Prime-Time Ratings:
Sunday 5/31/09

-Total Viewers:
CBS: 7.19 million, NBC: 5.04, Fox: 4.04, ABC: 3.88, CW: 839,000

-Adults 18-49:
NBC: 2.0 rating/6 share, Fox: 1.9/ 6, CBS: 1.3/ 4, ABC: 1.1/ 3, CW: 0.3/ 1

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Note: The listing of winners and losers will return in September.

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS was the most-watched network, with NBC first among adults 18-49 on this final Sunday in May. Granddaddy CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes kicked-off the evening with a 8.66 million viewers (#1) and a 1.1/ 4 among adults 18-49 (#2t) at 7 p.m. Comparably, that was the most-watched show of the evening (which means, of course, that there was very little to say elsewhere). 60 Minutes led into Million Dollar Password (Viewers: #1, 6.88 million; A18-49: #4, 1.1/ 3 at 8 p.m.), which are episodes from last season that the network never aired, followed by repeats of Cold Case (Viewers: #1, 7.57 million; A18-49: #3, 1.5/ 4) and canceled The Unit (Viewers: #1, 5.66 million; A18-49: #2, 1.2/ 3) from 9-11 p.m. Look for the arrival of new CBS medical drama Three Rivers at 9 p.m. next fall, followed by relocated Cold Case.

NBC aired Dateline at 7 p.m. (Viewers: #3, 4.05 million; A18-49: #3t, 1.1/ 4), followed by the low-rated Stanley Cups Finals at 5.33 million viewers and a 2.2/ 5 among adults 18-49 from 8-11 p.m. Take a look at the half-hour breakdown:

Stanley Cup Finals (NBC)
8:00 p.m. – Viewers: 4.63 million (#4), A18-49: 1.8/ 6 (#2)
8:30 p.m. – Viewers: 5.56 million (#2), A18-49 2.3/ 7 (#1)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 5.36 million (#3), A18-49: 2.4/ 6 (#2)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 5.77 million (#2), A18-49: 2.5/ 7 (#1)
10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 5.63 million (#1), A18-49: 2.5/ 7 (#1)
10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 5.31 million (#2), A18-49: 2.3/ 6 (#1)

Elsewhere, ABC’s encore combination of America’s Funniest Home Videos (Viewers: #2, 5.31 million; A18-49: #1, 1.5/ 5), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Viewers: #3, 4.89 million; A18-49: #3, 1.6/ 5), Desperate Housewives (Viewers: #4, 2.73 million; A18-49: #4, 0.8/ 2), which never plays well in repeats, and Brothers & Sisters (Viewers: #3, 2.86 million; A18-49: #3, 0.7/ 2) was barely on the map. Ditto for repeats of Fox’s canceled King of the Hill (Viewers: #4, 2.25 million; A18-49: #2, 1.1/ 4), American Dad (Viewers: #4, 2.62 million; A18-49: #2t, 1.2/ 4), The Simpsons (Viewers: #3t, 4.85 million; A18-49: #1, 2.3/ 7), another episode of King of Hill (Viewers: #4, 4.37 million; A18-49: #2, 2.1/ 6), Family Guy (Viewers: #2, 5.48 million; A18-49: #1, 2.7/ 7) and another episode of American Dad (Viewers: #3, 4.65 million; A18-49: #2, 2.2/ 6) from 7-10 p.m. Look for the arrival of Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show on Fox next fall at 8:30 p.m. out of The Simpsons.

Last, and very least, were repeats of The CW’s Jericho (Viewers: 569,000; A18-49: 0.2/ 1) and Desperately Seeking Susan (Viewers: 974,000;/ A18-49: 0.3/ 1) from 7-10 p.m. The CW will, of course, be no longer airing programming on Sunday next season.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Marc Berman,

Marc, do you have viewer and demos for Fox?

ABC tends not to repeat well but AFV and EM:HE had some decent demos for an ABC repeat. DH and B&S on the other hand were very low for a repeat.

Hockey did decently for NBC. Mid 2 demos is probably all NBC should expect for it.

MDP came in low. With limited competition, it should have done better in both viewers and especially the demos.

Considering CW's performance on Sundays and the available options they had for programming it, I think it is a very smart move.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
The CW will, of course, be no longer airing programming on Sunday next season.

Boy those demos for MDP are awful. No wonder CBS pulled it from the schedule! lol

Oops...just added them!

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:
Marc, do you have viewer and demos for Fox?

very solid numbers for the Stanley Cup Finals. they are off to a fast start and these demo numbers performed better than half of NBC's offering during the year like chuck which usually got 2.3s.

only bad thing is that the game itself didn't feature a pens win.

MDP is dead anyways with Regis moving onto millionaire this august on abc. I hope another network revives the show in the future.

While the numbers are bad, it was a huge mistake to air a repeat last week when the show returned. I think many assumed (including myself) that the show was going to be all repeats. Although the demos never have been good for the show, the overall viewer numbers were significantly higher.

quote:

Originally posted by twigs232:
Boy those demos for MDP are awful. No wonder CBS pulled it from the schedule! lol

Just like last sunday COLD CASE is doing well in repeats. CBS was wise to hold onto this show. Burying it at 10PM next season was uncool.

It probably should have gotten the Friday at 9 instead of GHOST WHISPERER.

I still think given their target demo that trying on Sundays would've been a better option than burying Smallville on Fridays.

quote:

Originally posted by WlcmDeepEnd:
Considering CW's performance on Sundays and the available options they had for programming it, I think it is a very smart move.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
The CW will, of course, be no longer airing programming on Sunday next season.

Fox should burn off the remaining eps of Sit Down Shut Up in that 8:30 slot this summer and maybe burn off some eps of Til Death while they're at it at 9:30.

Since 'Til Death is coming back, I would look to give it better exposure this summer.

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:
Fox should burn off the remaining eps of Sit Down Shut Up in that 8:30 slot this summer and maybe burn off some eps of Til Death while they're at it at 9:30.

And don't they have like something like 30 eps stocked up by this point? They could run 13 or so this summer in that post-Family Guy slot where it would have some good 18-49 exposure. Not sure there's much left saving though at this point although I will say the decision to make it about the daughter and her boyfriend this upcoming year will be better than Kenny-centric episodes. What was promising in season two quickly deteriorated in season 3.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
Since 'Til Death is coming back, I would look to give it better exposure this summer.

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:
Fox should burn off the remaining eps of Sit Down Shut Up in that 8:30 slot this summer and maybe burn off some eps of Til Death while they're at it at 9:30.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
-Adults 18-49:
NBC: 2.0 rating/6 share, Fox: 1.9/ 6, CBS: 1.3/ 4, ABC: 1.1/ 3, CW: 0.3/ 1
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NBC aired Dateline at 7 p.m. (Viewers: #3, 4.05 million; A18-49: #3t, 1.1/ 4), followed by the low-rated Stanley Cups Finals at 5.33 million viewers and a 2.2/ 5 among adults 18-49 from 8-11 p.m. Take a look at the half-hour breakdown:

Stanley Cup Finals (NBC)
8:00 p.m. – Viewers: 4.63 million (#4), A18-49: 1.8/ 6 (#2)
8:30 p.m. – Viewers: 5.56 million (#2), A18-49 2.3/ 7 (#1)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 5.36 million (#3), A18-49: 2.4/ 6 (#2)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 5.77 million (#2), A18-49: 2.5/ 7 (#1)
10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 5.63 million (#1), A18-49: 2.5/ 7 (#1)
10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 5.31 million (#2), A18-49: 2.3/ 6 (#1)

Who would have thought that the "low-rated" NHL playoffs, for which NBC pays $0 in rights (some sort of ad-share deal with the NHL) would be the most popular young adult programming on a Sunday night in June?

Call me a spendthrift, but that fee arrangement does kind of make the $650 million that NBC pays the NFL for Sunday night rights (that garner only three to four times the demo of the NHL Playoffs) seem a bit steep.

I still don't understand why they aired a repeat last week. I'm sure it did lower the overall numbers. Maybe because it was Memorial Day weekend?

quote:

Originally posted by xwiseguyx:
While the numbers are bad, it was a huge mistake to air a repeat last week when the show returned. I think many assumed (including myself) that the show was going to be all repeats. Although the demos never have been good for the show, the overall viewer numbers were significantly higher.

quote:

Originally posted by twigs232:
Boy those demos for MDP are awful. No wonder CBS pulled it from the schedule! lol