Prime-Time Ratings:
Tuesday 2/12/08

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

-Total Viewers:
Fox: 29.87 million, CBS: 8.73, NBC: 7.76, ABC: 5.52, CW: 2.60

-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 12.3 rating/29 share, NBC: 2.8/ 7, CBS: 2.5/ 6, ABC: 1.5/ 4, CW: 1.1/ 3

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Note: Any prior rating results are based on the final nationals. Also, since the level of DVR penetration has increased from 9 percent in early 2006-07 to approximately 20 percent at present, the overall results may be negatively impacted.

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
American Idol (Fox), Law & Order: SVU R (NBC)

-Honorable Mention:
NCIS R (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):
Just For Laughs (ABC), According to Jim (ABC), Carpoolers (ABC), Jericho (CBS)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Led by a two-hour installment of the now Hollywood-based American Idol, dominant Fox beat the four competing networks combined by 5.26 million viewers and 56 percent among adults 18-49. American Idol scored a typically massive 29.87 million viewers and a 12.2 rating/29 share among adults 18-49, building in each half-hour as follows:

American Idol
8:00 p.m. Viewers: 26.17 million, A18-49: 10.6/27
8:30 p.m. Viewers: 29.76 million, A18-49: 12.1/29
9:00 p.m. Viewers: 31.61 million, A18-49: 13.0/30
9:30 p.m. Viewers: 31.95 million, A18-49: 13.3/30

CBS opened the evening with a repeat of NCIS (Viewers: #2, 11.72 million; A18-49: #3: 2.3/ 6), followed by the season-premieres of Big Brother and Jericho from 9-11 p.m. Although this first winter edition of Big Bothers (Viewers: #3: 7.33 million; A18-49: #3, 2.7/ 6) dipped by 4.39 million viewers from the NCIS encore, it did manage to build by 17 percent among adults 18-49. So, there is still interest in the normally summer guilty pleasure. For more on my thoughts about Big Brother, click on www.marcberman.tv for today’s podcast.

Season two of Jericho dipped slightly from Big Brother, with 7.15 million viewers (#3) and a second-place 2.5/ 7 among adults 18-49 at 10 p.m. But given it did not have to face American Idol, the results should have been better. Keep in mind that Jericho debuted with a considerably stronger 11.66 million viewers and a 3.4/10 in the demo on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. ET. CBS might have been better off airing Jericho earlier.

NBC’s just-renewed The Biggest Loser averaged 7.47 million viewers (#3) and a 3.0/ 7 among adults 18-49 (#2) from 8-10 p.m., followed by a repeat of Law & Order: SVU at a first-place 8.34 million viewers and a 2.6/ 7 in the demo at 10 p.m. When a repeat still manages to win the time period, that is what you call a “winner.”

ABC’s combination of Just for Laughs (two episodes, original and repeat – Viewers: #4, avg. 4.95 million; A18-49: #4, avg. 1.4/ 5 from 8-9 p.m.), According to Jim (Viewers: #4, 4.92 million; A18-49: #4, 1.4/ 3) and Carpoolers (Viewers: #4, 3.85 million; A18-49: #4, 1.3/ 3) were barely visible from 8-10 p.m. Boston Legal, which is expected to resume production on four to eight new episodes this season, capped off the evening with 7.23 million viewers (#2) and a third-place 1.8/ 5 in the demo. ABC may want to seriously reconsider the future of Boston Legal given how far it has dropped.

The CW had nothing unusual to report with its last-place combination of a repeat of Reaper (Viewers: 1.98 million; A18-49: 0.8/ 2) and One Tree Hill (Viewers: 3.21 million; A18-49: 1.4/ 3). Five or six new episodes are expected for both dramas now that the strike is over.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Poor Boston Legal. WTF has happened to that show?

cool OTH reached past the 3 mil mark. good for them.

Watched BB last night. It was pretty good ready for "ma" to be the first kicked off though, I think that's a record that I can't stand someone that quickly on this show.

It looks like AI had it's best numbers in a couple weeks. It seems to always have more viewers in the 2nd hour rather than the first. It looks like an interesting crop of singers this year. I think it will be better than last year and it should be interesting who the judges pick for the top 24.

BB9 got off to a solid start going against AI. It has never faced stiffere competition before so I think this is a good thing for CBS. Jericho did miserable. I think they should bring that show in the 9pm hour if it plans to succeed. I think this is CBS's way of saying here's you show, watch if you wanna save it. Something tells me they don't want people to watch it.

NBC was solid against AI as well. Pretty decent counter programming at a cheap cost. I don't blame NBC for renewing it, they really don't have too much going for them other than reality shows and the L&O franchises.

ABC is just bad. I know it can't wait for DWTS to come back. Lost has been good, but get rid of these comedies already. I hope BL can get pick it up again. It's such an undervalued show and pretty good quality, and with the right lead in, it can still get 10 million viewers a week.

AI as strong as last year, surprising.

Not such amazing numbers for Jericho. CBS should have aired it on a different night in a different time. 10PM seems too late for the show.

It's hard to imagine CBS greenlighting a 3rd season with these #'s.

While I don't watch BL, it's clear that with a stronger lead in it would probably bounce right back. I think ABC is going to stick with it considering how poorly everything else they program in the 10PM timeslot does... (october road, anything following grey's anatomy..., etc.)

I think ratings like those for One Tree Hill are pretty good, especially vs American Idol.

Jericho just isn't to going to gain a fanbase - it's just going to keep on loosing it.
It'll drop again next week.

Marc, do you have the half hour numbers for Jericho please?

quote:

Originally posted by crateriko:
Poor Boston Legal. WTF has happened to that show?

Terrible lead-ins, no promotion, who would know it's new? Most people think fall shows are all in repeats. It wasn't on last week and was a repeat the week before. It will bounce back once DWTS comes back. ABC should have saved the left-over new episodes until later in the spring so they could run all the new ones together rather than throw on new ones here and there. Stupid ABC. They did the same with B&S Sunday. At least BL grew substantially from its lead-in which no ABC show at 10 can say (maybe 20/20). B&S fell sharply from a huge lead-in.

BL's woes are a symptom of poor ABC programming decisions, nothing else.

So I'm waiting for some Jericho fans to start talking about how well it did last night, and how lucky CBS is to get that many viewers, and such great demo.

Don't let me down, Nutsos.

Jericho should have probably built on BB's demo, considering it had much less competition.

Seriously, does anybody REALLY think a better night would help Jericho?

What people keep forgetting when they say things like this is the more favorable the timeslot, the higher the expectations. Networks will put up with crap ratings for a while at least, if the show is in a tough slot, because they have to put something there.

Fact is, CBS made a mistake bringing Jericho back. And probably a mistake putting it on in the first place. Maybe there was the germ of a good show in there somewhere--maybe a miniseries--but there wasn't enough there for a long-running drama.

And I really don't hate the show--but I hate SOS campaigns. So much. It's. Just. A. Television. Program. Send the network an email and forget about it. Life's too short, and there are poor people somewhere who'd love to eat those nuts. Or squirrels.

quote:

and how lucky CBS is to get that many viewers, and such great demo.

Probably the best spin you could put is that it didn't dip much from big brother. However, that means little since both performed badly. A NCIS repeat outdid them both in a timeslot with lower HUT levels. CBS should have programmed repeats against Idol and put both shows on a different night.

CBS never should have done that 3 month gap in the 2006-2007 season. The show lost viewers and it has little hope of ever getting them back. If CBS renews for a 3rd year it will be because of lack of other programming... which CBS probably won't suffer from. The show's dead.

Why Big Brother is not a loser?

THIRD in viewers
THIRD in the demo

quote:

Originally posted by pisher:
Fact is, CBS made a mistake bringing Jericho back. And probably a mistake putting it on in the first place. Maybe there was the germ of a good show in there somewhere--maybe a miniseries--but there wasn't enough there for a long-running drama.

Hey, you never know, it worked for Lost.