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THE PROGRAMMING INSIDER
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:
ABC Wins, Fox Poised for Victory Among Adults 18-49
What’s Hot/What’s Not
On the Air Tonight:
Prime-Time Programming Options
TV Trivia Time:
Dodie’s Doll
Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:
ABC Wins, Fox Poised for Victory Among Adults 18-49
HH
Rtg/Shr
-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Monday, Oct. 20, 2008):
Fox: +117, ABC: no change, CBS: – 5, NBC: -27, CW: -39
Dancing With the Stars (ABC), American League Championship Series, Game 3 (Fox), House (Fox), Two and a Half Men (CBS), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), CSI: Miami (CBS)
-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Heroes (NBC), One Tree Hill (CW), Trauma (NBC), Gossip Girl (CW), The Jay Leno Show (NBC)
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, October 19, 2009.
ABC tangoed its way to another Monday overnight victory, beating No. 2 Fox by 1.7 rating points. But Fox’s combination of the tail-end of game three of The American League Championship Series (New York Yankees at Los Angeles Angels), House and Lie To Me should be more than enough to challenge CBS for dominance among adults 18-49. Third overall in the metered markets was CBS (which should have no trouble overtaking ABC in the demo), followed by depressed NBC and The CW.
The two-hour edition of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars led overall from 8-10 p.m., with an average 10.6 rating/16 share in the overnights. But compared to one year earlier (12.3/19 from 8-9:30 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2008), that was a loss of 14 percent. Here is the half-hour breakdown:
As to who is going home tonight, my pick is snowboarding champion Louie Vito, who has no business being on the show to begin with. Given the still sizable audience of Dancing With the Stars, couldn’t ABC have found a better caliber of contestants? What about you, LaToya Jackson? You seem to be in the audience every week…why not compete next season?
Dancing With the Stars led into sophomore Castle, which finished second at 10 p.m. with a 6.6/10 in the overnights and is benefiting by the added DVR usage (see Live Plus 7 Day Ratings below). Comparably, Castle out delivered year-ago occupant Boston Legal (5.8/ 0 on Oct. 20, 2008) by 14 percent.
Since aforementioned game three of the Yankees versus the Angels on the ALCS match-up bled into primetime, all overnight results for Fox are approximate. Here is the breakdown by half-hour:
8:00 p.m. – ALCS, Game 3: 10.2/17 (#1)
8:30 p.m. – ALCS, Game 3: 9.6/15 (#2), House: 5.8/ 9 (#2)
9:30 p.m. – House: 7.0/10 (#2), Lie To Me: 4.7/ 7 (#4)
Of note for Lie To Me was Fox ordering an additional three scripts above the initial 13 episodes for this season.
CBS had a typical Monday care of its combination of How I Met Your Mother (#3: 4.9/ 8), Accidentally on Purpose (#3: 4.9/ 7), Two and a Half Men (#2: 8.1/12), The Big Bang Theory (#2: 7.3/11), which is an episode Jim Parsons should submit to the Emmy voters next spring, and CSI: Miami (#1: 8.5/14). Worth positively noting for freshman sitcom Accidentally on Purpose was full overnight retention out of How I Met Your Mother. Let’s wait and see what the fast affiliate results look like.
Over at NBC, the news was bleak with all three series in the low-3 overnight range. Take a look:
8:00 p.m. – Heroes: 3.2/ 5 (#4)
9:00 p.m. – Trauma: 3.1/ 5 (#4)
10:00 p.m. – The Jay Leno Show: 3.3/ 5 (#3)
Although Heroes is still generating interest via the DVR (see Live Plus 7 Day Ratings below), even with the DVR usage the results are still significantly below one year earlier. It is time for NBC to out Heroes to rest.
Last, but also generating interest via the DVR, was The CW’s combination of aging One Tree Hill (1.5/ 2) and Gossip Girl (1.3/ 2), which dipped on average by a hefty 39 percent from their year-ago performances. While I understand who the target audience is for One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl (young women, of course), based on the overnights these are “losing” performances.
Source: Nielsen Media Research data
Ratings Box:
What’s Hot/What’s Not
-Live Plus 7 Day Ratings – Week of Sept. 28, 2009:
Week two of the Live Plus 7 Day Ratings, which include DVR usage, have been released. Mirroring one week earlier, programming on Thursday dominated, with four of the top five, and seven of the top 10 Thursday occupants. Particularly impressive was Fox’s Fringe, which increased by 33 percent by adding two million more viewers via the DVR outside of the highly competitive Thursday 9 p.m. hour. That 33 percent increase was the second most of any program in primetime. First overall was Fox’s Dollhouse, which rose from 2.05 to 2.83 million viewers (+38 percent) as a result of the DVR.
Also notable in terms of percent gain was The CW’s Smallville (+27.5 percent: 2.37 to 3.03 million), NBC’s Heroes (+26.6 percent), The CW’s Gossip Girl (+26.3 percent: 2.36 to 2.98 million), The CW’s Melrose Place (+26.1 percent: 1.45 to 1.83 million), NBC’s The Office (+23 percent), The CW’s Vampire Diaries (+22.6 percent: 3.54 to 4.34 million), Fox’s Glee (+22.3 percent), The CW’s 90210 (+21.7 percent: 2.27 to 2.76 million), The CW’s Supernatural (+20.1 percent: 2.62 to 3.14 million) and Fox’s Bones (+20 percent). Notice the high concentration of CW shows that are benefiting from DVR usage.
Here is the top 30 in total viewers based on DVR usage:
1. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 15.70 to 18.71 million (+3.01 million)
2. The Mentalist (CBS): 15.75 to 18.58 million (+2.83 million)
3. House (Fox): 14.74 to 17.30 million (+2.56 million)
4. CSI (CBS): 15.94 to 18.25 million (+2.31 million)
5. Fringe (Fox): 6.05 to 8:05 million (+2.00 million)
6. NCIS (CBS): 21.39 to 23.38 million (+1.99 million)
7. Criminal Minds (CBS): 14.26 to 16.19 million (+1.93 million)
8. Bones (Fox): 9.46 to 11.35 million (+1.89 million)
9. FlashForward (ABC): 10.75 to 12.59 million (+1.84 million)
The Office (NBC): 7.43 to 9.14 million (+1.71 million)
Private Practice (ABC): 11.62 to 13.30 million (+1.68 million)
Castle (ABC): 9.17 to 10.83 million (+1.66 million)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS): 13.29 to 14.95 million (+1.66 million)
Glee (Fox): 7.41 to 9.06 million (+1.65 million)
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS): 17.41 to 19.02 million (+1.61 million)
The Good Wife (CBS): 13.71 to 15.31 million (+1.60 million)
CSI: Miami (CBS): 14.03 to 15.56 million (+1.53 million)
Heroes (NBC): 5.76 to 7.30 million (+1.54 million)
Desperate Housewives (ABC): 14.65 to 16.17 million (+1.52 million)
Two and a Half Men (CBS): 13.86 to 15.35 million (+1.49 million)
CSI: NY (CBS): 13.17 to 14.66 million (+1.49 million)
Law & Order: SVU (NBC): 8.09 to 9.44 million (+1.35 million)
Lie To Me (Fox): 7.75 to 9.09 million (+1.34 million)
Numbers (CBS): 7.85 to 9.12 million (+1.27 million)
Modern Family (ABC): 10.00 to 11.18 million (+1.18 million)
Brothers & Sisters (ABC): 9.66 to 10.83 million (+1.17 million)
So You Think You Can Dance – Wednesday (Fox): 6.82 to 7.94 million (+1.12 million)
Ghost Whisperer (CBS): 7.65 to 8.77 million (+1.12 million)
Medium (CBS): 7.87 to 8.98 million (+1.11 million)
Family Guy (Fox): 9.86 to 10.95 million (+1.09 million)
-Week of Oct. 12 to-Date:
Based on final Live Plus Same Day ratings, here are the results in primetime from Monday, Oct. 12 through Thursday, Oct. 15. Keep in mind that Fox aired games one and two of The 2009 American League Championship Series on Friday and Saturday of this week, which should be enough to lift the network to victory among adults 18-49.
CBS: 13.41 million, ABC: 10.32, Fox: 8.47, NBC: 6.66, CW: 2.35
CBS: 3.6 rating/10 share, Fox: 3.4/ 9, ABC: 2.9/ 8, NBC: 2.4/ 6, CW: 1.1/ 3
Source: Nielsen Media Research data
On the Air Tonight:
Prime-Time Programming Options
10:00 p.m. The Forgotten
10:00 p.m. The Good Wife
10:00 p.m. The Jay Leno Show
8:00 p.m. 2009 American League Championship Series, Game 4
TV Tidbits:
Notes of Interest
-Halloween on TV – Your Comprehensive Guide:
Wondering what’s coming up in celebration of Halloween on Saturday, Oct. 31? TV Tango, the ultimate TV database, has the most comprehensive listing of Halloween-themed movie marathons, specials and series episodes on the web available at http://tvtango.com/news/detail/id/105. Check it out.
-Speaking of Halloween:
TV Land will air a four-hour, eight episode marathon of classic comedy Roseanne beginning at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 31. Roseanne, of course, did a Halloween themed episode almost every season, including the “jump the shark” arrival of baby Jerry Garcia in season eight. Becky, Darlene and D.J. were apparently not enough for Roseanne Dan.
-More The Suite Life on Deck:
Disney Channel has renewed live action sitcom The Suite Life on Deck for a third season, with production on an unspecified number of new episodes set to begin in early 2010.
-Brooke Burke Heads to The Doctors:
Recent Dancing With the Stars winner and former Wild On! host Brooke Burke will join CBS Television Distribution’s The Doctors as a “Mommy Correspondent,” where she will make house calls and act as the liaison between mothers and The Doctors. Her first appearance is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5.
TV Trivia Time:
Dodie’s Doll
We all, of course, remember Mrs. Beasley as little Buffy’s doll on sitcom Family Affair. But what was the name of Dodie’s doll on long-running My Three Sons?
The answer to yesterday’s question…
What was the name of the magazine that Susan Keane worked for on 1996-2000 NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan?
Is: c) The Gate, which was based in San Francisco.
-Current kudos goes to:
Suzanne Ackley, Gail Belle, Lisa Brause, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Mark Consenza, Audrey Davis, Phyllis Epstein, John Ferlazzo, Maureen Goldman, Michael Grewe, Sherrie Hentschel, Brad Hight, Melissa Hodgdon, Heidi Hoffmeister, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Greg Janover, Synda Kollman, Mark Krause, Steven Kurtzer, Stephen LaRue, Danny Leclair, Michael Lehman, Patty Lynch, Julia McCray, Sharon Merritt, Jim Moore, Michael Murphy, Tony Naldrett, Alan Perris (2x), Alex Petrilli, Jr., Greg Phelan, Eric Powell, Gordon Purcell, Con Rigg, Joe Rubi, Erin Ryan, Marc Schacher, Michelle Stanton, Jeff Stuewe, Julie Stowell, Myndi Weinraub, Abbott Wool, Jeanne Yonkers
