-Yesterday’s Winners: 60 Minutes (CBS), The Amazing Race (CBS), Desperate Housewives (ABC), Family Guy (Fox)
-Honorable Mention: Celebrity Apprentice (NBC)
-Yesterday’s Losers: 2009 Miss USA Pageant (NBC)
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-Ratings Breakdown: ABC and CBS shared leadership on this third Sunday in April, with CBS the most-watched network (860,000 viewers ahead of ABC) and ABC No. 1 among adults 18-49. But the Eye net dipped to fourth in the demo. Third overall in both categories was NBC, with the CW fifth.
CBS granddaddy 60 Minutes finished first in the 7 p.m. hour in total viewers, with 11.87 million, but second among adults 18-49, with a 1.8/ 6 in the demo. That led into a very heated edition of just-renewed The Amazing Race at a dominant 10.40 million viewers and a 3.0/ 8 among adults 18-49 -- 58 percent above the 7:30 p.m. portion of 60 Minutes in the demo (1.9/ 6). Original Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for The Courageous Heart of Irene Sendler got some traction in total viewers, with 9.82 million from 9-11 p.m. But the demo rating was only a 1.5/ 4. Take a look at the half-hour breakdown:
The Courageous Heart of Irene Sendler (CBS) 9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 10.24 million (#2), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#4) 9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 9.77 million (#2), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#4) 10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 9.80 million (#2), A18-49: 1.6/ 4 (#3) 10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 9.46 million (#1), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#3)
Unfortunately, these Hallmark titles do not create the kind of buzz they once did.
ABC kicked-off Sundaywith veteran America’s Funniest Home Videos at 7.63 million viewers (#2) and a first-place 2.2/ 7 among adults 18-49 at 7 p.m. Next up was a repeat of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Viewers: #2, 7.56 million; A18-49: #3, 2.2/ 6), followed by the return of original episodes of Desperate Housewives (Viewers: #1, 13.65 million; A18-49: #1, 4.7/11) and Brothers & Sisters (Viewers: #1t, 9.63 million; A18-49: #1t, 3.3/ 9) from 9-11 p.m. After the three week absence, the way Desperate Housewives dealt with the passing of Nicolette Sheridan as vamp Edie was just plain dull. It would have been nice if the writers showed these other dimensions of Edie while she was still “alive.”
NBC started out slow and built as the night progressed with its pairing of The 2009 Miss USA Pageant (Viewers: 4.98 million; A18-49: 1.4/ 4 from 7-9 p.m.), which could very well be the lowest-rated performance for Miss USA in the history of the pageant, and another two-hour installment of guilty pleasure Celebrity Apprentice (Viewers: 8.32 million; A18-49: 3.2/ 8 from 9-11 p.m.), which deserves accolades for the solid growth out of Miss USA and the first-place finish among adults 18-49 at 10:30 p.m. Here are the half-hour breakdowns:
2009 Miss USA Pageant (NBC) 7:00 p.m. – Viewers: 3.73 million (##), A18-49: 1.0/ 3 (#4) 7:30 p.m. – Viewers: 4.11 million (#3), A18-49: 1.1/ 4 (#4) 8:00 p.m. – Viewers: 5.38 million (#4), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#4) 8:30 p.m. – Viewers: 6.71 million (#3), A18-49: 1.9/ 5 (#4)
One year earlier, The Miss USA Pageant averaged 5.66 million viewers and a 1.7/ 5 in the demo, based on the final nationals.
As for Celebrity Apprentice, all I can say is…go Joan Rivers! Yes, she should have been fired last night. But the combination of Joan and coattails riding daughter Melissa makes good reality TV. This is the funniest thing I have seen all season!
In series-premiere news, Fox’s animated Sit Down, Shut Up was far from spectacular, with 5.21 million viewers (#4) and a 2.3/ 6 among adults 18-49 at 8:30 p.m. But retention out of lead-in The Simpsons (Viewers: #3, 6.50 million; A18-49: #1, 3.0/ 9 at 8 p.m.) was respectable at 80 percent in total viewers and 77 percent among adults 18-49. Earlier in the evening on Fox was a repeat of American Dad (Viewers: #4, 2.49 million; A18-49: #3, 1.1/ 4) and an original installment of King of the Hill (Viewers: #4, 3.34 million; A18-49: #3, 1.6/ 5) from 7-8 p.m. And airing from 9-10 p.m. was Family Guy (Viewers: #4, 7.40 million; A18-49: #2, 3.8/ 9), which built by a hefty 2.19 million viewers and 65 percent among adults 18-49 out of Sit Down, Shut Up, and American Dad (Viewers: #4, 5.76 million; A18-49: #3, 3.0/ 7).
Capping off the evening was a repeat of Jericho (Viewers: 609,000; A18-49: 0.2/ 1) and repeat theatrical At First Sight (Viewers: 1.05 million; A18-49: 0.2/ 1) on the CW, which naturally finished last in every half hour.
Originally posted by lopez: That demo for the Hallmark movie is scary.
Those CBS 'made for TV' movies really do soak in the old folks, don't they! King of the Hill only had 1/3rd the number of total viewers, but still beat the CBS movie in the demo.
Given that it still doubles its lead in, I would say Fox simply needs to shore up Sundays at 7pm. The Simpsons in my opinion is still pretty good. Fox simply doesn't do any advertising and the idiotic scheduling of Sunday nights (why is American Dad airing twice!?) hurts the entire evening.
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Originally posted by robert: It won't happen but Simpsons should end. It's kinda sad to see those numbers
Originally posted by Marc Berman: In series-premiere news, Fox’s animated Sit Down, Shut Up was far from spectacular, with 5.21 million viewers (#4) and a 2.3/ 6 among adults 18-49 at 8:30 p.m. But retention out of lead-in The Simpsons (Viewers: #3, 6.50 million; A18-49: #1, 3.0/ 9 at 8 p.m.) was respectable at 80 percent in total viewers and 77 percent among adults 18-49.
Retention was worse than King of the Hill's average and it was an absolutely horrid show. Fox should cut its losses and ship that up to 7pm, air a Simpsons or Family Guy repeat at 7:30 and give King of the Hill a real ending at 8:30.
Wow. Not even Edie's death could drum up ratings for DH - against weak competition, no less. Scary to think what the next dropping point will be. Second lowest in viewers and demo. (at least prelim.)
It won't happen but Simpsons should end. It's kinda sad to see those numbers
Why? If they're making money, and people are still enjoying it, why end it? I still enjoy the show, but simply don't worry about missing it--I caught last night's ep, and it was a decent half hour of entertainment--better than most other scripted comedies.
It's repetitive, sure--but by that standard, a whole lot of other shows need to be canceled too.
The Simpsons can't be judged purely by first-run ratings. It's not like other shows. It's an institution, and the huge response to the movie (which recycled a whole lot of past ideas) shows how much people still love it.
Mark my words, if FOX canceled it now, there'd be a lot of people protesting that decision.
And what are they going to replace it with? If Sit Down Shut Up (GOOD title, FOX) is any indication of how successful FOX will be at replacing its animated sitcoms. I was tired of SDSU after about 30 seconds. That's being kind.
I do think they were right to cancel KOTH, because that's a more realistic show, and it was pushing credibility to have it just go on endlessly--The Simpsons was openly thumbing its nose at continuity issues a few seasons in. If KOTH wanted to run indefinitely, it should have gone the Gasoline Alley route, and had the characters age normally.
Even so, KOTH at its worst was a hundred times better than SDSU will ever be. One has to ask--after all these years of successful animated comedies from Matt Groening, Seth McFarlane, and Mike Judge, is there NOBODY out there in animationland who can do a better job than SDSU?
C'mon, FOX--steal somebody from Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. Or geez, get the people who do those Esurance commercials. ANYTHING would be better than this!
This is such an anachronism in this day and age. This type of made-for-TV market was long ago overtaken by cable channels like Lifetime. Hallmark even has its own cable channel doesn't it? With the very odd exception, there hasn't been an audience for programs like this on networks for years. But someone forgot to tell Hallmark's marketing department.
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Originally posted by Obveeus:
quote:
Originally posted by lopez: That demo for the Hallmark movie is scary.
Those CBS 'made for TV' movies really do soak in the old folks, don't they! King of the Hill only had 1/3rd the number of total viewers, but still beat the CBS movie in the demo.
Posts: 1664 | Location: Great White North | Registered: 10 November 2006
It's only sad if you are comparing its numbers now to those it was getting in the 90s. No show would look good by that comparsion. Of course, not many programs live long enough to compare ratings decade of decade. Its also a meaningless comparison. BY TODAY'S network reality, which is all that matters, a 3 demo is still good. I don't know of any network that would get rid of a show with a 3 demo. The bar for success for shows on netowrks is lowered every year. And The Simpsons continues to exceed that bar with relative ease.
quote:
Originally posted by robert: It won't happen but Simpsons should end. It's kinda sad to see those numbers
Posts: 1664 | Location: Great White North | Registered: 10 November 2006
If CBS makes the same mistake they made 2 years ago and only renews TAR for one cycle (WHich it just did) and not 2, I am going to throw something at my tv.
It is consistently the strongest demo performer for CBS on Sundays (minus sports overruns). In the 18-34 demo, in the 18-49 and even the 25-54 demo.
