Fox Wins Wednesday; Considerable Week Two Erosion for ABC's The Unusuals

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERThursday, April 16, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:Fox Wins; Week Two of ABC’s The Unusuals Loses Significant Steam Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: Dy-No-Mite!______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:Fox Wins; Week Two of ABC’s The Unusuals Loses Significant Steam Wednesday 4/15/09 HH Rtg/Shr Fox 10.3/16CBS 5.9/10NBC 4.2/ 7ABC 4.1/ 7CW 2.0/ 3 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, April 16, 2008):Fox: +13, NBC: -12, CW: -13, CBS: -14, ABC: -45 ---------- Note: The fast affiliate results for Wednesday 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 Wednesday, April 15, 2009. ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:Bones (Fox), American Idol (Fox), Criminal Minds R (CBS), CSI: NY (CBS) -Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):Scrubs (ABC), Better Off Ted (ABC), The Unusuals (ABC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: Led by American Idol, it was another midweek victory for Fox, which beat second-place CBS by a hefty 4.4 rating points in the overnights. Third overall was NBC, followed by ABC (just one-tenth of a rating point behind NBC) and the CW. A Wednesday installment of underrated Fox drama Bones opened the evening with a dominant 7.1 rating/12 share in the overnights from 8-9 p.m. Fans of Bones will be pleased to know that the network has already ordered new scripts for next season. Second in the hour was a repeat of NBC’s Law & Order (4.4/ 7), which has stepped in for recently axed reality/competition The Chopping Block, followed by repeats of CBS sitcoms The New Adventures of Old Christine (3.5/ 6) and the compatible Gary Unmarried (3.5/ 6). Capping off the time period was original installments of ABC’s Scrubs (3.2/ 6) and the recently introduced Better Off Ted (2.9/ 5), and veteran America’s Next Top Model on the CW (3.0/ 5), which was on par with its year-ago overnight performance. As for the ABC sitcoms, tick, tock…the cancellation clock is ticking. Fox’s American Idol stood well above the competition at 9 p.m., with a hefty 13.6/21 in the overnights. Comparably, that built from the second-half of lead-in Bones (7.5/12 at 8:30 p.m.) by 81 percent. While Mr. TV was right on the money with the bottom three picks (Anoop, Lil and Matt), it was Matt that got the lowest number of votes. But those wise judges used their one save and kept Matt in the competition, so next week two contestants will go home. Second in the 9 p.m. hour in the overnights was a repeat of CBS’ Criminal Minds with a still potent 6.7/10, followed by ABC’s Lost (5.2/ 8), a repeat of NBC’s Law & Order: SVU (3.9/ 6) and a repeat of the CW’s 90210 (0.9/ 2), which featured the return of Tori Spelling as Donna Martin. While the strength of Lost, of course, falls within the young adult demos, you cannot deny the fact that the ratings are down year to year. CBS capped off the evening on a winning note, with CSI: NY at a 7.7/13 -- 12 percent above the second-half of its encore Criminal Minds lead-in (6.9/10 at 9:30 p.m.). Next was a repeat of NBC’s Law & Order (4.4/ 7), followed by week two of ABC’s The Unusuals, which dipped to a mere 4.1/ 7 in the overnights. One week earlier, The Unusuals opened with a 5.1/ 9 on April 8. Do the math and this is a loss of a significant 20 percent. As for law & Order, if it does get renewed for 2009-10 (and my guess NBC will bring it back in midseason), it will then tie Gunsmoke as the longest running scripted drama in the history of television. Source: Nielsen Media Research data _______________________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -National Ratings in Syndication – Week of March 30:What follows are the top 20 rated series in syndication (first-run and off-network) based on households for the week of March 30: Wheel of Fortune (CBS Television Distribution): 7.2 rating, Jeopardy (CBS): 6.1, Oprah (CBS): 5.8, Two and a Half Men (Warner Bros.): 4.9, Judge Judy (CBS): 4.3, Entertainment Tonight (CBS): 4.1, Family Guy (Twentieth Television): 4.0, Seinfeld (Sony Pictures Television): 3.7, CSI: NY (CBS): 3.4, Dr. Phil (CBS): 3.3, Law & Order: SVU (NBC Universal) and Seinfeld – Weekend (SPT): 3.2 each, Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS): 3.1, George Lopez (Warner Bros.): 2.8, Live With Regis & Kelly (Disney-ABC): 2.6, Friends (Warner Bros.), House (NBCU), King of Queens (SPT), King of the Hill (Twentieth) and Wheel of Fortune – Weekend (CBS): 2.5 each --------------- -Recent Midseason Series Ratings Update:Based on Monday and Tuesday of this week, here is how the recent new midseason entries performed: Surviving Suburbia (ABC) – Monday 9:30 p.m.Viewers: 9.71 million (#3 in time period), A18-49: 2.6/ 6 (#4) One week earlier, Surviving Suburbia kicked-off with 11.25 million viewers and a 3.0/ 7 among adults 18-49. And the retention out of lead-in Dancing With the Stars (Viewers: 19.46 million; A18-49: 4.6/12) was just 58 percent in viewers and 57 percent in the demo this week. Former occupant Samantha Who? was stronger. ----- Castle (ABC) – Monday 10 p.m.Viewers: 7.28 million (#3), A18-49: 1.9/ 5 (#3) Diminished lead-in support resulted in a series low performance for Castle. But since ABC tends to be patient with on-the-fence freshman dramas (Men in Trees, October Road and What About Brian all got second seasons), do not rule out Castle…yet. ----- Cupid (ABC) – Tuesday 10 p.m.Viewers: 6.10 million (#3), A18-49: 1.7/ 5 (#3) ABC’s patience may run a bit thin for Cupid. Why remake a series that did not work the first time around? Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Thursday 4/16/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. In the Motherhood 8:30 p.m. Samantha Who? 9:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy (R)10:00 p.m. Private Practice (R) CBS: 8:00 p.m. Survivor: Tocantins 9:00 p.m. CSI 10:00 p.m. Harper’s Island NBC: 8:00 p.m. My Name is Earl 8:30 p.m. Parks and Recreation 9:00 p.m. The Office 9:30 p.m. 30 Rock10:00 p.m. Southland Fox: 8:00 p.m. Bones 9:00 p.m. Hell’s Kitchen CW: 8:00 p.m. Smallville (R) 9:00 p.m. Supernatural (R) MTNV 8:00 p.m. Movie: Conspiracy (R) ________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -Oxygen Announces New Programming Initiatives:Female-driven cable net Oxygen has unveiled its original programming plans for 2009-10, including three new non-scripted series: Dance Your Ass Off, Addicted to Beauty and The Naughty Kitchen with Chef Blythe Beck. Dance Your Ass Off, which launches this summer, is a dance/weight-loss competition hosted by recent Dancing With the Stars competitor Marissa Jaret Winokur. Addicted to Beauty, which kicks-off this year, is described as a docu-comedy seen through the eyes of the larger than life staff at a beauty spa in California. And The Naughty Kitchen with Chef Blythe Beck, which also debuts at an unspecified time, focuses on the “naughty” plus-sized head chef at a top-rated Dallas restaurant. What is this obsession with weight at Oxygen? In development at Oxygen is Keshia and Kaseem, which follows former Cosby kid Keshia Knight Pulliam and her entrepreneur boyfriend; Celeb-U-Moms, a docu-series focusing on a group of busy Hollywood Moms; and Mr. & Mrs. Makeover, a new couples makeover series developed by and featuring Tori Spelling and hubby Dean McDermott. The couple also has an original made-for movie in development at Oxygen, and their ongoing reality series, Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood will return on May 26 at 10 p.m. ET. -Speaking of Marissa Jaret Winokur:What ever happened to that daytime talk show she was supposed to host from Sony Pictures Television? ---------- -Upcoming at TBS:TBS, the home of must see sitcoms, will add new animated comedy Neighbors From Hell to its line-up, the story of a typical All-American family who happen to be from Hell and are sent to Earth to try to keep ordinary humans from finding their way there. Ten episodes have been ordered (and no official launch date has been announced).-Deal or No Deal Returns to NBC:NBC game show Deal or No Deal, which currently airs in daytime, will return to NBC’s prime-time line-up on Monday, May 4 at 8 p.m. in place of current occupant Chuck, which concludes its season (or series) run on April 27. A new feature called “Beat the Banker” has been added where viewers at home can win $10,000.-24 Heads to New York:Season eight of Fox’s now veteran 24 has a new location for next season: New York. The new season will begin filming in the Big Apple this spring and is expected to return in January 2010._________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Dy-No-Mite! What sport was Thelma’s husband Keith planning to earn a living at when she first met him on sitcom Good Times? baseballbasketballfootballgolfsoccer The answer to yesterday’s question… Remember the episode of All in the Family when Archie Bunker gets in trouble with the IRS for not reporting income he made on a side job? What job was that? bartenderbus drivercab driverinventory takershoe salesman Is: c) cab driver. Not even Archie could fool the IRS. All together now… Boy the way Glen Miller played Songs that made the hit parade. Guys like us we had it made, Those were the days. And you knew who you were then, Girls were girls and men were men, Mister we could use a man Like Herbert Hoover again. Didn't need no welfare state, Everybody pulled his weight. Gee our old LaSalle ran great. Those were the days. -Current kudos goes to:Mark Amato, David Ballarotto, Barbara Berman, Gerry Bixenspan, Kimay Bloch, Michael Bobble, Mark Braff, John Brooker, Larry Collins, Mark Cosenza, Annie Courtney, Bill Evashwick, John Ferlazzo, Adam Giagni, Jerry Gibbons, Maureen Goldman, Geoffrey Gordon, William Graff, Jackie Hague, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Kathy McClung, Tricia McKee, Michael Murphy, Tony Naldrett, Michael Natale, Alan Perris, Michael Ratliffe, Neal Sabin, Ron Salmon, David Shall, Jan Stewart, Ronnie Tallant, Evan Weinstein

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Fox Wins Wednesday; Considerable Week Two Erosion for ABC's The Unusuals

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