Prime-Time Ratings:
Wednesday 1/21/09

-Total Viewers:
Fox: 19.31 million, CBS: 10.96, ABC: 10.41, NBC: 6.35, CW: 1.09

-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 7.4 rating/18 share, ABC: 4.5/11, CBS: 2.9/ 7, NBC: 1.9/ 5, CW: 0.5/ 1

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
American Idol (Fox), Criminal Minds (CBS), CSI: NY (CBS)

-Down But Far From Out:
Lost (ABC)

-Disappointing:
Lie to Me (Fox)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Knight Rider (NBC), 13: Fear is Real (CW)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Led by American Idol, dominant Fox stood well above the Wednesday competitors, beating the No. 2 network (CBS in total viewers; ABC among adults 18-49) by 8.35 million viewers and 2.9 rating points. NBC finished in the distant fourth-place position, followed by an almost non-existent the CW.

American Idol opened the evening for Fox with 25.43 million viewers and a 9.6 rating/25 share among adults 18-49 from 8-9 p.m. As a benchmark, CBS’ Criminal Minds at 9 p.m. was the second most-watched show of the evening, with 13.86 million. One year earlier, however, Idol scored a heftier 27.07 million viewers and a 10.9/28 in the demo in the hour on Jan. 23, 2008.

In series-premiere news, Fox drama Lie to Me opened with 13.19 million viewers (#2) and a 5.2/13 among adults 18-49 (#1t) from 9-10 p.m. While it was certainly sampled sampled, there are three negative observations to make note of.

1. Retention for Lie to Me out of the second half of lead-in American Idol (Viewers: 26.98 million; A18-49: 10.3/25 at 8:30 p.m.) was only 49 percent in total viewers and 50 percent among adults 18-49.
2. The second half-hour dipped by 3.59 million viewers (14.97 to 11.38 million) and 24 percent among adults 18-49 (5.9/14 to 4.5/11).
3. Non-scripted year-ago occupant Moment of Truth kicked-off with 23.05 million viewers and a 10.2/24 in the demo, based on the final nationals. And that show did not ultimately succeed.

The bottom line: it was a disappointing launch for Lie to Me last night.

CBS finished second overall in total viewers and third among adults 18-49 with its combination of The New Adventures of Old Christine (Viewers: #3, 7.44 million; A18-49: #3, 2.1/ 6), Gary Unmarried (Viewers: #3, 7.07 million; A18-49: #3, 2.2/ 5), the aforementioned Criminal Minds (Viewers: #1, 13.86 million; A18-49: #3, 3.5/ 9) and CSI: NY (Viewers; #1, 11.75 million; A18-49: #2, 3.0/ 8). Keep in mind that the Eye net comedies dipped to third as a result of American Idol and the 8 p.m. Lost clips show.

On that note, 8 p.m. special, Lost: Destiny Calls kicked-off the night for ABC second in both total viewers (8.48 million) and adults 18-49 (3.4/ 9). That led into the two-hour fifth season-premiere of Lost at 11.37 million viewers and a 5.1/13 among adults 18-49 from 9-11 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Lost (ABC) – season premiere
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 11.85 million (#3), A18-49: 5.2/13 (#2)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 11.46 million (#2), A18-49: 5.1/12 (#1)
10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 11.19 million (#2), A18-49: 5.0/12 (#1)
10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 10.98 million (#2), A18-49: 4.9/13 (#1)

While Lost was certainly on the map, one year earlier it launched with a much stronger 16.14 million viewers and a 6.7/17 among adults 18-49 on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 at 9 p.m. ET. Comparably, last night was a loss of 4.77 million viewers and 24 percent in the demo. Personally, I am more confused that ever after watching!

NBC lagged, meanwhile, finishing in the distant No. 4 spot with its line-up of soon-to-depart Knight Rider (Viewers: #4, 4.98 million; A18-49: #4, 1.5/ 4), a repeat of Law & Order: SVU (Viewers: #4, 5.57 million; A18-49: #4, 1.7/ 4) and granddaddy Law & Order (Viewers: #3, 8.49 million; A18-49: #3, 2.5/ 7). While Law & Order did build from the second half of the SVU encore (Viewers: 5.83 million; A18-49: 1.8/ 4 at 9:30 p.m.) by 2.66 million viewers and 39 percent in the demo, let’s be honest: the ratings are certainly not what they used to be.

Lowly the CW capped off the evening with reality/competition 13: Fear is Real (Viewers: 1.36 million; A18-49: 0.6/ 2) and a repeat of 90210 (Viewers: 819,000; A18-49: 0.4/ 1), which of course finished a distant last in each half-hour. No…the ratings don’t get much lower than that.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

What did everyone think of Lost last night?

Okay the fast nationals for LOST are much better then what the overnights looked. I think Lost will ultimately settle into Heroes-like numbers for regular episodes. The ratings are up from last year's finale (atleast in the demo). Thankfully the producers have not dumbed down the show for the masses. The first hour of the finale was some very good science fiction story telling and that is probably the reasons for the drops. After all anyone who has not paid proper attention to the previous seasons would have had not idea idea of what's going on the first 15 minutes of the show with Candle/Chang.

Not sure what to make of the decline of viewers over the 2hr premiere of LOST. A loss of nearly 1 milion viewers is never a good thing.

Any thoughts on how it will do next week?

LIE TO ME was a really good show, in my opinion, and I will continue to watch. I think the ratings will improve by word of mouth.

The casting of Tim Roth and Kelli Williams is very good and I like the premise of the show.

He Marc,

We have a major Spammer on the Dirty Sexy Money thread.

I agree, "LOST" was definitely more confusing than ever. Loved it! Unfortunately I don't know how that's going to bode with the more casual viewers.

As for the premiere, honestly one of the best ever! Action packed, revealing, nostalgic (Ana Lucia!) and hilarious!

I'm already itching to see next week's episode.

I personally LOVED Lost last night but even as a big fan, I found it hard to follow, and I watched the entire 4th season on DVD beforehand. You basically had to with all the storylines going on at the same time.

I can totally see why Lost is going down in viewers. Its NOT going to be picking up any casual viewers with such a complex storyline, getting more complex each season that passes, and alot of people will throw up their hands in frustration without a storyline with a neatly tied bow, like CSI.

I think that ABC made a mistake airing two new episodes. It was incredibly intense!

Favorite part of the show: Kickass Sun! Jin better be alive!

Gary Unmarried is really starting to lose steam. It was building a little bit on Old Christine earlier in the season now it loses viewers every week, and the .1 demo increase is almost like losing demo considering the higher rated 830 time slot. I suppose Christine looks a little better, while Gary is looking a little worse.

quote:

Originally posted by asiancolossus:
Favorite part of the show: Kickass Sun! Jin better be alive!

Agreed about that. They have made the most boring character on the show into a badass. I was initially disappointed that Sun was one of the O6, though that she was a waste of a spot, but her storyline is intriguing this season.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:

In series-premiere news, Fox drama Lie to Me opened with 13.19 million viewers (#2) and a 5.2/13 among adults 18-49 (#1t) from 9-10 p.m. While it was certainly sampled sampled, there are three negative observations to make note of.

1. Retention for Lie to Me out of the second half of lead-in American Idol (Viewers: 26.98 million; A18-49: 10.3/25 at 8:30 p.m.) was only 49 percent in total viewers and 50 percent among adults 18-49.
2. The second half-hour dipped by 3.59 million viewers (14.97 to 11.38 million) and 24 percent among adults 18-49 (5.9/14 to 4.5/11).
3. Non-scripted year-ago occupant Moment of Truth kicked-off with 23.05 million viewers and a 10.2/24 in the demo, based on the final nationals. And that show did not ultimately succeed.

The bottom line: it was a disappointing launch for Lie to Me last night.

The bottom line: it was a disappointing launch for Lie to Me last night.

Bad numbers for Lie to me, to go from 14.97m and demo 5.9 to 11.38m to 4.5. looks like FOX decision to move Lie to me at 8h00 is a good decision. As far as I am concern that show is nothing more than the mentalist without the humour. Of the two I much prefer the mentalist and that says alot since i don't like the mentalist.

quote:

CBS finished second overall in total viewers and third among adults 18-49 with its combination of The New Adventures of Old Christine (Viewers: #3, 7.44 million; A18-49: #3, 2.1/ 6), Gary Unmarried (Viewers: #3, 7.07 million; A18-49: #3, 2.2/ 5), the aforementioned Criminal Minds (Viewers: #1, 13.86 million; A18-49: #3, 3.5/ 9) and CSI: NY (Viewers; #1, 11.75 million; A18-49: #2, 3.0/ 8). Keep in mind that the Eye net comedies dipped to third as a result of American Idol and the 8 p.m. Lost clips show.

CBS did as usual except for CSI:NY who took a hit against Lost.

Criminal Minds did well considering that it did have some competition yesterday.

quote:

On that note, 8 p.m. special, Lost: Destiny Calls kicked-off the night for ABC second in both total viewers (8.48 million) and adults 18-49 (3.4/ 9). That led into the two-hour fifth season-premiere of Lost at 11.37 million viewers and a 5.1/13 among adults 18-49 from 9-11 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Lost (ABC) – season premiere
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 11.85 million (#3), A18-49: 5.2/13 (#2)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 11.46 million (#2), A18-49: 5.1/12 (#1)
10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 11.19 million (#2), A18-49: 5.0/12 (#1)
10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 10.98 million (#2), A18-49: 4.9/13 (#1)

not good, going down every half hour.

quote:

Originally posted by TV-aholic:
Not sure what to make of the decline of viewers over the 2hr premiere of LOST. A loss of nearly 1 milion viewers is never a good thing.

Any thoughts on how it will do next week?

It should do better since Criminal Minds will be in rerun for the next two weeks.

quote:

Originally posted by SayWhat12:
I agree, "LOST" was definitely more confusing than ever. Loved it! Unfortunately I don't know how that's going to bode with the more casual viewers.

As for the premiere, honestly one of the best ever! Action packed, revealing, nostalgic (Ana Lucia!) and hilarious!

I'm already itching to see next week's episode.

To be honest, I don't think the producers or ABC are worried about the 'casual viewer'. The show is winding down and there is a core audience and a strong demo following. Now only 32 episodes left.

Took care of it. Thanks for the heads up.

quote:

Originally posted by TV-aholic:
He Marc,

We have a major Spammer on the Dirty Sexy Money thread.

quote:

Originally posted by DEMOS:

quote:

Originally posted by TV-aholic:
Not sure what to make of the decline of viewers over the 2hr premiere of LOST. A loss of nearly 1 milion viewers is never a good thing.

Any thoughts on how it will do next week?

It should do better since Criminal Minds will be in rerun for the next two weeks.

It won't