ABC Dances to Monday Victory

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERTuesday, November 25, 2008 Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:ABC Dances to Victory; Significant Losses for NBC, Fox and the CW 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 Walton Thanksgiving _______________________________________________________________________ Note: The Programming Insider will be on hiatus the remainder of this week. See you back on Monday, December 1._______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:ABC Dances to Victory; Significant Losses for NBC, Fox and the CW Monday 11/24/08 HH Rtg/Shr ABC 10.0/15CBS 7.6/11NBC 3.7/ 6Fox 3.4/ 5CW 1.4/ 2 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Monday, November 26, 2007):ABC: +14, CBS: - 5, Fox: -28, CW: -30, NBC: -33 ---------- Note: The fast national results for Monday will be posted at PIFeedback.com by 12 p.m. ET. Go to the website, click on Ratings Box (the first category), then Last Night’s Results, and Monday, November 24, 2008. ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:Dancing With the Stars (ABC), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Two and a Half Men (CBS), CSI: Miami (CBS) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):Chuck (NBC), Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox), Heroes (NBC), Prison Break (Fox), One Tree Hill (CW), Worst Week (CBS), My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: The final performance show this season of Dancing With the Stars led ABC to a solid overnight Monday victory, with a 32 percent advantage over second-place CBS. In the very distant No. 3 spot was NBC, which is hurt by the collapse of Heroes, followed by Fox and the CW. Dancing With the Stars was, by far, the top-rated show of the evening, with a hefty 13.5 rating/20 share from 8-9:30 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown: Dancing With the Stars (ABC)8:00 p.m.: 12.5/19 (#1)8:30 p.m.: 13.6/20 (#1)9:00 p.m.: 14.3/21 (#1) As good as this is, and it is rock solid, the year-ago 8-9 p.m. telecast of Dancing With the Stars was stronger at a 15.7/23 in the overnights (on Nov. 26, 2007). While Lance Bass was picking up steam, it obvious who will win this season: Brooke Burke and her partner Derek Hough, who tore the house down (so to speak) last night. Dancing With the Stars led into Samantha Who? at a dominant 7.8/12 at 9:30 p.m., followed by the soon-to-conclude Boston Legal at a second-place 5.7/ 9 at 10 p.m. Despite the time period victory, retention for Samantha Who? out of the last half-hour of Dancing With the Stars was just 55 percent. Too bad more viewers are not sticking with the very worthy Samantha Who?. CBS got off to another improved start on Monday with its combination of laugh-out-loud The Big Bang Theory (#2: 6.0/ 9) and the compatible How I Met Your Mother (#2: 5.9/ 9). Compared to one year earlier (when How I Met Your Mother led into The Big Bang Theory), that was an increase of an average of 24 percent in the overnights. Two and a Half Men (which really should now be called Two and Three Quarters Men) followed with a potent 8.9/13 (#2), leading into an also second-place 6.0/ 9 for Worst Week at 9:30 p.m. But the retention for Worst Week out of Two and a Half Men -- 67 percent -- is still noticeably weak. Although veteran CSI: Miami capped off the evening for the Eye net with a dominant 9.3/15, year-to-year it was down by 15 percent (11.0/18 to 9.3/15). Struggling NBC continues to bleed on Monday with its combination of Chuck (#3: 4.0/ 6 -- down 22 percent from one year earlier), Heroes (#3: 4.5/ 6 -- down 38 percent) and the canceled My Own Worst Enemy (#3: 2.7/ 5 -- down 37 percent from failed former occupant Journeyman). With a loss of 38 percent, Heroes is the fastest declining established show currently airing in prime-time. Next was Fox’s lackluster combination of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (#4: 3.3/ 5) and Prison Break (#4: 3.6/ 6), which dipped by an average 28 percent from the year-ago combination of repeats of House and Bones. Moving into the Friday anchor position in February will certainly not bode well for Sarah Connor. The CW took a tumble, meanwhile, with a repeat of One Tree Hill (#5: 1.2/ 2) in place of an original installment of Gossip Girl at 8 p.m. Without the support of Gossip Girl, the original installment of One Tree Hill sunk to a season-low 1.7/ 3 in the overnights at 9 p.m. Source: Nielsen Media Research data____________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -CBS Projects Nov. 2008 Sweeps Victory:With three nights remaining, CBS is predicting dominance in November 2008 in total viewers and adults 25-54, while potentially tying ABC for first among adults 18-49. Based on ratings from Thursday, Oct. 30 through Sunday, Nov. 23, CBS has won 13 of the 25 nights in total viewers, 11 in adults 18-49 and 12 among adults 25-54, with a victory on each of the four Thursday and Friday evenings in all key categories. Four CBS shows –NCIS, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist and Gary Unmarried -- all rose to series highs. With minimal stunting by any of the broadcast networks, CBS’ total viewer victory is projected at 11.79 million for the entire 28-day period (through Wednesday, Nov. 26). Next is ABC, with 10.48 million, followed by NBC (7.90 million) and Fox (7.03 million -- results for the CW were not projected). ABC and CBS are estimated to win among adults 18-49, with a 3.1 rating each in the demo, followed by NBC (2.9) and Fox (2.7). And CBS’ projected win among adults 25-54 puts it at a 4.0 rating in the demo, followed by ABC (3.8), NBC (3.3) and Fox (3.0). Final national ratings for November will be posted on Monday, Dec. 1. ---------- -Speaking of the Nov. 2008 Sweeps:Led by Friday Night Smackdown!, MyNetworkTV (through Sunday, Nov. 23) is up year-to-year by 57 percent in households (0.7 to 1.1 rating), 650,000 viewers (1.07 to 1.72 million) and as much as 75 percent among adults 25-54 (0.4 to 0.7). ---------- -National Ratings to-Date for the Week of Nov. 17:Since The Programming Insider will be on hiatus through next Monday, here are the national rating results for the week of Nov. 17 through Friday, Nov. 21. Although ABC will build some momentum care of Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma on Saturday Night Football and The American Music Awards on Sunday, this is, no doubt, CBS’ week. Households:CBS: 8.3 rating/13 share, ABC: 6.4/10, Fox: 4.3/ 7, NBC: 4.1/ 7, CW: 1.8/ 3 Total Viewers: CBS: 13.19 million, ABC: 9.79, Fox: 7.05, NBC: 6.51, CW: 2.72 Adults 18-49:CBS: 3.5 rating/9 share, ABC: 2.7/ 7, Fox: 2.6/ 7, NBC: 2.4/ 7, CW: 1.3/ 3 Source: Nielsen Media Research data________________________________________________________________________________ On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Tuesday 11/25/08Night 27 of the Nov. 2008 Sweep ABC: 8:00 p.m. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (R) 9:00 p.m. Dancing With the Stars (season finale, two hours) CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS 9:00 p.m. The Mentalist10:00 p.m. Without a Trace NBC: 8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Families (two hours)10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU Fox: 8:00 p.m. House 9:00 p.m. Fringe CW: 8:00 p.m. Movie: How to Deal (R) MNTV 8:00 p.m. Street Patrol (R) 8:30 p.m. Street Patrol (R) 9:00 p.m. Jail 9:30 p.m. Jail (R) ION 8:00 p.m. Boston Legal (R) 9:00 p.m. NCIS (R)10:00 p.m. Boston Legal (R) ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -Steven Seagal: Lawman on A&E:Production has begun on a new non-scripted A&E series called Steven Seagal: Lawman, which will chronicle the martial arts expert and noted action film star as a law enforcer. For almost two decades, Seagal has been working as a fully commissioned deputy with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana. The series is expected to debut in 2009. -Harry Potter Weekend on ABC Family:ABC Family will air the first four installments of the Harry Potter theatrical series from Dec. 5 to 7 as part of the cable net’s 25 Days of Christmas programming. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone will kick-off the series on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Next is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET, followed by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at 9 p.m. ET. An extended version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (featuring deleted scenes not included in the original film version) will cap off the weekend on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. ABC Family will also be airing exclusive clips of the new film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which opens in theaters on July 17, 2009. ________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:A Walton Thanksgiving What horrible thing happened to The Waltons shortly before Thanksgiving in 1933? a) Elizabeth is crippled in an accident.b) Grandpa has a heart attack.c) The house burns down.d) John Boy suffers a serious head injury.e) Olivia finds out she has polio. The answer to yesterday’s question… Which one of the following westerns was only one half-hour in length? a) Cheyenneb) The Riflemanc) Sugarfootd) The Texas Wheelerse) The Virginian Is: b) The Rifleman, which aired on ABC from 1958 to 1963 and was only 30 minutes in length. Although short-lived The Texas Wheelers was also only one half-hour in length, that was a sitcom in the 1974-75 with Jack Elam, Gary Busey and Mark Hamill (pre Star Wars). -Current kudos goes to:Mark Amato, Gerry Bixenspan, Kimay Bloch, Susan Brandes, Michelle Butler, Paul Certo, Larry Collins (4x), Harold Cooper (2x), Mark Cosenza, James Davison, Sue Doron, Bob Eisenstaedt, Josh Emmett, Jerry Gibbons, Steve Gleason, Bob Goldman, Geoffrey Gordon (2x), Michael Graff, Michael Grewe, Marc Horowitz, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Ken Jobe, Mary Kalnin, Marie Lefevre Karp, Claudia Martin, Kathy McClung, Marc Miller, Beverly Morris, Jim O’Heir, Michael Pendell, Peter Poore, Francine Purcell, Paul Rule, Neal Sabin, Dave Skorupski, Mindy Staley, Michelle Stanton, Bruce Starin, Ronnie Tallant, Edgar Yergeau, Elizabeth Warner, Joel Wolk, Jim Wright, Ted Zawislak

Convergent TV

ABC Dances to Monday Victory

Marc Berman

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Marc Berman