Stellar Return for Dancing With the Stars on ABC

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERTuesday, March 10, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:ABC Dances to Victory; NBC Buried in Fourth 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 Tasty Treat______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:ABC Dances to Victory; NBC Buried in Fourth Monday 3/09/09 HH Rtg/Shr ABC 11.7/18CBS 7.3/11Fox 6.8/10NBC 4.0/ 6CW 0.9/ 1 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Monday, March 11, 2008):ABC: +200, Fox: +15, CBS: +11, CW: -25, NBC: -33 ---------- 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, March 9, 2009. ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Two and a Half Men (CBS), CSI: Miami (CBS) -Honorable Mention:House (Fox), 24 (Fox) -Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):Chuck (NBC), Heroes (NBC), Castle (ABC). Medium (NBC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: ABC opened the week of March 9 on a winning note care of the two-hour season-premiere of Dancing With the Stars, which kicked-off edition No. 8 (time flies!) with a rock-solid 13.8 rating/21 share in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. Take a look at the half-hour breakdown: Dancing With the Stars (ABC)8:00 p.m.: 12.4/248:30 p.m.: 13.8/219:00 p.m.: 14.4/219:30 p.m.: 14.6/22 Comparably, this was up by two percent from the fall 2008 season-opener (13.5/20 on Sept. 22, 2008) and three percent from the year-ago season-premiere (13.4/21 on March 17, 2008). Needless to say, ABC continues to benefit by this ratings bonanza. Unfortunately, however, it looks like overrated Cheryl Burke will be around all season. Too bad Karina Smirnoff was partnered with Apple founder Steve Wozniak (and Cheryl with Gilles Marini). It should have been the other way around. Is it just me, or is there no one to root for this season? As for the two last minute replacements, the rumors were true: Holly Madison of The Girls Next Door and Melissa Rycroft of The Bachelor. Since when are reality contestants considered “stars”? Leading out of Dancing With the Stars was the series-premiere of drama Castle, which opened with a disappointing second-place 7.4/12 in the overnights at 10 p.m. The three immediate negatives for Castle were: 1) Retention of just 51 percent out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Dancing With the Stars.2) Erosion of 17 percent in the second half-hour (8.1/13 to 6.7/11).3) A 20 percent disadvantage opposite CBS’ dominant CSI (9.3/15). Needless to say, this was not a positive start for Castle. Opposite Dancing With the Stars, CBS had to settle for the distant No. 2 spot overall from 8-10 p.m. with its combination of The Big Bang Theory (#3: 5.6/ 9), How I Met Your Mother (#3: 5.4/ 8), Two and a Half Men (#2: 8.1/12) and Rules of Engagement (#3: 6.4/10). Worth noting for Two and a Half Men, of course, was growth of 50 percent out of How I Met Your Mother. CSI: Miami capped off the evening with the aforementioned dominant 9.3/15 at 10 p.m. Once CSI: Miami eventually ends, maybe wooden star David Caruso could loosen up a bit on Dancing With the Stars. Next was Fox with its respectable pairing of House (#2: 6.9/11) and 24 (#3: 6.7/10). Fourth-place NBC, meanwhile, continues to struggle on Monday with its non-competitive line-up of Chuck (#4: 3.4/ 5), Heroes (#4: 4.0/ 6) and Medium (#3: 4.8/ 8). And the CW -- Gossip Girl (1.0/ 2) and One Tree Hill (0.9/ 1) -- was once again in repeats. But both CW dramas will be back in originals next Monday. Source: Nielsen Media Research data _______________________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Record High Burn Notice:The second season-finale of USA drama Burn Notice rose to a series-high 6.1 million total viewers, 2.74 million adults 18-49 and 3.07 adults 25-54 in the Thursday 10 p.m. hour on March 5. First quarter 2009 to-date, Burn Notice remains the top-rated series in cable, building from its summer finale by as much as 37 percent among adults 25-54. -Above Average CSI:Veteran CBS drama CSI is alive and well despite the absence of William Petersen. The March 5th telecast, featuring guest star Taylor Swift, rose to a 12.7/20 in households, with 20.88 million viewers and a 5.3/13 among adults 18-49. Comparably, this was CSI’s biggest audience since Jan. 15, 2009 (Petersen’s farewell) and best in the demo in five weeks. Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Tuesday 3/10/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Homeland Security U.S.A. 9:00 p.m. Scrubs (R) 9:30 p.m. Scrubs (R)10:00 p.m. Primetime: What Would You Do? CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) 9:00 p.m. The Mentalist (R)10:00 p.m. Without a Trace (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser Couples (two hours)10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU Fox: 8:00 p.m. American Idol (two hours) CW: 8:00 p.m. Reaper 9:00 p.m. 90210 (R) MTNV 8:00 p.m. Street Patrol 8:30 p.m. Street Patrol 9:00 p.m. Jail 9:30 p.m. Jail (R) ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -Michael J. Fox to Helm ABC Special:Multiple Emmy winner Michael J. Fox will be featured in an upcoming documentary special on ABC called Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. The hour, which airs Thursday, May 7 at 10 p.m. ET will follow Fox as he travels the globe in search of what makes people happy. -Live with Regis and Kelly Returns to New Orleans:Veteran Disney-ABC daytime talker Live with Regis and Kelly is heading back to New Orleans, Louisiana for four shows airing from April 6 to 9. Guests will include non-stop Miley Cyrus, her crooner Dad (and co-star) Billy Ray Cyrus, Harry Hamlin, chef Emeril Lagasse, singer/actor Jesse McCartney, sports superstars Reggie Bush and Chris Paul, and the most recent cast-off from American Idol. The show will originate from Fulton Street, next to Harrah’s New Orleans Hotel and Casino. -The Jonas Brothers Mocked on South Park:You have not “made it” until you are made run on Comedy Central staple South Park. And red-hot musical kid’s magnet The Jonas Brothers will be made run of on the 13th season premiere. -Speaking of Comedy Central:The cable network has ordered a new weekly series called Tosh.O that will focus on the Internet and will begin production immediately. It debuts in June. -The Mighty Boosh Heads on Adult Swim:British sitcom The Mighty Boosh will debut on cable net Adult Swim on Sunday, March 29 at 1 a.m. ET. The premise focuses on a wannabe rocker (Noel Fielding) and his jazz aficionado friend (Julian Barratt) who go out in search of the “new sound.” -Tattoo Highway to Debut on A&E:A&E will introduce Tattoo Highway, a non-scripted half-hour series this spring featuring master tattoo artist Thomas Pendelton as he and his team encounter unusual and inspiring stories from Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and beyond. Thirteen episodes have been ordered. -Andrew McCarthy Cast in Gossip Girl Spin-off:Former Lipstick Jungle co-star Andrew McCarthy will join the cast of the planned (and untitled) Gossip Girl spin-off as the father of the younger version of Lily (Brittany Snow). Naturally, this means that still not canceled Lipstick Jungle is an official wrap. -In Other CW Casting News:Ashlee Simpson-Wentz will join the cast of the proposed remake of Melrose Place as a small town girl with a big secret. Simpson-Wentz, of course, honed her early acting skills on former WB/CW drama 7th Heaven. But let’s hope, of course, that her character has no singing aspirations! _________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:A Tasty Treat What was the specialty at Roseanne and Jackie’s coffee shop The Lunch Box on Roseanne? a) filet-o-fishb) loose-meat sandwiches c) pastramid) roast beefe) steak and eggs The answer to yesterday’s question… One of the following series aired for longer than five seasons. Which one was it? BarettaThe Brady BunchGimme a BreakMoonlightingThe Odd Couple Is: c) Gimme a Break, which ran on NBC from 1981 to 1987. As for the rest: Baretta (ABC): 1975-78The Brady Bunch (ABC): 1969-74Moonlighting (ABC): 1985-88The Odd Couple (ABC): 1970-75 (not including the short-lived remake in 1982-83). All together now… Gimme a break I sure deserve it It's time I made it to the top. Gimme a break I’m looking forward Get behind me pull out every stop I want a happy ending I'm tried of pretending Won't let em get the best of me Wo wo wo wo Gimme a break the game is survival Gimme a break and plan my arrival Gimme a break for heaven's sake to my piece of the cake Gimme a break Gimme a break Gimme a break -Current kudos goes to:Matthew Berriman, Gerry Bixenspan, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Reid Davis, Stephen Ferrara, Jerry Gibbons, Geoffrey Gordon, Sherrie Hentschel, David Jackino, Tom Lawrenson, Charmaine Leary, Rick Millikan, Michael Murphy, Tony Naldrett, Michael Natale, John O’Sullivan, Greg Phelan, Gordon Purcell, Neal Saban, Ron Salmon, Mike Stallcup, Elizabeth Warner

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Stellar Return for Dancing With the Stars on ABC

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