Prime-Time Ratings:
Thursday 5/01/08

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

-Total Viewers:
CBS: 14.39 million, ABC: 11.39, Fox: 7.80, NBC: 6.87, CW: 2.72

-Adults 18-49:
ABC: 4.4 rating/12 share, CBS: 4.1/11, NBC: 3.0/ 8, Fox: 2.3/ 6, CW: 1.3/ 3

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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:
Survivor: Micronesia (CBS), CSI (CBS), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), The Office (NBC), Without a Trace (CBS), Lost (ABC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):
Ugly Betty (ABC), My Name is Earl (NBC), Scrubs (NBC), 30 Rock (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
It was another Thursday of split leadership, with CBS the most-watched network and ABC No. 1 among adults 18-49. But ABC’s lead over CBS in the demo was only seven percent. Fox finished third in total viewers and fourth among adults 18-49, NBC was just the opposite, and the CW was a distant fifth.

CBS’ still potent Survivor: Micronesia won the 8 p.m. hour, with 12.53 million viewers and a 4.0 rating/12 share among adults 18-49. Fox’s Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which has held up surprisingly well, was second in total viewers (8.32 million) and fourth among adults 18-49, with a 2.2/ 7 in the demo. ABC’s Ugly Betty, meanwhile, has taken a hit, dipping year-to-year as follows:

Ugly Betty (ABC)
5/01/08 – Viewers: 7.93 million (#3), A18-49: 2.4/ 7 (#3)
5/03/07 – Viewers: 11.33 million (#2), A18-49: 3.7/10 (#2)
Percent Change – Viewers: -30, A18-49: -35

Also in the 8 p.m. hour were NBC sitcoms My Name is Earl (Viewers: #4, 6.77 million; A18-49: #2, 2.8/ 9) and ABC-bound Scrubs (Viewers: #4, 5.91 million; A18-49: #2, 2.9/ 8), which really needs to end at this point; and the CW’s Smallville (Viewers: #5, 3.64 million; A18-49: #5, 1.5/ 5).

At 9 p.m., CBS’ CSI and Grey’s Anatomy on ABC continue to share leadership. But both dramas remain on the down side from one year earlier. Take a look:

Thursday 9 p.m.
CSI (CBS)
Viewers: 17.78 million (#1), A18-49: 5.0/13 (#2)

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
Viewers: 15.11 million (#2), A18-49: 6.0/15 (#1)

Now take a look at the erosion for both dramas from the year-ago evening and notice how much more significant Grey’s Anatomy is:

CSI (CBS)
5/03/07 - Viewers: 19.02 million, A18-49: 5.6/14
5/01/08 - Viewers: 17.78 million; A18-49: 5.0/13
Percent Change – Viewers: - 7, A18-49: -11

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
5/03/07* – Viewers: 21.23 million, A18-49: 9.1/24
5/01/08 – Viewers: 15.11 million, A18-49: 6.0/15
Percent Change – Viewers: -29, A18-49: -34

(*the first half of a two-hour episode)

Also airing from 9-10 p.m. were NBC sitcoms The Office (Viewers: #3, 7.67 million; A18-49: #3, 3.9/10) and 30 Rock (Viewers: #4, 5.41 million; A18-49: #4, 2.6/ 7), Fox’s Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Viewers: #3, 7.28 million; A18-49: #4, 2.5/ 6), and Supernatural on the CW (Viewers: #5, 2.53 million; A18-49: #5, 1.0/ 3). Worth noting for The Office was growth out of Scrubs of 1.76 million viewers and a hefty 34 percent among adults 18-49. As for lead-out 30 Rock, fuggetaboutit!

CBS and ABC shared the top spot at 10 p.m., with the Eye net’s Without a Trace at 12.85 million viewers (#1) and a 3.3/ 9 among adults 18-49 (#2), and ABC’s Lost at 11.14 million viewers (#2) and a first-place 4.8/13 in the demo. So, tell me…what do you think happened to Claire?

Third in the hour was NBC’s veteran ER at 7.74 million viewers and a 3.0/ 8 among adults 18-49. Remember when ER used to beat the competition combined?

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Ughhh...I'm so annoyed with Ugly Betty's results! Last night's episode of the program was probably one of the best ones this season --creatively, the show is doing well, but for some reason I'm not seeing a strong promotional push for the show (at least as far as I know).

Wow...Ugly Betty has fallen!

My Name Is Earl has been creatively awful this season. No wonder the numbers are so bad these days. (Scrubs beat it in the demo!?)

They need to get back to the basic formula that made the show successful and quickly. All of this prison and coma stuff has been a huge flop.

Those numbers for Ugly Betty sure are sad to see. ABC has already renewed it for next season, but I'm sure they must be concerned.
A word to the higher ups at ABC, please don't ever put limelight sucking trash like Christian Soriano on this show again.

CSI is doing just fine. It's on par with last year considering the 1 million lost are factored over to DVR users. If you add in DVR for CSI, it still skews atleast 20million. As for Grey's, the show has been downhill for over a year now. I might not even watch it anymore...

Lost below 12m and 5.0; and after this horrible episode, it may go even lower next week.

And with demos like that, both of FOX crappy game shows belong on the loser list. Maybe starting a night of new dramas on Thursday next year is not a bad idea after all.

What is the erosion of Survivor?

Series low for Lost? Ouch.

quote:

Originally posted by Zitrone:
Lost below 12m viewers and 5.0 in the demo. And after this horrible episode, it might go even lower next week.

Horrible??? I wouldn't say it was horrible. Slow, yes but horrible no. The promos did make it seem like somebody(Claire) was going to be killed and that annoyed me the most.

<spoiler alert>



Thought it was great how the flash forward showed Kate and Jack together and answered what happens(ed) to Sawyer.

quote:

Originally posted by Lost_Dom:
Series low for Lost? Ouch.

Yes, huge ouch... It was the 3rd highest show last night. And was 68% higher than Without a Trace in the demo.

GA has lost in the demo dramatically. That show had a boom and it's near busting.

Man.. that was just sad.

Not a single show in the 18 million territory on a Thursday?. Huge drops of almost all shows, compared year-to-year or fall-spring.

Disappointing, very disappointing.

DEMO CHANGE last week vs this week

- .2 Survivor
+ .4 CSI
= nc Without A Trace

- .1 Ugly Betty
- .3 Grey's Anatomy
= nc Lost

+ .1 5th Grader
= nc Lyrics

+ .5 My Name Is Earl
+ .5 Scrubs
= nc The Office
- .2 30 Rock
- .1 ER

NBC: Earl and Scrubs bumped up some. I would have thought The Office would have too. I'm hoping that 3.9 bumps to a 4.0 like it did last week in the finals.

Very disappointed (suprised, too) that 30 Rock can't hold a *little* bit more of that lead-in! Sheesh, c'mon. 67% retention? Well, the time-slot change will definatly not last until fall. I fully expect it to go right back to the 8:30 time period.

ABC: Lost held up well this week. Actually I expected ABC's whole linup to dip a little it's second week back, but it held up well.

CBS: CSI bumped up like I thought it would, but I also thought the rest of the linup would go up too. Survivor actually down? 4.0... like many other shows, Survivor ain't what it used to be.

FOX: Whatever. They do decent, but who watches these shows? I watched 20 min or so of Lyrics once, and was bored to death with the over-the-top contestants singing along so badly. They're as bad as DOND with stretching out what should be a short thing into a looooong ordeal.

Wow those demos in the 8:00 hour are just terrible. I can forsee,a few years from now,the nets airing nothing but game shows or repeats (save for maybe Sundays) in the 8:00 slot in the spring.