (Viewers: 11.72 million; A18-49: 3.1/ 9) by 50 percent in viewers and 23 percent in the demo. No…that’s not a string start.

A night of repeats on CBS -- The Big Bang Theory (Viewers: #4, 4.26 million; A18-49: #4, 1.9/ 6), How I Met Your Mother (Viewers: #4, 4.46 million; A18-49: #4, 1.5/ 5), CSI (Viewers: #4, 6.53 million; A18-49: #4, 1.6/ 4) and Without a Trace (Viewers: #2, 7.68 million; A18-49: #3, 1.7/ 5) -- finished fourth overall for the evening. And the CW’s repeat combination of Smallville (Viewers: 2.19 million; A18-49: 0.7/ 2) and Supernatural (Viewers: 1.71 million; A18-49: 0.6/ 2) ranked a distant fifth.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Wow werid how HIMYM had more viewers than BBT but had .4 less in the demo...that's a significant skew for that little number of viewers...I watched both episodes last night for the first time....My first time viewing the Big Bang Theory and I thought it was okay...nothing special....some parts were funny but I can see why its ratings are slipping already...it's almost too nerdy for most people....they talk about all this science geek stuff and after awhile that just gets repetitive and old....HIMYM I've watched 3-4 times before was OK, Barney is the only funny part basically and I thought Britney was pretty funny too....Neither show could whiff a fart to Seinfeld....2-3 funny jokes in the whole show doesn't cut it for me....I usually only watch those CBS comedies during the summer when I'm bored and nothing else is on, but they won't win me as a permenant viewer with so-so comedy like last night's episodes.

Neither Lindsay Lohan can save UB

Mixed news for ABC...

Ugly Betty wasn't up much from recent weeks - and that's WITH La Lohan and WITHOUT much competition.

Yea, Grey's Anatomy was down from last year... but it's way up from the last few episodes, saw nice increases throughout the night, and last year's episode was the Burke/Cristina heavily-hyped will they or won't they marriage, so the decrease from last year isn't surprising... I would have mentioned the increase from the last few weeks... so a decent performance from GA.

Even without a fresh CSI, GA just can't cut it. 2 mil over last week's ep, no competition, and for the season finale - is a disaster, plain and simple.
Last night's ep felt like a series finale, with several storylines getting resolved.
I wish it were!

She was only in one brief flashback scene.
and even though ratings are obviously down, Grey's was excellent last night. sets up a very promising new season

quote:

Originally posted by Seth Plate:
Neither Lindsay Lohan can save UB

why exactly are you watching it then?
I mean most of this season has been dragging along but the past few episodes have really done alot to get the show moving again, resolving some old storylines to move forward.
I know alot of people bailed when the plots were getting stale but now its really kicking again and i'm really looking forward to next fall.

quote:

Originally posted by total eclipse:
Even without a fresh CSI, GA just can't cut it. 2 mil over last week's ep, no competition, and for the season finale - is a disaster, plain and simple.
Last night's ep felt like a series finale, with several storylines getting resolved.
I wish it were!

quote:

Originally posted by tvchtw:
why exactly are you watching it then?

quote:

Originally posted by total eclipse:
Even without a fresh CSI, GA just can't cut it. 2 mil over last week's ep, no competition, and for the season finale - is a disaster, plain and simple.
Last night's ep felt like a series finale, with several storylines getting resolved.
I wish it were!

A few reasons:
-It used to be well-written before it turned into a hopeless messy soap. But I'm optimistic by nature, always hoping this trend reverses.
-Now that we have the only lesbian couple in prime time on the show, I'm guaranteed to follow and see how that unfolds.
-I still like certain characters Christina, Callie, Miranda, Erica), even though they've been dragged through the mud with shoddy writing.
-Because it's my right to watch whatever the hell I want and being critical over it without getting snide remarks.

but you just said you wished the show would end

quote:

Originally posted by total eclipse:

quote:

Originally posted by tvchtw:
why exactly are you watching it then?

quote:

Originally posted by total eclipse:
Even without a fresh CSI, GA just can't cut it. 2 mil over last week's ep, no competition, and for the season finale - is a disaster, plain and simple.
Last night's ep felt like a series finale, with several storylines getting resolved.
I wish it were!

A few reasons:
-It used to be well-written before it turned into a hopeless messy soap. But I'm optimistic by nature, always hoping this trend reverses.
-Now that we have the only lesbian couple in prime time on the show, I'm guaranteed to follow and see how that unfolds.
-I still like certain characters Christina, Callie, Miranda, Erica), even though they've been dragged through the mud with shoddy writing.
-Because it's my right to watch whatever the hell I want and being critical over it without getting snide remarks.

quote:

Originally posted by total eclipse:
Even without a fresh CSI, GA just can't cut it. 2 mil over last week's ep, no competition, and for the season finale - is a disaster, plain and simple.

It was the most watched finale for a drama this year, in demo and viewers... if it is a "disaster", what words would you use to describe Moonlight's performance?

quote:

Originally posted by tvchtw:
She was only in one brief flashback scene.
and even though ratings are obviously down, Grey's was excellent last night. sets up a very promising new season

quote:

Originally posted by Seth Plate:
Neither Lindsay Lohan can save UB

Completely agree. That finale gives me hope that the show will be back on track next season. Romance is in the air, especially for the main character, and that was something missing this season.

As for UB... yeah, she was in one flashback scene. I thought that was more distracting than anything else, to have her in it but not really have her in it.

DOND had a nice little ratings comeback. Very good numbers considering what it had been posting. It goes to show that if DOND stays in an hour or an hour and a half format, it does better. It is going to thrive on Fridays in the fall.

UB's numbers are still underwhelming. Even with the finale uptick, it still isn't at the levels it should be. Lindsey Lohan and UB didn't increase the ratings as much as Britney Spears' first appearance on HIMYM.

Repeating comedies on Thursday nights was a mistake for CBS. Actually, repeating everything on Thursdays were a mistake for CBS. None of those ratings are good. CSI repeats very poorly. That isn't good news for Swingtown which has that as a lead in.

Last Comic Standing bombed. Which is sad because it actually was a good opening. It makes me wonder how well their other new entries like Fear Itself and Nashville Star is going to do.

SYTYCD opened up to mediocre numbers. It has opened up better in the past. I think if it is honorable mention, DOND which earned more viewers in its timeslot deserves an honorable mention also. We will have to see if the numbers hold up. My guess is they won't.

CW was the CW. Looking forward to see if 13 can help out their numbers.

quote:

Originally posted by total eclipse:
-Because it's my right to watch whatever the hell I want and being critical over it

True. It's in the constitution, right after the part where if you're sick in the summer or on weekends you get days off from school to compensate.

quote:

without getting snide remarks.

That, sadly, is not part of the constitution. In fact, the 'why are you watching it if you hate it?' retort was upheld by the US Supreme Court in the case of New York vs Chevy Chase.

quote:

Originally posted by tvchtw:
but you just said you wished the show would end

quote:

Originally posted by total eclipse:

quote:

Originally posted by tvchtw:
why exactly are you watching it then?

quote:

Originally posted by total eclipse:
Even without a fresh CSI, GA just can't cut it. 2 mil over last week's ep, no competition, and for the season finale - is a disaster, plain and simple.
Last night's ep felt like a series finale, with several storylines getting resolved.
I wish it were!

A few reasons:
-It used to be well-written before it turned into a hopeless messy soap. But I'm optimistic by nature, always hoping this trend reverses.
-Now that we have the only lesbian couple in prime time on the show, I'm guaranteed to follow and see how that unfolds.
-I still like certain characters Christina, Callie, Miranda, Erica), even though they've been dragged through the mud with shoddy writing.
-Because it's my right to watch whatever the hell I want and being critical over it without getting snide remarks.

I would be perfectly content if it did end. Not sure I could have taken more of the whole Derek - Meredith crap any long if it weren't for some Callie-Erica goodness we are about to get (hopefully) next season. I'm at a point where I don't care for the other storylines or relationships on the show. But I am interested to see where they take this one. Hopefully in the right direction.
Here's an interesting analysis, posted this morning:
Callie and Erica

I'm disappointed in UB numbers. It is an entertaining, well written show. The finales are always smartly done. I watched it but I missed Lindsay Lohan; I'm not sure what that says about me.
And I think the big increase in the last half hour of GA shows people are interested in the characters; but the pace of the show is too slow. But I do think it shows promise for next season that the interest is still there.