National Ratings in Prime-Time:
Week of April 27, 2009
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Note: The overnight (metered market) rating results for Wednesday, May 6 were not available at press time.
National Ratings in Prime-Time:
Week of April 27, 2009
It was another week of split leadership, with CBS first in households and total viewers and the home of American Idol, Fox, No. 1 in the three key demos — adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34. Needless to say, this will remain the pecking order through the remainder of the traditional (September through May) season. CBS was on the plus side from one year earlier, with minor growth, while Fox lost about the same amount of steam that CBS gained.
ABC was on the map, finishing as high as second in households and adults 18-34, with its largest audience in five weeks (and home to four of the top 10 rated shows among adults 18-49). NBC, which grew in the three surveyed demos, finished third among adults 18-34 and fourth elsewhere, while fifth-place the CW dipped by margins of 17 to 24 percent. Last-place MyNetworkTV continues to benefit from the fall 2008 arrival of Friday Night Smackdown!, with growth of as much as 50 percent in adults 25-54. The true test will come next season when the comparisons will include Smackdown! in the year-ago mix.
As expected, CBS moving Harper’s Island into the Saturday 9 p.m. hour was a disaster, with a series-low 4.63 million viewers (#64) and a 1.0 rating/3 share among adults 18-49 (tied for #74). Also not benefiting by a move was recently animated Fox entry Sit Down, Shut Up, which sunk to a mere 2.06 million viewers (#83) and a 0.8/ 3 in the demo (tied for #82) in the Sunday 7 p.m. anchor spot. Both moves, of course, were just burn-off maneuvers. Considerably disappointing on NBC, meanwhile, was just renewed Southland at an also series-low 6.66 million viewers (#47) and a 2.0/ 6 among adults 18-49 (tied for #53) in the Thursday 10 p.m. hour. Competing against Southland was the second season-finale of ABC’s Practice at a comfortable 9.70 million viewers (#26) and a 3.5/10 among adults 18-49 (#18t). Comparably, that put retention out of Grey’s Anatomy (Viewers: 14.12 million; A18-49: 5.1/13) at 69 percent in both categories.
Here are the final national ratings for the week of April 27, 2009 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago week in parentheses), followed by the new midseason series report card and the top 30 rated programs of the week. Note: The Wednesday 8 p.m. hour was not rated this week due to President Obama addressing the country on his 100th day in office.
CBS: 6.9 rating/12 share (+ 6), ABC: 5.5/ 9 (- 8), Fox: 5.3/ 9 (- 7), NBC: 4.2/ 7 (- 2), CW: 1.3/ 2 (-24), MNTV: 1.0/ 2 (+25)
CBS: 11.11 million (+11), Fox: 8.85 (- 6), ABC: 8.37 (- 9), NBC: 6.43 (no change), CW: 1.96 (-24), MNTV: 1.57 (+39)
Fox: 3.2 rating/9 share (- 9), CBS: 2.7/ 8 (+ 4), ABC: 2.5/ 7 (-14), NBC: 2.1/ 6 (+ 5), CW: 0.9/ 2 (-18), MNTV: 0.5/ 2 (+25)
Fox: 3.7/10 (- 5), CBS: 3.6/ 9 (+ 6), ABC: 3.1/ 8 (-11), NBC: 2.6/ 7 (+ 4), CW: 0.8/ 2 (-20), MNTV: 0.6/ 2 (+50)
Fox: 2.6/ 9 (-10), ABC: 1.9/ 6 (-17), NBC: 1.7/ 6 (+13), CBS: 1.7/ 6 (+ 6), CW: 1.0/ 3 (-17), MNTV: 0.5/ 2 (+25)
New Midseason Series Scorecard (excluding repeats and in order of total viewers; Pre-empted: ABC’s Better Off Ted)
Surviving Suburbia (ABC) – Monday 9:30 p.m.
Viewers: 8.98 million (#35), A18-49: 2.2/ 5 (#46t)
Castle (ABC) – Monday 10 p.m.
Viewers: 8.23 million (#39), A18-49: 2.0/ 5 (#53t)
Lie to Me (Fox) – Wednesday 8 p.m.
Viewers: 7.75 million (#42), A18-49: 2.3/ 7 (#42t)
Southland (NBC) – Thursday 10 p.m.
Viewers: 6.66 million (#47), A18-49: 2.0/ 6 (#53t)
Parks and Recreation (NBC) – Thursday 8:30 p.m.
Viewers: 5.07 million (#61), A18-49: 2.2/ 7 (#46t)
The Unusuals (ABC) – Wednesday 10 p.m.
Viewers: 4.86 million (#63), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#60t)
Viewers: 4.63 million (#64), A18-49: 1.0/ 3 (#74t)
Howie Do It (NBC) – Friday 8 p.m. (season or series finale)
Viewers: 3.26 million (#74), A18-49: 0.9/ 3 (#78t)
Dollhouse (Fox) – Friday 9 p.m.
Howie Do It (NBC) – Friday 8:30 p.m.
Viewers: 2.83 million (#80), A18-49: 0.8/ 3 (#82t)
Sit Down, Shut Up (Fox) – Sunday 7 p.m. (time period premiere)
American Idol – Tuesday (Fox): 23.26 million, American Idol – Wednesday (Fox): 22.27, Dancing With the Stars – Monday (ABC): 19.28, The Mentalist (CBS): 17.11, NCIS (CBS): 16.70, CSI (CBS): 15.54, Dancing With the Stars – Tuesday (ABC): 14.72, Two and a Half Men (CBS): 14.16, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 14.12, Criminal Minds (CBS): 13.61, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 13.48, CSI: NY (CBS): 12.50, Cold Case (CBS): 12.46, 60 Minutes (CBS): 12.31, Without a Trace (CBS): 12.21, CSI: Miami (CBS): 12.12, Survivor: Tocantins (CBS): 11.73, House (Fox): 11.69, Rules of Engagement (CBS): 11.30, The Amazing Race (CBS): 10.84, Law & Order: SVU (NBC): 10.55, 24 (Fox): 10.43, Criminal Minds R (CBS, Thurs. 10 p.m.): 10.23, The Unit (CBS): 9.97, Ghost Whisperer (CBS): 9.79, Private Practice (ABC, season finale) and Numb3rs (CBS): 9.70 each, Flashpoint (CBS): 9.66, Fringe (Fox): 9.62, The Biggest Loser (NBC): 9.26
American Idol – Tuesday (Fox): 8.1 rating/23 share, American Idol – Wednesday (Fox): 7.7/19, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 5.1/13, Two and a Half Men (CBS): 4.9/12, House (Fox): 4.6/13, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 4.4/11, Dancing With the Stars – Monday (ABC): 4.3/11, Lost (ABC): 4.1/10, Fringe (Fox): 4.0/10, Law & Order: SVU (NBC): 3.9/11, Rules of Engagement (CBS): 3.9/10, How I Met Your Mother (CBS) and The Office (NBC): 3.7/10 each, CSI (CBS) and The Mentalist (CBS): 3.7/ 9 each, Survivor: Tocantins (CBS): 3.6/11, NCIS (CBS) and Private Practice (ABC, season finale): 3.5/10 each, Family Guy (Fox): 3.5/ 9, The Big Bang Theory (CBS): 3.4/10, 24 (Fox): 3.4/ 8, CSI: Miami (CBS): 3.3/ 9, Dancing With the Stars – Tuesday (ABC) and Criminal Minds (CBS): 3.3/ 8 each, The Simpsons (Fox): 3.2/10, CSI: NY (CBS) and The Amazing Race (CBS): 3.2/ 9 each, Celebrity Apprentice (NBC): 3.1/ 8, Brothers & Sisters (ABC): 3.0/ 8, Heroes (NBC, season finale): 3.0/ 7
Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)
Ratings Box:
What follows are the basic cable rankings in prime-time for the week of April 27 broken out by total viewers, adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34.
TNT: 3.45 million, USA: 2.85, Fox News: 2.13, Nick at Nite: 1.56, TBS: 1.55, Discovery: 1.36, FX: 1.29, A&E: 1.27, History: 1.15 and Cartoon Network: 1.15 each
TNT: 1.90 million, USA: 1.26 million, TBS: 911,000, Discovery: 755,000, FX: 744,000, A&E: 616.000, VH1: 561,000, Nick at Nite: 557,000, ESPN: 546,000, Comedy Central: 538,000
TNT: 1.82 million, USA: 1.31 million, TBS: 774,000, Discovery: 757,000, FX: 688,000, A&E: 643,000, Sci Fi: 579,000, History Channel: 555,000, Fox News: 538,000, ESPN: 537,000
