Prime-Time Ratings:
Wednesday 11/19/08

-Total Viewers:
CBS: 12.83 million, Fox: 8.23, NBC: 6.01, ABC: 5.88, CW: 3.48

-Adults 18-49:
CBS: 3.5 rating/10 share, Fox: 2.6/ 7, ABC: 2.0/ 5, NBC: 1.8/ 5, CW: 1.7/ 4

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

-Honorable Mention:
The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS), Gary Unmarried (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Pushing Daisies (ABC), Knight Rider (NBC), Life (NBC), Stylista (CW), Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led this third Wednesday of the Nov. 2008 sweeps, with a first-place finish in both total viewers and adults 18-49. Fox finished a distant second, while lagging ABC and NBC shared the No. 3 and 4 spots. Last was the CW, which featured the season-finale of America’s Next Top Model. Amazing how quickly the seasons pass for all these reality/competitions.

First in the 8 p.m. hour was Fox’s always reliable Bones, with 10.72 million viewers and a 3.1 rating/9 share among adults 18-49. As a reminder, Bones will be moving to Thursday at 8 p.m. (into returning Hell’s Kitchen) in first quarter 2009. Next were CBS sitcoms The New Adventures of Old Christine (Viewers: #2, 8.09 million; A18-49: #2, 2.5/ 7) and Gary Unmarried (Viewers: #2, 8.14 million; A18-49: #2, 2.7/ 7), which are quietly carving a comfortable niche for themselves in the hour. Worth noting for Gary Unmarried was a series-high performance (and growth out of Old Christine of eight percent among adults 18-49).

Also airing in the 8 p.m. hour was the aforementioned season-finale of America’s Next Top Model on the CW (Viewers: #5, 4.80 million; A18-49: #3, 2.3/ 6), NBC’s failing Knight Rider (Viewers: #3, 5.12 million; A18-49: #5, 1.5/ 4), and ABC’s waiting-to-be axed Pushing Daisies (Viewers: #4, 4.86 million; A18-49: #4, 1.7/ 5). From a ratings perspective, this was not the best season for Top Model.

CBS moved into the winner’s circle at 9 p.m., care of Criminal Minds at a hefty 16.38 million viewers and a 4.3/11 among adults 18-49. Second was ABC’s Private Practice (Viewers: 7.14 million; A18-49: 2.4/ 6), which built from the second half of lead-in Pushing Daisies (Viewers: 4.51 million; A18-49: 1.7/ 4 at 8:30 p.m.) by 2.63 million viewers and 41 percent in the demo, and is wisely moving into the Thursday 10 p.m. hour (out of parent Grey’s Anatomy) in first quarter.

Also airing from 9-10 p.m. was a repeat of Fox’s House (Viewers: #3, 5.73 million; A18-49: #3, 2.1/ 5), NBC’s failing Life (Viewers: #4, 5.32 million; A18-49: #4, 1.7/ 4), which received a full season order despite the anemic ratings, and the CW’s lackluster Stylista (Viewers: #5, 2.16 million; A18-49: #5, 1.0/ 3).

Episode No. 100 of CBS’ CSI: NY (time flies, doesn’t it?) won the 10 p.m. hour, with 13.99 million viewers and a 3.8/10 among adults 18-49. Next was NBC’s veteran Law & Order (Viewers: #2, 7.58 million; A18-49: #2, 2.1/ 6), which remains down year-to-year but did grow from the second half of lead-in Life by double-digits. And ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money, which has yet to be picked-up for the full season, capped off the time period with a last-place 5.63 million viewers and a 1.7/ 5 in the demo. Too bad more viewers have not discovered this addictive pleasure.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Except for CBS ( and Bones ) these ratings were grotesque. No real boost for CSI NY so that's relatively bad for them.

In what universe can Old Christine and Gary Unmarried be given an "honorable mention"

quote:

ABC’s waiting-to-be axed Pushing Daisies (Viewers: #4, 4.86 million; A18-49: #4, 1.7/ 5).

So was that, in fact, a series-low?

Oh what difference does it make?

ABC, you know what has to be done now. Just do it already.

They both finished a solid second and have improved from Kid Nation on the year-ago evening.

quote:

Originally posted by lost_fan:
In what universe can Old Christine and Gary Unmarried be given an "honorable mention"

Very nice night for OC and GU. They both got nice bump ups. The only alarming thing is these two shows ratings are completely dependent on competition in the time slot. The weeks when there is little competition they do really well.
When there is competition they go way down. I fear for them once AI enters the time slot.

Aren't these Season Highs too? Given the shows' growth week to week, they both certainly do deserve an Honorable Mention. Given how well done last night's episodes were, I suspect this trend to continue and CBS will firmly have another comedy hour in place. (And eventually make the Winner's Circle.)

Given everyone's earlier predictions for CBS to be doomed here, this is nothing short of a very pleasant surprise.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
They both finished a solid second and have improved from Kid Nation on the year-ago evening.

quote:

Originally posted by lost_fan:
In what universe can Old Christine and Gary Unmarried be given an "honorable mention"

In a bizarre piece of news Heroes' creator Tim Kring insulted viewers who watch tv live.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/11/19/tim-kring-says-her...-fault/8484#comments

quote:

Writing a serialized drama is “an absolute bear.” It is also a “very flawed way of telling stories on network television,” because of the advent of DVR and online streaming, for example, Kring said, according to the report.

Serialized dramas work only if people sit in front of their TV sets on the night and at the hour the network broadcasts each episode. But now, you can watch a serialized drama whenever and wherever you want and almost all of those other means of watching episodes “are superior to watching it on the air.” Sooooo, the only people watching a show — “Heroes” perhaps — at the time it’s being broadcast by a network — say NBC — are the “saps and [expletives] who can’t figure out how to watch it in a superior way.”

Yes, they had really good nights, but I am very worried about them when AI comes. They only do well when there is no competition.

quote:

Originally posted by xwiseguyx:
Aren't these Season Highs too? Given the shows' growth week to week, they both certainly do deserve an Honorable Mention. Given how well done last night's episodes were, I suspect this trend to continue and CBS will firmly have another comedy hour in place. (And eventually make the Winner's Circle.)

Given everyone's earlier predictions for CBS to be doomed here, this is nothing short of a very pleasant surprise.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
They both finished a solid second and have improved from Kid Nation on the year-ago evening.

quote:

Originally posted by lost_fan:
In what universe can Old Christine and Gary Unmarried be given an "honorable mention"

Kring's comments are being taken out of context. This is month two of "let's slam Heroes" so I'm not surprised.

So DSM is still retaining 70% of the demo from the lead in and 78% of the viewers. Looks like PP was down considerably from last week.

I sure wish that demo # for DSM was alot higher,

quote:

Originally posted by SciFi Lover:
Kring's comments are being taken out of context.

That's what I'm thinking. It seems to me that it was intended to be a joke.

ABC: The new year cannot come soon enough for the network. Clearly not returning the Wednesday dramas after the writers strike or rerunning them during the summer was a recipe for disaster. While "Lost" will certainly improve its time period, I'm not sure how good of a job the concluding "Scrubs" and new "Goode Family" will do against "American Idol". Also, ABC may put "Life on Mars" in the post-"Lost" slot until March when "The Unusuals" debuts. "Mars" would seem to be a good fit with "Lost" and may benefit from the more compatible lead-in.

CBS: Another successful night for CBS with its entire line-up seeing increases from last week. Concerning "Old Christine" and "Gary Unmarried" receiving an honorable mention, these two comedies were the fourth and fifth highest rated network series last night (behind "Criminal Minds", "CSI: NY", and "Bones"). That certainly is worthy of an honorable mention, if not the winner's list. Both series look to have set season highs and have recovered nicely after facing off against "Dancing With the Stars" and the American Music Award in back-to-back weeks. Hopefully this momentum won't be completely killed when "Idol" returns.

Fox: While "Bones" continues to do well and should make Fox a player on Thursdays in January, the "House" encore dipped to ratings reminiscent of the early days of the "til Death"/"Do Not Disturb" combo. The Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. slot has become the net's Bermuda Triangle this season. Perhaps "Lie to Me" can reverse that negative trend.

NBC: Sub-par would be the one word to describe the line-up for this net on Wednesdays. "Life" looks to have now failed in two time slots so far this season - and it isn't even half over with yet. Building slightly off your already lackluster lead-in isn't a sign of success. Meanwhile, the aging "Law & Order" seems to have settled into the 7-8 million viewer range.

CW: Those numbers for the finale to "Top Model" were no doubt good to see considering it's slump so far this season. While it remains down year-to-year, "Model" did come within 60,000 viewers of topping the much more buzzed about "Pushing Daisies" on ABC (and may inch ahead of it in the final tabulations). As always, "Model" flexed its muscle in the young adult demo, placing behind only Fox and CBS for the hour. "Stylista", meanwhile, didn't have any muscle to flex with it's depressed viewership levels. The CW Wednesday is in for a rough few weeks when the net begins to double up on the freshman reality series next week.

I'm impressed the CBS strategy of comedies at 8PM seems to be working...good programming news. Over at NBC KNIGHT RIDER pulls worse ratings than JOURNEYMAN did in a higher HUT time slot and still gets renewed...if that isn't testimony to NBC schdedule being on life support I don't know what is.

As for DSM for weeks it flirted with going below 6 Million but now I think its official that it will probably never break that mark again. Time for Marc's trademark line.
"Tick Tock The Cancellation Clock is Ticking."

I think this finally finishes PD. I heard ABC was waiting to see how it did yesterday to make a final decision on it. I think the verdict is in...