Prime-Time Ratings:
Thursday 8/28/08
-Total Viewers:
CBS: 6.60 million, Fox: 5.66, ABC: 5.44, NBC: 5.00, CW: 2.17
-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 2.1 rating/6 share, CBS: 2.0/ 6, ABC and NBC: 1.7/ 5 each, CW: 0.7/ 2
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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, August 30, 2007):
NBC: +31, ABC: +21, Fox: -20, CBS: -34 (The CW was not available)
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Note: The fast affiliate results for Thursday will be posted at PIFeedback by 12 p.m. ET. Go to the website, click on Ratings Box (the first category), then Last Night’s Results, and Thursday, August 28, 2008.
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-Countdown to the Fall Season:
24 days
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-Ratings Breakdown:
There was little of note on this holiday pending Thursday, with CBS the most-watched network and Fox No. 1 among adults 18-49. Although Big Brother fans like myself were disappointed it was pre-empted for preseason football in New York (go Dan and Memphis!), it did air elsewhere and averaged an approximate 7.71 million viewers and a 2.6 rating/9 share among adults 18-49 at 8 p.m. Comparably, that was first in the hour. That led into a repeat of CSI at an also estimated 7.72 million viewers (#1) and a second-place 2.2/ 6 in the demo at 9 p.m. It was a low rated night, my friends!
Preseason Football on NBC was a snore, with a mere (and fourth-place) 4.37 million viewers and a 1.3/ 4 among adults 8-49 from 8-10 p.m. Keep in mind, of course, that results for any live event are always estimated. ABC aired repeats of Ugly Betty (Viewers: #2, 5.18 million; A18-49: #3, 1.6/ 5) and Grey’s Anatomy (Viewers: #3, 5.42 million; A18-49: #3, 1.8/ 5) from 8-10 p.m. Fox ran two episodes of soon-to-depart The Moment of Truth (Viewers: #2, avg. 5.66 million; A18-49: #1, avg. 2.1/ 6), which faded fast as predicted. And the CW filled the block with repeats of Smallville (Viewers: #5, 2.39 million; A18-49: #5, 0.8/ 3) and the compatible Supernatural (Viewers: #5, 1.94 million; A18-49: #5, 0.6/ 2). Why anyone would want to subject themselves to appearing on The Moment of Truth is beyond me.
Night four of the Democratic Convention fared as follows in the overnights at 10 p.m.:
NBC – Viewers: 6.27 million, A18-49: 2.3/ 7
ABC – Viewers: 5.73 million, A18-49: 1.8/ 5
CBS – Viewers: 4.46 million, A18-49: 1.3/ 4
Don’t forget: results for any live event are always approximate.
To give you something to look forward to, here is what you will be seeing on Thursday this fall. What concerns me off the bat is ABC. Will Ugly Betty stop the audience bleeding? Will Grey’s Anatomy rebound after a shortened and creatively challenged season? Does a crime drama about a detective mysteriously shipped back to the 1970s fit out of Grey’s Anatomy? I am afraid my answer could be no to all three.
While I do not believe the departure of William Petersen will negatively impact CSI (he’s left before -- no big woop!), lead-out Eleventh Hour is impossible to follow (at least in the pilot). NBC, meanwhile, may not have an easy time welcoming the very generic sounding Kath & Kim on its Emmy winning comedy block. And Fox’s Hole in the Wall sounds more like summer filler. As for the pending departure of the CW’s Smallville in midseason, I am just not convinced. Are you?
ABC
8:00 p.m. Ugly Betty
9:00 p.m. Grey’s Antomy
10:00 p.m. *Life on Mars
CBS
8:00 p.m. Survivor: Gabon
9:00 p.m. CSI
10:00 p.m. *Eleventh Hour
NBC
8:00 p.m. My Name is Earl
8:30 p.m. *Kath & Kim
9:00 p.m. The Office
9:30 p.m. 30 Rock
10:00 p.m. ER
Fox
8:00 p.m. *Hole in the Wall
9:00 p.m. Kitchen Nightmares (new day)
CW
8:00 p.m. Smallville
9:00 p.m. Supernatural
Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat), * = new