-Adults 18-49: CBS: 2.0 rating/7 share, ABC: 1.7/ 6, Fox and CW: 1.2/ 4 each, NBC: 1.0/ 4
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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.
-Ratings Breakdown: A night of season/series enders on CBS kept the network in the Friday winner’s circle. But an overall performance of just 8.55 million viewers and a mere 2.0 rating/7 share among adults 18-49 in primetime is, no doubt, a concern for the future of the evening. Will Friday become the next Saturday?
Ghost Whisperer closed the season on CBS with a first-place 8.36 million viewers and a 2.0/ 8 among adults 18-49 from 8-9 p.m. That led into the series-finale of Moonlight at 9 p.m. (Viewers: #2, 7.56 million; A18-49: #2, 1.8/ 6), followed by the season-finale of Numb3rs at a dominant 9.73 million viewers and a 2.3/ 7 in demo. Comparably, Numb3rs was the highest rated show of the evening. Next fall, look for new dramedy The Ex List out of Ghost Whisperer and into Numb3rs.
Second-place ABC opened the evening with the two-hour season-finale of America’s Funniest Home Videos at 6.80 million viewers (#2) and a 1.7/ 6 among adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m. Comparably, that was considerably below its demographic performance in the regularly scheduled Sunday 7 p.m. hour. Veteran 20/20 capped off the evening with an also second-place finish in both total viewers (6.21 million) and adults 18-49 (1.9/ 6) at 10 p.m. Look for relocated Wife Swap and Supernanny into 20/20 on ABC next fall.
Friday Night Smackdown! on the CW was close to recent levels, with 4.02 million viewers (#3) and a 1.2/ 4 among adults 18-49 (#3t) from 8-10 p.m. But a two-hour repeat of American Gladiators on NBC tanked at just 2.51 million viewers (#5) and a 0.9/ 3 among adults 18-49 (#5), leading into Dateline at a mere (and last-place) 4.27 million viewers and a 1.4/ 4 in the demo at 10 p.m. The CW will have its work cut out of it on Friday next fall without Smackdown!, and with sitcoms Everybody Hates Chris and The Game and a repeat of America’s Next Top Model. NBC is more ambitious with new drama Crusoe at 8 p.m., followed by Deal or No Deal and the returning Life.
Fox also hit the skids with a repeat of theatrical Dogdeball: A True Underdog Story at 2.84 million viewers (#5) and a 1.2/ 4 among adults 18-49 (#3t) from 8-10 p.m. But moving current non-scripted Thursday occupants Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and Don’t Forget the Lyrics to the night next season is a smart, and competitive move.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Marc Berman,
FOX Gets Poised to Win A18-49 for Fifth Time in May Sweep, CBS Winning Households & Viewers, and ABC Coming Up Second in Everything
After 23 days of the 2008 May Sweep, FOX looks to a be a cinch to win A18-49, with a 0.42 demo lead over second place ABC, with CBS in third and NBC trailing badly in fourth with a 1.95 average. The CW’s 1.07 is in fifth, while MyNetworkTV is sixth with a 0.46 average. The biggest shift from last years sweep is that Monday nights have changed over from being an ABC night to FOX dominance with the move of House to Mondays at 9 pm.
Meanwhile, CBS continues to be the most popular network in households and viewership with ABC in second, FOX following in third and NBC lagging far behind in fourth. The CW is fifth in both measures, at levels that are roughly double that of MNT.
In year-over-year comparisons, the six network total is down year-over-year in A18-49 demo, HUT and viewership: the six nets are down 14% in A18-49, down 10% in households and down 10% in viewership. The worst performer networks year-over-year are NBC and The CW. NBC is down 20% in A18-49, down 15% in households and down 15% in viewership, while over at The CW they are down 18% in A18-49, down 17% in households and down 18% in viewers. The best performer on a year-over-year measure is MyNetworkTV: up 26% in A18-49, up 21% in households and up 26% in viewers. Whereas a year ago, MNT was trending at about one-third of CW levels, this May it is trending in the one-half range.
nights nights
demo web demo demo % won won
Rank web 2008 2007 chg 2008 2007
1 FOX 3.39 3.78 -10% 12 7
2 ABC 2.97 3.50 -15% 7 12
3 CBS 2.70 3.17 -15% 5 4
4 NBC 1.95 2.44 -20% 1
5 CW 1.07 1.31 -18%
6 MNT 0.46 0.36 26%
total 12.54 14.56 -14% 24 24
nights nights
HH web HH HH HH won won
rank web 2008 2007 chg 2008 2007
1 CBS 6.6 7.3 -10% 9 12
2 ABC 6.1 6.7 -9% 6 6
3 FOX 5.6 6.0 -7% 8 6
4 NBC 4.1 4.8 -15%
5 CW 1.7 2.1 -17%
6 MNT 0.8 0.7 21%
total 24.8 27.5 -10% 23 24
nights nights
viewers web viewers viewers viewers won won
rank web 2008 2007 chg 2008 2007
1 CBS 10.272 11.332 -9% 9 12
2 ABC 9.285 10.206 -9% 5 5
3 FOX 9.128 9.802 -7% 9 6
4 NBC 6.129 7.222 -15%
5 CW 2.649 3.218 -18%
6 MNT 1.205 0.954 26%
total 38.67 42.733 -10% 23 23
This years and last years numbers are based upon final Nielsen numbers except for last night which are FAST National numbers.
Is that a series low for Ghost Whisperer? I don't remember an original scoring a 2.0 in the demo.
As for Ex List, it really is in a tough spot. Ghost Whisperer's ratings are declining so it has a diminished lead in and I don't see it being as compatible as Moonlight. If Moonlight got cancelled for poor ratings, it doesn't look good for Ex List. The Unit will be doing their originals Friday at 9 by November.
American Gladiators is losing its appeal and fast. The problem is the show isn't doing much to engage their viewers and keep them around. I know I am losing interest in the show.
FOX is so smart moving their game shows on Friday. I really think they could be the new Friday leader next fall. NBC will do better with Deal or No Deal on Friday.
I think GW will be fine next fall. It's very hard to judge anything and make predictions in a strike season. Really, many people didn't like the fact the flow of their favorite shows were interrupted and didn't bother coming back once the strike was over.
I'd rather take a "wait and see" approach before declaring the Ex List doomed.
Posts: 39 | Location: USA | Registered: 26 April 2008
How compatible was Close to Home with Ghost Whisperer? And it often drew more viewers than GW. That's the bottomline for me with the ML situation. It shouldn't even really just be holding on to its lead. It should be building on it. Truthfully, I think almost anything they put in that timeslot will either do about the same mediocre numbers, or it will take off on its own and actually grow the night, which anything in that 9:00 timeslot is supposed to do. I don't see anything they put there doing worse than Moonlight. The timeslot is too protected.
Interesting. Last year at the upfronts they've announced the canceletion of C2H and the following friday the last episode was seen by almost 11.5 million a big jump from the average of 10 million they usually got. This time the series finale for Moonlight goes down from the average. What's the conclusion?
I'm amazed by the horrible numbers for AG and Dodgeball
Originally posted by phaedre: I was hoping to see Moonlight go out with a bang. Shame more folks didn't watch what was by far the best episode of the series.
GW had better improve next year or it'll go the same way. That's certainly a season low and below that of the highest Moonlight eps.
The ratings glow of AG dimmed pretty quickly, didn't it?
I was hoping as well, but I guess the general decline impacted Moonlight as well. Last night's ep was a significant improvement over the last three eps, that's for sure, but I wouldn't crown it as the "best episode in the series". Definitely not over Fever (1x04) or Love Lasts Forever (1x11).
Ghost Whisperer drop is predictable since it has done the same thing for 3 straight seasons. Solid fall-winter bounce-spring decline. Looking at the household ratings and shares at zap2it, Ghost Whisperer had an 11 household share, right at season average for new episodes, and the same as Numbers last night. The 8 share in 18-49 is a tenth off of normal, but again, higher than Numb3rs 7 share was last night. The only difference is there are fewer people actually sitting home watching tv on a mid-May Friday night, especially at 8PM. As long as the relative household share remains, as it has, I suspect it'll go back up in the fall like it has the past two seasons.
Of course, the trends being what they are, it's hard to see more than 2 more seasons of scripted on this night. I'm hoping, that the other networks at least trying again next season will breathe some life into it, like happened in 05-06. The night was on the decline the previous couple of years and then not only did CBS have the GW-C2H-Numbers combo, but NBC was getting good ratings from DOND and Las Vegas and ABC stuck Dancing with the Stars on the night and got very good ratings. 3 networks with shows that often got past 11 million on Friday just a few years ago. Now, the shows next season aren't as strong, but they do have their appeal, so I'm hoping that it'll help change the perception of the night again, to at least stop the bleeding.
The new show for CBS on fridays. The Ex-List looks like crap. It looks so freaking boring and uninteresting. i am almost possible Moonlight would have helped CBS more next season then this so called EX-list
Originally posted by Mredman: The new show for CBS on fridays. The Ex-List looks like crap. It looks so freaking boring and uninteresting. i am almost possible Moonlight would have helped CBS more next season then this so called EX-list
You never know. You could be right. I mean, CBS obviously made a mistake in getting rid of Close to Home and putting Moonlight on the schedule. Maybe it'll get even worse when they try another new show.
