This is BlueLick's very BIG full column for Thursday 3/5/09
The Last Night Before March Sweeps Saw Canceled Knight Rider Improve Even More Against Idol.
They Are Our Rising Up and Coming Female Stars on TV of March/April Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, FOX, FRI), Missy Peregrym (Reaper, CW, TUE), Linda Cardinelli (ER, NBC, THU 4/2) Beatfreakz Maryss (ABDC, MTV, THU 3/5), Amber Tamblyn (TU, ABC, WED 4/8) Rashida Jones (Parks & Recreation, NBC, THU 4/9), Mickie James (WWE Wrestlemania 25, USA/PPV, SUN 4/5) Molly C. Quinn (Castle, ABC, MON 3/9), Holly Madison (DWtS, ABC, MON 3/9), Stana Katic (Castle, ABC, MON) Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, FOX, FRI), Missy Peregrym (Reaper, CW, TUE), Linda Cardinelli (ER, NBC, THU 4/2) Beatfreakz Maryss (ABDC, MTV, THU 3/5), Amber Tamblyn (TU, ABC, WED 4/8) Rashida Jones (Parks & Recreation, NBC, THU 4/9), Mickie James (WWE Wrestlemania 25, USA/PPV, SUN 4/5) Molly C. Quinn (Castle, ABC, MON 3/9), Holly Madison (DWtS, ABC, MON 3/9), Stana Katic (Castle, ABC, MON)
Let me start off by saying that its not that impossible to program against Idol if you find the right program. Sure you may lose some viewers but we've seen a lot of shows unaffected by Idol especially NCIS, Criminal Minds, Knight Rider, Christine, Gary, Dancing With the Stars, The Mentalist, and some other that I can't think of right now.
America's Most Watched Network CBS since 1998 saw some very good replay ratings. Gary is continuing to build off Christine in the demo. Both shows still need extra time to grow their base so that their rerun ratings will be about 7-8 million viewers. Gary hasn't gotten the exposure its needed to ever grow so CBS may have to put it on behind Men during the whole summer after Rules is done. The Tiffany network's dominating 4-year tandem of CM and NY just destroys everything in its way. There's no stopping CM at all and its even single handily destroyed Lie to Me and Life. Two similar procedurals which never should've been put on against it. That was the first mistake FOX and NBC made. CM pretty much beat Lost in my opinion outside of the demo race. That's pretty pathetic when CM nearly beats you in viewers and it was a repeat.
CSI: NY is just a beast and like I said before sometimes not having its whole audience for its original episodes helps it out in reruns. Its actually one of CBS' strongest rerun players when it comes to the demos. A lot of people say its CM dependent when its really not b/c I've seen it air at 8pm with solid ratings on its own. That number for NY was on par with their originals which is pretty scary considering it was a repeat.
I would suggest the other networks outside of CBS and NBC's Law & Order program their procedurals to perform like this. I'll talk about what NBC should do with their procedurals later in the column.
Next up was America's Second Most Watched Network FOX since 2006 thanks to Idol, House, 24, Football, NASCAR, and Family Guy over the years. Idol is falling but still strong. I think if somebody finds a show that can perform over 20 million viewers then that can be the killer of Idol but if not were going to see this show for another 30 years. I would suggest getting Idol on the road during the season in front of packed arenas across the country which could impact the show a little differently in the ratings if people see it as an event. Otherwise its going to continue to fall each season.
Lie to Me being a procedural and having a long absence has completely affected the show's ratings last night. I still think Lie to Me will preform similar to Bones but it will not be a hit like Bones is. Don't worry about Lie to Me folks, same thing goes for Fringe. As long as they have decent lead-ins in their first 2-3 years they'll be fine to find a base like House and 24 has. Both of the shows weren't the hits that they are now without help from Idol and Idol is not the huge ratings ship that it once was to be fair.
Lost is about to have a big series finale event in 2010 and the time is winding down on the show but at least its leaving out on top and outlasted Heroes. I remember back 2007 when people were talking about they moved to Heroes from Lost and look who lasted longer folks. This is a lesson that you should stick with your shows even during the down times and something better may happen and there's a perfect example below this paragraph on Knight Rider.
Those who stuck with KR are being awarded with a better show and improving ratings but unfortunately NBC may pull the plug on it. KR was the best of the rest during the 8pm hour against heavyweight Idol. KR seems to be getting very close to Chuck levels every week ever since they turned that show around. So it will basically make no sense to renew one over the other at this point. NBC should find a way to keep KR around next season like they did with Friday Night Lights which was getting worse ratings than KR did. KR has had no lead-in all season long and has maintain solid viewership against Idol. Actually its been growing against Idol. I think NBC should keep KR around on Fridays or Saturdays next season for a mid-season pickup.
If NBC is successful with Kings and Southland then NBC should just move both to Monday Nights or attach Southland with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I guarantee you that both shows will perform solidly there since CBS doesn't program procedurals there at 8pm or 9pm on Mondays. Surprised no one has tried this out yet.
NBC SEPTEMBER '09 MON 8-Kings or Law & Order: SVU 9-Southland
ABC APRIL '09 WED 8-The Unusuals (don't leave The Unusuals there at 10pm)
News to ABC too if you're thinking seriously about making Castle or The Unusuals a hit move it anywhere on the schedule where there are no CBS procedurals to go against or it will be canceled like Life on Mars.
THE LIFE ON MARS PROCEDURAL VS PROCEDURAL LESSON I basically call this the Life on Mars. LOM should be a warning to all networks outside of CBS trying to program procedurals. Unless you're Law & Order: SVU do not and I hence the word do not program a crime drama there b/c you will fail like Women's Murder Club, Life, and just recently Life on Mars has. People don't realize there's no room for other procedurals to go against each other now in days where the ratings are falling every year and there's no room for everybody there. Its sad to see LOM end like that but I knew it was over once ABC moved it to Wednesdays. SVU is the only one that can survive b/c its got the strongest build against CBS procedurals. Bones works at 8pm so any other crime drama can.
The Can't Watch Network still exists?
It looks like Tyra's long running model series is the only good thing to report on the network outside of Smallville and Supernatural. ANTM still has an audience there and the ratings improved in the second hour. Let's be honest here though. This show is not the powerhouse that it was on UPN when it was getting 5-7 million viewers regularly. Its that damn CW network for you folks. That network can't get anything right and should be discontinued as soon as possible. I still consider Smallville as the number one show on that network right now and even Smackdown! on a Friday Night is doing slightly better than ANTM considering its on MyNet which doesn't get into everyone's home.
Again Why Hasn't The CW Shut Down Yet?
They Are Our Future Disney Channel Stars At Age 16 of March Selena Gomez (WOWP, ABC/DIS, SUN, 8:30pm), Demi Lovato (Sonny, ABC/DIS, SUN, 8pm)
Disney's Sunday Night Lineup is leading all of television with the most viewers inside of the 9-14 tweens demo. The leader right now is Demi Lovato's new hit series Sonny With a Chance. On Sunday March 1, 2009 all three hit Disney original sitcoms Hannah Montana, Sonny With a Chance, and Wizards of Waverly Place all tied with 4.1 million viewers each.
Originally posted by SayWhat12: ABC hasn't even been promoting "Lost" during its other primetime shows in the past 3 weeks or so. I guess they're using the space to promote their probable upcoming flops.
Why advertise for a show like LOST? If viewers have never seen it, I doubt they would watch now. Plus, ABC has to focus on their new shows for a bit. They need something before Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's Anatomy all die.
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Originally posted by mushu_jj: Ditto. I'd see how things go at 8 here real soon and if they do poorly, put Glee on Wednesdays after Idol in mid-April until the end of the year.
There is some news about "Glee" to report. Fox will air the pilot episode (presumably) on Tuesday, May 19 following "American Idol". The rest of the episodes will air in the fall.
Ironically, the article I originally found this information on mentioned the "success" of "Lie to Me" on Wednesdays for Fox's decision to push "Glee" back to the fall instead of opting for an "Idol"/"Glee" pairing on Wednesdays. Go figure.
I'm sure CW executives are breathing a sigh of relief with those "Top Model" numbers, especially with them holding up compared to the last couple season starts. Personally, I would ditch those "90210" post-"Model" encores for a few weeks and repeat episodes of "Reaper" in an attempt to build interest for that recently returned sophomore series.
In regards to Dumont's idea about fusing "Dallas"/"Knots Landing" (younger) characters into a quasi-spin-off titled "The Ewings", that is not a bad idea. I don't think CBS will necessarily go for it, but not a bad idea nonetheless. If I recall correctly, when CBS aired its first "Dallas" reunion movie (which attempted to tie up the loose ends from the series finale) there was some hints that the network may bring the series back, but base it around the younger generation, if the movie did well. The movie did well (well enough to earn a second reunion movie), but any proposed younger generation spin-off never materialized.
TODAYS GAME: American Idol (Top 12 Revealed) CSI (Guest Starring Taylor Swift) Burn Notice (Season Finale) Americas Best Dance Crew (Season Finale)
Come on everyone there is 16 guesses so far, join in on the fun!
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Originally posted by yankeesrj12: Why advertise for a show like LOST? If viewers have never seen it, I doubt they would watch now.
To lure the fans who might otherwise record into watch it live. Last night was romance heavy. People who watch for romance only usually are fickle.
My guess is like you guys said. They have a lot of mid-season shows they need to promote behind DWtS' premiere.
I've noticed them promoting Lost more during NBA games on Sundays then they do in prime time. I guess they have a target audience of males during the NBA on ABC strip.
Lost is about to end so there's probably no point when they know they have a loyal fan base who know when to watch it. I haven't watched ABC too much in recent months b/c its been rerun city on that network so I have no idea if they are promoting it in prime time. With Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, The Unusuals, Castle, DWtS, and Surviving Suburbia. I will definitely be watching ABC these upcoming weeks. I'm going to watch this season of Lost all in one day or two later on this year after the season is over.
Originally posted by robert: Wow, i guess we oficially only have 3 big networks. NBC's decision to already renew Heroes proves this network won't get very soon out of the barrel in which it has been for the past years. How can you renew already a show that's dropping like a rocket. What will happen if in a month it'll get 2.5 in demos, which is a possibility? Still good for NBC? I would've expected at best a 13 episodes final run. Get this show out of its misery already I cannot wait for next season, with Leno 5 days in primetime and without a true hit on its schedule, NBC might hit a horrific low in its history. Why are these guys still running this network?
And BTW, why is Ostroff srill running CW?
You're missing the point, they're aiming to be the next cable network.
YOu know at first the Lost episode was confusing with the jumping back and forth three years however by the end of the episode it all made lots of sense. And I find it amusing that some people wouldn't expect to be "lost" for awhile on a show clearly labelled "LOst". Ironic isn't it!!!!! What should be interesting is that JAck, Kate and the others are now going from the year 2007 to 1977. This should be interesting. Still the best show on TV and last night's episode was quite compelling. Still has my whole attention with each new episode. I'm enjoying it all.
Originally posted by robert: Wow, i guess we oficially only have 3 big networks. NBC's decision to already renew Heroes proves this network won't get very soon out of the barrel in which it has been for the past years.
Why would NBC cancel one of their highest rated shows? What do they have that brings in more demo viewers than Heroes?
Originally posted by Jay: I'm sure CW executives are breathing a sigh of relief with those "Top Model" numbers, especially with them holding up compared to the last couple season starts.
Comparing the numbers is a bit deceptive, though. Last Fall, ANTM started off in early September when HUT levels were naturally lower than they are this time of year. Even comparing the show with last year's premiere, it would be more logical to compare the first hour last night, not the average for the full two hours.
I am sure that CW is happy to see viewers return, but I don't think it is accurate to suggest that ANTM is growing the way that The Biggest Loser or The Bachelor have grown.
Originally posted by BlueLick: People don't realize there's no room for other procedurals to go against each other now in days where the ratings are falling every year and there's no room for everybody there.
The problem with this advice is that is that the majority of CBS's schedule is littered with procedurals. The only place ABC/NBC would be able to put them are Mon 8-10, Wed 8-9, Thurs 8-9 or Sundays 7-8, 9-10.
For ABC they already have strong programming on Monday and Sunday which they would not want to replace an with an unknown procedural. So for them the only option is 1 time period on Wed/Thurs.
For NBC they would never move Hereos, that would kill it off. THey are holding onto their Thursday comedy block and Sunday is the home to football and Celebrity Apprentice. For them the option is Wed.
Also, this assumes that CBS keeps its Wed comedy and doesn't replace with a new procedural such as the NCIS spinoff.
How do you know it was Knight Riders series finale.
I dont know what Marc has to say about it, but I think its pretty obvious its not coming back.
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Originally posted by robert: Wow, i guess we oficially only have 3 big networks. NBC's decision to already renew Heroes proves this network won't get very soon out of the barrel in which it has been for the past years.
Why would NBC cancel one of their highest rated shows? What do they have that brings in more demo viewers than Heroes?
Heroes is GARGABE and NBC renewing is proof that they are out of touch with what people want to watch (except for OFFICE of course!) - Heroes is such a badly acted, written, produced crap show... - my hope is they renew it - and then perform a 'Lipstick Jungle' destruction of the show on Friday night ..!
Happy for Lost though ..and i don't even watch it ...
WATCH SMALLVILLE ! ... lets see Heroes pull off 9 seasons .. lol..
