Analog Signal Ends Today

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERFriday, June 12, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:NBA Finals Lifts ABC to Dominance Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air This Weekend:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: Life Before Designing Women_______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:NBA Finals Lifts ABC to Dominance Thursday 6/11/09 HH Rtg/Shr ABC 7.6/13CBS 5.4/ 9Fox 4.6/ 8NBC 3.1/ 5CW 1.0/ 2 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday, June 12, 2008):ABC: +10, Fox: - 8, NBC: - 9, CBS: -11, CW: -29 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:NBA Finals, Game 3 (ABC), So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) -Yesterday’s Losers:Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC), I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (NBC), The Listener (NBC) ---------- Note: Due to today’s signal switch to digital broadcast television, metered market data will not be released again until next Friday, June 19. ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: Basketball ignited ABC led this second Thursday in June, with a 41 percent advantage in the metered markets over second-place CBS. Third overall was Fox, followed by NBC and the CW. Game four of The NBA Finals (Magic vs. Lakers) on ABC averaged an estimated 9.5 rating/16 share for the prime-time portion from 9-11 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows: NBA Finals, Game 3 (ABC) 9:00 p.m.: 8.0/13 (#1) 9:30 p.m.: 9.4/16 (#1)10:00 p.m.: 10.4/17 (#1)10:30 p.m.: 10.2/17 (#1) Compared to game four of the Lakers vs. the Celtics on the year-ago evening (8.8/15 in primetime), this was an increase of eight percent. Keep in mind, of course, that results for all live sporting events are always approximate. Earlier in the evening on ABC was another 8 p.m. edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live (#3, 3.5/ 6), followed by the half-hour pre-game show at a second-place 3.9/ 7 at 8:30 p.m. Results on ABC from 8-9 p.m. are estimated as well. Second-place CBS opened the evening with back-to-back repeats of The New Adventures of Old Christine (#4: avg. 3.3/ 6 from 8-9 p.m.), followed by repeats of CSI (#3: 6.3/11) and relocated The Mentalist (#2: 6.6/11) from 9-11 p.m. Next was Fox care of a repeat of Bones (#1: 3.9/ 7) and the first live Dancing With the Stars Results Show of the season (#3: 5.2/ 9), which is worthy of positive mention for building by 27 percent out of the second-half of Bones (4.1/ 7 at 8:30 p.m.). So long, Tony and Paris! Over at NBC, the next installment of trashy but addictive I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! finished second in the 8 p.m. hour, with an uneventful 3.7/ 7 in the overnights. Although the camp lost late arrival Daniel Baldwin last night, how can the season be ending on June 24 if there are still eight D-listers left? And why should bland Holly Montag have a chance to win if she only got to camp a few days ago? I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! led into repeats of The Office (#4: 2.5/ 4) and 30 Rock (#4: 2.3/ 4) from 9-10 p.m., followed by episode three of Canadian drama The Listener at a last place 3.3/ 6 at 10 p.m. The CW capped off the evening with repeats of Smallville (#5: 1.2/ 2) and Supernatural (#5: 0.9/ 2) from 8-10 p.m. Don’t forget that upcoming drama The Vampire Diaries (one of the new fall 2009 shows to keep a positive eye on) moves into the Thursday 8 p.m. hour, with Smallville heading into the Friday anchor position. Chances are 2009-10 will be the last season for veteran Smallville. Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Conan Dominates Debut Week in Late Night:As expected, week one of Conan O’Brien as new host of NBC’s The Tonight Show was widely sampled. Based on final national ratings for the week of June 1, Conan averaged 6.1 million viewers and a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49 -- Tonight’s highest rated week in the demo in more than four years. Conan’s advantage over the competition (CBS’ The Late Show with David Letterman and ABC’s combination of Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel Live) was 2.6 million viewers and 156 among adults 18-49 over CBS, and 3.85 million viewers and also 156 percent in the demo over ABC. Keep in mind, however, that Conan’s metered market performance in week two to-date is about 50 percent below week one. That said, the national ratings gap will be considerably narrowed this week. -Speaking of Conan and Letterman:Letterman beat Conan in the overnights last night, with a 3.5 rating/8 share versus a 3.0/ 7. Keep in mind that The Tonight Show has outdelivered Letterman in the overnights for the last 15 years. -Record Top Chef Masters on Bravo:The series-premiere of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters lifted the cable network to its highest-rated Wednesday series opener ever, with 1.37 million total viewers and 907,000 adults 18-49. Compared to the premiere of Top Chef on March 15, 2006, Top Chef Masters built by 669,000 viewers (1.37 million vs. 701,000), 91 percent among in the demo (907,000 vs. 476,000). Source: Nielsen Media Research data________________________________________________________________________________ On the Air This Weekend:Prime-Time Programming Options Friday 6/12/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Surviving Suburbia (new day and time) 8:30 p.m. The Goode Family (new day and time) 9:00 p.m. Samantha Who? (R) 9:30 p.m. Samantha Who? (R)10:00 p.m. 20/20 CBS: 8:00 p.m. Ghost Whisperer (R) 9:00 p.m. Flashpoint (R)10:00 p.m. Numbers (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. Listener (R) 9:00 p.m. Dateline (two hours) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Don’t Forget the Lyrics 9:00 p.m. Mental (R) CW: 8:00 p.m. Privileged (R) 9:00 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris (R) 9:30 p.m. The Game (R) MNTV 8:00 p.m. Friday Night Smackdown! --------------- Saturday 6/13/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Movie: Haunted Mansion (R)10:00 p.m. Pushing Daisies (series finale) CBS: 8:00 p.m. Without a Trace (R) 9:00 p.m. Harper’s Island 10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. Kings (return) 9:00 p.m. Law & Order (R)10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Cops 9:00 p.m. America’s Most Wanted --------------- Sunday 6/14/09 ABC: 7:00 p.m. Jimmy Kimmel Live 7:30 p.m. NBA Countdown 8:30 p.m. 2009 NBA Finals, Game 5 CBS: 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00 p.m. Million Dollar Password 9:00 p.m. Cold Case (R)10:00 p.m. Without a Trace (R) NBC: 7:00 p.m. Dateline 8:00 p.m. Miniseries: 10.5: Apocalypse, part one (R) Fox: 7:00 p.m. King of the Hill (R) 7:30 p.m. American Dad (R) 8:00 p.m. The Simpsons (R) 8:30 p.m. King of the Hill (R) 9:00 p.m. Family Guy (R) 9:30 p.m. American Dad (R) CW: 7:00 p.m. Jericho (R) 8:00 p.m. Sunday Movie: Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 (R) Of Note on Cable:-True Blood (HBO): 9 p.m. (season premiere) -Hammertime (A&E): 10 p.m. (premiere)Stanley Burrell, the recording artist formerly known as MC Hammer, his wife and their family of six kids (ages 4 to 21) are the focus of this new reality docudrama. ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -Analog Signal Ends Today:Stations across the country today are officially cutting their analog signals in favor of all digital broadcast television, which is expected to potentially strand more than one million unprepared homes. Approximately 4,000 operators are on standby, while volunteer groups and local government agencies are helping elderly viewers set up digital converter boxes. For more information, click on the FCC DTV website at www.dtv.gov. -Joy Behar Lands Solo Series: Current The View co-host Joy Behar has landed a second gig as solo host of a topical and fun talker on cable net HLN (formerly Headline News) tentatively called The Joy Behar Show. It will begin this fall at 9 p.m. ET out of The Nancy Grace Show and in place of repeats of CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight. -Discovery Announces Next Shark Week:Annual programming themed Shark Week will kick-off on Discovery Channel with Blood in the Water, a two-hour drama that brings to life the true story that inspired Jaws, on Sunday, Aug. 2 at 9 p.m. ET. Shark Week, which will feature six premieres, was watched in total by 29.1 million viewers in 2008 -- 1.9 million more than one year earlier. Viewers looking for more information can click on www.discovery.com/sharkweek. -New Docu-Series Based on America’s Complaint Department:Website axelist.com, which has been dubbed “America’s Complaint Department” will be developed into a half-hour weekly docu-drama from Girls Next Door and Kendra creator Kevin Burns of Prometheus Entertainment. Each episode of the upcoming series will take place in the location of the complaint, with an attempt made to implement a fair resolution. Under the supervision of multiple Emmy Award winning Burns, Prometheus has produced a string of non-fiction cable documentaries and reality programs for clients such as A&E, Animal Planet, Bravo, E!, History, National Geographic Channel, Lucasfilm Ltd., MGM/UA and Warner Bros. -My Name is Earl Officially Over:Although there was talks of either Fox or TBS keeping four-year old My Name is Earl alive after NBC canceled it, Earl is apparently officially fading into the sunset. The high cost of producing more original episodes is the main reason the sitcom could not be revived. ___________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Life Before Designing Women Which sitcom featured Delta Burke and Dixie Carter prior to their roles as sisters on Designing Women? Apple PieFilthy RichI’m a Big Girl NowOn Our OwnTwo of Us The answer to yesterday’s trivia question… Which one of the following TV characters was employed as a cashier at a supermarket called Food Circus? Roseanne ConnerNaomi Oates Harper Grace KellyTopanga LawrenceSara Rush Is: b) Naomi Oates Harper of sitcom Mama’s Family (a Mr. TV favorite!). To the masses who answered Roseanne, she was employed as a factory worker, waitress, telephone solicitor, beauty shop assistant, Santa Claus and luncheonette owner. But she never worked in a supermarket. -Current kudos goes to:Steve Albright, Gerry Bixenspan, Lillian Buchman, Larry Collins (2x), Tom Condosta, Mark Cosenza, Annie Countney, Reid Davis, Stephen Ferrara, Arleen Fong, Karen Gardner, Adam Giagni, Adam Goldberg, Maureen Goldman, Sherrie Hentschel, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll, Deb Kainer, Marie Lefevre Karp, Synda Kollman, Tony Naldrett, Joseph Osuna, Gordon Purcell, Marilyn Rutkowski, Ron Salmon, Michelle Stanton, Joe Swaney, Ronnie Tallant, Myndi Weinraub

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