ABC Opens Week on a Winning Note

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERTuesday, April 21, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:Hefty Victory for Dancing ABC Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: Calling Dr. Howser______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:Hefty Victory for Dancing ABC Monday 4/20/09 HH Rtg/Shr ABC 9.6/15CBS 5.9/ 9Fox 5.8/ 9NBC 4.0/ 6CW 1.6/ 2 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Monday, April 21, 2008):ABC: +12, Fox: + 2, CW: -16, CBS: -20, NBC: -37 ---------- 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, April 20, 2009. ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Two and a Half Men R (CBS) -Disappointing:Gossip Girl (CW), One Tree Hill (CW), Medium (NBC) -Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):Chuck (NBC), Heroes (NBC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: ABC, as always, opened the week on a winning overnight note care of Dancing With the Stars, which averaged a hefty (and above-average) 12.8 rating/19 share from 8-9:30 p.m. Take a look at the half-hour breakdown: Dancing With the Stars (ABC)8:00 p.m.: 11.7/188:30 p.m.: 13.0/209:00 p.m.: 13.7/20 With even stronger lead-in support, week three of lead-out Surviving Suburbia perked up to an also dominant 7.5/11 in the overnights at 9:30 p.m. -- nine percent above the 6.9/10 from one week earlier. But retention out of the last half-hour of Dancing With the Stars was still lacking at 55 percent. ABC’s on-the-fence Castle at 10 p.m. also build from one week earlier, with a second-place 5.8/10 in the overnights. But the competition on CBS a repeat of The Mentalist (#1: 6.3/11) in place of the regularly scheduled CSI: Miami, and the show dipped by 11 percent in the second half-hour (6.2/10 to 5.5/ 9). As for Dancing With the Stars, my picks for the bottom two tonight: Lawrence Taylor and wooden cowboy Ty Murray. Most likely to bid adieu: Lawrence Taylor. With the exception of an original installment of Rules of Engagement, distant second-place CBS aired all repeats last night (and that included aforementioned The Mentalist in place of CSI: Miami). Here are the overnight results: CBS/Monday 8:00 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (R): 4.7/ 7 (#3) 8:30 p.m. How I Met Your Mother (R): 4.2/ 6 (#3) 9:00 p.m. Two and a Half Men (R): 7.4/11 (#2) 9:30 p.m.: Rules of Engagement: 6.5/10 (#2)10:00 p.m.: The Mentalist (R): 6.3/11 (#1) Interesting, isn’t it, that CBS replaced CSI: Miami with The Mentalist? Rumor has it that the hit Simon Baker drama is heading to Thursday at 10 p.m. out of CSI next season. If I were CBS, however, I would leave it in the Tuesday 9 p.m. hour. If it’s not broke, why try to fix it? Fox kicked-off the night with a Monday installment of drama Bones, which finished second with a 5.7/ 9 in the overnights at 8 p.m. One week earlier, regularly scheduled occupant House averaged a 7.3/12. Despite the weaker lead-in support, 24 at 9 p.m. was consistent at a third-place 6.0/10. NBC continues to struggle on Monday with its combination of Chuck (#4: 3.5/ 6), Heroes (#4: 3.7/ 6) and Medium (#3: 4.9/ 8), which always builds from lead-in Heroes in the overnights, but never among adults 18-49. And the CW’s combination of Gossip Girl (#5: 1.6/ 2) and One Tree Hill (#5: 1.7/ 2) dipped by an average of 16 percent in the overnights from their year-ago deliveries. If the overnights are down, chances are the ratings among young key females will be as well. Source: Nielsen Media Research data _______________________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Record Performance for Natalee Holloway on LMN:The Sunday, April 19 premiere of original made-for movie Natalee Holloway lifted Lifetime Movie Network to its highest ratings ever. Natalee Holloway averaged 2.39 million households, 3.2 million viewers and just over one million viewers among target women 18-49 and women 25-54 from 8-10 p.m. Comparably, that outdelivered the former record holder, The Capture of the Green River Killer, by double-digit percentages across the board. LMN is referring to Natalee Holloway as the highest rated movie in ad-supported basic cable over the last 12 months among women 18-49. -Strong Showing for USA on Sunday:Against original network competition on April 19, the second season-premiere of USA Network drama In Plain Sight opened with a hefty 5.1 million total viewers, 2.3 million adults 18-49 and 2.5 million adults 25-54 at 10 p.m. Comparably, growth over the series-premiere last season was 14 percent in total viewers and as much as 25 percent among adults 18-49. The season-premiere of lead-in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, meanwhile, averaged 4.6 million viewers, with 1.9 million adults 18-49 and 2.2 million adults 25-54 at 9 p.m., building by as much as 10 percent from its year-ago season-opener. Criminal Intent’s performance was particularly impressive because it faced Desperate Housewives on ABC. Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Tuesday 4/21/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. According To Jim 8:30 p.m. According To Jim 9:00 p.m. Dancing With the Stars Results Show 10:00 p.m. Cupid CBS: 8:00 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (R) 8:30 p.m. Two and a Half Men (R) 9:00 p.m. NCIS (R)10:00 p.m. The Mentalist (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Couples (two hours)10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. American Idol 9:00 p.m. Fringe CW: 8:00 p.m. Reaper 9:00 p.m. 90210 MTNV 8:00 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 -Coming Up on E!:She may have just been bounced from Celebrity Apprentice, but Khloe Kardashian has landed a new non-scripted gig: Kourtney and Khloe in Miami, which will air on E! The half-hour Keeping Up With the Kardashians spin-off will feature Khloe and sister Kourtney as they open up a new boutique and work on their social lives in Miami. Also coming up on E! is The Lamas Family, which will center on former The Bachelor winner Shayne Lamas (and will feature her actor father Lorenzo). Both shows are expected to begin later this year. -Early Return for Ugly Betty on ABC:Fans of Ugly Betty anxious for its return should mark their calendars for April 30 (instead of May 7 as originally planned). ABC has announced that current occupants In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? will exit this Thursday instead of the following week. -Debra Messing Expected to Return to NBC:Former Will & Grace star Debra Messing is in negotiations with NBC to headline a single-camera comedy about a downsized CEO who tries to readjust as a full-time wife and mother. With My Name is Earl potentially on the chopping block, the untitled sitcom could fit right into the network’s two-hour Thursday comedy block. -Another “D” Lister Joins I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!:Yesterday I reported that NBC’s upcoming revival of reality/competition I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! will include supermodel Janice Dickinson, talk show host Geraldo Rivera, Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman, The Hills couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt and (pending court approval) ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The next “celebrity” to join the fracas is former American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar. Let’s just hope he does not sing in the house! I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! will kick-off with a two-hour installment on Monday, June 1 at 8 p.m. ET (and will air Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m. for the first three weeks, and Monday through Wednesday in the final week). _________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Calling Dr. Howser How old was “Doogie” Howser supposed to be when the half-hour ABC dramedy began in 1989? 1314151617 The answer to yesterday’s question… Which one of the following series did not air in the 1970s? Hogan’s Heroes TaxiT.J. HookerVega$The White Shadow Is: c) T.J. Hooker, which ran on ABC from 1982 to 1987. As for the others: -Hogan’s Heroes (CBS): 1965-71-Taxi (ABC): 1978-83-Vega$ (ABC): 1978-81-The White Shadow (CBS): 1978-81 -Current kudos goes to:Becky Beaty, Lauren Biddle, Gerry Bixenspan, Michelle Butler, Kristin Conner, Harold Cooper, Bill Evashwick, John Ferlazzo, Adam Giagni, Deirdre Hanssen, Michelle Harrington, Carolyn Becker Hayes, Brad Hight, Michael Holland, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Ken Jobe, Deb Kainer, Marie Lefevre Karp, Tom Killgallon, Howard Lieboff, Beverly Morris, Anne Moynihan, Frank Nicotero, Aaron Paquette, Alan Perris, Greg Phelan, Marilyn Rutkowski, Mickie Steinmann, Myndi Weinraub, John Wood, John Wordin

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ABC Opens Week on a Winning Note

Marc Berman

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