Race for Midweek Overnight Dominance

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERThursday, June 25, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:Dominance Neck-and-Neck Between Fox, NBC and CBS Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: A Strange Habit______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:Dominance Neck-and-Neck Between Fox, NBC and CBS Wednesday 6/24/09 HH Rtg/Shr Fox 4.8/ 8NBC 4.6/ 8CBS 4.5/ 8ABC 3.5/ 6CW 0.8/ 1 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, June 25, 2008): Fox: +30, CBS: -13, CW: -20, NBC: -31, ABC: -35 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:(Expectations are, of course, lower in the summer months)Wipeout (ABC), America’s Got Talent (NBC), So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), Criminal Minds R (CBS), CSI: NY R (CBS) -Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (NBC), I Survived a Japanese Game Show (ABC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: It was a horse race for first in the Wednesday overnights, with only three-tenths of a rating point separating Fox, NBC and CBS. But either NBC or Fox is expected to win the evening among adults 18-49 on the strength of America’s Got Talent and So You Think You Can Dance. Another two-hour edition of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance finished first overall from 8-10 p.m., with a 4.8 rating/8 share and growth in every half hour. Take a look: So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)8:00 p.m.: 4.3/ 8 (#1t)8:30 p.m.: 4.8/ 9 (#1)9:00 p.m.: 4.9/ 8 (#3)9:30 p.m.: 5.0/ 8 (#3) While the dance competition continues to lose steam from one year earlier, there is still interest in So You Think You Can Dance in the summer. This coming fall I am not so sure about. In season-finale news, NBC’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (the ultimate reality show about “nothing”) concluded its three week run with an uneventful (and fourth-place) 3.0/ 6 in the overnights from 8-9 p.m. Lou Diamond Phillips, a once highly regarded actor, won the crown, with Torrie Wilson second. In all my years of watching reality/competitions (and there are many), losers Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt will go down in my book as the worst “celebrity” participants. Please everyone…let’s forget about them. Next on NBC was America’s Got Talent, with a dominant 6.1/11 at 9 p.m., followed by the premiere of scripted drama The Philanthropist at a second-place 4.8/ 9 in the overnights at 10 p.m. Comparably, The Philanthropist held only 73 percent of the 9:30 p.m. portion of America’s Got Talent (6.6/11). And it dipped by 15 percent at 10:30 p.m. (5.2/ 9 to 4.4/ 8). Just curious: am I the only one who can’t stand whiny Neve Campbell? CBS aired another Wednesday of all repeats with its combination of The New Adventures of Old Christine (#3: 3.2/ 6), Gary Unmarried (#3: 3.1/ 6), Criminal Minds (#2: 5.4/ 9) and CSI: NY (#1: 5.1/ 9). Notice how the CSI: NY encore outdelivered the original installment of The Philanthropist. Over at ABC, summer favorite Wipeout tied So You Think You Can Dance in the metered markets, with a 4.6/ 9 from 8-9 p.m. While that may not seem like much, it should be enough to warrant a rating in the high 2-range among adults 18-49. For the early part of the summer, that’s not bad. Lead-out I Survived a Japanese Game Show dropped the overnight ratings ball, with a fourth-place 2.4/ 4 from 9-10 p.m. Comparably, retention out of the second half of lead-in Wipeout (4.7/ 8 at 8:30 p.m.) was just 51 percent. Capping off the evening for ABC was Primetime – Questions for the President: Prescription for America at a third-place 3.7/ 7. Last, and very least, were repeats of America’s Next Top Model (0.8/ 2) and Hitched or Ditched (0.8/ 1) on The CW. Just what we need…an encore telecast of Hitched or Ditched! Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) _____________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -TNT Scores on Tuesday:Week two of scripted drama Hawthorne was consistent on TNT at 3.8 million total viewers, 1.5 million adults 18-49 and 1.7 million adults 25-54 in the Tuesday 9 p.m. hour on June 23. Although four out of five new series lose audience in their second week, Hawthorne actually built by five percent among adults 25-54. Lead-out Saving Grace remains compatible at 10 p.m., with retention this week of 84 percent in total viewers (3.2 million) and 82 percent among adults 25-54 (1.4 million). -Second-Place Finish for ABC’s The Superstars:The debut of ABC reality/competition The Superstars, which is based on ABC’s classic Wide World of Sports, opened second in the Tuesday 8 p.m. hour on June 23, with 4.27 million viewers and a 1.5 rating/5 share among adults 18-49. First in the time period was a repeat of CBS’ NCIS at 11.09 million viewers and a 1.8/ 6 in the demo. That’s right: over 11 million viewers for a repeat in late June! -Also on Tuesday:Season four of NBC summer favorite America’s Got Talent, now hosted by Nick Cannon, was off and running with a hefty (and dominant) 11.46 million viewers and a 3.2/10 among adults 18-49 in the 9-11 p.m. block on Tuesday. ---------- -Solid Results for ABC Family on Monday:The second season-premiere of ABC Family’s The Secret Life of an American Teenager rose to a series high, with 4.7 million viewers in the Monday 8 p.m. hour on June 22. Results among adults 18-34 (1.4 million), adults 18-49 (2.1 million) and persons 12-34 (2.9 million) were the second highest to-date. Comparably, The Secret Life of an American Teenager ranked as Monday’s top-rated scripted series in adults 18-34, persons 12-34 and all key female demos, building by as much as 1829 percent (yes…1829 percent!) among persons 12-34 from year-ago time period occupant The Middleman. In series-premiere news, lead-out Make it Or Break It launched as ABC Family’s No. 2 series to-date (behind the premiere of The Secret Life of the American Teenager in 2008) among adults 18-34 (606,000) and persons 12-34 (1.3 million) at 9 p.m. It was also the cable net’s second most-watched series premiere on record among women 18-34 (511,000), women 18-49 (840,000) and females 12-34 (1.1 million). And it finished as cable’s No. 1 scripted show in the hour in women 18-34, persons 12-34 and females 12-34, growing from the year-ago time period average (Movie Little Nicky) by as much as 856 percent in persons 12-34. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (* = canceled)_______________________________________________________________________________ On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Thursday 6/25/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Samantha Who? 8:30 p.m. In the Motherhood 9:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy (R)10:00 p.m. Private Practice (R) CBS: 8:00 p.m. Criminal Minds (R) 9:00 p.m. CSI (R)10:00 p.m. The Mentalist (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. 30 Rock (R) 8:30 p.m. The Office (R) 9:00 p.m. The Office (R) 9:30 p.m. 30 Rock (R)10:00 p.m. The Listener Fox: 8:00 p.m. Bones (R) 9:00 p.m. So You Think You Can Dance Results Show CW 8:00 p.m. Smallville (R) 9:00 p.m. Supernatural (R) MTNV 8:00 p.m. Movie: The Street King (R) ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -10 Best Picture Nominees:The 82nd Annual Academy Awards, which will be broadcast live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC on Sunday, March 7, 2010, will increase the number of films vying for Best Picture from five to 10. Historically, there were once as many as 12 nominees in the category (in 1934 and 1935). “After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,” said Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis. “The final outcome, of course, will be the same – one Best Picture winner – but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.” -Just Wondering:Will there really be 10 great movies worth noting this year? -Coming Up at AMC:The home of Mad Men and Breaking Bad, AMC, has a third scripted show up its sleeve: drama Rubicon, which focuses on an analyst at a New York City think-tank who discovers there is a global conspiracy pending. Twelve one-hour episodes have been ordered and the cast includes James Badge Dale, Miranda Richardson and former Six Feet Under star Lili Taylor. -CBS Premiere Dates:CBS has announced the following fall 2009 series and season premiere dates: Survivor: Samoa: Thursday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m. ET (18th edition premiere)How I Met Your Mother: Monday, Sept. 21, 8 p.m. ET (5th season premiere)Accidentally on Purpose: Monday, Sept. 21, 8:30 p.m. ET (new)Two and a Half Men: Monday, Sept. 21, 9 p.m. ET (7th season premiere)The Big Bang Theory: Monday, Sept. 21, 9:30 p.m. ET (3rd season premiere)CSI: Miami: Monday, Sept. 21, 10 p.m. ET (8th season premiere)NCIS: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 8 p.m. ET (7th season premiere)NCIS: Los Angeles: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 9 p.m. ET (series premiere)The Good Wife: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 10 p.m. ET (series premiere)The New Adventures of Old Christine: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 8 p.m. ET (5th season premiere)Gary Unmarried: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 8:30 p.m. ET (2nd season premiere)Criminal Minds: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 9 p.m. ET (5th season premiere)CSI: NY: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 10 p.m. ET (6th season premiere)CSI: Thursday, Sept. 24: 9 p.m. ET (10th season premiere)The Mentalist: Thursday, Sept. 24: 10 p.m. ET (2nd season premiere)Ghost Whisperer: Friday, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. ET (5th season premiere)Medium: Friday, Sept. 25, 9 p.m. ET (6th season premiere, new network)Numbers: Friday, Sept. 25, 10 p.m. ET (5th season premiere)48 Hours Mystery: Saturday, Sept. 26, 10 p.m. ET 60 Minutes: Sunday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m. ET (42nd season premiere)The Amazing Race: Sunday, Sept. 27, 8 p.m. ET (15th edition premiere, two hours)Cold Case: Sunday, Sept. 27, 10 p.m. ET (7th season premiere)Three Rivers: Sunday, Oct. 4, 9 p.m. ET (series premiere) _________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:A Strange Habit What was Robert known for doing on sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond? a) biting his handb) blinking his eyesc) cracking his knucklesd) rockinge) touching his chin with his food when he eats The answer to yesterday’s question… How many years did then initial Star Trek series run for on NBC? a) 2b) 3c) 4d) 5e) 6 Is: b) 3. The initial Star Trek produced 79 episodes that aired from 1966-69. -Current kudos goes to:Anna Alvord, Mikki Beno, Gerry Bixenspan, Kimay Bloch, Lisa Brause, John Brooker, Paul Certo, Larry Collins (2x), Tom Condosta, Annie Courtney, Audrey Davis, Reid Davis, Sylvia Davis, Bob Eisenstaedt, John Ferlazzo, Arleen Fong, Jason Gold, Maureen Goldman, Michael Grewe, Michael Holland, Mark Howorth, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll, Kevin Jones, Deb Kainer, Kathryn Kieser, Synda Kollman, Howard Lieboff, Rick Locke, Richard Mann, Christofer Meissner, Debbie Mirr, Dewayne Norris, Bll Nuss, Dave Pasquantonio, Alan Perris, Greg Phelan, Amy Preisendefer, Gordon Purcell, Arthur Reinstein, Con Rigg, Ron Salmon, Michelle Stanton, Jeff Stuewe, Trenna Underhill, Ted Zawislak, Robert Zimmer, Jr.

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Race for Midweek Overnight Dominance

Marc Berman

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