Respectable Return for CBS' Big Brother

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERFriday, July 10, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:Respectable Return for Big Brother 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:Not a Match _______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:Respectable Return for Big Brother Thursday 7/09/09 HH Rtg/Shr CBS 5.1/ 9Fox 4.2/ 7NBC 2.4/ 4ABC 2.0/ 4CW 1.0/ 2 ---------- Note: Comparisons to the year-ago evening are not available. ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:(Don’t forget: Expectations are lower in the summer months)Big Brother (CBS), CSI R (CBS), So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), The Mentalist R (CBS) -Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):Samantha Who? (ABC), The Listener (NBC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: CBS finished first in the Thursday overnights, beating second-place Fox by nine-tenths of a rating point. In the very distant No. 3 spot was NBC, followed by ABC and The CW. In season-premiere news, the 11th edition of summer addiction Big Brother (yes…time flies!) opened with a dominant 4.2 rating/8 share in the overnights from 8-9 p.m. While this may not seem like not much, comparatively it bested the Thursday 8 p.m. telecast on July 31, 2008 (3.7/ 7, the first time it aired on Thursday last season) by 14 percent. The strength of Big Brother, of course, falls within the young adult demos. As for the show itself, I am not thrilled that egomaniac Jessie is back. But splitting the contestants into high school cliques (popular, athletes, brainiacs and off beats) is a clever twist. And the mix of contestants seems interesting this season. Nice job, Allison Grodner and company. Big Brother airs three times per week: Sunday at 8 p.m., Tuesday at 9 p.m. and the aforementioned Thursday. CBS also ranked first from 9-11 p.m. care of repeats of CSI (5.4/ 9) and relocated The Mentalist (5.9/11), which airs two times per week this summer. Over at Fox, the live So You Think You Can Dance Results Show finished second at 9 p.m., with a 4.8/ 9. But it is, of course, a shoo-in to win the hour among adults 18-49. So long, Caitlin and Philip. Earlier in the evening on Fox was a repeat of Bones at a second-place 3.7/ 7 at 8 p.m. Elsewhere, NBC got minimal mileage out of repeats of 30 Rock (#4: 2.4/ 4), two episodes of The Office (#3: avg. 2.4/ 4 from 8:30-9:30 p.m.), and another episode of 30 Rock (#4: 2.1/ 4) from 8-10 p.m. An original installment of Canadian drama The Listener capped off the evening was a weak second-place 2.6/ 4 at 10 p.m. Did you ever imagine that under a 3-rating in the overnights would finish second in a time period? ABC opened the night with two more episodes of canceled Samantha Who? (#3: avg. 2.4/ 5), followed by repeats of Grey’s Anatomy (#4: 2.0/ 3) and Private Practice (#3: 1.7/ 3) from 9-11 p.m. Last were repeats of The CW’s Smallville (1.0/ 2), which moves to Friday at 8 p.m. next season, and perfectly compatible Supernatural (1.0/ 2). As a reminder, here is what you will be seeing on Thursday next fall: ABC 8:00 p.m. Flash Forward (new) 9:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy10:00 p.m. Private Practice CBS 8:00 p.m. Survivor: Samoa 9:00 p.m. CSI10:00 p.m. The Mentalist (new day and time) NBC 8:00 p.m. SNL Weekend Update / Community (new) 8:30 p.m. Parks and Recreation 9:00 p.m. The Office 9:30 p.m. 30 Rock (Community debuts here)10:00 p.m. The Jay Leno Show (new) Fox 8:00 p.m. Bones 9:00 p.m. Fringe (new day) CW 8:00 p.m. Vampire Diaries (new) 9:00 p.m. Supernatural Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Morning News Update:Based on the week of June 22, what follows are the final national rating results for the three morning news programs -- NBC’s The Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America and The Early Show on CBS. Dominant The Today Show still stands well above No. 2 GMA, but it was The Early Show that built from the comparable year-ago week in all three surveyed categories. Households:NBC: 3.9 rating/15 share (+ 5), ABC: 3.0/11 (no change), CBS: 1.9/ 7 (+ 6) Total Viewers:NBC: 5.14 million (+ 6), ABC: 3.94 (+ 4), CBS: 2.48 (+ 5) Adults 25-54:NBC: 1.9/15 (+12), ABC: 1.3/10 (no change), CBS: 0.8/ 6 (+14) --------------- -Final Wednesday Nationals:It was a midweek night of mixed leadership, with America’s Got Talent leading NBC to victory in total viewers and the home of So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, No. 1 among adults 18-49. ABC continues to benefit with summer favorite Wipeout (Viewers: #1, 8.19 million; A18-49: #1t, 2.9 rating/10 share at 8 p.m.), but lead-out I Survived a Japanese Game Show remains a disappointment at just 3.90 million viewers (#3) and a 1.4/ 4 in the demo (#4) at 9 p.m. Week three of NBC drama Philanthropist, meanwhile, dipped to third at 10 p.m. in both total viewers (5.08 million) and adults 18-49 (1.4/ 4). Here are the final national ratings for Wednesday, July 8. Households:NBC: 4.9 rating/9 share, Fox: 4.7/ 8, ABC: 3.6/ 6, CBS: 4.1/ 7, CW: 0.6/ 1 Total Viewers:NBC: 7.77 million, Fox: 7.59, ABC: 6.10, CBS: 6.08, CW: 880,000 Adults 18-49:Fox: 2.9 rating/9 share, ABC and NBC: 2.1/ 7 each, CBS: 1.3/ 4, CW: 0.3/ 1 Source: Nielsen Media Research data________________________________________________________________________________ On the Air This Weekend:Prime-Time Programming Options Friday 7/10/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Surviving Suburbia 8:30 p.m. The Goode Family 9:00 p.m. According to Jim (R) 9:30 p.m. According to Jim (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. The Chopping Block 9:00 p.m. Dateline (two hours) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? 9:00 p.m. Mental 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 7/11/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Wipeout (R) 9:00 p.m. Castle (R)10:00 p.m. Eli Stone (series finale) CBS: 8:00 p.m. Without a Trace (R) 9:00 p.m. Harper’s Island (series finale, two hours) NBC: 8:00 p.m. Kings 9:00 p.m. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (R)10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Cops 9:00 p.m. America’s Most Wanted --------------- Sunday 7/12/09 ABC: 7:00 p.m. Just For Laughs 7:30 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos (R) 8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (R) 9:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives (R)10:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters (R) CBS: 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00 p.m. Big Brother (time period premiere) 9:00 p.m. Cold Case (R)10:00 p.m. Without a Trace (R) NBC: 7:00 p.m. Great American Road Trip (R) 8:00 p.m. Merlin 9:00 p.m. Miniseries: Meteor (part one) Fox: 7:00 p.m. ‘Til Death (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. The Simpsons (R) CW: 7:00 p.m. Jericho (R) 8:00 p.m. Sunday Movie: Hoosiers (R) ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -Coming Up at Comedy Central:Cable net Comedy Central has ordered 10 episodes of an untitled multi-camera sitcom featuring Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) as an out of work computer IT person who leaves the city and moves back home. The project comes from Debmar-Mercury and Gary Sanchez Productions, which is led by Will Ferrell, Chris Henchy and Adam McKay. -Old Christine Heads to Lifetime:Lifetime Television has acquired the off-network cable rights to CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which opens season five this fall. Under the terms of the agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Lifetime will hold the exclusive cable rights to all 88 episodes of the series, as well as any episodes produced past season five. Old Christine premieres on Lifetime in fall 2010. -ABC Schedules Defying Gravity:Defying Gravity, a non-scripted summer series on ABC focusing on eight astronauts from five countries on a mysterious mission, will bow with a two-hour premiere on Sunday, August 2 at 9 p.m. ET. One week later it airs Sundays at 10 p.m. until the new season begins. -TV Land Schedule Changes:How’d You Get So Rich?, the upcoming non-scripted series featuring Joan Rivers traveling the country in search of the richest people, will now debut on Wednesday, August 5 at 10 p.m. ET. It leads into the premiere of hidden camera series Make My Day at 10:30 p.m. ET. ___________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Not a Match Four of the five following pairs of series aired for the same number of years. Which pair did not? The Addams Family and The Munsters Cheers and MASHGreen Acres and The Real McCoysI Spy and Scarecrow and Mrs. King The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie The answer to yesterday’s trivia question… What was Steve Urkel’s favorite food on Family Matters? beefaronicheeseflounderhot dogsmeat loaf Is: b) cheese. That’s right…the quintessential nerd loved cheese. All together now… It's a rare condition, this day and age, to read any good news on the newspaper page. Love and tradition of the grand design, some people say it's even harder to find. Well then there must be some magic clue inside these tearful walls Cause all I see is a tower of dreams real love burstin' out of every seam. As days go by, we're gonna fill our house with happiness. The moon may cry, we're gonna smother the blues with tenderness. When days go by, there's room for you, room for me, for gentle hearts an opportunity. As days go by, it's the bigger love of the family.-Current kudos goes to:Suzanne Ackley, Steve Albright, Michelle Yarborough-Bauer, Gerry Bixenspan, Randy Blake, Brian Carney, Larry Collins, Reid Davis, John Ferlazzo, Arleen Fong, Michelle Harrington, Melissa Hodgdon, Bob Ingersoll, Deb Kainer, Kristopher Koller, Synda Kollman, Charmaine Leary, Michael Lehman, Adam Licker, Debbie Mirr, Alan Perris, Gordon Purcell, Dan Tinder, Brent Vogel

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Respectable Return for CBS' Big Brother

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