The Programming Insider: Idol Tunes Out Rivals

In Today's Issue:

Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings: Fox Leads; Four Networks Down Year-to-Year
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: A “Cool” Question


PRIME-TIME METERED MARKET THURSDAY RATINGS: Fox Leads; Four Networks Down Year-to-Year

Thursday 5/05/11
Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only.  All times are ET/PT.

Household Rating/Share
Fox: 10.4/17, CBS: 7.4/12, ABC: 5.6/ 9, NBC: 2.9/ 5, CW: 1.9/ 3

Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday, May 6, 2010):
Fox: +96, ABC: - 8, CW: -10, CBS: -17, NBC: -22

Yesterday's Winners:
American Idol (Fox), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

Yesterday's Losers:
Community (NBC), Rules of Engagement (CBS), Wipeout (ABC), 30 Rock (NBC), Outsourced (NBC), Nikita (CW)

Ratings Breakdown:
It was another easy Thursday victory for the home of American Idol, Fox, which bested distant second-place CBS by 5.0 overnight household rating points.  Next was ABC, which like CBS is losing steam as a result of aging hit series, followed by NBC and The CW.  Week one results for NBC’s The Office minus Steve Carell were typical at a fourth-place 4.6 rating/ 7 share in the overnights at 9 p.m.

As always, American Idol stood well above anything else last night, with the live results show at a 13.8/23 from 8-9 p.m.  So long, Jacob Lusk.  Next on Fox was just renewed crime solver Bones, which tied tired CSI on CBS for second (behind Grey’s Anatomy on ABC) with a 7.0/11.  Comparably, retention for Bones out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of Idol (14.9/24) was lacking at 47 percent.  The only show on Fox over the years that had respectable retention out of American Idol was House.

Over at CBS, The Big Bang Theory was on the 8 p.m. map, with a second-place 7.5/13 in the overnights.  But the problem remains relocated Rules of Engagement, which dipped to a 5.2/ 8 at 8:30 p.m. (#2) -- 31 percent below Sheldon, Leonard and company.  With former occupant $#*! My Dad Says a long-shot for renewal, CBS will have to address this time period next fall.  At 9 p.m., aforementioned CSI (#2: 7.0/11 at 9 p.m. -- down 20 percent from one year earlier) led into The Mentalist with a dominant 9.0/15 at 10 p.m.  Comparably, that built by the 9:30 p.m. portion of CSI (7.2/11) by 25 percent.  Although the common assumption is The Mentalist will move up to 9 p.m. on Thursday next season, anything is possible.

ABC kicked-off the evening with Wipeout at a lackluster third-place 3.4/ 5 at 8 p.m., followed by dominant Grey’s Anatomy (#1: 7.9/13 -- down four percent from one year earlier) and spin-off Private Practice (#2: 5.6/ 9) from 9-11 p.m.

Moving the fourth-place NBC, the positive news was consistency for aforementioned The Office (#4: 4.6/ 7 at 9 p.m.), which built by 142 percent from its repeat telecast lead-in (#4: 1.5, 1.9/ 3 at 8:30 p.m.).  That encore telecast replaced recently axed The Paul Reiser Show.  The Office, no doubt, will resonate among key adults 18-49.  But the rest of the evening on NBC is lacking.  Community, which should not be anchoring the evening next season, finished a distant fourth with a 2.4/ 4 at 8 p.m.  At 9:30 p.m., Parks & Recreation (#4: 3.4/ 5) slipped by 26 percent from The Office, leading into the season-finale of 30 Rock (#3: 3.0/ 5) and expected-to-be canceled Outsourced (#3: 2.3/ 4) from 10-11 p.m.  If NBC is wise, it will trim back its Thursday sitcom block to two-hours next season.

Last, and very least, was The CW’s combination of The Vampire Diaries (#5: 2.3/ 4), its most-watched series, and Nikita (#5: 1.4/ 2), which is waiting word on a potential renewal.  With retention of just 61 percent out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of The Vampire Diaries, The CW would be wise to just let Nikita go.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)
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RATINGS BOX: What’s Hot/What’s Not

Above Average Morning Newsmagazine Ratings:
Ignited by coverage of the Royal Wedding on Friday, April 29, all three morning news franchises -- NBC’s The Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America and The Early Show on CBS -- rose to season high performances for the week of April 25.  Good Morning America, in fact, had its largest overall weekly audience in over six years.  Here are the results:

Households:
NBC: 4.6 rating/16 share, ABC: 4.2/14, CBS: 1.9/ 7

Total Viewers:
NBC: 6.24 million, ABC: 5.73, CBS: 2.65

Adults 25-54:
NBC: 2.90 million, ABC: 2.16, CBS: 1.04


Time-Shifting and Commercial Retention Update from TiVo:
TiVo has released its final time-shifted and commercial retention data for first quarter 2011.  Based on January through March, 42.1 percent of all programs viewers were time-shifted.  Primetime alone was 63.1 percent for the five broadcast networks, while cable was 43.9 percent, which equated to 54.3 percent overall.  Broadcast’s overall commercial retention averaged 41 percent, while cable was 54 percent.

Not surprisingly, The CW led in time-shifted percentage because of the smaller size of its audience.  Individual results among the broadcast networks in primetime are as follows.

Time Shifted:
CW: 74 percent, Fox: 67, ABC and CBS: 63 each, NBC: 57

Commercial Retention:
NBC: 36 percent, CBS: 35, ABC and Fox: 34 percent, CW: 34


Final Wednesday Nationals:
Led by American Idol, it was no contest with Fox well above the competing networks on Wednesday, May 4.  While CBS finished a respectable second, its questionable link remains recent entry Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (Viewers: 8.83 million; A18-49: 2.2/ 6 at 10 p.m.), which slipped from lead-in Criminal Minds (Viewers: 12.90 million; A18-49: 3.2/ 8 at 9 p.m.) by 4.07 million viewers and 31 percent among adults 18-49.  Comparably, this is no better than former occupant The Defenders.  Also waiting for the dreaded pink slips are sitcoms Better With You on ABC (Viewers: #3, 5.41 million; A18-49: #3, 1.6/ 5 at 8:30 p.m.), Breaking In on Fox (Viewers: #2, 7.07 million; A18-49: #33, 2.4/ 6 at 9:30 p.m.), which is only holding about one-third of the Idol lead-in, and a double-dose of ABC’s Happy Endings (Viewers: #3, avg. 3.57 million; A18-49: #3, avg. 1.6/ 5 from 10-11 p.m.).

Here are the live plus same day results for Wednesday, May 4:

Total Viewers:
Fox: 17.62 million, CBS: 10.91, ABC: 5.86, NBC: 5.16, CW: 1.53

Adults 18-49:
Fox: 5.5 rating/15 share, CBS: 2.8/ 8, ABC: 2.1/ 6, NBC: 1.6/ 4, CW: 0.7/ 2

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

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ON THE AIR THIS WEEKEND: Prime-Time Programming Options

Friday 5/06/11

ABC:
8:00 p.m. Shark Tank
9:00 p.m. Primetime: What Would You Do?
10:00 p.m. 20/20

CBS:
8:00 p.m. Flashpoint (season premiere)
9:00 p.m. CSI: NY
10:00 p.m. Blue Bloods

NBC:
8:00 p.m. Friday Night Lights
9:00 p.m.  Dateline (two hours)

Fox:
8:00 p.m. Kitchen Nightmares
9:00 p.m. Fringe (season finale)

CW
8:00 p.m. Smallville
9:00 p.m. Supernatural


Saturday 5/07/11

ABC:
8:00 p.m. 2011 NBA Conference Semi-Finals

CBS:
8:00 p.m. NCIS (R)
9:00 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles (R)
10:00 p.m. 48 Hours

NBC:
8:00 p.m. Chase
9:00 p.m. Law & Order: Los Angeles (R)
10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (R)

Fox:
8:00 p.m. NASCAR


Sunday 5/08/11

ABC:
7:00 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos
8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters

CBS:
7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 
8:00 p.m. The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business (season finale)
10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami (season finale)

NBC:
7:00 p.m. Dateline 
8:00 p.m. Celebrity Apprentice (three hours)

Fox:
7:00 p.m. The Simpsons (R)
7:30 p.m. American Dad
8:00 p.m. The Simpsons
8:30 p.m. Bob Burgers
9:00 p.m. Family Guy
9:30 p.m. The Cleveland Show

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TV TIDBITS: Notes of Interest

Kate Couric on ABC?:
Word, of course, is rapidly spreading over a pending deal at ABC for Katie Couric to host her own daytime talk show (in place of General Hospital) and do specials and fill-in work for the news division.  But before the deal is actually potentially done, ABC may want to take a look at the current third-place status of The CBS Evening News, which has never been able to pull itself out of third since Couric stepped in as anchor in 2006.  Since many of these daytime viewers are the same audience watching network news, why will this be any different?

More After Lately on E!:
E! has picked-up After Lately, which takes a behind-the-scenes look at late night talker Chelsea Lately, for a second season.  Production is scheduled to begin immediately.

CMT Disaster Relief Concert:
Cable net CMT and its pro-social initiative CMT One Country will air a live, 90-minute concert special featuring names in the caliber of Hank Williams, Jr., Alabama, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Ronnie Dunn, Sara Evans, Tim McGraw to raise awareness and funds for those affected by the recent storms, flooding and tornadoes. It is scheduled for Thursday, May 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will be simulcast on CMT.com. All money raised will benefit the American Red Cross Disaster Relief efforts.

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TV TRIVIA: A “Cool” Question

Note: To respond to the trivia, please click HERE. Do not click Reply

Remember classic high drama The White Shadow, which featured a character named Warren Coolidge as one of the students?  What other series did the same character show up on in a recurring basis?

a) The Bronx Zoo
b) Hill Street Blues
c) Night Court
d) N.Y.P.D. Blue
e) St. Elsewhere

The answer to yesterday’s question…

Which celebrity to-date has yet to compete on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars?

a) David Alan Grier
b) Shirley Jones
c) Susan Lucci
d) Wayne Newton
e) Jerry Springer

Is: b) Shirley Jones, but there is still plenty of time since Dancing With the Stars will last for years.

Current kudos goes to:
Mary Bancroft, John Beadle, Gerry Bixenspan, Jordan Breslow, Tom Condosta, Audrey Davis, Jan Frazier, Maya Garner, Maureen Goldman, Martha Gonzalez, Geoffrey Gordon, Barb Hemberger, Gordon Howard, Julie Hurwitz, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Deb Kainer, Tom Kilgallon, Todd Koerner, Synda Kollman, Audrey Lewin, Richard Merten, Greg Phelan, Jeffrey Rosado, Jay Rossi, Colleen Roth, Lindsey Rothman, David Ruckman, Anthony Salerno, Ronnie Tallant, Nina Lisa Tomlinson, Mark Toth