CBS and Fox Lead Week of Oct. 19

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERWednesday, October 28, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:Repeat Riddled CBS Dominates, NBC Poised for Adult 18-49 Victory National Ratings in Prime-Time:Week of October 19, 2009 Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: The “Cos” Is Here________________________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:Repeat Riddled CBS Dominates, NBC Poised for Adult 18-49 Victory Tuesday 10/27/09 HH Rtg/Shr CBS 8.1/13ABC 6.7/11NBC 4.9/ 8Fox 3.8/ 6CW 0.8/ 1 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Tuesday, October 28, 2008):NBC: - 4, ABC: -11, CBS: -16, Fox: -38, CW: -58 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:NCIS R (CBS), The Biggest Loser (NBC), Dancing With the Stars (ABC), NCIS: Los Angeles R (CBS), The Good Wife R (CBS) -Disappointing:So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) -Yesterday’s Losers:The Jay Leno Show (NBC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown:Despite airing all repeats, CBS still dominated the Tuesday overnights, beating No. 2 ABC by 21 percent. Third overall was NBC, which could win the evening among adults 18-49 thanks to The Biggest Loser, followed by Fox and The CW. A repeat of CBS’ NCIS, the most-watched show season to-date in prime-time, finished a solid first at 8 p.m., with a 10.2 rating/16 share in the overnights. That led into repeats of NCIS: Los Angeles (#2: 7.4/12) and The Good Wife (#1: 6.7/11) from 9-11 p.m. It should be interesting in January when NCIS faces off against Fox’s returning American Idol. Does anyone really think American Idol will benefit from the arrival of Ellen DeGeneres? ABC opened the evening with annual repeat special, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at a third-place 5.1/ 8 in the overnights at 8 p.m. Comparably, that was down by 14 percent from the 5.9/ 9 it garnered on the year-ago evening (but is still likely to score among adults 18-49). Next was the double elimination on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars at a dominant 9.8/15 at 9 p.m., followed by on-the-fence The Forgotten at a second-place 5.4/ 9 at 10 p.m. Although retention for The Forgotten out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Dancing With the Stars (10.0/15) was just 54 percent, week-to-week the crime drama built by 17 percent (5.4/ 9 vs. 4.6/ 8) in the overnights. As for Dancing With the Stars, Melissa Joan Hart and Louie Vito were sent packing as predicted. With only seven contestants left, Michael Irvin and Kelly Osbourne are now the official weakest links. Ozzy and Sharon…you had better be there to support to your little girl next week. Elsewhere, NBC’s demographic friendly The Biggest Loser averaged a 5.3/ 8 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., with growth in each half-hour as follows: The Biggest Loser (NBC)8:00 p.m.: 5.0/ 8 (#3)8:30 p.m.: 5.2/ 8 (#2)9:00 p.m.: 5.3/ 8 (#3)9:30 p.m.: 5.8/ 9 (#3) Compared to one year earlier (4.5/ 7 on Oct. 28, 2008), The Biggest Loser increased by 18 percent. And the expected dominance among adults 18-49 is enough to land it in the “winner’s” circle. Lead-out The Jay Leno Show dipped to a last-place 4.0/ 7 in the overnights at 10 p.m., with retention out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of The Biggest Loser of 69 percent. Considering how much Leno normally falls from The Biggest Loser among adults 18-49 (54 percent last week), yes…it’s another “losing” performance. Over at Fox, a two-hour edition of So You Think You Can Dance averaged a modest 3.8/ 6 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows: So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)8:00 p.m.: 3.7/ 6 (#4)8:30 p.m.: 4.0/ 6 (#4)9:00 p.m.: 3.8/ 6 (#4)9:30 p.m.: 3.5/ 5 (#4) Given the expected mid-2 rating for So You Think You Can Dance among adults 18-49, what could have been labeled a “loser” has been upgraded to “disappointing.” And, on a corrective note, So You Think You Can Dance led into drama Lie To Me on Monday this week (and did not air for two-hours as reported yesterday). The CW capped off this sixth Tuesday of the current season with repeats of 90210 (#5: 1.0/ 2) and recent entry Melrose Place (#5: 0.7/ 1). What remains particularly disappointing for both serials is the absence of the once grand openings. Am I the only one who misses them? Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)_____________________________________________________________________________ National Ratings in Prime-Time:Week of October 19, 2009 CBS and Fox held the top spot on this fifth week of the 2009-10 season, with CBS first in households and total viewers and baseball-ignited Fox No. 1 in the three key demos -- adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34. Keep in mind that Fox featured games three through six of the Yankees versus the Angels in the Major League Baseball American League Championship Series (which aired on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday). Compared to one year earlier, both CBS and Fox were down by minor proportions. The year-ago week on Fox included the first three games of Philadelphia and Tampa Bay in The World Series (which did not break the record books by any means). ABC finished third across the board, at losses of 9 to 13 percent in the five surveyed categories. Next was NBC, which built by as much as 18 percent in both households and total viewers, followed by The CW, which was on the minor downside. The growth for NBC is a result of theatrical The 40 Year-Old Virgin in place of Sunday Night Football in the year-ago week. But ongoing The Jay Leno Show is not benefiting the network as follows: The Jay Leno Show (NBC) – 10 p.m.Monday – Viewers: 4.74 million (#70), A18-49: 1.4/ 4 (#67t)Tuesday – Viewers: 5.46 million (#61), A18-49: 1.8/ 5 (#52t)Wednesday – Viewers: 5.14 million (#63), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#64t)Thursday – Viewers: 4.97 million (#66), A18-49: 1.6/ 4 (#60t)Friday – Viewers: 6.22 million (#55), A18-49: 1.4/ 5 (#67t)Grade: D- In season-premiere news, ABC’s non-scripted Supernanny led off the Friday line-up with just 4.53 million viewers (#71) and a 1.1/ 4 among adults 18-49 (#76t) at 8 p.m. Without any lead-in support, relocated lead-out Ugly Betty is not sitting pretty in the ratings, with just 4.42 million viewers (#72) and a 1.2/ 4 in the demo (#73t) at 9 p.m. Friday overall remains a sore spot, with CBS’ Ghost Whisperer the most-watched show at 8.59 million viewers (#34). Here are the final national ratings for the week of October 19, 2009 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago week in parentheses), followed by the freshman series results, and the top 30 rated programs of the week. -Households:CBS: 6.8 rating/11 share (- 6), Fox: 6.3/10 (- 6), ABC: 5.9/10 (- 9), NBC: 4.6/ 8 (+18), CW: 1.3/ 2 (-13) -Total Viewers: CBS: 10.74 million (- 5), Fox: 10.28 (- 6), ABC: 9.06 (- 9), NBC: 7.24 (+18), CW: 1.95 (-13) -Adults 18-49:Fox: 3.5 rating/10 share (- 3), CBS: 2.7/ 8 (-10), ABC: 2.6/ 7 (-13), NBC: 2.5/ 7 (+14), CW: 0.9/ 2 (-10) -Adults 25-54:Fox: 3.9/10 (- 7), CBS: 3.6/ 9 (- 8), ABC: 3.2/ 8 (-11), NBC: 2.8/ 7 (+12), CW: 0.8/ 2 (-11) -Adults 18-34:Fox: 3.1/10 (no change), NBC: 2.1/ 7 (+ 5), ABC: 2.1/ 7 (-12), CBS: 1.8/ 6 (- 5), CW: 1.1/ 3 (- 8) -------------------- Freshman Series Results (in order of total viewers)*Excluding The Vampire Diaries on The CW, which was a repeat and Fox’s The Cleveland Show, which was pre-empted. NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) – Tuesday 9 p.m. ETViewers: 16.48 million (#3), A18-49: 3.9/10 (#12t)Grade: A The Good Wife (CBS) – Tuesday 10 p.m. ETViewers: 13.26 million (#13), A18-49: 2.8/ 8 (#33t)Grade: B+ FlashForward (ABC) – Thursday 8 p.m. ETViewers: 9.87 million (#27), A18-49: 3.1/ 9 (#28t)Grade: B Modern Family (ABC) – Wednesday 9 p.m. ETViewers: 8.66 million (#33), A18-49: 3.4/ 9 (#19t)Grade: B Accidentally on Purpose (CBS) – Monday 8:30 p.m. ETViewers: 8.26 million (#37), A18-49: 3.3/ 8 (#24t)Grade: B Three Rivers (CBS) – Sunday 9 p.m. ET Viewers: 7.78 million (#43), A18-49: 1.7/ 4 (#57t)Grade: F Cougar Town (ABC) – Wednesday 9:30 p.m. ETViewers: 7.31 million (#44), A18-49: 3.1/ 8 (#28t)Grade: B- The Forgotten (ABC) – Tuesday 10 p.m. ETViewers: 7.30 million (#45), A18-49: 1.9/ 5 (#49t)Grade: D+ Mercy (NBC) – Wednesday 8 p.m. ETViewers: 7.19 million (#47), A18-49: 1.9/ 6 (#49t)Grade: C Glee (Fox) – Wednesday 9 p.m. ETViewers: 7.15 million (#48), A18-49: 3.3/ 8 (#24t)Grade: B The Middle (ABC) – Wednesday 8:30 p.m. ETViewers: 6.52 million (#54), A18-49: 2.0/ 6 (#47t)Grade: C Shark Tank (ABC) – Tuesday 8 p.m. ET (season or series finale)Viewers: 5.92 million (#56), A18-49: 1.8/ 5 (#52t)Grade: D+ Hank (ABC) – Wednesday 8 p.m. ETViewers: 5.78 million (#57), A18-49: 1.5/ 5 (#64t)Grade: D Trauma (NBC) – Monday 9 p.m. ETViewers: 5.46 million (#61), A18-49: 1.8/ 4 (#52t)Grade: F Community (NBC) – Thursday 8 p.m. ETViewers: 5.04 million (#65), A18-49: 1.9/ 6 (#49t)Grade: F Eastwick (ABC) – Wednesday 10 p.m. ETViewers: 4.77 million (#68), A18-49: 1.6/ 4 (#60t)Grade: F Brothers (Fox) – Friday 8 p.m. ETViewers: 2.35 million (#82), A18-49: 0.8/ 3 (#84t)Grade: F Melrose Place (CW) – Tuesday 9 p.m. ETViewers: 1.50 million (#91), A18-49: 0.7/ 2 (#87t)Grade: F --------------- Top 30 Rankings -Total Viewers:NCIS (CBS): 21.25 million, Dancing With the Stars – Monday (ABC): 16.82, NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS): 16.48, American League Championship Series, Game 6 (Fox, Yankees vs. Angels): 15.48, The OT (Fox): 15.07, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 15.06, Sunday Night Football (NBC, Arizona at New York Giants): 14.97, Dancing With the Stars – Tuesday (ABC): 14.92, Criminal Minds (CBS): 14.27, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 14.18, Two and a Half Men (CBS): 14.07, The Big Bang Theory (CBS): 13.47, The Good Wife (CBS): 13.26, CSI: Miami (CBS): 13.16, CSI: NY (CBS): 13.01, Survivor: Samoa (CBS): 12.90, 60 Minutes (CBS): 12.47, American League Championship Series, Game 5 (Fox, Yankees vs. Angels): 11.85, The Mentalist R (CBS): 11.79, House (Fox): 11.65, The Amazing Race (CBS): 11.22, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC): 10.59, American League Championship Series, Game 4 (Fox, Yankees vs. Angels): 10.30, CSI R (CBS): 10.14, Brothers & Sisters (ABC): 9.97, Private Practice (ABC): 9.93, FlashForward (ABC): 9.87, The Biggest Loser (NBC): 9.82, Castle (ABC): 9.69, Cold Case (CBS): 9.30 -Adults 18-49:Sunday Night Football (NBC, Arizona at New York Giants): 5.9 rating/15 share, The OT (Fox): 5.7/16, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 5.3/14, The Big Bang Theory (CBS): 5.3/13, American League Championship Series, Game 6 (Fox, Yankees vs. Angels): 5.2/14, Two and a Half Men (CBS): 4.8/12, NCIS (CBS); 4.7/13, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 4.7/11, House (Fox): 4.5/11, The Office (NBC): 4.4/11, Survivor: Samoa (CBS): 4.0/12, The Biggest Loser (NBC): 3.9/11, CSI: Miami (CBS) and NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS): 3.9/10 each, Criminal Minds (CBS): 3.8/10, American League Championship Series, Game 4 (Fox, Yankees vs. Angels): 3.7/11, Private Practice (ABC): 3.7/10, Dancing With the Stars – Monday (ABC): 3.6/ 9, American League Championship Series, Game 4 (Fox, Yankees vs. Angels): 3.4/10, Modern Family (ABC), How I Met You Mother (CBS) and The Amazing Race (CBS): 3.4/ 9 each, Brothers & Sisters (ABC): 3.3/ 9, Accidentally on Purpose (CBS), Glee (Fox) and 30 Rock (NBC): 3.3/ 8 each, FlashForward (ABC): 3.1/ 9, Cougar Town (ABC): 3.1/ 8, CSI: NY (CBS) and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC): 3.0/ 8 each Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Updated Cable Rankings:What follows are the top 10 rated basic cable networks in prime-time for the week of October 19: Total Viewers:ESPN: 3.51 million, USA: 3.27, TBS: 2.87, Fox News: 2.20, Nick at Nite: 1.66, TNT: 1.59, Cartoon Network: 1.52, A&E: 1.49, Syfy: 1.41, ABC Family: 1.36 Adults 18-49:ESPN: 1.73 million, TBS: 1.44 million, USA: 1.26 million, FX: 783,000, TNT: 706,000, Comedy Central: 700,000, Syfy: 689,000, A&E: 667,000, ABC Family: 647,000, Discovery: 640,000 Adults 25-54:ESPN: 1.77 million, USA: 1.39 million, TBS: 1.33 million, Syfy: 763,000, TNT: 755,000, FX: 716,000, A&E: 708,000, Food Network: 656,000, Discovery: 623,000, Fox News: 583,000 Adults 18-34:ESPN: 791,000, TBS: 746,000, USA: 559,000, Comedy Central: 442,000, FX: 404,000, MTV: 389,000, ABC Family: 359,000, Spike TV: 329,000, Discovery: 307,000, Syfy: 301,000 ------------ -National Ratings in Syndication – Week of October 12:What follows are the top 20 rated programs in syndication for the week of October 12 based on households, including any individual program highlights worth noting. Note: Ratings for Two and a Half Men from Warner Bros. are being reprocessed and were not available at press time. Wheel of Fortune (CBS Television Distribution): 7.2 rating, Jeopardy (CBS): 5.9, Oprah (CBS): 5.2, Entertainment Tonight (CBS): 4.4, Judge Judy (CBS): 4.3, Family Guy (Twentieth Television) and CSI: NY (CBS): 3.4 each, Inside Edition (CBS): 3.2, Dr. Phil (CBS), The Office (NBC Universal) and Seinfeld – Weekend (Sony Pictures Television): 2.8 each, Dr. Oz (Sony Pictures Television) and Live With Regis & Kelly (Disney-ABC): 2.6 each, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC), Seinfeld (SPT), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC) and Two and a Half Men – Weekend (Warner Bros.): 2.5 each, Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS) and George Lopez (Warner Bros.): 2.4 each -Judge Judy, a Mr. TV favorite, was the only court show to improve year-to- year, with its best performance since late March. -Entertainment Tonight has now lead the newsmagazine category for 693 straight weeks, with its highest rating in six months. -CBS Television Distribution’s The Insider scored a 1.9 in households -- its best performance in 25 weeks.-Inside Edition posted growth from one year earlier for the fifth consecutive week, with an increase of 14 percent from the year-ago week. -Dr. Oz finished second among all syndicated talkers among women 25-54 (1.6), tied with Dr. Phil and NBC Universal’s Maury.-Extra from Warner Bros. rose to a season high 1.8 in households, its highest rating since the week of March 30, 2009. -The Ellen DeGeneres Show, also from Warner Bros., scored a 2.1 in households -- up 17 percent from one week earlier, with demo growth of as much as 10 percent among women 18-34. -The Wendy Williams Show from Debmar-Mercury remains an option for young females, with a fifth place ranking in talk among women 18-34 (1.1). Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Wednesday 10/28/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (R) 8:30 p.m. The Middle 9:00 p.m. Modern Family 9:30 p.m. Cougar Town 10:00 p.m. Eastwick CBS: 8:00 p.m. The New Adventures of Old Christine 8:30 p.m. Gary Unmarried 9:00 p.m. Criminal Minds10:00 p.m. CSI: NY NBC: 8:00 p.m. Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space 8:30 p.m. Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space (R) 9:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU 10:00 p.m. The Jay Leno Show Fox: 8:00 p.m. 2009 World Series, Game 1 CW 8:00 p.m. America’s Next Top Model 9:00 p.m. Melrose Place (R) ______________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -First Guests on TBS’ Lopez Tonight:Lopez Tonight, the upcoming TBS late night talker hosted by comedian and sitcom star George Lopez, will open on Monday, Nov. 9 with premiere night guests Ellen DeGeneres, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker and NBA great Kobe Bryant. Other guests for the first few weeks will include Jessica Alba, Sandra Bullock, Ted Danson, Larry David, Andy Garcia, Jamie Foxx, Kathy Griffin, Arsenio Hall, Queen Latifah, Eva Mendes, Kelly Osbourne, Charlie Sheen and Ray Romano, who is headlining upcoming must see TNT drama Men of a Certain Age. Mark your calendar for December 7 for Men of a Certain Age. -Upcoming from Telco Productions:Distributor Telco Productions has announced clearances in more than 100 stations for upcoming holiday special It’s a Green Christmas, which will focus on green holiday products and stories. Represented station groups include ABC, CBS, Cox, Hearst, Lin, Tribune and Weigel. Telco, in addition, will introduce two half-hour weeklies in September 2010: Real Green, which will showcase green living ideas and stories; and Curiosity Quest Goes Green, which is targeted to children 12 and under. Telco also has renewed its five current series, Animal Rescue, Dragonfly TV, Dog Tales, Missing and SWAP TV for the 2010-11 season. -Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox Reunite:Lisa Kudrow will reunite with her former Friends co-star Courteney Cox in an upcoming episode of ABC sitcom Cougar Town. Kudrow will play a dermatologist Cox’s character is a patient of._________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:The “Cos” Is Here Which sitcom was anchoring NBC’s Thursday line-up right before The Cosby Show premiered in the fall of 1984? a) Cheersb) The Facts of Lifec) Family Tiesd) Gimme a Breake) Mama’s Family The answer to yesterday’s question… Who played Greg’s parents on sitcom Yes, Dear? a) Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrenceb) Hal Holbook and Dixie Carterc) Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshetted) Vic Tayback and Linda Lavine) Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore Is: a) Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence, who are known, of course, from The Carol Burnett Show. All together now…I'm so glad we had this time together,Just to have a laugh, or sing a song.Seems we just got started and before you know itComes the time we have to say, “So long.”-Current kudos goes to:Suzanne Ackley, Steve Albright, Mark Amato, Barbara Berman, Gerry Bixenspan, Barbara Bloomfield, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Annie Courtney, John Ferlazzo, Arleen Fong, Maureen Goldman, Geoffrey Gordon, Kevin Harlan, Carolyn Becker Hayes, Barb Hemberger, Heidi Hoffmeister, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll (2x), David Jackino, Mike Jolliffe, Irene Kirschner, Synda Kollman, Steve Kurtzer, Howard Lieboff, Patty Lynch, Sharon Maguire, Kathy Martin, Mark Misiano, Jim Moore, Joanne Albrecht-Murnane, Stephen Narissi, Alan Perris (2x), Sandra Pettway, Peter Poore, Con Rigg, Jay Rossi, Colleen Roth, Joe Rubi (2x), Maxine Schulman, David Shearer, Michelle Stanton, Joe Swaney, Ronnie Tallant, Jodi Tiktin, Stephanie Watson, Myndi Weinraub, Jeanne Yonkers

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CBS and Fox Lead Week of Oct. 19

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