Prime-Time Ratings:
Wednesday 3/03/10

-Total Viewers:
Fox: 23.55 million, CBS: 10.54, NBC: 7.52, ABC: 5.57, CW: 768,000

-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 8.5 rating/23 share, CBS: 2.8/ 8, NBC: 2.3/ 6, ABC: 2.0/ 6, CW: 0.3/ 1


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

-Notable Improvement From The Jay Leno Show:
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Mercy (NBC), The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS), Cougar Town (ABC), An Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special (ABC)

----------

-Ratings Breakdown:
Fox got over the hump in significant winning fashion, with another two-hour Wednesday installment of American Idol at a very healthy 23.55 million viewers and an 8.5 rating/23 share among adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m. Compared to a one-hour edition of Idol on the year-ago evening (Viewers: 22.78 million; A18-49: 7.8/22 on March 4, 2009, based on the final nationals), this was an unprecedented improvement of 770,000 viewers and nine percent in the demo. I refer to this as unprecedented because I have no knowledge of a veteran series picking up steam in its ninth season. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

American Idol (Fox)
8:00 p.m. – Viewers: 22.03 million (#1), A18-49: 7.8/23 (#1)
8:30 p.m. – Viewers: 24.46 million (#1), A18-49: 8.7/24 (#1)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 23.79 million (#1), A18-49: 8.6/22 (#1)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 23.91 million (#1), A18-49: 8.8/22 (#1)

My picks for the next two females to bid adieu tonight: Haeley Vaughn and Didi Benami. My prediction on the male side: John Park and Jermaine Sellers. We shall see!

Second-place CBS opened the evening with on-the-fence Wednesday sitcoms The New Adventures of Old Christine (Viewers: #3, 5.95 million; A18-49: #2t, 1.7/ 5) and Gary Unmarried (Viewers: #3, 6.02 million; A18-49: #3, 2.0/ 6) from 8-9 p.m., followed by Criminal Minds (Viewers: #2, 13.18 million; A18-49: #2, 3.6/ 9) and CSI: NY (Viewers: #1, 12.45 million; A18-49: #1, 3.1/ 9) from 9-11 p.m. The CBS crime dramas faced a two-hour installment of NBC’s relocated Law & Order: SVU, which averaged 8.26 million viewers and a 2.7/ 8 among adults 18-49 from 9-11 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown.

Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 6.94 million (#4), A18-49: 2.2/ 6 (#4)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 8.01 million (#4), A18-49: 2.7/ 7 (#3)
10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 8.99 million (#2), A18-49: 3.0/ 8 (#1t)
10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 9.09 million (#2), A18-49: 3.0/ 9 (#2)

Comparably, the 10-11 p.m. portion of SVU is a notable improvement over former occupant The Jay Leno Show. Beginning next week, SVU airs in its new Wednesday 10 p.m. time period out of a repeat of the crime drama.

Earlier in the evening on NBC was medical drama Mercy at a lackluster 6.04 million viewers (#2) and a 1.6/ 5 among adults 18-49 (#4) from 8-9 p.m.

Over at ABC, Modern Family remains the standout sitcom, with 8.08 million viewers (#3) and a second-place 3.5/ 9 among adults 18-49 at 9 p.m. Comparably, that outdelivered lead-in The Middle (Viewers: #3t, 6.02 million; A18-49: #2, 2.1/ 6 at 8:30 p.m.) by 2.06 million viewers and 67 percent in the demo. While the ratings for The Middle are nothing to crow about, personally speaking this show gets better every week. ABC may want to reconsider renewing Cougar Town, meanwhile, which dipped to a fourth-place in both total viewers (5.39 million) and adults 18-49 (2.4/ 6) at 9:30 p.m. Comparably, retention out of lead-in Modern Family was just 67 percent in total viewers and 69 percent in the demo.

Earlier in the evening on the alphabet net was a repeat of Modern Family at 5.18 million viewers (#4) and a 1.7/ 5 among adults 18-49 (#3t) at 8 p.m. At 10 p.m., normally unstoppable Oprah Winfrey took a backseat to CSI: NY and Law & Order: SVU, with The Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special at an uneventful 4.37 million viewers and a 1.3/ 4 in the demo. Hey Oprah…you bombed!

In the distant No. 5 spot was The CW as a result of repeats of Life Unexpected (Viewers: 1.05 million; A18-49: 0.5/ 1) and Gossip Girl (Viewers: 482,000; A18-49: 0.2/ 1), which heads back to its former Monday 9 p.m. time period on March 8. To the masses emailing me to see if there will be a second season of Life Unexpected, my personal guess is The CW will be patient. Stay tuned.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Marc Berman,

1st person, disappointing for Cougar Town, love that show, hope it still gets renewed, i think its audience and Idols is very similar.

quote:

Originally posted by Junior_TVMad:
1st person, disappointing for Cougar Town, love that show, hope it still gets renewed, i think its audience and Idols is very similar.

Why would ABC change its' mind. Even though its ratings are being depressed by AI, Cougar Town still out delivers every other comedy ABC renewed in previous seasons (According to Jim, Scrubs, Better off Ted, and so on) all of which they did renew.

quote:

Originally posted by Junior_TVMad:
1st person, disappointing for Cougar Town, love that show, hope it still gets renewed, i think its audience and Idols is very similar.

It is going to be okay for Cougar Town. They are changing the name, which will bring all those new viewers.

ABC made a huge mistake by giving this show an early renewal. It has clearly become the weak link of their Wednesday sitcom lineup.

-2.30million -0.7 Modern Family
-1.27 million - 0.4 Cougar Town
-2.23 million -0.9 The Middle

from their last original episodes, preliminary.

And i know Modern Family has more to drop and The Middle didn't air against Idol, just trying to see some positive for Cougar as I really like the show.

First, Marc, a BIG kudos to you today for FINALLY giving The New Adventures of Old Christine its due and listing it as the LOSER it is, as it should be every week. But how could Gary Unmarried not be a loser too? It has virtually the same rating as Mercy which is listed as a loser (as it should be).

Also, with all due respect, you have once again let your personal feelings about a show get in the way of fair analysis. While I also love the Middle, come on now. How low is the bar set that a scripted show that gets 6 million viewers is not a loser? (while Gary Unmarried is with the same numbers)

All the comedies took a big hit last night. From Josef Adalian :

quote:

But the two-hour performance special sapped away viewers from ABC's comedies in a big way. At 8:30 p.m. "The Middle" (2.1/6) was down 28 percent from its season-best Feb. 10 score., while "Modern Family" (3.5/9) was off 15 percent from its last original. At 9:30, "Cougar Town" (2.4/6) dipped 11 percent and continues to struggle to hold on to its lead-in.

The news wasn't any better for CBS's comedies. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (1.7/5) was down 26 percent from its last first-run outing and tied a repeat of "Modern Family." At 8:30, "Gary Unmarried" fell 17 percent.

quote:

Originally posted by Zedman2:

quote:

Originally posted by Junior_TVMad:
1st person, disappointing for Cougar Town, love that show, hope it still gets renewed, i think its audience and Idols is very similar.

Why would ABC change its' mind. Even though its ratings are being depressed by AI, Cougar Town still out delivers every other comedy ABC renewed in previous seasons (According to Jim, Scrubs, Better off Ted, and so on) all of which they did renew.

The difference is that those shows never had a lead in such as Modern Family. And another difference, specifically with Jim and Scrubs, was that they were veterans who were building up syndication episodes.

Marc,
I think you forgot to post the overall network ratings.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Berman:
My picks for the next two females to bid adieu tonight: Haeley Vaughn and Didi Benami

I am guessing Haeley survives another night

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SVFan,

Growth for The Middle out of the Modern Family encore of 24 percent among adults 18-49...that's why.

quote:

Originally posted by AL:
First, Marc, a BIG kudos to you today for FINALLY giving The New Adventures of Old Christine its due and listing it as the LOSER it is, as it should be every week. But how could Gary Unmarried not be a loser too? It has virtually the same rating as Mercy which is listed as a loser (as it should be).

Also, with all due respect, you have once again let your personal feelings about a show get in the way of fair analysis. While I also love the Middle, come on now. How low is the bar set that a scripted show that gets 6 million viewers is not a loser? (while Gary Unmarried is with the same numbers)

Just added them, vlis. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by vlis:
Marc,
I think you forgot to post the overall network ratings.

Cougar Town was already renewed for next season.

quote:

Originally posted by Junior_TVMad:
1st person, disappointing for Cougar Town, love that show, hope it still gets renewed, i think its audience and Idols is very similar.

quote:

Originally posted by AL:
First, Marc, a BIG kudos to you today for FINALLY giving The New Adventures of Old Christine its due and listing it as the LOSER it is, as it should be every week. But how could Gary Unmarried not be a loser too? It has virtually the same rating as Mercy which is listed as a loser (as it should be).

Also, with all due respect, you have once again let your personal feelings about a show get in the way of fair analysis. While I also love the Middle, come on now. How low is the bar set that a scripted show that gets 6 million viewers is not a loser? (while Gary Unmarried is with the same numbers)

Gary Unmarried did grow in the demo from Christine by about 20%. I know from 1.7 to a 2.0 is not much, but it is growth.

I think the American Idol growth is because you're comparing it to a results show. The format has changed this year, and if I remember correctly, last season the 2-hour performance shows were Tuesday, and the 1-hour results shows were Wednesday. (Instead of dividing up the men & women last season, they combined them into 3 groups of 12)