Well, folks, I'm floored! Based on the overnights, CBS' Jericho held up, holding most of its debut audience. ABC's Dancing With the Stars, of course, won the 8 p.m. hour. Are you as surprised as I am about Jericho?

Elsewhere, NBC's Kidnapped fell off the map, sinking to a 4.8/ 8 in the overnigths at 10 p.m. Lead-in The Biggest Loser (two-hours) was also weak at a 4.8/ 7. CBS' Criminal Minds (11.4/17) and CSI: NY (11.2/18) continue to rule from 9-11 p.m.

I think Jericho is a good series, and believe it has the potential to survive this season anyway.

I think I read they filmed 6 episodes of Jerico, at what point will/would CBS order more episodes?

Right now! But I am pretty certain that CBS ordered 13 episodes.

I've known to be wrong from time to time

I'm not entirely surprised, I myself like the show too and its different enough to grasp an audience, I'm just glad to see CBS launching something successful that doesn't involve an investigation. It sort of has this interesting mix that they still need to balance out though, it's one part small town relationships/ one part post-apocolipctic(sp?) thriller/ one part mystery(like lost) Yet the msytery angle I think could work better, I feel like they've avoided making the audience to curious so that it wouldn't over power the relationship angle. An example of that would be this week's finale where the one charachter is popping in pins on all the cities yet it's like a soft easy going song on the track, instead something you'd find in lost with some brooding intensity.

I think next week looks interesting too, where they start to scout out and see whats been happening with the rest of the country.

When did Criminal Minds start to become a breakout hit? I remember at first it seemed like I was one of the few who watched it.

And Marc, I think you owe Jericho an apology. :-)

I do not understand how Jericho help up... and grew its audience at 8:30!? Must be a halo effect (agree with wnyxmcneal's question... when did Criminal Minds become a breakout hit?) I'm shocked and appauled because, no matter what the ratings say, Jericho was just really, really bad.

Also: anyone notice Justice's ratings? It jumped about a point from last week. How'd that happen?

Here are the results from last night:

Prime-Time Wednesday Ratings:
CBS Wins; ABC a Solid #2

Wednesday 9/27/06
Metered Market Ratings

HH
Rtg/Shr
CBS 10.0/15
ABC 9.6/15
Fox 5.4/ 8
NBC 4.8/ 7
CW 3.9/ 6

-Percent Change From the Comparable Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday 9/28/05):
The CW is compared to UPN’s America’s Next Top Model and Veronica Mars on the year-ago-evening.

CBS: +32, CW: +15, Fox: + 8, ABC: - 6, NBC: -38

---------------

Fast National Ratings

-Total Viewers:
CBS: 14.64 million, ABC: 12.80, Fox: 6.89, NBC: 6.79, CW: 3.56

-Adults 18-49:
CBS: 4.5 rating/13 share, ABC: 4.2/11, NBC: 2.6/ 7, Fox: 2.5/ 7, CW: 2.1/ 6

---------------

-Yesterday’s Winners:
Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Jericho (CBS), America’s Next Top Model (CW), Bones (Fox)
Criminal Minds (CBS), CSI: NY (CBS), 20/20 (ABC)

-Don’t Rule Out:
Justice (Fox)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Kidnapped (NBC)

---------------

-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS won its second consecutive Wednesday in the overnights, total viewers and adults 18-49, with the biggest surprise the solid retention for week two of drama Jericho. ABC ranked second, Fox was on the map courtesy of Bones and Justice, but NBC’s combination of The Biggest Loser and Kidnapped lagged. The CW’s America’s Next Top Model remained a force to reckon with, while the season-premiere of former WB serial One Tree Hill was up slightly from one year earlier. Worth noting for ABC was a first-place finish among women 18-49, women 18-34, teens 12-17 and kids 2-11. The CW, meanwhile, was tied with ABC for No. 1 among women 18-34 from 8-10 p.m.

As expected, the live Dancing With the Stars results show danced to victory on ABC, with a healthy 11.4/18 in the overnights, 15.61 million viewers and a 4.0/12 among adults 18-49 at 8 p.m. So long, Harry Hamlin! But the big shock in the hour (at least from my perspective) was another solid second-place finish for CBS’ Jericho, with a 7.3/12 in the overnights, 11.38 million viewers and a 3.6/11 among adults 18-49. Comparably, that was an improvement over former occupants sitcoms Still Standing and Yes, Dear on the year-ago evening (Overnights: 5.7/ 9; Viewers: 8.66 million; A18-49: 2.8/ 8 on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005) of a hefty 28 percent in the overnights, 2.72 million viewers and 29 percent among adults 18-49. Although most new series drop in the vicinity of 15 percent in week two, Jericho actually built by 6 percent among adults 18-49 from one week earlier. Who knew!

As a reminder, total viewers and adults 18-49 from last night are based on the fast nationals. Any prior results are based on the final nationals.

Also at 8 p.m. was Fox’s Bones at a comfortable (and third-place) 5.7/ 9 in the overnights, 7.73 million viewers and a 2.7/ 8 among adults 18-49, and week two of CW hit America’s Next Top Model at a healthy 4.7/ 7 in the overnights (#4), 4.80 million viewers (#5) and a 2.4/ 7 among adults 18-49 (#4t). Top Model’s real strength, of course, is among younger viewers with first-place finish in the hour among adults 18-34 (2.9/10) and women 18-34 (4.1/13).

On NBC, another two-hour edition of The Biggest Loser disappointed at an overall 4.8/ 7 in the overnights (#4), 7.03 million viewers (#4) and a 2.9/ 8 among adults 18-49 (#4) from 8-10 p.m. But the one saving grace for The Biggest Loser was growth in every half-hour (A18-49 – 8 p.m.: 2.3/ 7, 8:30 p.m.: 2.5/ 7, 9 p.m.: 3.2/ 8, 9:30 p.m.: 3.5/ 9).

At 9 p.m., and without an official original episode of ABC’s competing Lost, CBS’ Criminal Minds remained a force to reckon with at a dominant 11.4/17 in the overnights, 16.46 million viewers and a 4.8/13 among adults 18-49. A clips edition of Lost (which leads into the third season-premiere next Wednesday) was second at a 7.0/10 in the overnights, 9.45 million viewers and a 3.4/ 9 among adults 18-49 (#2t). Considering that ABC is only airing six episodes of Lost before it goes on a three month-hiatus, waiting another week for the season-opener is truly grating. (What do you think? www.pifeedback.com).
Over at Fox, week five of legal drama Justice showed some growth, with a fourth-place 5.1/ 8 in the overnights, 7.08 million viewers and a 2.6/ 7 among adults 18-49 at 9 p.m. Comparably, retention out of Bones was a solid 89 percent in the overnights, 92 percent in total viewers and 96 percent among adults 18-49. In other words, do not rule Justice out by any means.

In season-premiere news, season four of serial One Tree Hill got some mileage out of Top Model, with an improved 3.1/ 5 in the overnights, 3.64 million viewers and a 1.7/ 5 among adults 18-49. Although that is certainly not significant, compared to it’s year-ago season-opener on the WB (Overnights: 2.8/ 4; Viewers: 3.46 million; A18-49: 1.7/ 5 on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m.), it was an increase of 11 percent in the overnights and 180,000 viewers (with no change among adults 18-49). One Tree Hill was also up 3 percent among key women 18-34.

At 10 p.m., CBS’ CSI: NY ruled the roost, with an 11.2/18 in the overnights, 16.08 million viewers and a 5.1/14 among adults 18-49. But a Wednesday edition of ABC’s 20/20 (featuring Barbara Walters interviewing Terri Irwin, the widow of zoologist Steve Irwin) was on the map with a healthy 10.2/16 in the overnights (#2), 13.34 million viewers (#2) and a 5.1/14 among adults 18-49 (#1, tied with CSI: NY). Last, and very least, was week two of NBC dud Kidnapped, which sunk to a mere (and, of course, last place) 4.8/ 8 in the overnights, 6.31 million viewers and a 2.1/ 6 among adults 18-49. Compared to last Wednesday’s already lackluster debut (Overnights: 6.0/10; Viewers: 7.59 million; A18-49: 2.8/ 8 on Sept. 20), that was a decline of a hefty 20 percent in the overnights, 1.28 million viewers and 25 percent among adults 18-49. Start packing, Kidnapped!

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

I am now officially convinced TravisYannan works for ABC… it’s all good there, and all bad everywhere else.
Jericho is a great show and I am proud to say I watch it… clever & leaves a lot to be discovered about the individual characters.
Criminal Minds is not a show I have ever watched but I hear great things about it, however I am equally surprised at the numbers since I don’t ever recall it doing very well.

Hahahah. Nope. Not at ABC. I just enjoy a good comebackstory (and some of their development has been spot-on the last few seasons... but you won't find me rooting for crap like Six Degrees or Help Me Help You to succeed! Heck, I can't even stand Dancing with the Stars, and everyone seems to love that...)

Was last night's Jericho better than the premiere? I just got so bogged down in how depressing it was (and not in an entertaining way).

I agree with TFordinCali. Jericho is a very interesting show, and I thought both the pilot and second episode were very strong. I'm very much looking forward to how they handle the next few episodes, with people leaving Jericho and exploring the surrounding areas. It makes sense, and I always hated it when a show or movie tried to trap the people in the town or house (like in a slasher movie, when people either stay huddled in a house or run from house to house in the same town - uh, if I were being chased by a man with a large knife, I'd hop the nearest plane headed across the nation. That'd put an end to him jumping out of closets at me...) Anyways, it makes logical sense that the residents would want to leave Jericho to see what's going on in the larger cities nearby. I am very pleased with the direction the show is going and shocked that the ratings are strong - full season order, here we come!

Kidnapped Deserves Better, it is a great shown with an incompatable lead-in. I know we can't save every great show, but if you watch Kidnapped and do not think it is a good show, then you do not know what good tv is.

Based on the pilot, I thought Jericho had potential to be a good show - but I am surprised at the ratings it's getting. I wouldn't have expected the general public to go for it. Mr. Berman, shall we start warming up that crow for you?

quote:

Kidnapped Deserves Better, it is a great shown with an incompatable lead-in. I know we can't save every great show, but if you watch Kidnapped and do not think it is a good show, then you do not know what good tv is.

I haven't watched Kidnapped, but what killed any interest in the show to me was that once again, networks have to all rush out and try to copy a show that succeeds (24, Prison Break, Lost), throwing out a bunch of imitations to see if anything sticks. In my mind, that turns everyone off the new shows, since all they see are similar ones across every network's listings. I couldn't believe it when at least three or four new shows debuted (or are debuting) this season with VERY similar premises. I chose not to watch any of them. I realize I may be missing something - Kidnapped may be great - but one good show gets buried in all the wannabes when you have that many similar shows come out at once.