CBS Wins Thursday; Lackluster NBC

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERFriday, November 19, 2010 Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:CBS Wins; Struggling NBC Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air This Weekend:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time:Surviving Past Season Two_______________________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:CBS Wins; Struggling NBC Thursday 11/18/10Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only. HH Rtg/Shr CBS 8.6/14ABC 6.5/10Fox 4.9/ 8NBC 3.5/ 6CW 1.3/ 2 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday, November 19, 2009):NBC: + 6, CBS: + 4, ABC: + 3, Fox: no change, CW: -35 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), CSI (CBS), The Mentalist (CBS) -Honorable Mention:Bones (Fox) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):Community (NBC), Fringe (Fox), Outsourced (NBC), The Apprentice (NBC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown:It was another easy overnight Thursday victory for CBS, which bested second-place ABC by 32 percent. But the Eye net’s probable advantage among adults 18-49 is not expected to be as large. Third overall in the metered markets was Fox, which always generates mileage thanks to underrated Bones, followed by NBC and a night of repeats on The CW. Successfully relocated The Big Bang Theory on CBS remains a bona fide hit in the 8 p.m. half-hour, with an 8.7 rating/14 share. Lead-out $#*! My Dad Says also finished first, but the 6.5/10 was 25 percent below The Big Bang Theory and it tied the second half of Fox’s Bones for dominance. $#*! My Dad Says is, however, expected to solely dominate among adults 18-49. Here is the nine-week overnight track for $#*! My Dad Says: $#*! My Dad Says (CBS) 9/23/10: 7.7/12 9/20/10: 6.7/1110/07/10: 6.3/1010/14/10: 6.6/1010/21/10: 7.0/1110/28/10: 6.8/1111/04/10: 7.0/1111/11/10: 6.4/1011/18/10: 6.5/10 Next on CBS was veteran CSI at a dominant 8.8/14 in the overnights at 9 p.m. (just one-tenth of a rating point ahead of Grey’s Anatomy on ABC), followed by The Mentalist at a 9.5/16 at 10 p.m. The Mentalist once again finished as the top-rated show on Thursday. ABC opened the evening with a repeat of annual holiday classic, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which finished third with a 4.5/ 7 at 8 p.m. Aforementioned Grey’s Anatomy followed with a second-place 8.7/13 at 9 p.m., but it will have no trouble beating CBS’ competing CSI among adults 18-49. At 10 p.m., Grey’s spin-off Private Practice finished second with a 6.4/11. And that too could potentially hold an advantage in the demo over The Mentalist. Over at Fox, Bones was on the map with a second-place 6.3/10 at 8 p.m. But Fringe continues to squander the lead-in support with a fourth-place 3.6/ 5 at 9 p.m. Comparably, that put the overnight retention for Fringe out of Bones of only 55 percent. Three-year-old Fringe, regardless, is expected to return next season because it needs another batch of original episodes for off-network syndication. Next was NBC, which had nothing unusual to report with its line-up of Community (#4: 3.0/ 5), which should not be anchoring the evening, 30 Rock (#4: 3.8/ 6), which built by 27 percent, demo friendly The Office (#3: 4.8/ 7), freshman Outsourced (#3, 3.7/ 6) and deadly The Apprentice (#3: 3.0/ 5), which is unlikely to ever feature non -celebrities again. Here is the nine-week overnight track for Outsourced: Outsourced (NBC) 9/23/10: 5.0/ 8 9/20/10: 4.1/ 610/07/10: 3.8/ 610/14/10: 3.8/ 610/21/10: 3.5/ 510/28/10: 3.9/ 611/04/10: 3.7/ 611/11/10: 3.5/ 511/18/10: 3.7/ 6 The Office, as always, was the standout due to the expected interest among adults 18-49. NBC, as a reminder, is revamping Thursday effective on Jan 20 with the new line-up as follows: 8:00 p.m.: Community 8:30 p.m.: Perfect Couples (new) 9:00 p.m.: The Office 9:30 p.m.: Parks and Recreation (season premiere)10:00 p.m: 30 Rock (new time)10:30 p.m.: Outsourced (new time) The CW capped off this ninth Thursday of the current TV season with repeats of The Vampire Diaries (#5: 1.4/ 2) and Nikita (#5: 1.2/ 2). Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)_____________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Above Average The View:Based on the live plus same day ratings for the week of Nov. 8, perennial ABC daytime talker The View scored its most-watched week in 15 weeks in total viewers (3.66 million), and its best in 14 weeks in women 18-34 (267,000) and women 25-54 (999,000). Recent CBS entry The Talk, meanwhile, was defeated by ABC soap One Life to Live by the largest percent margin to-date in Women 18-34 (229,000 vs. 181,000), Women 18-49 (679,000 vs. 485,000) and among Women 25-54 (882,000 vs. 587,000). ---------- -New Series Report Card:Based on Live Plus Same Day ratings, here are the results (in order of total viewers) for the freshman Wednesday class: ABC’s Better with You, CBS’ The Defenders, NBC’s Law & Order: Los Angeles and Hellcats on The CW. Note: Canceled entries Undercovers on NBC and The Whole Truth on ABC were both pre-empted.The Defenders (CBS) – Wed. 10 p.m.Viewers: 9.43 million (#1), A18-49: 1.9/ 6 (#1t)Grade: C- Yes, time period dominance for The Defenders is a positive. But retention out of Criminal Minds (Viewers: 14.39 million; A18-49: 3.8/10 at 9 p.m.) was lacking at 65 percent in total viewers and 50 percent among adults 18-49. And year-ago occupant CSI: NY was considerably stronger at 13.62 million viewers. CBS can do better in this protected time period. -----Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC) – Wed. 10 p.m.Viewers: 7.84 million (#2), A18-49: 1.9/ 6 (#2t) Grade: C While the compatibility out of lead-in Law & Order: SVU (Viewers: 7.65 million; A18-49: 2.1/ 6 at 9 p.m.) is flawless, moving to Tuesday at 10 p.m. effective on February 8 out of The Biggest Loser: Couples will give LOLA stronger demographic support.-----Better with You (ABC) – Wed. 8:30 p.m.Viewers: 7.11 million (#2), A18-49: 2.3/ 7 (#2)Grade: C On paper, Better with You does not look all that bad. But erosion out of lead-in The Middle (Viewers: 9.29 million; A18-49: #2, 2.8/ 9) was 23 percent in total viewers and 18 percent in the demo despite the higher HUT level. ----- Hellcats (CW) – Wed. 9 p.m.Viewers: 2.04 million (#5), A18-49: 0.9/ 2 (#5) Grade: C- Yes, Hellcats can certainly be stronger. But diluted lead-in America’s Next Top Model was not that much stronger at 2.48 million viewers and a 1.1/ 3 in the demo. --------------- -Final Wednesday Nationals:What follows are the overall results for this ninth Wednesday of the new TV season, Nov. 17. Total Viewers:CBS: 11.93 million, NBC: 7.40, ABC: 7.33, Fox: 6.25, CW: 2.26 Adults 18-49:CBS: 3.1 rating/ 9 share, ABC: 2.7/ 8, Fox: 2.2/ 6, NBC: 1.9/ 5, CW: 1.0/ 3 Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ On the Air This Weekend:Prime-Time Programming Options Friday 11/19/10 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Supernanny 9:00 p.m. Primetime: What Would You Do?10:00 p.m. 20/20 CBS: 8:00 p.m. Medium 9:00 p.m. CSI: NY 10:00 p.m. Blue Bloods NBC: 8:00 p.m. School Pride 9:00 p.m. Dateline10:00 p.m. Harmony: A Film Inspired by the Prince of Wales Fox: 8:00 p.m. House (R) 9:00 p.m. The Good Guys CW: 8:00 p.m. Smallville 9:00 p.m. Supernatural --------------- Saturday 11/20/10 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Saturday Night Football CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles (R) 9:00 p.m. Criminal Minds (R) 10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery NBC: 8:00 p.m. Notre Dame Football: Army vs. Notre Dame Fox: 8:00 p.m. Cops (original and repeat) 8:30 p.m. America’s Most Wanted --------------- Sunday 11/21/10 ABC: 7:00 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos 8:00 p.m. 2010 American Music Awards CBS: 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00 p.m. The Amazing Race 9:00 p.m. Undercover Boss10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami NBC: 7:00 p.m. Football Night in America 8:30 p.m. Sunday Night Football: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles Fox: 7:00 p.m. The Cleveland Show (R) 7:30 p.m. The Simpsons (R) 8:00 p.m. The Simpsons 8:30 p.m. The Cleveland Show 9:00 p.m. Family Guy 9:30 p.m. American Dad ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -Claire Danes Heads to Showtime:Recent Emmy Award winner Claire Danes (Temple Grandin) will headline a new one-hour drama on Showtime called Homeland, which centers on an American soldier taken prisoner during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and his miraculous return to the United States. Danes will play an ambitious CIA agent who is convinced this so-called national hero may be a traitor. Production is set to begin in January. -Jennifer Esposito Joins Cast of Blue Bloods:Older-skewing Friday night CBS freshman hit Blue Bloods has a new series regular, Jennifer Esposito. The former Spin City co-star will play the street smart partner of Donnie Walberg’s Danny Reagan. -Drew Carey on GSN:Sitcom star and The Price is Right host Drew Carey has signed a deal with cable net GSN for a 40-episode improvisational half-hour similar to his former ABC series Whose Line is it Anyway? Scheduled to be taped on the weekends at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, the cast is expected to include former Drew Carey Show and Whose Line co-stars Ryan Stiles, Kathy Kinney and Chip Esten. ________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Surviving Past Season Two Which one of the following five series aired for longer than two seasons? a) Hope & Faithb) The Mothers-In-Lawc) Movin’ On d) To Rome With Lovee) Shark The answer to yesterday’s question… Which one of the following options was not the actual title of a TV series? a) Zoe Beanb) Pepper Dennis c) Veronica Marsd) Jessica Novake) Amy Prentiss Is: a) Zoe Bean, who was an actual TV character featured on half-hour WB sitcom Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane. When the series returned for a second season in the spring of 2000, the title was shortened to just Zoe. As for the others: -Pepper Dennis (WB): 2006-Veronica Mars (UPN): 2004-2006, (CW): 2006-07-Jessica Novak (CBS): 1981-Amy Prentiss (NBC): 1974-75 (part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie) -Current kudos goes to:Gerry Bixenspan, Barbara Bloomfield, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, John Ferlazzo, Maureen Goldman, Ken Hommel, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Deb Kainer, Mary Kinoshita, Synda Kollman, Rick Locke, Melinda Lujan, Patty Lynch, Alex Petrilli, Jr., Greg Phelan, Gordon Purcell, Lisa Tatum-Roehrig, Colleen Roth, Anthony Salerno, Andrew Stearn, Ronnie Tallant, Larry Weinstock, Rob Wilson, Ted Zawislak

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CBS Wins Thursday; Lackluster NBC

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