CBS Wins Atypical Tuesday

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERWednesday, December 2, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:CBS Wins This Atypical Evening Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: A Live Sitcom________________________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:CBS Wins This Atypical Evening Tuesday 12.01/09 HH Rtg/Shr CBS 7.2/11NBC 5.8/ 9ABC 4.0/ 6Fox 3.4/ 5CW 1.3/ 2 ---------- -Note: Year-to-year overnight comparisons are excluded due to President Obama’s speech last night. ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:NCIS R (CBS), The Biggest Loser (NBC) -Yesterday’s Losers:90210 (CW), So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), Scrubs (ABC), Melrose Place (CW), The Forgotten (ABC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown:Note: All results from last night are approximate because of President Obama’s address to the country about Afghanistan. Airing for approximately 30 minutes, the speech fared in the overnights as follows on the Big 4 networks: 8-8:30 p.m. - Presidential AddressABC: 5.9/10CBS: 5.7/ 9NBC: 5.7/ 9Fox: 2.4/ 4 In total, that was an estimated 19.7 rating/32 share for President Obama in the 8 p.m. half-hour. Normally in third-place, CBS probably benefited from the fans of NCIS heading to the network at 8 p.m. in anticipation of the drama. ABC and NBC aired a half-hour news analysis in the 8:30 p.m. half-hour, which fared as follows: News AnalysisNBC: 5.2/ 8ABC: 4.9/ 8 CBS’ combination of a news analysis and the beginning of an NCIS repeat ranked first at 8:30 p.m., with a 7.6/12 in the overnights. Fox aired the first half-hour of So You Think You Can Dance (#4: 3.6/ 6), while The CW ran 90210 as planned from 8-9 p.m. (1.5/ 2). Despite the absence of competitive entertainment programming, 90210 did not benefit. Top-rated overnight honors in the 9 p.m. hour went to CBS, with the aforementioned NCIS encore at an estimated 9.3/15. The last minute scheduling of a Two and a Half Men repeat at 9:30 p.m. did not air on the East Coast. CBS closed the night with annual special The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at a second-place 5.6/ 9 at 10 p.m. One year earlier, The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show averaged an almost duplicate 5.8/ 9 on Wednesday, Dec. 3, also at 10 p.m. Over at NBC, the two-hour later edition of The Biggest Loser was above-average at a 6.0/10 from 9-11 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows: The Biggest Loser (NBC)9:00 p.m.: 5.6/ 9 (#2)9:30 p.m.: 5.8/ 9 (#2)10:00 p.m.: 6.2/10 (#1)10:30 p.m.: 6.3/11 (#1) Needless to say, the 10-11 p.m. portion of The Biggest Loser was a vast improvement over regularly scheduled The Jay Leno Show, which was pre-empted last night. In season-premiere news, the unnecessary two-episode return of ABC’s retooled Scrubs bombed as expected, with a fourth-place finish in both half-hours. Take a look: Scrubs (ABC)9:00 p.m.: 3.0/ 5 (#4)9:30 p.m.: 2.8/ 4 (#4) Someone should have told the producers of Scrubs eight years ago that obnoxious Dr. Cox is not an audience grabber. Scrubs led into rickety drama The Forgotten, which lived up to its title last night with a last-place 3.6/ 6 in the overnights at 10 p.m. Moving to Fox, aforementioned So You Think You Can Dance averaged an approximate 3.7/ 6 in the overnights from 8:30-10:30 p.m. Take a look at the half-hour breakdown: So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)8:30 p.m.: 3.6/ 6 (#4)9:00 p.m.: 3.6/ 6 (#3)9:30 p.m.: 3.7/ 6 (#3)10:00 p.m.: 4.0/ 6 (#3) As I say every week, So You Think You Can Dance belongs in the summer only. Rounding off the evening was The CW’s failing Melrose Place at a mere 1.1/ 2 in the overnights from 9-10 p.m. Not even the return of Heather Locklear can save this sinking ship. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) _____________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Ben 10: Alien Swarm Scores on Cartoon Network:The debut of original live-action/CGI-animated movie Ben 10: Alien Swarm finished first for the day (in both broadcast and cable) on Wednesday, Nov. 25 in all kids and boy demos. And it rose to the No. 2 spot in Cartoon Network history for an original movie in the delivery of kids 6-11 (1.51 million) and kids 9-14 (1.18 million). Airing from 7-8:30 p.m., Ben 10: Alien Swarm averaged 4.02 million viewers, with growth of a hefty 163 percent over the year-ago time period average. Results among kids and boys peaked at 1.97 million kids 2-11, which was up by 124 percent from one year earlier. -National Ratings in Primetime – Week of Nov. 23:Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, final national ratings for the week of Nov. 23 will not be released until tomorrow. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Wednesday 12/02/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Modern Family (R) 8:30 p.m. The Middle 9:00 p.m. Modern Family (R) 9:30 p.m. Cougar Town (R)10:00 p.m. Eastwick CBS: 8:00 p.m. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (R) 9:00 p.m. The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night 10:00 p.m. CSI: NY NBC: 8:00 p.m. Christmas in Rockefeller Center 9:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU 10:00 p.m. The Jay Leno Show Fox: 8:00 p.m. So You Think You Can Dance Results Show 9:00 p.m. Glee CW 8:00 p.m. Gossip Girl (R) 9:00 p.m. The Vampire Diaries (R) ______________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -CBSTD Clears Nancy Grace in First Run:CBS Television Distribution has cleared fall 2010 first-run court strip Swift Justice with Nancy Grace in approximately 80 percent of the country. Sold in a two-year window with back-to-back half hours, represented station groups include the Fox Television Stations, LIN TV, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tribune Broadcasting and, of course, the CBS Television Stations. The format for Swift Justice with Nancy Grace will be unveiled at a later time. -Warner Bros’ Re-Ups Cold Case in Off-Net:Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has renewed forensic crime solver Cold Case for a third cycle in off-network syndication on the CBS Television Stations. The terms of the deal takes Cold Case through the 2012-13 season in off-net, with renewals on WCBS/New York, KCBS/Los Angeles, WBBM/Chicago, KYW-WPSH/Philadelphia, KPIX-KBCW/San Francisco, WBZ-WSBK/Boston, KTVT-KTXA/Dallas, WKBD-WWJ/Detroit, WTOG/Tampa, KSTW/Seattle, WCCO/Minneapolis, WBFS-WFOR/Miami, KCNC/Denver, KMAX-KOVR/Sacramento, WPCW-KDKA/Pittsburgh and WJZ/Baltimore. -Charles Gibson Announces Official Departure Date:ABC World News anchor Charles Gibson, who announced his pending retirement several months ago, will officially depart from the nightly newscast on Friday, Dec. 18. Replacement Diane Sawyer, who will anchor the Dec. 21 and 22 broadcasts, will permanently take over the anchor spot in January. The announcement of Sawyer’s replacement on Good Morning America is expected shortly. -Mark Your Calendars:Fox’s upcoming The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice, featuring filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, has been slated on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 8:30 p.m. out of the 450th episode on the never-ending animated comedy. Over at TV Land, the new season of addictive High School Reunion opens on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 10 p.m. ET as the 1989 class of Chaparral High School in Las Vegas reunite. -FX in Midseason:Cable net FX has unveiled its midseason slate, which will include three new series (animated comedy Archer, live action sitcom Louie and drama Justified), the return of Damages, and the final season of veteran Nip/Tuck, which returns on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 10 p.m. with the first of nine remaining episodes. The series-finale of Nip/Tuck, which is episode No. 100, airs Wednesday, March 3. And the upcoming final season will include guest stars Melanie Griffith, Frances Conroy, Joan Rivers, former Knots Landing stars Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark, and the return of Mario Lopez. Animated Archer, which is set at the International Secret Intelligence Service, premieres on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 10 p.m. ET. Ten initial episodes have been ordered. Next up is the return of Damages on Monday, January 25 at 10 p.m., headlined by double Emmy winner Glenn Close. Drama Justified, which will debut on an unspecified date in March, features Timothy Olyphant as a modern-day 19th century-style lawman. And Louie, headlined by comedian Louis C.K. as a stand-up comedian and newly single father helping to raise his two daughters in New York, will open on an unspecified date and time in the spring. Thirteen episodes have been ordered. Movies set to premiere on FX this spring include The Simpsons Movie (Jan. 10), Superdad (January 17), Spiderman 3 and Live Free or Die Hard. ---------- -Get Well Soon, Regis: Regis Philbin, who had successful hip replacement surgery yesterday, is doing just fine. According to Disney-ABC: “Regis anticipates returning to Live! with Regis and Kelly soon after the first of the year, given the procedure’s typical four to six week recovery time. Regis and Joy want to thank everyone for their support and best wishes.” _________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:A Live Sitcom Which one of the following sitcoms one aired a full season live? a) Good Timesb) I Love Lucyc) The Odd Coupled) Roc e) Three’s Company The answer to yesterday’s question… Which one of the following series did not feature a former cast member from The Waltons? a) Just Causeb) Kay O’Brienc) Living Dolls d) The Mississippie) Sara Is: b) Kay O’Brien, which was a short-lived medical drama that aired for seven episodes in the fall of 1986. As for the others: -Just Cause (PAX, 2002-04): Richard Thomas-Living Dolls (ABC: 1989): Michael Learned-The Mississippi (CBS: 1983-84): Ralph Waite-Sara (NBC: 1985): Ronnie Claire Edwards Unfortunately, this was one of the least popular trivia questions I have ever written. L -Current kudos goes to:Gerry Bixenspan, Barbara Bloomfield, Bob Ingersoll, Mary Kinoshita, Mark Krause, Patty Lynch, Gordon Purcell, Ron Salmon

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CBS Wins Atypical Tuesday

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