Prime-Time Ratings:
Monday 10/06/08

-Total Viewers:
ABC: 15.67 million, CBS: 11.38, NBC: 6.63, Fox: 5.52, CW: 1.69

-Adults 18-49:
CBS: 3.9 rating10 share, ABC: 2.7/ 9, NBC: 2.8/ 7, Fox: 2.2/ 6, CW: 0.8/ 2

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
Dancing With the Stars (ABC), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Two and a Half Men (CBS), CSI: Miami (CBS)

-Fading Fast:
Heroes (NBC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Chuck (NBC), Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox), Worst Week (CBS), Prison Break (Fox), Boston Legal (ABC), Life (NBC)

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Note: Any prior rating results are based on the final nationals. Since the level of DVR penetration has increased from 20 percent at this same point last year to approximately 28 percent at present, the overall results may be negatively impacted.

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-Ratings Breakdown:
ABC danced its way to another Monday victory in total viewers, but it was not enough to beat CBS among adults 18-49. Third overall in both categories was a slipping NBC, followed Fox and the CW.

Another two-hour edition of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars roared to the winning finish line, with 18.81 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/11 share from 8-10 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
8:00 p.m. – Viewers: 16.91 million (#1), A18-49: 3.9/11 (#1)
8:30 p.m. – Viewers: 18.94 million (#1), A18-49: 4.3/11 (#1)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 19.55 million (#1), A18-49: 4.5/10 (#2)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 19.85 million (#1), A18-49: 4.7/11 (#1)

As good as this is – and it is tremendous – Cloris Leachman on Dancing With the Stars is beginning to wear very thin. While I admire her gusto, I also think this is a competition that needs to be treated more seriously. Don’t you? My pick to exit tonight: Rocco DiSpirito.

At 10 p.m. ABC’s soon to conclude Boston Legal was second with 9.40 million viewers and a 2.5/ 6 among adults 18-49. Comparably, retention out of the last half-hour of Dancing With the Stars was just 50 percent in viewers and 58 percent in the demo. The network is smart to be cutting Boston Legal loose this season.

Solid CBS opened the evening with growing performances from sitcoms The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. Take a look at each versus the year-ago time period occupant.

CBS – Monday 8:00 p.m.
10/08/07 – How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 7.96 million (#2), A18-49: 3.2/ 8 (#2)

10/06/08 – The Big Bang Theory
Viewers: 9.32 million (#2), A18-49: 3.6/10 (#2)
Percent Change – Viewers: +17, A18-49: +12

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CBS – Monday 8:30 p.m.
10/08/07 – The Big Bang Theory
Viewers: 8.35 million (#2), A18-49: 3.4/ 8 (#2)

10/06/08 – How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 8.96 million (#2), A18-49: 4.0/10
Percent Change – Viewers: + 7, A18-49: +18

Next was old faithful Two and a Half Men (Viewers: #2, 13.94 million; A18-49: #1, 5.1/12), followed by sure-to-be axed week three of Worst Week (Viewers: #2, 8.79 million; A18-49: #3, 3.0/ 7) and CSI: Miami (Viewers: #1, 13.62 million; A18-49: #1, 3.9/10). Retention for Worst Week out of Two and a Half Men was just 63 percent in viewers and 59 percent in the demo. Tick, tock…the cancellation clock is ticking.

Third-place NBC is finding Monday a challenge this season. Chuck opened the evening at a depressed 5.89 million viewers (#3) and a 2.2/ 6 among adults 18-49 (#2) at 8 p.m. One year earlier, Chuck averaged 7.21 million viewers and a 2.7/ 7 in the demo. Thinking back, it was funny how Chuck star Zachary Levi was too busy to come to the phone for an interview. I bet he is available now! Lead-out Heroes continues to drop by alarming proportions from one year earlier as follows:

Heroes (NBC) – Monday 9 p.m.
10/08/07 – Viewers: 10.91 million (#3), A18-49: 5.1/12 (#1)
10/06/08 – Viewers: 8.21 million (#3), A18-49: 3.9/ 9 (#3)
Percent Change – Viewers: -25, A18-49: -24

The second (and final) Monday 10 p.m. airing of Life sunk to a last-place 5.78 million viewers and a 2.3/ 6 among adults 18-49 at 10 p.m. Next week, look for the premiere of NBC drama My Own Worst Enemy at 10 p.m. Good luck, Christian Slater!

Fox remained on the downside care of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Viewers: #4, 5.61 million; A18-49: #3, 2.3/ 6) and Prison Break (Viewers: #4, 5.43 million; A18-49: #4, 2.2/ 5), which continue to lose steam. One year earlier, Prison Break at 8 p.m. averaged 7.35 million viewers and a 3.1/ 8 in the demo.

The CW closed the night with repeats of Gossip Girl (Viewers: 1.84 million; A18-49: 0.8/ 2) and Privileged (Viewers: 1.54 million; A18-49: 0.8/ 2), which finished last, of course, in both categories. But what was interesting is the full retention in the demo for Privileged out of Gossip Girl.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

SCC went up from last week--but to an insignificant extent. For all intents and purposes, tied with Chuck.

Maybe they've both hit bottom--well below the cancellation point--but I doubt it.

SCC should be canceled and PB moved back to 8pm.

Heroes should be canceled as well. It won't be beacause it's doinh OK in demos but the viewing numbers are a disaster

And yes CBS is not doing all that great. The numbers for 21/2M and CSIM are worrying

SCC having better ratings than PB. It's it usually the other way around?

the sad thing for SCC is that its one of the highest DVR shows and Bittorent shows.

quote:

Originally posted by mackTheKnife:
SCC having better ratings than PB. It's it usually the other way around?

SCC did slightly better last week as well. But SCC goes against Chuck and 8 million sitcoms, PB against Heroes and 14 million ssitcom

*whistles* Damn, NBC. I don't watch Life (and watching Heroes seems to be some sort of deeply ingrained masochism at this point)... to your question in the newsletter, Marc, yes, Heroes is just that bad this year.

While I'm sorry Zachary Levi blew you off or whatever, you should give Chuck another shot. It's stuck somewhere between sitcom and spy-dramedy, but it's enjoyable and hilarious. And he'll be busy on it all season unless NBC rescinds the full season pickup they issued Chuck before it started airing because they liked what they saw so much.

Interesting the Privileged repeat out of a repeat Gossip Girl did about the same it's been doing out of new 90210.

FOX Mondays are so bad, I'll be shocked if it comes back after baseball. House/Bones repeats would pull in these numbers. Yes, both went up slightly but the numbers are absolutely terrible. There's no excuse for a FOX Monday that can't pull in 6 million. I say this every week and surely FOX has to notice by now.

NBC Mondays are equally as dead. Heroes is a loser and now isn't a good lead in. In order for My Own Worst Enemy to open to decent numbers, it is going to have to be a self starter. It can't rely on Heroes to help it out. Chuck should have never gotten a full season renewal this early. It's numbers are awful. Life did about as well on Monday as it did on Friday. Life is a Friday show where it could possibly grow a bit.

Worst Week is gone but the rest seem to be holding. I'd just put ROE there and worry about saving CBS Wednesdays at 8 PM.

It's been back and forth between SCC and PB this season--but really, there's no significant difference between their ratings. PB is up against much tougher competition at 9pm, so it's actually doing better, relative to expectations.

Congratulations and thank you to CBS for the best young people's hour of sitcoms on TV with The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother.

I do believe (and I am sure Obveeus will correct me) but this is the first time The Big Bang Theory ever made it to the "winners" circle.

These two shows are a terrific tandem, and doing very, very well.

The true story is Heroes's downfall. 8 million? Come on, i don't think anyone would've expected that

quote:

the sad thing for SCC is that its one of the highest DVR shows and Bittorent shows.

I bet a lot of the people who DVR it either never watch it at all, or fast-forward to the action (and past the commercials). As I'm sure you know, bittorent does absolutely nothing for the network. Yeah, I guess that is kinda sad.

Add in every single person who watches it through every possible method (including DVD), and you're still talking about a very small audience for a heavily promoted FOX drama.

quote:

Originally posted by Twins12:
Congratulations and thank you to CBS for the best young people's hour of sitcoms on TV with The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother.

I do believe (and I am sure Obveeus will correct me) but this is the first time The Big Bang Theory ever made it to the "winners" circle.

These two shows are a terrific tandem, and doing very, very well.

I consistently laugh more during BBT but enjoy HIMYM more... both were on the top of their game last night.

quote:

I do believe (and I am sure Obveeus will correct me) but this is the first time The Big Bang Theory ever made it to the "winners" circle.

These two shows are a terrific tandem, and doing very, very well.

This is what I've thought for a while, though people keep setting them against each other.

That being said, I didn't like last night's BBT, and switched back to Olbermann. HIMYM was okay--honestly though, I'd stop watching if they ever lost Alyson Hannigan.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
Prime-Time Ratings:
Monday 10/06/08



-Adults 18-49:
CBS: 3.9 rating10 share, ABC: 2.7/ 9, NBC: 2.8/ 7, Fox: 2.2/ 6, CW: 0.8/ 2


Source: Nielsen Media Research data

I believe that should be a 3.7 for ABC in the demo.