CBS Wins Thursday; Respectable Return for ABC's FlashForward

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERFriday, March 19, 2010 Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:CBS Wins; Respectable Return for ABC’s FlashForward 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: An Odd Habit ______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:CBS Wins; Respectable Return for ABC’s FlashForward Thursday 3/18/10 HH Rtg/Shr CBS 6.7/11NBC 5.0/ 8ABC 4.4/ 7Fox 3.7/ 6CW 1.1/ 2 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday, March 19, 2009):CBS: + 3, NBC: + 2, Fox: -31, ABC: -38, CW: -52 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:The Office (NBC), The Marriage Ref (NBC) -Up From One Year Earlier:2010 NCAA Basketball: First Round – Day 1 (CBS) -Still a Viable Option:FlashForward (ABC) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):Community (NBC), Parks and Recreation (NBC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown:CBS led this third Thursday in March care of 2010 NCAA Basketball: First Round – Day 1 at an estimated 6.7 rating/11 share in the overnights for the prime-time (8-11 p.m.) portion. Comparably, this was an increase of three percent from the 6.5/11 for the first round, day one on March 19, 2009 (but down considerably from the regularly scheduled combination of Survivor, CSI and The Mentalist). Nationally, that performance translated into 8.57 million viewers, with a 3.1 rating/9 share among adults 18-49. Here is the half-hour breakdown: 2010 NCAA Basketball: First Round – Day 18:00 p.m.: 5.6/10 (#1)8:30 p.m.: 6.3/11 (#1)9:00 p.m.: 7.2/12 (#1)9:30 p.m.: 7.6/12 (#1)10:00 p.m.: 7.5/12 (#1)10:30 p.m.: 6.3/11 (#1) In return series news, two episodes of ABC’s FlashForward averaged a respectable 5.1/ 8 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows: FlashForward (ABC)8:00 p.m.: 5.4/ 9 (#2)8:30 p.m.: 4.9/ 8 (#2)9:00 p.m.: 5.1/ 8 (#3)9:30 p.m.: 4.9/ 8 (#2t) Comparatively, the good news for FlashForward was overnight growth from the last original episode (4.5/ 7 on Dec. 3, 2009) of 13 percent. But compared to the highly promoted series-opener on Sept. 24, 2009 (7.6/13), this was a loss of 33 percent. A repeat of Private Practice closed the night for ABC with a last-place 3.1/ 5 at 10 p.m. NBC, as always, got off to a lackluster Thursday start as a result of sitcoms Community (#4: 3.7/ 6) and Parks and Recreation (#4: 3.6/ 6) from 8-9 p.m. But The Office perked up to a second-place 5.9/ 9 in the overnights at 9 p.m., which should be more than enough to win the time period among adults 18-49. Next on NBC was 30 Rock (#2t: 4.9/ 8 at 9:30 p.m.), followed by week three of The Marriage Ref at a second-place 5.8/10 at 10 p.m. Minus CBS’ The Mentalist in the competitive mix, The Marriage Ref increased by 16 percent from its week-ago overnight average (5.0/ 8 on March 11), while building by 18 percent from lead-in 30 Rock. While I personally was apprehensive about anything that involves Jerry Seinfeld, The Marriage Ref is actually a hoot. Definitely give it a shot. Fox populated the evening with repeats of Bones (#3: 4.4/ 7) and Fringe (#4: 3.0/ 5), while The CW also traveled the repeat route with The Vampire Diaries (#5: 1.2/ 2) and Supernatural (#5: 1.1/ 2) from 8-10 p.m. And there you have it…that’s Thursday. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)_____________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Above Average Destination Truth:Season three of Syfy’s Destination Truth kicked-off on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET with a series-high in adults 25-54 (1.4 million), and its strongest opener to-date in total viewers (2.2 million) and adults 18-49 (1.3 million). Overall, Destination Truth finished second for the entire day on basic cable among adults 25-54. -Parenthood – Week Three:Week three of NBC drama Parenthood, based on the Ron Howard theatrical, lost more steam, with 5.83 million viewers and a 2.3 rating/7 share among adults 18-49 in the Tuesday 10 p.m. hour. But that still managed to finish second in the time period (behind CBS’ The Good Wife and ahead of a FlashForward clips show on ABC), and the retention out of lead-in The Biggest Loser (Viewers: 7.34 million; A18-49: 2.8/ 8) was adequate at 79 percent in total viewers and 82 percent in the demo. Stay tuned. Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ On the Air This Weekend:Prime-Time Programming Options Friday 3/19/10 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Thin Ice 9:00 p.m. 20/2010:00 p.m. 20/20 CBS: 8:00 p.m. 2010 NCAA Basketball – First Round, Day 2 NBC: 8:00 p.m. Who Do You Think You Are? 9:00 p.m. Dateline Fox: 8:00 p.m. House (R) 9:00 p.m. Kitchen Nightmares CW: 8:00 p.m. America’s Next Top Model (R) 9:30 p.m. High Society (R) --------------- Saturday 3/20/10 ABC: 8:00 p.m. FlashForward (R) 9:00 p.m. FlashForward (R)10:00 p.m. Castle (R) CBS: 8:00 p.m. 2010 NCAA Basketball - Second Round, Day 1 NBC: 8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser (R) 9:00 p.m. Law & Order (R)10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Cops (original and repeat) 9:00 p.m. America’s Most Wanted --------------- Sunday 3/21/10 ABC:7:00 p.m. Thin Ice 8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 9:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives 10:00 p.m. Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (series premiere/preview) CBS: 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00 p.m. The Amazing Race 16 9:00 p.m. Undercover Boss 10:00 p.m. Cold Case NBC: 7:00 p.m. Dateline 8:00 p.m. Minute to Win It 9:00 p.m. Celebrity Apprentice Fox: 7:00 p.m. ‘Til Death 7:30 p.m. ‘Til Death 8:00 p.m. The Simpsons 8:30 p.m. The Cleveland Show 9:00 p.m. Family Guy 9:30 p.m. Sons of Tucson Of Note on Cable:-Gene Simmons Family Jewels: A&E, 9 p.m. ET (season premiere)-Kirstie Alley’s Big Life: A&E, 10 p.m. ET (series premiere)-Breaking Bad: AMC, 10 p.m. ET (season premiere) ---------- New Program Descriptions: Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (ABC)Produced by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, British Chef Jamie Oliver travels to Huntington, West Virginia (the “unhealthiest city in America”) to start an initiative to improve eating habits. The regularly scheduled time period is Fridays at 9 p.m. beginning on March 26. ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -Christiane Amanpour Named This Week Anchor:CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour is leaving the cable network after 27 years to host This Week, the Sunday morning public affairs program on ABC. Amanpour, who joined CNN in 1983 as a foreign desk assistant, will exit from her current role next month and start work for ABC in August. She replaces George Stephanopoulos, who became the new anchor of Good Morning America in December. ABC News's senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper will be the interim anchor of This Week until Amanpour begins. -The Glee Roller-Coaster Continues:The cast of Fox hit Glee, which returns in originals on Tuesday, April 13 (out of American Idol), will appear on CBS Television Distribution’s Oprah on Wednesday, April 7. -Sad News:Fess Parker, TV’s Davy Crockett, died yesterday of natural causes. He was 85. A former college athlete at the University of Texas, Parker studied drama in the early 1950s and became an instant celebrity when Walt Disney cast him over James Arness for the role of Davy Crockett. Years after the Davy Crockett craze ended, Parker headlined Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a half-hour 1962-63 sitcom based on the Jimmy Stewart theatrical. Returning to his hero roots, Parker starred in NBC western Daniel Boone from 1964-70, ultimately exiting show business after tin exchange for a career in real estate after the series ended. Parker is survived by his wife of 50 years, Marcella Rinehart, and their two children. ________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:An Odd Habit Which one of the following quirks did Robert Barone have on Everybody Loves Raymond? a) Before approaching someone, he had to take a few moments to rehearse what he would say.b) He bit his hands when he was nervous.c) He rocked when he sat and watched TV.d) He touched food to his chin before he ate it.e) He would never step on the crack in a sidewalk. The answer to yesterday’s question… Remember Aaron Spelling drama Hotel, which aired on ABC from 1983-88? Which one of the following classic film stars appeared in the pilot, but had to depart due to an illness? a) Joan Crawfordb) Bette Davisc) Olivia de Havilland d) Vivien Leigh e) Ginger Rogers Is: b) Bette Davis, who was supposed to play the role of hotel owner Laura Trent on a recurring basis. Stepping into her shoes was Anne Baxter as Victoria Cabot.-Current kudos goes to:Steve Albright, Mary Bancroft, Barbara Berman, Gerry Bixenspan, Barbara Bloomfield, John Brooker, Rob Casalaina, Larry Collins, Jim Colucci, Harold Cooper, Mark Cosenza, Audrey Davis, Reid Davis, Stephen Ferrara, Kim Fleary, Arleen Fong, Jan Frazier, George Gardner, Maureen Goldman, Geoffrey Gordon (2x), Robert Gori, Brad Hight, Michael Holland, Bob Ingersoll, David Johnson, Shelly Johnson, Deb Kainer, Mary Kalnin, Marie LeFevre Karp, Tom Kilgallon, Synda Kollman, Mark Krause, Steve Kurtzer, Patty Lynch, Debbie Mirr, Jim Moore, Anne Moynihan, Michael Murphy, Jay Ogletree (2x), Greg Phelan, Michael Ratliffe, Patti Rodriguez, Joe Rubi, Mary Ryan, Ron Salmon, Michelle Stanton, Andrew Stearn, Joe Swaney, John Wood

Convergent TV

CBS Wins Thursday; Respectable Return for ABC's FlashForward

Marc Berman

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Marc Berman