Sluggish Starts for ABC's Dating in the Dark and The Wanted on NBC

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERTuesday, July 21, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:Lackluster Starts for ABC’s Dating in the Dark and NBC’s The Wanted 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 On the Dunder Mifflin Payroll __________________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:Lackluster Starts for ABC’s Dating in the Dark and NBC’s The Wanted Monday 7/20/09 HH Rtg/Shr CBS 4.9/ 8ABC 4.3/ 7Fox 2.9/ 5NBC 2.5/ 4CW 0.5/ 1 ---------- -Note: Comparisons to the year-ago evening are not available. ---------- -Respectable Summer Performers:The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All (ABC), Two and a Half Men R (CBS), The Big Bang Theory R (CBS), CSI: Miami R (CBS) -Disappointing:Dating in the Dark (ABC) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):Great American Road Trip (NBC), The Wanted (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, July 20, 2009. ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: CBS opened the week on a winning overnight note, beating second-place ABC by 14 percent. Third overall on Monday was Fox, followed by NBC and The CW. In the battle of the series-premieres, ABC reality/competition Dating In the Dark and NBC’s The Wanted, both airing at 10 p.m., were outdelivered in the metered markets by a repeat of CBS’ CSI: Miami as follows: Monday 10 p.m.CSI: Miami R (CBS): 5.7/10Dating in the Dark (ABC): 3.7/ 6The Wanted (NBC): 2.1/ 4 Although Dating in the Dark could generate some interest demographically (women, in particular), there is no hope for The Wanted, which focuses on an international hunt for an accused terrorist each week. Retention out of the 9:30 p.m. portions of their lead-ins (ABC’s The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All: 4.9/ 8 and a repeat of NBC’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent: 3.5/ 6) was 76 percent for Dating in the Dark and 60 percent for The Wanted. Both hours also dipped at 10:30 p.m. as follows: Dating in the Dark (ABC)10:00 p.m.: 3.8/ 610:30 p.m.: 3.6/ 6Percent Change: - 5 The Wanted (NBC)10:00 p.m.: 2.3/ 410:30 p.m.: 1.9/ 3Percent Change: -17 Earlier in the evening were repeats of CBS sitcoms How I Met Your Mother (#2t: 3.2/ 6), Rules of Engagement (#3: 3.3/ 6), Two and a Half Men (#1: 6.0/10) and The Big Bang Theory (#1: 5.4/ 9) from 8-10 p.m. ABC aired a special edition of The Bachelorette, The Men Tell All, which averaged a 4.6/ 8 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., and performed by half hour as follows: The Bachelorette (ABC)8:00 p.m.: 4.6/ 8 (#1)8:30 p.m.: 4.4/ 8 (#1)9:00 p.m.: 4.6/ 8 (#2)9:30 p.m.: 4.9/ 8 (#2) Next Monday is the season-finale of The Bachelorette. Elsewhere, Fox aired repeats of House (#2: 3.4/ 6) and Lie To Me (#4: 2.5/ 4), which will occupy the night next fall. NBC opened with low-rated reality/competition Great American Road Trip (#4: 2.3/ 4), followed by the aforementioned encore of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (#3: 3.2/ 6 at 9 p.m.), which originally aired on USA. And The CW capped off the evening with repeats of One Tree Hill (#5: 0.6/ 1) and Gossip Girl (#5: 0.4/ 1), which is not benefiting by the increased HUT levels at 9 p.m. We’ll see what happens this fall. To whet your appetite, here is the upcoming Monday schedule for next fall. CBS’ relocated The Big Bang Theory will certainly get a boost out of Two and a Half Men (and into CSI: Miami). But since it was already working well as the 8 p.m. anchor (and How I Met Your Mother is not strong enough to open the evening), personally I would have left well enough alone. Congratulations are in order for Big Bang’s Jim Parsons, who snagged his first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. ABC’s Dancing With the Stars should have no trouble attracting as mass audience (and is unlikely to be negatively impacted by the fall edition of Fox’s waning So You Think You Can Dance), but sophomore lead-out Castle is still not proven. New NBC drama Trauma is not expected to benefit out of fading Heroes, which is now at 8 p.m. Fox’s Lie To Me is nothing more than time period filler until 24 returns in midseason. And Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill flipping time periods means The CW’s priority is Gossip Girl, which could benefit by the higher HUT levels at 9 p.m. As for night one of NBC’s The Jay Leno Show, a lot will, of course, depend on the caliber of guests he attracts. 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 (new time) 8:30 p.m. Accidentally on Purpose (new) 9:00 p.m. Two and a Half Men 9:30 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (new time)10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami NBC 8:00 p.m. Heroes (new time) 9:00 p.m. Trauma (new)10:00 p.m. The Jay Leno Show (new) Fox 8:00 p.m. House 9:00 p.m. Lie to Me (new day) CW 8:00 p.m. One Tree Hill (new time) 9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl (new time) Source: Nielsen Media Research data____________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What's Hot/What's Not -Growing Eureka on Sci Fi:Based on national ratings for Friday, July 17, Eureka at 9 p.m. ET increased by four percent in total viewers (2.7 million), one percent in adults 18-49 (1.1 million) and five percent among adults 25-54 compared to one week earlier. Recently introduced lead-out Warehouse 13 held 97 percent of the lead-in. Source: Nielsen Media Research data ________________________________________________________________________________ On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Tuesday 7/21/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. The Superstars 9:00 p.m. Better Off Ted 9:30 p.m. Scrubs (R)10:00 p.m. Primetime Family Secrets CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) 9:00 p.m. Big Brother10:00 p.m. Medium (R, premiere on CBS) NBC: 8:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent (R) 9:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent 10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Hell’s Kitchen (season premiere, two hours) CW: 8:00 p.m. 90210 (R) 9:00 p.m. Hitched or Ditched (R) MNTV8:00 p.m. Street Patrol (R) 8:30 p.m. Street Patrol (R) 9:00 p.m. Jail (R) 9:30 p.m. Jail (R) ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -The President Back in Primetime:ABC, CBS and NBC will all telecast President Obama’s next news conference this Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. Fox, which did not carry the President’s last address to the country on April 29, will keep the two-hour edition of So You Think You Can Dance intact. To accommodate the coverage, ABC will slide Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show back one hour, preempting ABC News special Over a Barrel: The Truth About Oil, which will now air on Friday, July 24 at 10 p.m. ET. NBC will replace its encore telecast of America’s Got Talent, while CBS is expected to do the same for repeats of The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried. -Shaq Vs. on ABC:Despite the failure of Shaq’s Big Challenge, a weight loss reality/competition two summers ago, basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal is returning to ABC in a new non-scripted hour called Shaq Vs. Each week, O’Neal will compete to become a new champion opposite a potpourri of contenders including Olympian Michael Phelps in swimming, Serena Williams in tennis, championship fighter Oscar de la Hoya in boxing, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujois in baseball, and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football. It debuts Tuesday, August 18 at 9 p.m. -Jorja Fox Returns to CSI:Former CSI cast member Jorja Fox will reprise her role as Sara Sidle in five episodes of the veteran forensics crime solver next season, including the season premiere. When we last saw Sara, she was reunited with William Petersen’s Gil Grissom in Costa Rica. -Copper Begins Production:Canwest has announced that production has begun on Copper (working title), an upcoming drama about five young rookie cops who are just out of the police academy. Thirteen episodes have been ordered for telecast on both ABC and Global TV in Canada. -NBCU Announces New York Cable Channel Upgrades:Cable nets Oxygen and Telemundo, both from the NBC Universal platform, are moving to new channel positions on Time Warner Cable in New York City effective on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Oxygen will move from channel 61 to 12, and Telemundo from channel 126 to 42. -Mr. TV on MediaFreak:Here we go again. Every summer like clockwork rumors begin to circulate that ditzy American Idol judge Paula Abdul is not returning to the top-rated reality competition. Abdul apparently was hoping to snag a cool $20 million next year to sit comfortably watching the contestants compete while offering little to no valid commentary (host Ryan Seacrest just signed a three-year deal for $45 million), but those nasty suits have apparently only offered her a measly $10 million. For more, click on www.mediafreakblog.com. -Syfy Fall Premiere Dates:Mark your calendars for the following series and season premiere dates on cable network SyFy: Destination Truth: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 9 p.m. ET (third season premiere)Stargate Universe: Friday, Oct. 2, 9 p.m. ET (series premiere, two hours)Scare Tactics: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 9 p.m. ET (return)Sanctuary: Friday, Oct. 9, 10 p.m. ET (second season premiere) Also airing will be original episodes of Ghost Hunters in the Wednesday 9 p.m. ET hour and recently introduced Warehouse 13 at 9 p.m. ET every Tuesday.____________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Not On the Dunder Mifflin Payroll Which one of the following TV characters is not an employee of paper company Dunder Mifflin on The Office? Stanley HudsonPhyllis LapinOscar MartinezMeredith PalmerNick Stokes The answer to yesterday’s question… We all, of course, remember the episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show featuring Walter Cronkite. But what other sitcom did he also appear on as himself? Cheers Growing Pains Murphy BrownSeinfeldWho’s the Boss? Is: c) Murphy Brown. The legendary Mr. Cronkite actually appeared in three episodes of Murphy Brown. -Current kudos goes to:Don Abel, Suzanne Ackley, Dave Aiken, Mark Amato, Ric Beddingfield, Barbara Berman, Gerry Bixenspan, Kimay Bloch, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Audrey Davis, Reid Davis, Bob Eisenstedt, Arleen Fong, Jim Forkan, Julie Friedlander, Maureen Goldman, Vicky Gregorian, Kevin Harlan, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll, Kevin Jones, Deb Kainer, Mary Kinoshita, Synda Kollman, Valerie Langan, Stephen LaRue, Charmaine Leary, Marie Lefevre Karp, Michael Lehman, Lisa Menin, Debbie Mirr, Michael Murphy, Tony Naldrett, Stephen Narissi, Bill Nuss, Alan Perris, Alex Petrilli, Jr., Francine Purcell, Gordon Purcell, Arthur Reinstein, Bruce Robinson, Lance Ross, Marilyn Rutkowski, Mary Ryan, Ron Salmon, David Shearer, Michelle Stanton, Ronnie Tallant, Carol Teichman, Trenna Underhill, Myndi Weinraub, Ted Zawislak

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Sluggish Starts for ABC's Dating in the Dark and The Wanted on NBC

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