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Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m.

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

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Marc Berman

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THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERThursday, March 10, 2011 Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:Idol Leads Fox to Victory; Mixed Freshman Series Results Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: Another Adler ________________________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:Idol Leads Fox to Victory; Mixed Freshman Series Results Wednesday 3/09/11Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only. All times are ET/PT. HH Rtg/Shr Fox 15.9/25CBS 6.0/10ABC 3.7/ 6NBC 2.9/ 5CW 1.4/ 2 ---------- -Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday 3/10/10):Fox: +71, ABC: -10, CBS: -15, NBC: -40, CW: -46 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:American Idol (Fox), Survivor: Redemption Island (CBS) -Fading Fast:America’s Next Top Model (CW) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):Minute to Win It (NBC), Shedding for the Wedding (CW), Mr. Sunshine (ABC), Off the Map (ABC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown:The home of American Idol, Fox, stood well above the competition last night, more than doubling second-place CBS in the overnights. But let’s not rule out CBS’ still addictive (and just renewed) Survivor, which I will get to momentarily. In the distant No. 3 spot was ABC, which was in repeats from 8-9:30 p.m., followed by NBC and The CW. Two-thirds of NBC’s line-up was also encore telecasts. To the readers wondering why there are currently so many repeats, March is always riddled with second-runs so the networks have enough fresh product for the May sweeps. Beginning with American Idol, the still rock-solid music competition scored a considerable 15.9 rating/25 share from 8-10 p.m., building by half-hour as follows: American Idol (Fox)8:00 p.m.: 14.8/24 (#1)8:30 p.m.: 16.0/25 (#1)9:00 p.m.: 16.2/25 (#1)9:30 p.m.: 16.6/25 (#1) While you cannot deny the ongoing strength of this juggernaut, creatively Idol is lacking minus the brutal honestly of Simon Cowell, who would have had plenty of negative comments to make last night about Ashthon Jones, Haley Reinhart, Thia Megia and Karen Rodriguez. Don’t you miss his “karaoke” remarks? My pick to go home tonight: Haley Reinhart. Over at CBS, still potent Survivor: Redemption Island was no slouch, with a second-place 6.5/10 in the overnights at 8 p.m. Comparably, that bested year-ago occupants The New Adventures of Old Christine (5.1/ 8 on March 10, 2010) and Gary Unmarried (4.4/ 7) by an average of 37 percent. SPOILER ALERT…if you did not see last night’s episode yet, stop reading. But the departure of Russell Hantz, who lost on Redemption Island to Matt, will go down in the Survivor record books as one of the most memorable moments. While there was every reason to believe Russell would not exit quietly, the tears only proved that the Survivor villain is only human. Airing out of Survivor last night was a repeat of Criminal Minds (#2: 5.5/ 9 at 9 p.m.), followed by week four of spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior as a dominant (but series-low) 6.1/10 at 10 p.m. While Suspect Behavior did built by nine percent out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of its parent series (5.6/ 9), it did face a repeat of Law & Order: SVU on NBC. That said, Suspect Behavior is not the hit CBS was hoping for. Four-week overnight track for Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior: 8.4/12 – 6.3/11 – 6.9/12 – 6.1/10. Moving to ABC, the network filled the 8 p.m. hour with back-to-back repeats of The Middle at an average 3.7/ 6 in the overnights, followed by a repeat of Modern Family at a third-place 4.6/ 7 at 9 p.m. Minus the original lead-in support, week four of Matthew Perry sitcom Mr. Sunshine slipped to a series-low (and fourth-place) 3.7/ 6 at 9:30 p.m. Four week overnight track for Mr. Sunshine: 7.7/11 – 5.0/ 8 – 4.5/ 7 – 5.2/ 8 – 3.7/ 6. Failing drama Off the Map, which is nothing more than a diluted Grey’s Anatomy set in the jungle, capped off the evening for ABC with a last-place 3.5/ 6 at 10 p.m. Elsewhere, NBC game show Minute to Win finished a distant fourth in the 8 p.m. hour with an embarrassing 2.4/ 4 in the overnights. And that led into two repeat episodes of tired Law & Order: SVU at a fourth-place 2.4/ 4 at 9 p.m. and a second-place 3.9/ 7 at 10 p.m. Deteriorating America’s Next Top Model on The CW (#5: 2.1/ 3) dipped by 32 percent from its year-ago 90-minute season-opener (3.1/ 5 on March 10, 2010), while reality/competition lead-out Shedding for the Wedding sunk to a mere 0.7/ 1 at 9 p.m. Three-week overnight track for Shedding for the Wedding: 0.8/ 1 – 0.8/ 1 – 0.7/ 1. Mr. TV’s expert observation: Oy vey! Sara Rue…stick to scripted programming. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Not Much of an Event on NBC:The return of freshman action/adventure The Event failed to ignite interest on Monday, with a fourth-place finish in both total viewers (5.23 million) and adults 18-49 (1.4 rating/4 share) in the Monday 8-10 p.m. block. Absence, unfortunately, did not make the ratings’ heart grow fonder. -Freshman Series Scorecard – Week of March 7 To-Date:Mad Love (CBS) – Monday 8:30 p.m.Viewers: 7.27 million (#3), A18-49: 2.4/ 7 (#3) Leading out of an encore telecast of How I Met Your Mother (Viewers: 6.30 million; A18-49: 2.0/ 6 at 8 p.m.), Mad Love built by 970,000 viewers and 20 percent among adults 18-49. But this is still not what you would call a “renewable” performance. Grade: B ------- The Chicago Code (Fox) – Monday 9 p.m.Viewers: 7.46 million (#3), A18-49: 2.0/ 6 (#3) Retention out of lead-in House (Viewers: 11.08 million; A18-49: #1: 3.8/11 at 8 p.m.) was 67 percent in total viewers and 53 percent in the demo. Grade: C ------- Traffic Light (Fox) – Tuesday 9:30 p.m.Viewers: 3.82 million (#4), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#4) Take a look at Fox on Tuesday and you will understand why the cancellation clock is rapidly ticking on Traffic Light. 8:00 p.m. Glee – Viewers: 11.91 million (#2), A18-49: 4.6/14 (#1)9:00 p.m. Raising Hope – Viewers: 6.60 million (#3), A18-49: 2.7/ 8 (#2)9:30 p.m. Traffic Light – Viewers: 3.82 million (#4), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#4) Grade: F Source: Nielsen Media Research data_____________________________________________________________________________ On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Thursday 3/10/11 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Wipeout (R, two hours)10:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy (R) CBS: 8:00 p.m. The Big Bang Theory 8:30 p.m. Rules of Engagement 9:00 p.m. CSI 10:00 p.m. The Mentalist NBC: 8:00 p.m. Community (R) 8:30 p.m. Perfect Couples (R) 9:00 p.m. The Office (R) 9:30 p.m. Parks and Recreation (R)10:00 p.m. 30 Rock (R)10:30 p.m. Outsourced (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. American Idol 9:00 p.m. Bones CW 8:00 p.m. The Vampire Diaries (R) 9:00 p.m. Nikita (R) ______________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -More Survivor:CBS’ veteran Survivor has been renewed for two more editions to be broadcast during the 2011-12 season, marking 12 years on the air and the 23rd and 24th editions. In addition, Jeff Probst has signed an agreement to continue as host and as an executive producer. -Human Planet from Discovery Channel:Discovery Channel has announced a new six-part series called Human Planet, which will focus on the ability of people to both survive and thrive in our planet’s most extreme environments. It airs on Discovery with back-to-back episodes on Sunday, April 10, 17 and 24 from 8-10 p.m. ET/PT. -Coming Up on OWN:Recently launched OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, while has quickly cooled in the ratings after its promising launch, has announced two new documentary specials: Extraordinary Moms, executive produced by Julia Roberts; and No Woman, No Cry. Airing on Saturday, May 7 from 8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT, Extraordinary Moms will feature names in the caliber of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rosie O’Donnell talking about motherhood. No Woman, No Cry, which will immediately follow from 9:30-11 p.m. ET/PT, tells the personal stories of pregnant women and their caregivers in four countries. __________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Another Adler Who played Grace’s older sister Janet on long-running NBC sitcom Will & Grace? a) Geena Davis b) Minnie Driverc) Edie Falco d) Parker Posey e) Mira Sorvino The answer to yesterday’s question… Remember Sally Field as Gidget, the "cool" 1960s teenager? What was Gidget’s real name?a) Margie Albright b) Leticia Davenportc) Francine Lawrence d) Pippa McKennae) Jenny Piccalo Is: c) Francine Lawrence. Three of the options (Margie Albright – My Little Margie; Pippa McKenna – The Facts of Life and Jenny Piccalo – were from other sitcoms). Leticia Davenport I made up. All together now.. If you're in doubt about angels being real. I can arrange to change any doubts you feel. Wait'll you see my Gidget! You'll want her for your Valentine. You're gonna say she's all that you adore But stay away, Gidget is spoken for You're gonna find that Gidget is mine! -Current kudos goes to:Suzanne Ackley, Steve Alright, Mary Bancroft, Janice Barney, Becky Beaty, Gerry Bixenspan, Kimay Bloch, Barbara Bloomfield, John Brooker, Maj Canton, Larry Cauble, Mavis Chow, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Kay Copeland, Mark Cosenza, Audrey Davis, Dee Davis, Reid Davis, Joseph DiVincenzo, Sue Doron, Phyllis Epstein, John Ferlazzo, Serri Ferrante, Jan Frazier, George Gardner, Beth Gelfond, Gail Goins, Ed Griffis, Carolyn Becker Hayes, Bob Ingersoll, Shelly Johnson,. Deb Kainer, Marie Lefevre Karp, Mary Kinoshita, Irene Kirschner, Jim Kittelberger, Synda Kollman, Steven Kurtzer, Steve La Rue, Charmaine Leary, Claudia Martin, Kathy Martin, Scott Masterson, Jim Moore, Michael Murphy, Cyndy Murrieta, Aaron Paquette, Michael Pendell, Alan Perris, Mary Politano, Robyn Brown-Postell, David Primuth, Gordon Purcell, Con Rigg, Angela Rodgers, Coleen Roth, Anthony Salerno, Edward Schiffer, Carly Schinzing, Sonya Shaw, Scott Shepherd, Maxine Shulman, Janet Shute, Mark Simmon, Myndy Staley, Cathy Student, Joe Swaney, Julie Syers, Ronnie Tallant, Carol Teichman, Meredith Wayne (2x), Don Webb, Linda Weeks, Myndi Weinraub, Diane Werner, Tammy Wiard, Abbott Wool, Ged Young, Ted Zawislak

Convergent TV

Marc Berman

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