CBS in Repeats Lifts ABC to Thursday Victory

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERFriday, February 6, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:CBS in Repeats Leads ABC to Victory Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not Remembering David Waldon On the Air This Weekend:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time:Funny Duke _______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:CBS in Repeats Leads ABC to Victory Thursday 2/05/09 HH Rtg/Shr ABC 7.6/12Fox 5.7/ 9CBS 5.6/ 9NBC 4.5/ 7CW 2.5/ 4 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008):ABC: +13, Fox: - 3, CW: - 7, NBC: -25, CBS: -28 ---------- Note: The fast affiliate results for Thursday 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 Thursday, February 5, 2009. ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:Bones (Fox), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), CSI R (CBS), Private Practice (ABC) -Keep a Positive Adult 18-49 Eye On:The Office (NBC) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):My Name is Earl (NBC), Kath & Kim (NBC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: ABC moved into the overnight winner’s circle on this first Thursday in February, with a 1.9 rating point advantage over second-place Fox. A night of all repeats resulted in a third-place finish for CBS, followed by NBC and the CW, which still has some traction on Thursday. Fox’s recently relocated (and under-appreciated) Bones was first in the 8 p.m. hour, with a 6.7 rating/11 share in the overnights. Next was ABC’s Ugly Betty (5.3/ 8), which has not benefited without CBS’ competing Survivor in the mix (and will be taking a temporary break shortly). In the battle of the 8-9 p.m. sitcoms, repeats of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory (#3t: 3.9/ 6) and How I Met Your Mother (#3: 3.8/ 6) actually outdelivered original episodes of NBC’s My Name is Earl (#3t: 3.9/ 6) and soon-to-conclude Kath & Kim (#4: 3.3/ 5) by an average of seven percent. As I always say, if you are not watching The Big Bang Theory, you are missing the funniest comedy currently on the air. As for My Name is Earl, NBC needs something stronger to open the evening with. Capping off the 8-9 p.m. time period was the CW’s still relatively potent Smallville at a 2.7/ 4. For the CW, that is still a positive. Minus an original episode of CBS’ competing CSI, Grey’s Anatomy on ABC won the 9 p.m. hour, with a 9.3/15 in the overnights. But under a 10-rating in the overnights is a noticeable decline for the soapy medical drama (which featured a cross-over with spin-off Private Practice last night). Second at 9 p.m. was CBS’ CSI encore at a 7.6/12. Comparably, that built by a hefty 95 percent out of the repeat of How I Met Your Mother. Also populating the 9 p.m. hour was NBC’s The Office (5.0/ 8) and 30 Rock (4.3/ 7), Hell’s Kitchen on Fox (4.8/ 8), and the CW’s Supernatural (2.4/ 4), which remains a good fit out of Smallville. Don’t let the 5-overnight rating for The Office fool you…this sitcom always scores among adults 18-49. 30 Rock, however, really lagged in the quality department last night, didn’t it? It was just plain idiotic. Keep that in mind, Emmy voters. The Grey’s Anatomy cross-over gave Private Practice a nice lift, with the sophomore drama at a season-high (and dominant) 8.3/14 at 10 p.m. Comparably, retention out of the second half of lead-in Grey’s Anatomy (9.6/15 at 9:30 p.m.) was a solid 86 percent. Tied for second in the hour were NBC’s soon-to-depart ER and a repeat of CBS’ Eleventh Hour, each at a 5.3/ 9 in the overnights. Remember the days when ER would always score a 20+ overnight household rating? Times have changed, and not necessarily for the better. Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Above Average The View on ABC:Based on ratings for the week of Jan. 26, ABC’s The View scored its most-watched week (4.6 million) since the week of Nov. 3, 2008, and best among women 18-34 (406,000) and women 18-49 (1.06 million) since the week of Nov. 24. For the first time in almost two years (since week of 4/30/07), The View delivered more than one million women 18-49 viewers each day. -Speaking of Daytime…:Here are the daytime rankings based on total viewers and women 18-49 for the week of Jan. 26: Total Viewers:CBS: 3.98 million, ABC: 3.25, NBC: 3.05 Women 18-49:NBC: 1.4 rating / 943,000, ABC: 1.4 rating / 938,000, CBS: 1.3 rating/840,000 Source: Nielsen Media Research data________________________________________________________________________________ Remembering David Waldon Yesterday, I had the sad task on reporting on the untimely passing of my friend and Television Critics Association colleague, David Waldon. His family has requested any donations to be sent to the Lied Transplant Center at the University of Nebraska, Omaha Medical Center. The address is: 600 S 42nd Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68198. For more information, click on http://www.hospitalsoup.com/listing/23932-the-lied-transplant-center If you care to send a note to David’s mother, Cindy, her address is: 625 Gayla Ct. Radcliff KY 40160-1725. And please go to http://miamiherald.typepad.com/changing_channels for a tribute to David written by Miami Herald Television Critic Glenn Garvin. ________________________________________________________________________________ On the Air This Weekend:Prime-Time Programming Options Friday 2/06/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Wife Swap 9:00 p.m. Supernanny10:00 p.m. 20/20 CBS: 8:00 p.m. Ghost Whisperer 9:00 p.m. Flashpoint 10:00 p.m. Numb3rs NBC: 8:00 p.m. Howie Do It (two episodes) 9:00 p.m. Friday Night Lights 10:00 p.m. Dateline Fox: 8:00 p.m. Cops (original and repeat) 9:00 p.m. America’s Most Wanted CW: 8:00 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris 8:30 p.m. The Game (R) 9:00 p.m. 13 – Fear is Real MNTV 8:00 p.m. Friday Night Smackdown! ION 8:00 p.m. Movie: The Temptations (R, from 7 p.m.) --------------- Saturday 2/07/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy (R) 9:00 p.m. Private Practice (R10:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives (R) CBS: 8:00 p.m. Cold Case (R) 9:00 p.m. Flashpoint (R) 10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery NBC: 8:00 p.m. Heroes (R) 9:00 p.m. Law & Order (R)10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. NASCAR 2009: Budweiser Shootout MNT 8:00 p.m. Movie: The Object of My Affection (R) ION 8:00 p.m. Movie: The Last Templar (R, from 7 p.m.) --------------- Sunday 2/08/09 ABC: 7:00 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos 8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 9:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives10:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters CBS: 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 10:00 p.m. The 51st Annual Grammy Awards NBC: 7:00 p.m. AFC/NFL Pro Bowl (prime-time overrun) 8:00 p.m. Dateline 9:00 p.m. Movie – XIII (part one) Fox: 7:00 p.m. Hole in the Wall 7:30 p.m. Hole in the Wall 8:00 p.m. The Simpsons (R) 8:30 p.m. King of the Hill 9:00 p.m. Family Guy (R) 9:30 p.m. American Dad CW: 7:00 p.m. Jericho (R) 8:00 p.m. Sunday Movie: Teen Wolf (R) ION7:00 p.m. MASH Marathon ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -More Big Love:HBO has renewed drama Big Love for a fourth season, with production slated to begin later this year for a 2010 premiere. The number of new episodes has not been confirmed, however. But the first three episodes of the current season will air tonight in a three-hour block, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. -TBS Extends Order for Meet the Browns:Following a successful 10-episode test run, TBS will expand its licensing agreement of Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns to a total of 80 episodes. A spin-off of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Meet the Browns finished January as ad-supported cable’s top rated comedy in key adult demos, while ranking first among all scripted series with African-American viewers. -Jerry Springer Steps Down From America’s Got Talent:Citing prior commitments, Jerry Springer will not be returning as host of NBC summer favorite America’s Got Talent. Springer joined the three year-old reality/competition two seasons ago in place of Regis Philbin, who had to step down due to heath reasons (but now also moonlights as host of CBS’ Million Dollar Password). No replacement has been announced. -Paige Davis Named Host of Life for Dummies:Trading Spaces host Paige Davis has a new gig: host of Life for Dummies, an upcoming new series from A. Smith & Co. Productions that will focus on a wide range of current topics using a studio setting, field pieces and personal testimonials. A. Smith & Co. also produces Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares on Fox, ABC’s recent I Survived a Japanese Game Show, and TLC’s aforementioned Trading Spaces. No network has been announced for the project yet. -Ricki Lake Heads to Charm School:The upcoming third season of VH1’s Charm School will now be hosted by actress and former talk show force Ricki Lake. The new season begins this summer. -How is This for a Dumb Title for a New Sitcom?:NBC has finally come up with a name for its upcoming Amy Poehler sitcom: Parks and Recreation, which replaces departing Kath & Kim in the Thursday 8:30 p.m. half hour on April 9. Poehler will play an optimistic town official who turns a construction pit into a park while trying to mentor a bored college intern. Sounds hilarious, doesn’t it? -ABC Pushes Back Start of Cupid:Cupid, the upcoming remake on ABC about a larger than life character who is sent to earth to bring couples together, will now kick-off on Tuesday, March 31 at 10 p.m. in place of Primetime: What Would You Do? As previously announced, the episode order has been cut from 13 to 7 hours (which is never a good sign, of course)._____________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Funny Duke Which one of the following sitcoms never featured an appearance by John Wayne? AliceThe Beverly HillbilliesI Love LucyThe Lucy ShowMaude The answer to yesterday’s trivia question… Who sung the theme song for sitcom Chico and the Man? Tony Bennett Sammy Davis, Jr.Jose FelicianoDean MartinLionel Richie Is: c) Jose Feliciano. All together now:Chico, don't be discouraged, The Man he ain't so hard to understand. Chico, if you try now, I know that you can lend a helping hand. Because there's good in everyone And a new day has begun You can see the morning sun if you try. And I know, things will be better Oh yes they will for Chico and the Man Yes they will for Chico and the Man.-Current kudos goes to:Jeff Abbott, Suzanne Ackley, Michelle Amundson, Mary Bancroft, Ric Beddingfield, Mikki Beno, Barbara Berman, Mark Binda, Gerry Bixenspan, Kimay Bloch, Susan Brandes, Lillian Buchman, Mitch Burg, Brian Carney, Paul Certo, Larry Collins, Harold Cooper, Kay Copeland, Mark Cosenza, Annie Courtney, George Dejame, Sue Doron, Robert Eisenstaedt, Gary Engel, Connie Falcone, Jim Forkan, Julie Friedlander, Karen Gardner, Adam Giagni, Maureen Goldman, Geoffrey Gordon, Vicky Gregorian, Scott Groneman, Barb Hemberger, Sherrie Hentschel, Brad Hight, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll, Deb Kainer, Mary Kalnin, Jodi Karp, Mary Kinoshita, Synda Kollman, Gary Kupper, Charmaine Leary, Jay Liebenguth, Rick Locke, Kathy Martin, Tricia McKee, Lyle Merdler, Bob Meyer, Marc Miller, Frank Nicotero, Maggie Nye, Cindy O’Connor, Jim O’Heir, Steve O’Rourke, Alan Perris, Alex Petrilli, Jr., Greg Phelan, Peter Poore, Gordon Purcell, Michael Ratliffe, Lisa Tatum-Roehrig, Alan Rosenfeld, Colleen Roth, David Ruckman, Greg Salerno, Mark Simmons, Dewayne Snype, Bruce Starin, Eric Steinberg, Elaine Stevens, Christy Stratton, Ronnie Tallant, Carol Teichman, Meg Voss, Elizabeth Warner, Larry Weinstock, Larry Weissman, Ged Young, Ted Zavales, Ted Zawislak

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CBS in Repeats Lifts ABC to Thursday Victory

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