The Programming Insider: Respectable Return ABC's The Bachelorette

In Today's Issue:

Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings: ABC Wins; Respectable Return for The Bachelorette
Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not
On the Air Tonight: Prime-Time Programming Options
TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest
TV Trivia Time: Not Set in the 1980s


PRIME-TIME METERED MARKET MONDAY RATINGS:
ABC Wins; Respectable Return for The Bachelorette

Monday 5/23/11
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
ABC: 9.4/15, Fox: 5.5/ 8, CBS: 4.3/ 7, NBC: 3.4/ 5, CW: 0.4/ 1

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Monday 5/24/10):
ABC: + 6, Fox: -17, NBC: -19, CW: -33, CBS: -45

Yesterday’s Winners:  
Dancing with the Stars (ABC)

Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Minute to Win It (NBC), The Event (NBC), Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC)

Note: The fast affiliate results for Monday will be posted at PIFeedback by 12 p.m. ET.  Go to the website, click on Ratings Box (the first category), then Last Night’s Results, and Monday, May 23, 2011.

Ratings Breakdown:
Yes, ABC dominated.  But one look at the Monday overnight results and it is obvious blockbuster Dancing with the Stars was trimmed down to one hour.  Dancing with the Stars, which concludes with a two-hour edition tonight, opened with a massive 15.4 rating/24 share from 8-9 p.m., which beat the four competing networks combined.  Most likely to snag the cheesy mirror ball trophy: Hines Ward.  Dancing with the Stars led into the two-hour season-premiere of The Bachelorette, which was sampled with a 6.4/10 from 9-11 p.m.  There is the half-hour breakdown:

The Bachelorette (ABC)
9:00 p.m.: 7.5/11 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 6.4/10 (#1)
10:00 p.m. 5.9/ 9 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 5.9/10 (#1)

Next Monday, The Bachelorette moves into the Monday 8-10 p.m. block.

Over at second-place Fox, House, which moves to Mondays at 9 p.m. next fall (out of new drama Terra Nova), concluded for the season with a second-place 6.3/10 at 8 p.m.  Compared to the year-ago season-finale (7.5/11 on May 17, 2010), that was a loss of 16 percent.  House led into the series-finale of crime solver The Chicago Code at a third-place 4.8/ 7 at 9 p.m.

Also ending its series run was NBC’s mishandled The Event at a fourth-place 3.2/ 5 at 9 p.m.  Rule of thumb to any network: never put an already questionable freshman series on hiatus for three months because any potential momentum will be lost.  The Event led into an original installment of canceled Law & Order: Los Angeles at a third-place 4.5/ 8 at 10 p.m.  Earlier in the evening on NBC was game show Minute to Win It at a fourth-place 2.6/ 4 in the overnights at 8 p.m.  The advantage of doing this poorly on the evening is having only one place to go, and that’s up, next season.

Elsewhere, CBS populated this final Monday in May with repeats of two episodes of How I Met Your Mother (#4: avg. 3.2/ 5 from 8-9 p.m.), Two and a Half Men (#2: 5.4/ 8) and Mike & Molly (#2t, 4.8/ 7) from 8-10 p.m., followed by original special Clash of the Commercials: USA vs. the World at a second-place 4.7/ 8 at 10 p.m.  And The CW aired encore telecasts of 90210 (#5: 0.5/ 1) and Gossip Girl (#5: 0.4/ 1).

As a reminder, here is what you will be seeing on Monday nights this fall (with new shows bolded in caps):

ABC
8:00 p.m.: Dancing with the Stars (two hours)
10:00 p.m.: Castle

CBS
8:00 p.m.: How I Met Your Mother
8:30 p.m.: 2 BROKE GIRLS
9:00 p.m.: Two and a Half Men
9:30 p.m.: Mike & Molly
10:00 p.m.: Hawaii Five-O

NBC
8:00 p.m.: The Sing-Off (two hours, new time)
10:00 p.m.: THE PLAYBOY CLUB

Fox
8:00 p.m.: TERRA NOVA
9:00 p.m.: House (new time)

CW
8:00 p.m.: Gossip Girl (new time)
9:00 p.m.: HART OF DIXIE

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

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RATINGS BOX:
What’s Hot/What’s Not

Live Plus 7 Day Ratings – Season to-Date Update:
Based on results from September 20, 2010 through May 8, 2011, here is an updated listing of the Live Plus 7 Day Ratings, which include DVR usage, have been released.   Based on additional tune-in, CBS holds 13 of the top 30 spots, but ABC’s Modern Family has the greatest jump at an added 3.35 million viewers.  Hawaii Five-O on CBS leads the freshman pack, with a No. 2 finish overall and an added 3.27 million viewers.

Modern Family (ABC): 11.34 to 14.69 million (+3.35 million), Hawaii Five-O (CBS): 11.03 to 14.30 million (+3.27), The Mentalist (CBS): 14.60 to 17.61 million (+3.01), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 11.42 to 14.34 million (+2.92), Criminal Minds (CBS): 13.69 to 16.29 million (+2.60), Glee (Fox): 11.00 to 13.58 million (+2.58), House (Fox): 10.15 to 12.69 (+2.54), NCIS (CBS): 19.87 to 22.38 million (+2.51), Castle (ABC): 10.51 to 13.00 million (+2.49), Blue Bloods (CBS): 11.27 to 13.71 million (+2.44), Body of Proof (ABC): 11.58 to 14.01 million (+2.43), American Idol – Wednesday (Fox): 23.61 to 25.92 million (+2.31), CSI (CBS): 13.36 to 15.65 million (+2.29), The Good Wife (CBS): 11.77 to 14.00 million (+2.23), Harry’s Law (NBC): 9.42 to 11.64 million (+2.22), The Big Bang Theory (CBS): 12.71 to 14.93 million (+2.22), Bones (Fox): 10.10 to 12.31 million (+2.21), The Office (NBC): 7.39 to 9.54 million (+2.15), NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS): 16.32 to 18.46 million (+2.14),  American Idol – Thursday (Fox): 22.00 to 23.99 million (+1.99), Private Practice (ABC): 7.63 to 9.61 million (+1.98), Desperate Housewives (ABC): 11.32 to 13.26 million (+1.94), Two and a Half Men (CBS): 14.25 to 16.17 million (+1.92), Parenthood (NBC): 5.24 to 7.11 million (+1.87), Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (CBS): 9.91 to 11.68 million (+1.77), Law & Order: SVU (NBC): 8.65 to 10.44 million (+1.79), The Event (NBC): 5.75 to 7.46 million (+1.71), Survivor: Redemption Island (CBS): 11.03 to 12.74 million (+1.71), CSI: NY (CBS): 10.02 to 11.67 million (+1.65), Chicago Code (Fox): 7.18 to 8.77 million (+1.59)

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

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ON THE AIR TONIGHT:
Prime-Time Programming Options

Tuesday 5/24/11

ABC:
8:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars (R)
9:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars (season finale, two hours)

CBS:
8:00 p.m. NCIS (R)
9:00 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles (R)
10:30 p.m. NCIS (R)

NBC:
8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Couples (season finale)
10:00 p.m. The Voice

Fox:
8:00 p.m. American Idol
9:00 p.m. Glee (season finale)

CW:
8:00 p.m. One Tree Hill (R)
9:00 p.m. Hellcats (R)

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TV TIDBITS:
Notes of Interest

Showtime Programming Update:
Showtime has renewed dark comedy Nurse Jackie, featuring Emmy winner Edie Falco, for a fourth season, with an unspecified number of new episodes for 2011-12.  But United States of Tara, headline by Toni Collette, will conclude after its third season ends this summer.  Collette won an Emmy in 2009 and a Golden Globe in 2010 for her performance as a woman with multiple personalities.

Mark Burnett Heads to History Channel:
Reality producer extraordinaire Mark Burnett has signed a deal with The History Channel for a 10-hour scripted series based on the stories of the Bible.  Broken out in five two-hour parts, each episode is expected two include two or three biblical stories.  Production is expected to begin in 2013.

Lifetime Announces Launch Date for The Protector:
Upcoming scripted Lifetime drama The Protector, featuring Ally Walker as a single mother and detective in the LAPD homicide division, will debut on Sunday, June 12 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.  The 13-episode series premieres out of the fifth season-finale of Army Wives, while leading out of returning Drop Dead Diva for the remainder of the season.

Telco Partners with Rasmussen:
Telco Productions has partnered with national polling company Rasmussen Reports to develop news programming for syndication.  The first venture will be a one-minute polling analysis vignette produced specifically for local newscasts.  The project will draw upon independent public opinion polling data on the latest political, business and lifestyle issues from Rasmussen Reports.

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TV TRIVIA TIME:
Not Set in the 1980s

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

Which one of the following series did not air at all in the 1980s?

a) Enos
b) Father Murphy
c) Good Times
d) Harper Valley
e) Lou Grant

The answer to yesterday’s question…

Remember Fred, Detective Tony Baretta’s pet in 1970s crime solver Baretta?  What exactly was Fred?

a) alligator
b) bird
c) cat
d) dog
e) snake

Is: b) bird.  Fred, of course, was a cockatoo and Baretta aired on ABC from 1975 to 1978.

Current kudos goes to:
Danny Aguilar, Joanne Albrecht, Joelle Alexander, John Beadle, Mikki Beno, Bobby Bernard, Jerry Beyer, Mark Binda, Gerry Bixenspan, Lisa Brause, Dennis Burton, Al Canaletich, Steve Clements, Larry Collins, Larry Corsa, Audrey Davis, Patrick Dupont, Bob Eisenstaedt, Jim Forkan, Julie Friedlander, Rita Gazitano, Beth Gelfond, Gail Goins, Maureen Goldman, Peter Grad, Ed Groves, Jacqueline Hague, David Heraux, Michael Holland, Gordon Howard, Bob Ingersoll, Ken Jobe, Jana Kahn, Todd Koerner, Synda Kollman, Steven Kurtzer, Howard Lieboff, Frank Nicotero, Kimberley Orti, Alan Perris, Gordon Purcell, Mauricio Rios, Bruce Robinson, Jay Rossi, David Ruckman, David Shearer, Barb Shimp, Maxine Shulman, Janet Shute, David Skinner, Deniel Soiseth, Mindy Staley, Michelle Stanton, Joe Swaney, Melissa Toyofuku, Larry Weinstock, Kathy Wells, Abbott Wool, Ted Zavales