Prime-Time Ratings:
Wednesday 1/02/08

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

-Total Viewers:
NBC: 13.02 million, Fox: 11.54, ABC: 8.86, CBS: 7.04, CW: 2.05

-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 4.1 rating/11 share, ABC: 3.7/ 9, NBC: 3.6/ 9, CBS: 1.9/ 5, CW: 0.9/ 2

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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:
Deal or No Deal (NBC), The Fiesta Bowl (Fox), Law & Order (NBC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Power of 10 (CBS), Crowned: The Mother of all Beauty Pageants (CW)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
It was a night of split leadership on this first Wednesday of 2008. NBC was the most-watched network with its combination of Deal or No Deal and the 18th season-premiere of Law & Order. And the home of The Fiesta Bowl, Fox, was No. 1 among adults 18-49.

NBC’s Deal or No Deal opened the evening with 12.20 million viewers (#1) and a second-place 3.4 rating/ 9 share among adults 18-49. In the battle of the game shows, Deal or No Deal outdelivered the second season-premiere of CBS’ The Power of 10 (Viewers: #4, 6.71 million; A18-49: #4, 1.7/ 4) by a hefty 5.49 million viewers and 100 percent in the demo.

Leading out of Deal or No Deal was the season-premiere of NBC’s Law & Order at a solid 13.44 million viewers (#1) and a second-place 3.8/10 among adults 18-49 from 9-11 p.m. One year earlier, Law & Order opened the season with 11.07 million viewers and a 3.6/11 in the demo on Friday, Sept. 22, 2006. Comparatively, this was an increase of 2.37 million viewers and six percent among adults 18-49. Congratulations, Dick Wolf…you may actually outlast Gunsmoke after all!

The Fiesta Bowl on Fox (West Virginia vs. Oklahoma) averaged an approximate 11.54 million viewers (#2) and a first-place 4.4/11 among adults 18-49. One year earlier, The Fiesta Bowl (Boise vs. Oklahoma on Monday, Jan. 1, 2007) averaged 13.78 million viewers and a 4.9/13 in the demo. Keep in mind that the results for any live sporting event are always approximate.

ABC’s line-up of the season-premiere of Wife Swap (Viewers: #3, 8.52 million; A18-49: #3, 3.3/ 8), the season-premiere of Supernanny (Viewers: #3, 8.92 million; A18-49: #3, 3.7/ 9) and another episode of Supernanny (Viewers: #3, 9.13 million; A18-49: #2, 4.0/11) finished third overall for the evening in total viewers and second among adults 18-49. Never underestimate these non-scripted hours in the demo. Fourth overall was CBS’ combination of the second season-premiere of the aforementioned Power of 10 (Viewers: #4, 6.71 million; A18-49: #4, 1.7/ 4), a repeat of Criminal Minds (Viewers: #4, 7.86 million; A18-49: #4, 2.1/ 5) and a repeat of CSI: NY (Viewers: #4, 6.54 million; A18-49: #4, 1.8/ 5).

Capping off the evening was the CW’s inane Crowned: The Mother of all Beauty Pageants (Viewers: #5, 1.93 million; A18-49: #5, 0.9/ 2) and Gossip Girl (Viewers: #5, 2.18 million; A18-49: #5, 1.0/ 2). Although 2.18 million viewers is nothing to boast about, growth of 250,000 viewers and 11 percent in the demo out of Crowned is worth noting. And that keeps Gossip Girl off the listing of losers this week.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
Although 2.18 million viewers is nothing to boast about, growth of 250,000 viewers and 11 percent in the demo out of Crowned is worth noting. And that keeps Gossip Girl off the listing of losers this week.

Maybe more shows should seek out weak lead-ins so that they can get off of your loser list?

A superb demo performance for ABC...at last a night of the week where the Alphabet does not trail poorly.

And a nice return for Law & Order. And nice to see Gossip Girl grow out of Crowned too.

CBS has reason to be very, very concerned as over the past few nights, its vaunted encores (NCIS excepted) are not showing any demo strength when programmed against originals.

Does anyone have an overnight number for the preem of "Whacked Out Videos" at 8-9 pm on MyNetworkTV last night?

quote:

ABC’s line-up of the season-premiere of Wife Swap (Viewers: #3, 8.52 million; A18-49: #3, 3.3/ 8), the season-premiere of Supernanny (Viewers: #3, 8.92 million; A18-49: #3, 3.7/ 9) and another episode of Supernanny (Viewers: #3, 9.13 million; A18-49: #2, 4.0/11) finished third overall for the evening in total viewers and second among adults 18-49.

For the sake of Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money , I wish Wife Swap and Supernanny hadn't premiered as strong.

CBS is definitely getting hurt by the strike and only really having 1 or 2 unscripted series that do well in ratings isn't helping matters.

I don't usually get into the who should be a winner or a loser, but shouldn't Supernanny be a winner for winning its timeslot in the demo (besides the Sugar Bowl)?

Solid result for Law & Order, but it skewed older than its season premiere result last year.

As I posted in the TUESDAY thread the next airing of POWER of 10 will give a better idea of whether it was a SUMMER fad that does not hold up well this time of the year.

Will it be airing multiple times a week the way DEAL or NO DEAL is "stripped" by NBC?

quote:

For the sake of Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money , I wish Wife Swap and Supernanny hadn't premiered as strong.

For the sake of scripted television, I wish the same.

But overbudgeted underperforming shows like PD are doing far more harm to scripted TV than reality crap, so it balances out.

quote:

Originally posted by TAYLORJNG:
Solid result for Law & Order, but it skewed older than its season premiere result last year.

Please explain what you mean when you claim that L&O skewed older this year. If L&O had 50 million viewers and a 4.0 18-49 rating would you deem it even worse?

Half-hours on L&O, Marc? Thanks!

I like the cast changes so far on the Mothership, and already the show seems a little grittier and old school than in the last couple, sensationalized seasons. Will be interesting to see what happens when CSI:NY is original next week.

Putting Power of 10 up against Deal was a pretty bad move. It could probably find a consistent 8-9 million if it weren't up against the biggest game show on TV.

quote:

Originally posted by dumont:
A superb demo performance for ABC...at last a night of the week where the Alphabet does not trail poorly.

And a nice return for Law & Order. And nice to see Gossip Girl grow out of Crowned too.

CBS has reason to be very, very concerned as over the past few nights, its vaunted encores (NCIS excepted) are not showing any demo strength when programmed against originals.

Does anyone have an overnight number for the preem of "Whacked Out Videos" at 8-9 pm on MyNetworkTV last night?

Yes, as mentioned previously, while NBC, ABC, and FOX stockpiled original content in case of a strike, CBS did nothing because they thought their shows repeat so well. But their crime dramas were already losing steam in the fall with original episodes. CBS will be looking at last place.

quote:

Originally posted by pisher:

quote:

For the sake of Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money , I wish Wife Swap and Supernanny hadn't premiered as strong.

For the sake of scripted television, I wish the same.

But overbudgeted underperforming shows like PD are doing far more harm to scripted TV than reality crap, so it balances out.

Me too. At least some work is put into making PD. These reality shows are the worst thing now on television

quote:

Originally posted by A.C.:
As I posted in the TUESDAY thread the next airing of POWER of 10 will give a better idea of whether it was a SUMMER fad that does not hold up well this time of the year.

Will it be airing multiple times a week the way DEAL or NO DEAL is "stripped" by NBC?

Why should the next episode of Power of 10 be any different than yesterday's? If anything you would expect it to drop. It will have the same competition, except for football on FOX. But the football on FOX had no impact on Deal or No Deal, so I don't think it had any impact on Power of 10 either.

The demo numbers for Power of 10 are downright ugly.

quote:

Originally posted by Obveeus:

quote:

Originally posted by TAYLORJNG:
Solid result for Law & Order, but it skewed older than its season premiere result last year.

Please explain what you mean when you claim that L&O skewed older this year. If L&O had 50 million viewers and a 4.0 18-49 rating would you deem it even worse?

From MediaLifeMagazine:

“Law & Order” got off to a stronger start in its 18th year than its 17th. The long-running NBC drama saw year-to-year increases in both total viewers and adults 18-49 for its season premiere last night, despite facing strong competition from Fox’s Fiesta Bowl coverage.

“Law” averaged a 3.8 18-49 rating for its two-hour episode starting at 9 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, up 6 percent over a 3.6 for its 17th season premiere in fall of 2006.

I'm not surprised Law and Order premiered big. As I said before, I have a feeling that in Fall '08 NBC will be programming all three Law and Order shows on the schedule. It just works for them.

2.18 million for the season finale of Gossip Girl? It should have done more than that. Disappointing to say the least. Crowned shouldn't even be airing.

I agree with the people who said that the Power of 10 is a summer show. Not only that, it's a thin premise that gets old fast. So the ratings aren't that shocking.

Supernanny and Wife Swap premiered better than I expected. At this rate, if they keep their numbers, they should be added to the fall lineup.