Strong Sampling for Jay Leno, Disappointing CW Premieres

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERTuesday, September 15, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:Hefty Sampling for NBC’s The Jay Leno Show, Disappointing CW Season Openers 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 Wonder Year__________________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:Hefty Sampling for NBC’s The Jay Leno Show, Disappointing CW Season Openers Monday 9/14/09 HH Rtg/Shr NBC 9.3/15CBS 4.1/ 7Fox 3.3/ 5ABC 2.8/ 4CW 1.6/ 2 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Monday, Sept. 15, 2008):NBC: +127, Fox: -13, ABC: -15, CBS: -20, CW: -38 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners: America’s Got Talent (NBC), The Jay Leno Show (NBC) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):One Tree Hill (CW), Gossip Girl (CW) ---------- 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, September 14, 2009. ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: Led by the debut of The Jay Leno Show, NBC opened the week on a winning note with a whopping 127 percent advantage in the metered markets over second-place CBS. Third overall was Fox, followed by ABC and disappointing season-opening results for One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl on The CW. After a summer of massive promotion and hype, NBC’s The Jay Leno Show did not disappoint, with a considerable 12.1 rating/20 share in the overnights from 10-11 p.m. Comparably, Leno beat the competition combined (repeats of Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and CSI: Miami on CBS: avg. 4.6/ 8, and the last hour of theatrical Dreamgirls on ABC: 2.8/ 5) by an average 68 percent. Leno built from the 9:30 p.m. portion of lead-in America’s Got Talent (8.9/13) by 36 percent. And he beat his Tonight Show average for the 2008-09 season (4.0/10) by 202 percent. One year earlier, a 10 p.m. edition of Dateline averaged a 3.3/ 6. Results for The Jay Leno Show are, of course, expected to decline as the week progresses. But, personally speaking, what did not work last night was too much packaged into one hour, an odd lack of energy and an uncomfortable flow of segments. While it was timely having Kanye West do a sit-down with Leno (before rapping with Rihanna and J-Z), what the nervous looking host failed to do was specifically ask Kanye why he did what he did to Taylor Swift one night earlier at the Video Music Awards. The opportunity was there, but he chose not to take it. Earlier in the evening on NBC, a two-hour edition of America’s Got Talent averaged a winning 8.0/12 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows: America’s Got Talent (NBC)8:00 p.m.: 6.9/11 (#1)8:30 p.m.: 7.8/12 (#1)9:00 p.m.: 8.3/13 (#1)9:30 p.m.: 8.9/13 (#1) Results for second-place CBS are approximate due to the late start caused by the US Open Tennis primetime overrun. On that note, The US Open finished second in the 8 p.m. half-hour, with an estimated 4.1/ 7 in the overnights. Since more than one program shared a time period on CBS, here is the half-hour breakdown: CBS/Monday8:00 p.m. – US Open: 4.1/ 7 (#2)8:30 p.m. – US Open / How I Met Your Mother (R): avg. 3.2/ 59:00 p.m. – How I Met Your Mother (R): avg. 3.8/ 69:30 p.m. – How I Met Your Mother (R) / Two and a Half Men (R): avg. 4.4/ 710:00 p.m. – Two and a Half Men (R) / The Big Bang Theory (R): avg. 5.0/ 810:30 p.m. – The Big Bang Theory (R) / CSI: Miami (R): avg. 4.2/ 7 Over at ABC, the network premiere of theatrical Dreamgirls was left at the starting gate with a mere (and fourth-place) 2.8/ 4 in the overnights from 8-11 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown: Movie: Dreamgirls (ABC) 8:00 p.m.: 3.1/ 5 (#3t) 8:30 p.m.: 2.6/ 4 (#4) 9:00 p.m.: 2.7/ 4 (#4) 9:30 p.m.: 2.7/ 4 (#4)10:00 p.m.: 2.6/ 4 (#3)10:30 p.m.: 3.0/ 5 (#3) In season-premiere news, The CW got very little traction with the returns of One Tree Hill (#5: 1.6/ 3) and Gossip Girl (#5, 1.6/ 2). While I understand that the success of both shows are dependent on the young female demos, both dipped significantly from their fall 2008 season openers on Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. One Tree Hill was down by 33 percent (1.6/ 3 vs. 2.4/ 4) and Gossip Girl by 36 percent (1.6/ 2 vs. 2.5/ 4). To make matters worse, Gossip Girl launched on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007 with a 2.9/ 5 in the overnights. While I will reserve final judgment until I see the demos, based on the overnights there are “losing” performances. Fox capped off the evening with back-to-back repeats of House, which averaged a 3.3/ 5 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. At press time, there are only 6 days left until the start of the new season and here is a reminder of what is coming up on Monday. 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 -Respectable Overnight Sampling for Dr. Oz in Day One:Based on 53 metered markets, Sony Pictures Television talker Dr. Oz launched with a 1.7 rating/2 share. Comparably, that beat both the lead-in (1.4/ 2) and Sept. 2008 time period average (1.4/ 2) by a noticeable 21 percent. Source: Nielsen Media Research data ________________________________________________________________________________ On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Tuesday 9/15/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Shark Tank (R) 9:00 p.m. Shaq Vs. 10:00 p.m. Primetime: Family Secrets CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) 9:00 p.m. Big Brother (season finale, two hours) NBC: 8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser (season premiere, two hours) 10:00 p.m. The Jay Leno Show Fox: 8:00 p.m. More to Love (season or series finale, two hours) CW: 8:00 p.m. 90210 9:00 p.m. Melrose Place 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 -More My Boys:TBS has renewed comedy My Boys, a Mr. TV favorite, for a fourth season, with nine new episodes slated to launch in 2010. -TV Land Celebrates The Brady Bunch and The Cosby Show:Wanna feel old? Classic sitcom The Brady Bunch is turning 40 on Sept. 26 and TV Land will honor the anniversary next week with four consecutive telecasts in the Monday through Friday 7-9 p.m. ET block, and an eight-hour marathon from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 26 and Sunday, Sept. 27. Also of note is the upcoming 25th anniversary of The Cosby Show, which will be showcased in a six episode mini marathon on Wednesday, Sept. 23 from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. All together now… Here's the story of a lovely lady Who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, The youngest one in curls. Here's the story of a man named Brady, Who was busy with three boys of his own, They were four men, living all together, Yet they were all alone. Till the one day when the lady met this fellow And they knew it was much more than a hunch, That this group would somehow form a family. That's the way we all became the Brady Bunch. The Brady Bunch, That's the way we all became the Brady Bunch. The Brady Bunch. --------------- -Handicapping The Emmys:Next up in my week of predicting the upcoming Primetime Emmy Awards is Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress in a Drama Series. Don’t forget to tune into CBS on Sunday, June 20 at 8 p.m. ET for the live telecast. Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama: The Nominees:Christian Clemenson (Boston Legal, ABC)Michael Emerson (Lost, ABC)William Hurt (Damages, FX)Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, AMC)William Shatner (Boston Legal, ABC)John Slattery (Mad Men, AMC) Who Should Win: Michael Emerson Who Will Win: William Hurt With ABC’s Boston Legal long gone, it seems late to honor either Christian Clemenson or William Shatner, who has already taken home the Emmy gold for playing Denny Crane twice (once for Boston Legal, the other for parent The Practice). Michael Emerson as Lost looney Ben Linus is certainly worthy, but has already been passed up twice. And John Slattery maybe overshadowed by his “A” list co-star Jon Hamm. While Bryan Cranston’s victory as Lead Actor in a Drama last season for AMC’s Breaking Bad could mean Aaron Paul is a contender, William Hurt is an Academy Award winner. And that alone could give him the edge. ---------- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama: The Nominees:Rose Byrne (Damages, FX)Hope Davis (In Treatment, HBO)Cherry Jones (24, Fox)Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy, ABC)Dianne Wiest (In Treatment, HBOChandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy, ABC) Who Should Win: Dianne WiestWho Will Win: Rose Byrne Of all the major categories, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama is probably the most difficult to predict. Like any two actors competing on the same show, nominations for Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson from Grey’s Anatomy could be detrimental. Plus, the soapy nature of the show has never boded well for the Emmy voters, so let’s exclude the two. In Treatment’s Hope Davis and last year’s winner, Dianne Wiest, are also competing against each other, and Cherry Jones may not benefit from the lackluster season of Fox’s 24. That leaves Rose Byrne for Damages, a show Emmy voters seem to favor. Get the acceptance speech ready, Rose Byrne. --------------- -How Could I Forget?:My all-time favorite show, The Waltons, debuted on CBS 27 years ago to the day yesterday. Good night, John Boy! ___________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:A Wonder Year What year was it supposed to be when sitcom The Wonder Years launched on ABC in 1988? 19651966196819701972 The answer to yesterday’s question… Which celebrity to-date has yet to compete on ABC’s soon-to-return Dancing With the Stars? Billy Ray CyrusLinda EvansWayne Newton Priscilla PresleyJohn Ratzenberger Is: b) Linda Evans. If The Big Valley and Dynasty star even decides to make a comeback, Dancing With the Stars is the best vehicle. Don’t you miss the good ol’ days of TV when Linda Evans played Krystle? -Current kudos goes to:Mark Amato, Mary Bancroft, Barbara Berman, Gerry Bixenspan, Lisa Brause, Peggy Campbell, Vanessa Coates, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Kay Copeland, Annie Courtney, Leslie Creason, Audrey Davis, Josh Emmett, Holly Escobar, John Ferlazzo, Karen Gardner, Maureen Goldman, Martha Gonzalez, Geoffrey Gordon, Joslyn Hansen, Carolyn Becker Hayes, Barb Hemberger, Michael Holland, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Deb Kainer, Tom Kilgallon, Synda Kollman, Andi Kupersmith, Steven Kurtzer, Danny Leclair, Patty Lynch, Kathy Martin, Michael McCray, Debbie Mirr, Anne Moynihan, Stephen Narissi, Lenora Nickerson, Cindy O’Connor, Aaron Paquette, Alan Perris (2x), Greg Phelan, Francine Purcell, Gordon Purcell, Con Rigg, Lisa Tatum-Roerig, Colleen Roth, Joe Rubi, Mary Ryan, Andrew Stearn, Julie Syers, Ronnie Tallant, Abbott Wool, Jeanne Yonkers

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Strong Sampling for Jay Leno, Disappointing CW Premieres

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